It's raining, school's in

Week one of the Fall 2008 term is basically over for me -- I'll be working in my office Friday for a few hours before the Rays look to go up 2-0 on the White Sox; this postseason I'm a Rays fan. And dammit, I'm taking a few hours to watch it despite having a lot of work to do this weekend. I taught my first college classes this week (Tuesdays and Thursdays 4-5:20) and everything went well, as expected; in fact, I'm fortunate that I don't have any distracting or sleepy students in my class at all. My friend Adam and I were talking tonight about how we pull some energy from our students and feel pretty good at the end of a long week when class goes well. And it's been a long week.

I'm nervous about how much time I'll have to devote to Spanish. I've completed 9 weeks of Spanish classes (this summer) and there's no way to speak the language as well as some of the other students in my 211 class. I have to take 211, 212, and 213 this year, and I understand about half of what the instructor says in class, maybe less; she was also my instructor this summer. The grad director in our program now tells me the English Department is considering dropping the MA language requirement next year or after that and, he asks, what do I think?

Anyway it might be my Spanish class that drives me to insanity this term, or at least to really erasing my weekends and working late each night of the week. I don't usually break form with commas like in this blog's title. I've been thinking more about writing creatively lately and missing it a lot. A friend made a squash and beets dinner last night and we drank Rogue's Dead Guy Ale and wine until very late on a Wednesday when maybe I could have been doing thesis reading. The Spanish instructor today listed me as one of about ten students in class who hadn't done any of the online homework yet, just as a reminder. I immediately identified a few new students who are favorites because of their energy and interest and engagement but really, they're all fantastic and I'm glad my week in the classroom ends on Thursday evenings.

There's always more to write about. Pete agrees, he's living hour to hour right now, too. My grandfather turns 93 on Saturday and I wish I could spend more time with him. The air in Corvallis smells like rain and fields.