Well, things seem to be moving along pretty well on the school front! I got the go ahead to defend my research proposal before the semester ends....so that big meeting will be tomorrow @ 2pm. I spent some time yesterday working on a Powerpoint presentation for the start of the defense. All committee members have read and commented on my proposal, but there will probably be some folks in attendance who don't know what I am planning to do - so my committee chair asked me to give about a 10 minute presentation on my research topic.
My proposal title is: Aging in a confined place: Inmate health and healthcare
In the aging lit and lingo - we talk about people 'aging in place' - which generally means - living where you have lived for many years, or to living in a non-healthcare environment, and using products, services and conveniences to allow or enable you to not have to move as circumstances (health, financial, emotional, etc.) change. So I took that a step further to address aging in prison - which brings a whole new set of issues to the idea of aging in place.
(If I can figure out a way to post the presentation here, I will do that. I know we can load photos in Vox -but I didn't know if I would just have to do a link to my Powerpoint, or maybe just post a couple of slides.) All in all, I guess it is just basically a record for myself, I am really pleased with my work this semester - yay!
On top of that, this is finals week, so the craziness/stress around campus is abundant! I think Kev and I will *officially* be able to relax on Friday night. I haven't even really gotten any kind of holiday vibe yet...and I can only tolerate the Xmas tunes in small doses right now :) I am sure that will change when all the hurdles are out of the way.
Today has started out to be a much better day :) School and teaching are winding down for the semester - it seems like it just flew by!
I am looking at a large stack of papers that need to be graded, and I have several on-line activities that the students completed that I need to review. I was very pleased with my class and their work so far - great interaction and good response to the assignments and activities.
For my own schoolwork...I am waiting patiently to hear back from my committee members about a possible dissertation proposal defense date for next week! I have my fingers crossed and I am hoping for the good word soon. I have completed a satisfactory draft of my research plans and all that's left to do is give an oral presentation and 'defend' my materials in front of my committee members.
If they give the okay, then I am ready to complete my paperwork for a fellowship for next year and I am ready to get my research approved by the school's IRB (Institutional Review Board). This board reviews projects that involve human subjects, animals etc. - as a protection factor - so we are not out there conducting research that could potentially harm anyone. The board only meets once per month, so I am hoping to get an approved research proposal from the committee to get the jump on all the other paperwork I will have to do.
Here's hoping for the best.....
It has been really crazy busy around here - so much going on with work and life! I hope to be back blogging on a regular basis soon.
I got some sad, but not unexpected news today...an older family friend, Dee, died last night. He had a long struggle over the summer and fall with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. He had such a fighting spirit, but his body was just too weak to keep up the good fight.
Dee and his wife Karol were retired and living down near the Gulf Coast. They were 'snowbirds' as we call them - living in north for part of the year and then coming down south for the winter months. Over the years - their time spent in the south increased - I think traveling was becoming more difficult and partly because they loved it :)
I enjoyed seeing them when I was working down there - they always had funny family stories to share, lots of good homemade food (some of the best hot wings ever!), and they adored our dog Battye. They would walk her and spoil her with lots of attention while I was working.
I feel lucky to have known them and am so happy they have been a part of our lives! I will miss them.
I haven't updated my list in a while, but today seems like a good day to do that, since I got the publication news :) Lots of upcoming deadlines and I need to stay on top of things....
Dissertation To-Do List:
Begin draft of research proposal Sept 20
Turn in first draft of proposal to committee chair November 5
Revise, turn in second draft of proposal November 10
Update CV with news about first publication! November 13
Proposal meeting with committee chair: November 15
Prepare research presentation for committee members _______?
Send out research proposal for committee review _________?
Orally defend research proposal no later than December 16
Just got a great email..."I am pleased to inform you that the article titled “Long Distance Parental Caregivers’ Experiences with Siblings: A Qualitative Study” written by yourself and your colleagues S. S. Martin, L.K. Jennings, M.W. Parker, and D.K Harmon has been accepted for publication in the journal Qualitative Social Work: Research and Practice."
My first article will be published in the journal Qualitative Social Work: Research and Practice!! Very excited about this - this is a group effort - led by my dissertation chair ( I am third author on this one) - it really took quite a while to pull this all together. The work is based on a series of interviews with adult siblings who provided care for one or more parents. This paper is part of a larger study on Long-Distance Caregiving, for this one - we specifically explored the relationships,experiences,positive/negative aspects of providing long-distance care to parents as a sibling group.
I am very excited about this!! It will be a while before the journal comes out - but if anyone is interested in more info, I will be happy to share.
