Oh Well--or Not

I had not one but TWO terribly interesting and insightful posts I had in mind to post today. Neither one is going to make it up here. One was a charming story about DramaBoy. The other was an absolutely AMAZING idea I had at about 8:00 this morning. I now have no memory whatsoever what the idea was.

You see, I'm sick. It's been creeping up on me all week, and I was crossing my fingers and hoping hoping hoping that it would just be allergies, but alas. Today was the second morning in a row I woke up coughing--one of those deep, chesty, painful coughs that sort of brings up whatver nastiness is in there but doesn't quite. My sinuses are full. My throat is raw. My head feels stuffed with cotton wool. Sudafed, that marvelous invention (curses on the deliquents who make it such a pain to procure!), helped me get through much of the day, but the bug is now taking a firm hold.

I have been surveying with increasing dismay the pile of papers that still remain to be graded before Monday. I waded through several sets already today, while my students worked on quizzes, but there are still five class sets of formal essays and two class sets of novel tests' written responses that are mocking me. "You could have graded us days ago!" they sneer. "Remember how you were going to tackle us on Tuesday? Remember how you had hours in which ComputerDaddy was working late and the kidlets were in bed and you chose to play online instead?" Their edges curl in contempt. I'm sure they'll slice me viciously when I work with them this weekend, inflicting punative papercuts that I will have to bear in humble penitance.

I do this every time. I start out the year/semester/marking period with determination that This Time I will be organized, timely, and efficient. No more random papers covering every available space on my two (yes, two) desks in the classroom, no more towering piles of essays threatening to spill over at the slightest touch, no more procrastination. But as time moves on, all those good intentions fall by the wayside, and by the time the grading period is nearing its end, I am in desperate straits. I can and often do learn the hard way, but this lesson is not one that seems to stick.

So no special posting for you. Just a whine about feeling like crap and facing an unpleasant task that is completely My Fault.