Miser Family updated: family and friends edition

Life continues to be rich and full in the Miser Family household.  This particular week has been particularly rich in friends and family.  I got to kick off the week with the friend side of things, heading out to Morehouse College in Atlanta for the TPSE-math meeting.  There I got to reconnect with some of my fave mathematicians, and also meet some of the next gen in my field:

A panel of young mathematicians, talking about their experiences
majoring, getting jobs, and getting PhDs
(takeaway:  good mentoring makes a huge difference).

I'd told J-son I was going to Morehouse, and he was kind of taken aback: "Mom, you're going to hang out with black people?!?"   Um, yeah, I do that sometimes, you know.  He thought about it. I asked for advice; he said, "don't act black".   So I didn't.  I acted like a white woman.  Yeah. 

A sad sphinx covering her face with her wings
at the National WWI memorial

After that, I headed to Kansas City to give a talk at the AP Calculus grading (or "reading", as they call it).  That's an amazing operation:  there are 1170 readers/graders in a conference center exhibition hall, grading/reading 445,000 calculus exams from all over the country and even the world.  It's stunning to see how carefully they train all together, how they ensure that each problem is scored consistently, that every single problem on a particular student's test is scored by different readers who can't see the other scores . . . it's an operation research problem come to life.  

Happy friends at the Zoo

And then the next day,  I got to hang out with my best friend from childhood, who happens to live in KC.  We went to the National WWI memorial and then to the zoo with her mom and her son.  It was a great trip, all the more so because when I came home, I got to come home to a great family of my own. 

J-son started training for his new job this week; he's a camp counsellor.  He showed me a certificate that showed he's good to go on everything except rappelling.  And N-son is having a great time at school.  Here is his experience, in his own words: 

Hey mom,
How are you doing today? Life is amazing in [my school town]. Building maintenance is amazing I met some really good friends in the class. 

The kid in the wheelchair is my roommate who went home with a broken ankle.

I also got to use a riding mower yesterday as well so that was really cool.

Hope everything is going well for you and the family at home. Can't wait to come back and see you.
Love your son,
N-son

As I mentioned above, I came home from my various trips and into the arms of my family. My two sons are both in town this weekend.  We had waffles, cheesy zucchini chips, and kale salad for brunch today with K-daughter and A-child and a friend.  So much fun, especially when my boys ate so much kale salad that I had to make a second bowlful.  

Family and friend.  Ahhh.

 And that's the news from our family, which continues to be wealthy in our adventures.  May you and yours be similarly prosperous.