The end is in sight…

The weekend was very good.  We got a bunch of Christmas shopping done.  I washed and ironed clothes.  I cleaned my house.  We had a Christmas party at our newly-cleaned house on Sunday night.  And, because Eric is fighting a cold, we spent a lot of time relaxing, too! 

It was also so nice to have time to clean my house, to not have a Monday drive to UD hanging over me all weekend, to be very close to finished with my classes for the term.  Even though I have to grade papers all week, and help my Basic students finish up their stuff, Finals week is always much more laid back and enjoyable than any other week of the term.  Ahhhhhhh (*deep, lung-cleansing sigh*)

Happy Monday to you all!

I think I finished my grad paper yesterday.  I worked on it all day (9-9), with a couple of breaks, but I think it’s as good as it’s likely to get at this point.  I might hold on to it until Monday just for “checking,” but we’ll see!

Other than writing/revising, I did go to the grocery and the bank.  That was my one trip out of the house.  And I did clean up the kitchen and take out the garbage (I guess you could count that as another trip out of the house. )

Unfortunately, I did not respond to or grade anything my students had turned in.  So I’ll be pretty busy again this morning (since I’ll lose the 10:00 hour to a school meeting).  Oh well…

Sadly, I have little else to say today.  Happy Friday!

 The day:

• My drive took over an hour both directions.  There was little traffic on the way down, but the roads were pretty bad.  Having spun my car once, I don’t like driving on bad roads. 
• My Basic students have finally decided to kick themselves into gear and do their work so that they can finish on time.  So my workload in that class has gone up significantly again.  I spent the entire 3 hours from my arrival in my office until lunch working on grading, organizing, keeping up with my Basic students.
• After lunch, I had conferences with my Comp students.  The other two days of conferences, I managed to stay on time, but yesterday, I got way behind, more than once.  At one point, I had 2-3 people backed up in the hallway.   Needless to say, I got out of my office very late (after 5:00), but I do think the students walked away helped…which is always good!
• The drive home was in the dark, with lots more traffic, and only slightly better road conditions.  The roads were cleaner, but the winds had caused drifting in a number of places, so we still couldn’t go much above 45 consistently.  And with many more people out, you have to be much more careful.  I didn’t get home until about 6:15. I was hungry by 5:30, and my mom left a voicemail on my cell phone
  which I didn’t want to answer while driving (at least in those road
  conditions), so I had to listen to it beep at me for about half an
  hour.  I was more than ready to get home!
• The entire drive home I was trying to prepare myself for the evening: get home, make dinner, run out again to meet a friend, coming home to crash. 

The happy ending:

• When I walked into my house, dinner was already mostly done.  My husband had cooked exactly the supper I was planning to make (pork chops, rice, green beans, & applesauce).  It smelled yummy, and it tasted great! 
• My friend called to cancel our chat because she didn’t want to go out in the traffic and weather last night.
• Eric and I curled up on the couch and watched a move (The Holiday), then went to bed. 

Now that is a good way to end a day!

It took me over an hour to get to CU this morning.  The beginning and end of the drive were not great, but between London and S. Charleston, I actually was driving 50 mph pretty consistently.  But most importantly, I made it without harm!

Eric decided to get up early this morning to beat what was sure to be an evil drive in.  So we were up at 5:30 this morning.  I just got up because I was awake, made his coffee and lunch, and then did about 40 minutes of very good work on my grad paper.  I was much pleased with my productiveness! 

Yesterday I did 5-6 loads of laundry (even folded and put them away!), had lunch with a friend whose really struggling right now, and generally attacked a number of little projects that I just needed to get done (sending emails, making gift lists, cleaning up my kitchen, etc.).  So it was a good day, overall.

Okay, off to my work.  I have a little less time than usual to catch up my grading for Basic before class time.  Such fun, huh?  Later!

Not much to say today, really…

I had conferences all afternoon yesterday, and I actually stayed on schedule.  The students also seemed very helped by my answers to their questions, too, but we shall see about that when they turn their portfolios in next week!

I talked to Karen on my way to UD last night, ate dinner, dropped off some books at the library over there and went to class.  I did have some trouble staying attentive, but it was the last class and after finishing up my paper, I will be totally done with it!  I still haven’t registered for next term, but I’m sure I’ll figure that out very soon…

Today I have exercised, had breakfast, gotten ready, started the laundry, played a game, sent various emails, cleaned up the kitchen, and cancelled an online account I didn’t want anymore.  I’m having lunch with a friend, and I plan to spend the rest of the day working around the house and on my paper (or on grading).  So, obviously, it won’t be terribly exciting, but definitely productive. 

Later!

Hallelujah!

The Christmas program is over.  Praise Jesus!  There were a lot of very stressful moments, and there will be a meeting or two, I’m sure, to discuss the issues raised by the weekend’s activities.  But it is now over. And last night was the most relaxing evening I’ve had in a long, long time!  And most importantly, God did bless, and a number of people responded to the gospel, including a lady who is dying of cancer, a friend of one of the choir ladies.  God is so awesome!  Thanks for all the prayers.

Unfortunately, I don’t have much else to say since the program pretty much filled my weekend.  Friday night, we went straight to the church after a light supper and crashed into bed after the program.  Saturday was a pretty relaxing day.  I got a number of things done before heading to the church again.  Then yesterday, after church, Eric and I went out for dinner (Chinese) and to a bookstore.  We had a nice time hanging out together!  Then a bit of resting, hanging a little garland, and grading was all we did before heading to church for the final performance.  So that was the weekend!

This is the last full week of classes for the term at CU, and tonight is my almost last grad class.  This week is all about revisions and conferences and final “fixes” to my students’ papers, so I don’t have to lecture or do much prep or anything (how nice!).  I love the feeling that comes when you realize the end is truly in sight!