Monday, and it's gonna be crazy...

I am feeling a little bleary-eyed this morning, mainly because I was sleeping very soundly and I didn't want to get out of the warm bed. I suspect most folks feel the same way, especially on the first day of the work week. Alas, it's Monday, and it's time to caffeinate and get moving. 

It was a really nice weekend in a lot of ways, though. A true weekend, in that I didn't grade papers. I have a mountain of laundry that needs to be folded, and it's all still sitting in baskets. I didn't even get my groceries yet. I took--gasp-- time off. Saturday, I was in a wonderful writing class all day-- I have three new drafts, and ideas for a couple more, and those will build a connected series of persona poems. That was great fun. And then yesterday, Meg and I took off after I got home from church and we went to Tilton. It was not a huge shopping excursion, but it was nice to get out of town, I did find a couple of things here and there (okay, a chunky cream-colored cardigan and a black v-neck sweater-- I'm basic), and stocked up on a few things at BJs, and we had lunch at Five Guys. Mostly, it was super nice to spend a whole day with Meg-- she's been working nonstop for months, with very few days off, and those have generally been spent going to Boston for health-checkups for Tim. So-- we had a nice day, and it was far overdue. 

Last night, I just watched TV until I snoozed on the couch and went to bed early. I'm sure it doesn't sound like a very exciting weekend to most people, but it was restorative to me. Things are stressful both nationally and at work, and that stress simmers in the back of my heart and mind nonstop. This is the last week of the fall semester, and we have meetings, too-- pile it on, right? I'll muddle through; students have final papers to do, so I'll be grading like crazy in between everything else. And I have a dentist appointment on Wednesday. Bleargh. So much un-fun stuff. 

The goal: make it to Friday. Our staff holiday/ end of term party got cancelled (very few signed up to go), so once 2:30 rolls around on Friday afternoon (mandatory PD hours, so I can't leave at 1 like I usually do), I'm freefreefree for three days. Likely, I'll be finalizing grades and all that hoorah, but I've worked very hard for a few weeks now to set things up for the semester flip. I have the Google Classrooms all done, the new rubrics ready to roll out, and my plan book is even done (in pencil, I'm not that crazy). 

So, if I can push really hard during this week, I might be able to just kick it back for a few hours next weekend. I sure hope so. And, before anyone asks, I fully intend to avoid/boycott/ignore the debacle that will be happening on 1/20. 

I will, instead, be focused on maybe looking at my poems and thinking about a full collection. And maybe watching the college football championship. 

Forward, excelsior, huzzah and all that.

C