Summer

Since this weather is so incredibly nice, I thought I'd post about my summer plans!

This summer I have been presented with three incredible opportunities.
1. Work in a garden
2. House sit all summer in a house with 5 cats, rent free except for cat maintenance
3. Work in a library

I know what you're thinking: Those are Ellen's three favorite things: Gardens, cats, libraries! Add in Sharpies, bluegrass music, and a healthy dose of bread making and you've got yourself my perfect life.

The garden I have the privileged to work in is the Cornell Community SIFE garden. SIFE stands for Students in Free Enterprise, and is a national club where students start businesses and go to competitions with them and do all sorts of interesting and wonderful things. This garden project is three years old, and this is the second year in this particular location. My good friend Henry was the gardener last year, but he is going off to do bigger and better things (an internship in a museum, I think), and so I am taking over! The garden is about 8500 square feet, so it's going to be quite an undertaking. I ordered all my seeds, and realised that I am tentatively planning on growing about 45 different items. Wow! For more updates on this, please see my Garden Blog.

As for the house, a professor on campus has had me cat-sit for him several times over the past year, and this fall he asked if I would be interested in living in his house and taking care of them full time this summer. This was right about the time that I was starting to consider the garden plan, so it was incredibly serendipitous! There are five cats: Mahogany and Ruth are both blind, Claire and Cubby are both missing one leg, and Polly has nothing wrong outside of a poor thyroid. They are quite the bunch, let me tell you!

I wrote a few days ago about my new job at the library. I'm given to believe that I will still have a job come summer, but that it will be different. My supervisor mentioned quite a few possibilities, or perhaps all of the available possibilities being rolled into one, so it will be very exciting!

I would LOVE for any and all of you to come visit. Come for a day, come for three days, come for a week, I don't care. We'll have fun, make a lot of good food, do some gardening, and play with some kitties. If cats aren't your cup of tea, I also know a good many dogs in town, so I can hook you up!

Long time catch-up!

Hello everyone.
I've been gone for a while, mostly because my life has been pretty boring.
Or has it.
I think I am predisposed to think my life blog-worthy boring, but that might just be that the beauty is not in the eye of this particular beholder. So, here is a life catch-up, bullet-point style (my favorite).

• Right now I am in a class called Children's Literature. Last block I was in Methods of Teaching Elementary Language Arts, so this is basically just a continuation of that. 
• I have a practicum component to both of these classes. Practicum means that it's kind of half-way between student teaching and just observing. I only teach every once in a while, I do a lot of grading/paperwork for the teacher, and I'm mostly there to just absorb knowledge and classroom atmosphere! For these two blocks I have a 5th grade class in Iowa City. They are wonderful, though VERY different from the 1st grade one I had last semester. I am learning a lot from them:). Unfortunately it has not helped me make up my mind about which grade I want to teach in the long run. Both ends of the spectrum are so much fun, but for wildly different reasons. I guess we'll just let God handle this one!
• I got a job! About a week ago the librarian who did my library internship with me emailed and asked if I'd be interested in a reference desk job a few nights a week. Of course I said yes! When all the details were hammered out and the dust settled, I became (as of... A hour and a half ago!) a Reference Peer Consultant. That means that I am on the reference desk from 7-9, Monday-Thursday, for the rest of the school year. So far it's been very fun, and the librarians have been great at training me and answering all my questions. 
• The garden is slowly getting started! As some of you might know, I am spending the summer here at Cornell, tending the community garden. This topic will have its own post in the future. Suffice to say for now, my back hurts, my hands are getting callouses (more slowly than I would like), and things are moving! It's been super unseasonably warm out (I think it was 70 degrees today), so I've been doing a little pre-planting work.
• I got a new roommate! Sarah took a leave of absence, so I found myself with an extra bed. Thankfully my friend Amanda was willing to move in! We've had a really great time talking late at night and getting up early in the morning.

I think that's all for now. I'll try to keep it up :)