Dr. Sherry...Dr. Christina...teach...um professor

I am just about half way through my first quarter as an adjunct faculty at the Art Institute of Michigan and have a whole new level of respect and gratitude for all of the teachers I have had during my 21 years of schooling. Overall, I must admit it has been a bit more work that I had originally anticipated, mainly because the PowerPoints I received from the previous instructor needed a bit of work. The quiz and test material, thankfully, were right on target and only needed a tad bit of tweaking. Once I have this first quarter under-my-belt, I think (at least hope) the subsequent ones will be a bit easier. I hope to have time in the future to more of an effort in to the concept and depth of the material, as now, it can be a bit of a struggle to have the basics covered very week. There are a chapter or two that we don't have time to cover currently and I want to find away to integrate this material in throughout the quarter.

After 6 weeks, I'm still not 100% used Dr. Sherry, especially since probably half, if not more, of my class is older than me. Why this makes a difference to me, I'm not sure, but I'm getting used to it. The scores their first quiz were not great, but on par with previous classes. I think they realized this is a serious class and upped the studying for the next quiz and scores improved. Right now, the biggest struggle is figuring out what things they don't understand. Sometimes it is obvious the concept is not getting through, but without people asking questions/making comments, it is hard to determine what material they are struggling with.

My director has formally asked me to continue teaching, so I guess something is going right!

My check book hurts

Between getting a few needed items fixed on my car, mainly the wheel bearing and purchasing a new digital camera...my check book is starting to hurt a bit. I will have to put off the purchase of a new Droid Phone for a few months while it recovers. I am happy to report though that my gig moonlighting as an adjunct will sure help off-set the recent unforeseen expenses.

With that said, I am now the proud new owner of a new sliver Cannon SD 1300. I wish I would have had time to purchase it before heading the Chicagoland this weekend for Desiree's babyshower. Then I would have been able to post pictures of just how cute she is. At 7 months already, she looks closer to 4 or 5, with just cute little bump showing. They are having a boy, and they say boys sit low and to the back, and with her doctors approval that she is right on schedule...I'm sure baby-boy Lavin will be here, healthy in no time.

I needed to take the day off Friday before driving out there just to get errands done, and as with a lab job, "taking the day off" meant going in for an hour or so in the morning and then taking the rest of the day off. I was able to accomplish all on the list, hence the new knowledge of the pending automobile repair. I also picked up a few audio books for the drive. I listened to a few disks of "Beloved" but just couldn't get in to it and follow the story, so it was on to my next selection, "The Next Thing on My List." I liked it so much, I finished listening to it last night and today. In short, a June accidentally kills a stranger she is giving a ride home to from a Weight Watcher's meeting and finds this women, Marisa, has a list of things to do before her 25th birthday - just a year away. June spends the next year of her life trying to complete Marisa's list and, as to be expected goes through quite a life-changing experience. It was, all in all not to heavy of a story, although based on the death of a young women. It was well written and almost suspenseful, because there were a few items on the list that seemed fairy impossible.

Baby Sherry #3 will be here in less than 2 weeks!

# 851 on the list

Even though some days I feel that there are 850 things on my "To-Do" list, I have decided to add another and (attempt to) keep up with my blog.

After completing my first year as Dr. Sherry, I am starting to form a better idea of what I want to do when I grow-up. I am starting to make some moves towards achieving these goals/dreams.

I have recently purchased an electric piano and have been re-teaching myself to play. It has been a bit surprising how much I have forgotten and yet some pieces come back as if I just had a recital last week. If it is a bit of a trip down memory lane to see some of my former teacher's hand-written notes on the music. Right now I am just focusing on re-teaching myself to read music and play with both hands at the same time. I hope to find a teacher and take lessons in the fall.

I have also starting moon-lighting as an adjunct faculty at the Art Institute of Michigan teaching nutrition to culinary arts students. We are four weeks in to the quarter and I am really enjoying this adventure. It has been a lot more work than I anticipated; however, I hope that after I get the lessons and planning down this first quarter that the subsequent quarters will be a bit easier. It is still a little strange to be regularly referred to as Dr. Sherry for 3 hours once a week, but I kind of like it ;) Plus, I think my head-chef really like calling me Dr. Sherry.

I do not have many pictures to post since I lost my camera in California earlier this spring, although I didn't really use it. Still a mystery to me; so I am taking suggestions on a replacement.

Less is more

I think that most all dietitians and nutritional professionals have known, at least in theory, that all the additives in our food supply or not only not necessary, but have a negative impact on our health, especially salt and sugar. Anyone with even a few taste buds know that increasing salty and sugary foods are more addictive, and the role of these additives in changing one's brain chemistry will be saved for another post.

Just a few weeks ago, Welsh et al from Emory, reported in the The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA. 2010 Apr 21;303(15):1490-7.) reported that there was a significant correlation between dietary added sugars and blood lipid levels among US adults

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Additionally, numerous experts have urged the FDA to lower salt in the American diet because...

On average, Americans consume more than 3,400 milligrams of sodium -- the amount in about 1.5 teaspoons of salt -- each day. The recommended maximum daily intake of sodium -- the amount above which health problems appear -- is 2,300 milligrams per day for adults, about 1 teaspoon of salt.

