Christmas eve is superior, in my book

For my money, if we are at home, I vastly prefer Christmas Eve to Christmas Day.

There is something about the usually busyness of early on the 24th that gives way to that final trip home after the emergency visit to the grocery store and the knowledge that we'll go to church, but there is no where else that we just have to be for a little while.

Christmas Day is more about over-excited kids, worry over food, and, frankly, a little stir-crazy boredom. I could do without.

Quiet

The grades are in, the commencement commenced, and all is quiet here at Prof central. Both Bun and Offspring are off school this week, so we are able to enjoy some family time in the between - the time before forced relative hilarity and after the crazy end of the semester.

I think we all need some rest.

Looming

The best part of wrapping up a semester is the forced end to everything. The classes must end. They are dead.

The worst part is that I'm already feeling guilty about not being prepared for next semester.

What I want

I saw this comment on the New York Times website today on an article about teacher gifts:

"Separately from this, it would be nice to have a discussion about what is appropriate in college, with professors weighing in.

I faced that conundrum not too long ago, when I was graduating from college. There were several professors who had had a profound impact on my life--people who I'd had for multiple classes over the years (and "grown up" with, sort of), and people whose office hours I'd practically lived in (and not always to ask about classwork). I wanted to thank them--so much that I couldn't really articulate how much it had meant.

However, there was really very little guidance on what to do. No set norms, etc. After much thought (a great distraction while studying for finals!), I decided to wait until after final grades had been posted (meaning that even the late birds had to be in). But the gifts were still difficult to choose. Eventually I settled on bottles of good wine for two of them, tea for another, and a box of golf balls for the fourth--all with thank you notes, too. Still, I did what I did because I wanted to, with no idea of what's expected (I'm pretty sure that most of my friends did not give presents to professors at all--though I didn't exactly mention that I was doing it, either) or within the realm of normality.

I would be really interested to hear where others have settled on this, particularly professors. I would certainly not have felt comfortable gifting professors before I had finished school--it would have stank of a kind of grade grubbing that was strongly discouraged. People generally showed their respect and gratitude to their profs by showing up at their offices (regularly, not just right before exams). But the thing about college is that you really never know what your classmates are doing, because everyone has that autonomy."

I can't answer it there, but I'll answer it here. I definitely don't want you to buy me anything. I've had students for whom I have mentored theses and the like show up right before graduation with things like gift certificates for the swishy place in town, and other students with coffee mugs (ack! no!), candles, candy, etc. The things that are convertible to cash (like gift cards and certificates) I always decline, even though I often end up embarrassing the student. The other things, if they are homemade, hard to return (like a mug from a city where a student did a co-op or something, I will take, but I usually don't want it and always feel bad about it.

Honestly, your being an attentive student who is interested in the material and sincere about being in college to learn is plenty of reward from me (especially considering that I do get paid to do this). If you send me a note after the semester is over (not clipped to your final project, please!), I'll keep it.

IB Dun

Turned in my last grades. Only one indignant e-mail from a student who dropped to a B because of her 62 on the final, which she wanted me to e-mail her justification for every point I took off.

Told her I'd just paper mail her the test.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand I'm out!

Import

Yesterday, I made a male graduate student cry in my office (before 10 a.m. Go me.).

He was busted for plagiarizing on his major paper for one of my classes. He's international, and it's his first semester, and he had a really hard time adjusting, basically because he really doesn't want to be here, but his family insisted.

But, that doesn't excuse turning in a paper that was about 60 percent copied and pasted from other people's papers.

Then, yesterday afternoon, Spouse and I were heading home from school when I saw a backup on the interstate right before we got on it and stayed on the frontage road.

I found out this morning that a PrettyGood freshman had, about 20 minutes earlier, walked onto the highway and knelt down in front of an 18 wheeler. I am guessing that her finals did not go well. She was a major, not in my department, but in my building, and I am sure I know people who had her in class.

I know I like to think that what we do at our university is pretty important, and that's why we have standards about things like plagiarism.

But it's not that important.

Ho Ho Hawaiian

Lisa Belkin has this funny article about making holiday traditions with your family. That's one of the things that Spouse and I are trying to be kind of conscious of. We do little things like reading the Christmas story nearly every night during advent (we have a great illustrated edition), going carolling with our church, the aforementioned Angel Tree and one other.

Because we are professor types, and therefore live quite far from our relatives, we end up traveling every Christmas to visit our two families, who, themselves, live about 700 miles apart. This means that late December is a time of flying and driving, mostly, punctuated with the rushed eating of a holiday dinner (at my house. Spouse's family really doesn't do this), opening gifts, catching up with relatives, etc. But seriously, it is mostly flying and fighting holiday traffic. Since it would be difficult to bring our presents within our small family with us and obnoxious to open them in front of other people, we have a "Prof family Christmas" at home a few nights before we leave. We open gifts, usually watch White Christmas, etc. That night is coming up later this week, and I asked Offspring what she wanted to have for dinner that night. I had visions of a turkey breast or ham dancing in my head, but she picked a Hawaiian Pizza that is in a cookbook of hers that she has learned how to make. So that what we are doing.

Making a list, checking it twice

I have finished Christmas shopping, I think, except for our AngelTree gifts. We do that every year with the kids. This year, most of the kids were older - 14-17 mostly and they had very specific wants like particular brands of athletic shoes and watches. I remember being a teen and how peer pressure made it seem quite important to have specific brands of things, but someone has not taught some of these kids how to shop. A lot of them wanted Nikes or Sketchers, but from specific stores (usually athletics stores in the mall). I know other places in town have the same shoes for much better prices, so I picked kids to wanted things more generically. I feel a little bad, because we usually have a budget of about $100 per kid, so we can get them two things. But this year, the requests were so specific and expensive that the same amount will just equal 1 thing.

