The Back-to-School Scramble

The semester starts Monday.  My syllabi aren't finished. I haven't posted my online quizzes.  I haven't written a good portion of my online quizzes.  I haven't done the reading necessary to write my online quizzes.

I have a lot to get finished before Monday.  Like, a LOT a lot.

What have I accomplished this week?

I've eaten five donuts and a muffin and two mini-quiches over the course of four days of morning meetings.

I've attended 30 minutes of toddler-parent swimming lessons, at the end of which all the other moms had dry hair and I looked like I had been swimming underwater because my child is a gleeful and overly enthusiastic SPLASHER.  She also broke the rules and instead of waiting until "3" for me to lift and drop her into the pool, she actually flung herself into the pool NOT on my count.  Very uncool, Zuzu.  We are working on having respect for the water--her fearlessness scares me!

I've attended approximately 16 hours of meetings, approximately 30 minutes of which was relevant or useful for me.

I've improved my quality of life by putting scentsy warmer in my office.  It now smells like a "rustic lodge" on my end of the third floor.  You're welcome, everyone who walks by.

I killed a wasp with the undergraduate course catalog.  The catalog is still on the floor of myoffice with the squished wasp underneath it.  I'm sort of afraid to pick it up.

I've continued to ponder the investment of a new handbag for work.  David would roll his eyes and say I don't need it, but I think it's important not to undervalue the boost in morale that I get from purchasing a new bag for the start of the school year.  Hmm.  I may have just convinced myself.

I painted my fingernails only to remember why I don't paint my fingernails anymore:  They are all chipped off and terrible looking and it's only day 2.

I've managed to drop Zuzu at daycare and get myself to campus by 8:30am every day.  This is HUGE.  I win at being a responsible adult.

In other good news, Zuzu is doing well with the new routine.  She's been waking up around 7am, because I can hear her on the monitor, but she plays happily and entertains herself until I get her out of her crib at 7:30am.  Sometimes she wants to nurse in the morning, sometimes she doesn't seem to remember or care about it, so I just let her decide.  Drop off at daycare has been tear-free, thanks in large part to her eating breakfast there now.  (A brilliant move that has saved me TONS of time in the morning AND keeps her happy.  She's totally fine waving "bye-bye" to mama as long as there's a muffin in her hand.)

The only downside is that she's dropped her morning nap at daycare, which means she is exhausted by the time she gets home.  I've been putting her to bed between 6:30 and 7:00pm, which stinks because we would kind of like to hang out with her, and David usually doesn't get home until around 6.  But she's no fun anyway because she's so tired at that point.  I'm hoping that part improves as she gets more and more accustomed to the new set-up and sleeps longer in the afternoon.

I'm thinking about white-washing the paneling in our basement instead of painting over it.  Which reminds me that I never finished my house tour with the guest room upstairs or the basement.  I'll try to get on that.  After I dig myself out from the pile of paperwork, unfinished syllabi, urgent e-mails, and other back-to-school duties.

So...  look for that in October.