Goodbye June

It's hard to believe how quickly the last month went by! Today, I finished teaching week 4 out of 5 of my summer school class. I was originally scheduled to be grading papers over the long weekend, but after multiple requests from my students, I agreed to push the deadline back till Monday (I had originally assumed that they would prefer to have the long weekend off rather than have a paper hanging over their heads, but I guess I was wrong! Just in case, I offered the option to turn it in today, but only one of them did.). So, the good part of that for me is that I don't have to spend my long weekend grading. The bad parts, though, are that I do have to keep checking my email because they will be emailing me with questions about their drafts; and I will have to grade this set of papers in just two days and then grade the final exams right after that. That means I'll spend virtually all of my time next week grading--not that much fun, but it's got to happen! I'm glad to be heading out of town after that; it'll be nice to have some time to both relax and socialize with family and friends.

Other than wrapping up summer session, there's not too much going on. I did buy some things from my Amazon wish list with birthday money, so it's been fun having them arrive in the mail. I also went shopping a couple of days ago and actually found 2 pairs of denim capri pants. This is huge news because I have been looking for some for months, and finally found ones that not only fit, but were just the style I was looking for. In fact, I got one dressier looking pair and one everyday pair. Hooray! I also found a pair of regular jeans and a denim jacket; two things I wasn't looking for, but couldn't pass up (only $10 each!). I told the cashier that I couldn't remember the last time I bought so much denim at the same time.

I've also been reading the book Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss, which is essentially a combination rant/style manual about punctuation. It's actually incredibly funny, especially because the author and I share some pet peeves, like annoyance at incorrect apostrophe use. I learned that there is, in fact, an Apostrophe Protection Society that maintains a website devoted to providing instruction about the rules for apostrophes (as well as a nice collection of photos of signs that misuse them). I'll admit, I couldn't recite to you all the rules about standard punctuation use, but I do know how to use apostrophes, and I am continually surprised that my students don't. Anyway, it's an entertaining read (either that, or I'm really dorky for laughing out loud while reading a book about punctuation; maybe a little of both...).

The last bit of news I'll mention is that the improvements to the exterior of our apartment building have continued. A couple of weeks ago, they brought in some tables and chairs; today, they are installing light posts and grills next to the tables. They also installed security doors on all the apartments, but, unfortunately, they have not yet installed handles and provided keys for those doors. Right now, things are still a bit messy out there from all the work, but maybe if they tidy up, I'll take some pictures to post. I think it'll be quite nice to have the tables and lights out there, but it's really too hot to enjoy it at the moment. In a few months, though, I can see myself spending time out there.