"Left Right Black White"

This post's title coming from the title of the episode of Strangers that I listened to tonight while taking a walk. The monologue at the end came at the exact right moment for me as I returned from a visit home for Christmas. Voices like Lea Thau's make this world a better place. Check it out.

Go Rams!

Despite my complicated feelings about football, I am so proud of these guys. GO RAMS!

Dancing queen

My quest to be a cool aunt receives some much-needed validation.

 
I certainly don't think I am good at playing Just Dance, but the kids seem to like it. 

Window crew

Moving from two cats to three cats changes things in ways that might seems subtle, but are quite real. I now feel like I have a pack or at least a crew. It's a bit strange. Anyway, here's my crew the other day, all watching birds outside the window. (Perfectly normal to have the window wide open in December, right?)

Fall 2015 Grading: DONE!

I don't think I've done one of these "DONE!" posts in a while, but it feels good to do one today. As of about 2:00 today, I am done with my grading for this semester.

It's been a strange semester: in some ways, it flew by, in other ways, it feels like August was forever ago. In terms of workload, well, it was a lot for me. (Two classes on novels and two writing-intensive classes will do that...) The students (especially in the novel classes) were amazing. And, as always, every day I am in the classroom is a good day. For that, I continue to feel so blessed.

Still, it feels good to have the grading done. Onto Spring 2016! I started on my syllabi today...

Chair dancing song: B.B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans, "The Bells of St. Mary's."