Alive and Mostly Sane

My life lately has consisted of writing and grading writing, which explains why I haven't been blogging.

The writing lowdown: Two creative non-fiction 8-12 pagers and one excruciating 9 pager for Astronomy.
I learned last night that I made an A on the Astronomy paper! Yes, I am doing the happy dance. It's a good thing you can't see me. I only mention it because I worried about it so much since I was WAY out of my element discussing quantum physics and elementary particles. But now I feel a little smarter and since I got an A. It must mean I'm an expert, right? No? You don't want to hire me as a distinguished lecturer on the scientific version of Genesis? Pfft. I'm sure you'll change your mind once I receive my Nobel Prize for my groundbreaking paper. I'm practically the next Einstein. ;) My next contribution to science will be a 15-20 page paper on supermassive black holes.

Creative writing has been my refuge, my sanity, and therapy this year. I'll also be working on another creative non-fiction story about a time when my inner feelings conflicted with my public face. Um...yeah, no problem writing about that one! Being a teacher gives me pah-lenty of material for that topic.

And then there was my least favorite part of being a student and teacher...

Grading 140-150ish research papers. Saved the late ones for last (HUGE mistake). Wanted to burn the papers and quit my job. I was angry. I was frustrated. I became filled with self-doubt and despair. Note to self: Do not save the late papers for any reason, ever. For a while there, I didn't think I would make it through research season alive. Alas, here I am, in one piece. There were only brief moments when I questioned my sanity. I only drank one bottle of wine. Hey, I didn't leave my house for two whole weeks, and if you saw some of those papers, you'd need a drink, too.

It's done for another year. Hurrah and hizzah!

Now, I'm going to hibernate. I love this cool, rainy weather!