On the plus side, the month of May also marks Nikita’s birthday. Like last year, he celebrated at Plaster Fun Time. The hostesses were great: I don’t know if I could’ve handled 15 boys and 1 girl (!) by myself, but there they all were – painting! Then they munched on chex mix, Nikita’s favorite fruits and veggies (yes, he does eat them occasionally. He even likes green salad.), Russian pastries, and of course, birthday cake. Next year, I will try making rice crispy treats instead of Parmesan chicken tenders, which were not touched. Nikita actually helped me prepare his birthday cake and goody bags (he also likes doing dishes!). There are advantages of him getting older.Nikita is still doing rather poorly in chess tournaments. Basically, he thinks he's so good that he doesn't have to think, but then he realizes too late that he has to save the game. Hearing the moms at the tournaments (“Oh, you better watch out for Nikita!”) does not help, but he was pretty affected by them in the last tournament, when they commented on how he was being crushed by his opponent. I’m hoping such experiences will convince him that he actually has to work, but we’ll see.
Ivan and I have had some cool outings while Nikita has been in chess tournaments. At the beginning of the month, we attended our second concert by the Boston Civic Symphony. As before, he fell asleep in the middle of the afternoon concert, but impressed everyone around us by his good behavior. We also purchased a children's CD from the featured cellist, Sergey Antonov, and listened to it on the way home – much more appropriate than the Warblers CD we heard on the way to the concert.
This past weekend, we went to the annual Street Performer Festival at Faneuil Hall. We particularly enjoyed the clown. I was in stitches seeing him trying to get a club from a 5-year old while balancing on platform resting on a cylinder. I was surprised, however, by the rudeness of some of the people who work there, in particular a guy at Pizzeria Regina and a clown who made funny hats out of balloons. Ivan just wanted the sword (of course), but the guy curtly said it was a "package deal".
Back at home, music still rules. Ivan got a ukulele from my parents, and spent a lot of time watching Yo Gabba Gabba's "Party in My Tummy" and Glee's "Light Up the World". He still loves opera, and actually wants to learn Italian (!), which we'll try out in the fall. In the meantime, we checked out a music appreciation class, but it's not worthwhile.
My biggest news is that I got promoted! To the fancy title of Lecturer II, which means that I am entitled to a 5-year renewable contract in perpetuity. In the short term, it means that I don’t have to look for a new job next year. Whew! I also gave a talk on scientific presentations at Hunter College (and enjoyed dinner with my parents, brother, and sister-in-law), and received a lovely thank you gift (chocolate!) from a student. In addition, three of my students won writing prizes with papers I helped develop. All of these events definitely make up for my reduced workload this summer (one institution chose a different candidate; another couldn’t get funding) and my loss in the Blogger Cookie challenge.
Outside of work, I did last-minute organization of Teachers Appreciation Day at Nikita’s school. Igor thinks it's a waste of time, but one parent said I saved her from a nervous breakdown. I also did a lot of baking for others, some work-related. I put links to the recipes that did not come from Cook's Illustrated:
- lemon meringue pie (Vanya – on Mother’s Day, no less! Thank you, Amelia Bedelia.)
- birthday cake and cupcakes (Nikita)
- apricot-pistachio-lemon coffee cake (class party)
- Peruvian Garlic-Lime Chicken (my promotion)
- Cashew Butterscotch Bars (thank-you gifts for my promotion)
I'm going to end this post with a Glee-Wind of the season 2 finale. I hated the New York mash-up, but loved Rachel's duets and striped peacoat. Someone bring the coat back, please!
