Planning, Rain, Unpacking, Grey's, and August

In an effort to begin blogging more regularly, I am joining in on some Friday fun. Join in if you wish!

One. Where. Did. This. Week. Go? I had inservice meetings all week and very little time in my classroom. The time in my classroom was spent finishing up projects from the spring semester and trying to make sense of things for this upcoming semester. Plus, I have a student with an extended absence and limited internet before the first day of school, so I'm essentially planning for the first two weeks of school before the first day even begins. It will all be good, but it all seems like so much right now.

Two. Rainy season has finally come to BKK. Both northern and southern Thailand have been having the typical daily rains of rainy season, but it's really only been in the last three days that rain has finally come to the city. I love listening to the rain at night and walking out to cooler temps in the morning.

Three. I still need to finish unpacking from my return to BKK. And finish folding laundry from a week and a half ago. I don't do well with hanging around my apartment too much, but sometimes it's just a must. The projects I have left aren't all that time consuming, I just need to get them done. So between lesson planning and house cleaning, but weekend should be plenty full and productive.

Four. I have two more episodes left of Grey's Anatomy before I'm all caught up again. I refuse to admit to the number of episodes Amy and I have been watching each day to get caught up, but it's been enough. I think we've sat down to watch only six or seven times? #Guiltybutnotashamed

Five. I can't believe August is here already. I felt like July was creeping along for the longest time and now it's all gone. Real life starts on Tuesday. Bring it on?

A. Liz Adventures/Carolina Charm

Hello! Happiness/The Good Life Blog

The Farmer's Wife/September Farm

A Little Bit of Everything
Grace and Love/Momfessionals

I Won't Be Whipping My Hair for Awhile

Like I mentioned on Friday, I tend to chop my hair every two years. This year I came up about six weeks short of the two year mark, but such is life. Unlike Willow Smith, I will now be giving my hair away for somebody else to whip as they please.

As I planned my weekend Friday evening, my intentions were to spend Saturday buying a clothes iron and a flat iron. As I lay in bed later that evening, I decided that I must chop my hair on Saturday. So I sat up on the couch (I was sleeping on the couch because I was falling asleep watching TV on my computer... don't be a hater, mom) and immediately googled "good place for American women's haircut Bangkok" and sifted through the results. I found a shop about 30 minutes from where I live, called when the opened the next morning, and had an appointment for three and a half hours later.

This was my original inspiration picture:

(via)

and as you can see, we didn't quite get there at all, but it'll grow and then I'll just get it cut again. Hair is both tricky and lovely like that.

I will be donating my two ponytails when I go back to America in December. I had a friend cut them off before I left because I had no idea if I'd be able to communicate my desire to donate once I got to the salon. But, once I got there and told them I had cut off my hair right before I came, her first question was whether or not I was going to "give it away." Each ponytail is about 11 inches long and I cut off about 13 inches total when all was said and done.

Chopping my hair off is about as wild as it gets for this Midwest girl and I'm appreciating it even more in this Bangkok heat and humidity. #Rainyseasonishorrid And I did end up getting both irons on Saturday along with three books at the used book store, so I consider Saturday to be a very productive day!

Freedom, Returns, Repairs, Television, and Hair

In an effort to begin blogging more regularly, I am joining in on some Friday fun. Join in if you wish!

One. This is my last free weekend before inservice on Monday. Students will come a week from Tuesday. So far, I am not a fan of the year round schooling schedule. I did not go in to teaching for the paycheck, but I would be lying if I did not admit the twelve weeks of summer vacation were a huge perk. Can somebody please just pay me to be a housewife, husband optional? Thankyouverymuch. I am sure I will feel more ready when the students all come back but, until then, I'll just be over here mourning the loss of summer freedom.

Two. Coming back to Bangkok after five weeks in the States and one week at the beach as left me working like mad the last couple of days to restock my apartment, finish unpacking, and deep clean everything. I'd like to say it's just five weeks away that I'm recovering from but, again, let's be honest... I'm recovering from a lot more than just that.

Three. I came back to my apartment pretty much all fixed into tip-top shape, minus the shower drain which has been extra high maintenance. Except for my nonfunctioning internet which was really a genuine inconvenience virtually all year, I just had a bunch of little things that didn't work properly. But, my internet has been restored, my wall is fixed, and my stove fan works. #Firstworldproblems #Iknow

Four. Amy and I have spent the last two days binge watching Grey's. We have to get ready for this upcoming season, of course. Grey's Anatomy in a nasty habit, I know, but it's an 11 year investment. I can't back out now. 

Five. I am itching to chop my hair again. It'll be two years in September since I did it last, so it's about that time. I chop my hair every two years and I move every three. I'm consistent like that. I have too much hair for Thailand. I think the back of my neck will thank me.

A. Liz Adventures/Carolina Charm

Hello! Happiness/The Good Life Blog

The Farmer's Wife/September Farm

A Little Bit of Everything
Grace and Love/Momfessionals

1./10.

