Category: life

Wheel Throwing Pottery Course

Back in April I had the crazy idea to enroll in a wheel throwing pottery class for the summer. I knew that during the summer I would spend a significant amount of time writing, due to a major deadline I had at the end of June and a few manuscript revisions that I had to work on. I also knew that I did not have any work travel schedule for the summer. I felt like I needed an activity that would help me clear my mind and detach from my writing. I had never done any kind of pottery course before but I thought it was activity that looked relaxing and I dare say “easy”.

The course included 6 weeks of classes. We would meet once a week on Wednesdays for a 4-hour class session. The course also included two weeks of studio time after the 6 week class period. I would also have access to the studio whenever it was open, for me to practice on my own.

I arrived on the first day of class a bit nervous. I did not know any of my classmates and had never met my instructor. I quickly realized that my classmates had a mix of abilities and skills related to pottery. Some of my classmates were re-taking the course and some were completely new to wheel throwing, just like me. My instructor, Ellie Kotsianas-Christner, is definitely what I would consider a master at wheel throwing pottery. She can create a bowl, a cup, a plate, and many other objects in minutes. I was amazed by her skills! She runs her own pottery business, Bug Pottery, in addition to teaching pottery classes.

It was also on the first day of class that I realized that I needed to lower my expectations of what I would be able to create and that wheel throwing pottery is not easy at all. There are special techniques that have to use to move the clay to form specific shapes. You need to mold the clay, the clay should not mold your movements. Learning how to do exactly that can be very challenging. For example, one of the first steps in the process of wheel throwing pottery is centering the clay. If you do not center the clay correctly, your clay will be imbalance (affecting all other steps). Let me tell you something, centering the clay was just so incredibly hard for me! Thank you Ellie for all of your patience teaching me how to center the clay!

It took time and many hours of practice in the studio to get minimal wheel throwing skills and create the perfectly imperfect pieces I created. But, I am still grateful for my pottery journey. It allowed me to:

  • Do something that disconnected me for chunks of time to focus my energy on a new activity
  • Fail often. I lost count of how many times I had to restart a piece because I made a wrong movement or added too much water to the clay.
  • Embrace patience. Pottery is not something that can be rush. Every steps requires time and rushing through the process likely results in making the wrong movement and having to start your pottery piece all over
  • Engage respectfully in a community studio in which all of us use the equipment provided but followed rules that helped keep the studio clean and organized for others to use
  • Spark my creativity by thinking of different ways I could mold the clay to create objects based on my skills and abilities.
  • Show my son that it is okay to try something new that you have never done. After taking him to the studio and showing him what I had created he is now eager to try pottery, as well.

I also think that one of the really cool things about pottery is seen a piece of clay transform into something new. Wheel throwing is the first step but you also have to: (a) wait for your clay piece to reach the “leather clay” stage, (b) trim your piece and get rid of excess clay, (c) play with color and glaze your piece, and (d) then you get to see the final product. Again, lots of patience and embracing the unknown, areas which are often hard for me to fully accept. But, when you have no choice you sometimes just have to go with the flow. Here are some of the pieces I created this past summer in my first wheel throwing pottery class:

Knoxville Halloween 5K

After running the Knoxville Marathon 4-Person Relay, back in April, I signed up for a summer 2024 run club. To be honest, I was not as consistent with my running schedule over the summer. Between work travel and family visits, it was hard to stick to a schedule. Also, the weekend we were scheduled to run the “run club” race I was at a conference in London.

So, I felt like I needed to find a race to help me continue training through the Fall. The Knoxville Halloween 5K seemed like a fun race and it also worked with my schedule. As usual, on race day I felt nervous. But, I showed up and ran. It must have been the excitement because I maintained the best pace I have so far and shaved 2-minutes from my usual 5K completion time. Also, it was definitely a lot of fun! šŸ‘»

I am now searching for my next race! Until then, I just continue training! Run Eni Run šŸƒšŸ½ā€ā™€ļø

Knoxville Marathon 4-Person Relay

Back in January my run club started putting together teams for the Knoxville Marathon 4-person relay race. The shorter leg of the relay was a distance that I had never ran before and that I honestly I did not know I could train for between January and April. I was hesitant but I contacted the organizer and told them that I was more of 5K runner but that if they needed someone to do the shortest leg of the relay race that I could try my best.

