My after vacation to-do list – August 16th to August 31st (Part I)

Hey there,

Happy Saturday everyone!!

I hope you’re having a fun weekend.

I’m very happy because I’ve been able to get Rui hooked up on Outlander and to watch the first episode of The Handmaids Tale. He is really hooked up on the show and has watched about 8 episodes without me, the bastard. Now he’s annoying because he remembers all the little details that I have forgotten because I’ve watched the first season in 2015 or something like that. The stupid thing is, I’ve been telling him he would love the show for years. So he’s been missing out.

The Mister is making dinner while I blog.

We’ll technically be on vacation until the 16th (I say technically because we’re not doing anything special. We want to go to the beach but the wind has been absolutely crazy. Only today we’ve had about four seasons in one day. It rained, there was a little cold a fog, and now it’s sunny but still so damn windy. I love where we live, but we have this sort of micro-climate, always different from the rest of the country and unexpected. I don’t really mind if it’s humid or raining or suddenly super hot, but the wind (the strong wind) really gets on my nerves. My poor plants have to shake it off all day long and they don’t even know Taylor Swift.

We have a few things to get done before our vacation is over. They’re mostly things that Rui can do and I probably can’t. Our outside (patio) walls need some work and a few coats of paint. Our fences need to be changed and our gate needs to be fixed. We’re also probably power washing the outside walls, windows and shutters with the pressure washer we have just bought. Some trees need trimming as well and I need to move some plants. We have washed our living room rug but the one we have in our bedroom (which is bigger and heavier) is yet to be cleaned. These are things we usually take care of together, every Summer.

After he goes back to work, I have my own big to-do list to tackle before my the school year begins at September 1st. Actually, school doesn’t officially start between the 8th and the 13th of September, but I go back to work on the 1st.

Yesterday, I’ve bought the books I’ll need for my 8th and 9th grade tutoring. I might occasionally need to deal with older students (10th-12th) but I’ve got tonnes of material for those grades, as I’ve worked with them more often.

I’ve got my work schedule, which is great because I like to be prepared in advance. My hours will be:

• Monday, Thursday and Friday – 5 p.m to 7 p.m;
• Tuesday – 5 p.m – 8 p.m;
• Wednesday – 2.30 p.m – 7 p.m;
• When the kids are on school break: Monday – Friday from  10 a.m to 1 p.m;

I’m really lucky because this schedule really works for me.

I also have two birthdays coming up. Two of my best friends have their birthdays in August. Alison on the 15th and Catarina on the 20th.

My to-do list –  From August 16th to August 31st:

School and work

• Study for the 3 exams I need to take in September to finish my degree in Languages, Literature and Cultures with a Major in North American Studies and a Minor in English. Sadly, I’m not able to take the 4 exams I need to take my second minor in History. The exams will be between September 5th and 7th and they are: Business English (I can do this one with my eyes closed, two broken arms and in a coma), Italian A 2 (I might be able to do this one with just one good eye and two broken arms, while juggling glasses) and North American Cinema (for this one I need to study my ass of because I have about 200, 475, 973 pages to read). I need to remember the sign up date which is from August 28th to August 31st.
• Do some revisions and prepare material for my 8th and 9th grade kids. I haven’t taught Portuguese grammar since last year and I always need some revision. Sadly (or proudly) I know every single English grammar rule by heart but I can’t say the same about my own language.
• Get the works of fiction and poetry they kids will be studying (Hello, Camões) because I don’t have all of them. I may need to borrow some from my sister and find others online.
• Make a list on all the books I have lent to old students and ask them to return them to me. There’s a bunch of people out there with my books.
• Return all of the ficking books I have from about 4 ficking libraries. I’m late and the old librarians will kick my butt.
• Buy a pencil-case!! (exciting)
• Maybe wash my work bag? Maybe.
• Get Rui to format my PC and then organize it.
• Take care of some social security/tax documents.
• I should probably get a school year planner instead of my yearly one.

So, this is part one. I might have forgotten something but I’ll remember it at some point.

What else is new?

• I’m almost finished with Upstairs, Downstairs.
• I stopped taking my birth control pill (not trying to get pregnant) because I realized it was responsible for some weight gain and liquid retention.
• I’ve been doing some extra online work.
• I’ve been working on our magazine “Bumblebee Magazine”.

That’s it for now, dearest friends.

We’ll talk tomorrow, pinky promise.

What do you really must get done before September?

Love, Chey.

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June schedule, posting schedule and an update.

Hey guys,

Tonight I come to you with a general organization post. You know I’ll be super busy this month and these posts help me get everything in writing and to see where I’m at. Their purpose is also to let you know what you can count on in terms of blogging schedules, which I’m trying to pay closer attention to.

