Saturday, September 20, 2014

September


A whole month speeds by and feels like an absence in this blog after I'm appointed to a new position at the college so that I'm now working "half-time" in teaching and as Associate Provost of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. In addition to the new responsibilities, I'm teaching two new courses and holding the full five hours of office hours for my 30 students, one Honors student, and 17 English and other majors for whom I'm the faculty advisor. It's a full plate but I'm learning a lot and really enjoying developing the varied skills that these two different positions ask of me.

One of the pluses of the new arrangement is that I have a place to stay at my small college on the hill so that I don't have to commute any more often than I was. That means I get to enjoy taking a walk with the dogs in the mornings, when the campus is still quiet.


September also has brought with it my favorite donut--pumpkin--at our favorite donut shop in the small city where we live, and my husband surprised me recently by bringing me one for desert.


The end of summer and start of fall also brings with it the apple harvest, which in Ohio is a treat. My very favorites are the Honeycrisp apples and my husband enjoys the easily made fresh apple pies.


Also this month, we recently got a chance to take the Niñas, as I call my doggies, to a nearby park that has a turtle pond and where we love to go whenever we get a chance. It's about a mile around the pond and Lizzy, specifically, loves the smells and pulls at the leash, eager to catch something though I'm not sure she knows what.


September also marked the start of Hispanic Heritage Month and, as part of my new position, I get to coordinate efforts to celebrate the different multicultural observations. This time we had the most well-attended HHM Opening and Flag Ceremony in the 8+ years I've been at my small college on the hill.


Chiquita has gotten quite used to the carrier with all this going back and forth to the college, and today she had her yearly checkup and her vaccinations.


To celebrate the 80-degree weather a few days before fall officially arrives on Monday, we hopped on the motorcycle and off we went to our favorite buffet in the Hocking Hills. A perfect way to spend a late-September Saturday.