In need of smoothies

Fifteen days since my last entry indicates that I'm blog failing again.  The Java programming assignments (along with all the other classes' homework) are rolling in again, and I'm struggling to keep up with the grading.  Again.  I still haven't found a way to minimize my grading time without negatively impacting the student learning experience.  The only way to learn Java well is to write a lot of code, get a lot of feedback, and then improve/re-write the code.  Not only have I not found a solution to the massive time required for this, but I rolled out more extra-credit programming options and quizzes, all of which require grading.  This has not helped my time problem, but it has helped the students.

This week I burned out another blender, and I'm anxiously waiting for my new one to arrive.  I am trying the Kitchen Aid blender this time around, in hopes that I can get more than a year out of it.  In the meantime, my post-workout protein "green" smoothies have come to a temporary end, which is sad.  I really look forward to my post-workout smoothie!  I just got a notice that it shipped today, so I'll be back to smoothies by the end of the week (I hope).

Worse than that, my cutting 'board' broke, and I'm really bummed about it.  I've had the nice, heavy, glass cutting board my entire adult life.  It was beautiful and functional, and I had apparently grown attached to it.  I have dropped so many things on that board with no problems, so I was shocked when the almond butter jar fell out of the cupboard, landed on the cutting board on the counter below, and shattered it into hundreds of tiny pieces.  It's such a ridiculous thing to be sad about, but I am mourning it.  Good cutting boards are also not cheap, and I intend for my next one to last for the remainder of my adult life.  I'm not thrilled with the glass options I've found so far (and I like glass, because I feel like it's cleaner), so I may try a bamboo one.  While I can get the functionality with no problem, none of them have beautiful wildflowers on them which make me happy to look at.

I have been unable to find a source for buying large quantities of vinegar in glass jars, but my mom came up with a solution that will work perfectly and assuage my guilt.  I purchase 1 gallon plastic jugs of vinegar.  We can re-purpose those empty 1 gallon jugs for our water refills.  Because our city water causes a couple of our animals to have vomiting issues, we have to buy them water.  We re-use those 1-gallon water jugs as many times as possible, but they are not very sturdy and have a fairly short lifespan.  The vinegar jugs are much heavier-weight, more robust plastic, and they should last much longer than the milk-jug type containers.  It's not a plastic-free solution, but it's an improvement, and that's my goal.

I'm still 100% caffeine free!  Last week for some inexplicable reason, my sleep took a downturn.  The time I spent sleeping was much less and the architecture of that sleep wasn't good.  I am not sure why, as there was nothing unusual going on.  It wasn't easy, but I slogged through with no caffeine.

I just finished reading, You're Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself.  It was a very interesting book--much of it from studies I had seen before and was aware of, but there was also some new-to-me content.  It was a good reminder of how amazing, yet faulty our brains are.  I work very hard to always be aware of my  brain's weaknesses, and it frustrates me than I can't just completely override these foibles.  Being aware of them, though, is the first step to making us all better people with better brains.  I have the Kindle edition of the book, and would be happy to loan it out.  It was such a good, interesting read, though, that I spent some of my grading time reading, which put me even further behind and ultimately ended up with me borrowing from my sleep time.

 I'm including some random cute critter photos tonight. Jasper LOVES bags, suitcases, drawers--anything he can climb into.  When Mark packs and unpacks for trips, Jasper is always there trying to lie on or in the bag.  When Mark returned from his last trip a couple of weeks ago, he left the suitcase out on the bed for the afternoon so Jasper could enjoy a little extra time with it. 

Luna (the guinea pig) is looking extra fluffy and clean after her bath in these photos.  The piggies get fresh fruits and veggies but no junk food.  I was finishing my lunch (a tostada), when we discovered that she really likes the tostada shells.  She was begging, trying to steal, and being altogether shameless about trying to get more.