I haven't written in a while because, surprise surprise, I have been super busy. We went on vacation starting June 18 and got back on July 8! It was a bit too long away from home in my opinion, but it was also very nice. We went home to Michigan for a day or two, then left for florida. Paul, me, Greg, Rick, and Kyle stayed in a beachfront condo for two weeks in Florida. That's right, me and four boys! whew. It was actually not that bad, though the place was a bit small, so I saw every one of the guys in just their boxers at one point which is...a bit awkward, I must say. Anywho, we spent almost all of our time fishing. Despite the myth from midwestern people, Florida is NOT unbearably hot, at least not while we were down there. It was fine, especially since we were on the water. I caught a shark, which was very exciting and Paul caught a cobia "catch of a lifetime". I've been talking about our trip so much, though, that I am weary of the conversation. So I will fast forward. We took the train from Michigan to Milwaukee which was...interesting. We will probably take it again because it was cheap, but the first time was pretty stressful. They are not very organized.
Yesterday, I had people over to the house. Paul was not home due to a camping trip with his students. So I had Abby, Emily, Lindsay, Jack, Rick, and Nic over for dinner/snacks and games. It was a very pleasant night full of flights from bees, good conversation, good food, and great kareoke fun. :)
Today I might go to the dog park with Rick and our brood of dogs. It will be good exercise for everyone involved. Then I pick up Paul from his long trip! I can't wait to see him again. Alot has happened since he left three days ago: our basement filled with water, people came over, and I had another interview with another school! I will post more later, if I get the job. :)
Friday, July 16, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
An interview process
I thought I would write out the interview process that I just went through in order to remind myself about it later as well as let others know what a crazy hassle it is to become a college professor.
1) In April, I did the typical online application with cover letter, resume, etc. for University of Phoenix.
2) Two weeks-ish later, Univ. of Phoenix emailed me and told me that my qualifications looked promising...so far. They had me fill out a more specific online application, with questionaires, sample syllabi, essays on my philosophy of education, etc.
3) In May, UoP emailed me again and said that the new information I gave was good and promising and set up a phone interview with me. I prepared through research on phone interview processes as well as knowing everything that I could about the school. The phone interview went GREAT and I made sure to have good questions to ask about the school.
4) On June 17, UoP had set up a time for me to come for a person to person interview. First, I was interviewed by two faculty assessors about my philosophy of education and whatnot. Then, I made a 12-15 mintue presentation to "teach" the 5-8 people in the room to show off my teaching skills. (I worked hard on this presentation for at least a week, and it was 16 minutes long, but they cut everyone off after 6 minutes! All that hard work...sigh..) Then, we had a leaderless group activity so that I could show that I "play well with others". IT was an exhausting 3 hour process.
5) HOWEVER, the entire long, complicated process from beginning to end was totally worth it because: I GOT THE JOB!!! Well, technically. I have to go to class/workshops this summer to get certified. However, I know this will be fine. Basically, I am a faculty of University of Phoenix! I don't know how many classes I will get, or if I can ever count on having some classes, but it's a start in the right direction!
I am so happy that my friends and family have been praying for me. I have been concerned about my future, but I have always counted on God to protect me. Thank you to everyone who has constantly been supporting me. I love you all so much. :)
1) In April, I did the typical online application with cover letter, resume, etc. for University of Phoenix.
2) Two weeks-ish later, Univ. of Phoenix emailed me and told me that my qualifications looked promising...so far. They had me fill out a more specific online application, with questionaires, sample syllabi, essays on my philosophy of education, etc.
3) In May, UoP emailed me again and said that the new information I gave was good and promising and set up a phone interview with me. I prepared through research on phone interview processes as well as knowing everything that I could about the school. The phone interview went GREAT and I made sure to have good questions to ask about the school.
4) On June 17, UoP had set up a time for me to come for a person to person interview. First, I was interviewed by two faculty assessors about my philosophy of education and whatnot. Then, I made a 12-15 mintue presentation to "teach" the 5-8 people in the room to show off my teaching skills. (I worked hard on this presentation for at least a week, and it was 16 minutes long, but they cut everyone off after 6 minutes! All that hard work...sigh..) Then, we had a leaderless group activity so that I could show that I "play well with others". IT was an exhausting 3 hour process.
