The annual update
It's been a year.
Like, it's really been a year. I checked in today and saw that the last entry I wrote was this day last year.
*Went full time at the school when I became librarian. This year, I took on coordinating the pre-collegiate testing (SAT, ACT, etc.) Maybe not the best thing. My summer ended several weeks early when parents started emailing about why their little darling didn't receive their accommodations from the testing people. Egad. Sigh. I'm all for getting students what they need to succeed but standardized testing no longer holds the same weight it did back in the dark ages when I took them. Most universities are test-optional these days. Then there's the actual test days I have to supervise. Yay for working 7 hours on a Saturday!
*Then in a moment of absolute lunacy I volunteered for the general duty rotation. I have to be at the school until 10pm every 12 days. You know what days those sometimes are sometimes? Saturdays. Days during the short breaks when some students don't have anywhere to go. I mean, I know the faculty that live on campus have the students with them all the time, but I have to drive from home and spend 10 hours on campus, sitting in a dorm common room, being available to students who don't really give a shit that I've given up a precious day off to make sure they don't do something they're gonna regret. I'm always tired, I'm working 50 or so hours a week.
*Boy1 has finally found himself and is applying to university. In Ireland.
I should have seen that coming. He's applied to University of Limerick after spending three weeks on the west coast of Ireland playing in pubs, meeting people and attending a famous Irish music camp. We're thrilled for him, but....wish he'd done this 10 years ago when his dad wasn't semi-retired and me looking down at retirement in 5 years. Yeah, cause it's all about us. But. It's a little less expensive to go to uni in Ireland (12K euros, and he's got a great shot at a 5K scholarship). As a carpenter he can support himself there 'cause there is a skilled labor shortage. But until he gets admitted in 2023, he is boomeranging home to save money. So in November we'll be stuffing him, his stuff and three cats into our house. It's going to be interesting.
*Boy2 has been employed for a solid year, has a car and a loan payments, and lives with us. So some good, some not so much. He's become the adult child who lives in the basement playing on the computer. He doesn't go out; he doesn't drink; he has a few friends but rarely hangs out with them. There was a moment when we thought he was going to move out, but that fell through and then his car died and he had to get a new one. He makes a good wage, but not enough to rent a place around here. It's a real problem.
*HeadBoy is semi-retired though he'd like to be fully. But the gig at the community college requires minimal commitment and work, it's easy, he likes it, and he's making sure future health professionals in our region learn anatomy. He's joined the search and rescue team in a neighboring county because he can still hike. He even started a SAR team within the hiking club he belongs to because those folks also know the trails in the wilderness area in that county. At 65 he's probably one of the oldest in the county team, but certainly not in the hiking club. Some of the guys he does trail maintenance with are in their 90s. I guess that's a testiment to get out and hike.
We're still very much into Star Trek in this family, though we have yet to go to any cons since the pandemic ended. Well, not that the pandemic has ended totally. We were going to travel out west this past summer, but found some of the areas were wanted to visit had low rates of vaccination and surging COVID levels, so we cancelled. We visited imachar and then three women archivists I've known for over 35 years. Had marvelous times! The rest of the time I sewed: two quilt tops, started two others, quilted one quilt for my great-niece (Collins, who was born on my birthday this year!), and made a couple of dresses, something I haven't made in years. I read 12 books over the summer and challenged my students to read at least 10. Eight students did that, and I had a little celebration for them this past week.
That's about it. Except that lanai is coming to visit in less than 4 weeks! So looking forward to having her with us here, taking her around the region, and hoping she enjoys the downtime she needs and deserves in our mountain home.
Like, it's really been a year. I checked in today and saw that the last entry I wrote was this day last year.
*Went full time at the school when I became librarian. This year, I took on coordinating the pre-collegiate testing (SAT, ACT, etc.) Maybe not the best thing. My summer ended several weeks early when parents started emailing about why their little darling didn't receive their accommodations from the testing people. Egad. Sigh. I'm all for getting students what they need to succeed but standardized testing no longer holds the same weight it did back in the dark ages when I took them. Most universities are test-optional these days. Then there's the actual test days I have to supervise. Yay for working 7 hours on a Saturday!
*Then in a moment of absolute lunacy I volunteered for the general duty rotation. I have to be at the school until 10pm every 12 days. You know what days those sometimes are sometimes? Saturdays. Days during the short breaks when some students don't have anywhere to go. I mean, I know the faculty that live on campus have the students with them all the time, but I have to drive from home and spend 10 hours on campus, sitting in a dorm common room, being available to students who don't really give a shit that I've given up a precious day off to make sure they don't do something they're gonna regret. I'm always tired, I'm working 50 or so hours a week.
*Boy1 has finally found himself and is applying to university. In Ireland.
I should have seen that coming. He's applied to University of Limerick after spending three weeks on the west coast of Ireland playing in pubs, meeting people and attending a famous Irish music camp. We're thrilled for him, but....wish he'd done this 10 years ago when his dad wasn't semi-retired and me looking down at retirement in 5 years. Yeah, cause it's all about us. But. It's a little less expensive to go to uni in Ireland (12K euros, and he's got a great shot at a 5K scholarship). As a carpenter he can support himself there 'cause there is a skilled labor shortage. But until he gets admitted in 2023, he is boomeranging home to save money. So in November we'll be stuffing him, his stuff and three cats into our house. It's going to be interesting.
*Boy2 has been employed for a solid year, has a car and a loan payments, and lives with us. So some good, some not so much. He's become the adult child who lives in the basement playing on the computer. He doesn't go out; he doesn't drink; he has a few friends but rarely hangs out with them. There was a moment when we thought he was going to move out, but that fell through and then his car died and he had to get a new one. He makes a good wage, but not enough to rent a place around here. It's a real problem.
*HeadBoy is semi-retired though he'd like to be fully. But the gig at the community college requires minimal commitment and work, it's easy, he likes it, and he's making sure future health professionals in our region learn anatomy. He's joined the search and rescue team in a neighboring county because he can still hike. He even started a SAR team within the hiking club he belongs to because those folks also know the trails in the wilderness area in that county. At 65 he's probably one of the oldest in the county team, but certainly not in the hiking club. Some of the guys he does trail maintenance with are in their 90s. I guess that's a testiment to get out and hike.
We're still very much into Star Trek in this family, though we have yet to go to any cons since the pandemic ended. Well, not that the pandemic has ended totally. We were going to travel out west this past summer, but found some of the areas were wanted to visit had low rates of vaccination and surging COVID levels, so we cancelled. We visited imachar and then three women archivists I've known for over 35 years. Had marvelous times! The rest of the time I sewed: two quilt tops, started two others, quilted one quilt for my great-niece (Collins, who was born on my birthday this year!), and made a couple of dresses, something I haven't made in years. I read 12 books over the summer and challenged my students to read at least 10. Eight students did that, and I had a little celebration for them this past week.
That's about it. Except that lanai is coming to visit in less than 4 weeks! So looking forward to having her with us here, taking her around the region, and hoping she enjoys the downtime she needs and deserves in our mountain home.