Friday musings: where did this week go?

Friday--wow, that happened fast. Isn't it the weirdest feeling when there's a holiday in the middle of the week? Especially for those of us who were on vacation the week prior to the holiday? I swear, this is the reason why people just give up and eat Christmas cookies.

The temperatures are dropping; that odd little warm-up at the end of the calendar year was only enough to irritate out-of-state skiers. Here we are, snowish and 24 degrees. And the weekend prediction is for dang cold. I'll get my groceries, but you can't make me like being outside at single digits. 

But today, I have to be at work all day. Not a bad gig, really-- yes, classes will continue as scheduled, but then the last block of the day is dedicated to "activities"-- mainly because we all got too busy before the break to carve out (yet) more time for fun. I don't mind, because I get to sit and watch a movie with a small group of students. That means I can get some computer stuff done for next semester while they are enraptured. I'm good with that. Yes, it sounds like passive babysitting in a way, but again... I don't mind. Students were already a bit miffed that we are working on real, educational stuff instead of sliding through to the end of the semester. O well. This happens every year, so I'm used to it. They can't be that annoyed-- we've started out with films that relate to the subject matter at hand. One class is watching Murder on the Orient Express, and the other is watching Where the Rivers Flow North. There are writing assignments to go with each of them, but hey... good films, good discussions about such things as authorial intent, character development, setting as a character, etc. I'm not feeling all that bad about the one kid who emailed me that her family was on a trip, and is there anything she can be doing? 

Yeah, show up. But again, I know that parents call the shots, but seriously-- that tweaks me a bit. What I'm doing is not really important, I guess. Whatever. 

That said, it is Friday. I won't have a lot of grading to wade through this weekend, so that will be nice. I'm still sticking to my promise to myself about not bringing home a ton of work for weekends. Life-work balance is critical. 

I hope your day is a good one, and you stay warm and dry. O, and I have a new book review up on MicroLit Almanac, if you'd like to take a peek at it! It's for my friend Dawn's new collection, which is lovely.

Take care,

C