Dear Santa

I have been very, very good this year. Therefore, may I please have the following as an early Christmas present...

1. Comprehensible, standard English on all my papers to grade
2. Some kind of whine filter on my e-mail
3. An automated response to messages of presumption such as "I have to take my cat to the vet. Here is an e-mailed copy of my project, using software your "older model" computer won't run. I turned it in on time. You can't say I didn't."
4. One delicious, uninterrupted night of sleep
5. Let me borrow one of the elves to clean and do laundry for me this weekend, 'cuz buddy, I'ma busy!

Or at least #1.

Thanks, big guy!



Fabulous readers: What do you want for Christmas?

My mathlete

Offspring went to the regional academic competition today and finished first in mental math, beating kids from 5 other school districts as well as the other kids from hers.

I know I'm a braggy momma, but I am so proud of her!

Forced Merryness

Today is our department's faculty/staff Christmas Party which, being now fairly low on the totem pole, I get to organize. I am not a fan of forced frivolity with one's co-workers, so I have made the party a Let's Kick '09 to the curb themed, which is certainly the sentiment I am feeling today. I thought about making something to pass that was really bitter, but I guess that might be carrying it too far...

Ack and more ack

I did a batch of grading yesterday, so today is all about extremely annoying little details of life including getting my graduate student ready to get ready to teach his own class for the first time in the spring, lots of stuff relating to travel (including the fact that they switched the equipment on a flight to Europe that the prof family is taking sometime in the future which means we will be flying overnight, overseas on a 757. Not happy. There's getting the final issues with my graduate students taken care of, which means dealing with their, at some times astounding, levels of irresponsibility. Honest to goodness, I think I am going to start basing my admissions on maturity rather than academic potential. I had to drive to a grad student's crappy student apartment yesterday and forcibly take back tests he is supposed to have graded, but hadn't gotten to. Not kidding.

Tons of errands to do, all of which are time consuming, and I really just want to get a flu shot and take Bun for a haircut.

Holy crap!

Cold and rainy

and I think I have another sinus infection. Great way to start a new week.

But on the plus side, today is the last week of class. I haven't had any requests for last-minute extra credit or too many for favors. Except for the student from Europe who needed to go home early, so I told her I could e-mail her final. Then she wanted me to e-mail it so she would take it during the daytime over there. Yeah, um, sorry, no.

What to say?

Sadly, the crappy posting continues. RBOC for a sunny, cold Saturday:

*It got quite cold for here overnight. It is the time of year when I deeply love my flannel sheets.

*If I were a good Mom, I'd put the flannel sheets of Offspring's bed, too, and perhaps buy some for Bun.

*Really need to finish the teacher gifts this weekend.

*2-hour service obligation today was cancelled. Can't tell you how happy this made me.

*Joyeux forced holiday festivities at work next week. Love/hate those.

*Must write final exam this weekend. Then two more next week.

*Would like to get two more paper revisions out the door this week and next. They are not too hard, so I think I can do it.

*Bun would rather listen to They Might Be Giants than Christmas music, which she lets us know, loudly, any time we try to put some on. John and John need to do a holiday album.

*I made Christmas cookies last night. They sucked.

*I need to try again so I can make the happy gifty baskets for the people who do stuff for me at work.

*That is all.

Pant, pant, pant

I'm almost there. I can see out of the edge of the Sea of Overwork in which I am currently drowning the tiniest point of Hardwork Island. I can make it. I believe.

swim, swim, gulp

I've got my head above water for just a second before I go back down again. I have now wrapped up one of my classes, will do the other tonight, and my last tomorrow. Tomorrow's is easy, and it's presentations tonight, so I am feeling better about that. I have two more paper re-writes to get out next week to meet my goal. I have 15 more service obligation hours over the next two weeks and yet to finish up everything for Christmas, although I made my list, which makes me feel better. I did not, however, check it twice.

I will be entering grading jail tonight, and hope to do that, plus all the little details, plus assorted Christmas stuff.

Sorry to have such a crappy post, but that's on my mind right now.

(As a funny aside, I had someone at lunch ask me if taking a trip to China in the next few weeks would help me. He was serious (have to know the context), but I really can't imagine anything I'd like to do less right now).

Whew

Three years ago today, my post would have been something like "Can you crank up that epidural, please?" since today is Bun's birthday and she was born about an hour from now. I can't believe she is 3 already. A little person you can have a conversation with, who sleeps in a big bed and uses the potty and plays with her sister.

Today was quite a day (and it's only 1:40). We got the kids ready and taken to school, and then I got in and had a phone interview for a job. I don't think it went all that well, but we will see. It's a job I'd be good at and like to have, and Spouse got a nibble from them yesterday, also. But I'm not the ideal candidate for them, as things now stand.

Then I had to go to an administrative budget meeting to request a little more money for graduate students in which I had to explain to the provost that in light of the department's poor success in getting faculty tenured, they were interested in supporting junior faculty better, including with more grad assistance. Awkward.

Then class. And now I am looking at the to-do list. I stupidly accepted a lot of service obligations this week (10 hours worth!), and this comes on top of wrapping up classes, two conference deadlines today, having to do everything for Christmas pretty much this week and next since we are skipping town, etc. etc.

Oh yeah, and finals.