from morning until night

Ack. I've been so busy trying to juggle various activities that I haven't found time to take any new pics.

Okay, I'll try showing a typical day in my life in metaphorical pictures. (After all, metaphors and analogies are a major topic that I discuss with my students).

When the alarm clock wakes me up, I let my sweetie go on sleeping (LOUDLY - she seems to snore most in the morning).

Our menagerie of creatures demands to be fed.

I quickly shower while one creature or another scratches the bathroom door.

I dress quickly and go down to the kitchen, accompanied by the herd.

I look out the window, hoping to see this:

This week, however, whenever I look outdoors, I see a scene like this:

Sigh. I put the kettle on for tea, warm up some of Spouse's homemade food for the dogs (meat & vegetables run through the blender -- they love it).

Spouse comes down to the kitchen in due course, we drink tea & eat breakfast, then we bundle up and go out the back door to the car:

We manage to get the snow & ice scraped off the car, remind ourselves that we desperately need a garage (next on our list of home renos), then she drives me to work.

I go to my office, which actually feels like home, especially since I brought in a space heater to warm it in winter. I gather up whatever I need for my first class, and go to face my audience:

(Please note that I now have a better hairstyle than when this photo was taken. I found an excellent hairdresser who works out of her home, so the price is reasonable.)

In the afternoon, I usually wish I had time to write creatively (even a book review or blog post), but have to spend most of my time marking student essays. Sometimes my mind wanders:

But I resolve to soldier on and continue the fight to improve the composition skills of young adults:

I comfort myself by remembering the results of the recent U.S. election:

Then Spouse picks me up after work, or I take the bus home if she is too busy.

Yesterday after work, we went to the fundraising Steak Night of the English Students Association, where we indulged in food, drink & revelry:

Today there is no revelry on the agenda, so I hope to do some writing! I have 3 book reviews to write a.s.a.p., an editing job to do for a former student (why did I agree to this?), plus more revisions to make on my article on teaching vampire fiction (deadline: early December).

I sometimes contemplate my technological ineptitude, and wish I could do a better job of wowing students with bells & whistles in the classroom, or wow potential readers on-line.

Spouse is better at this stuff than I am. At home, we will cook something, then she will check her Facebook messages and play games on imaginary farms and zoos while I read, mark, edit & revise. Even when we're not conversing, we will enjoy a cozy evening in our warm house, surrounded by our dogs and cats, while the wind howls outdoors.

It's a good life. :)