September 30, 2009(Wednesday)

I had two mock interviews today; overall speaking, I did well in the interview. I am well prepared and creative. However, my publication record is not great so I should not expect miracle.
Cailyn knows all 26 letters. When I read out each letter, she knows which one to pick; and when I pick a letter, she is able to say it (but of course not always with an accurate pronunciation). I think that in this case she is one step ahead of people of her age. However, she still has problem with pooh. This is one step behind others.

September 29, 2009(Tuesday)

I will be quite busy in the coming few days; today is Carmen's off day from taking care Cailyn. We concluded that she and I have different patient with Cailyn. I am quite impatient sometimes!

September 28, 2009(Monday)

This morning Carmen put Cailyn to the daycare; then Cailyn performed ok so she went home. Then we planned to go to Wal-Mart to pick up the toddler bed; however in the middle of our travel, people from daycare told us that Cailyn is having a rough time. Therefore, we have to go back to take care of her. At least, she was not with us for 40 mins and that is an improvement. I went to Wal-Mart to pick up the toddler bed myself instead.

September 27, 2009(Sunday)

Cailyn usually has her afternoon nap at 2-4pm. Therefore she is not able to go to the Chinese church which happens at 2-4pm. In the last few weeks I usually go to Chinese church by myself while Carmen goes to US church in the morning. This morning, the three (actually, four) of us go to US church and did not go to Chinese church.
In the last few days I applied to 69 jobs. Basically I applied to almost all school with an opening (with an exception to those schools that has different research requirement and also the University of Chile). So let's see how many first interviews I will have, and second interview I will have and how many job offer at the end!

September 26, 2009(Saturday)

This morning there was a vision sharing meeting for the church. Then in the afternoon I went to play badminton and basketball (+ some workout) for 3 hours. It is surely difficult to play basketball after playing badminton! At night we went out for dinner.

September 25, 2009(Friday)

This morning we went to College Mall to walk around as a celebration to our 5th year anniversary. I am not good at walking in the mall and got tired easily, especially needing to take care Cailyn. Carmen is much more patient and can endure more! Then I went to the PhD seminar and this is a good break from the job application process. At night I led the Bible study.

September 24, 2009(Thursday)

This morning Carmen brought Cailyn to the American church for the "mom rest stop" group. Someone helps to babysit Cailyn while Carmen had a Bible Study. After 1.5 hours of Bible Study, the daycare lady told Carmen that Cailyn cried all the way, until she was too exhausted and fall asleep for 10 mins. That means this babysitter has to endure Cailyn's cry for about 80 mins!!! That is even longer than what we have done! Amazing, especially she resists the urge to ask Carmen for help!
This afternoon I took care Cailyn; I tried to feed her yogurt but she refused and made the carpet a bit dirty. Then she has the urge to pooh but whenever I tried to hold her to pooh or put her to the potty, she stopped poohing; instead she was being playful and not concentrates on pooh at all! After 10+ minutes, I dress her back with diaper. However, once she played by herself, she started to try to pooh again! It makes me very much frustrated!

September 23, 2009(Wednesday)

Today I had the first "mock interview" with one of my professors. I will hopefully have several interviews during the conference mid-October and that's good to have some dry run. He said that I am doing well and handle the situation good. Of course there are places that I can improve, but this experience increases my confidence. I will ask a few more prof to do mock interview with me later. Furthermore, the prof wants me to get a good job too, so that it can increase IU's reputation! I am happy to hear that because our goals are aligned.
At night we invited our new church president Chen Yang to have dinner with us. He is around 25 but is already a very matured Christian!

September 22, 2009(Tuesday)

Last night I slept at 3am because I am trying to apply to jobs (I made 7 applications last night). It takes a longer time than usual because at one point I was trying to install a pdf maker (Nitro pdf maker) so that I can convert the CV from Word to pdf. Unfortunately, this software is a piece of garbage; it dramatically slows down my 4 years old laptop. I tried to uninstall it but somehow it does not uninstall completely. I may have to reformat the computer later on.
This morning I took care of Cailyn while Carmen went to the OB doctor to check the pregnancy. Good that the baby is healthy. For the rest of the day, I

September 21, 2009(Monday)

Carmen brought Cailyn to daycare this morning. Unfortunately, Cailyn is quite "sticky" and needs Carmen to be there with her. Then in the afternoon I had meeting and teaching.

September 20, 2009(Sunday)

This morning Carmen brought Cailyn to go to American church for worship while I stay home. It is because (1) Cailyn woke up early at 7:45am and the Chinese worship time will definitely be her afternoon nap (2) we don't want Cailyn to miss church worship and (3) I can't afford to go to both, and I have to attend the Chinese church because of meeting. However, Cailyn cried most of the time when Carmen puts her to the childcare. They even display Cailyn's number on the screen to ask Carmen to check out Cailyn.

September 19, 2009(Saturday)

There is a game "Amazing Race" going on in church, but we did not join because it will take some time and I went to workout instead. At night we went to some snack gathering of the church group.

September 18, 2009(Friday)

I had another meeting with the department head about job search. Then at night the church has the annual "Welcome new student" dinner. It turns out more people than I expected (about 130 adults + 25 kids during the program). Hope that these new comers will continue to go to church.

September 17, 2009(Thursday)

I had another meeting professor this morning about job application; I have met with several professors and have taken down notes about their suggestions. I am trying to prepare as much as I can now so that I will have no surprise during interview (if any). Then there is a guest speaker coming so we have to meet her and listen to her presentation. At night we also went to prayer meeting (probably first time since we return to Bloomington); it is because tomorrow will be the welcome-new-student dinner. It will be a big event so we went to the prayer meeting.

