… now that the last of the essays have been read, the reading journals tallied, the anthologies evaluated, and final grades have been submitted. Phew! In case anyone is interested, it took me 30 hours, or about one hour per student.
Next? sort through the clutter of personal history that is currently residing in my dining room, now that we’ve emptied the storage unit (and reclaimed that monthly fee for our own use again!). One fun treasure that surfaced is the photo album I made after my second European hitch hiking tour in 1972. Particular snapshot favorites? Me, sun bathing on the beach in Paros (Greece) in November, fully clothed, including tights and heavy sweater. (I’ve never been one for bathing suits.) And then there was the interminable card game on the island, as my boyfriend and I waited for the return of my passport to the consulate in Athens. I was on a bit of a “Roots”-themed mission, determined to get in touch with my Greek heritage. Things began to go haywire during a late-night border crossing into Yugoslavia when I discovered I was in possession of someone else’s passport and mine was probably long-gone with another girl who had stayed at the youth hostel in Salzburg. Only the ignorance of youth can account for my thinking that it was a good idea to continue on into Greece with someone else’s identity.
Amazing where a few relics can take one. But for this week, there’s nothing like the impending arrival of house guests to inspire a flurry of cleaning and tidying. And I’ve just washed a stack of cottons in beautiful blues — ultramarine to periwinkle, with a sprinkle of teal dots for pleasant measure — in preparation for the new bedroom quilt. Pure happiness. … back soon,
So, will you be teaching over the summer or do you get a break? We are trying to clear out the house so we can avoid a storage unit. We really can’t afford one and frankly really need to purge. Good for you! I can’t wait to see what you do with the blue fabric and even more excited to finally read your memoirs!
I get a break from teaching but on June 1st I will be starting my new (p/t) position as Administrative Director of the SNHU-MFA Writing program!
oh those are some great stories… passport snafus, photos from the past, getting a storage locker cleared out! Lucky you. We still have two we’re thinking we MUST clean out… one down and two to go. It’s such a burden financially and just knowing all of that STUFF is out there. Well done.
So glad you enjoyed the stories! Your response is encouragement to continue with more!
You’re freeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Yay!
About 1 hr per student for final work sounds typical. Sigh. But hoooooomama, you’re done done done for the school year.
Congrats on getting rid of the storage fee, too! 🙂
Thanks for the confirmation on time per student – as a first-year instructor, it’s all one big learning curve and I had no idea if I was on track or not.