Ah, the Weekend...

This has been a fairly relaxing weekend. Except for the heartbreaking emails I've had to send to students, the unnerving nightmares I never completely remember but still feel unnerved by, and the grading I ended up doing, though I told myself I wouldn't.

Tomorrow's a short day--one class, one advising hour, and however long I want to stay in my office doing the grading I've been trying to avoid this weekend.

Tuesday is a regular day, except that I'm taking off after work to head home for Thanksgiving. Hard to believe--it'll be here before I know it!

Today is Pierce's birthday. I'm still not sure what we're going to do to celebrate. I've cloistered myself in my room most of the day.

Except when I went to the park for two glorious hours. Were it not for the fact that my bladder was urging me to get back to the house, I could've stayed in the park all day reading Dos Passos.

Have I mentioned that I really love Dos Passos? I don't recall Manhattan Transfer at the moment, but I remember liking it a lot. Well, I should clarify: I think I remember it, but some of the literature from that time period (Modernist) is pretty similar. And I've read a bunch of it. Maybe I'll just Google the novel to see if it's the one I'm remembering.

I just love reading in the park. If only I had more time to do that...

Additionally, I worked on a cross-stitch project! I usually don't have time for crafts, but today I was able to. I have several cross-stitch projects in progress. Two for friends and one for my mom, and some others for my cousin. I'm hoping to get the ones for friends done by Christmas, but I'm not holding my breath. I thought I'd get them done for last Christmas, but obviously that didn't happen. And I wasn't even working that much back then. I'm not sure where my time goes, but it seems to really get away. I think it has something to do with having too many hobbies.

Still Waking Up...

And now it's Saturday. Not sure what I'm going to do today. Have a bunch of papers to grade, but I've been doing that all week! Want a little time off. I have plenty of things to do today, it's just a matter of deciding which to do, rather than wasting the whole day.

Yesterday was a big day. Taught class from 8-11:50, then had a meeting from 12-2. Then in my office from 2-4. At a little after 7, went back to the college to hear my cousin and some others in the music department play a recital from 7:30-9. Pierce played some of his own compositions, as well as some Classical (opera?) pieces and the very impressive "Winter Wind" etude by Chopin. I'm totally at a loss on Classical music, but I really enjoyed "Winter Wind." It's haunting and a little creepy in places. If I'm going to listen to Classical, that's how I like it. Haunting.

Anyway, Thanksgiving is coming up. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends and family. I have a lot of things planned for a very short handful of days, but maybe we can make it all work. I'll probably be so busy that I won't get rested up before I have to come back to work! But then, there will only be the last few days of classes left before we get another break--Christmas!

I can't get too excited about Christmas though, because I haven't started shopping yet. And I have a bad feeling that I won't have much time to shop during those last weeks of classes.

Anyway, I'll probably call some people today, play a little music and read my Dos Passos book. I'd like to do some embroidery, but I seem to never have the time. It is a very time-consuming hobby. But then, I guess I don't have to do much embroidery at once. We'll see about the grading.

P.S. Tomorrow is Pierce's birthday. I wonder what we will do to celebrate?

Where's the Red Bull When I Need It?

I love Wednesdays, but I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed with work. Not that bad yet, but I know I'll be getting more essays tomorrow. And probably even tonight. Been grading, grading, grading, and listening to Grateful Dead music courtesy of archive.org. One of my former professors introduced me to the site. I'm really glad he did because, though I don't get to listen to it very often, I've found some great concert music on it.

Well, I guess Thanksgiving is coming up--a week from tomorrow. Hard to believe. Tying back to my previous post (was that just yesterday?) about time, where did 2009 go?