Summer Done List 2022

Well, let's assume it's better late than never...this must be the latest summer done list I've ever posted! But I still wanted to share what was happening around here over the summer, so here goes...

Work

Spring semester was unique for me because I was on a Faculty Improvement Leave (FIL), BGSU's version of sabbatical. This opportunity is only very recently available to those of us who are not tenure-track faculty, and it was really wonderful to have the semester away from normal teaching and service responsibilities. I spent the time working on a professional development and course materials project about vocabulary learning and teaching. I mention it here to say that it was a different-than-normal transition to summer. There wasn't that clearly defined end point of posting final grades and being done. Instead, I prioritized a few things I really wanted to finish after our WDW trip in late April/early May, then considered myself "done" when our academic year contract ended in late May. 

Around that time, I was officially promoted at the May Board of Trustees meeting. That'll be my last promotion here, to Teaching Professor (the highest non-tenure track rank). You may remember that I submitted my application in August 2021, and the review process took until May 2022 to be finished. Whew! This promotion comes with a nice raise, too, which just went into effect in September—hooray! 

me with the other English department faculty who
were promoted this year, and our department chair

This was my first summer without any T/ESOL Program administration responsibilities, so that was nice, too: all I had to do was participate in our placement testing, not coordinate it! Still, we ended up spending quite a lot of time testing incoming International Teaching Assistants in August—more than I was quite prepared for. 

That placement testing happened to overlap with my other big work accomplishment of the summer—teaching an online graduate class. This wasn't something I'd really been planning on, but as I got about halfway through my spring FIL, I kept thinking that what I was learning would make a great topics class for our online MA program in English (which is mostly completed by in-service public school teachers). So I proposed the class in March, thinking it might be a possibility for a future academic year, but our grad coordinator asked if I'd consider teaching it this summer. After much deliberation, I went for it, and I'm so glad I did! I was able to get all of the prep work done during May, then taught the 6 week class from late July to early August. Since the materials were all prepared, and it was an online asynchronous format, the time commitment during the class was very manageable, right up until grading final projects overlapped with the placement testing I mentioned earlier! That last bit was more stressful than I expected, but overall, it was a great experience. The students were fantastic, and it was a nice way for me to synthesize a lot of what I'd learned during my project. Not to mention the extra pay, which is always nice! I'd love to teach it again sometime.

Earlier in the summer, I also submitted 3 proposals for the TESOL International Convention next spring, and I've since learned all 3 were accepted! They were all related in one way or another to my FIL project. I ended up withdrawing one of them because it was based on a class I was planning to teach this fall that didn't actually run (not enough students...it was the first time ever that we couldn't offer that particular class in the fall!). I am supposed to teach it in the spring, though, so I should be able to resubmit the proposal for the following year. 

I was also invited to write an article based on one of my presentations at TESOL this spring for the TESOL Connections newsletter. I did the writing during the summer, and the article was published in the September issue.  

Meanwhile, Mark was also working through the summer with the BGSU Drumline. After an job search that lasted the entire spring semester, we were very excited to learn in May that we'd be getting a new marching band director. As a result, Mark was not only doing his normal drumline work, but also meeting regularly with the new director and the other marching band staff to gear up for fall (in a normal year, much of this planning would take place in spring, but because of the transition in the director job, it was all happening a bit late). It's been wonderful to see the band growing and doing some new things this fall! Their social media coordinators are doing a great job keeping the Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube pages active if you'd like to follow along.

With the drumline, Mark held a few summer sectionals, and we hosted the students for dinner at our house afterwards. Since it was nice summer weather, we set up the food out on the porch and everyone hung out in the front yard. 

the students chipped in and we ordered pizza; 
I provided fruit, veggies, drinks, and dessert

Mark and students getting food

Mark's summer work culminated with band camp, which lasts about 10 days before classes start for the fall. We invited the drumline over for dinner again on Sunday after band camp, then we all started classes on Monday!

Mark in the scaffolding at the practice field
(I love this pic but didn't take it myself.
It's from the FMB social media folks.)

food from the post-band camp gathering at our place

more food...for this one, I made everything :-)

Home

Compared to last summer, things were much quieter around the house, but we did do a bit of reorganizing, and we bought a few more things, especially for our outdoor spaces. 

new rocking chairs

the front porch with new & old furniture 
(minus the one old chair that was stolen in Jan...)

new hammock stand & table out back
(I brought home this hammock from
Panama circa 2000...and I'm
finally getting to use it!)

new La-Z-Boy loveseat upstairs

the rearranged game room with new loveseat

The daylilies we transplanted from the front yard to the back yard in the fall did very well, but only one of the zinnias we planted out front actually bloomed (we'll try again next year!). 

yellow lilies out back, very happy in their new spot!

another view of the lilies

our one, very cheerful, zinnia 

We were also finally able to paint the new front door that was installed way back in December! 

our green front door; we love the color!

