Today I picked up my last set of papers to grade for the term. They were due yesterday, but with the ice storm we had, I didn't want to go out in the weather. (Neither did the students: half of them submitted their papers via email, and I had to spend half an hour printing them out.) Once I grade this set of 20 final essays and the 50 exams I gave on Wed., I'll be done for the term. I had hoped to finish today, but it will be sometime over the weekend.
A friend of mine was supposed to come down to visit me this weekend, but she postponed her visit for a month because of the storm that's supposed to hit the east coast starting tomorrow night, and her holiday plans that intervene after that. I'll look forward to seeing her, but we'll miss all the Christmas stuff. I live in Bethlehem, PA, and of course the town does Christmas up big time. It's fun to have a visitor for Christmas to share this with. Of course, I could go do some of it on my own, but it's just not as fun as having someone to share it with.
I'll look forward to getting my "nest" back in order over my winter break. The downstairs generally remains presentable, but piles of clutter build up here and there--in particular, a small desk I have in the living room has been unusable for months because of the piles of paper, and the top of the dog crate in the living room is my "active project" piling base and is getting to the paper-toppling phase.
Otherwise things look homey, especially with the bulbs I've been forcing: an amaryllis, paperwhites, and crocuses. With the bulbs and the two birdfeeders that sit out on the porch just beyond the windows in this picture, I have ample signs of life all winter long to cheer me up.
Almost vacation time
December 15th, 2007 at 03:22 am
December 15th, 2007 at 03:38 am 1197689887
December 15th, 2007 at 08:55 pm 1197752140