Ready to Teach

Only about one month until school starts! I'm getting very excited about it, and have begun thinking about pursuing my own research interests: right now: southern food writing. The Southern Foodways Alliance is a group in Oxford, MS that publishes essays from food writers from around the south, so I've gotten all of the books (Cornbread Nation I, II, and III) to see if food writing is something I may be interested in. So far, I love how the food of the south is just an alphabet for the greater language that is southern culture... I like the anthropological feel of food writing. It also makes me miss the south desperately... not just the food but the community (even though the spirit of the south is everywhere... it's not specific to geographical lines). My community, my home is in the south, and it has taken this experience of living north of the Mason-Dixon line to reinforce that.

Charlie will start school soon too. He is gearing up to teach his class, and he should be starting on some of his thesis work in the coming weeks. It's all very exciting. Summer is winding down rather slowly, but soon, we'll have so much going on that it will speed up again.

Just a couple of things going on: Caleb went to his first vacation bible school last week at Bethel Presbyterian Church in Olive Branch. He did well, until the final night's program where he got mad and yelled "Don't sing, Mommy!" at the top of his lungs when Heather went up with the other children. He loves his mommy and doesn't like to see her "taking care" of other kids. What's so funny about all of this is that I went to bible school at Bethel, and preschool, and youthclub, and all of those things, and now, I'm watching as the next generation goes there too. It is more special than I can express.

Just some celebrations: Our good friends, Jason and Alicia Bouldin will have a son in November of this year. This couple has been married 17 years, and this will be their first child. We can't wait to see them grow as parents...that kid'll be so lucky!

Other than that, life as usual.

Sanibel Island

Here we are in beautiful Sanibel Island...by far our favorite place in Florida. I told Charlie that he must bring me back here every year. Some cool things about Sanibel: it is a bird refuge, so there are no street lights to keep the birds feeling all safe / you can't set off fireworks on the island because of the huge wildlife refuge here / you can bike the whole island...all you need is there and it's a flat terrain / there are shells as far as the eye can see (and I'm talking huge shells) and that's because the island is shaped like a scoop facing the gulf, so the shells get trapped on the beach. My favorite parts were hanging with Joe and Charlotte, riding bikes to the lighthouse at night (when it was pitch dark), kayaking in the Ding Darling Wildlife preserve, seeing the stingrays swim right around Charlie's legs, and seeing the perfect rainbow after the afternoon storm on our last day. Ohhhhh, I wish I was still there!!

Okay...finally some pics. These first pics are from Columbus, where Charlie and I went for a gallery hop with Andy and Kelly, Alan and Iwona, and Josh and Tiffany. Lots of weird art, but Columbus is a really cool place.



There are some pics of our garden. This is when we first planted seeds in early June. Pretty soon, I'll post pics of what it looks like now...which is a JUNGLE!

I GOT A NEW JOB!

About five weeks from now, I will begin my career in higher education. I'm THRILLED! I have always been passionate about writing, and I'm extremely passionate about teaching. And, now, I get to teach freshman writing classes at Miami University. It's very much a "dream come true" kinda thing. Unfortunately, I will not be paid very well to do this (as it's an adjunct position that pays per section), but the experience far exceeds the money...so it's all good.

Charlie will also be teaching this fall. He has a 300 level painting class that he'll be responsible for, and I can't wait to see how he likes it. I know he'll be an amazing teacher, but I have a feeling he will also fall in love with teaching itself...so I'm excited about that.

I must post some pics soon from our summer trip to Sanibel Island (by far, my favorite place in Florida). We had an amazing time and we were very happy to spend quality time with Charlotte and Joe (who met us there from D.C.). I will post pics soon!