September 16, 2009(Wednesday)

I had meeting with prof about my job application package. Then I asked around different professors, asking them to make two or three phone calls for me to those schools that are hiring. I also arranged a presentation "dry run" for my talk. I am trying to do as much as I can now so that I can optimize my possibility of getting a job. I also asked for a mock interview from one of my professors this Friday, asking him to ask me all the tough, hard, embarrassing questions.
At night we went out to have dinner. We went to Olive Garden to eat some all-you-can-eat manual. When we are quite full (which is normal for buffet), the waitress asked whether or not we want to have a box to pack the food home! That is amazing and I am gladly to pay more tips than usual!

September 15, 2009(Tuesday)

Today I am as usual busy. I find that lately I am busier than ever; and the consequence of what I am doing is great too, because of job search. I used to sleep around 9hour but now it is only 7 hours.

September 14, 2009(Monday)

I had total 2.5 hours meeting today with two professors about their perspective on job search. I learnt a lot and hopefully this would help me to prepare for my conference interview (if any) during mid-October. Lately I have been very busy with research + teaching + job search (e.g. preparing CV, personal statement, letter of interest, applying university). Hopefully I will not be as busy in about two months, and more hopefully, it would pay off. Carmen helped out a lot in taking care of Cailyn and I owe her a big thank! I was also teaching today. Gladly, this is the same course that I taught last semester and therefore I do not need to spend a lot of time preparing the course.

September 13, 2009(Sunday)

Cailyn woke up at 9am today, and had more than 1.5 hours of afternoon nap! Last time she had such a long sleep was more than a month ago! For the last two weeks, Carmen went to American church in the morning while I went to the Chinese church in the afternoon. Today, we all went to the Chinese church today; however we have to leave early because Cailyn needs to have her afternoon nap.

September 12, 2009(Saturday)

This morning Carmen went to the children program workshop while I took care Cailyn. Then I played badminton and then had a meeting with worship team. Cailyn had nose bleeding last night (4th time in her life) so we went to purchase a better humidifier. Let's hope that this would eliminate this problem.

September 11, 2009(Friday)

Last night Cailyn has nose bleed again. We called the doctor and they said that there is nothing much we can do, except to turn on the humidifier (which we did) and put some Vaseline near her nose. Cailyn has difficulty poohing and too easy to nose-bleed. We wish the reverse is true.
I had meeting today with professors; originally I want to sit in the PhD seminar in the afternoon but because there are too many things to do, I stayed home to do some work instead. At night we went to fellowship as usual. This time I took care Cailyn while Carmen enjoyed the fellowship.

September 10, 2009(Thursday)

After returning to Bloomington for 3 weeks, I finally get back to shape (in terms of running and weight lifting). At night we went out to buy a running shoes for me. Then we also went to Target to walk around and also to Kmart to buy a shoe for Cailyn. It is so tired because she kept running around. Makes me quite exhausted. Actually for the last several months, she always has her own idea and would struggle when I tried to force her to do something else. This kind of wrestling (both physically and mentally) makes me quite exhausted.

September 09, 2009(Wednesday)

I had a meeting with another professor to discuss about finding job. It seems like that I may be a top20 (but not top10) candidate. So let's see what job I will end up at. I am also working on the job application package, which includes the CV, cover letter and personal statement.

September 08, 2009(Tuesday)

After 40 days of vacation in Vancouver, I need a while to get back into physical shape (in terms of weight lifting). I have been back almost 3 weeks and I am about 80% back to what I used to be previously! What a long time.
At night, Chris and Jelly had dinner at our home. Then Carmen had the baptismal class with Jelly.

September 07, 2009(Monday)

Last night I stayed up late (2am) to apply for some jobs.
Originally we thought that Cailyn needs to go to daycare this morning. However, it turns out that today is Labor Day so she does not need to go. We did not pay a lot of attention to Labor Day because (1) Class for university is still open (but class is closed for elementary and high schools) and (2) I do homework whether or not this is a holiday. I still stayed home to do some work while Carmen brought Cailyn to the mall. Then I also taught class today.

September 06, 2009(Sunday)

This morning Carmen went to the American church for worship while I stayed home take care Cailyn. Then in the afternoon I went to the Chinese church to deliver a sermon. It is on the first of the seven churches recorded in the book of Revelation ch.2, 3. I tended to speak faster and faster on stage. I must slow down myself even more!

September 05, 2009(Saturday)

Carmen went to the Children ministry workshop this morning while I stayed home take care Cailyn. Then she brought Cailyn to buy grocery while I stayed home to do some work. I had an afternoon nap too! I used to have one (or sometimes, two!) afternoon naps a day. However, I haven't had one for about a week because I need to go to school for class or for meeting for the past week. It would be the same for coming week too! So I am trying to cherish the afternoon nap while I can!

September 04, 2009(Friday)

This term I will sit-in a PhD seminar. I haven't taken any course in the last two years. This class is mainly for first and second year. However, it is still good to be there and refresh what I learnt before. It also gives me some good idea about what I should do when I am teaching a PhD seminar in one or two years. At night fellowship is about game.

September 03, 2009(Thursday)

Finally I don't have to go to school today! I stayed home most of the time to do some studying and taking care Cailyn.

September 02, 2009(Wednesday)

Today is the first day for full teaching class. For the 1.25 hour class, I only taught for 20 mins. Then I gave them 30 mins to prepare for a group presentation, and we had presentation for the rest of the time. That's what I did last term and hope that it works this term.

September 01, 2009(Tuesday)

Carmen went to Sister Bible Study this morning and I stayed home take care Cailyn. Then in the afternoon I went to school to have meeting with professors.