RBOC: Grumpy Friday Edition

What is this? Grumpy? On a Friday? With my most excellent schedule? Something must be terribly, terribly wrong.

• I've got two words for you. One is "retreat." The other rhymes with "shmassessment." Three. Hours. Long.
  
• Did I mention they have predicted a hideous wintry mix weather-wise for the exact moment at which I am to drive to campus?
• I'm actually much less grumpy (or, really, why mince words, bitchy) than I was yesterday. I only realized just now as I put on the coffee that the fact that I'd had only one sad cup of campus coffee ("weak" barely describes it) yesterday, which probably meant by the time I was crankily whining to everyone I know in the evening that I was probably jonesing for the caffeine and in some kind of withdrawal. I can tell you that I certainly was pissy, certainly was sleepy, and certainly was quite inconsolable.
  
• Except I was able to be consoled. Thank goodness for PBS. On one station they regaled me with ballroom dancing (not that Dancing with the Stars nonsense, but rather the "real" kind, as I like to think of it) and on the other I watched the last third of the Firth/Ehle Pride and Prejudice, which really made me happy as could be.
  
• I almost considered calling up the Muse to tell him I was feeling better than I had been when he'd talked to me earlier, but then I decided that this would make for an annoying conversation ultimately and so did not. Incidentally, the Muse thought my post yesterday was funny, but he was perplexed that more people didn't comment on it. Clearly my theory about him wanting attention was not too far off the mark :)
• What else? Well, this week was one heck of a busy week, and I'm glad it's (nearly) over. I'm doing WAY too much, but I'm actually feeling really energized about all of the stuff that I'm doing, except for I'm kind of over it by the time I hit Thursday night/Friday most weeks. I think this means that I'm working hard and that hard work requires some rest and rejuvenation :)
• Are you wondering what I'm doing that's so exhausting? 1) developing the curriculum for a program not my own, including pushing some crap through the curricular process, 2) developing an online course, which may end up involving me partnering with a librarian to get actual library instruction for online courses as opposed to lame tutorials, along with many other things that I'd not anticipated when I agreed to do this, 3) teaching my two classes (remember: I've got release time because of the admin stuff I'm doing), 4) kissing up to the people in the dean's office (which isn't really work, but has been a pastime this semeser, 5) advising a student publication, 6) advising actual students, 7) putting shit together for that campuswide award that is going to mean hours of work in order to be considered, 8) working on a journal article, 9) working on a panel with a couple of colleagues whom I don't really know that is going to - if it goes well and is accepted - be very sexy indeed, but this means that I've got to figure out what I'd like to say AND how it fits in with what the others are doing (Luckily I have until mid-April to do this), 10) putting together an application for a course release for the fall, because why not give it a try to get it?, 11) having special moments with a certain VERY sweet Man-Kitty and thinking about getting a Baby-Kitty for him to play with still (though I've been kind of lazy on the logistics of that), 12) advising BES, which now means that I need to reread a novel that I've not read since.... I think my freshmen year of college, 13) and who the heck knows what else. So yes, I'm very, very busy. And I'm actually probably forgetting stuff I'm doing in the list I'm providing. There is also news about BFF that I can't tell, but that is going to change my life in a pretty big way (because, indeed, it's all about me). That said, congratulate BFF for the thing I can't reveal :)
• Did I mention that I'm waiting on just ONE hold-out permission for my book to be published? I would like it very much if you would send permission vibes into the universe for me, for this is causing some low-level stress that never leaves me.
• In more positive news, I'm actually pretty wicked-excited about getting tenure next year (barring any glitches, naturally, superstitiously). And I'm very excited about my 2-year teaching schedule that is like a gift from the gods (at least in theory... we'll see how the whole thing goes).
• And in other positive news, I'm also pretty excited about some developments in my department that I am not at liberty to discuss. Big changes are afoot for next year - changes that I really didn't think would happen before I got tenure given the molasses-like slowness of how things work at institutions.
  

Yes. I do believe that this is all of my things on this Friday. I will be giving an update on the resolutions for the new year this weekend. Some have fallen by the wayside, while others are going like gangbusters. I know that such updates are boring, but it seems that the "falling by the wayside" has a little something to do with not being accountable and with being easily distracted, so I think a blog post about them will help. And finally, wow is my coffee better than the lame-o campus coffee I drank yesterday. Note to self: coffee is crucial to my wellbeing and I should not allow myself to sleep in thinking that campus coffee can do the job.