Then there was October

Wow, It has been awhile since I updated this blog. October was a whirl of activity.

This past weekend Jeff and I went out to Becker Vineyards for a Cabernet tasting. It was a truly gorgeous day and we had a fabulous time. The wines were great. The weather sparkly and bright. Then we had dinner with Mom and Dad and I used the lovely serving tray that Gabrielle and Tony gave us for an engagement gift. It was nice to spend some time with them this weekend. We also all went to the doggie park on saturday and tonight we are all going for Mexican Food at Matt's El Rancho.

Thursday and Friday I spent up in Waco. Highlights there: Amy defended her dissertation. Yippe.

The weekend before last, Lenore and Henry had a lovely engagement party for us up in Waco. Henry's toast was just perfect. He noted that Jeff and I both believe in transformational activities. wine and beer making, yoga, philosophy and that they were happy to welcome jeff into the family, that everyone there considers me family even though I've run away to Austin. It really captured the moment and the overall situation so well.

The week before that Jeff and I went to New York City for the Society of Ancient Greek Philosophy. We had a great time. My paper went well and I got some good feedback about how to restructure a small part of the Republic chapter which is what I'm procrastinating doing right now. It was fun to see Natalie and James. The weather was less than stellar, but it is just great to hang out in that city, regardless.

The week before that I had another conference in Alabama. I went a day early so I could meet George's wife and baby girl. George is the brother of my best friend from high school. We had a really nice time ate thai food and talked about academia. I also got to spend some time with my good friends Rasma and Gunnars. They seem to have settled into Alabama quite well and Gunnar defended his dissertation a couple days after that visit. Gabrielle came along on that trip right after her own dissertation defense. This has definitely been the month for people I know to finish their dissertations.

Bi Weekly Update

Well let's see, it has been an eventful past couple weeks.

Last weekend, I took Jeff to Chapel Hill for my 25th year high school reunion. I really love Chapel Hill and was excited that Jeff got a chance to see it and to meet some of my very oldest friends. Friday night we started the dining extravaganza at A Southern Season.
We drove by my old house which has a very modernistic renovation and looks fabulous. My house edged up on the North Carolina Botanical Gardens. Then we had dinner at Lantern with Susan and Laura, then went to Tyler's Taproom for reunion event # 1. Tyler's is owned by a former classmate of mine.
Our excellent limo driver dropped us off at Time Out and Jeff survived his first Time Out experience.

Saturday we went to the reunion picnic for a little while, toured the high school (Jeff is not actually smoking in this picture, but he is paying homage to the Wall.

and the site of the giant column of rain, More on that another time...

went to Carolina Brewery

and University Mall to buy an umbrella, then Crooks Corner for dinner with Susan, Laura, Treeby, Molly, (pictured above) and Lisa Johnson, and assorted significant others (not pictured). Most people got Shrimp and Grits.



Then the final reunion event at a nightclub downtown. The place was decorated with all sorts of memorabililia from high school, musicals, sports events. Very cool. Anyway, it was a great experience all in all. It rained all weekend, but that was actually a nice change from the ongoing Texas sun. I was struck by how much things look exactly the same in the midst of a lot of change and growth.

The weekend before that Jeff and I had an engagement party. (If you are on Flickr, Ari Stiles took some lovely photo's of the event. It was really a lot of fun. Jeff's parents offered to do a great deal of the cooking and they really made it super easy to have a party. My parents arrived a few days before the party, purchased a house about a mile up the road and in general got a nice preview of their life in texas. Perhaps they will start their own blog, AP1 and AP2 in Austin.

The weekend before that Jeff and I went to the Desiree Rumbaugh workshop. Lots of fun there.


In the professional domain, I'm really enjoying teaching Social World. We just finished up the Republic and will turn next to Aristotle's Ethics. Also, I continue to find the TR schedule much more conducive to writing. I've had two good writing days in a row this week.

Tomorrow, I'm heading upto Waco. I've got a busy day Thursday. I invited several of my female friends over for a ladies night potluck. I'm looking forward to that. Then I'm guest teaching a class on the topic of yoga in America tomorrow morning. That should be fun as well.

In all, life is good. Off to reorganize a bookshelf, take a shower and go to Christina's yoga class.

An update of Life in Austin

Hello Gentle Readers,

I've really been more in the mode of living life than blogging about it. I guess I'm in a more Nietzschean mode than a Socratic one of late. Above is a photo of the painting I bought from Caroline Wright and a picture of my feet on the way to the dog park.

School started back. I'm teaching Social World on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This week and last week, I've just driven there and back each day. It is a bit tiring, but the upside, is falling asleep very easily. I've never really been a Tuesday Thursday person. I didn't like TR as a student and taught MWF for most of my teaching career, once I got off of a 4/4 load... I have to say I'm enjoying the new pace of it. Each class is a bit more intense... more on that on the teaching blog and on teaching Plato in an interdisciplinary context.

