Gotta brag

Did I mention I *heart* my boss? He went to TAM8 this past weekend and brought me back a present. I'll be up all night reading. Are you jealous yet?

Believe in an afterlife?

Late night tv commercial:
...if you've taken this or that medication and you've experienced one of the following: symptom1, symptom2, symptom3, or sudden death, please call the number on your screen.

There's a lot more going on in there than we know

My son, F1-2, has special needs. He is completely non-verbal, he makes some sounds, but if they mean anything in particular, I don't understand his language. Over the past year or so he's made tremendous progress in communication by using pictures. Specifically, the PECS system of communication. We have a board with velcro strips on the wall, and the pictures stick to the board. If he wants anything, he gets the appropriate picture and hands it to us. We started out with 1, then 2, and gradually worked our way up to about 8 pictures.

A few months ago he also learned how to open a web browser, and navigate his favorite tv show on Netflix. So it was time to add an additional picture to the board, a computer. By the end of the first day, it was by far his favorite picture. We didn't really have to teach him that one.

A few weeks ago, all of his pictures suddenly disappeared. It was hard to communicate with him without the pictures. I finally found them in a stack underneath the couch. I thought he might have slid them in the crack between the wall and the couch, but why would he do that? Maybe it was F1-3? She's been known to pull pranks. And so has F1-1.

I put all the pictures back on the board. Within a week they all disappeared again. All, except for "computer". Huh? Now I'm certain that he must have done it. He wasn't going to risk losing access to his computer, so he was careful to leave that one out. I still haven't found the pictures. There really is more going on in his little head than we give him credit for. Sneaky little fellow.

Congratulations!!

To my dear friend Joyce,who is Dr. Joyce now! Way to go Joyce, I knew you would finish up!

Panic mode!

Hi, I'm back! Remember how I didn't post much because I didn't have anything to complain about? Ok, here's a post. Well, not really a complaint, but I'm officially in panic mode, and it's my own fault.

I love, love, love my postdoc job. And I love, love, love my boss. In a he's the smartest-most-dedicated-best boss in the world kind of way. Of all the things I like about him, I think his best feature is that he very quickly realizes your strengths in the lab, and he tailors (as much as possible) your project to match with your talents. This results in a happy cycle of liking-what-you-do -> doing-it-well -> liking-what-you-do. I've always told him that the one thing that's missing from my job is a teaching component. Add that in, and I'll be in science heaven.

Be careful what you wish for, eh?

My boss is leaving for a few days, and has asked me to teach his classes while he's gone. Of course, I immediately said "yes!" Thinking: woohoo! Then it occurred to me to ask what he was teaching. "Piece of cake" he says. "Topic A, really basic stuff, and topic P, kind of related to topic A, and then a third topic, I don't really remember what it is. But you'll be great!" Sigh... I wish I had his confidence in me. I haven't really kept up with topics A and P over the last, uhm, 7 years. And I dread to think what the third topic might be.

Anyway, so I took a deep breath. How bad can it be? So I said (hoping that I sounded calm and collected): "Oh, ok, sounds good. These are undergrads, right?" My boss, casually: "No, this is the graduate class." Do you think he could see my heart sinking? Because I could feel it beating in my feet. I answered: "Oh, ok. No problem."

Excuse me for a sec.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh".
Now there, that's much better.

I had a wee bit of imposter-syndrome when I graduated. But having to teach graduate-level classes on topics A, P, and who-the-hells-knows-what-else is bringing that to new heights. What if there are 5 students from professor So-and-so in that class? You see, that lab works on this topic, and they'll know far more than I do, and will be more up-to-date.

I have no one to blame for this but myself. I got *exactly* what I asked for. Part of me is also a bit excited. I have a book on topic A. It's 16 years old, but it covers the basics. I dug it up, and since I'm home with a sick little F1-2 today, I've been reading a bit, and trying to refresh my memory. There is not better way to learn something than having to teach it. I like learning, I want to learn about these topics. I just wish the students were a little less advanced, and I was a little more advanced. That'd be nice. I would feel a little more confident.

My boss has very graciously offered me his class notes, and will go over them with me this week. I have time to prepare. And I have time to get over this nervousness. I sure hope I do, otherwise my stuttering may not get me past the first 2 sentences.

Normally, I perform well under performance pressure, and hopefully that'll proof to be the case here too. Just having written this post makes me feel better. That's what blogging's all about for me. I'll let you know how it turned out. Or not. In which case I probably dug a hole for myself in the backyard, crawled in it, and closed it up above me.

On the playground

F1-3 talked about her day at "school" last week. School means daycare.

F1-3: We played at the swings today.
Makita: Oh. Was that fun?
F1-3: Yeah, we were pushing each other and talking and laughing.
Makita: What were you talking about?
F1-3: Joey was using potty-words. That's not allowed in my school. But he was doing it anyway, and it was very funny. So we were laughing.

Typical. She's knows it's not allowed. But if it's funny, who's to stop her?

Some things never change

This post is part of the virtual baby shower for Sciencegirl . After 3 kids, one of which has special needs, I consider myself somewhat of an expert on kids. Of course, my kids go out of their way to prove how arrogant that is of me. They never fail to come up with something that makes me think: "now how do I deal with this!"

So, I guess that's the first thing I want to share with Sciencegirl. Kids have a mind of their own. They may resemble both parents, but they're very much individual people, even before they're born. Someone asked me once whether it isn't wonderful to have a little life to mold. You've got to be kidding me! They mold you and not the other way around. Having said that I found that my children bring out the best in me.

I also found that children have a personality before they're born. F1-2 was always a very quiet baby when I was pregnant, to the point that I was concerned, because he wasn't moving enough, and he is still my most docile kid.

A couple of weeks before the birth of my first baby, F1-1, we had a huge multi-course family dinner. Lots of fun! We were served the most yummy soup ever. The dining table was a little lower than normal, and my belly was resting against the bowl of soup. F1-1 had always been a little wild during my pregnancy, I didn't know any better, this was my first child, so I figured this must be normal. Suddenly F1-1 gave one of his huge kicks and the bowl tipped over. In my efforts to save the bowl, I spilled the soup all over the table.

Yep. he was a wild one, my F1-1. Some things never change.