I get home on the 26th, and I'm hoping there are still tickets left for either the 27th or the 28th!!! This woman is absolutely brilliant!!

transition again

No, I'm not really going anywhere. I'm just marking the point when I began to think seriously about having to step up to the plate and take care of people whom I usually think of my caretakers in general. No, this is not really about my parents but it will be in the future. I'm not exactly responsible for taking care of another adult at this point but I had to think about it in the past few days and it was terrifying.

The thought provoked emotional distress for reasons that cannot be named in public but since I don't have to assume too much responsibility for my parents--which will be emotionally difficult--immediately, I have time to prepare myself for the eventual day.

What started me on all this? Something very small happened and I'm glad it did because my emotional reaction was overblown and consequently, I was forced to stop and think about it. I'm glad I'm thinking about this now because if something unexpected like a sudden illness had happened, I would have been completely unprepared to become the adult I will eventually have to become.

almost there

TWO MORE WEEKS OF TEACHING and then I leave for a 3-week research trip in M'sia!! (My brother will be staying in my apt, so if there are any would-be burglars out there reading this post, please don't even try.) I know I shouldn't post about trips before I take them but I can't help it!!! I cannot wait for the semester to end!

Both my classes went very well this week but I'm tired of writing lectures, giving them, and of grading. I need a break! When I started the semester, I was writing 9-page single-spaced lecture notes. This week, I realized that I can actually get by on 4 pages. I guess I'm learning how to think and talk on my feet! At points, I realized that I didn't truly understand parts of the text myself until I had to figure out different ways to explain difficult concepts to the students.

I'm learning a lot from my time here but I'm tired and I still have two deadlines that I have to meet this week and I can't just waste time surfing the net today!!!! Please, God, let me be productive! All day meetings with MA students tomorrow (Saturday), so it looks like I'm still going to be pretty tired when Monday comes around. Sigh.

cooler weather

Been busy with family visiting. Then an academic friend from outside HK arrived in town for a short research trip and had to bunk with me for a night after she started getting bug bites at her cheap hotel. (She has since moved to a nicer, cleaner hotel.) Another good friend will be flying in tomorrow with her two kids and helper, and all of them will be staying with me until Sunday.

I've also been busy with writing a research grant proposal that will be very important for my position here in the university and it's been rough but I just need to make one or two more tweaks and it will be off my hands for good. I do need to finish an essay this weekend and it is only about a quarter written at most so that is very stressful. Add all that onto my normal teaching/grading load and I've just about had it with this semester. Cannot wait for it all to end but I know that once the semester ends, I'll have to grade exams and papers!!!!

My shoulder has improved a lot but the doc said that I still need to be careful when I exercise because I'm still at the stage when I can easily re-injure the shoulder. So I still haven't been able to play badminton and that makes about a month now. And I think I'm coming down with that cold that has been spreading like wildfire on campus, so no exercise until I feel better. To say that I'm feeling grumpy is to put it mildly but ..... I suppose I can be thankful for family and friends. And that even though the weather is cooler now, it's really not all that cold. (But yes, I do feel cold!!)