With one week left before classes begin (not counting today, of course, as a week from today is MLK Day) I've gotten my affairs, so to speak, in about as much order as I can get them in preparation for the semester. I have created/retooled lesson plans for the 210 class as well as my once-a-week 011 class, and the 102 Director has told me she'll get a copy of the syllabus and the weekly lesson plan to me by tomorrow -- the date, I assume, she'll be sending them out to everyone who teaches 102 this semester. Once I get it, I will shape and modify it to my own ends, and I will be proverbially "set" to start teaching next week.
I have not yet been listed as the instructor of record for my other two classes on Banner or Blackboard, though that will happen within the next two or three days at most, I assume -- and I doubt it'll even take that long. I expect the finalized schedule to be sent out to all of us sometime tomorrow morning so that we do have a full week to prepare for everything. Sometimes this is how it works, sometimes it's not, but I'm guessing everything will be proverbially "set in stone" within the next several days. As for payroll, I don't know how that works, though I should still get a check on the 31st -- though whether it will be for all three classes I'm teaching or just the one I've had on the docket for well over a month remains to be seen. That all gets sorted out by the second administrator of the department, and it's usually smoothed out pretty quickly. There are set dates for payroll reporting before checks are issued, and I believe the cutoff for the 31st would be this Friday -- though I, of course, could be wrong.
As weird as it may seem, I am looking forward to getting back to work. My schedule isn't as soul-crushing or draining as it was last semester, even though I'm teaching the same number of courses. Yes, it's still three different classes with three different lesson plans to follow, but it's much, much more manageable this time around, giving me time to eat and sleep and actually relax somewhat. This is good, as I'll need the extra downtime/decompression time as the days 'til my wedding are continually counting down.
Because of my financial situation and not getting paid for six weeks, as you know, it's been difficult for me to be able to cover my bills. Daisy helped me with that, a few days ago when she got paid, by wire-transferring some money into my bank account. Both of us are scraping by right now, which is tough on us. However, the good news that I've gotten three classes this semester and her ability to pick up extra hours/days at work (for overtime pay) has helped power us through this rather shitty situation. The money she gave me she'll be able to make up for in a day and a half working the extra hours she was offered -- if it even takes her that long. She was originally supposed to come down here tomorrow morning to stay until Friday, but because she was offered this overtime and given an opportunity to make more money, she'll be working tomorrow and then coming down here on Wednesday. She's not doing it because she has to; she's doing it because she wants to and because her offices are shorthanded -- it's mere coincidence that she was offered this opportunity at the same time she wired me money to cover my bills. Also, without her help, I wouldn't be able to get through the rest of this month's expenses -- so, apparently, luck sort of shines on us again.
Over the past several days, because of recent developments, I've been trying to stay as positive as possible about everything in my life. The teaching schedule was very helpful in that, obviously. I have a renewed vigor and energy to take care of tasks in and around the house. To those ends, I've tried to clean most things I can, have taken care of all of the laundry, dishes, and vacuuming, have taken out the trash and recycling for the first time in three weeks (snowstorms, cold, and ice prevented me from taking the cans down to the road for the past two weeks), and I have paid the bills I've had come in the mail -- including the ungodly-high electric bill. Thankfully (read: finally) it's been in the 50s and 60s this week -- yesterday it was almost 70, setting all sorts of high temperature records around here for the date -- and I've been able to turn off the furnace a few days in a row now in favor of opening my windows and enjoying some fresh, not-recirculated-and-dry air. It's not supposed to get really cold again for the foreseeable future, and this means I can once more only run the furnace when absolutely necessary. I can already see my electric bill being high for January -- this, perhaps, will lessen the blow a bit. I know I'll have to run it in the overnight hours at least sometimes, as it's still winter and that can't really be avoided, but the change in temperature and outside weather will definitely save me a bit of money. It's 55 outside now, even, according to my weather app on my desktop.
When Daisy comes down later this week, I'll have to do some grocery shopping with her. Aside from the fact that I love grocery shopping with her, it's not something that can be avoided even if I wanted to avoid it. Since my last grocery trip about a week ago, I have managed to run myself out of most household essentials again, and when she comes down I actually, y'know, have to cook stuff for us to eat, which isn't something I generally do on a regular basis unless I have the time to do so and the materials to work with. Because of this, my refrigerator is pretty bare. I have some bread, cheese, and lunchmeat, along with some beer and the 3-gallon jug of filtered water, and condiments in the door...but aside from that, the fridge is almost completely empty. There aren't really any vegan foodstuffs in the freezer, either, unless she brought them down here herself. I don't have any vegetables, any pastas, sauces, or other cooking supplies, and I've basically been eating what I have in there and have ready to go (soups, ramen, sandwiches, etc). That's just how I live on a very small food budget -- usually one meal a day, and something small at that. The money she wired me isn't for food or anything like that; it was to be sure I could cover my bills. I'm still functionally broke until the paychecks start coming in again in a few weeks, and any groceries have been purchased with my parents' Visa gift cards or with my ungodly-high-limited Discover card. I don't really have a choice there until I can start getting paid again for the semester and can use my money for things other than bills, which will probably take me until at least the end of February, if not longer.
