On to the World Series!

26 September 2026: After a rough night, I felt well enough today to join my Wednesday night trivia friends for the semi-final round of this season's tournament. And darn it if we didn't come in second again and qualify for the World Series in two weeks. 

So much fun. Playing with them is the unqualified thing that has made me happy lately.

Head cold...

25 September 2026: Well, I didn't factor a head cold into my weekend plans, but here it is. Ugh. So much to do. Not just work, but also some fun stuff that I was/am looking forward to. 

Decided to skip the volleyball game (the first I would have caught this season) because I am sure I am contagious (and I feel lousy). 

I've been trying to grade the first annotated bibliography in my stack since about 4:00. It's hard to focus. 

I am fine; just bummed. Here's hoping tomorrow is better.

A reunion for Jo...

24 September 2026: At the vet today for Jo and Veronica's annual visit, the tech asked me, "Can I ask you a weird question?" Since she was looking Jo, I was ready to hear, "How did she lose her eye?" But nope! 

"Did you get her from Briggs?"

Turns out, she was the adoption coordinator when I got Jo. I thought she looked familiar, but figured it was just from her working at the vet. 

She said she remembered my name and, of course, Jo (and remembered her name was Hunny). 

I mean, who could forget Jo? 

WISH Reception

23 September 2026: Today was a very long day in the middle of a very long week. 

But the Shepherd Writing Project got to celebrate our WISH grant tonight and it was pretty darn awesome. 

(Might update this post later when I see the pictures they took at the event.)

"Hold On"

22 September 2026: 

"It's the storm not you that's bound to blow away..."

Listened to The Secret Garden's original cast recording today while grading ENGL 101 essays. I've always been able to get a lot of work done (usually big writing projects) while listening to this album.

Found this track on my mind the rest of the day. Not a bad message for less-than-easy times.

Add that dinge...

21 September 2026: "They paid to add dinge to this letter!" --a student in my ENGL 101 class, sharing his observations of a charity mailing I gave them to use to practice rhetorical analysis. He was so tickled by the idea of making something look dirty to motivate folks to make a donation. 

(This was a fun activity--one that I got from one of our adjuncts and that I've been meaning to try for ages.)

Not quite two months...

20 September 2026: Yesterday, Hannah asked me how long Annie had been in WV. I was surprised that I struggled to come up with an answer. Everything from June on is such a blur. 

But when I had a chance to think about it, I see that it's just a bit under two months. Not a lot of time. And that made me feel better about how she's getting on with Jo and Veronica. 

That aside, she's just...happy? Like, contented and happy. Jo and Veronica are happy, too (most of the time). 

And that's enough for me.

Community Kick-Off

19 September 2026: Really happy with how our community "kick-off" for the Common Read went today--and love any excuse to hang out in the Shepherdstown Public Library.

Hannah and Mayor Gatz, with a proclamation!

Posing for the Library's  "Reading Looks Good on You" campaign.

Conferencing...

18 September 2026: Finished up a week full of conferences, first for ENGL 101 and then 301. I must be extra lucky this semester, because just about every student is doing what needs to be done and is on the right traack. A very rewarding week in that way. 

The what part of the library?

17 September 2026: 

Student in my ENGL 301 class, during our on-one-one conference today: "I got this book from the wet part of the library--"  

Me: "Wait--the what part of the library?"

And that's how I learned the library had a flood. 

(Apparently happened last week and mostly impacted carpets and not books. If students need books from the impacted sections, librarians do the fetching.)

4 weeks in a row...

16 September 2026: Second place again at trivia. Even without the winning, I've enjoyed it all so much. (And low-key bummed that I'll have to miss the next two weeks for work obligations...)

Common Reading Keynote

15 September 2026: What an absolute delight to see Nathan Richardson perform as Frederick Douglass this evening! It was unlike any Common Reading event we've ever done and students seemed to love it. 

Estrenar

14 September 2026: Spent a lot of time today conferencing with my ENGL 101 students as they work on their Literacy Narratives. Hard, interesting, and fulfilling work—for me and them (I hope).

My last meeting was with a student whose essay is about how writing got her through a very difficult time: a move to a new town when she was in high school. She writes about having to figure out how she was in this new space. How to move through new spaces. How to figure out a new version of herself.

She is also bilingual and, in her draft, mentioned that, as she wrote during that time—especially as she wrote music, some words felt right in Spanish, some in English, etc. She also mentioned words that have no direct translation to English, but didn’t give any examples in the essay.

“What’s one of them?” I asked her.

She paused. “It’s hard to think of one on the spot…”

Then she said, “Well, there’s estrenar, which mean to use or wear something for the first time…”

I got so excited and really nerded out. “You mean like trying something new? Seeing how it feels? Like…what your essay is kind of about?”

Bless her heart: she got excited, too.

Best job in the world.

Hope

13 September 2026: What a cool movie Hope is! Terrific non-stop action, genuinely funny, and the good kind of weird. Fun time!

Saturday to-do list...

12 September 2026: I swear, at least two times today I thought, "Gotta call Mom" and once thought, "Gotta call Mom and Dad." 

The other day, I was telling Erin that I never really adjusted to writing just "Call Mom" on my Saturday list. And that I only had to write that from December to early June. 

Every time I think it--before I am even done processing the thought--I realize the reality. And it's okay. Just really strange, surreal, and sad.