Happy leap year day. I’m in the office, at the desk, checking email and updating the journal after a couple hours finishing “The Abstinence Teacher.” I thought the book was pretty good, not as strong as the author’s “Little Children” but leaps and bounds ahead of “Joe College.” My mind is a bit fried after the marathon literature session. I suppose I could go turn on “Blade Runner” or another episode of “House.” I don’t know. I feel all out of whack today. Maybe my stairs wipeout contributed to a full-body realignment that hasn’t worked to my advantage.

This morning I cleaned the first floor while listening to “Brighter Than Creation’s Dark” after the boys hit school and M helped out in one of their classrooms. I wasn’t in the mood to grade papers or answer email. Instead I loaded the dishwasher, cleaned up newspapers, and otherwise rendered the first floor presentable. After a quick shower I speed-watched the rest of “3:10 to Yuma” since the movie was due back at the video store this afternoon. I like the movie quite a bit. Russell Crowe usually leaves ambivalence in my mouth but I thought he was excellent. Christian Bale has yet to fail me. After the movie I picked up the Friday papers (WSJ and NYT, a Friday ritual) and hauled ass to work. My noon meeting (faculty council) ended before one, leaving me enough time to answer a few emails and water the plants before my 2:00PM faculty senate meeting. Louie and I sat way in the corner, where the blinds block the sun, and we probably looked more than a little anti-social. We had fun, though, and I enjoyed the company. At one point I had to speak about rank and tenure and I stumbled over my words in ways I haven’t in years. I’m usually a decent public speaker but my tongue felt weird and I couldn’t organize my thoughts. I felt slightly out of my body. This phenomenon bothered me through the rest of the meeting. I tried to crack a couple jokes at my table but they weren’t working. Oh well. Weird. The meeting ended in a ragged manner, with groups turning in their feedback and wandering off, and I returned to my office a little after 4PM. Normally I leave immediately after Friday senate. Today, however, I stayed at work for about ninety minutes. I cleaned my office, addressed more emails, and organized some files. A perusal of a syllabus reminded me that an observation is approaching, so I sent out a couple emails to confirm dates and scenarios. Once my office was clean and my files in order I drove home. I listened to NPR on the way home, as usual (interesting story on some bluegrass symphony), and arrived at the garage a little after six. N asked me to wear my cowboy hat to work so I pulled it off the car’s floor and wore it in the house. He and his brothers were finishing baths. I ate a quick dinner (squash ravioli) and settled in the spare bedroom with T. He was tired, home sick part of the day, and fell asleep quickly. S and I read in the other room until eight, when he went to sleep. I continued reading until close to nine. Here I am.

February is over. Goodbye, you horrible month. Thank you for leaving. Good night.