Just to remind you what is going on, I have 8 exams to take and then I finish my university degree. I only need to take and pass 3 to finish, actually, but I’m doing extra so I can: 1) have a second minor in History; 2) finish my A1 level of German; 3) Finish my A2 level in Italian. I would be extremely happy if I could get all of this done, but I’ll be satisfied (not actually, you know me) if I just do the 3 I need to finish school. So I’ll be taking the following exams:

Business English – I have been teaching Business English for years but had never taken a course on it. I think this might be very easy to pass because of my experience and I’m only studying for this for 90 minutes each week.

Italian – It’s A2 level so it’s fairly easy. Besides, the course materials are less than 50 pages, consisting on mostly exercises. This should be fine.

American Cinema –  I have a few movies to watch and a bunch of reading to do. This one is a priority so I’ll be studying for it for 3 hours each week, maybe more if I need to, while watching the films as well.

Portuguese Medieval History – I took this course last semester and the classes were at 8 a.m. I studied a lot for it and read so much but I missed both exams, as I was heavily medicated and was unable to wake up for them. I know a lot of the materials and topics but I’ll review everything.

Portuguese Contemporary History –  I also took this course last semester and failed. I needed to do a written project where I had to compare the work of two authors on a certain topic. I worked so hard and I though the project was really good. I guess the professor did not agree with my work, my analysis and my opinion. It happens a lot in humanities courses. I also took a test which had 2 questions. I knew every single thing about the first and knew a lot about the second but could figure out 3 dates that were presented. I was on medication that was affecting my memory and concentration, especially when it came to numbers. The dates were also very similar, something like 1823, 1826 and 1832 and I could not relate each date to each event at all. It’s kind of funny actually. Anyway, I hope all of the work and many hours I’ve spent on this topics will help now.

Ancient Classic History – It’s a new course and I need to read a bunch but the professor has shared so many materials on Google drive, I just need to print everything and get reading and analysing.

History of the Ancient Classic Civilizations – It’s pretty much the same as the previous one, expect it is more focused on, well, civilizations and literature. I have to read or re-read a few things such as The Odyssey, The Iliad, etc.

I guess I’ll be fine? I like to study and am usually pretty good at it. I mean, I’ve been teaching other people how to study for over four years, that should count for something.

Anyways, this will keep me pretty busy and it is my top priority. But I still have to focus on the second which is taking good care of myself (especially for exam season) and on keeping the house manageable, the laundry from piling up, the three of us fed and comfortable and my garden, as well as my blog, which I refuse to leave for over a month.

This is what I expect to be doing when it comes to my blog:

Guest Post Sunday – no issues here, I have people scheduled up until the 25th of June. I don’t even have to do much, just arrange the posts and post them.

Thursday Meal Plan and Recipe Share – again, no issues. I do need to meal plan anyway, and it’s a quick and easy post to write. I might plan for the whole month, divide by week and schedule them all next weekend so I don’t have to worry. Can I meal plan for a whole month? Sure. Oh, and my love has kindly offered to cook both on Saturday and Sunday, from now on because he misses it. It’s a huge help as I don’t have to plan for those days or cook at all. Thank you, my love.

Perfect Party Series – This posts do take a while to get done. And it’s 5 people each week, which takes quite some time and work. I’m in the process of doing them on the weekends and schedule for each day at noon. That’s the time they will be published.

Health for days journey – I’ll still be writing this every morning, during my morning blogging time. There will be no nightly update, however. I’ll update you on my day on the next morning. I’ll give you my daily to-do list and update you on my previous one on the same post. I won’t be answering comments or reading posts after my 2 hours of morning blogging time. No blogging during the day at all. I might use some night time to read blogs and answer comments or only do it the next morning. I’m sorry about this but I might be super late on reading your posts and answering comments but I will, FOR SURE, get to them eventually, I promise you that.

Saturdays – These will be the days for special posts:

June, 9 – Vlog about my blogging experience and what I think it might work for me, along with some tips. People have been asking about this and I think it’s easier to explain on video, although it will be kind of uncomfortable for me. I shall be fine, though.

June, 16 – Vlog answering the questions that were asked on my recent survey. I’ll leave you the link so you can answer some more questions if you want to. You can also leave a few on the comments, if you have any.

June, 23 – “My morning and night routine”

June, 30 – “What’s in my bag”

Awards – I have so many awards to do. SO MANY. I might do them whenever I have time and randomly post them each Saturday and Sunday.

I guess this is it, my friends.

Oh, and I might take a break at any time, if I find I need one. I have no intention of doing so but if I feel to overwhelmed, I’ll be away for a while.

Here’s the link to my Survey! Any questions will be answered in a vlog.

Don’t forget we’re accepting submissions for Bumblebee Magazine. I would love if you would send me some of your work to be published. We do accept anonymous work.

Thank you so much for reading.

Biggest hug ever.

Cheila