RIP Maddie Rose

Our sweet Maddie (aka The Moose or Madagascar) went to the great doggie park in the sky today. We discovered a mass on her side just 10 days ago and it turned out to be an aggressive cancer. She was getting weaker and not her self by the day so time to let go. So sad. Chunky and Sassy went with me to the vet ... Chunky had some alone time with her before, nuzzled her head during and carried her in when it was done. The vet has an outside area for euthanasia during good weather and it was perfect ... Maddie loved to be outside - so much so that she went on many unapproved adventures over the years. Hard to believe how fast the time has passed the last 12 years.

 

Here I go again

I have a long history of procrastination (see any post with "grad school" label) and I'm living up to my own expectations again. I took Friday off from work so I could really dig in and get most of my Ethical Leadership research paper done. This is Sunday and I'm maybe 50% done. Really?! It's due this Friday by Noon. Today is going to be a productive day though, I can feel it.

While I should be focused on my paper, I have been processing in the back of my brain what to do with a cruddy looking crate of strawberries in the fridge. This time of year is challenging for berries ... they taste great, but are only fresh for about two days after bringing home. Conversely, the berries available in winter stay fresh forever, yet have no taste. I came across this recipe for Strawberry Basil Tart and it seems to be a perfect way to use the strawberries as well as the abundance of tiny leaf basil growing in my herb container.

Wish me luck - with the paper and tart!

I Heart Cheerios

A Cheerios commercial is getting a lot of attention. I love the commercial because it's cute and represents the world I want to live in. I also appreciate the dialogue. Go General Mills!

The Long Way 'Round

My 10-12 page ethical leadership research paper is due in 12 days. I only landed on my research question last night. I'm trying to decide if I should panic or not. I'm leaning towards not ... I have today, a few light work days, another entire weekend and a few weeknights before then. Just think what all went down in the 12 days of Christmas! I'm sure I can pull it off. Now I'm not so daft that I had absolutely no clue what I wanted to write about, but it has not been easy for me to come up with the ONE thing for which I want to create an argument with rational connections to theories presented in the course as well as counter-arguments. That may prove to be the easy part. I've got 12 pages of notes and counting (read three books on the topic- one enormous at 1000+ pages and two at 100 pages each - as well as four scholarly journals). The reference to "scholarly" is intentional - the instructor emphasized repeatedly that web resources and opinions alone are no-nos. 

Are you ready for it? Drum roll ...............................

How Does Consensus Building Demonstrate Ethical Leadership?

Dilemma

Read and watch movies for fun or for grad school?

These are the two movies for school - good but not light.

These are the books - all six of them! Definitely not light.

Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers by Kwame Anthony Appiah
Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership by Craig E. Johnson
Practicing Relational Ethics in Organizations by Gitte Haslebo and Maja Loua Haslebo
Relational Being: Beyond Self and Community by Kenneth J. Gergen
Leadership: Theory and Practice by Peter G. Northouse
What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets by Michael J. Sandel

And there's more! This doesn't include reading for reasearch paper. What have I gotten myself into?!

Summer reading / viewing just isn't the same.

Sad Saturday

Unfortunately Hubby and I did not make it to the annual fun fest. He is under the weather with an infected pressure wound/skin ulcer on his right elbow. Not sure if it's the infection or antibiotics that are making him sick (or both). He was given a general antibiotic (clindamycin) at the doctor's office the other day, but they called yesterday to say he needed something more specific (ciprofloxacin) based on culture results. The wound clinic associated with his primary Dr doesn't have an opening until the 19th so on my mother's recommendation I called the vascular center seen for a wound while in the hospital almost two years ago. Thankfully he can get in on the 9th so we can get this under control. In the meantime we're hanging out in bed sleeping (him), reading/paper writing (me) and watching TV (both). The kids went to the farm without us and they're having fun. Rain is predicted later but I'm hoping it holds off long enough for them to enjoy fireworks.

The change in plans - we had an inking yesterday - means I didn't go crazy with food. I bought a cut up grilled chicken from the grocery the other day so sent that with a bag of chips and previously made pinwheel cookies with the kids. The cookies don't look like the recipe photo, but they sure taste good. I think I need to roll them tighter. I bought coconut milk to make grilled corn on the cob and decided to extended it for a new kabob recipe (used red pepppers instead of apricots). The corn "bath" didn't really add a lot of flavor so I won't go to the extra trouble to do that again (corn was tasty enough on its own). Accompanied by some wild rice I keep in the freezer it was a super yummy supper. I just wish Hubby had enough an appetite to enjoy it with me.

Festive 4th

Size matters

I am loving my new washer, isn't she a beauty?! on the right if not sure which is which The dryer however has size envy. The matching dryer may be in my future - the height difference is testing my OCD limits.