Cafe Victoria

I believe the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Chase has begun. Matthias and I have been supper busy with other things so have not had much time to watch. But I cannot let NASCAR go with out making some picks on who will be this year’s champion. We each get two.

The top twelve drivers are:

Denny Hamlin (Matthias’ pick)
Jimmie Johnson    (Matthias’ pick)
Kevin Harvick    (Victoria’s pick)
Kyle Busch  (Victoria’s pick)
Kurt Busch
Tony Stewart  (Sam’s pick)
Greg Biffle
Jeff Gordon
Carl Edwards
Jeff Burton
Matt Kenseth
Clint Bowyer  (Sam’s pick)

I was reading in the October Parent Magaize that now that Sam is reaching 7 months, we should start to hear him say his first word over the next few months. It got me thinking. What could be some words he might say or even what would be some great words to hear him say.
Could say:
“Poopie” ( he hears that alot)
“I know, I know” (As I’m calming him down)
“Yay” (We are extra excited people. Will always be Sam’s first cheerleaders!)

It would be great to hear him say:
“Grateful” (Something our chiropractor mention)
“Love you” (ahh)
“Mommy, Daddy” (Of course)

Will keep you posted on what we hear.

Reading: Whole Living and Parent Magazine.
Watching: Go S.F. Giants!! As of today, they are still in 1st place. Loving that “America’s Next Top Model” is back.
Thankful for: My baby Sam’s smiling face.
Looking forward to: First day at my new job. It’s been a while since I’ve had a first day on the job. For some it comes often, for others once in a great while.

Lessons in Student Affairs
In the field of Student Affairs/ Student Services, one question you must always ask yourself is how important is it for you to change campuses? Or if changing campuses is not critical right now, how about changing departments? The reason why I bring up this question is this week will be my last at Napa Valley College. Since I finished my Masters, I’ve been asking myself how important is it that I stay at Napa and is that what I want when I look back 10 years or even 20 years from now. And in the end, that question was a huge motivator for me to look outside of Napa for work and the 1 hour commute one way I have now

I knew in my heart that I wanted to experience more than Napa and that was okay. I encourage you too to think about that as you look ahead or even ponder the thought. Change can also help you refuel your passion for Student Affairs and daily energy it takes to work along side and advise college students. I’m going to miss a lot of people. I will miss the beautiful Napa Valley and my drives through the miles and miles of vines. I will miss the diverse students and their out of the blue ideas and positive energy. The best part though, is that when I look back, I will always have the experience of working at Napa Valley College.

Most Sundays, you can find me reading the local Sunday paper. My favorite part is the Sunday funnies and the travel section. In the travel section of the Marin Journal, there has been stories about the bay area summer scavenger hunt. Today, they listed the winners. The best part of course is the Checklist. As a new mom, I can’t help but think of fun things we can do now with Sam and in the future. This morning at breakfast, I told Matthias that when Sam is older, I want to do a scavenger hunt checklist each week or maybe for the month. So that while we are in the car or at home watching t.v. or even while he is at school, every time Sam sees something from the check list, he can cross it off. Here was the Bay Area 2010 Summer Scavenger Hunt Checklist:

1. Covered bridge
2. Church with visible bell
3. Sign that is intentionally or unintentionally funny
4. Black bear (not from the wild)
5. Lemonade stand
6. Water tower with writing on it
7. Festival celebrating food, vegetable or fruit
8. House that doesn’t have four sides
9. Mime
10. Someone feeding pigeons
11. Ice cream truck
12. Motel named for two people (i.e. Norma Dan Motel, Tenn.)
13. Obscure historical marker
14. Parked car with more than 10 bumper stickers? (Must be parked!)
15. Building painted purple
16. Blank billboard
17. Closed store with “We’ve moved” sign
18. Ferris wheel
19. Rainbow
20. Something unusual not on the list

Traveling overseas? (You can sub out these for any three above; substitutions must be from a location outside of the United States or U.S. territories.)

1. Sign that includes foreign words and name of U.S. state
2. Windmill
3. Outdoor market selling food indigenous to that area

With the full moon in the distance, I started the week accepting the position of Coordinator of Student Activities at Cañada College in Redwood City. It’s funny what a full moon can do. It has been nearly 9 years that I have been working at Napa Valley College. I waited until I told my students before I mentioned it to the rest of the campus. When you work in student affairs, you learn over the years how important your relationship is with the students you advise. In away, it is a sign of respect to tell your student government president and office staff before you make an announcement in their meeting or to the rest of the campus. Over the next few weeks I’ll share about the new opportunity and what it will mean for my family and me. But for now, I want to enjoy my last 2 weeks at Napa and the students I advise right now.

Reading: Finished-“Best Friends Forever” by Jennifer Weiner. Great summer read. Next buy will probably be her new book. Going to see if I can get it used.
Watching: Master Chef…not much else on t.v. right now.
Thankful for: Last weekend’s spontaneous night away in Half Moon Bay thanks to Missy and Rob stepping up to baby sit!
Looking forward to: Melissa Ethridge Concert tonight with my sister. Yay! Live music!!

Some days it feels as if I joined the motherhood train a bit later than others. Some days I seem to forget that working in education leaves me seeing the world from “semester” time frames and the outcome being a passing grade or receiving a diploma. Recently, I’ve wanted to get some sort of credit, a grade or even extra credit for being a new mom. I’m coming up on Sam turning 6 months and I have never done so much work in such a short period of time. And I thought a graduate course every 9 weeks was tough. Try teaching Sam to sleep through the night, or balancing nursing while returning to work. I’m really proud of myself but for those of us in education, we are used to getting a grade or some sort of certificate recognizing us for the effort and great work we have done. For motherhood, the “A or B+” will come in ways I have yet to realize. For now, I am going to say the laughs Sam gives me while I am changing him is a sure sign I’m doing a pretty good job as his mom.

Reading: “Best Friends Forever” by Jennifer Weiner (Almost done, really enjoying it)
Watching: Sam playing with his toes.
Thankful for: The chance to live in Larkspur and the great weather we are having.
Looking forward to: Our friends Grant and Virgina’s weekend wedding in Seattle!