Commitments

My schedule this semester, teaching six college courses, is hectic on some days and totally open on other days.
But nature abhors a vacuum, so on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I don't have classes scheduled, when I could use the day to take walks with friends, to write my novels, to grade papers and answer students' questions by email, something usually comes up that requires my attention.
On Tuesday, I made the mistake of posting on Facebook what a fabulous, carefree day I was having. My daughter immediately began to beg me to bring her lunch at her work place.

I said no, but she continued to beg, and by that point, my day was ruined anyway. If I went to buy lunch then took it to her, an hour of my day would disappear. If I didn't take it to her, I felt stingy and mean.
Wednesday passed in the blur of four classes starting at 8 a.m., a quick gym workout, then a 4-hour evening class.
But before I pulled myself out of  bed at 5:45 this morning, I already knew that the day had filled with errands, the biggest one being a drive down to Athens, Ohio, where my boys go to college. The drive is beautiful, but I'm not going to enjoy it or even to spend time with the boys.
Instead, I'm driving down, picking up the car that needs a brake job and driving back.
Yes, my family is sending me after the car with the faulty brakes.
So a three-hour drive for me this morning followed by an afternoon of grading papers.
Hope you get some time to enjoy yourself today.

A Free Weekend

The snow. The kids were disappointed that the snow didn't come in time to give them a snow day. It started about 9:30 a.m. Friday morning. I was leaving the house to teach and when I opened the door, I heard the tinking of ice hitting the frozen ground and the house.
"Do you hear that?" I turned back and asked Earl.
"Yeah, I hear the birds."
But, no. Not the birds fighting over the bird feeder and filling the bushes. The sound of the snow and ice. Tiny little pellets were spitting from the sky.
In class, I looked out the window and the snow flakes were huge, big as a baby's fist as they pelted from the sky. The weather was still fairly warm, hovering around 31 degrees so the flakes were big and wet.
I wore clogs to class. Snow filled my shoes as I walked outside two hours later.

The male cardinal is easy to find in this tree.
Can you spot his mate?
As the snow continued to fall, cancellations filled the television screen.
No basketball game that night. Check. I could mark it off my list.
The swim meet on Saturday was cancelled. Another check. Grace has a cold anyway so she should stay home and get well.
The snow continued in the dark, somewhere between 9-12 inches they estimated. And this morning, the cold had settled in and the newly dried snow blew wildly around the sky. Was it new snow or the old snow blowing?
It didn't matter, because we all slept in and the college we were supposed to visit on Sunday called to cancel.
Cha-ching. Three cancellations and I could spend all weekend at home grading papers.

Tucker took a picture of the bird feeder.
He said it had an afro that needed some styling.
I made a pot of Beach Bar Tomato Soup that includes cream cheese and half & half. Imagine how rich it is with chunks of stewed tomatoes. I put Italian-style croutons in the soup and sprinkle some sharp cheddar on top.
Grace baked cupcakes in preparation for her 18th birthday party tomorrow and we hardly left the house. This is luxury. Even if I do still have a ton of papers to grade. At least, I have time to do that now.