About my week

I'll begin by saying that the Christmas party was boring. My husband's department is apparently experiencing inner turmoil. People were fatter, they were drinking too much, and I'd have rather been at home. Oh, well. It's done until next year.
Anyway--about my week. I drove up to Big Rapids on Monday and actually spent the night in my office. Not only was I grading papers, but I also didn't want to get out in the snow. We got over 14 inches, and the weather was just fierce. People laughed at me for staying in my office, but it wasn't really too bad. I took a couple of cat naps, but that building is a lot like a hospital. I had expected it to be a silent tomblike place, but FSU is apparently blessed with the world's jolliest cleaning crew. One fellow kept going around whistling (shrilly, off-key). My desk chair wasn't the most comfortable sleeping spot I've ever had, but I did just fine. When I went to get into my car to go to Betty's on Tuesday, late afternoon, I had to dig my car out. With my short arms, I couldn't get all the snow off the car roof, so my car had a snowhawk (a snow mohawk). I've also seen cars with snow crewcuts and snow toupees and snow mullets.
Wednesday night driving back to Betty's, I got stuck in a deep drift while trying to turn from Wilson into her driveway. Her son Thaddeus had to help me get out. It took half an hour or more. Apparently Bonnie Blue, with her traction-assist, is not equipped to handle all four wheels spinning helplessly. The car is designed so that the traction-assist turns itself off to keep from burning up its motor. Heck of a lot of good that does!
The semester is now over, all except "finals week." I don't give finals, but I still have more grading to do. I know that requiring multiple revisions is the right thing to do pedagogically, but boy, does it make for a lot of grading. I have to get everything done, including turning in grades, before my surgical procedure on Friday, December 19. It won't do for me to turn in grades while under the influence of major pain-killers.
We're still trying to decide how to handle Christmas. I vote that we abolish the holiday this year. Bah humbug. If I can't have a Christmas with my family the way we once had, then it just doesn't feel like Christmas, so why bother? People who still have children at home just don't appreciate how much they are going to miss those holiday rituals once they can't experience them the same way. I could be like my husband's sister-in-law and simply DEMAND that everyone be at her house for the holidays, to hell with other relatives, but my two sons weren't brought up to be obedient and dutiful to She Who Must Be Obeyed, the way hers were. (Something to be grateful for: My mother-in-law is not like this sister-in-law, because if she had been, I'd have been the one moving us farther and farther away from Louisiana.)
It's time to tackle that remaining stack of essays, so until next time....