20150921.0605

To discuss things I have noted:

I was able to get my grading done, although not before the weekend. Indeed, I was still working on it until after nine last night. It was a chore, and this weekend will give me more of the same, as there are papers coming in on Friday and their writers will need them back in time to make them better before the next Friday; I do not get to wait about them. But the papers were better in the version I graded through yesterday than they were in the version I graded in a rush after returning from a trip. The students seem to be improving, and that is good to see. There is some hope that I am doing at least part of the job for which I am paid.

My parents have been up at Sherwood Cottage since Friday. It has been good to have them here, and not only because my father worked on several projects for Ms. 8--she now has a little play-yard with a swing set, a slide, and a play-house all in a nice little fence, as well as a new bed, all thanks to her grandpa. I was not the most attentive host, being taken up with the work that I had to do (and still have to do), but I did make what time I could for them in and around slogging through papers. I take a number of breaks from grading, being able to stare at a screen for only so long at a time anymore; those breaks made for good conversations with my parents.

We also went to a festival yesterday, which is not something I typically do; I am a curmudgeon even when I am not swamped by work. It was a good time, though. The festival celebrated the local incidence of Scottish heritage (which is evidently a thing in northwestern Oklahoma), complete with kilts (and, had I a bit more money, I'd have bought one, along with the rest of the kit for it), meat pies (which were tasty), haggis (which I did not eat, and which I regret not trying), whisky tasting (in which I did not engage, in part because of money and in part because I knew I would have to work afterward), and a fair bit of fine music. If I am still in the area next year at this time, I'll attend again.

To move forward, now:

I have a full week of teaching ahead of me before I get to grading the second of three versions of the paper on which my students are now working, so I have a fair bit of lesson planning to do and some materials to write for my professional blog and site. I also have a freelance piece that needs doing; I am fortunate that the novel I need to read is a short one and in a series for which I have already done some work, so that it is familiar to me and should go quite quickly. The usual gamut of job applications, book chapters, and other papers also needs my attention, now as much as ever if not more. The weekend was a good one, and I enjoyed the time with family, but it is done now, and so, as ever, work continues.