I am so excited! I couldn't wait to get home and blog about today's race :) Today's 5K was for the Arthritis Foundation - I found out by going to their website that these 'Jingle Bell Runs' are held in lots of places - each benefiting this wonderful cause. I participated in the one in Northport, AL. As most of my clinical social work has been with older adults - arthritis (in all forms) is very familiar to me and I am quite happy to support the cause.
I was on my own today - Kev is participating in his own kind of race - of sorts! He entered the Sidewalk Scramble 48 Hour Film Competition. He and his team will create a short movie from start to finish in 48 hours. It is quite a cool thing to do. He has lots of fun doing that - go Kev!!
So, I woke up at 6 a.m. had my pre-race meal...which is so hard to do if you are not a morning person! I am getting used to it, but I really hate eating/drinking so early. The temp was perhaps a bit warmer than I thought - but it was still around 38 degrees to start out the day. I bundled up and headed out the door at 7:15. I didn't have far to go - maybe a 5 minute drive to the Fitness One complex - which is also a part of the hospital system that sponsored last week's race. Very nice facility here too.
I registered and got a great long-sleeved T and 'jingle bells' to put on my shoes!
That was kind of fun! We all had the bells on as we ran :) I had about 20 minutes or so before the race and I just wandered around to loosen up. As I understand it, it is not too good to do a whole lot of stretching pre-race, but I do jog around a bit.
Based on last week's run, I knew that I would be okay in shorts and my long-sleeve running shirt. I debated about my gloves - they were nice and warm while I was waiting, but I took them off at the last minute. (Good choice, I didn't need them at all). At the starting gun it was about 41 degrees and very sunny.
There were probably 50 or so people in this race, and we started off pretty much together but spread out quickly. I didn't drive the course beforehand - so it was a surprise as I went along. We ran out of the parking area and down a fairly large hill.....which of course means there will be what feels like a MOUNTAIN at the end of the race! We ran through an older neighborhood and reached the 1mile mark near one of the local highways. I couldn't believe my 1 mile time was 11:16! Woohoo!! That really pushed me along - that along with Rob Zombie's version of "I'm Your Boogie Man"! Thank you Rob :)
The second mile was slightly down hill - parallel to the highway - it seemed pretty easy. We had one water stop at the turn around point - it was so cold and the water was so cold - I almost wished I didn't drink it! It burned a bit going down. By this time, I was feeling pretty good - I was well ahead of about 10 folks - unusual for me, but that really kept me moving along. I reached the 2 mile mark at exactly 23:00. Very happy about that one too!!
I caught back up with a woman that I talked to before the race (it was her first 5K), she was walking now and we cheered each other on as I went by. Back through the neighborhood, having to do some run/walks in short sessions - the hilly areas were getting tough. At about the 2 1/2 mile post - I saw the guy who likely finished first overall - he was doing his cool-down run! :) ( I think he finished in about 17 minutes)
Then - there it was....the big hill! I just tried to remember some of the Chi Running and told myself to stay loose. I set visual markers and ran as much as I could then walked when I felt like I had to. Looking at the hill as smaller chunks rather than ONE giant hill worked really well! I also didn't let myself look at my watch - I just wanted to better my previous time (still kind of unknown - but probably around 39:00).
I rounded the final turn and got back into the parking lot. This will really date me...but my final song was "New York Groove" - Ace Frehley (KISS)! This was on his solo album... Great lil' 70's flashback - and how could you not love Ace!! But I digress...I managed to pick up the pace and ran as fast as I could toward the finish line.
As I was approaching - the clock still was in the 37:ish range! I couldn't believe it - I crossed at 38:04!! Yay!! I was so thrilled.
I stretched and did a cool-down walk and went inside for juice, water and bagels. I am so happy to report that I came in second in my age group!!
It was a great run and I had so much fun this morning! I tried to take some pics of myself - but these will have to do. What a great start to my day :)
Well, I still don't have my official time from last weekend's race, but I was really wanting to finish my post about it - so I will give all details I do know :) Part II of 'Ready to Run':
Save the Face 5K is an annual event that benefits the Pickens County Courthouse preservation project. There is an Alabama ghost story that is in one of Kathryn Tucker Windham's Thirteen Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey books. (She is a wonderful storyteller - the link from her name gives information about that and other books she has written.) Here is a good link about the specific story of Henry Wells and the image of the face. If you scroll down, you can see the 'face'. To me, it is similar to the 'man in the moon' - I guess a representation of a face - but it does seem to be there! I think you can click on the picture below and it will enlarge so you can judge for yourself.....So, the race benefits the efforts of the preservation group to keep the courthouse and historical documents maintained.
