Math Awareness Trivia Contest!

For Math Awareness Month in April, we sponsored a trivia contest for employees and students to encourage them to learn more about math. The contest ended today and I picked up the entry boxes. This is a shot of one of them that I brought home with me.

Sunset Over White Tanks

I noticed the sun setting over the White Tanks as I was leaving campus tonight and stopped to take a photo. It wasn't as dramatic as some of my other sunset photos, but I still enjoyed it!

Relaxation Time!

Here's an example of how I relax after being at work all day and grading papers...

What Am I?

Yet another desperate photo day. Boy I sure am having quite a few of those lately. I guess that's what happens when I'm so busy with work!

Can you guess what's in the picture? (Without cheating by using the photo file name...)

Mall Artwork

I took this shot of the entrance sign to the new Park West Mall at the corner of Northern and 99th Ave. There is some great art along the middle strip of the main drive. I was bummed to get there so close to sundown when the lighting wasn't very good. I hope to go back another day to get some better shots!

Reusable Grocery Bags!

Today was another desperate photo day. I ended up with this shot of a reusable Safeway grocery bag that my mom bought for me during her last visit.

Costco Trip!

I finally made it to Costco today! It had been longer than usual because I got sick. I was surprised when the lady at the exit checking receipts noticed I hadn't been there in a while and asked if I had started coming in earlier in the day. I didn't realize that anyone noticed that I always go on Friday nights (because the crowds are smaller usually). I don't even go every week!

I sometimes try to go close to closing time as a way to control my spending. If I only have enough time to get what I need and get out, well then I have no time to linger over things I want but don't need. This time, though, I wasn't so lucky. I got caught up by the food samples :| I found out I really like Pirate's Booty (the food!), though :-)

Weeds!

As I mentioned previously, my gardener supposedly sprayed pre-emergent chemicals for the weeds in my yard. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to have worked. This is the second time this has happened since he sprayed and this time they are beyond out of control. The picture doesn't even do the situation justice!

EMCC Student Conference: The Green Revolution

Since the Math Awareness Month theme fit right into the district-wide Student Conference held at EMCC (on the Green Revolution this year), I hosted a Math Zone with student projects and a station where people could calculate their carbon footprint. Another faculty member, Holly, brought out her origami created by recycled math quizzes and worksheets as well.

It was quite a warm day, and of course our zone was pretty much directly in the sun the whole time I was out there. Luckily I had a few colleagues and students come by to keep me company! I was interviewed by a reporter during the conference as well (and ended up being quoted in the article she wrote on the conference!)

Missing Day...

Another missed day. I'm still recovering from the flu and since I have a big day tomorrow with the student conference, I ended up going to bed right after dinner and sleeping through the night (even though I only meant it to be a nap). I was just plain exhausted and needed the sleep!

Grasshoppers Everywhere!

I have seen more grasshoppers in the last week than I have ever seen in my entire life! They were even watching at the window at In N Out as the workers were cooking in the kitchen. I kept my window closed as much as possible and was even worried that my flash would attract all the grasshoppers inside my car. It creeps me out when they fly right at me!

Radical World!

Desperation struck again today. I ended up with this shot of a handout I'm using in my intermediate algebra class tomorrow...

Math Awareness Student Projects

Here are a couple of projects my students turned in recently for Math Awareness Month (http://mathaware.org). The theme this year is Math & Climate.

iTunes Sing-a-Long

I’m finally feeling well enough to start singing along to music again (though it does still produce fits of coughing at times). I never realize I miss singing along to music until I can’t do it! I spent quite a few hours listening to my music collection on iTunes tonight and singing along, so I figured what better picture to represent today!

Reach Out and Touch...

A cactus?

I got distracted by yet another cactus plant today, this time on my way home. I pulled over in the parking lot because I saw these yellow flowers on the cactus plant. Then, I got even more distracted by the texture of the cactus. People probably thought I was insane because I spent so long taking photos of this one cactus plant.

