Each time I thought about blogging, I've thought about why I stopped, and it's brought back a flood of grief. But, over time, grief and pain diminish, and gradually, joy re-enters.
Our joy is Evelyn. She was born May 16, 2011. Evie is a healthy, happy, toddling little girl, who smiles and laughs and lights up our lives. We are richly blessed to have her.
On the work front, I still teach at Aquinas College and will be adding a new class to my repertoire there--Business Communication. I'm nervous to teach a new course--though I have taught Business Writing for Cornerstone's PGS program a couple of times this year. For Aquinas, though, it's brand new for me--I chose the text, I create the lesson plans. It's a lot of work. I will be teaching Inquiry and Expression (a freshman writing course) for Aquinas, as well. This will be my ninth semester teaching this course. Of course, I can't make it easy for myself: I've changed textbooks and completely revamped the course. I'll also be teaching Written Rhetoric at Kendall College of Art and Design for the fifth semester. I have two sections there. Each section at each school is at or above capacity. It's great to know that I have some job security this semester (last fall one of my sections was cut at the last minute due to low enrollment), but I'm nervous about having so many students. There are lot of names to learn and A LOT of papers to grade. I will also be teaching some writing workshops for Grand Rapids Theological Seminary for the third time, as well as providing some one-on-one tutoring. It's going to be a very busy semester! But I'm so glad to be employed! (I was even offered sections at a couple of other schools, but I already have my hands full!)
I've read a ton of books this summer and hope to write a bit about them later. My good friend Nicky inspired me to begin a book journal, to keep track of what I've read and what I thought about each book. I've been keeping track for about two years, and it feels great to add each new entry. So far, I think I've read 52 books. It's not much to brag about considering I have two literature degrees and should probably be reading much, much more, but I'm happy with my total thus far. I generally have one audiobook that I listen to in the car, one or two print books, and a Kindle book going at any given time. My pace will slow significantly in ten days, when the new semester starts. But that's okay--less time for reading means more time for working, which means $$. Yey!