We didn't really know where the courthouse was...so after dinner with the folks from the B&B we headed over to Carrollton to try to get an idea of what the race route was going to be. It is only a town of less than 1000 people, so by the time we were driving in - most everyone was in for the night. The courthouse was right in the center of town and well-lit, but we couldn't see the 'face' at night. (I was happy about that, I didn't want to be creeped out and not be able to sleep!) Actually, just putting the picture in this post is kinda creepy....
The race route was from the medical/healthplex (for a small town -this was a fantastic facility!) parking lot, down one of the major roads in town, through a neighborhood, and about a 2 block run directly towards the 'face', around the courthouse and back the same way to medical-healthplex. I did take note of the rather large hill that at the beginning of the race we would be running down and at the end we would be running back up! Yikes :)
We headed back and got some rest at the B&B. The race was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. with registration at 7:30 - so we planned accordingly. Since we stayed at a B&B - we wanted at least one of us to enjoy the Breakfast -so Kev was the lucky soul! The owners did have a coffee pot, bananas, fresh-squeezed OJ and other goodies for me early - so it wasn't too bad.
Kev dropped me off at the registration area and headed back to enjoy his breakfast with the B&B folks. I ended up seeing a couple of runners I knew from school and some folks from the track club -so I had some company until race time. It was quite cold - I think it was around 40-45 that day. I wasn't sure if I would run in shorts or track pants - wore both and ended up in the shorts and a long-sleeve running shirt. I think that is something that you figure out as you go along - I noticed all sorts of running attire that morning.
I started near the back of the group - there were probably 40-50 of us total, all ages and all skill levels. With the colder weather I noticed that even the faster runners really paced themselves -so at least until we made it to the first downhill we were in a giant clump! Then, I guess we were really warmed up and we all sort of found our own paces.
The first mile marker was at the end of the downhill slope and I reached it @ 12:10 (good for me!). I was able to run/walk through the neighborhood and towards the 'face'. And you could see it in the daylight! I reached the next split at 25:18 - the road was a bit rough and I noticed I was slowing down. I did manage to pass a group of three run/walkers before the big uphill run and I was pleased with that! I was really counting on my Ipod shuffle ( I have the older one that looks like a pack of gum) to keep me going for the last mile of the race. For whatever reason...every Robbie Williams tune I had in there must have played! I have a pretty eclectic mix of things, but it seemed like it just shuffled through to each RW tune.
That last uphill was tough to say the least! I have been reading a new running book to try to improve my running posture and general approach to running. I really like this book! There are several tips that are ways to 'talk yourself through' to the next stage of what you are doing.
I tried to follow the tips about staying loose and reminding myself to do that at various intervals
during the run. I think it kept me moving up that hill!
On the last stretch, I was just behind two runners and I pushed as hard as I could to try to at least catch up with them or perhaps pass them near the finish line. I just couldn't do it, but - I was quite happy that I was right on their heels :)
I still don't know my official time across the finish line....I looked at the clock as I was going through the chute (?) and I thought it was 38:?? or right at 39:00. I was hoping to beat my last time of 39:06. (My stopwatch didn't work correctly, so I wasn't able to track my own time)
I am still not totally familiar with race procedures - but this is what we did as you finished: fill out a card and place it in the basket that had our age group on it. I thought there were probably 2 or 3 other cards in there. In my mind, I thought that probably meant I was 3rd or 4th in my age group.
I headed off to stretch and to get a bagel and sports drink. My friends that were there both won in their groups :) (Go Lea, Go Susan!) I didn't have my cellphone camera with me, so no pics of the award - it was great though....a clear, plexiglass pane with the 'face' etched into it! (How cute, ummm, creepy is that!!)
No award (did I really want a 'face' sitting here on my desk?!) for me, but I felt like I ran a good race! I think one thing I am most proud of is the improved cardio-health. I just feel great after I run!
Whew...long-winded story there! I am now off to rest for the race tomorrow...wish me luck :)
Nothing really exciting to post about...I haven't updated the second part of my 'Ready to Run' post because I am waiting on the Track Club to post the official times. This race we wrote down our times (or our best guess) on a card and placed them in our age-group box. Then, I think they compared those to the official times? I didn't really understand how it worked :) It was a small race - probably 45 or 50 people total. There were several fast women in my age category, so I was really just hoping to improve my PR - even if it was just by a second or two. Hopefully I will update soon!
