Summer Done List 2023

 As always, summer flew by! Before it's all a blur, I wanted to put together another summer done list. It's so fun to look back and really appreciate the season as I make the transition back into fall. 

Work

After a demanding academic year, I was very happy that I didn't teach any summer classes. I did travel in June for the Consortium on Graduate Communication Summer Institute in College Park, MD. The highlight was spending time with my good friend Angela, including an afternoon of touristy things in DC. Of course, there were also plenty of useful ideas in the sessions, and because it's a smaller conference, lots of time to reconnect with and meet new people. I also read proposals for next year's TESOL convention (unfortunately, I just heard this week that the one I submitted wasn't accepted this year--bummer!). And I participated in our ESOL Program's placement testing (once again, very thankful to not be in charge of it!). 

DC Metro

National Museum of the American Indian

statue in front of the museum

me in front of the US Capitol building

me having dinner with Angela & Sheri
(a BGSU colleague currently working in DC)

me & Angela outside Grand Central Station

walking through Grand Central Station

pupusas at an El Salvadoran restaurant--one of the
highlights of the whole trip for me!

entering the University of Maryland campus

selfie on campus, in a big, grassy area with a water feature

with Angela in front of the building
where the conference sessions were

me posing with a statue
of the UM terrapin mascot 

I also like to do some reading in the summer for professional development. This year, I ended up heading in a different direction than I initially expected. I started with a book I had bought a while ago (I think after hearing the author interviewed on a podcast): The New Science of Learning: How to Learn in Harmony With Your Brain. Around the beginning of the summer, I'd also read a blog post about how one professor shares some books about how to learn with his students, offering a bit of extra credit if they read one and tell him about it. I almost never offer extra credit, but I did kind of like this idea, and after reading the New Science book, I thought I should consider doing something similar. After all, I work with a fair number of first year students, and it's definitely valuable for them to know more about how learning works early in their college careers. So, that set me on a path of reading some other books about learning, written specifically for an audience of college students. In the end, I found 5 excellent titles, and I set up a bonus points opportunity for my first year writing classes. In case any of this sounds interesting, here are the other books I read and highly recommend: Ace That Test: A Student’s Guide to Learning Better, Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning is Hard and How You Can Make It Easy, Connections Are Everything: A College Student's Guide to Relationship-Rich Education, and How to Be a Successful Student: 20 Study Habits Based on the Science of Learning.

Mark does quite a bit of work in the summer to get ready for the marching band season, including 3 day-long rehearsals with the drumline. After each one of those, we invite whoever wants to come over for dinner at our house. We order pizza (students pay a few dollars if they can), and I provide fruit, veggies, dessert, and drinks. We set everything up on the porch with picnic blankets and folding chairs. Usually, around 15 people come over and hang out for a bit. It was nice to meet quite a few of the new students and reconnect with the continuing members of the drumline. 

chairs, tables, and blankets on the porch

food table (still waiting on pizza)

The marching band was also asked to participate in the Firefly Nights festival, which is a volunteer-led event that happens one night in June and July. They close Main street and set up a bunch of family-friendly activities, and there are also craft vendors and food trucks. The marching band offered an "instrument petting zoo" with brass and percussion instruments for kids to try out. Student volunteers staffed the booth, and since we're so close, Mark was there to make sure they got started ok and to check in once or twice throughout the evening. This gave us a good reason to check out the event together and have dinner from the food trucks--we got to try some different ones that we don't see around town that much otherwise. 

FMB petting zoo tent (the brass side)

drumline students and kids trying out drums

Mark checking in with the drumline volunteers

my favorite thing we tried at any
Firefly Nights: middle eastern tacos

Mark tried Jonny's Burritos

he liked it--and took half home!

the next month, I tried this pierogi truck

my pierogies (ok but not great) and 
Mark's pizza (pretty good!)

