Peeing in the Men's Room

The Indigo Girls at the zoo has become a favorite landmark of summer. Brandi Carlile as an opening act brought things up a notch this year. And a woman wearing this t-shirt made it an especially perfect night.

"This was more stressful than an eBay auction!"

Although it's a few days overdue, I want to thank Bryan for his dedication to the blog. When I neared the 25,000th visitor mark, he assured me that he would be that 25,000th visitor regardless of the steps he'd have to take. He considered hiring someone to do the site monitoring, but decided that would be playing dirty. In the end, having done all of the hard work on his own, Bryan accomplished his lofty goal. This picture is his proof.

Congrats, Bryan. Congrats.

Abundance

Earlier this spring I lost some sleep over how I'd make money during the summer months. I applied for numerous jobs, and through a bit of luck, ended up with three positions -- teacher, tutor, and librarian. The past couple of weeks have proven that three summer jobs combined with one summer class and an overwhelming desire for summer fun is just too much. So after further agonizing, I quit my tutoring job and regained three hours of sweet freedom during my week.

Not ten minutes after sending that message, I received a call from my adviser offering participation in a newly funded and important research project for twenty more summer hours per week -- not to mention full participation for the next year and a half. Please understand. Such opportunities are rare. And my adviser is, well, amazing. Really. A maze ing. I'd be an idiot to pass this up.

So now I'm losing sleep again. I shouldn't complain about having so many opportunities. I'm lucky. I know. But, Dear Universe, is better timing too much to ask for?

There's Life Out There

I had the whole family here a few weeks ago for this year's Annual Spring Clean Up. The yard has never been so lovely. And I've never been more content than to simply sit and watch the grass grow.

The Rev

It's official. I am now an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church. It took about three minutes to complete the online form and $9.60 to ship my certificate. I don't plan to put my powers to use until this July when I marry my sister and her fiance, but I am trying to stay in tune with the universe in case it calls me to duty before then. Like yesterday when I had to bless that guy on the plane after he sneezed.

Job One

On Monday I began one of three summer jobs -- teaching English to adult learners. I am their third teacher in a six-week session, so you can imagine their excitement when they saw me at the front of the room Monday night.

"Are you my teacher now?" one man asked.

"Yes. I am," I replied.

"Oh. Welcome. Welcome. Thank you for coming," he answered as he looked around at his fellow students.

Each of them welcomed me in a similar manner -- absolute kindness with a hint of frustration. Actually, one woman offered more frustration than kindness but even she seemed to turn around by the end of the evening.

They are a smart group, and I can't blame them for feeling tossed aside. We had a good evening together and successfully worked through the difference between always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, and never.

When we finished, they seemed surprised to hear that I'd be back for the next four weeks. And I can't tell you how nice it feels to have people thank your for teaching them as they walk out the door.

I feel a heavy pressure to not disappoint. They deserve more than just my presence each week. ELL is not my area of expertise, but I plan to match their dedication as best I can.

Sacrificing Quality Left and Right

I just finished editing the worst paper I think I've ever written. Twelve hours ago I was so pleased with my page and a half an hour rate, but now I remember why I write slowly. So that sentences make sense and apostrophes go in the right places. When I began revising four hours ago I had 19 pages of text. I sent the paper off minutes ago with just over 15 pages of text. Turns out the faster I write, the more crap I have to say.

Quid Pro Quo

I really respect and admire the work of a classmate who asked to exchange our 12-paged, double-spaced papers for tomorrow's peer review. I am flattered that she would think my feedback useful in her fascinating project and related dissertation work. I just received her 24-paged, single-spaced document with attached review questions and I'm not feeling so flattered any more.