Long time no see...

It has been so long since I've last posted; and I've truly missed you all. Before I knew it, nearly 2 months have passed since my last post - ma mauvais (my bad). It seems like I'm always juggling all the pieces of my life and, invariably, one piece gets neglected. Still, my blog has never been far from my thoughts - and always in my heart, of course! So, since we've been apart for so long, I thought that I'd use this post to catch up and let you know what's in the works...

Fair warning - this is gonna be a long one ;-)

These past few months my life has been monopolized by teaching, football, tennis, potty training, and getting ready to return to Paris.

Concernant L'enseignement (regarding teaching) -

For awhile now I have felt very disconected from my chosen profession - underpaid and unappreciated (though not by my students). For a long time I thought - here I am, with a Masters degree and a Ph.D. I'm really good at what I do and I'm going nowhere. Worse yet, I'm running in place. I felt powerless and was angry and resentful about it. I allowed my anger and resentment to sour my work ethic. I began to not care and my students suffered for it. By the end of Spring semester 2010 I knew that I was at a crossroads - do I stay or do I go? I gave myself the summer to mull it all over.

I thought about my situation, dreamt about it, prayed about it, talked about it with my hubby, my mom and my SistahDiva girlfriends. I reached out to the professors who not only taught me, but nurtured me and my love of learning and had encouraged me to become a teacher - yeah, there was a lot of delicious champagne sipped along the way. They all told me pretty much the same thing - go back to my foundation, get over myself, get my shit together, and decide to do it (all the way) or not. But whatever I decided, it was up to me (and me alone) to take my power back. So, that's what I did...

I decided that if the only teaching I did was as an adjunct, I'm gonna be the best adjunct that I could possibly be and I was going to do it on my terms - SistahDiva style. I spent the rest of the summer reading (academically and lay) and completely revised my syllabi. I got back to basics and put together lesson plans that I had, or would have wanted, when I was a student. On the first day of Fall Semester 2010 I followed one of my mom's best pieces of advice: "Start as you mean to finish." I am happier teaching today then when I first began nearly 6 years ago. I have an incredible group of students (@ 50) and I look forward to every class. I'm still taking it day by day, but each day I choose to continue to teach and I'm happy with my choice - it's all an adventure! I'll keep you updated

Concernant Le Football



Rory running for a touchdown!
September 2010

This is my 2nd season as a 'football mom.' I take him to practice 3-5 times a week. And photograph his team - the Roselle Viking Mitey Mites. When the president of the Roselle Football League saw some of my photos of Rory, he asked me to be 'league photographer' - of course I said yes. I don't bake or make snacks for the team, but I'm pretty good with the camera. So, every weekend (and nearly every day) I photograph nearly 100 footballers, 40 cheerleaders, and a whole bevy of siblings, parents, grandparents, and friends. Rory's season just ended - hundreds of yards, 5 interceptions, and 4 touchdowns! So much fun! Here's a little of my work:

Concernant Le Tennis

Sage - Tennis Diva!

My fabulous Sage is a Tennis Diva. When I'm not taking Rory to football, I'm taking Sage to her tennis lessons and the whole family goes to her tournaments. She's shockingly good. Here's a bit of Sage:

1st Place/8 yr olds; 2nd Place 10 yr olds - Sage is 7!

Concernant Le Potty Training

What can I say? Never and I are currently locked in a fierce battle over...potty training. I want him to and he so does not want to. He tells me the toilet is "scary momma." Once he says that, I melt and relent: "okay, one more diaper day." And that's how a super sweet and adorable 5 year old runs his momma around. Any advice?

Concernant Le Paris

In a few days I'm loading up the kids, mom, the hubby and CoCo and we're heading back to Paris. I'm so excited I can barely speak, let alone type. I'm looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. This time, however, has a new adventure in store for me. One of my favorite magazines has asked me to write a feature story on Paris, with my photography! I think that I might finally realize one of my lifedreams of having one of my photos published in a national magazine. Does anyone want me to get something in particular while I'm there? Let me know and we'll work something out. Of course, I'll bring back lots of photos and interesting things to see and do. Hmmm, lots of new material for my blog!

Vivre, rire, aimer!

Temple