Boston Update

Well, I've got about 20 minutes before the airport shuttle will be here to pick me up, so I may not be able to quite finish this post. But, the convention (at least for me) is over, and I'm very glad to be on my way home. It has been a good trip overall, but it's just tiring and I think I really miss my normal routine (which includes enough downtime for me). So, let me see if I can quickly touch on the highlights:

The hotel has been great, except for off-and-on problems with wi-fi (it's working great right now!). My roommates were both really nice. I enjoyed getting to know each of them, and it was also fun to have someone to eat with and connect with at various times during the day. (Especially since I really only knew one person from UA who was here this year--I also got to have a snack and go to a session with her).

The convention was good. There are hundreds of sessions, so I always feel a bit like I'm missing something good no matter where I am and what I'm doing. But, I did pick some good ones to go to and I learned several things I can apply right away in my teaching. I really like that.

Meeting the ladies from Bowling Green was great. The program director and two instructors were here, and I was able to attend their two sessions and spend about an hour talking with them about their program and other opportunities in BG. I was really impressed with their presentations (I got great ideas for my teaching), and they were very friendly and kind. It sounds like they will definitely have openings in the fall (and possibly summer) for adjunct instructors, and they are trying to get approval to add a full-time instructor (that would be better pay with benefits). They also told me about two other places I can look for work, so that was really useful. I need to do a bit more research about those opportunities, but it's nice to have a few places to apply.

I think that covers the main things. Better get ready for a long day of travel!

In Boston!

Well, I made it to Boston last night! Travel went pretty smoothly, but I did have quite a long wait at the airport for the hotel shuttle. I originally thought I'd have some time to work on things after I got to the hotel, but that didn't work out. It was after 8 when I finally got to my room. One of my roommates was already there, so I got to meet her, and we had dinner together at the restaurant in the hotel (which also took a really long time--they must have been short staffed). The hotel is nice, except that I was unable to connect to their free wireless internet last night (another frustration!). But, I guess I lucked out because the convention center has free wi-fi. I do hope to figure it out at the hotel, though, because I've got a ton of student blogs to grade and I'd much rather do that in bed at the hotel than during the day when I should be going to presentations at the conference. Anyway, I also slept terribly last night, but I gave my presentation this morning at the Graduate Student Forum, and it went okay, so that's good. Now I just have to hang in there (and stay awake) through an afternoon of more sessions, then I can head back to the hotel and rest. Here's hoping I sleep better so I can feel more with-it for the rest of my time here. I don't think there's anything else to say, except that I'm relieved to be done with the presentation! Tomorrow I should meet the director of the IEP at Bowling Green, so I'll let you know how that goes...

Back to it...

Well, Spring Break is over, and I'm back at school. But, only for today, because tomorrow I head off to Boston for the TESOL convention. It comes at a difficult time in the semester, but I'm still looking forward to going. I'll get to present a paper from last spring, and I'm also going to meet with the director of the intensive English program at Bowling Green (read--potential future employer!). I just hope my travel will go smoothly and that I'll find time/energy to do a little bit of work while I'm away. My students are in the middle of drafting their essays, so I expect questions from them this week, plus I've got them blogging several times, so I need to keep up with reading those. I'll also need to finish my comps (which I could be working on now, except I feel like I can't concentrate; I guess it takes some time to get used to a real work day again :-).

During Spring Break we did manage to do quite a few things: we finished watching the Lord of the Rings movies (I think I liked the 2nd one the best); we booked our Disney World vacation (we've been saving up to go back since we were there with my grandparents in 2007); and we did our taxes (getting a bigger refund than expected!). You can imagine that planning the vacation was the most fun (it certainly beat doing taxes, although I think it took us quite a bit more time!).

Spring Break!

