The last two weeks have passed in a blur. All I've done, it seems, is grade papers...with short forays to the Ace Hardware store for paint for my mother and into the yard for mowing. Other than that, I've been chained to my computer.
I've tried to make time for my own work; I stop grading papers about nine at night, then spend a couple of hours revising a novel. I have a friend in Kentucky who's willing to swap novels with me, so I feel some pressure to make it as good as possible before I hand it over to him. And I have a new friend who's asked me and several other poets to help with his manuscript--decide what should stay, what should go, and what might go either way. And he's asked for help with ordering the poems. So I have these obligations.
And, of course, November is NaNoWriMo--National Novel Writing Month. Crazy people like me sign up to write 50,000 words in a month. I did it last year for the first time, and I wrote 65,000 words--I'm working on revising that novel, and I'm nearly pleased with it.
I don't gripe too much about grading papers, usually. I know it's part of my job--a big part of it. I'd love to be able to teach a class without assigning work, but I'd have to find another way to grade students! I have no idea how I'd do that, but I'm sure my students are full of suggestions!
But, if the weather stays as nice as its been lately, I need a bonfire this weekend! Grading can wait for good weather!
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