When the roster of the 4 different relay teams was posted online, I saw my name in it! My immediate reaction was: Well, damn I guess I am running in the relay race!

It has been really challenging training for the race. There is so much that happens during February and March! I honestly never really got a chance to run the full distance of my relay leg during training. So, technically race day was my first time running the full distance. I was super excited to do this with all the other teams in my run club but also nervous. I wanted to be able to run the full distance and finish in decent shape.

Perhaps it was (a) runners high, (b) getting to run through downtown Knoxville, or (c) that I was running with a fellow run club friend (from one of the other relay teams), but that was such an amazing experience! The first mile is always the hardest, but once I was past that I was in the zone!

Living & Loving

To the three people who read this blog: How you doing?

The last six months (since my last blog post) I have been:

  • taking care of myself
  • eating healthier
  • running
  • teaching
  • writing
  • doing research
  • outdoors
  • enjoying time with my family
  • meeting people in Knoxville
  • driving to soccer practice and games
  • reading with my son, practicing for the spelling test, and doing math
  • cooking and baking

To be honest, more than anything I have been sharing my energy in very intentional ways.

Over the last few months I have been really focused on my physical & mental well-being. Seen family members struggle with health issues has really made think about how I need to take care of my own health.

I have also spend part of the last few months reflecting political conflicts, religion, and humanity.

I have been working on being disciplined and committed in my professional and personal life to my goals.

Y’all I have been living & loving! šŸ§”

Run Club

I have a little note in my phone in which I have personal goals. One of my goals was to get into a regular workout routine. Another goal in my list was to meet more people in Knoxville. I really want to connect more to my local community. This may sound crazy but even thought I lived in Tampa for 9 years, I really did not feel connected to my local community until the last two years.

In early May, I came across a post on social media about a run club in Knoxville. I had recently started going to the gym (Working Out) but was really excited about meeting people in Knoxville and running together. So I reached out to the contact person for the Run Club and after giving it some thought decided to sign up.

We had a Run Club get together the first day to go over the training plan(s) and the goal at the end was to run in a race with 5K and 10K options. That first meeting felt like the first day of class. Some of the runners already knew each other and some were completely new to group like me. After the initial meeting, I felt pretty good. Our run coach was super encouraging about each of us doing our running journey and that made me feel good. I am definitely not a fast runner and I did not want to be in an environment in which I felt like I had to compete with others.

So this is the way it worked out:

  • We chose the plan that we wanted to do during the 8 weeks of run club. The plan included a run schedule during the week for each of the 8 weeks. For example: Week 1 would include 3 runs during the week with a specific numbers of miles or length of time. In some cases, for me (in the most basic plan), it included intervals of walking and running.
  • Our run club has an online community and we have fun activities to help us share our progress. Eventually, the use of the online social community turn into us just simply sharing out selfies or fun stories just cus! The online community is also were our coach would communicate with us. I did have to rejoin a social media platform that I had left last year in order to be part of Run Club. I was not thrilled about it, but turns out that I am literally just using that platform for that specific purpose so it not that bad.
  • On Saturdays, we got together for a group run. We were all running at a different pace so we were not really on a pack but we would all be on the same trail. We would stretch together before our runs and stretch together at the very end once we were all back to home base. Some Saturdays we also did breakfast afterwards!
  • At the end of the 8 weeks, we were scheduled to run a race together. Unfortunately, I could not make the race because I arrive back from a trip super late the night before the race. It just was not meant to be. I did do the 5K on my own a few days later and felt super proud to do it despite missing the “official” race.