Baby Cacti

I got distracted by this cactus plant on my way back to my office this afternoon. The newly formed part of this cactus looks so interesting. It just looks so different from the rest of the cactus. I really wish I had my DSLR with me.

More Turtles!

They added more turtles to the pond out by Ocotillo (the building where my classes are located). I love watching them swim around and interact! Here's a close up shot of one of the larger turtles in the bunch.

Lantana in Bloom

I can tell it's spring because my yard is blooming! The only drawback is the weeds are growing as well. I can't believe how fast they grow! And I wasn't expecting them since I paid my gardener to spray my yard with pre-emergent chemicals for weeds back in January...

Estrella Landscape

I was on campus for a while this afternoon catching up on some grading after being sick. I took this shot as I was leaving...

Costa Rica Clock

I didn't really make it outside today, so desperation kicked in around bedtime. I decided to take a picture of the clock I bought in Costa Rica in 2003. It was a last minute find that I almost didn't buy because the price was high. I suck at haggling, but I really didn't want to pay $50 for it so I walked away. I ended up getting it for $35 without even trying! I'm really glad I bought it (and that it survived the trip home since the hour and minute hands are pretty fragile).

Cloudy Sky

Still getting over being sick, but I remembered to take my picture today. I swear I took one yesterday. It must be the medication!

Missed Photo Today

Today is my first missed day in my Project 365 :-( I could have sworn I took a picture today, but I searched and searched and couldn't find one.

I've missed a couple of other days along the way the last few weeks because of exhaustion (basically napping in the evening and not getting up until the next morning), but I'm still doing my best to do daily photos. I've thought a lot about whether I consider this a "failure" or if I should start again. I decided to keep going. And I also decided this is definitely not a failure. My primary goal was to take more pictures since I completely neglected my photography the previous year. And I've learned so much by doing it. I still have more to learn and will be continuing to document daily photos.

One thing I have noticed is that once I missed one day, I was much less uptight the other two nights that I slept through getting my photos. I've also learned it's best for me to take photos before dark or I start getting desperate and/or forget...

Anyway, I have many more photos to post to catch up. I uploaded a bunch tonight from my cameras, and I will be posting more as I can!

Ugly Betty

I stayed home from work again today. I am still not feeling too well, but I plan to go in tomorrow. There's too much going on for me to miss and I think I can cope. I took this picture because I'm supposed to show an episode of Ugly Betty for Math Awareness Month tomorrow. Not sure that will happen.

Medicated

After yesterday's fiasco, I stayed home today. It was a good idea. I didn't feel up to doing anything today (even getting out of bed). I did manage to take this photo of the many medications I bought yesterday at CVS.

(Side Note: I never thought I'd go through all of these. I figured I would have options for what worked best. Surprisingly, I went through almost all of these bottles before I was well again!)

What Was I Thinking?!

I thought I was feeling a bit better today, and because I didn't want to miss class, I actually went to work. What was I thinking?! Needless to say, I ended up worse. One thing I made sure to do on my way home was to get some soft Kleenex for my poor nose. I also loaded up on medication because I went through my stock at home over the weekend...

Doormat

I pretty much feel like a doormat today. Being sick stinks. I'm amazed I managed to drag myself out of bed long enough to take this photo.

Moon Over Estrella

Today I woke up feeling pretty much like crap. I still managed to drag myself to work to pick up some stuff I forgot the day before...not that I did much with it.

Side note: I apologize for the long delay in my updates, but once I got sick, I got really behind and it just snowballed!

Baby Plants

Insanity abounds as usual. It was insanely windy as I was leaving campus today, but I stopped to get this shot because I thought the baby plants were so cute! I was in a hurry and only had room for 2 shots on my card, so it's not the best shot...

Recycling Day!

Thursdays are recycling days in Avondale. It was a bit of an oddity having a separate trash and recycling day, but I'm getting used to it!

Church Silhouette

After 2 indoor, last minute photos the last couple of days, I was desperate to get an outside photo today. I didn't have time to go far, so I walked down to the corner to take this shot of the church at dusk.