Happy Mother's Day

I entered the following into a Mother's Day Contest at a local TV station...guidelines were to submit a 250 word essay on why your mom is the best...

“Do you know what the secret to life is?” my mom asked, squeezing my hand and towering above me as a large, strange dog rapidly approached. “Don’t ever let them know you’re afraid.”

Even in one of my earliest memories, my mother spoke courageously, giving me this secret weapon that I would always carry with me. My mother acted courageously even through the greatest challenge of her life. In November of 2005, just a few months after she turned 60, my mom suffered a massive stroke, enduring several brain surgeries, four months in the hospital, and extensive rehabilitation.

Learning to swallow, walk, talk, and live with the use of one arm were only a few of her challenges. This strong, independent woman, who was the first of five children in her family to earn a college degree, had to let my dad, two sisters, and I learn to take care of her, and much earlier in life than she ever expected. We all learned to reinvent ourselves, taking on new roles, especially my mom, and she did so with grace, courage, and strength.

My parents just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. They enjoy traveling, gardening, reading, and catching up with friends and family—especially their eight-year-old grandson. Their commitment to each other and to their family is my cornerstone.

My mom is the best because her life is a model of what it really means to be courageous. Because of her I know that I can do anything.

My Birthday

My husband presented me with these three vials and I got to play something like a game of deal or no deal. I picked a vial, opened the scroll, which revealed "50% off the bike of your choice." My curiosity got the best of me--as much as I wanted that new bike I decided to trade this in for another vial. I opened the next one and and got a weekend getaway of my choice, including two outfits from Anne Taylor Loft (my favorite). I stuck with this option.

I did get to open the last vial, just to see what it was....a landscaping project of my choice! That would have been a good one too, but I'm glad I stuck with Anne Taylor and the weekend getaway. Ah, he knows me so well.

My mom and dad made "better than sex" cake and Easter dinner and it was wonderful...ham, potatoes...It was the first holiday that I can remember in which our whole family was together and my mom and dad were able to host dinner. It's been almost five years since my mom had a stroke, and things are still settling in to the new normal. In the following picture with my mom, taken this past Easter, I'm wearing the "rabbit ears" that I was given on Good Friday in the hospital, just after I was born.

Patent Foramen Ovale & Fetal Circulation

When my mom was in the hospital for four months, after having a stroke, I kept hearing doctors say things about the reasons for my mom’s stroke—things like, “she has a PFO.” I had no idea what this term meant, but I later found out that PFO stands for “patent foramen ovale.” It’s a hole between the right and left atrium in the heart, which allows blood to bypass the lungs during fetal development. The foramen ovale is supposed to close on its own at birth, when the baby begins to breathe on her own, but in 20% of the population, the hole never closes, resulting in a patent foramen ovale. Tests show that, like my mother, I also have a PFO. There is no treatment and usually no symptoms, although doctors suspect that a PFO can allow blood to pool and form clots, and therefore increase the risk of stroke.

Our method of studying this in A&P involved text and a couple heart models in lab (our class is pretty much devoid of technology), but as I suspected, a search of “fetal circulation” on YouTube reveals many creative approaches to understanding fetal circulation and the changes that occur at birth. The following YouTube clips show fetal circulation in a creative and interesting way. I think it also says a lot for how audio and images can be paired with text to demonstrate complex concepts in ways that are easy to understand. These are relatively simple projects that involve still images and audio. It’s exciting to see that some educators are taking advantage of technology-based assignments that students will enjoy much more than sitting idly in a lab and identifying numbers on plastic models. These projects would also help students learn about processes and how different parts of anatomy are related, rather than just focusing on identification and rote memorization.

Foster Cheese Haus

Here are some pictures from a delightful store/restaurant in Western Wisconsin called the Foster Cheese Haus, which features locally grown foods like artisan wine and cheese. The soup and the bread in the pictures are homemade, the salad greens are locally grown, and the atmosphere is positively remarkable (check out the boulders in the pictures)! They also have a large collection of local beers, a bakery, and cafe.

Favorite Summer Foods

With spring rapidly approaching, I am so eager for summer and it has me thinking of all the fun cooking I do in the summer with fresh, locally grown foods. Here is a slideshow of some of my favorites.

I am also going to include the recipes for tomatillo chili and tomatillo salsa that I got from my friend C. Last summer was the first time I grew tomatillos and they made fabulous chilis and salsas.



