Moving plans and more

Well, I can't believe it's already been a week since my last post. And so much has happened! The semester is really flying by, and with all the moving details to arrange, we're staying extra busy.

So, I finally finished grading the second set of essays and returned them on Friday. The next one is due on Wednesday, already, so I won't have much of a break from grading, but at least these should be quicker. I've only got 7 days of teaching left, which is completely unbelievable! How time files...

I managed to finish my first project for the L2 tech class and turn it in last Tuesday, so that was great. Now I'm really just trying to focus on the two final projects (one research project on student-teacher email, another literature review on the "digital divide").

When I'm not grading, reading, or writing, I've been working on arranging the logistics for our move. The date is still tentative, but we otherwise have a plan. It looks like we'll be renting a Budget truck and making the long drive. Mark's dad will help us get loaded up on this end; my parents will caravan with us to BG; and both sides (I think!) will help us unload and set up there. It should be quite an experience. 

One good thing about the idea of moving all my stuff across the country is that it has inspired me to get rid of things. You may know that I'm a bit of a pack rat (it seems to run in the family! :-), and I've always hated to part with anything that might have any kind of usefullness in the future or which I might regret not having sometime down the road. So that means I pretty much keep everything that isn't trash. For example, I have a box of all the cards we recieved when we got married. I have clothes I wore in high school. I have textbooks I didn't even enjoy reading for the class and haven't opened since. I have graded papers from my whole undergrad education. So, you can see I need to part with a few things. Mark has helped by initiating a contest to see who can get rid of more clothes. Right now, he's winning, but only by 10 or so items, and I haven't gone through everything yet. It's helpful because I really do need some convincing to get rid of the dress I wore to the 8th grade dance and the good old worn out jeans I've loved for years. But, now is the time.

I'm trying to pace myself with all of that cleaning out, though, because there are only a few weeks left of school, so I need to prioritize that at the moment. I also need to keep working on finding a job in BG. I think the next couple months will be pretty crazy, but it's exiting!