I'm now happily at the point in the semester where students look harried, exhausted, and overwhelmed, and I don't. Everyone has their final assignments in their hands, I'm just waiting on deadlines and responses. The weekend away did me a world of good.

It will still be busy busy, but I'm feeling good about things. I powered through some papers tonight on a break from my evening class, and I'm spending all day tomorrow grading before the dog gets the stitches out and (hopefully) the cone off.

The husband of my best buddy here has lost his job. They're underwater on their house, and I'm not sure they can swing it on her university salary and extra gig. But we're in the same boat. Small salary, lots of work, one kid, foreign husbands without jobs. I predict we're trading thrifty soup recipes by the end of the week.