A serious lack of motivation...

What a Monday!

I had high hopes for the day, not just including some alliteration, but this afternoon, I've felt as though a vacuum sucked away whatever energy I might have had, so here I am, totally enervated*. I do blame this major lack of energy on the pile of exams that surround me and through which I've started to wade. They are like mushrooms after rain - just springing up like that.

Oh, wait, my students took their mid-term exams today. So THAT'S why I have exams to grade.

Seriously, I can't complain (my max class size this year is 16), but after a few days of zero work about which I boasted shamelessly, I now feel as though I've been kicked in the head.

And so, after initially planning a bike ride, then down-sizing that to a run and a swim, I ended up either sitting on the sofa or at the table for much of the afternoon, contemplating a nap. I am happy to report that I resisted that temptation with a great effort, but I might have to take a break in an half hour (after this current break) and watch an episode of "Law and Order". There must be one on TV right now!

I promise whole-heartedly to go for a run tomorrow. Promise, promise, promise. And I didn't cross my fingers or toes when I wrote that.

*To enervate - One of my favorite words, although I think I like it because many people confuse it with "to energize" and use it incorrectly. Thus, I feel smart and smug and petty for my correct usage.

Oh, January, how do I love thee?

Let me count the ways...

I do feel that I should be less gleeful about the month of January, but after the initial and totally BRUTAL re-entry to school/work, we then have to endure MLK weekend which is quite the gift. A three-day weekend that follows so closely on Christmas and New Year's heels? Oh, please, torture me some more! And then, while our students endure mid-term exams, the teachers celebrate and enjoy what is truly the best time of the year - mid-term week. Actually, some teachers also enjoy finals week, but I don't have that luxury because I will have to accompany the twelfth grade class on their senior trip, a final farewell to their high school experience.

But back to mid-terms week which will officially start on Wednesday... That's right, Tuesday is the ONLY full day of class for the next two weeks. Bliss, oh bliss! Yes, I will have to proctor an exam a day, sitting in a room for two hours, making sure (on occasion) that students are not cheating, and then I will have to grade through a pile of exams. BUT, I will have much freedom to go to the horse races, eat lunch or brunch with friends, get a pedicure, go to the gym, take a nice, long bike ride, prepare for a trip to Yosemite.... Life will be good!

And in the meantime, I will pack tonight (quickly) for San Francisco! Michael and I depart tomorrow and return on Monday. A good friend will be turning 39, so her husband is throwing a surprise party THIS year rather than next year since that would have been too obvious. Unlike our last trip to NoCal/SF Bay area, we will be unaccompanied by our dogs. As much as I love to travel with them, it is a bit like traveling with children. So, we will be free to go out to bars and to stay in a fancy-schmancy (for us) hotel! After the lovely Motel 6 stays with our dogs, almost anything is fancy, but this place LOOKS like it really is nice. Michael and I slum it pretty regularly, and I don't mind staying in cheaper places. However, I also love a nice hotel experience, so this WILL be a total TREAT!