20150421.0719

Work continues to continue. Students are nearing the ends of their major projects in my classes, so my grading load is about to increase sharply; I have fortunately cleared my grading docket for a bit in anticipation of it, but there will still be much to do. Conference work is picking up; while I received notice that I will not be presenting at a particular conference in the fall, I do have to finish a bit of paperwork on it, and I have another conference's paper in progress. Freelance work also continues; a new order is waiting for me to pick up, and I will get started on it today (although not for a bit yet, as I do need to do more work on the conference paper and paperwork). As such, I continue to be quite busy.

The weather around Sherwood Cottage continues to show itself fit for spring. Lows are quite cool, although well above freezing, and highs are remarkably pleasant all around. Rain recently passed through, and the slice of sky I can see right now hints at more to come. We still need it, certainly, although I am worried about the effects when it comes time again to mow the yard. The combination of days dry enough and my having time to attend to the task has not yet come, and I think the grass and its accompaniment of clover and other plants I do not recognize will be somewhat hesitant to be cut by the time I can get the mower out again. I can use the exercise, of course, sitting so much at my desk as I do, but that does not mean I necessarily look forward to the work.

Ms. 8 continues to thrive. She is walking more, and she seems more to have a few words and to be trying to acquire yet more. She is also playing silly children's games, now. Yesterday evening, she emptied one of the cloth cubes in which we keep many of her toys and wore it on her head as she walked and crawled around the living room. I could not help but join her, although I did not make the mess of emptying she did. Her shrieks of laughter and bubbling giggles were a delight to hear, and it was flatly funny to see her pajama-clad body sticking out of the bottom of a green cloth cube. Ms. 8 is and remains a source of joy for her mother and for me.

We are in need of such delight, as this year has not been the best we have had. There are good things about it, certainly, but there are a number of things that are far less good, and we find ourselves in a situation we have seen before. We had hoped we would be past such a situation, that such would not befall us again, but that particular hope seems to have been in vain. Perhaps others my wife and I currently nurture will not join it in vanity--but that is yet to be seen.