Then, for about 10 days before classes start, the band has their "fundamentals week" (aka band camp). It's such an intense stretch! They finish the Saturday before classes, and like we did last year, we invited the drumline for dinner and to hang out on Sunday. For this gathering, I do all the food, including a perpetual student favorite: Mark's family sausage dip recipe (it's funny how much the students like this...I gave the recipe to one student who asked, and he looked at it like I'd written him a check for a thousand bucks!). We had a really good turnout this year--around 30 students came and went at some point. Everyone ate, some sat and talked downstairs, others played video games and/or drums upstairs. It was too hot and humid to be outside! I feel so thankful to be a part of the community that Mark creates with this group of students, and it'll be exciting to see them perform at the first home game next week. 

veggies, fruit, and dessert

sausage dip & slider sandwiches

In the meantime, they've already had a few smaller public performances, including at the "Rally on Main" event that BGSU and the city of BG collaborate on each year (this was the 3rd annual event). 

looking down Main street from the north end

listening to the band perform (hard to get a good view!)

Home

While there are always things we could do around the house, we didn't take on anything major this summer (and, thankfully, didn't have any surprise repairs needed, either!). Instead, I finally managed to do some smaller things I've had on the list for a while, mostly hanging some art on the walls in my home office and laundry room. I was also able to get new paint and carpet in my campus office (for the first time ever!), so I rearranged the furniture there, organized everything, and got some new things hung up on the walls. 

daybed with growing collection of throw pillows

office corner (desk, chair, hope chest)

close up of the recently hung artwork

artwork on the wall opposite the desk

school office with fresh paint

another view showing  and new carpet
(I don't have a pic with the artwork on the walls!)

We've also expanded our collection of snake plants in the house with some bigger ones, and we tried planting some more flowers from seeds in the front garden. The zinnias did much better than last year, and the marigolds were a total flop. I tried another tomato plant, this one purchased at the Farmer's Market, and it's thriving! 

after potting the plants,
before putting them around the house

zinnias (can you spot the butterfly?)

tomato plant

first group of ripening tomatoes

the plant got taller than me!

a bowl full of perfect yellow cherry tomatoes

Our big project turned out to be shopping for a new car. This is something we'd talked about in the abstract for a little while, and Mark did a ton of online research to learn about the current options (gas/hybrid/plug-in). We've appreciated our current car, but we do really miss the cargo space we had in our old Rav4. Early in the summer, we decided to move ahead with some actual car shopping. We were surprised by how hard it was to actually get into the models we wanted to test drive--inventory is still really limited. Eventually, and after much deliberation, we decided to order a Rav4 hybrid. It's currently in transit, and we're hoping to have it within the next 2 weeks or so. Once we got through the tough part of deciding what we wanted, it's been very exciting to think about having our next car--and our first actually new-new car! We're also thankful that the used car market is still strong, so we're benefiting from a great trade-in value. 

Rav4 photo from the Toyota website

Family, Friends, and other Fun

We kicked off summer with another trip to WDW, which is always a fun escape from reality. At the end of June and beginning of July, we visited family in NM & OK. If you missed them, there are separate posts on the blog about each trip. 

Cosmic Rewind ride at WDW

with the ABQ nephew

with the OK nephew

Before the WDW trip, I got a big haircut (donating to Wigs for Kids). Last time I had hair this short was summer 2020 (when Mark and I did it ourselves at home). It's definitely easier to leave it to the professionals!

before haircut (front)

before haircut (back)

at the salon--ponytails ready!

hair donation

after: short & summery!