5) HOWEVER, the entire long, complicated process from beginning to end was totally worth it because: I GOT THE JOB!!! Well, technically. I have to go to class/workshops this summer to get certified. However, I know this will be fine. Basically, I am a faculty of University of Phoenix! I don't know how many classes I will get, or if I can ever count on having some classes, but it's a start in the right direction!
I am so happy that my friends and family have been praying for me. I have been concerned about my future, but I have always counted on God to protect me. Thank you to everyone who has constantly been supporting me. I love you all so much. :)
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Things are Good
Life has been super awesome lately. True, I had originally planned on doing all of the chores around the house that I was not able to do while in school, and really all I am doing is relaxing and being lazy, BUT, I keep telling myself that I deserve it after a terrible school year.
I had an amazing weekend with Paul and friends. On Friday, Rick, his gal-pal Nic, Paul and I played tennis. It was great to do a fun activity and get some social time in with my peeps. After some great rounds of tennis, we played board games and watched a movie. On Saturday, Paul and I went to a flower store to fill in the gaps around the house. Hopefully, these perennials come back, and then our house will be perfect. (However, this also means that I won't have any plants to research for next year, and I really like doing that) We also went "fishing" with Rick for the rest of the day. I put that in quotes b/c the lake that we went to only had bluegills that were about four inches long, so Rick and Paul caught a combo of 33 fish. However, I despise fishing for bluegills, so even though I had intended on fishing, I quit after about an hour. Still, it was fun watching the boys fish and I just breathed in the fresh air and contemplated my happy state of existence. :) On Sunday, Paul and I finally celebrated our wedding anniversary. We got married on May 13, but we are almost always busy on that day (especially since it is at the end of my semester all of the time). Anywho, we went canoeing for four hours on a slow moving river. It was wonderful to get all of that fresh air, although my back was in much pain by the end of our river adventure.
After a fantastic weekend, I had to deal with jury duty crap. I was pretty annoyed to find out I was summoned for jury duty. I had assumed that it was like Michigan, where jury members are picked from the voters. Thus, I purposely did not register to vote in Wisconsin. However, here in WI, they pick jurors from their drivers licenses. Like I said, I was very ticked off. After taking a grad class on the history of law, crime, and justice, I learned to have no respect for the U.S. law system (i.e. a variant of Common Law) and instead I prefer the Roman law system of the majority of the rest of the world. Anywho, so here I was, in a cramped and crowded and very uncomfortable room. They made us watch a movie with animated cartoon american flags and patriotic songs and slogans about "pride in our democratic institution" and "civic duty" and other nauseating jabber. Just as I am about to puke from the propaganda and blindly-devoted patriotism, a lady comes in and tries to guilt everyone to donate blood. Well guess what lady, some people can't donate blood and don't deserve a guilt trip (like me). So I was grumpy AND uncomfortable. When I was finally lined up to go into the court (after sitting in an uncomfortable chair from 9am-2:30pm), I learned a new lesson about our law system: Lawyers and Judges are not always intelligent. I may not have liked our law system before, but I at least had respect for the intellect of judges and lawyers. But they were terrible. At the end, they asked the jury if anyone was not interested in serving, and I quickly raised my hand. I was the only one! Even though everyone complained on the way to the courtroom about jury duty, when we were given a chance to get out of it, no one bothered! Since I raised my hand, I got out of it and now I am safe in Wisconsin for four years. *whew* I am glad we will be out of here by then. I don't know if I will always luck out like I did this time.
Other than jury duty, I have been planting my flowers, cleaning, researching recipes, and other light chores. But mainly I am still relaxing and having fun. Tomorrow, I shall start looking at employment stuff. For now, however, I will sleep sweet, non-stressful dreams without a care in the world. :)
I had an amazing weekend with Paul and friends. On Friday, Rick, his gal-pal Nic, Paul and I played tennis. It was great to do a fun activity and get some social time in with my peeps. After some great rounds of tennis, we played board games and watched a movie. On Saturday, Paul and I went to a flower store to fill in the gaps around the house. Hopefully, these perennials come back, and then our house will be perfect. (However, this also means that I won't have any plants to research for next year, and I really like doing that) We also went "fishing" with Rick for the rest of the day. I put that in quotes b/c the lake that we went to only had bluegills that were about four inches long, so Rick and Paul caught a combo of 33 fish. However, I despise fishing for bluegills, so even though I had intended on fishing, I quit after about an hour. Still, it was fun watching the boys fish and I just breathed in the fresh air and contemplated my happy state of existence. :) On Sunday, Paul and I finally celebrated our wedding anniversary. We got married on May 13, but we are almost always busy on that day (especially since it is at the end of my semester all of the time). Anywho, we went canoeing for four hours on a slow moving river. It was wonderful to get all of that fresh air, although my back was in much pain by the end of our river adventure.
