Summer Done List

Tomorrow is the first day of classes at BGSU, so summer's almost officially over for me! As usual, it seems like it went by too fast, and there are lots of things I thought I'd do that I didn't get around to, but overall, this summer was full of plenty of relaxation as well as a few memorable adventures.

Here are the highlights:

If you've been reading the blog, you already know about our summer travels, but I think these are the memories that stand out most in my mind. Mark and I had another spectacular trip to Walt Disney World in May, then a nice visit with his parents and other family at the new house in Springfield. Most recently, I saw my family in ABQ.

When I'm not on the road, I always look forward to having more time to read during the summer, and this year I came across some great books. If you're looking for something to read, these were my favorites from the summer.

Top fiction:

• The Thoughts and Happenings of Wilfred Price Purveyor of Superior Funerals by Wendy Jones
• Mariana by Susanna Kearsley 
• Jane Eyre's Daughter by Elizabeth Newark
• Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler

Best non-fiction:

• Mindset by Carol Dweck
• Switch by Chip and Dan Heath 
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
• The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu by Dan Jurafsky
• Christianity's Family Tree by Adam Hamilton
• Letters of Note, edited by Usher

Of course, I've also been enjoying some TV, mostly on Netflix. I watched two new shows, Royal Pains and About a Boy, and rewatched Veronica Mars. Mark and I also finally finished watching Friends, which we've been making our way though for a while. And I discovered a new podcast that I really like, The Sporkful with Dan Pashman. A couple of weeks ago, Mark and I finally made it up to the drive in movie theater, where we saw The Secret Life of Pets and the new Bourne movie...neither movie was all that great, but it's still a fun outing. For the last two weeks, of course, we've been watching a lot of the Olympics (though without cable, we've been limited to what's on NBC).

I also did some scrapbook projects (while I was watching all that TV!). After a conversation with a friend back in the spring, I realized that it was time to get rid of my paper scrapbooking and card making supplies. I hadn't used them in a few years, and in the meantime, I'd learned how to use Shutterfly to make beautiful photo books without all the mess. As I went through my supplies, I did find an unfinished project that I must have started around the time Mark and I got engaged. It had all kinds of fun stuff from when we were dating, so I finished that up, ending with our honeymoon. It was good to finally complete that project, and it confirmed that I was ready to go digital. Later in the summer, I made two photo books on Shutterfly--one for Mark and me about our WDW trip, and one for Mark's mom as a thank you from Heidi, Katie, and me for our spring break trip.

Throughout the month of July, I volunteered again with Global Connections in their outreach to the International Seasonal Workers who come to our area each summer. This is one of my favorite things to do, and it's been such a blessing to get to know these families and watch their kids grow up. I think this is my 5th year volunteering with them, so you can imagine how the kids have changed. One family I was close to didn't come back this year, so that was a bit sad, but we had some really nice evenings overall. One thing that was particularly special this year was that on two different occasions, the families gathered together with an English-speaking spokesman of sorts to say thank you to the volunteers and to express how much they appreciate us coming each year. It was really sweet. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of us from this year...

As for food news, I wasn't very successful at trying new recipes or even spending all that much time in the kitchen. I think we ordered more takeout than usual (we're totally hooked on the garlic fingers from Pisanello's). I did find out that the Swan House, the lovely tea house down in Findlay, had reopened after closing last fall, and I met my friend Lucinda there for their open house. And, I hosted an open house of my own in July. Although it's impossible to find a time when everyone's in town, it was a good turn out, and I did try some fun new recipes (I think my favorite was chocolate chip zucchini bread). I also got to use the crystal Mark's parents gave us earlier this summer for the first time.

Unlike the last few summers, I didn't have any summer teaching this year, but I did a little bit of professional stuff. For one, I read this year's common read for incoming freshmen, A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger, and really enjoyed it. I also read proposals for next year's TESOL convention (like I've done the last two years). But the biggest professional thing that happened was that I was unexpectedly offered the opportunity to become the Acting Assistant Director of ESOL for the 2016-2017 academic year. My colleague who has been in that position for the last year is going to teach for BGSU in China for the year, so when they needed someone to fill in, they thought of me. This means that I'll be able to teach 3 ESOL classes and have a course release to do 10 hours of administrative work each week. While I had become quite content in the GSW (General Studies Writing, or first year composition) department over the last two years, it's going to be really fun to get back to my main area of expertise, and my administrative duties are mostly related to mentoring faculty, developing curriculum, and overseeing programs run by our graduate assistants. I've been getting started on those things since the first week of August, so this month has already been a bit of a blur, but I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of the semester unfolds!

And with that, summer's coming to a close. Here's to a wonderful fall!