And we had just a couple of plumbing repairs (the fixture in our downstairs shower and, subsequently, the replacement of our original meter setting, which was seeping water after having been used to turn off water for the repair). 

the new meter setting in the hall closet...
not that exciting, but it needed to be done!

Overall, we're still so thankful to have been able to buy a house when we did, and for this particular house. It's been such a blessing!

Travel, Local Outings & Friends

Our biggest adventure was right at the beginning of summer (well...end of spring), when we went to WDW for the 50th anniversary celebration. 

Mark & me at the Magic Kingdom

Otherwise, we enjoyed lots of smaller outings and time with friends and family throughout the summer. I met up with friends for lunch out, tea and snacks at my place, walks all around town, and a pool visit at Stadium View. 

Chad and I also went to the Swan House, and my friend Amanda hosted a lovely summer brunch at her home, with about 8 of us (some people I already knew, some I met for the first time). 

the tea tray at Swan House

selfie with Chad outside the Swan House

the delicious spread at Amanda's brunch

an amazing hostess, she sent each of us home
with a goodie bag full of treats!

I was also able to check out the old South Main School, the one with the school yard just across the alley from our house (the school is one more block down the street). The building is rumored to be haunted, which I'm not sure I buy into at all, but it was interesting to get to see the insides! (It's recently been sold, so the folks who were leasing it as an office/event space for their paranormal business hosted the open house as a bit of a goodbye for the neighborhood). 

the welcome sign at the open house

the school's boiler room

a view of the second floor landing

the school attic

On the family side, we went to Jonesboro in June, for Grandpa's funeral. As always, these gatherings are sad, but it's good to see everyone, including extended family we don't see very often (on Dad's side). Mark's parents rented an AirBNB for all of us to stay, so we had lots of quality time together. 

the AirBNB house

a view of the lake behind the house

the adjacent property: a barn and pasture

the living room

me and Kaden on the balcony

Mark and Kaden

Heidi reading to Kaden

Kaden helping Mark play video games ;-)

Kaden with Damon

Dad & Mom

Hannah, Damon, me, Mark, and Nikki

Jill & Damon

Heidi, Mark & Damon

me & Kaden

the guys: Kaden, Dad, Mark, Damon

the ladies: Heidi, Hannah, Mom, me, Katie, Jill

the whole immediate family

In August, it was green chile roasting time, and Chad and I were pleased to have a much smoother outing to the Detroit area for our annual chile restock. (You may remember that last year we were stranded for a bit on flooded roads!). This year, it was clear skies. We made a stop at the Shatila bakery again, and everything was delicious (and still just as surprisingly affordable) as ever. 

me at the grocery store, posing with a tractor! 

this cute green truck was also parked out front

the chile roasting sign and balloons

the set up: raw chiles in boxes and the roaster

the Shatila bakery (in Dearborn)

we had middle-eastern
savory pastries for lunch

...and each took a big box of French pastries to go!

my chile processing station on the kitchen table

R&R

My default leisure activity this summer was definitely reading, on the front porch whenever possible! One of my goals was to read a few series. My favorites ended up being: The Penderwicks, Cursebreakers, and Three Keys (all young adult fiction; the last series has a 4th book that just came out, so I'll be reading it soon!). I also enjoyed many other novels, including the latest Diana Gabaldon Outlander (#9, Go Tell the Bees That I am Gone) and My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You This Story. I read a bit of non-fiction, too, like Effortless and Uncommon Ground. 

Mark and I also watched quite a few movies together, mostly upstairs in his game room, now that we've got the comfy loveseat there. And we also got a trial of AppleTV, so we finally watched Ted Lasso, after hearing lots of recommendations for it. Other than a couple super weird episodes in season 2, we really enjoyed it. Now we're waiting for Season 3! 

Miscellaneous

I also celebrated my birthday in June, mostly with a variety of tasty treats, but also a nice walk in the Wintergarden preserve with Mark. 

starting out at Wintergarden

on the trail through the meadow

dinner at Porkbelly BBQ

banana split with homemade hot fudge

donuts from our favorite local bakery

We celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary in July, with a visit to the Toledo Zoo, which happened to be hosting a Christmas in July event that weekend. 

me with the "I love my zoo sign"
(actually taken on a different visit 
earlier in the summer)

some Christmas lights

a gecko display

me & Mark with lights in the background

a view of the lights from the bridge above

There were also many walks around the neighborhood, plenty of time on the porch, probably too much ice cream from our two favorite local places (Eric's, which is just a short walk up the street; and Sundae Station). Plus, Mark was feeling nostalgic for homemade ice cream, so he made a big batch of that for us, too! 

our new ice cream maker

churning the ice cream

the finished product...yum!

As always, the summer flies by, but it's so fun to look back at all we did during the season. Thankfully, there's also lots to love about fall! It's been an intense start to the semester, but I'm finally starting to feel a bit more settled in. I certainly enjoy working with my students! And we're having those beautiful, crisp fall mornings and sunny, warm afternoons. We're also enjoying the fall flavors, particularly apples of all sorts (from Michigan). 

Thanks for re-living the summer with me!