Almost there!

Mark performed in his final concert at UA yesterday afternoon. He didn't get comp tickets, so I missed it, but he said it went well. He has just a few more things to do before finishing the semester. In case anyone reading this didn't get the news on Facebook, he did pass his comps on Friday.

I've just printed the final draft of my big research paper and finalized my presentation. Now I'm having a hard time concentrating on anything else (isn't finishing one big project enough for one day?!). After I give the presentation this afternoon, I'll be done with one class (except coming to listen to classmates' presentations next week). It will be nice to finally focus my attention on the other project. I'll also need to get serious about scoping out apartments in BG so we'll be ready for our upcoming trip out there.

I guess I don't really have anything else interesting to report, but writing a quick update seemed like a nice way to relax a little before getting back to work! :-)

Wrapping things up

Two weeks from now, Mark and I will both be done with our requirements at UA. With everyone talking about graduation, I'm starting to reflect a little more on our time here, but I don't have time to walk down that road at the moment; perhaps another time.

Today, I finished the first draft for one of my final projects. I'm feeling really good about having reached that point (it's due on Monday!), but I have a lot of editing to do. (Specifically, I have to cut 7 pages). That's always a challenge for me, but I am determined to make it happen. I have quite a bit more work left on the second final project, but I also have an additional week to get it done. Actually, the timing of due dates and grading worked out pretty well this semester (I had feared otherwise!).

My students are working on their final assignment, which is to create a visual argument (based on work they've done earlier this semester) and write a reflective essay. We're workshopping them in class, and it's always really fun to see what they come up with. I've got some great artists in the class, and everyone finds a way to do something really creative.

We haven't made anything final still about the move, but we are working on it. I hate having things up in the air, but it looks like they'll have to be for a couple more weeks. We have scheduled a trip to BG to look for apartments (I don't know if I mentioned that here already...) and I also have an interview set up while we're there. I think it'll be really fun to go and see what the town and university are like!

I'll mention, too, that Mark has his orals tomorrow, one of the last things he's got to do to finish up. I'm sure he'll do a great job, but if you think of it around noon, say a prayer that things go well.

Mark in the paper (again!)

Well, I don't have time for a real update at the moment, but I wanted to share this link to a story from our school newspaper about the Rosewood Marimba band and the concert they had last weekend. There's a picture of the 5-person group, and Mark's name is mentioned in the article. (By the way, thanks to those of you who watched online!)

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!

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).