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Economics
With summer upon us, our fellow El Pasoans have pulled out their many methods of coping with the heat. One of those is the use of vehicles with convertible tops, allowing for maximum airflow while driving. Avey has been most interested in these unique vehicles of late, and mentioned to Kira a few days ago that she would like it if we were to own a convertible some day. Kira shared her interest, but also added the caution that such cars often come with greater cost than others. Avey pondered that for a moment and then said, “But if there’s no roof, it should cost less!”
At dinner a few nights ago, I was teasing Avey (a common occurrence in our home). I jested that she should put me to bed and she could stay up and do the dishes (rather than the other way around). She responded that she was the younger of us and, therefore, should be the one going to bed. I challenged, saying that she were the older one than I. Now clearly frustrated, she growled, “Dad, listen. 1-2-3-4-5! Have you heard 31 yet?!?”
Carver has made leaps and bounds in his development these last couple of weeks. He’s sprouted two top teeth, and possibly a third, and just yesterday after changing his diaper, I set him on his feet and he took about 5 steps unassisted. He’s getting bolder, and will probably be walking all over us very soon!
I finished up finals on Monday of this week, utterly destroying my Categorical Data Analysis final with a 98.8%, and awaiting the results from my other courses. I was very disappointed to find 3 of my undergraduate students had plagiarized their written assignments, forcing me to turn them in to the University’s authorities to face disciplinary action. I also finally learned that I will be teaching Sensation and Perception this summer! Hopefully I will also get two papers submitted for publication, and my dissertation proposal ready for approval. It will be a busy summer for me.
Avey’s preschool had their end-of-year celebration on Thursday (I have a hard time calling it a “graduation”). I spent most of it chasing Carver up the aisles, but Avey did a wonderful job singing with her classmates. We are so proud of how she is growing and learning! The printed program noted on it that she is in the future graduating class of 2026, nearly giving me a heart attack. That seems so far away, and she’s our oldest!
Kira has been very busy with her counseling lately, spending most of her Mother’s Day working through a crisis with a client, and now with a caseload of four – the most she’s ever had for private practice. She made arrangements for us to go on a date yesterday – yes, a real date! We went to a morning showing of the new Star Trek movie (which was fantastic), and then enjoyed a lunch where no one was screaming for a bite of our food (e.g., Carver) and we were not distracted by the need to prod anyone to eat their own (e.g., Avey). We will need to do that more often!