August 16, 2005

It looks like the blog writing is going to be a once a month (or so) thing for a little while. I thought at the beginning of the summer that I would be able to relax, put my feet up, vacation with friends and family... well, school starts at CSU on Monday, August 29 and I haven't put my feet up (much) or vacationed (much). Steve and I did go to Grand Lake St. Mary's State Park for a weekend with my parents and David; but that's about all the vacation we've been able to manage. Oh well, such is life, right?

We did manage to buy and move into a new home. We've had all of our property here at 353 Beaumont Dr. for a little over a week. At this time everything is put away in the kitchen, guest bedroom, and the master bedroom is together. So, the two most important rooms are livable. We are still working on the office and arranging the living room. We do have a couple of rooms that will be empty for a little while - a bedroom, family room, and dining room. We are looking forward to remodeling one room at a time (once we get all of the boxes unpacked). That might happen this weekend:).

At CSU, we were able to submit the grant to the Department of Education and are currently working to revise the proposal for a similar grant available through the National Science Foundation. This grant is due on September 16. I started going in all day on Monday this week to get ready for the courses I am teaching this fall. I will be teaching the middle school science methods course again and co-teaching an "Earth science for middle school teachers" course. I am excited about both courses; the co-teaching will be a bit more work, but I'm up for it and might even be able to do some research and write about that course. Writing and publishing are part of the professor life and I need to get started on the publishing part. I hope to submit an article from my dissertation to the Journal of Science Teacher Education. If I get something published, I'll be sure to let everyone know.

Steve is doing well also. He has been working like crazy the past couple of weeks. But his job is like that sometimes. At least, he likes the work! He has been able to assist in several surgeries and set numerous broken and dislocated bones.

Overall, the summer has been good and I can't believe it is almost over! I hope that your summer has been restful and enjoyable! If you read this and I haven't talked to you in a while, drop me a note and let me know how you are doing. Have an excellent evening!

July 1, 2005

The web page has been up now for about 2 months and it is time to begin writing on the blog... Before I begin about what is new with me, I would like to wish my brother, Jeff, a happy birthday! Today he is 25 years old! Although he will never catch up with me, he is getting older! You can view his web page too.

The biggest thing going on with Steve and me is that we are in the process of buying a house! We are very excited to not be paying rent anymore! We have been paying rent to someone for about 12 years now and we are ready to pay on a loan now. At least it is tax deductible – that is what everyone tells me anyway.

The house is located at 353 Beaumont in Fairlawn, Ohio. Fairlawn is northwest of Akron, Ohio. You can check out the City of Fairlawn website for more details. It seems to be a good community with good schools. The house is a 2 story colonial with 4 bedrooms and 2 ½ bathrooms. It’s really a great house! Although, if you look at the pictures, you will notice that we have a significant amount of redecorating to do. The couple that lives there now built the house in 1969. Steve and I are excited that we are only the second owners! The sellers of the home have been extremely nice to Steve and I and are planning to leave some furniture for us. Steve’s first project is the half bath on the first floor. You will notice it if you look at the pictures, it is yellow, green, and silver – prettyJ We hope to close on the house on July 26 and make the move the weekend of August 5-8. Anyone interested in helping out, let me know.

I am finished teaching for the 2004-2005 school year. I just finished teaching a six-week summer course (EDC 517) for graduate students in science education on Thursday, June 30. I have papers to grade and final grades are due on Tuesday, but for all intents and purposes I am finished! During the month of July I will be working on writing a grant my colleagues and I are submitting to the US Department of Education, writing curriculum for AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science), and writing a paper from my dissertation research to, hopefully, be published during 2005-2006. Although, I am not teaching, this professor job keeps me plenty busy. I am not complaining – I really love it!

Steve finished his internship year at Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital and is officially a first year orthopedic surgery resident as of today! He was excited to get rid of his internship pager and now he can throw the stethoscope away – that is what he says anyway. Take a look sometime and let me know if you see an orthopedist with a stethoscope. I haven’t seen one yet…

In summary, Steve and I are both doing really well. We are enjoying our careers, looking forward to moving into our new home, and after a year of marriage we still like each other and doing things together. Hopefully, I’ll be able to write more often now that I am not teaching. We’ll see… For now, good-bye.

May 11, 2005

Here I will add stuff that is going on. Don't have time tonight...