Random Tuesday Thots

I had many things I wanted to do today. The student projects in my soil science class are starting to ramp up and the drying oven is on just about 24/7 (actually only about 20/7, because there's a 12-hr timer on the oven). But of all the things that I want/need to do the day before Thanksgiving break, dealing with a broken sink is not one of them. The connecting nut between the downspout/trap assembly and the sink basin has sheared off. It's a good thing I had put a bin underneath the trap last year when I noticed a few drips - otherwise I'd have about half a gallon of mud, water, and methylene blue all over my floor. Sigh. Being in charge of a lab is hard work - I hope the students get something valuable from the opportunity to work on semi-independent projects for half a semester. Now I just need to get the sink fixed so that they can do the washing up...

My sister's birthday was yesterday. She's six years younger than I am and is a high school english teacher. Her husband is a college chemistry prof. Our mom is a K-12 Librarian/Learning Technology Specialist, our dad is a high school chemistry/biology teacher, our maternal grandpa was a high school chemistry teacher, and our grandmother was an elementary school special education teacher. I think my sister and I were doomed to a career in education from the get-go. Makes me wonder what her 9-month old daughter is going to do. Is she pre-disposed to the kinds of activities that favor education? Is being raised by educators giving her the kinds of experiences that foster being a good teacher? I don't know, but she is getting to be quite the cute kid (here's a photo my sister took the other day).

Looks like blogging is in the family, too. My sister has her own blog - go over and say hi if you'd like. And don't ask her why I'm so weird - she doesn't know either.