Mark and I also had some local adventures, including a trip to the drive in movie theater (about 45 minutes from us), which reopened this season under new ownership. We saw Disney's Elemental. We went back to the Toledo Zoo's Christmas in July, which happens to be on the same weekend as our anniversary. Unfortunately, it was unpleasantly crowded. We didn't quite regret going, but we'll think twice before going next year. This was a fun anniversary for us--19 years--because we were 19 when we got married. So now we've spent more than half of our lives married! 

popcorn & churro bites

movie screen before the sun set

our favorite donut treat at the zoo

lights around an elephant statue

selfie with the lights

I tried to make sure I spent a lot of time connecting with friends, and that led to a variety of fun outings, too. I went to a couple of the Wildflower Wednesday walks led by Cinda, a naturalist at the Wintergarden preserve. I finally visited the Toledo Museum of Art with Chad. Several friends from my Common Meal dinner group went for tea at the Swan House, and I went back later in the summer with another friend, Maggie. I finally got to try water walking at the city pool with my friend Amanda. We initially tried to do this last summer, but our plans kept not working out; even this year, I think it was our third or fourth attempt that finally worked! And I had a blast, so I'm thinking about buying a season pass next year and going more often. I went to a baby shower for a friend from work, which was a great chance to see lots of other work friends and acquaintances. Shortly before classes started, I invited a few friends over for brunch at my place, which was a really nice chance to catch up. And the Sunday after classes started, Chad and I went for green chile--this time at a grocery store just 15 minutes up the road in Perrysburg! I couldn't believe when I found an option this close (and it was a good thing, too, because we weren't able to make it to the event at the store we like in the Detroit area!). 

late spring/early summer Wintergarden walk

our guide, Cinda, explaining about the plants

ready for a mid-summer wildflower walk

big pink flower on the boardwalk

more summer flowers

view across the meadow

heading into the Toledo Museum of Art

Chad in the entrance hallway

tea with Common Meal friends

the menu is always delicious!

a new decorative table outside

another tasty tea tray

with Maggie after tea

City Pool

the lazy river, where we walked laps

with a fellow prize winner at the baby shower!

with my friends at brunch

the brunch table

brunch beverages
(see the tea cozy Mom made toward the back?)

Hatch chile display at Walt Churchill's market in Perrysburg

they did a Facebook giveaway, and I won
this cookbook and small reusable shopping bag!

ready to peel and chop all the chile (half a case
this year because we still have some from last year)

all processed, in the fridge to cool before freezing

Of course, there was also lots of reading, usually on the porch. Here are some novels I especially enjoyed this summer: The Reading List, The Measure, The Bird King, The Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society, We All Want Impossible Things, and The Wilding Sisters. Mark and I also watched Ted Lasso Season 3, which we liked better than Season 2 but not as much as Season 1. 

love reading on my Kindle!

And, to cap things off, we were invited up to Lake Erie yesterday, and spent the afternoon boating around the lake. Jon, the marching band director, and his wife were our gracious hosts, and we, along with another marching band staff member, had a blast! Mark was worried about motion sickness, but he actually did fine up until the last half hour or so, and even then, was just starting to get uncomfortable. In all these years of living here, we've never been to any of the places we saw from the boat, so I felt like a total tourist. They also treated us to dinner at a really unique local brewery/restaurant with expansive outdoor seating and grounds. It was a cool atmosphere, and the food was also delicious. 

view from the living room out to the dock

getting on the pontoon boat

Mark in a comfy chair (where he could face forward)

me, right behind him, ready to go!

but first, some gas...

and we're off!

the house on the shore was made from an actual ship!

enjoying the breeze! (couldn't wear the hat after all!)

Perry's monument

an island restaurant and some fancy boats

Jon telling us about the lighthouse

in the distance, the Cedar Point amusement park

the water feature and garden at the brewery

Mark & I split these fish tacos; I had brussels sprouts

I feel so thankful for the summer--the change of pace is a really good thing for me. Now, we're two weeks into the fall semester already. While I don't quite feel settled in yet, I think we're off to a good start. I really appreciate the energy and enthusiasm my students bring to the classroom, and I'm also grateful to have a schedule without any major curriculum updates or new-to-me courses (unlike last year!). I'm sure this season will also fly by, and I'm looking forward to enjoying all my favorite fall things around here over the next few months.