This summer I had to go for my final time to Logan
for a month to finish residency coursework for my PhD. I was kind of looking forward to it because I get to spend time with some great brilliant people, but I also knew how hard it is since I had to do it last year too. In fact, after last summer I had to have emergency surgery on my gall bladder and also get glasses ... so my goal this year was to not lose any organs.
The most important thing I packed...
I always try to leave a surprise for the kids. This year I wrote them letters and then mailed them. They got them when I was halfway through my trip.
Some of the letters were written in code.
I also got them each a cool magazine and candy and laid it on their pillow for the first night I was gone.
Sleepovers in Dad's room.
There were lots of facetime calls after class. They were fascinated by facetime.
Look how tired Doug looks with all 6 kids by himself. What a guy!
One fun thing about Logan is it's awesome restaurants. My friends and I would be in class from 8 till 5 every day and then go out to a new place every night. I am usually a boring, predictable eater but while there I was quite adventurous.
I tried food from El Salvador...YUMMY!
My usual favorite...mexican
This amazing Indian place in a gas station. Seriously good!
Greek food
The dessert from a pizza place that I've had dreams about. (My mouth is watering right now!)
One
day Doug took them to get haircuts which was a big deal because I was
trying to get to it myself but ran out of time and they all looked like
shaggy dogs. They sent me the finished looks.
Oh yeah...and I also studied A LOT. This summer's courses were literacy, program evaluation, curriculum theory. I also went to an early childhood conference for a few days to help and finished up a study I was doing about writing for a real audience in first grade. Most nights I was up till past midnight typing, typing, typing. If the pictures look like we are having a lot of fun, well that's because you have to break up the intense pressure and endless deadlines with laughter or you'll just cry the whole time.
Plus, I really love these people. They are all wonderful, intelligent people who will probably go on to change the world. I'm proud to know them.
Here I am setting up the conference center.
Ice cream study breaks with my two pals Alayne and Tamara. You can't tell here but they are geniuses.
My pals and I writing a collaborative paper on google docs. We were getting silly in the middle of the night.
Stretching before the rhizome dance number we recorded for our literacy teacher. (Rhizome is where you consider all movement as literacy). We weren't big fans of that theory and I almost lost my dinner laughing at their dance.
Nick won a bet we all made and got to take home the many, many, many posters from our classes.
My study shelf.
Overall, a great time with great people and I kept all my organs. Oh...plus I got all A's. One more year of coursework and then on to my dissertation!
