Whew, just finished about forty-five minutes (two episodes of “The Office”) on the elliptical machine. I probably could have doubled the duration. Two days at work have left me with way too much excess energy. Man, the workout felt great, though. I needed that.

Last night M had a church meeting so the boys and I hung out on our own. I was tired, a bit under the weather, so after N fell asleep T, S and I read in our room. T was in spaz mode so I sent him to bed fifteen minutes early. I’m not sure what’s up with him. Maybe winter’s getting to him first. He doesn’t get a chance to release much physical energy. I feel badly for Shadow, too, who is bouncing off the walls, but the temps are too cold to safely or comfortably take her for a walk. After the boys fell asleep I crashed myself. This morning the Saturn needed gas, so I filled up the car while freezing my fucking ass off in thirty seconds I stood next to the pump. I hit work, despite some traffic, just before eight. I spent the first hour or so answering email before teaching a small but satisfying assessment class. Paul and I met at the cafeteria for lunch. We traded U gossip and talked through his department’s (English) hiring process. He and I get along well, I think, and I like visiting the cafeteria. Since the students are back I checked in with a few at their tables (probably embarrassing them to high heaven) before leaving. I also saw a woman from the Assisi trip. She seemed mad at me, probably because I blew off the last Assisi dinner. Oh well. I can pay that price. After putting out a couple of fires I sped through action research chapters before leaving for the day just before 4PM. I stopped at Blockbuster and picked up “The Game Plan” and visited Borders for a new atlas (huge but on sale for 15 bucks) for S. C and I, then D and I, spoke on the phone on the highway. The library had a book on reserve I wanted, so I stopped once more before returning home.

M wasn’t feeling well, so I moved her van into the garage and helped make dinner. After we ate we watched “The Game Plan.” T and I saw the movie in the theatre, but I knew M would like the film and S would at least watch the football parts. N managed to stay still throughout most of the movie as well. T was spazzy again afterwards, but I felt guilty about ragging on him, so I crashed on his floor and we chatted just as he fell asleep. He’s a good kid.

Tomorrow will be a long day. The first meeting runs from nine to noon, the second from 3 to 5. Oh well. I’ll survive. Good night.