After a fantastic weekend, I had to deal with jury duty crap. I was pretty annoyed to find out I was summoned for jury duty. I had assumed that it was like Michigan, where jury members are picked from the voters. Thus, I purposely did not register to vote in Wisconsin. However, here in WI, they pick jurors from their drivers licenses. Like I said, I was very ticked off. After taking a grad class on the history of law, crime, and justice, I learned to have no respect for the U.S. law system (i.e. a variant of Common Law) and instead I prefer the Roman law system of the majority of the rest of the world. Anywho, so here I was, in a cramped and crowded and very uncomfortable room. They made us watch a movie with animated cartoon american flags and patriotic songs and slogans about "pride in our democratic institution" and "civic duty" and other nauseating jabber. Just as I am about to puke from the propaganda and blindly-devoted patriotism, a lady comes in and tries to guilt everyone to donate blood. Well guess what lady, some people can't donate blood and don't deserve a guilt trip (like me). So I was grumpy AND uncomfortable. When I was finally lined up to go into the court (after sitting in an uncomfortable chair from 9am-2:30pm), I learned a new lesson about our law system: Lawyers and Judges are not always intelligent. I may not have liked our law system before, but I at least had respect for the intellect of judges and lawyers. But they were terrible. At the end, they asked the jury if anyone was not interested in serving, and I quickly raised my hand. I was the only one! Even though everyone complained on the way to the courtroom about jury duty, when we were given a chance to get out of it, no one bothered! Since I raised my hand, I got out of it and now I am safe in Wisconsin for four years. *whew* I am glad we will be out of here by then. I don't know if I will always luck out like I did this time.
Other than jury duty, I have been planting my flowers, cleaning, researching recipes, and other light chores. But mainly I am still relaxing and having fun. Tomorrow, I shall start looking at employment stuff. For now, however, I will sleep sweet, non-stressful dreams without a care in the world. :)
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
A few of my Favorite Things
I don't know how I managed it, but I survived the semester! I am still pretty exhausted and my body cannot seem to relax. It has become a habit to be stressed starting the moment I wake up, so it might take a while for me to unwind completely. In celebration of my freedom from the academic world, at least for a few months, I decided to remind myself of a few of my favorite things in the world:
My fave foods/beverages:
*blackberries and raspberries
*limeade
*tomatoes!!!
*CHEESE!
*Gin and tonics with a twist of lime
My fave activities:
*taking care of my flowers
*sewing
*playing Sims 2
*playing board games
*playing video games
*making t-shirts with Paul
*hosting dinner parties
*walking with my dog and husband
*MUSIC: playing instruments, singing, listening to a huge variety of songs
*FISHING!
My fave people:
*My sweet, sweet Paul
*My family: Moms, Dads, sister-in-laws, brothers, bro-in-laws, AND my two NEPHEWS!
*My friends: Rick, Julie, Cindy, Staci, Abby and my Small Group
*My dog Athena...not a person, but very dear to me.
*My Extended family: I miss them all so very much.
My fave dreams/goals:
*Catch alot of fish this summer
*Get into shape
*Get a job
*Explore Europe
*Take a bunch of cruises
*Move out of this crappy state
*Take time to tell my loved ones how important they are to me
My fave foods/beverages:
*blackberries and raspberries
*limeade
*tomatoes!!!
*CHEESE!
*Gin and tonics with a twist of lime
My fave activities:
*taking care of my flowers
*sewing
*playing Sims 2
*playing board games
*playing video games
*making t-shirts with Paul
*hosting dinner parties
*walking with my dog and husband
*MUSIC: playing instruments, singing, listening to a huge variety of songs
*FISHING!
My fave people:
*My sweet, sweet Paul
*My family: Moms, Dads, sister-in-laws, brothers, bro-in-laws, AND my two NEPHEWS!
*My friends: Rick, Julie, Cindy, Staci, Abby and my Small Group
*My dog Athena...not a person, but very dear to me.
*My Extended family: I miss them all so very much.
My fave dreams/goals:
*Catch alot of fish this summer
*Get into shape
*Get a job
*Explore Europe
*Take a bunch of cruises
*Move out of this crappy state
*Take time to tell my loved ones how important they are to me
Saturday, May 1, 2010
I'm a Zombie...can I have your brain?
