Well, it's raining out there today, and yes, in amidst the drops I do see snowflakes. Grr. Not a very nice day for a bike ride.

But on the other hand, it is a nice day for curling up in the alcove, listening to CBC with a nice cup of coffee at hand, and . . . grading papers. If I could get a huge whack of them done today, I would feel a lot better.

As summer approaches and my anticipation increases, I find myself wondering how I'll really feel along about July . . . with Prufrock, I'm wondering, "will it have been worth it after all"? Will the time in July to lie about the pool really compensate for the feeling of Having No Time nine months of the year? For the ego-beating I've taken this year as I return to teaching? I'm fairly sanguine about the ego thing - this semester has been markedly better than last, and I'm sure that as I refine my chops, each semester will be better. But having spent a few years where I was just generally appreciated and felt like I was doing very well, going back to an atmosphere where I'm being judged (and consequently constantly worry about how I'm doing) feels unnatural. Of course, classrooms are unnatural, we all know that . . .

So it'll be interesting to see how I fare. I'm definitely looking forward to the break, and I'm really not unhappy, despite how this post might sound - but this is a year of evaluation and re-evaluation for me, so we'll see how it goes.

In the meantime, though, I'm going to go grab some coffee, and take a look at those papers . . .