Month: May 2017

It’s Monday & I have some great reading ahead of me

On Saturday, I went to the beach with a friend. On our way there, my friend revealed that she had gotten an annual pass to the state parks because her plan is to explore different parts of the state. And I realized that her plan is brilliant–brilliant! Because, essentially, she is going to be a tourist in our state. “Why didn’t I think of that?” I said. So now that is my new goal. State tourism!

Anyway, more happened at the beach, including a blinding migraine caused by sinusitis–opposite of fun and a prime opportunity to practice gratitude for sure. But the beach is the beach and it was marvelous. Because BEACH.

Yesterday and today were fun family times. My mom brought over hamburgers to grill yesterday and then I invited her to bring over kielbasa to grill today. These were both A+ choices.

And tomorrow it’s back to my regularly scheduled vacation. Which is just a fancy way of saying doing more unpacking, cleaning, and purging. While not going to work. Because of vacation. (VACATION.)

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My domain name has expired but my blog lives on

I just realized I am guilty of a thing that I hate that other people do: not putting Goodreads links (or Amazon or wherever) for books I’m currently reading. I will no longer make that mistake.

Hello! This has been a whirlwind week. First, I have to say I am officially OFFICIALLY on vacation now. I know I said I was on vacation last week (and I was), but I had to wrap up some search committee work, which meant I had to go to work twice. TWICE. That does not count as vacation, especially since I had to (a) set my alarm and (b) go to work and do work. Interviews! Work.

Anyway, it’s over now, and I have three months with no teaching or search committees ahead of me.

A funny thing keeps happening to me. I cannot for the life of me remember what I am planning to do in my classes in the fall. I always remember three of the four assignments I have planned. And it’s only ever three. Usually it’s the same three, but this time it’s a different three. My plan is to put the missing assignment in my phone as soon as I remember.

But I digress.

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Welp, it’s definitely not Monday, but I still read some things

This was a good weekend. I went to a wedding, which…I love weddings. I don’t ever want to have a wedding (at least not in the traditional sense), but they are a delight. Anyway, the couple was super cute and happy even if there was a slight rain delay. (It’s been bone dry for weeks so of course it finally rains on the day of their wedding. Of course.)

Anyway, some slight changes had to be made to accommodate the weather, but everything after that was two thumbs up, fine holiday fun.

Then, on Sunday, my daughter and I went to my parents’ to spend Mother’s Day with my mom, and we taught my daughter how to play Spades. She’s almost ready for college for real now.

We also watched Miss India America, which is really cute and fun and a great example of a compelling, though mostly unlikable protagonist. It’s also streaming on Netflix. Ahem.

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A to Z Reflection 2017

So, this is my second year participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, and the mods have again asked for reflection posts from participants.

1. I’m going to start by seeing how well I used what I learned last year. In that reflection post, I said that I would (a) use a theme, (b) write my posts in advance, and (c) identify blogs w/shared interests early so I could follow them before the challenge starts.

(a) I did, indeed, use a theme (mine was gratitude). In fact, I really cannot imagine doing this challenge without one. I need the structure.

(b) I did not write my posts in advance. I will probably never write my posts in advance. To be fair, my theme didn’t allow for it since I wrote about something I was grateful for each day. But to also be realistic, I almost never do anything in advance, so.

(c) I did, in fact, identify blogs early on to follow. This was smart. I did find some new blogs throughout the course of the challenge as well, but it was nice to have a starting point.

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It’s Monday & I’m on vacation!

Vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation! Also: vacation.

current mood (source)

I am not at Jay Pritchett levels of luxury or anything, but I did wind up taking super long naps every day since Wednesday. You know, not to brag or anything.

(Okay, okay. A little bragging.)

Anyway, this week, I have some appointments so it may be a while before I can get to that nap level again. Oh well.

I may post about being on vacation every week, just so you’re all forewarned. Did you know school doesn’t start until August? Oh, this is just delightful.

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Picking Favorites: Sara Zarr, Carolyn Mackler, Harry Potter, AND Rick Riordan?

It’s been over a month since my last links round up, so there’s a lot happening here. Let’s dive in, shall we?

“Congresswoman Maxine Waters isn’t even reading these fools anymore. She has completely leveled up. She is like Scarlett Johansson in Lucy, that movie where she was using like 100% of her brain and she can control televisions and tell the future. That’s Maxine Waters. Except with reading. We don’t even have a word for what she’s doing yet.” — You Will Never, in Your Entire Life, Get the Best of Maxine Waters

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In before the end of the week: April 2017 Wrap Up

1. April was all about the Blogging from A to Z Challenge around these here parts wherein I posted every day in April (except Sundays but on the last Sunday) about something that corresponds to a letter of the alphabet. My theme was gratitude, and you can find all of my posts here. I’ll be doing a full reflection post, as requested by the challenge admins, on May 8.

2. April was also all about the end of the semester, which means I AM DONE. This is the first time I have *ever* not taught during the summer, ever. EVER. Even in grad school, I taught every summer. That’s twelve years with no actual summer break. However, that all changes this year. SUMMER VACATION.

Current mood:

source

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