And With That, He Packs Up & Heads to Celebrate With The Family

 It's been a marathon week. Scratch that. It's been a marathon semester. Scratch that. It's been a marathon year. Scratch that, too. It's been a marathon six years.

And I am fried.

Yesterday, however, I finished grading my last final project and immediately Zoomed in to Stamford High School to discuss a potential grant with their English Department. They all stayed after school to hear me and Kristin Veenema discuss the resources of the National Writing Project and the possibility for going for federal funds in support of argumentative writing at their school. I didn't have time to do a presentation in person, so I used technology and met with their 19-person department there. They were wonderful, and I'm proud of the Kristin's leadership and hard work. She's been amazing with the first round of a grant and now she wants to share resources with her team. It would be wonderful.

I got my grades in by 9 p.m. (That's 12 hours ahead of the deadline) and then did a quick sweep of the house. I hate coming home to a mess, so I always clean before I depart. This, of course, meant I stayed up too late cleaning.

This morning, I will start to pack and get my sleigh in order so that Glamis has her space in the back seat and doesn't get panicked by the road trip. I nabbed Tunga's coat he left at Thanksgiving and will throw a bunch of clothes in a bag so I have something to wear. Of course, it's the gifts that will take up the most space.

I also stopped at the library and learned they no longer have books on tape (CDs), but now give you a little box that you plug headphones in (in my case, an axel chord to the Hulk).  My buddy Leo also lent me his copy of the Hamilton CD and I'm looking forward to learning and appreciating what all the hype was (but won't know it enough to sing along).

Phew. Did I just go through the semester that I did.

Okay, I need to drink some coffee and get my act in gear. Fa la la la la la la la la la.