Greetings,internet, it's Caffeinated Jamie reporting for blogging duty.
You would think that I would no longer be surprised by the way the end of the fall semester kicks me in the pants and puts me behind on Christmas preparations, but guess what? The fall semester kicked me in the pants and put me behind on Christmas preparations! Who knew?
I am so SO SO grateful for my job, and at the same time I am feeling the difference between the assistant professor gig and the NTT lecturer gig. Last year, when I was done with grading and letters of recommendation, I was really DONE until January. This year I have to submit a productivity report on January 6, and I am hoping to squeeze a few more items in there between now and then. Even as I am typing this, I am wondering how much effort to expend. They will tell me I've made adequate progress whether or not I get those things done, and it might be better to make more gingerbread men than to read more articles on morphology. We shall see.
BUT! (Caffeinated Jamie loves the caps lock key.) I am not yet at the point of making decisions about optional activities. I have to finish the letters of recommendation. Today, my friends, the letters of recommendation are going down. Also slated for demolition: the teacher gifts, a belated TA gift, and an attempt to recover from an exasperating Etsy shopping fail. (By demolition I mean only that I am demolishing that part of my to-do list, not that I am going to smash the gifts into bits.) And even if the shopping doesn't quite get finished, I am going for a run. Do you know when I last went for a run? It was Saturday the 7th, and it was a pitiful little run at that.
You guys, I am in rabid gerbil mode as I type this, flitting from one tab to the next, and I clicked over to Facebook when I heard that little BOO-OOP that means someone did something I might be interested in. I have a Facebook friend from the UK who was talking about large families. I clicked through to one of the commenters' pages, thinking she sounded like someone I might like to know. Her FB page pointed to her blog, where I was surprised by a content warning. "She must be writing about birth and breastfeeding," I thought. "Stupid Blogspot." Only-- SURPRISE! It wasn't about breastfeeding; it was a blog promoting her "romance" novels. While I did not linger there, I have to say the content warning appears to be well-deserved. That will teach me to make assumptions about nursing moms with large families.
OKAY, she said as the caps lock key pled for mercy. I am going to SIT on the rabid gerbil and bang out these letters. It's the last day of preschool for Stella and I must use it well.
If you are looking for something less desultory, may I suggest an old post on today's O antiphon?
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