My Lord, I have not blogged in forever! This was pointed out to me by my aunt a while back and well, Auntie (or as they say “ontee” in her neck of the woods), I am back to blogging…at least for now.
Grad school = DONE! It’s a good thing. I thought I’d be all sad and nostalgic, but really I am not. I don’t miss all the work, all the stress, and all the other annoying grad students who like to hear themselves talk. But the question remains: what do I do now that I have this?
Well kids, I guess I will share my wisdom with a fresh batch of undergrads next semester. I was asked to teach Western Civ (through 1500 CE) at my alma mater DeSales University. It really is a complement to be asked to come back to where it all started and I am more than a little excited. I am also more than a little nervous. But nothing good comes from sitting still and not challenging oneself, right? I’m set to teach two classes, as long as there is enough students enrolled. Registration is next month, so keep your finger crossed for me.
In the meantime, I wrote three pieces to be published at some point this year. Two are book reviews for the Historical Journal of Massachusetts and the third is a piece for “Landmarks in Feminist Writings.” My piece is on Isabella Tod, an Irish woman who fought for Irish women’s right to higher education. So far, I have not heard that any of these pieces are scrapped, so I guess no news is good news. I’ll keep you posted.
Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of being a judge in the Bucks-Mont regional competition for National History Day. I judged middle school kids’ (grades 6-8) exhibits and let me tell you, these kids are amazing. The theme was “Innovations in History” and the kids were pretty creative. Whether it was the pointe shoe, the toilet, the Beatles, or even Julia Child, these kids did some great work. Too bad that only 3 of the 80-some entries in this category could go to states. Honestly, I can’t wait until next year’s competition!
Other than that, I’ve been working a job at a bank and I hate it very much. Very, very much. I finished my master’s degree and am working a job I had before I earned my BA. I have a severe chip on my shoulder about this and am working hard to make peace with it and find something good about it. So far…Nothing. In the meantime, I am off on Tuesdays and they have become what I call my “Zen Tuesdays.” I do exactly what I feel like doing, and nothing else. If I want to go shopping, I do. If I want to wash the kitchen floor, I do. More often than not, I find myself in the kitchen cooking. I love to cook and while I was in college, I never had the time to do any hardcore cooking. It was frozen food, canned food, and take-out. Now I am having a blast learning new recipes and becoming downright experimental in that kitchen of mine. Today, I attempted homemade spaghetti sauce for the very first time. Until now, I thought switching from Ragu to Bertolli was pushing the envelope. Not this time! Here’s what’s simmering on my stove as we speak:
Those are my homemade meatballs swimming in there. I tasted half of one and it was good. I think it was cooked all the way, I have no idea. Still, it was impressive for my first go…and I’m not even a little bit Italian!