Still, it's not like I'm starving or anything. People always seem to worry about me when I make statements like that. I have enough to eat, believe me. My current situation is far from ideal, of course -- I'm not eating steaks and twice-baked potatoes every night while sipping chardonnay or anything -- but I'll live and I'll be fine, and so will the cats. Everything is straightening itself out; it just takes time.
Over the course of the next week I have a lot to take care of; most of it's little things, of course -- get gas in the car when necessary, do my shopping, ready teaching outfits/folders/handouts, etc -- but it's enough to keep me busy and occupied, and as you know I thrive when I'm constantly occupied and have tasks to do. When I'm on a schedule of some sort, any sort, it tends to regulate my body and mind to the point where I can focus, think clearly, and get the things done that need to be done when it becomes necessary that they be done. I know full well that the next several weeks are going to be challenging for me on multiple levels, but I also know that I'll be able to rise to the challenge instead of being crushed by it.
The spring semester this year runs very similarly to last year -- Finals Week is at the same time, Spring Break is at (roughly) the same time, graduation is a day before it was last year, etc. It is also no secret that it's much easier to teach and navigate through the spring semester compared to the fall semester, which feels like a long, brutal slog by comparison. Spring is light and fluffy -- all of the bad weather is usually gone by about a third of the way through it, and it's replaced with warm temperatures and lighter evening hours (so I can actually see in the dark when I'm driving at night, which is a plus). The workloads seem lighter. The days begin and end more freely. Everyone seems to be in a much better mood and more social than in the fall. Soon, I won't have to dress in multiple layers anymore, and will be able to begin breaking out the t-shirts, shorts, and sandals again. Almost everything about the spring semester is better than the fall.
Now that I've said that, we'll probably receive a brutal, crippling snowstorm about a month from now. That would be right around Valentine's Day. Mark your calendars, folks -- since I've now taunted/tempted fate, I'm sure there will be swift retribution.
Of course, remember that not all spring semesters are like this -- last spring, for example, it snowed right up until Finals Week in May...and then a week later it was 90 degrees.
I won't even see the main campus next week until Tuesday afternoon sometime; I will teach my first class of the semester without books because I'll be teaching it on the West campus, and won't be able to pick up said books until after that class is over. Since that's also the 102 class, I don't know what books to tell my students to get -- there's a new edition of the textbook we've been using for 102, and I don't know if we're using the new one, the old one, or another one altogether (as there have been maaaany complaints lodged against that one over the years). I do know that they have to get the normal 102 workbook, and that said workbook has been retooled and modified to contain almost everything they need for their assignments since the last time I used it. I will get more details, of course, on everything they'll need in the next few days -- though it's not like I'll have any of those in my hands regardless before that afternoon.
Tuesday is the only day I'm on the main campus this semester -- Wednesday and Thursday I'm on the West campus exclusively: Wednesday night and Thursday morning. While I could, conceivably, go back and forth between campuses on the latter days, there's no real need for me to do so and it just makes me use more gas in the car -- and, more than anything else, it would make those days that much longer. Wednesday I'm there for my night 210 class and nothing else. Thursday morning I'm there, in-and-out for my 102 class. I have to do what I can on main campus on Tuesday afternoons when I'm there between my two classes. Doesn't leave a whole lot of time for dilly-dallying around, no, but it means I get more time at home.
So that's where things stand right now. I haven't eaten anything today, so my plans for the evening hours are to make something for dinner and, eventually, go back to bed. The temperature is starting to drop a bit as the sun sets, so I'll probably turn the furnace back on in another hour or two. Daisy has to work tonight (and tomorrow night, as mentioned above), so I'll not get a whole lot of socialization time with her until she gets here on Wednesday...at which point she'll more than likely just go straight to bed. I wouldn't blame her if she did, as she doesn't get a whole lot of sleep as it is, and she will have just worked an overtime shift before driving down here.
I will, of course, update you when anything else happens or changes, as always.
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