"If I only had a brain..."

I'm not sure I'd be as smart as the Scarecrow, but it sure would be nice to know what happened to the brain I used to have. It has been AWOL for weeks now. If I didn't know something about what kind of memory lapses are routine and what kind cause for alarm, I'd be in a panic right now--but even as it is, there have been a couple of moments that have sorta worried me.

But I am still sharp enough that I picked up on some errors in the one promotion folder I'm mentoring, and remembered to do a few little stinky tasks (four assessment reports, for instance) that could easily have disappeared through the floorboards. I am still drowning in stuff to do--and more than a little freaked out about the grading I'm facing this weekend--so pearls may still roll behind the furniture, but it does feel good to have some of the underbrush cleared away.

My usual Wednesday evening appointment was canceled today, too, which bought me a little bit of time. I'd love to burn through a little more, but ... the wall has been hit.

It occurs to me: maybe what happened is, one of the times I hit the wall, my brain was knocked out of my head and acted like one of those pearls. Maybe it's behind a bookcase somewhere...?

Oh, yes: I am tired. When my sense of humor goes daffy, I know I'm running on fumes.

Class today was easy, as they were doing peer review. It was annoying that so many of them were late (or simply didn't show up at all: hope hope, maybe those students won't submit essays??), but eventually they were working in pairs and being at least marginally productive. And I turned them loose as soon as they decided they had done all they could do. I'm not going to try to get them to think more deeply at this juncture. I'll just roll along and let the consequences occur as if I had nothing to do with them.

I do anticipate that tomorrow's 101 will be at least somewhat different. Certainly they were, once again, much more diligent and animated even about the lesson on APA style (which is, I confess, pretty much a snore), so I assume whoever shows up will be more likely to work with some diligence on the peer review process.

The 102, however: well, I do hope it flies. I hope the novel flies. The Enthusiastic Adult (or whatever I decided to call her) sent an email today asking for help so she wouldn't get completely overwhelmed with wanting to take notes about everything. As she noted, "the language is amazing and packed." Indeed yes. I don't know if the other students will respond as well--or see as much--but I can only hope.

As for today, I'm going to tie a ribbon around it: finis. And tomorrow, etc....