It's hard to believe that Spring Break is here already. The first half of the semester has really just flown by, especially with Mark's crazy schedule. We're both so thankful that his auditions and recital are over, and that he'll have less stress for the second half of the semester. Mark's plan for the break is to relax, and he sure deserves it! Right now, he's playing Final Fantasy 13 on the PlayStation 3 (he's been pretty busy with that for the last few days...). I took the weekend off, too. We actually started watching the Lord of the Rings movies (my readers will have a mixed response to that! ;-). We're about halfway through, but I'll say that I have gotten involved with the characters, and I do want to finish watching them (although I don't expect them to become my new favorites). Mark and I also finally went out to dinner for Valentine's Day at Chili's last night (thanks mom!).

After a weekend of leisure, today it was time to get some work done. It's been a much more relaxed day than usual (Mondays are always my busiest day), but I have made some progress on a few things.  For the rest of the week, my main projects are: getting ready for my presentation at TESOL, working on my comprehensive exam (we just got the questions last week, and they're due at the end of the month), starting to analyze the data for my research methods class project, and updating my resume/CV so I'll be ready to start filling out applications once we know where we'll be heading after graduation. Mark and I should also do our taxes, and I need to work on a few other little things while I have a more flexible schedule. I think I'll be keeping busy for the rest of the break, but I will try to make the most of the time and relax a little, too!

Some small good news

Well, neither of these things is as exciting as Mark's recent offer, but I wanted to pass them along anyway. First, I just heard that my application for funding from GPSC was approved! This means most of my costs to attend TESOL in a couple of weeks will be covered (unfortunately, I probably won't see any of the money till after it's over, but at least we can pay ourselves back for the expenses). The other good news is that a proposal I submitted for a small local conference here in Tucson was accepted. It'll be fun to share about a project I'm working on right now, and it's also another thing I can add to my CV. (It'll make 4 presentations in the last year, which ought to look good to prospective employers!)

First Offer!

Mark got his first acceptance yesterday from the school in Bowling Green! Not only has he been accepted, but he’s been offered a spectacular half-time TA position. Hooray! This was really great news, especially since it came so quickly (he had just auditioned there on Wednesday), and since it came just as he was preparing to head off for the final audition in Iowa (some time on Sunday). Mark wasn’t able to spend much time at the school in Bowling Green while he was there, so he didn’t meet many people from the studio or get to see a rehearsal or anything; but he did spend quite a bit of time with the professor (who graciously took him to and from the Detroit airport, about an hour away). All of his interactions with this professor have been really great so far. Of course, we are hopeful that Mark will have more offers coming in the next few weeks. It would be so great for him to be able to choose among several good options. He has until April 15th to respond to this offer (the others should have similar guidelines). We’ll keep you posted! Thanks to everyone who has been praying about this—we’re so thrilled to see the Lord’s provision already coming into place for our next step.

Recital Update

It’s amazing, but Mark’s recital has now come and gone. Mark’s parents and brother came to town on Saturday, and my parents and grandma came on Monday, all to see the big event. My great aunt and uncle also came down from Phoenix. Several of our friends from church, along with Mark’s colleagues from school, were all there. He did a great job! A few minutes after, he heard from his professor that he passed, which was great news. We managed to get to bed before midnight, and got up around 4am to get Mark to the airport for his audition in Ohio. He had a very busy day yesterday, and had an interview, audition, and test at the school this morning. Right now, he’s on his way back home. He’s expecting to hear back from the school in the next week or so. He’ll be heading to Iowa for the last audition on Saturday, so he’s kind of in the home stretch now. We really appreciate having all the support from our family and friends (including those of you who watched online!). Thanks.

In other news, my final project for the research methods class fell through yesterday due to red tape at the community college. Thankfully, I had some other ideas, and I was able to discuss those with my professor right away. So, I’ve got approval to move ahead on a new project, but I still have to put together another formal proposal and get started. I’ll be looking at students’ emails (to me), so I have the data already, which should give me a good head start. I’m thankful that I hadn’t spent too much time on the other project yet! (But it’s really time to get down to business now…).