A beautiful hour before dawn. I had an interesting dream in which the priest from St. Ailbe’s was trying to bless something in the house of a former student. The boy’s name was Ade. James, Melissa and I were trying to find the house in which the Wizard of Oz was written and we thought Ade’s house might be the place.

That dream sounds much stranger written down.

Anyway, the air is cool and I’m glad to be up early. I’ve been worried that I won’t get in a proper groove before school starts. The other, hidden worry revolves around whether or not I’m losing self-discipline. But today’s early rising is a good sign. Plus, I hit a new low on the scale this morning so I’m sure that news put me in a good mood as well.

Yesterday was more productive than Tuesday. I drove into the office and fine-tuned syllabi while students revised hallway bulletin boards. I drove home, ate lunch, and knocked out more paperwork at the dining room table while listening to Apples in Stereo’s latest record. Then I lifted weights but skipped the second elliptical session. After a hard rain I drove over to Target (they didn’t stock the Veronica Mars season I wanted to purchase), the hobby store (D and D modules are expensive), and the new Best Buy. The store sent out pre-opening invitations to “reward zone” club members, of which I can count myself, so I thought I’d check out the store and maybe pick out a Wii game for the boys’ return. Goddamn the store was crowded, like, day after Thanksgiving crowded. Apparently the reward zone does not have difficult admission requirements. I picked up the new Madden football game, waited in line for ten minutes, then bought the game from a cute teenage girl who gave me the hard sell on the game replacement package (I didn’t bite, but nice try). When I arrived home I was somewhat wired so I took a bath with the Aeneid, read another fifteen pages on the front porch, and fell asleep. Not a bad day.

This afternoon two meetings are in the works but I’m hoping the day passes well. More later. Good day.