*Whew*
I am getting to the end of the semester. I have less than two weeks to go! Today I realized it was May 1, and I panicked. I still have so much to do for school before the end, which is May 13!
This past week, I wrote two papers, read 8 books, and graded 75 essay exams.
Here is what I have left:
*25-ish page paper for my medieval class on: "Continuity versus Change: Working Women in Early Modern Germany" I have all the books read and my notes done and my outline is complete. I just have to sit down for a few days straight and write until my fingers fall off.
*20-ish page paper for my early modern class, this one isn't too bad. It's just a historiography paper based on my notes from class on violence, crime, and justice.
*Presentation on my medieval paper. I am not looking forward to this. We have to make a fancy presentation, which I think it ridiculous and a waste of my time.
*Read one more book for my American Revolution class. Woo hoo! That is all left for this class!
*Grade 75 quizzes (essay format)
*Grade 75 final exams (essay format) I am so sick of grading!
*Input all the grades into the official format. This is the worst. I haven't finished inputting their grades from extra credit and discussion sections, so I have to put them all in and then go from there.
I am getting there. But I can't believe I have only 12 more days to do all of this! :(
What a negative post. Don't worry, though. Once I am done with this semester, my posts will be SO much happier!
I am getting to the end of the semester. I have less than two weeks to go! Today I realized it was May 1, and I panicked. I still have so much to do for school before the end, which is May 13!
This past week, I wrote two papers, read 8 books, and graded 75 essay exams.
Here is what I have left:
*25-ish page paper for my medieval class on: "Continuity versus Change: Working Women in Early Modern Germany" I have all the books read and my notes done and my outline is complete. I just have to sit down for a few days straight and write until my fingers fall off.
*20-ish page paper for my early modern class, this one isn't too bad. It's just a historiography paper based on my notes from class on violence, crime, and justice.
*Presentation on my medieval paper. I am not looking forward to this. We have to make a fancy presentation, which I think it ridiculous and a waste of my time.
*Read one more book for my American Revolution class. Woo hoo! That is all left for this class!
*Grade 75 quizzes (essay format)
*Grade 75 final exams (essay format) I am so sick of grading!
*Input all the grades into the official format. This is the worst. I haven't finished inputting their grades from extra credit and discussion sections, so I have to put them all in and then go from there.
I am getting there. But I can't believe I have only 12 more days to do all of this! :(
What a negative post. Don't worry, though. Once I am done with this semester, my posts will be SO much happier!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Fishing on the brain
Life is currently moving along quite nicely. I could use some prayers, though. I applied to a bunch of colleges to work! I don't know if I will get anything, but it's worth a shot. One school has emailed me three times now, and wants to do an online interview. That might just mean I would be put into their large pool of "acceptable adjuncts" but I will consider that an honor! :)
Besides filling out application after application, my life has been centered on fishing and friends. Yes, I still have school. And after wednesday of this week, my life will center only on work once again (sigh...) but last week, I enjoyed myself a bit. Paul had the week off, and we did some more yard work and had a lovely Asian-themed dinner party with Benji, Abby, and Rick. We played board games after and it was good food too...that Paul cooked! :)
Um, let's see. I am still getting over a nasty two week cold. And I love teaching.
I don't have much else to say right now, so off I go to do a bit more work and then get some lovely sleep...
Besides filling out application after application, my life has been centered on fishing and friends. Yes, I still have school. And after wednesday of this week, my life will center only on work once again (sigh...) but last week, I enjoyed myself a bit. Paul had the week off, and we did some more yard work and had a lovely Asian-themed dinner party with Benji, Abby, and Rick. We played board games after and it was good food too...that Paul cooked! :)
Um, let's see. I am still getting over a nasty two week cold. And I love teaching.
I don't have much else to say right now, so off I go to do a bit more work and then get some lovely sleep...
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Easter Break
I have been enjoying my Easter break. Alot! It started out on a great note on Wednesday, when my students informed me that not only did I have thursday and friday off for Easter, but I also had Monday off! This was an unexpected blessing. There is nothing better, I think, then getting a surprise day off from work! :) I decided to celebrate the good news by taking some time off from my work to relax. It has been wonderful and greatly needed!