Adding to the trifecta is high fructose corn syrup, which is 20-60% sweeter than regular table sugar (sucrose), and despite what Corn Refiners Association would like you to think, HAS NOT been proven to be the same as sugar.

It is great to now see the science to back what I feel most of us have known, let's hope the government and manufactures will take notice and make changes with the health of their consumers in mind.

Travels

Ugh...I have not been as faithful with keeping up the blog as I anticipated, but alas, I have some reasonable excuses, like a cruise to the Bahamas. Yes, finally one appendix and four long years later, I finally made it to the Bahamas. I would like to thank Beth for organizing such a great trip to celebrate the 30th birthday of her and several others. This was my first cruise and despite some over-cast weather, it was great! I did not have any sea-sickness issues, although, I did not really anticipate any. We set sail from Miami on Friday afternoon and got the trip off to a great start with several drinks by the pool. While in port in Nassau I did some shopping, snorkeling and bar crawling. Beth set-up a mini bar crawl to a few local places that ended with her purist to the infamous bar she had stumbled upon during her last trip to Nassau. We also enjoyed wonderful, endless food and a great dinner waiter, Nelson, who kept us very entertained. All in all, for my first experience at sea, it was fun and relaxing.

Now, it is on to Cali. First for the Experimental Biology meeting in Anaheim. It was so wonderful to see ol' friends from UIUC, and of course bittersweet. Last night Mina and I had a great time catching up over a pitcher of margaritas and afterwards met-up with Vicki and company for a rousing evening of scientific banter. Yes, it was stimulating. Now the John (and shortly Desiree) have moved to Cali, I was able to see them both. His new promotion at Chase is going well, and she is excited to get out here after graduation and get ready for their baby!! Of course the conference was good, although there were not too many talks on the specifics of my new research.

FASEB did a great job at improving the career development section and I hope I attended enough seminars to now have some clue of what I want to be when I grow-up. I will say the Anaheim convention center/Hilton was not the best equipped. One example was the ridiculous line at Star-bucks every morning. I know this is not their first conference and it is not hard to figure out having a line solely for coffee along with a barista taking orders in-line would greatly improve the situation. Guess it was my luck I liked the coffee in the room.

Now it is on to UCSD to learn some new scientific techniques. I'll be here just a few days and have already gleaned much more insider information and tricks than I would have just trying to follow the directions. I am not sure how much time I will have to sight-see, as I have to prepare for a presentation on Tuesday when I return.

Sam's hot-spot

I am back from a wonderful weekend in Chicago seeing the sites, and of course, wonderful friends. The trip out was clam and boring. We did have a book-on-CD (thank you public library system). Although, Kite Runner, is not the most up-lifting story for a Friday night/Sunday afternoon drive, it is a great story that keeps you guessing. We did not finish the 12-disc unabridged version, so thanks to the advent of modern technology, it now sits on my hard-drive ready for my iPod. Also, there was a really good piece on Chicago Public Radio, an interview with Dr. David Kessler about his new book and how the American diet is addicting.

We visited the Museum of Science and Industry, Navy Pier, and of course the Magnificent Mile. It was so great to see Amy, Faisal, Beth, Jake, Sam, Keng-I, and Brooke. I also met a few of Sam's new friends at 'her' new hot-spot, Suite Lounge. I would recommend it for anyone in the neighborhood. It was a little under-ground secret with great martini's, and out luck at a prime table topped off the night. It was great to see Sam out with the masses, mingling with the best of 'um. She has her own bar now, where they greet her by name, and know her drink.

Wine, birthday, and a make-over

There was a great, albeit a tad crowded, wine tasting at a restaurant just around the corner from my place on Friday night. The night started a bit earlier, though, with a impromptu lab happy-hour. I wasn't originally planning on beer and wine in the same night, but considering this is the first lab-related social event that has happened since my arrival, I felt the need to participate. The theme of the wine tasting was "World Cup of Wine: France vs Spain." There were about 30 wines, split pretty much half and half. As these things usually go, after about the fourth taste all the reds were tasting similar as were the whites. However, there was a bright, and spicy, star in the bunch, a French Domaine de la Cotes-du-Rhone. I would not say it was spectacular, but just its sheer distinctiveness among the bunch made me put down a few bottles for me and a few for Christian on the order. On top of that tasty treat, it is well priced and available at Arbor Farms Market, how sponsored the tasting.

After breakfast out and a few errands on Saturday, I took a trip "home" for a dinner party for my brother's 30th birthday. It just never ceases to amaze me some of the personality traits of mine that Marissa has. She was bouncing off the walls with excitement for my daddy's party; very reminiscent of "Tina-time" that used to occur in my bouncing-off-the-wall days. I also had a chance to meet up with Dan and Kelly later in the evening and catch-up a bit. It is wonderful to be able to make it home for things of this nature, but sometimes I find that even though I am home more, I don't really see people that much, as I'm usually in-and-out for whatever event has brought me to Grand Blanc.

One of my new-favorite stores in Ann Arbor, Ulta, had free-mini make-overs today, so I took the opportunity for a little, did I mention free, pampering and tips.

Now it is time to plan our trip to Chicago this coming weekend. I am ecstatic to see my friends, get out of town, and actually do some touristy stuff in Chicago.