Nashville and such
I suppose it's time for an update on my summer so far. It has been both busy and not so busy. :) I spent the first week doing. . . NOTHING! Yay! And then I started to make myself more productive. So, what does being productive look like? Well, it's a combination of sorting through attic boxes to get rid of and consolidate stuff. I'm really amazed at all the stuff I have accumulated. It doesn't bode well for the future. After all, I'm only 26 now. Yikes. So, I'm trying to get rid of stuff and better organize other stuff. Right now my room is a disaster. First, of course, you have to take all the stuff out of the box/plastic container in which it has been comfortably living for several years. Then, you have to spread it all out and look at it. Next, you must determine what group of items you aren't really sure why you saved and pitch them. Once that is finished, you must determine which group of stuff will go back into the box. Now you have extra space in the box (which is the point, really) so you empty a second box and repeat the aforementioned steps, placing as many of the remaining items as reasonably belong into the first box. First box goes back into the attic. Now you have some random stuff just sitting there waiting for a box. Right now my room is in "random stuff sitting around waiting for more box emptying" phase. It isn't pretty. Also, I tend to get frustrated with it all once I have everything scattered around. I want to quit. I want to just live in the junk. Then I realize--it's driving me nuts. It must be cleaned. And so I keep at it. I really hate it all. I need a house. Sigh.
The other face of productivity around here is the paint-the-doors-b/c-they-really-need-it face. My sister and I are collaborating on this phase of work. Then we get to paint the garage. It's hot outside. But, I like painting. And when I get tired of it all, I go swimming. It's hard to beat that.
The other thing of mild interest that I've done so far this summer: I flew to Nashville for a friend's wedding. That was a good time. I got to see some friends I hadn't seen in about three years. Wow. It was good to talk to them. The wedding was lovely. The reception was very casual--held at this. . .I don't know what to call it. . .like a covered barn barbeque hoe-down place. It was really neat. Not really at all what I would have expected at Juli's wedding, but it was fun. And of course, we had a great time "decorating" the car. :) Of course I also made time to go see the Grand Ole Opry. I didn't have time to take the tour, though. :( Oh well. I guess that means I'll have to go back to Nashville someday.
Next week, I'm flying to Wilmington, NC for a ten-day trip to visit my dearest friends Kelly and Justin. I'm rather excited b/c I get to see their new house! At any rate. In between all of this, I've slipped in some time to start planning my curriculum for next year's co-op classes. Right now it's all a little directionless, but I'm getting a handle on what works/philosophies I want to cover. It helps that I've taught World Lit before, but I'm still wanting to cover everything--not exactly feasible--so the hard part is deciding which things best represent the various literary traditions and philosophies of the world. British Lit is just expansive. It's easier though because it flows chronologically, so it's jsut a matter of choosing the best pieces from each period of lit. Sigh. I know I'm going to feel totally unprepared regardless of how well I prepare. That's just the way it goes!