"We've Been Doing University Work?!"

Susan had to be available for parent/teacher conferences at the high school this late afternoon and into the evening, so the girls were with me after school. However, a colleague in my department at the university organizes the annual Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Conference, which was also this late afternoon--and I wanted to attend in support of his work and that of the students participating. The only solution? Take our daughters with me to the conference.

Yes, we marched in--Papa Duck and his ducklings, ages 11, 9, and 7--and joined the crowd of university professors and students, taking seats in the front row to listen to the keynote speaker's half-hour presentation on his research into range crops and nesting and hunting and such. It was quite interesting, actually, and he was an engaging speaker; but I was a little distracted because of keeping an eye on my kids to gauge their interest throughout the speech. They paid perfect attention throughout and, as it turns out, they retained more details from it than I did when telling Mommy about it later this evening!

There was a brief break after his presentation before we were to move into another ballroom to browse the university students' posters on their own research projects and engage them in conversation about their work. To prepare the girls for what they would see in the next room, I explained the setup by comparing it to something that both Abigail and Suzanna have done, which is participate in Marketplace for Kids. For that event, an elementary student prepares a project, creates a poster with information explaining the project, sets up the poster and stands by it during the exhibition, and discusses the project and answers questions about it for attendees as they wander from poster to poster. Upon hearing that what she, an elementary student, had recently done was so similar to what the university students themselves were about to do, Abigail said, "You mean we've been going university work?!"

In the ballroom with the poster presentations, we helped ourselves to refreshments (finger sandwiches, cookies, and lemonade) and then split up. I politely looked at everybody's poster and took the time to ask questions at a few that represented topics in which I was the most interested. There were lots of science, agriculture, nursing, and psychology research projects at the conference, so I got a lot smarter in those fields. Once in a while Suzanna would appear by my side only to be replaced in a few moments by Hillary, so I knew that they were both around and refreshing their refreshments frequently.

Abigail, however, stayed on her own the whole time. I saw her every so often, and each time she was carefully studying a poster and having a full-on conversation with the university students stationed next to their research. She was taking it all in. Afterward a colleague from my department told me that she had bumped into Abigail and had an in-depth conversation with her about the research on display; my colleague said that Abigail spoke with an insight and understanding beyond her years. Atta girl, Abigail! You are doing university work!

Saturday Miscellany

Well, the late nights and lack of sleep took their toll on Suzanna: she woke up today with a nasty case of tonsillitis. Susan took her to the doctor and got her some medicine, and we've got tentative plans for her tonsillectomy over Christmas break (per Suzanna's own request). There were two more performances of Seussical in her future (tonight and tomorrow afternoon), and the show must go on; so Suzanna steeled herself for the challenge, started her meds, and napped throughout most of the day.

En route to the doctor with Suzanna, Susan dropped off Abigail and Hillary at the riding arena on DSU's campus. A friend of the girls had invited them to join him for a trick roping class held by an expert, Felix Lopez, who was on campus this weekend for a rodeo event. So the girls donned their cowboy boots (yes, they have cowboy boots--we're in Dickinson), joined their friend and a bunch of other kids, and tried their hand at roping.

Here's the whole gang of youngsters being taught trick roping by the expert (the gentleman in the black hat, blue vest, and green shirt in the back) and his son (the boy in the red coat and black hat on the left). Can't find the Mobergs? Abigail is in a brown shirt on the left, Hillary is in a blue shirt in the front, and Suzanna is in a green coat on the right (and on her way out the door to the doctor's).

Hillary and her friend Sam, who invited the girls.

Abigail the trick roper!

Mr. Lopez's son, showing the other kids how it's done.

And where was I, you might wonder, during all this fun? On the floor in the laundry room installing the pedestals for the washer and dryer. There were supposed to have arrived weeks ago with the rest of our new appliances, but they took another week to get here, and I took yet another week to finally remove them from their boxes and read to find out what was involved in installing them. Just pick up the washer and dryer, slide the pedestals underneath, and set down the appliances on top of them? Nope. I had to disconnect both the washer and dryer, drain the washer, lay them both on their backs, bolt the pedestals to the bottoms, get the washer and dryer upright again and back into place, level them, and reconnect them. Good times. But they look snazzy, they make both appliances easier to access, and they offer convenient storage in their drawers.

My department colleagues and their families attended Seussical tonight, and beforehand we all met at Sanford's for supper together. It was a crowded table, and the Mobergs had to eat in shifts (we had to get Abigail and Suzanna fed and off to the theater before the others even arrived, but Susan, Hillary, and I waited to eat with everyone else), but it was fun to spend time with them.

The show started approximately 25 minutes late because people were lined up out the front door and onto the street outside waiting for tickets! Yes, it was sold out. Tomorrow's show is predicted to be the same, and Thursday's show had a full house, too. (Friday's wasn't completely full, but it was Halloween night, after all.) The audiences have included people of all ages: a good number of university students, lots of families with small children, parents and grandparents of the cast members, adults from the community and from the faculty and staff, etc. How nice to see the arts so well supported in this community!

Iowa Road Trip

This might be the only Iowa-related song I know. It's "Iowa Stubborn" from The Music Man, performed here by Chaffey High School of Ontario, CA (see more here):



Fun, huh? Okay, that is related to the topic of this post only in that the word "Iowa" appears in both.

I just got back from Ames, IA, where I presented at a regional conference of the National Academic Advising Association. Mary Jo, my former boss from Dickinson State University--who is now at Iowa State University (in Ames)--and I presented a panel with one DSU colleague on training university students to serve as peer advisors for freshmen and transfers, and we presented a second panel with another DSU colleague on bringing together a university's academic affairs and student affairs division in a joint academic advising effort during students' First-Year Experience.

Unlike all other conferences the past couple years that I've attended and presented at, for which I've flown, this one we got to and fro by driving. It was a long drive: about 11 hours, including brief stops to buy refreshments and meals or use the restroom. We had nice accommodations in Ames, though. The hotel where we stayed is run by ISU (and students in its Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management program) and has a conference center where most of the conference events were held. The opening and closing events of the conference were held on campus in the Gerdin Business Building, which is a nice, relatively new facility. Monday evening a few of us returned to campus for a guided tour by two students, who walked us around the lovely campus and told us brief histories of several of the buildings. With a student body of around 25,000, you can imagine that it's a large and sprawling campus.

Everybody whom I met at the conference was so genuinely friendly and down-to-earth, and all the conference sessions were worthwhile--and our presentations were well received, too. I reconnected with a gentleman who was a classmate of mine in a graduate course on educational foundations several years ago, and I made new friends with colleagues at other ND institutions of higher education. Also important was the chance to spend time with Mary Jo and her daughter, Lucinda. They made us (the DSU contingent) a delicious breakfast Sunday and joined us for supper Monday and breakfast Tuesday at The Café, a misleadingly simply named restaurant with a French theme and incredibly delicious food. (Without Mary Jo, my colleagues and I had a great meal Sunday night at Legends in the Campustown section of Ames.)

Seeing them, having a chance to visit and to vent about the stressful goings-on at work, and successfully delivering (and now being done with!) both presentations has restored my mental health somewhat. And being back now in the House of Blonde Beauties certainly helps, too!