Mostly life in Austin is hanging out with Jeff, playing with Milo and Q, going to yoga classes, practicing, writing and enjoying all the fun that Austin has to offer.

This weekend, we went to the Desiree Rumbaugh workshop, so we didn't do much else. We did go to BJ's brewhouse with CT and Kelly Sunday night and took Milo to the doggie park Sunday afternoon. The weather has just been glorious.

This morning we went to check out a wedding venue, the Allan House. I worked out, came home and wrote for a while, checked out some caterers, took a shower and went to Peggy's class. A pretty typical Monday.

Here is Milo and a doggie toy.

Last Day of Summer

I'm teaching a Tuesday Thursday schedule this year for the first time ever, so even though today is the first day of school for Baylor, it is not the first day of school for me. I've spent most of the day writing and organizing various Baylor related things, inviting guest speakers to campus, arrange social life plans for while I'm in Waco.

I've really hit a good grove in writing these past three weeks. Hopefully, it will make it easier to continue the momentum into the school year. I now have a good draft of the first half of the last chapter and I'm moving onto section 3 tomorrow. I have an okay draft of the whole of the last chapter.

Good draft to mean means one more revision and I'll be happy with it. Okay draft means it needs at least two more revisions, but I'm closing in.

In the yoga domain, I taught the chair yoga workshop this saturday and subbed Patti's class, so Saturday was pretty much all about yoga. I've really enjoyed going to so many classes this summer. My practice has really gotten a lot stronger over the past few months, even making progress in the twists. Now that school is starting back, I'll be doing more of my practice as home practice, which has its own set of benefits.

In the personal domain, Jeff and I had a fun weekend. We took in part of the Hatch Chili Festival at Central Market and looked at various wedding venue options. Places we are currently considering are Barr Mansion, Mercury Hall, Allen House, and Green Pastures. We still don't have a date set, but we are working on it.

Above are some pictures of Q and Milo helping with the venue selection.

Exciting News

Jeff asked me to marry him last Sunday. I said yes! So we are now engaged!! It's very exciting. Milo and Q were both very excited by the news. They are looking forward to being step-dogs.

We haven't set an official date yet, but we'll probably get married next fall (2010). We'll have an engagement party next month.


In more mundane news, I'm having a productive day writing and I'm happy to report that the AC in the house is now working and my car AC should be fixed sometime in the next hour or two. Then I hope to have time to workout before going to Christina's class at Castle Hill.

I've got a busy day up in Waco tomorrow and Saturday I will be attending the graduation hooding ceremony for Lewis Pearson who finished his dissertation this summer. Lewis is the second student I've had the pleasure of directing, but this is my first hooding ceremony. I was out of town when Taryn Whittington graduated and I did not go to my own hooding ceremony.

Milo is finally back in action

Well, Milo got to go back to puppy school this week. Wednesday was his first day back, then he went on Friday



and today was his first day swimming at Red Bud Island, he does seem to have gained a bit of weight during his month long home stay.

Right now, he's crashed out right next to me after the big day.



Pretty mellow weekend. Jeff and I ate Mexican food for dinner Friday and went out Saturday to Shady Grove to celebrate the birthday of a friend of mine from college. Was a little bummed that no one showed up to my class on Saturday as I had a great sequence planned, but it is the dog days of summer. It was just me and Gillian at practice on Friday.


I've been subbing classes for Devon this week. That's been a really nice experience. Have been to a bunch of yoga classes, Peggy's, Christina's, got some writing done, feeling pretty good about the first section of the last chapter and did some reorganization work with the overall structure of the chapter that is helpful.

Also, been dealing with various car issues, oil change, fluid changes, air conditioner compressor issues. once my house sells in Waco, I'm buying a new car, the BMW I've always wanted.

Right now, I'm packing for my trip to Tucson. Jeff and I are both going to Christina's immersion that she's teaching with Darren Rhodes.

Milo Update

Milo's convalescence is going okay. He goes to the vet tomorrow to get the tubes taken out of the lump on his chest. It has been pretty difficult to watch him be less than his normal exuberant self. he whimpers a lot and he has to keep his Elizabethan collar on all the time, so he really looks a bit pathetic. Here he is with Q on the couch and out in the yard.

In other news, I've had a decent week writing so far, Christina and I practiced on Monday, Tuesday I went to her class and then subbed for Gillian. Today I subbed for Gillian at AYS, but no one came so I went to CT's focus on form, worked out, and then went to the instructor practice at Castle Hill, decided 4 hours of yoga was enough and didn't go to Iyengar land tonight.

Mostly, I've been writing, working out, doing yoga and watching Milo. That's what's new.