Exhausted!

After sitting through graduation in the heat today (from 10:00am to 12:00pm), I was worn out. I mean really, graduation in Phoenix in a black robe when the sun is out?! It just got worse as the ceremony went on.

We had a pot luck after graduation and when I got home, I just about passed out. I decided a photo of my cars exhaust pipe was a good representation of my exhaustion today.

My Name is Michelle...

and I am a book-a-holic. I readily admit I am addicted to books; and not just reading them, buying them too! I was sad to hear earlier this year that Borders was in danger of being de-listed from the NYSE. I love Borders (and prefer it over B&N because I hate paying money to save money with their loyalty program). Just recently, I heard Borders is no longer in danger of being de-listed. I think it was all due to my spending habits at Borders the last few months. I really am a book addict!

My Messy Office

My parents wouldn't be surprised that my office is such a mess. I tend to get caught up in doing so much that I just don't have time to keep things clean. And really, there are so many things that are more fun and better uses of my time. I do try to clean my office every now and then, but inevitably it is messy again in just a couple of weeks!

Another Cactus

I got this shot of a cactus today as I was leaving. It was bright and hot, so it's not my best shot ever, but at least I remembered to take one!

Ripples

An odd thing happened today: I had more than one picture to choose from! I couldn't decide whether to use the overall scenic shot of the courtyard outside Montezuma Hall with the trees and water feature or this close up of the water in the water feature. As you can see, I went with the close up of the water :-)

Ant Hill

This ant hill popped up in my front yard over night! I couldn't believe how fast the ants were. The pest control people were out the next day and treated it...only to have my gardener demolish the ant hill and bait the day after! Oh well.

Colorful Butterfly

I bought this painting recently, but haven't had a chance to hang it yet. I love the colors in it!

Full Moon

I was out and about when the full moon rose, and I just couldn't help stopping to take a photo (even without the proper equipment). Here's a close up of my best shot this time around.

Last Missed Day?

I could have sworn I took a picture today. Unfortunately, I can't find it anywhere! Maybe I accidentally deleted it. I don't know. I don't remember taking the picture, but I find that the days all blur together unless a major event happens. The weird thing is that the last time this happened was on a Thursday as well. What the heck happens to me on Thursdays?

Anyway, I think this is the last day I've missed in my crazy rush to the end of the semester after being sick. Hopefully it will be my last missed day this year!

Tapioca In Progress

I've been making tapioca quite a bit lately. It's been my dessert of choice. Anyway, since I took a picture of the finished product last time, I figured I would take a picture of it in progress this time. I use my grandmother's recipe (slightly different than the one on the box) which calls for beating the egg whites and folding it into the other mixture once it's been cooked. Here's the mixture after being cooked together, just waiting for the egg whites to be beaten and folded into the mix!

Fallen Petals

The wind (with the help of the landscape maintenance crew on campus) blew all the petals of the flowers on the trees on campus. It makes me sad, but made for an interesting picture as the fallen petals were blown all along the edge of the grass.

Another Missed Day...

Between cleaning the water feature and doing my grading, I found myself exhausted today. I decided to "take a nap" after I got home from work, and well, the nap turned into me sleeping through the night. As a result, I missed my photo. I find I am much more successful at getting my photo of the day if I do it before I come inside the house after work.

One thing I learned from getting sick is that my health is more important than getting my photo of the day. I'm going to try to be better about taking my photo earlier in the day to avoid this situation again...

Drained...

I finally got around to draining and cleaning out my water feature this weekend. I had planned to do it before I got sick and since then I just haven't had a chance. I did most of the cleaning yesterday, but I left it empty overnight. This photo is from right before I filled it.

This is the third time I've drained it, and each time I do it, I get more efficient! This time, I turned off the auto-fill water valve for a week in advance. It is amazing how much water evaporates in a week with the weather as hot as it's been!

I also used my discovery from last time (to stir up the dirt off the bottom with the brush so that it mixes with the water and can be pumped out rather than shop-vac'd out). It saved us (my mom and I) so much time last time! It was a real PITA having to drag the full shop vac back in forth to the sink in the garage to empty it every few minutes before that and it cut back on our trips last time.

This time I was actually able to cut back on the trips even more! I kept the pump out even as I hosed down some of the dirt left behind and pumped out the water I added to get it clean. Amazingly, I only had to empty the shop vac once the entire time I was cleaning it! I know it may not sound like much, but water is heavy and half of it ends up on the person carrying it unless you walk very, very slowly.

Side note from after the fact: Don't drain and clean water feature just before the gardener comes to do the yard. He ends up blowing a bunch of crap into the water! Either that or I need a cover for when he comes.

Easy?

Taking my photo for the day was not so easy for today. Out of desperation, I got this shot of the easy button I got when I signed the contract for buying my house. At first I thought Larry was joking when he said he'd give me an easy button for signing. He wasn't. LOL!

Red Bird of Paradise

I stopped to get a close-up shot of this red bird of paradise flower on the way to my car this afternoon. I got a bit frustrated with my digital point-and-shoot camera's focus though as it wasn't working too well.

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.

Ring Holder

My mom bought me this ring holder on one of her recent trips. Instead of rings, though, she bought it for my hair bands. It's even my favorite color!

Kleenex Box

It's been insanely busy, so tonight's shot is a bit of a desperate one: a close up of a pattern on a Kleenex box!

View from Master Bedroom

Here's the view from the master bedroom through the wood-blinds taken this afternoon...

Back Yard Bottle Brush

Here's another bottle brush in bloom, this time in my backyard!

Estrella Water Feature

There are quite a few water features around campus. I've wanted to get a good shot of this one for a while, but the light is usually off. It's not the best today (with the big shadow through the middle), but it's better than usual.

Brick Wall

I was getting desperate for a photo today. It was a long day at work and it was even more windy than yesterday. I was so tired, I decided to go through the A&W drivethru for dinner. Since the line was long, I spent a lot of time looking at this brick wall. I thought it might make an interesting picture, and luckily I had my camera!

Windy Day

It's been really windy this week, and as I was leaving campus today I noticed the flags were really blowing in the wind. Even though I had to drop all my stuff, I decided to stop and take some photos on the way to the car. Here's my favorite of the bunch.

Spring at Estrella Mountain

It's definitely spring around here! Everything's in bloom and I love taking photos of all the plants and flowers. I'm still getting used to all the differences between the plants in Arizona and Southern California. As is usual lately I had a hard time choosing which photo to use today. The other photo was an Ocotillo in bloom which I'll try to post on my other blog soon!

Jury Duty!

I had jury duty today. Arizona is a one day-one trial state. I called last night, and they told me I didn't have to report at 8:00am but I did need to call at 11:00am to see if I would have to report. I thought that was a bit odd, and others (who were more familiar with Arizona jury duty) thought so too. Evidently it was just an extremely busy day because I did have to show up in the afternoon (12:45pm).

They called 6 panels (one of 50 people!) in the first 30 minutes after I checked in, but luckily I wasn't one of them. Normally I'd like to serve, but it was a bad week (and as I'm a teacher, a bad time of year period). So after a couple hours, I got released.

I noticed some photo ops on the way in, but I had left my cameras in the car because I wasn't sure if they'd be allowed in the court building. Since I got out early, I walked the 5 blocks to the parking garage (we had just missed the shuttle), got my camera, then walked the 5 blocks back to the courthouse. The light wasn't the best, but I got some interesting shots (more than just the one here). This is what I think best represents the day though it's a bit boring. I'll be posting the rest of my photos on my other blog (http://lilikoi44.blogspot.com) if you want to check them out!