Me and my shadow...

Memorial day weekend in a rainy Rapid City. My sister had her granddaughters for the weekend. This is my great-niece, Morgan, who became my buddy and literally followed me everywhere. Ohhhh it was so cute! I will probably have to return to my Black Hills in a few weeks.

Great Nieces!

Amelia Awesome. My niece Stephanie and her husband Erik's daughter. My sister Susie and brother-in-law Bob are two happy grands

If these little girlies are not the cutest ever! Sisters Morgan and Peyton my nephew Christopher and his wife Tammy's daughters.

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HUSBANDUS DOMESTICUS

On Fridays I try to work from home. I do a little bit of writing up research, or given that I am prepping (consantly for loooong lectures), I prepare teaching sessions. THIS Friday I looked out the window and spotted this rare bird in my backyard, and it appears he was engaging in nesting behavior. Note the symmetry in the completed project. Wow what a species, and quite a rare bird at that!

Oh how I love SUNY-Geneseo

I cannot tell you all how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this place. Shelley, I know you always tell me not to use CAPS, but I just can't help it. My office is funky and historical. I have two "adjoining" rooms linked by a door, and I even have a window that is now in the middle of summer covered with ivy. The building that the Com Dis and Science Department is in reminds me of a MacBride Hall at Iowa. There is a bell tower that chimes on the quarter hour and it is beautiful. In fact, we can hear the bell tower from our house and it is a very comforting sound. My office is right by the tower. The people in my department are such wonderful, warm, and well-integrated souls. Dr. Metz (my hero) just won Honors of the American Speech and Hearing Association. Dr. Mackenzie (the tallest audiologist in the world) is amazing, hard working and just a good person. Bob (Dr. Owens) aka "Chuck Norris with better politics" makes me smile. I got to meet Dr. Schiavetti, emeritis professor, and have another one of my academic crushes. The other two Lindas (Linda House, dept. chair) is great, and the Clinic Director, Linda Deats, I swear never walks anywhere, she is just constantly running. Bev Loftquist is the best and I am excited to work with her, Wendy Metz and Cheryl Mackenzie are two gems... I haven't met the others as yet. Oh and the administrative assistants ROCK. They are so helpful and so supportive which is such a wonderful switch. Stacy has been my right hand and already realizes how directionally challenged I am and Monica is my co-chocoholic. Right now, since nobody knows I am officially here, I am getting a lot done for Iowa. I still need to get my classes ready...yikes.

I also love the town. I can get to work, the post office, the bank, the downtown, the kids school in 5 min by bike or 10-15 minutes on foot. People here are friendly, hard working and just plain cool.

Here is a photo of the building I work in. So I grew up close to Sturgis, SD, and now I work in Sturges Hall. Kind of fun. The line points right to my ivy-window. It is not an Ivory Tower, but it might just as well be.

Front and Inside

I was horrified to realize we don't have air conditioning, but then I realized we don't need it! This climate is so great. It gets cool in the evening so if we close up the house on hot days, no problem. Also it just doesn't get that hot here! See the "tree" circle? I'm going to make that all flowers. Also the first "project" will be to rip out the carpet in the living room and replace it with a wood floor.
All in all, I LOVE THIS PLACE!

Photos of HOME

Airshow (this was just a small part it was really very, very good.







Backyard looking toward the house
and the next is looking from the house Our little shed can be seen in the other view