Plenty Better to Do Indeed

Today is a day completely in alignment with my blog title. On Monday, grades are due at good ole Seattle Christian. This means the administration and scoring of 75 final exams, 75 formal essays, as well as several stacks of homework assignments which I've procrastinated upon for weeks. Some since Christmas. At the moment, I should be at school finishing up said exam with my 10th graders. But I am here, at home, with a semi-sick daughter on the couch watching the never-ending Disney Channel line-up of cartoons. She doesn't look sick or sound sick, but the thermometer insists that she is. So here we are, at home, when we both need to be at school. And what am I doing? Reading and writing blog posts. Avoiding my duties, at least for another five minutes. Then I will be out of excuses. And into the abyss of paper grading, in which I am doomed to suffer for the next three days, approximately. Anybody want to stop by and help? Minimal knowledge of Oedipus, Hamlet, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead required.

08, Oh My

After Pretend Christmas, the Real New Year rolled around with not one but two sickos - the hubby and the kid. We were supposed to have the neighbors over for some traditional Southern blackeyed peas, collard greens, ham, rice, and corn bread. Instead, we cancelled the guests and enjoyed our infirmary/kitchen/movie theatre/library/Internet cafe in relative peace. Nothing like ringing in the new year with Robitussin rather than champagne. Sets me to thinking about the days-in and -out from the year past:

1) Jay turned 40, and 2008 will bring the same for me and my two best pals... perhaps a joint birthday bash in SC?
2) Harper started first grade and learned to read!
3) Went to Disney World
4) Reached the 100-page mark in my efforts to write a novel
5) Got my old job back: half-time teaching English at Seattle Christian
6) Visited Charleston, one of my favorite cities
7) Read a little Dostoyevski
8) Volunteered at my church and made some new friends
9) Gained 10 pounds on a 1-1/2 week vacation and never bothered to lose it
10) Redecorated the living room with brown leather, black furniture, and a fancy new Bose sound system, courtesy of the tax refund
11) Quit Southern Living sales
12) Found gray hairs! Oh my!
13) Saw Hall and Oates and Sting in concert (but not the same concert)
14) My brother Curtis got married to Karla
15) Read my favorite childhood book, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, to my daughter!
16) Found some decent jeans
17) Made cherry preserves from our own backyard cherry tree
18) Tried a spray-on tan for the first time - not to be repeated in 08
19) Finished my beloved Harry Potter series
20) Totally skipped New Year's midnight by taking a bath and falling asleep in bed with a book in my lap. Not bad.