Revivalizing Envy

Those of you who aren't academics (and who don't have to live with us) may not be aware that this is, hands down, the worst time of the year for those of us who are. The pile of things to grade is far too big, the number of meetings on campus of groups or committees that are just trying to get a little more done before everyone scatters to the wind for the summer is far too long, and the number of cranky students who are suddenly worried about their grade for the first time when there are only a few weeks left in the semester is far too large. And this all comes at a time when we are all incredibly burnt out -- especially those of us who tried to cram lots of research into ChristmasWinter Vacation and Spring Break because we don't get nearly as much as we would like to get done during the semester.

And that gorgeous weather outside marking the beginning of spring? That only makes things worse, as I tend to be stuck in my office grading papers and writing exams and meeting with meetings when I would rather be outside drinking margaritas and relaxing -- or at least outside grading papers, which can happen on occassion but not as often as this teacher would like.

And things are made even worse by the fact that K. has been working so dilligently in the garden. There are so many amazing changes that I will let her post about at some point (not the least of which is that some new sprouts poked out of the dirt today) and she has been doing lots of good things¹, but it just makes me wish I could be outside helping her instead of inside on the couch fiddling with Excel spreadsheets fulled with exam grades. Sure, K. has been very gracious in saying that she doesn't mind doing all the work outside (she is unemployed, after all) and she's being a very good housewife. But it's not as much guilt driving me to want to help as it is a desire to be doing projects and really doing anything other than grading yet another problem about the ratio test.

But in a mere three weeks things will be different, and it is this time of year that a young professor's thoughts turn to house projects (because you need something to distract you from the research you should be doing). First on deck is finally finishing painting the foyer, a project that has somehow fallen off the radar for only....oh, nine months or so.

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¹ - Although full disclosure forces me to report that K. did remove the eagle adorning our carport. You know why? Because she hates America.