Dr. Jenn LaRue

Yesterday, the MLB app wouldn’t let me listen to the first half of the Blue Jays opening day game while I drove back to GA (which ended up being a mercy, tbh). Today, it’s on AppleTV, so I’m listening to audio. At some point, I’m going to actually get to watch/listen to a complete game.

thank you to Kendrick and the Eagles for making terrible people angry tonight

Hordes of small children 😂

Ooh, my biggest (Canadian) claim to fame is once being Mr. Dressup’s body guard (well, one of them) as we walked him across the street from the CBC to the Toronto Convention Centre.

A real challenge of Trump II is to separate the presidential trolling that is meant to waste your energy from the real dangerous stuff that deserves your attention.

Black sweatshirt featuring an anthropomorphic pineapple from the French Canadian kid’s tv show Téléfrançais! The text below the character reads “Je suis un ananas” (“I am a pineapple.”)

Also, as small business retail therapy for the post-course-eval blahs, I bought THIS: (Thank you, retrokid.ca)

So I’ll make something warm to drink and have a little snack and then get back to work. And as I tell the students whose teaching I mentor—these evaluations are not great tools. Take what helps and leave the rest.

Ok, a lot. I try to model for my students the idea that a PhD does not equal “knowing all the things” but rather the skills to think critically and learn. As my area coordinator puts it, “head learner.” So, no, this is not even a question I value. But still. My people pleasing tendencies hate this.

Oof. I did the thing. I looked at course evals. And of course, I’m stewing over the negative. (I don’t mind the constructive feedback in the comments—that helps make the next version of this very new course better. The idea that I somehow did not demonstrate mastery of the material stings a bit.)

The thread I was waiting for 🥰

Yes. And now this, and of course style, is what we eagerly await. (When your brain is less fried, of course.)

I had turned it off, I’ll admit it. But I turned it back on. That was bonkers.

Well, I just finished watching a college football game with 8 overtimes, so I was C major, E major, and A minor for a while when it just wouldn’t end.

Well that was a rollercoaster. But Go Dawgs. Now it’s finally bedtime. #8overtimes

Me to youngest child: “so, how was your Thanksgiving?”
“It was ok. But we didn’t have POPCORN.”
Which is why I’m making popcorn at 8 pm. I blame Charlie Brown.

said to me, genuinely shocked, after I said I was full after Thanksgiving dinner: “But you only had ONE plate!”

And now I’m wondering if that was actually commentary on my usually dietary habits rather than a comparison to his multiple servings of mac n cheese.

One of your children (and there’s always one) will usually say amazing things to boost your self esteem. Like: “The older you get, the less effort you seem to put into getting ready before you go out.” Or “That dissertation sounds boring.” But today, that kid (who really told me both those things)

A very crumbly butter tart, very “rustic” as Mary Berry would describe it, being eaten with a spoon.

Oh no. One of the butter tarts did not survive removal from the tin. (To be fair, “survival” isn’t a great term for most of them. They’re not pretty.) Fear not, I took one for the team and ate it with a spoon.

This is one of the few store brands that I don’t mind the taste of, but I still want to be cranky about this. On today of all days, the day for being thankful while watching football and parades.

Crumbled sheets of store-bought pastry

This is why I usually just make my own pastry. Yes, I defrosted it over night.

Happy Thanksgiving: we’re not doing the big family thing today (you can be jealous) which means: before dinner, all bets are off. Middle kid is eating muddy buddies for lunch. I’m just jealous I didn’t get to them first.

Peer review workshop day!

5/5 conferences, 4/4 papers are finally done! #AAA2024 in Tampa was really lovely, but I’m ready for Thanksgiving break to get caught up. Mainly on sleep, and time with the kids and husband. But also some writing. Mainly sleep. And episodes of Bake-off.

I am very much looking forward to the #AAA2024 conference but very much not looking forward to seeing how this paper badge will deteriorate over the next three days.

I firmly believe that once a day, during a conference, it’s important to go back to the room, change into sweats, turn off the light, and have a little snack or two.

I took email notifications of my phone (with my first advisor) for that reason.

Gearing up for conference 5/5, paper 4/4. Paper is done, slides are not. Slides are mostly going to be pulled from other decks at this point. Am not packed. But hotel snacks are ready to go. Clearly, I have my priorities.

That…is a challenging time. Sending all the strength and positivity your way!

4/5 conferences done. Will absolutely be working from the couch today, under a blankie, drinking tea.

Orange petaled-flowed on a long stem with slim pointed leaves coming out on opposite sides of the stem

The unidentified seedling I received from the youngest child on Mother’s Day, after months of vining upwards—this is what I come home from AMS to: