Getting ready to get ready to grade.

Today I sorted through a hideous thicket of e-mail to download student portfolios, group projects, late assignments, and the like.

I organized them into easily managed and clearly labeled files on my hard drive.

I sent e-mails to students whose work I didn't have--the ones that I'm pretty sure didn't send it as an oversight, thought I might not accept it because it was late (hello! have they met me?), or actually did send it and somehow I still didn't have it.

I constructed little rubrics for rationalizing my grading.

I constructed little tables with the scores for things I've already reviewed, and spaces for the new scores.

So: tomorrow, if I can get my head together, I will start to actually read and respond (on the little rubrics) to student work. I bet I can grade at least one and maybe two courses tomorrow. The other course on Thursday.

Then, I will e-mail the rubrics to the students, submit the grades, close my laptop, and watch a bunch of television.

And then? I will use my new cookie press to make elegant spritz cookies. Perhaps by then the historian's car will be out of the shop (it's at Genius Mechanic of Foreign Cars [that's GMFC to you] who is such a big genius that he often doesn't have time to look at your car when you need him to, which is either the high price of genius or else a gigantic pain in the ass, or both, possibly both), so I can complete my Christmas shopping. I will buy and decorate a Christmas tree. I will purchase mass quantities of food so we can have a family Christmas party on Sunday (the menu chosen by Missionary Running Son--enchiladas of every variety, "mexi-rice," corn, salsa and chips, and possibly some other things, like salad, that he hasn't and wouldn't think of--what will he eat in Singapore? and also dessert of some variety). I will, in other words, begin my break.

[Exhale.]