I have another race coming up this weekend: The Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis (raising money for the Arthritis Foundation). I am trying to convince my regular running partner to run with me...hopefully she will agree :) I know one thing for sure about the upcoming race - I will be hydrated properly and I will be dressing to run in the cold. The Weather Channel indicates it will be between 32 and 44 degrees while we are running. Brrr!!
Here is a cute pic of Ms. Battye or (Baby Budd as we call her sometimes) in her Halloween bandana - she has that serious look because I am holding a Quaker Oat Square for her behind the camera!
In school-work related news, I am working hard on my research proposal (health-related issues with aging inmates/and their families). It is basically the plan I will follow for my dissertation project. It details how my study is designed, what I am intending to do, theoretical framework, plans for protection of human subjects (this is required any time you are working with people in research - detailed explanation of how the research project may impact the participants and how you will address those situations), my plan for data collection and analysis, timeline and budget.
I will post more about this as I get things finalized. I am in a time-crunch right now because I am applying for a couple of dissertation fellowships. If I was able to receive one, I would not have to struggle to balance work/school for my final year. Fingers crossed on that!!
The other thing I have been looking at is job opportunities...since I will be finishing in the next year, I have to think now about going on the job market. Every day or so, I receive emails about potential jobs at universities here and there. The tricky thing will be to try to find one that is either near or in the same school where Kevin will be going for grad school (he is in Telecommunications/Film/Screenwriting). We have a list to work from (several options in Texas, Florida, California, Canada) - so it will be a bit of wait and see! We are both open to any possibilities out there .
Happy Halloween to all! Hope you get to do something fun and dress up if that's your thing. Sadly...I will be in the classroom teaching tonight - so no elaborate costumes or party plans for me. I will be bringing candy and goodies though.
It is also our anniversary today - Lucky 13! Happy Anniversary Kev!! (That's Maid of Honor- Lachele and Best Man - Sam on the right side of the photo) They made it a fantastic wedding experience - lots of fun! :)
Here is Part I one of the update for the 'Ready to Run' post:
Kevin wanted to be able to come with me to the 5K run but was not thrilled at the idea of getting up to be on the road at 6AM...so we came up with an alternative plan at the last minute: find a place to spend the night before the race! Well, easier said than done for a couple of reasons....a) This past weekend was U of A's Homecoming (hotels booked), and b) The race was held in the tiny rural town of Carrollton (pop. just under 1000) - so apparently no great need for lodging options.
We had never stayed in a Bed and Breakfast before - so that was the only other option I could think of. I found the www.bbonline.com website and easily found a couple of options for places to stay. Initially, all were booked for the weekend, but a last minute cancellation got us a room for one night at Myrtlewood.
The lovely owners, Jerry and Jeanne - were wonderful hosts! What a fabulous home they have in Aliceville. My cell phone photos don't do the place justice - check out the link above and see what their Victorian era home really looks like!
Just chatting with Jeanne on the phone, I felt like she was some long-lost family member who was thrilled for us to come along and spend the night. We arrived just before dark and they gave us our 'house keys' and 'room keys'. We got a quick tour of the home (we were all hungry and soon headed out for dinner)
Our room was the Victorian room - upstairs (see the link for more details). It was the smallest room, but it was set up in such a way that it was quite cozy and comfortable.
There was a nice queen size bed and a sitting area. We had phone, wireless internet and cable-TV.
There was a large chiffarobe for use as a closet and we had a private bathroom with a shower. Very comfortable and immediately we felt right at home.
There were not too many options for dinner - Jack's ....which does not exactly offer great options for pre-race dining! So we ended up at the recommended Plantation House Restaurant - which was just perfect. The house where the restaurant is located was built in 1903 - and has some old South charm to it. Apparently it is very popular with the Mennonite community, as we saw several families there while we were eating, and later, on-line I ran across a discussion board post about that - interesting!
Kev had the catfish platter with wild rice, bbq toast (which was kind of like a garlic toast - but no garlic) , salad and veggies. I had the shrimp etouffee with angel hair pasta, grilled tomatos, and salad. We ended up sitting next to the B&B owners and some of their family members - nice folks and good conversation.
We toured the house again on our own after dinner and got to see much of the memorabilia that had been kept over the years. There is a fantastic photo documentary of the restoration of Myrtlewood (1992) from an almost certain state of disrepair to its beautiful condition now.
Overall, we had a wonderful time there and plan to visit when the semester ends in December to do some sight-seeing. There is a museum in town to honor the German POW's housed there in WWII, and there are many other things to do in this small town - I was just too tired after the race.
I will now think of B&B's as a lodging option because of our wonderful experience staying at Myrtlewood!
