You know you're tired when...

You look at the piles of laundry you've just sorted. You think to yourself, "hmm, these look kind of small, did I miss anything? No, I got the stuff from the bedroom, the bathroom, checked the study...that should be everything. Yes, that's it. Maybe we just didn't wear as many layers this week or something." You put the small load in, wash it, hang it on the clothesline. You're starting the second load when you notice...the rest of the clothes are in the clothes basket on top of the drier (where all the dirty clothes belong, but don't always end up). Oh well. You sort the newly discovered clothes, adding the whites that missed the white load to the colors (making a large, but washable load), shake your head, and move on!

So, that's what I've just done this afternoon. I imagine laundry stories aren't that interesting to most of you, but I just couldn't believe I did that and somehow sharing it makes it better. But, I do have a good reason for feeling a little brain-dead, and I'll write about that, too.

This morning, I was able to present at the mini-AZ TESOL conference on campus, and in exchange for free registration, I also volunteered. So, I was there early to help set up (which was pretty easy because the organizers had done such a good job of planning!). After the keynote, I gave my presentation (about blogging in ESL writing classes). I think it went pretty well, except that my voice gets shaky when I'm nervous. I actually wasn't too stressed about this one, so I was frustrated by the fact that my voice still came out all funny (and I don't know how to control it better). Other than that, it was nice that I had several questions and comments after, and I think people might consider trying similar assignments with blogs in their classes, which would be cool. I still need to finish writing up my report on the blog project for my technology class, but I don't think I'll get to that today. I was also able to go to a session about jobs in ESL, which was very informative. The speaker really thinks the midwest is the place to be for teaching ESL in the US (and AZ is not a good place to be right now), so that was nice to hear. After that, I got to have lunch and hang out with some friends from the program, which was really fun. We don't get to see each other outside of class nearly enough. Although I didn't win any of the raffle prizes, it was a pleasant way to spend the day. (The main downside was that the air conditioning wasn't on in the building, so it was pretty warm inside. That must be part of why I'm feeling so sleepy now!).

Mark's playing the next-to-last performance of the opera tonight, and I'm really looking forward to having a more normal schedule next week. It'll be good for us to have a chance to sit down and talk through some of the moving stuff--I can't believe how quickly it's coming!

All the news

I think in all the craziness since getting home from Boston and catching up with school, I’ve forgotten to post the official news that Mark and I are heading to Bowling Green, OH. He accepted a great offer from them, including a nice TA position, for his Doctor of Musical Arts. The program should be 4 years. We had been leaning towards this option for a while, but needed to wait until all the other schools got back to Mark before making it final. Now that it’s for sure, I’ve been putting out more feelers for jobs, looking at apartments, and collecting quotes from moving companies. The idea of moving all the way across the country is pretty overwhelming right now, but I am excited about whatever awaits us on the other end. It’s really nice to know that Mark is entering a program with a great reputation, and that his tuition will be paid, and that he’ll be getting (paid) college teaching experience. I’m hopeful about some of the possible job opportunities for me, but it might still be a while before I know what I’ll be doing in the fall.


Otherwise, the semester is quickly coming to a close, which means there’s lots of work to do! I’m in the middle of grading my students’ second essay, which is the most time-consuming one of the semester. I’ve also been working on one of two major projects for my technology class, which I hope to finish and turn in on Tuesday. Tomorrow, I’ll be presenting about that project (using blogs in the writing classroom) at a small conference on campus. After that, I need to get down to business on my final projects, which have been seriously neglected for a few weeks now. It’s really hard to believe that in one month and one day, my duties as a student and teacher at UA will be over. I haven’t really had time to think too much about that, but I imagine the whole graduating/moving thing will be at least a little bittersweet. But, I think we’ll be ready to start our next adventure! (And, our Disney World vacation in May should be a good way to celebrate all these exciting things :-).

Boston Pictures

Finally, here's my pics from Boston. Most of these are views of the city, taken either from the convention center or our hotel.

These two are in the Westin hotel, which is adjacent to the convention center. Some sessions were held here--it was really nice. (And expensive, which is why I didn't stay there!)

 It was windy.

 Looking down on the exhibit hall, where tons of publishers try to sell you stuff. 

 This is me. We couldn't get the lighting right.

Here, it's actually snowing. I was disappointed that it didn't show up in the picture.

This picture came out terribly, but the lady walking off the podium is Ulla Connor, who is a famous researcher in the area of  Contrastive Rhetoric (now called Intercultural Rhetoric).

 My roommate, the second from the left, with her adviser, middle, after their presentation.

 A few shots of our room. It was a little crowded, but otherwise very nice.

This last one is for those of you who came out for Mark's recital. Remember our grass? By the time I left for Boston, it looked like this. I think they got to be almost a foot tall before someone finally came and raked them all out (that just got done last week).

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!