Wednesday

Fall has arrived in the San Joaquin Valley. It's only in the low 70s this afternoon, and we may get some rain tonight or tomorrow. People around here always panic the first couple of times it rains each fall, as if they've forgotten what that wet stuff falling from the sky is. When Thing 1 heads out to the schoolbus in the morning, it's quite chilly--low 50s this morning--so, just in time, I've begun a sweater for her. It's this one, in the "midnight oasis" colorway, which T1 chose herself. It's fun to knit--round and round and then some short rows. And the yarn is really nice and soft. So far, I'm almost done with the front, but it'll be a while before I'm done because this sweater has lots of different little components. And a bunch of stitches that need picking up--bleh.

I like almost all of my students a lot. Most of them have to juggle work, family, and school, and a lot of them haven't been prepared very well for college, but they're overall quite enthusiastic. My Intro students this semester have the opportunity to serve as decoys in a local police department's underage alcohol sting, and the students were very excited about this. I have other students mentoring at-risk school kids or helping make an educational video about car theft. Still, there are a few I really have to wonder about. We're now in the 3rd week of classes, and yesterday a student came to my office because he had just realized that, while he was signed up for my Intro class, he had been sitting in a totally different course, taught by a different professor, for 3 weeks. And also yesterday I spied a very pregnant student standing under a tree and smoking a cigarette. She wasn't one of my students and I don't know her; if she were one of mine, I would have chewed her out.

I missed ceramics last week due to my cold. I wonder what I'll get to make tonight?