Green Tomatillo Chili
1 1/2 lbs.cubed beef or about 1 lb ground beef (can use pork or chicken also)
2 cups beef broth
2 1/2 lbs. tomatillos
1 med. onion
2 or 3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp. ground cumin
1tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 chopped roasted green chili ( I use canned)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (or parsley, I always use cilantro)
3 nopales (or 1 15oz. canned, drained)*
Slow boil broth and beef covered 45-60 min. Cook onion and garlic in oil If using gr. beef, brown it and add the onion and garlic.
Add tomatillos and cook until soft.
Add spices and mix with beef and broth. Cook 30 min at a slow boil Add nopolitos, chili peppers and cilantro

*Wash, strip, and scrape off spiny nodes, cut into chunks. Cook 10 minutes in salted water and drain.
*****One time I used canned nopales but didn't think it made it any tastier, so now I omit them.
Always adjust the "hotness" to your taste!

Tomatillo Salsa (makes about 2 cups)
1 lb. (about 10 medium) fresh tomatillos, husked, cut into quarters
¾ c. loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves, minced
¼ c. chopped onions
1 or 2 jalapeno chilies, minced
1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T. olive oil
1T. sugar
½ tsp. salt

In food processor (or blender) pulse in tomatillos then add rest of ingredients and blend to desired consistency.

Greek Cooking Class

This was one of the funnest things I've ever done! I'm looking forward to attending another cooking class next week, this time about making crepes.

Speaking Out for Those Who Can't

Since my article about limited term employees (LTEs) was published in the November 2009 issue of Women in Higher Education, I've received about thirty emails, all of which were extremely supportive of the article. (I previously posted the article: http://people.uwec.edu/lehmanjc/Advocate_WIHE11-09.pdf ). I've also had about one person a day come up to me since the end of November, thanking me for writing the article. Below is a collection of some of comments I received. Although the process of writing this article was difficult and frustrating, this feedback has given me a tremendous sense of accomplishment that I had the courage to speak up for those who can't.

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I feel the article covers the problem with LTE status very well. I was reminded this week how little consideration LTE’s get when I saw that classified staff, faculty and administration were all awarded pay for the snow day on the 9th but lowly LTE’s, many who like me as a single mom really needed the pay, were told no pay for you.
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I’m not sure I like the process of an LTE position becoming a permanent position as it would probably mean I would lose my job. I think if they wanted to be fair to the LTE’s who have held those positions, they should offer them first to the LTE and then open it up to the other options. I’m not sure I can favor a system that makes my position permanent but offers it to a host of other people before me. It seems like I would exchange one type of discrimination for another.
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I just finished reading your article on LTE positions…Many years ago I was an LTE working for the State xx Division…. When one of the positions became permanent – I applied and was beaten out by a younger person, whom I had actually trained for the job. I had more experience and had been there longer but because I was an LTE I didn’t have a leg to stand on. I’m not complaining about the position I have now – I’m happy just to get the few hours to help out my retirement. I just wanted to relate my story – and congratulate you on recognizing there is problem.
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Being an LTE this time of year isn’t easy – I’m always working, and pray I don’t get sick, so far I’ve have 5 years of luck that way. I’m so glad you have such wonderful co-workers to have done what they did for you to allow you to be with your mom – warms my heart – there are good people out there. Count yourself as one of those good people!
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Thank you for an excellent article you sent about LTE’s! It was very well written and accurate! I remember responding to a survey, but over time, forgot about it, because I thought nobody wanted to hear from us, let alone attempted to change the system! I was very much interested because I have been here over 18 years in 16 different positions, and for the last 15 years with two positions to be full-time. All along I have been taking the civil service tests, and all the hiring for the vacant positions were transfers…It really is neat that you are still fighting for LTE’s, and if there would be any changes in the system, I would probably lose all those years and have to start as a new state employee, which would also be beneficial for us to be grandfathered in, and have all those years of service have some meaning. It was fortunate that you could work for an understanding supervisor.
Thanks again for speaking on our behalf and I wish you all the best!
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Congratulations on your article about the inequities of LTE positions and women. It was very interesting to read, and I definitely learned a lot and "widened my spectrum" of understanding of that crazy thing called the professional world. All of the statistics were were especially interesting. Thank you very much!