off we go

Information on our boat is here, though we have a customized itinerary:

Day 1 Baltra, South Plaza
Day 2 Espanola (Gardner Bay, Punta Suarez)
Day 3 Floreana ( Punta Cormorant, Devils Crown and/or Champion, Post Office Bay, Highlands)
Day 4 Santa Cruz (Charles Darwin Research Station, Highlands)
Day 5 Genovesa (Darwin Bay, Prince Philip Steps)
Day 6 Bartolome, Santiago (Puerto Egas)
Day 7 Rabida, Santa Cruz (Cerro Dragon)
Day 8 North Seymour, Baltra

It is the two days in Quito first I am worried about--traveling with kids in a third world country. We decided to arrange to have a van meet us at the airport after the person in the Galapagos who is arranging our trip sent us the following information about taking a taxi safely:

It can still be a bit of a scramble getting through the crowd to the taxi van outside, so make sure you keep your eyes on your bags at all times. When travelling as a family we always have the following rule when getting into a taxi of any kind: one parent always gets into the taxi first, before our kids get in. (This is to avoid the very unlikely but still possible danger of having a kid get in the taxi and the taxi driver suddenly driving off with him or her before the parent gets in - unfortunately kidnapping is a real, though rare, event). The second rule is for one parent to get in the taxi before the bags are put in--this is to avoid the driver driving off with your bags before you get into the taxi. Also be vigilant like this when you get out of your taxi when you arrive at your destination. It is best for one adult to stay in the taxi until the bags and kids are out.

We'll be back Jan. 10.

still here, barely

My daughter had a stomach virus a week ago, my husband got it Tuesday, my son last night. I'm not feeling too good myself now. No one was sick Christmas day, and the most important thing is to get through it before we leave on our big trip Tuesday. But there was an awful lot I was hoping to get done this break that isn't getting done. Expect little posting until after we get back Jan. 10.

Holiday Greetings!

good news

I went to the doctor and got the results of some blood work. My Hemoglobin A1c, which measures average blood sugar, was down from 6.5 to 6.2 (actually, I had hoped for even better). My cholesterol panel still had the excellent numbers I have always had--I was worried that would change either as a side effect of the diabetes or because I am eating a somewhat more fat and protein because I have had to cut back so on carbohydrates to keep my blood sugar down.

I didn't get the results yet for female hormone and androgen levels. The doctor thought I would probably turn out to have high androgens. But without the evidence to talk about I didn't get to use the line I have been thinking about: "But I don't want to be less masculine!" Very hard to find any information on that, though I found one web site that lists "a hard-driving personality" as a symptom of high androgens.

end of the semester

Most of my grades are in--I need to concentrate on the last few tomorrow. Then maybe I should think about Christmas? I'm sure I can think of something better to do. I've got an article to write, and an awful lot to get ready for the big trip after Christmas.

wetsuits

I just figured out the trick to wetsuit sizes. A woman's XXL in wetsuits is a size 14. Since I wear a size 16 or larger, this is a problem. I have to find a shorty wetsuit for our after-Christmas trip.

mistakes and sins

I've been trying to learn to be less afraid of mistakes. My kids learned in school to say "Everyone makes mistakes." Mistakes are a good way to learn. I grew up feeling so desperately that I had to be a good girl, and I tend to feel I can't afford to do anything wrong. In parallel to mistakes one might at least argue that we shouldn't be so afraid of doing something wrong, so long as we learn from it. How do we learn to believe in forgiveness?

the last day of classes

is always a relief. This has been a hard semester; I've been distracted and not as into the flow of my classes as I like to be. I did get passionate in my final lecture to one class, but I never know how much my call for making choices about technology gets through to them.

low carb

I've made a big point of not paying attention to the world of diets, and so I am rather horrified by what I find now that I have to pay attention. There are not only so many conflicting and extremist approaches but so many conflicting goals. At the moment I'm trying to follow the goals explained here. I can do that and eat not too low carb a diet. But would it be better to eat fewer carbohydrates and have still lower blood sugar? Some people definitely think so, but at the moment I incline against the idea. The glycemic index approach allows selecting carbohydrates that have somewhat lower effect, but I don't find that much difference.

last week of classes

I just had my students do the university student evaluation form on line. Since I teach a laptop course I can have them fill out the questionnaire in class, and I feel fairly comfortable with that, particularly since my department has a separate evaluation form which asks the students to write a paragraph on paper. Other faculty who are not teaching laptop courses are very worried about online evaluation, as they think students will not take the process so seriously if they do it at home in their dorms rather than in class.