Spring Break

As much as I'd like to believe that spring break actually is a break for me, I know better. I just downloaded about 40 assorted assignments from my students and will probably spend the better part of the week reading/grading. Yeah, I know--if I didn't assign the work, I wouldn't have to grade the papers; unfortunately, our educational system requires evaluation in some form, and papers/journals are necessary in this case. I'd love to be able to not give assignments, to just talk about what we read, but the realities of academia preclude that.

I have, however, decided to pace myself. I'll grade a few at a sitting, then go do something else--I have some knitting I want to get done: scarves, dishcloths, maybe a summer sweater (like we really need those here!); I also have a few academic papers I want to work on (publish or perish!). And I have a book to read before Monday night (The Soloist by Mark Salzman) for my reading group at a local bookstore. So, even though this is a break, of sorts--I'm not really "working" my usual hours at either of my jobs (I also work at the aforementioned bookstore part-time)--I'm still "working." I guess the "break" consists in having my time to myself and being able to choose what I want to do with it. That, in itself, is a luxury for someone who is too often constrained by the clock.