My husband has a Pre-Vet bachelor's degree, a master's degree in Veterinary Parasitology, and a PhD in Medical Microbiology.
My mother has a bachelor's degree, my father a master's in Education.
My sisters Beth and Esther have degrees in Spanish and Midwifery, respectively.
My little brother is in his last year of medical school, before he begins a cardiology residency.
My three sisters-in-law (Todd's sisters) have between them three bachelor's degree; two of them have already started work towards their master's, one is in the process of applying for a master's program.
My father-in-law has a law degree.
Of my six brothers-in-law, one has a law degree, one a master's in accounting, one a psychology degree, one a bachelor's in social work, one is in medical school (like my brother), one is working on his PhD.
Is it any wonder that I feel like the least educated person in my family? It's because I am!
The idea of why we do this to ourselves is on my mind during finals week as I wrap up this 21-credit hour semester. While I should be revising for my Shakespeare 442 final tomorrow, I am instead reflecting on the alternatives* -- what I would be doing if I wasn't battering my mind against religious dissent in the Middle Ages (and other topics of that ilk). I remind myself that while I may be the least educated person in my immediate circle -- surrounded as I am by those with multiple graduate degrees -- I am also accomplishing something that three quarters of the population will have neither the opportunity, nor perhaps the ability or desire to accomplish. All of this work will be worth it when I model for my kids the value of education, and when they see the legacy they have been left by their parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles.
*And stuffing my face with chocolate. That goes hand-in-hand with finals.
We went to a living nativity tonight. Libby is now desperate to convert to the church that put it on. "So, how exactly do you join a church?" she has asked me at least half a dozen times.
"I was wondering," she said, "why there are only two tickets?"
"Because just you and I are going," I replied.
"WOO HOO!" was her response.
On the way home, we belted out a duet of "Silent Night" which was exquisite...ly painful to hear.
"It's not a competition for who does more to help around the house. But if it was, I'd be winning."
We both think we do the most. Nothing will change our minds.
Kids to school. American Women Poets. Current Political Ideology. Black Women Writers. Presentation. Errands. Medieval Drama. Libby's strings concert. Order pizza. Jacques is two! Beer. Glee with the kids. Night night.
My darling niece, Evan, asked me to please blog, because -- she says -- that's the only way she knows what's going on in our lives. Apart from facebook, of course! Anyway, I thought I would see if I could manage a photo and a few sentences every day until the end of the year.
When I woke up from my illness-induced nap, the snowflakes coming down were as big as pillows.
I made a cake for our 14-year wedding anniversary, but Libby's cat licked the icing off one side.
Oh well, you can't win them all.
First, we're happy to announce that the team has identified and fixed the issue with the YouTube conduit; you can now find and add videos from YouTube to your library and posts. As always, thanks for your patience!
The other news we have today is about a new addition to the Six Apart family: TypePad Micro, a new free level of TypePad that is streamlined for microblogging. We see a new form of blogging emerging that lives between the quick status updates of Twitter and Facebook and the long-form posts of "classic" blogging; TypePad Micro is designed to meet that need. You can read more about TypePad Micro in Chris Alden's post on the Everything TypePad blog.
A lot of the new capabilities we've added to TypePad this year were actually inspired by some of the best things about Vox: favoriting, member profiles, a dashboard to follow other bloggers, and easy ways to post content from other social media sites. But the things that make Vox different from TypePad are still there: Vox has always been -- and still is -- the best place for "friends and family" blogging, where you're in control over who sees what. TypePad, on the other hand, is built for the blogger who wants, no, craves, attention.
Do you have a passion or interest you want to share with people beyond your Vox neighborhood? If so, we'd love it if you tried out TypePad Micro. Maybe you've always wanted to start that obsessive blog that's just about waffle restaurants. Or want a place to share videos of your favorite band (Jonas Brothers, anyone? Anyone? ...). TypePad Micro's great for those topic-specific blogs. Take it for a spin and let us know what you think.
On the Vox front, our designers are working on some cool new themes (coming soon!). We'd also love to hear your thoughts about where we should take Vox in the coming year. What are the key things you'd like to see for Vox? If you've had a chance to use TypePad this year, what are the features there that we should bring over to Vox? And, if you're thinking big thoughts, how could we connect the Vox and TypePad communities in order to bring together bloggers and their shared passions? Your feedback is really important to us, so please leave a comment here, or shoot me a message.
And again, thanks for your patience as we found and fixed the YouTube bug!
~ daisy
As many of you have noticed, the YouTube Conduit is not working. I am so sorry about this; I know how frustrating it is.
The team is looking into how to get this fixed and I will update you as soon as I hear something. In the meantime, not all is lost... There is a work-around for posting videos.
When you're in the Compose Screen, just click on "embed." Ignore the fact that it says "Widget" before everything because you can definitely use this to embed videos as well. You'll just need to input the embed code from the video, enter a title (if you want) and hit OK.
It might not show up perfectly in your compose screen, but when you hit "Save," your video should appear just the way you wanted it to.
Hopefully this will allow you to keep posting videos while we figure out what's happening on our end.
As always, thanks for your patience.
Go forth and fill your libraries with media.
Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.