1. Finish my Master's degree.

Master's of Science, Reading Education

University of North Dakota

Class of 2015

10. Earn a Master's degree.

#ItsMSnotBS #UniversityofNorthDakota #UNDproud

July Goals

I'm seven days late and a million dollars short, but better late then never, so let's get this show on the road. 

I haven't set any monthly goals since March for more than one reason, but a look back at March will show that many of the goals I made for this month have been carried over from then. I did manage to clean out my work email and I did finally complete my thesis, so I accomplished two of my five goals. In four month's time. Shh. I am disappointed in me too.

I usually limit myself to five goals per month but this month brings much catching up on life and transitioning back into Thailand. I simply needed to empty my mind of everything I've been needing to do, much less meaning to do, and this is the list that appeared. What you don't see are the other things that still need to be done, but not necessarily in this month. Well, hello there, August. I already have plans for you! So, a week late into July, I present my fifteen goals for the month:

1. Make monthly goal list.
2. Update my Franklin daily.
3. Transition my Franklin to the new (school) year.
4. Update my Franklin's long-term calendars.
5. Establish a daily quiet time for fifteen minutes each day.
6. Shut down my collegiate email.
7. Double check and prepare my work email for the upcoming year.
8. Clean out and organize my personal email for fifteen minutes each day.
9. Read three (3) books.
10. Pay May's rent. I was granted an extension before I left, no worries!
11. Return an important email I keep forgetting.
12. Arrange for a Thai tutor.
13. Call registrar, inquire about graduate degree posting, and order a transcript for a pay raise.
14. Blog twice per week.
15. Finish my classroom novel inventory.

I can do some of this while still in the States, but clearly some of it will need to be resolved once I get back to Thailand. But no worries, if I happen to actually finish these fifteen items, I have another thirteen waiting in the wings!

Here we go, July. Let's make things happen!

How I Dropped the Ball (By the Numbers).

Graduate school is almost done.

The thesis is as finished as it is ever going to be.

I finally defend this Thursday.

I have no other excuses.

I am fully aware that other people are able to juggle full time work, graduate school, blogging, and many other commitments while not dropping the ball on any single thing, but I am not one of those people.

In fact, for some fun, let us count the balls that dropped this spring. In no particular order:

1. Apartment cleanliness. My place was beyond a pit. I could hardly stand to be in there myself. So one day I cried for a little bit, moved everything that was on the floor out to the patio (which was most everything I owned), used almost an entire gallon of vinegar to scrub every surface in sight, moved all of the items from my patio to their proper places, and found it tolerable once again.

2. Non-stress induced cooking. I am so grateful that eating out is so cheap in Thailand. My friends did benefit from my need to blow off some steam from time to time, but overall I existed on a steady diet of som tam and fried chicken, Starbucks iced Americanos, more Subway and McDonald's than I'll ever admit (thank you, comfort-ish food), and the school chicken and potato special of the day.

3. Any sort of a laundry routine. It was crash and burn "college" loads all semester long.

4. Human interaction with anybody who wasn't willing to spend time at a coffee shop while I didn't really pay attention to them or talk to them. If you were content to sit in my presence and absorb my existence then I could spend time with you. Otherwise, my human interaction consisted with people who put their words on a page that I underlined, copied, and quoted to my academic advantage and my own heart's content but still don't have any idea that I exist.

6. Personal organization beyond my fancy three drawer system of "Frequently Used," "Business-y," and "Can't Be Lost but Doesn't Have a Real Purpose Right Now." Even Franklin bit the dust hard which was a complete shame because then I lost control of everything else. See #1, #3, and #8. Prolly #7 too.

7. Apparently I also dropped the number 5. I teach English and study reading education. No comment. 

8. Blogging. I used up my word quota teaching and writing. And revising. And revising again. And then revising some more because I'd had a twelve hour break from my previous revisions.

9. Grey's Anatomy. I completely recognize the ridiculousness of this habit, but it's been a 9 year investment for me. Also, see #4. I plan to binge watch before the school year starts. But don't worry... I already know the huge spoiler.

10. Updating my computer. I have not had an internet connection at my apartment since October 2014 and my other reliable connection bit the dust, so I was stuck on the school network which does not let me update my personal computer. Then I kept putting off updates since I've been home because I was preoccupied. Last Thursday (aka July 2), my computer finally got to the point where it refused to function until I updated it. So, two and a half hours later, I had a new OS and at least 9 other "critical" updates installed and my computer is functioning again. And at a speed that has me no longer wanting to pull my hair out.

I am finding myself not really knowing what to do with myself and all of my newfound free time. I should start gearing up for the new school year, but I need a little more time to decompress before I move that direction.

So until then, I sit and ponder. And take in this current Twins series versus Baltimore. And look forward to Thursday.