I was able to log in and see my class student lists for the upcoming year! There were some familiar names, which is cool. I was a bit more motivated to study today. For my TPS Leadership class, I'm essentially done--the only other thing I could do is add teaching notes to my album. This week is the last session--I'm kinda glad for that although I learned a lot. I also sent off the second recommendation letter I needed for my ESL certification classes--that's a relief. I felt

I had a decent time at the Ethical Society potluck today. That professor I was hoping to talk to wasn't there though, unfortunately. What can you do. Maybe he'll answer my email at some point--I'm brainstorming ways to find other professors for my dissertation though. I think I made a cool new friend at the potluck though. I hope so. This evening I'm torn between feeling bored and restless and not wanting to study. It happens sometimes. I did a little CLEP studying and statis

It was a super hot day. I got out mid-morning to flyer for EWV's upcoming English classes. It was nice to be invited out to do something--my knee kills now though. I'm looking forward to the Ethical Society's Potluck tomorrow. I'll bring a basic cheese plate. I was thinking about bullying earlier for some reason. When I was in middle school and my freshman/sophomore years of high school, I had a few frenemies who were essentially kinda mean girls. I'll call them J, T, A, S, a

I passed my CLEP test although it was tough. The book I was using to study wasn't the best...a good amount of questions on the test weren't covered in the book. I'll remember to use Modern States online along with the book for the Educational Psychology one. I scheduled it for three weeks from tomorrow. One week of time off is finished. I'm a little bored now. I'm almost done straightening up downstairs though. I haven't heard back from the office at the ESL certification pro

I had a couple of online meetings today--feeling less angry. Just nervous about the first CLEP test I'm taking tomorrow. Human Growth & Development. I've been studying for a month, so I think I'll be okay though. Wish me luck.

I totally forgot to write yesterday...oops. Yesterday, I attended two professional development sessions run by the school district and went to a PEDC monthly meeting. The first two were very helpful--they were about using Google tools for lessons. The PEDC meeting was inspiring--the people in attendance were very accomplished and impressive. I was inspired. Today I took two of the chihuahuas to the vet--one was a good boy and one was not. He wouldn't let the vet touch him. I

Today I got up a little earlier than yesterday. Still a chill day--I found those six syllabi I needed for my ESL certification classes, and I located two more today. I'm still missing five. I'll look through all my stuff again tomorrow. I filled up a box with papers I didn't need for recycling. It's a good feeling. I found an unopened invitation to my nephew's wedding. I guess I forgot I even got one. I'm not on the best of terms with them...long story. I felt a little bad th

I got up super super late...not much exciting today. I did some studying and went to the event at the Philadelphia Ethical Society. It was in celebration of the first person (Vincent Moto) in Pennsylvania who was exonerated of a crime he didn't commit with DNA evidence. It was the 30th anniversary of his release. The event was okay. It started about 90 minutes late, which was pretty annoying. I got to go check out a couple of cool grocery stores while I was waiting though. Th

Today, I hung out at home all day...I got a good amount of cleaning done downstairs though, finally. I had to send the syllabi from my MA program to an ESL certification program here in PA. The program is only six classes--half of what I did for my MA. I'm hoping I won't have to take any more classes beyond what I have to do already. Fingers crossed. For my secondary English/Social Studies certification, I just have one more class, two CLEP tests, and the student teaching. I'

Today I got up late...so nice. And summer school is over. I went to three different bookstores--Uncle Bobbie's to pick up a few books I ordered, The Wooden Shoe to see if they have the book from the event I missed (Mississippi Law by Justin Randolph--they didn't; I ordered it), and Main Point Books to get the book I'm going to be reading with my mother and godmother. I spent more money than I planned to as usual at bookstores. Not a bad start to the rest of the summer. I did

Today was the last day of summer school. I had one student. We had to stay two extra hours to clean up even though there was nothing really do clean up. I scheduled my Zoom meeting about renewing my ESOL emergency certification for that time, which was good because my situation was complicated. So complicated that the certification person at the district spent most of the time on the phone with the state Department of Education about my situation. Long story. Her co-worker ha

Yesterday, as I said, my car didn't get fixed because of bad weather. There were thunderstorms, a flood warning, a tornado warning...but today, my amazing neighbor J fixed it! I only had to pay him $60. The starter was about $100. Not too shabby. The first thing I did was run to Trader Joe's and then Whole Foods. I was just going to buy some nice cheese since I hadn't had any for days, but of course I splurged. It was nice actually eating some of the frozen stuff that had bee

My car is still MIA due to bad weather preventing its fixing today. Hopefully tomorrow. I made some good progress in the key terms section of Chapter One of my dissertation though. Baby steps! I watched an amazing recorded webinar too. I'll post the link later.

My neighbor told me my car probably just needs a new starter, so I ordered one. It will come tomorrow. Hopefully he can fix it soon--it's supposed to be stormy tomorrow though. Luckily I can carpool this last week of summer school.

I need to get better titles, I know. Today I woke up feeling much better. I ate normally. I did my usual morning routine with my zoo and then went to another book talk at the Philadelphia Ethical Society. This one was about The Big Flip by a UPenn professor, Dr. Andrew Ifedapo Thompson. The book is about the prospect of minorities in the US outnumbering the white majority in the future. His talk was good--being me, I couldn't resist buying the book and getting it autographed

Yesterday, I had one of those stomach bugs that I've had since I was a kid, That's why I didn't write anything, sadly. I feel a lot better now though. I wanted to order a pizza, but a medium two topping pizza costs about $25 to be delivered. Crazy. I pulled myself together enough to go to Giant to buy a frozen pizza, ice cream, and a breakfast burrito for tomorrow's breakfast. I finally finished reading Killers of the Flower Moon by David Graham. A super sad and hidden part o

Thursday. Last day of the 4th week of summer school. One more week. I had 7 students in the beginning, and now I'm down to 3. The senior in my class didn't even come today. Someone must have told him the district ordered everyone not to penalize students for a lack of attendance. It's a shame they care so much about numbers that they would not penalize them. It was my first time teaching summer school. It's kind of sad--most of the students are there because they just never c

It was brutally hot today. I'm feeling better than yesterday though!

I woke up today feeling awful. There's some kind of food-borne illness going around the US. I hope I don't have it...hopefully just the flu. Not a super productive day for that reason. More tomorrow!

I'm in a very relaxed mood because I've been managing to get more stuff done at home. I made hot pot tonight and did my thing. Off to bed now.