Summer has begun here in Flowery Branch. I woke up today to see the sun shining. Normally, we would be doing the rain dance at this point in June. Not this year! We've had at least three inches in the last couple of days, and that does not include the two weeks of rain we have had. Straight. Ugh! The sunshine sure is pretty...

This weekend Maria and I had to go take the Praxis. Her EdS degree is in Leadership and Administration. She went to take the appropriate Praxis test now instead of waiting until the price goes up to $450 (this time it was only $150). I took the Praxis in English Literature and Composition and another one in which I had to write four essays. I have to take it in order to keep teaching ESOL in high school. Because my students are receiving regular English credit, I must now become certified in high school English. My ESOL Endorsement, apparently, is not sufficient anymore to prove my teaching proficiency. Hrumpf!

I felt good about the two long tests, so I went across the street to Magical Threads. It's an amazing shop with an incredible selection of yarn, more yarn, needles, and pattern books. (Okay, I'll admit that I would have gone there if I had felt poorly about the test, too.) I bought two balls of yarn, buttons for my orange cardigan, and three pattern books. I'll take a pic later today of my goodies.

Yesterday I finished sewing up the orange cardigan. It's done in microspun and the pattern is from Textured Knits. I made the sleeves shorter, and they are still too long. Grrr...I still have to put on the buttons and figure out how to finish the top of the back, and it will be a FO (finished object).

Now that the Praxis is over, I can concentrate fully on my LMU homework. Yay (said half-heartedly). Thursday I'm going to Blue Ridge, GA with Maria. She has a retreat with her English department for the day. Instead of coming back here, and then traveling the next day for LMU, I'm going up with her and we're grabbing a hotel room. This way, we'll only be an hour away from class (instead of two and a half hours). After class on Friday, we're going to Chattanooga for the night. Before hitting the hotel, we will go to the aquarium and see an IMAX movie there. Thursday night and Friday night we will be working on our huge research project which is due on June 25. On Saturday, we will go to The Genuine Purl (I learned about them when they came to Atlanta last summer for the Knitting Guild of America's National Conventions), Outlook Mountain, a river lunch cruise, and possibly Rock City. I'll bring the camera and have pics for show and tell.

Then, Maria and I will be meeting on Monday and Tuesday to finish our research paper. Wednesday, Mom and Dad will be coming for a visit. They have a wedding to go to in the area on Saturday. That is the same Saturday when I have class, again. They will then head out on the following Monday to go see my sister and her husband. I will have only two more classes with us finishing on July 23rd. Maria and I leave for Greensboro after class, stay the night with her brother and sister-in-law, and then we go up to Virginia Beach for a couple of days to see some of her friends. August 1st, teachers report back for the fall.

Craxy, no?

Time for breakfast. Got to get dressed, run some errannds, and then come back home to work on homework. What fun!

At least the sun is shining.