What I have learned in this process is that I am so happy I had an “running action plan” to take on this goal. I have taken on running in the past and I experienced a great deal of pain due to chin splints (pushing myself way too hard). Doing running intervals really help me pace myself and avoid pain. Of course, I was going from zero running to running intervals to running distances so there was still some aches and pains, but more due to the use of muscles that had not been used in a while.

Also, I learner that there are lots of hills in my neighborhood! So I started doing some running in my neighborhood and some running at the gym on the treadmill. Last, but not least, music matters. I need a good playlist!

Porch Swing

I love the way paint can transform a piece of furniture or other objects. But I have to be honest, this was my partner’s idea. I wanted to get the porch swing but initially just wanted to leave it in its original wood tone. But, searching in Google for colorful swings, we settle in an idea that we agreed on. After we moved into the house, he assembled the porch swing and I made the trip to Home Depot for the paint. Over the last four weeks, we slowly painted three layers of primer all around and at least two layers of each color section. This has been a fun family activity. Today we finally have a final product. Here are some photos I took documenting the porch swing journey.

Working Out

It has been a few weeks since I finally restarted a workout routine. I found a place nearby that has what I need and provides access at times that work for me. It has felt so good. Last summer and at the beginning of the fall term I tried to start a morning workout routine and that just went to shit šŸ’© really quickly. Then, I just gave up. But by March this year I felt like I had to figured it out. So, I did. Anywho, I am trying a new schedule, a new location, and hopefully a new routine šŸ˜Š

Travel Preparations

I think for the most part when we think of preparing for work travel we think of getting work done that need to completed before we travel and preparing for the work that will be done during the work travel trip. In my case the work that will be done is normally a presentation.

But I know many of us also have to think of what is going on in our personal lives and what we need to prepare so that when we come back from work travel we are not to discombobulated to be involved and participate in activities in our personal lives (with family and friends). This all takes some serious project management skills!

This past weekend, it was Easter Sunday. I knew that after a week of travel I would come home to a special holiday for my little one and I wanted to make sure he knew I had not forgotten. So, my pre-travel preparations involved getting Easter goodies (thank you Party City!) and planning activities prior to leaving for my work trip. I also manage to get a chocolate bunny at the airport in one of my layovers on the way home šŸ˜Š šŸ°

Drag Queen Story Hour

In the Fall 2019, The English Department at The University of Tampa hosted Drag Queen Story Hour. To be honest, I do not remember if the event was hosted every year or if that was the first time. I just know that a flyer about the event reached my inbox and it caught my attention. At that time my child was 3 years old and I thought for sure he would enjoy story time. Also, he love going to campus on the weekends to see where his mom worked. For us as parents it was a great to teach him about inclusivity at a young age and to encourage a love for learning and reading.

That Saturday, we made our way to campus and we mentioned to our son that we were going to “drag queen story hour.” We got there, found some good seat, and proceeded to hear the stories that the drag queens were reading for us. It was a really good crowd. There were lots of children and parents, also faculty and staff from the university. After the readings, we wanted to say thanks to our readers. My family and I made out way to the front of the room and talked to the wonderful queens. One of them asked me what my role was at the university and I mentioned that I was a professor in the department of education. They were a bit shocked because according to them ” I looked very young” (I laughed). So they proceeded to tell me that they were interested in getting masters in education, so I gave them my business and told them to reach out to me if they had any questions. My family and I then took a picture with the drag queens! It was a wonderful event.

As we were walking back to our car I ran into the Provost, who stopped by the say hi to me and my family. In the exchange we mentioned that were coming to from the Drag Queen Story Hour event and he was happy to hear we enjoyed it and that there was a great turn out. He mentioned that there had been some threats made about potential protest but that he was happy everything had gone smoothly.

Once were in our car out little one said to me: “mommy were were the dragons? I did not see any dragons”

I was confused. So I said: “dragons? Why did you think were going to see dragons?”

He responded: You said we were going to “dragon queen story hour!”

My partner and I just burst out laughing! We explained the title of event to him (and what exactly were meant by drag queens) and he said: “Oh, okay!” and moved on with his day!