Babies Babies Babies

Congrats to auntie and now godmother Katie, her sister just had her baby shower in New York.

Congrats to my colleague Ty, who is due to have her baby girl in January. 

Congrats to my step-brother Jeff and his wife Kiana on their new baby girl - Madison. Here's the update from Momma Kim:  This is our newest grand baby, Madison Renay Estes.  She was born on July 22, 2009.  Her daddy is my son Jeff (Army SSgt) and her mommy is Kaiana.  Poor mom had a 28 hour labor.  We got the call early in the morning.  Hopped on a plane late in the afternoon to Olympia, Washington and we still made it there before Madison's debut. She is so sweet, good matured, and hardly cries.  She is just like her daddy.  His grandpa used to call him "Smiling Jack".  Daddy has been gone since she was 3 weeks old.  He will be back mid-November.  She came down to Southern California so both families could see the baby.  She is now 11 weeks old, and talks to daddy on the phone.  She is all ready for trick or treating with her cousins and Uncle Kyle. Hope all is well with you all! Honey Grams Kim & Poppa Matt (who is working now in New Orleans)
 

And congrats to my former professor Steve Roberts, who just published his baby, another book,"From Every End of the Earth," of which he generously dedicated to his students! "Friends: With no money out there for promotion I'm trying to publicize my new book, From Every End of This Earth, through social networking. Here's a link to a podcast and book excerpt, if you like what you read and hear, please send on the link, and some kind words about the book, to your own social networks. This book is dedicated to my former students at GW, which include many of you, and I'm deeply grateful for any help you can give. Best wishes. --Steve Roberts"

I Still Love You GW....

U.S. News has collected data from more than 1,400 colleges to bring you this year's rankings and GW takes #53. Yehaw...one day us colonials will break through that glass ceiling of our own...into the top 50.

It's just such a shame, because we really should be ranked much higher. Although our student body tends to be a little snobby about our palatial living accommodations, (seriously, they were ranked second most luxurious in the country and we still complain.) we have some of the best instructors, resources, and talent in the country.

While adjunct is one of the dirty words in academia, our part-timers have full time jobs too - at the Smithsonian, the state department, embassies and even the White House. Who better than foreign leaders teaching our introduction to international affairs, and the woman who briefs Condolezza on the status of Georgia, lecturing on Eastern European history once a week. (Although I doubt she read the crap I tried to pass off for term papers because I still managed decent grades.)

And we may not have a competitive quantity of alumni donors, it will still cost you a cool five mil to get that building named after you. The reason its so high you ask... because another generous alum's name is already on the wall above the entrance. It's the GW mantra behind those donations - if you're going to go, go big!

So I happened to be a little defensive, and competitive, when you have to turn the page to see my Alma matter's rankings. I still love you GW... I vow to continue defending you, even though my west coast family to this day thinks I graduated from Georgetown.