On Thursday, I slept in til 10:30am, partly because I have been sick and the extra sleeping helped me feel much better. I watched some TV, made cookies, cleaned a bit, and played my Sims 2 for a few hours. When Paul got home from school around 4pm, we went shopping and out to dinner. We then came home and watched an old movie with Chevy Chase called "Fletch". It was hilarious and I have nothing but praise for it!
On Friday, Paul started his spring break, so we actually had a school break at the same time! This has never happened since I started grad school (well, I suppose we share a few days off at Christmas...). I spent the morning changing the decorations in our house from winter stuff to spring stuff. It was a nice change. Then we went flyfishing together. It was our first time flyfishing, so we went on the Milwaukee river in an area away from the other fishermen so that we could learn. Flyfishing is a more talented kind of fishing, so it takes alot of practice. :) Of course, we didn't catch anything, b/c we were not near the fish (the fishermen all know the right places to actually catch the fish and we didn't want to be near them yet). But we spent a few pleasant hours wading in the river and soaking up the sun and getting to be pros at the art of flyfishing. It was SO relaxing! We are planning on going again on Monday, but this time to actually catch fish. We shall see what happens.
When we got back from fishing, we then went crazy working hard on our yard. Paul raked up debris, leaves, and dog poop while I destroyed the tiger lilies on the side of our house. We thought they were ugly flowers last spring, so I worked digging up the bulbs. It was hard work, but our yard is looking great! One or two more days of hard labor, and our yard will be perfect for the spring and summer. :)
After that, we went to a church activity for free pizza and then hung out with friends. Thus, a perfect day of me/Paul-only time, hard work on the house, and social time with friends.
Now, I am working on my homework again. It's hard to get back into it since I was enjoying my tw0 days off so much! Still, I have a few more nice hours ahead of me on my next two days off from school. Tomorrow is Easter, and a friend's family invited everyone over who doesn't have family in the area. So me, Paul, and two other friends from out of town are gathering together for an Easter dinner with someone else's family. I am touched at their kindness.
On Monday, Paul and I will fish again in the morning, and then I will work the rest of the day. Boo! Still, I must look forward to the good parts of the next few days, and rejoice that God has blessed me with a good home, great family/friends, and a wonderful husband! :) Happy Easter, Everyone!
On Thursday, I slept in til 10:30am, partly because I have been sick and the extra sleeping helped me feel much better. I watched some TV, made cookies, cleaned a bit, and played my Sims 2 for a few hours. When Paul got home from school around 4pm, we went shopping and out to dinner. We then came home and watched an old movie with Chevy Chase called "Fletch". It was hilarious and I have nothing but praise for it!
On Friday, Paul started his spring break, so we actually had a school break at the same time! This has never happened since I started grad school (well, I suppose we share a few days off at Christmas...). I spent the morning changing the decorations in our house from winter stuff to spring stuff. It was a nice change. Then we went flyfishing together. It was our first time flyfishing, so we went on the Milwaukee river in an area away from the other fishermen so that we could learn. Flyfishing is a more talented kind of fishing, so it takes alot of practice. :) Of course, we didn't catch anything, b/c we were not near the fish (the fishermen all know the right places to actually catch the fish and we didn't want to be near them yet). But we spent a few pleasant hours wading in the river and soaking up the sun and getting to be pros at the art of flyfishing. It was SO relaxing! We are planning on going again on Monday, but this time to actually catch fish. We shall see what happens.
When we got back from fishing, we then went crazy working hard on our yard. Paul raked up debris, leaves, and dog poop while I destroyed the tiger lilies on the side of our house. We thought they were ugly flowers last spring, so I worked digging up the bulbs. It was hard work, but our yard is looking great! One or two more days of hard labor, and our yard will be perfect for the spring and summer. :)
After that, we went to a church activity for free pizza and then hung out with friends. Thus, a perfect day of me/Paul-only time, hard work on the house, and social time with friends.
Now, I am working on my homework again. It's hard to get back into it since I was enjoying my tw0 days off so much! Still, I have a few more nice hours ahead of me on my next two days off from school. Tomorrow is Easter, and a friend's family invited everyone over who doesn't have family in the area. So me, Paul, and two other friends from out of town are gathering together for an Easter dinner with someone else's family. I am touched at their kindness.
On Monday, Paul and I will fish again in the morning, and then I will work the rest of the day. Boo! Still, I must look forward to the good parts of the next few days, and rejoice that God has blessed me with a good home, great family/friends, and a wonderful husband! :) Happy Easter, Everyone!
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