Well, Emil has left for Youngstown . . . We're completely off any sort of schedule, here; he's pretty much going to stay down there For The Duration, but of course we have no clear idea what that might mean. Somewhere between 2 days and 2 weeks, is my guess; and actually, I'm thinking more on the days end of that spectrum.

So I'm up here doing the single parent thing. I don't like being a single parent, I must confess, and even more - and this is completely surprising to me - I don't like it when Emil isn't home. Not that I thought I would like it; I just didn't think it would bug me as much as it does.

I have paltry little to do in terms of commitments, too: I'm caught up in my classes, and will be able easily to create all the materials they'll need for the next week. I have to come to campus every day this week because I have meetings - but I have little else that I need to do here. So I'm trying to think about what else I can do to occupy my time; I suppose there will be a housecleaning blitz and maybe I'll invite friends over or something . . . It's not really clear to me why I'd do anything differently than I'd do if Emil was home - but then, it isn't exactly clear to me what I do when he's around, either . . . I know that the last time he was gone, I didn't watch any television. (But then, I don't watch much when he's here, either. Hmm.)

Maybe, left to my own devices, I just lead a really boring life. My big plans for the day are to get home early enough to go running, and to make chicken pot pie (from scratch) for dinner tonight . . . or maybe Emma and I will go out for some exciting food; there's a terrific Thai restaurant on the west side of town that we both like . . . and we've been threatening to see Brokeback Mountain since it came out, so maybe I can talk her into that, too. Stay tuned!