Status Report

Passed the FTCE Professional Ed Test yesterday. Signed up for TESOL training and then will take ESOL test. This is about 100 hours of study so should keep me busy for the month of August.

Chinese continues to march. Met a young fellow who just came back studying Chinese for4 months in China's Nanjing University. His spoken Chinese is pretty good. Hopefully, he'll do some studies with me. New computer tools for writing in pinyin, chinese characters and looking up meanings are helping to speed me along at a faster clip.

Off to Key West this weekend with my sister-in-law who is in town. Going to camp at Bahia Honda State Park. Should be interesting but probably not too comfortable with the heat and mosquitoes.

Quack Quack

This week's Drawspace Challenge had ducks. Felt it fit with the birds theme.

Done Done

Finished the last card tonight.
Here's the rest of the mythological line-up.

Past and Future

So far so good. Two more FTCE tests finished. Signed up for one more while the going rate is $50. After August, the cost will increase by $25.

Local community orchestra is having a "strings only" summer reading session on Wednesday nights. Signed up for it although they want me to bring the viola. Strange as there are usually plenty of violists. Played last night and was completely worn out afterwards. Not used to holding a viola for 3 hours anymore. Only 2 cellists showed up although they tell me that five said they were coming.

Chinese classes are going well. Thinking about going again to China for the summer of 2010. Perhaps take an intensive immersion course there for $1,300. Price seems reasonable to me for 20 hours a week for four weeks plus room and board. I think I have enough frequent flyer points to get me there.

I think I am grounded for the rest of the summer. I can't justify going anywhere, my friends/family are very busy as well. Besides I have too many projects to do at home.

Enjoy playing the games on FB but have to limit myself to 30 minutes plus self-imposed rules. I'm not allowed to play unless I accomplish 4 things on my daily to do list. Feeling like a kid again. No playing unless you do your homework.

Half Done

I decided on a subtopic of "Mythological Birds" for my ATC. Nine cards done. Another eight to do by the end of the month.

Two Weeks Later

It's been two weeks since my last post and I've yet to really study for the ESE test. I've managed to find plenty of things to fill my days with anything other than cello practice as well. Did finish some old projects -- things that have been on my to do list for over a year. Entertained out of town guests and friends. Cooked treats for hubby. Caught up on TV eps that we follow. Played games in real life and FB. Made 80+ flash cards of new Chinese words/phrases to learn. Memorized a Chinese folk song and a poem by Ai Qing. Signed up for the July ATC whose theme is "Birds" at Drawspace.

Guess I must be mostly "externally motivated" on the cello. Without a pressing cello project, other things become more important. Still it sure would be nice to finish Suzuki Book I this summer. On the other hand, Book I is certainly not inspiring me to practice. I need to do some "negotiations" with myself to see if I can get moving again. I used to have a rule in place that I couldn't play on FB if I hadn't practiced the cello that day -- I may have to resort to that again!