After working several hours on the syllabus for this class I'm teaching, today I was checking enrollment numbers and nothing was showing up. Then I found out from the registrar the Academic Affairs Dean told her to freeze the course. Emailed the dean. She came over a few minutes later and said she was sorry but they weren't getting the enrollment numbers they'd hoped for, so she had to shut the section down and would reopen it if there was somehow demand. In fact, I wasn't too disappointed as I figured this would free up time for me to work on other stuff, but I would have liked to have known before I'd invested time in class prep.
Five minutes later she walks back in with the Dean of Admissions. Turns out they have a dozen soccer players who couldn't register for any of the other offered time slots. Would I like to teach a morning section? Uh? Ok. So, now it's back on again. At least for today. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Could it get any more stressful? Students return next week and we still don't have all the website redesign finished (but most of it). The class I'm teaching (First Year Experience course entitled The Art of Being Human) begins Tuesday, and I don't have the syllabus finished yet, not to mention having read the textbook (yep, there's a text book on the subject). My ePortfolio officially started Monday and is due in 12 weeks (actually, 12 weeks from Monday, so even sooner now) and I have barely begun to do anything on it. We move on Sept. 5, but the house is not ready yet and we're not packed yet (though we've made a good dent). Nope, can't get much more stressful. See you in December. Wake me up when it's all over.
We finally closed on the house this week. In the end, it was sort of anti-climatic. Last week we were informed that the new loan docs were ready for signing. So, we scheduled to go into the escow office in Irvine on Monday rather than pay the premium for a mobile notary service. Then on Friday we received the infamous 9a report. It consisted of 2 permits, which I have had in my possession since June 8 and which are available online for anyone to download for free, a statement that there are no liens registered at the county or city on the place, and that the hook-up to the sewer is permitted. That was it. That was the info we needed that delayed us two weeks. Anyway, we signed on Monday, the lender reviewed the docs on Tues and on Wednesday I got a call from the mortgage broker saying they were funding the loan that day. So, on Thurs.(8/13), the title was recorded with the county in our name and we were officially given the keys.
And now begins the rush to get it all rennovated in time to move in before Little One starts school on 9/9. It's gonna be a push. But at least we've settled on a contractor. Little Sis is taking Little One for the weekend and we're going to work with the contractor today on nailing down the colors for the paint and carpets. Might also begin packing and start ordering appliances. The dent and scratch place we bought our washing machine from is out of biz, but now Sears has outlets for such things and the deals look good.
In other news, things at work have been quite busy, especially for summer. Put a lot of work into figuring out our collection needs for supporting new BA programs in business and media arts. Also working a lot on the new website. We're finally going to have our library site accessible via the internet instead of behind the firewall. Welcome to 2009! And I'm trying to create some processes that will streamline some of our work during the year, most notably an electronic reference transaction tracking form. Oh, and it looks like I'll be teaching the first year experience class called the Art of Being Human. Classes start 8/31 and I haven't even looked at the textbook for the class yet! And just in case I get bored, my e-portfolio class for the MLIS begins 8/24. Gonna be a very busy fall.
And then there are the things that really matter. As we whine about our petty problems with closing the deal on our house, last night I learned that a friend from Leipzig died last week at the age of 38. She was married to one of the first guys I ever met in Leipzig, an American musician/painter who happened to be living there at the time. Apparently she has been fighting cancer for about 18 months.
For us the news came entirely unexpected. I had not been in touch with the couple for several years. Then another mutual friend wrote me last week and told me she was sick. But I didn't realize just how sick. I found G on Facebook and wrote him a couple of messages. I didn't get a response, but then last night I checked FB after watching a terrible movie and he had written me on Friday to tell me his wife had died on Sunday. Better Half and I were both devastated by the news. Although we only knew her for a few years many years ago, I have very fond memories of her and the loss feels very real. And I feel so sorry for G. Now he is on his own in a foreign country raising two teenage kids and he's lost his soul mate of 18 years.
