catching up

An update for you all:


We’re still here, we’re still plugging along. The sugar rush of the holidays is over, and we’re settling in to the routine of winter in Michigan. Classes started up for me again last week with two new sections, a figure drawing class (which I have not taught in 10 years) and an art history class at our Adrian, MI campus. This means that I am teaching five days a week this semester. While some of you may start to play the little violin at this point and offer no sympathy, teaching isn’t the only thing I do. I run the department, I mentor my faculty, I work on committee stuff and the loss of this day is going to be tough.

Some people have commented in the past that Tod and I make parenting look easy and effortless, and I often wondered where that came from. Perhaps it was because I had time during the day on Friday to do errands for the house or had time to plan out the week ahead; those days are gone, for now at least. The class in Adrian requires an hour drive each way and by the time I get home, and do the work for the class, it’s time to get the kids. We’ll see how this pans out this semester. Because of our negotiations with the college’s board last November/December, changes had to be made regarding staffing, and this is one of the reasons why I have such a big course load this semester, as I have exhausted the available faculty able to teach these courses. There is a plus side to all this however, the pay will rock. While my sanity does come first, it will be nice to have some extra cash coming in. I can also teach a reduced load this summer and spend some time catching up, or, if things are good on campus, I might even take the summer off. We’ll see.

On a brighter note: Eli’s adoption is final tomorrow at 2 pm. We have a big party planned with tons of folks stopping by to welcome this great young man into our family. Hard to believe it’s been six months already.