Well, I couldn't sleep last night (not surprisingly!), so I got up at 3 am to grade papers. It's now 7:00, and I am happy to say that I've plowed through an entire class' worth of papers. This means that I am Prepared for My 12:00 Class today, which is good news, indeed . . . had I not gotten up, I would certainly not have gotten through them. (My task was aided by the fact that I genuinely like the people in this class, and I was really interested in reading what they had to say.)

This also means that - chugga chugga chugga - I stand a very good likelihood of plowing through all the work I have to do between now and departure time tomorrow. When I went to sleep last night, I was despairing of that ever happeniing.

Of course, I have consumed five cups of coffee already today, and I may not be finished yet . . . The closer I get to completing my work, the more elated I get, too, which is waking me up. I can't get really excited until I'm done with everything - but boy, half-excitement is pretty exciting, too!! I keep dancing around the house. When the work's finished, I expect I'll be floating . . . (either in the air or on a sea of coffee, take your pick . . . )

The morning light is dawning very beautifully today; the skies are clear, with mere scraps of clouds to go from gray to purple to pink to white - as the mountains of meringue snow are doing . . . Wanna ski, wanna ski . . . maybe, just maybe, I'll manage that, too, before the day is out . . .