Bits and Pieces

I don't have anything terribly interesting to write about, but I thought I'd mention a few little things. First, the weather here is just beautiful again. We had a little "cold snap" last week (I even wore a sweater on Tuesday!), but today the high is in the upper 70s again. (Which makes me wonder: why am I sitting here in a cold building working on the computer? I should be outside!) I know Mom Cook will be disappointed to hear about the warm weather, but I want you to know that I'm pulling for another cooling trend when you come to visit!

Other than that, classes are going pretty well, although it's hard to believe it's February already. In about two weeks, I'll be collecting the first essay from my 102 class. So far, I seem to be on top of things in Dr. Troike's class--we had a little "quiz" today on phonetics and I didn't run into any trouble. I'm still trying to figure out the Professor in my Monday night class--we still don't really understand what the assignments are all about, but our "symposium" (party) last night seemed to go fine.

And, I finally connected with the tutor coordinator at CESL and we're meeting tomorrow afternoon. She's going to "interview" me and then set me up with a student who needs to be tutored. I hope it'll be only a couple hours a week, because my course load is certainly heavier this semester, but I don't want to turn down the work. I'll be asking tomorrow about how much tutoring I might be able to do in the summer, when I'll have the time and need the money! I'm still working on various leads for summer jobs, but won't really know what's going to work out until the end of the semester.

I could also mention that the AZ State Legislature passed some huge budget cuts to education, exceeding the amount the university president said UA could manage reasonably. Changes are happening fast, and I'm just hoping my contract will stay in place for next year. More cuts are on the way next year, too, so everyone's on edge at the moment. But that's all out of my hands, so I just have to continue trusting that the Lord led us here and will continue to provide for our needs.