Spring Break...

is not much of one, so far.

My brother and his wife came in Saturday night, and, Sunday, we got out in the yard and cleaned up.  We cut up limbs that had fallen down, and I have so much stuff for the burn pile, plus two big piles to burn in the front yard.  Mike and Linda cleaned out the front azalea bed; we cleared out the space in front of the garage; didn't do much in the back yard except cut up a huge limb that fell late last year.  I managed to get a climbing rose bush planted at the corner of the front porch. The yard looks so much better.  I'm hoping that we can all get together in April to plant the butterfly garden I want.

My mother and two of my sisters showed up on Sunday.  Mom cooked cabbage; Jeri brought red beans and rice; Mary brought me a bookcase and some chotchkas from my sister Lydia, all in keeping with the bee theme, except for a beautiful star ornament to hang in the back yard.  I feel lucky to have my family members.  Really, I love them all, but I know who I can depend on.

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I've been grading papers...gee, that sounds so familiar!  Why should spring break really be a break?  I have midterm grades averaged for three classes.  I have two sets (well, really three) of papers to grade and two sets of drafts to read.  I'm hoping to get the papers graded and grades posted by Wednesday so I can spend some time gardening.

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The repair shop didn't get in the parts for my car, so I have no idea if they'll be able to repair my car this week.  I'm kind of ticked about that...I don't have three consecutive days for car repairs when I'm working; these guys aren't opened on Saturday, but I'm not taking my car to the Mazda place in Bossier.  The last time I had to have my car repaired, the Mazda dealership kept my car for ten days--they didn't bother to tell me that one of their mechanics quit.  Every time I called, they told me "We'll have it ready tomorrow."

I probably should go to the store tomorrow, just in case.  I hope I can get the car fixed and inspected before I have to go back to school.

Sixteen Tons, again!

I worked at the bookstore for four hours today and managed to pack about 27 boxes of books to send back to publishers. Most of the boxes were small, around 10 pounds or so, but I managed to clear most of a bay of books. So, I got some work done.

Then I went to the grocery store. On my list I had "Coffee, cat food, toilet paper." So how did I spend $64? Well, I decided I needed bird food for my cockatiel, and for the wild birds (they really like black-oiled sunflower seeds, and I can't find them in the town where I live); I bought marjoram (I ran across a recipe that uses it); I bought six Lean Cuisine dinners (they were on sale--six for $10--a good deal); and, of course, I needed ice cream and a cheese grater (I can't find the one I had), and then I bought some Cheez-Its.

Do you see a connection between any of this? I don't, and I can't figure out how my brain works. It never takes me to the beer or wine aisles; I totally avoided the vegetable section and the canned goods' section. I had a list. So how did all the rest of this stuff end up in my basket? It's a mystery to me. But at least I have a good balance between the "diet food" and the junk food; I also have tomatoes and squash from the garden and a stockpile of frozen veggies to go with anything I choose to cook.

Besides reading student papers (a given), I have a few other projects to work on (Norton Oral History Project, Fall courses, mowing the grass at some point, weeding the garden), and I'll be working at the bookstore on Monday (8am to 5pm--a whole day--yikes!). I won't be idle on my "vacation," that's for sure!

I hope all of my students have a relaxing break! I've tried not to load them down with too much work!

Update on the Budster: We (the vet and I) think Buddy may have gotten into rat poison--what's called a "rodenticide anticoagulant." It's a poison that thins out the rat's blood and eventually kills it. If Buddy ate a rat that had eaten poison, or eaten some of the poison, that could have caused the "spontaneous" bleeding. The vitamin K pills seem to be working. Bud's doing fine, except when I have to give him his medicine. I have to wrap him in a towel to give him the meds so he doesn't scratch the hell out of me. He goes back to the vet in the morning to have his stitches removed. Hooray!