Things that make you go, "@#$^%&!!"

Last night I went to see Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D--good times. Though I can agree with a friend of mine that they are not my favorite of the Pixar crew (pretty sure Up will go uncontested for quite a while), but these two flicks are still pretty sweet. First of all, I haven't watched either in years, so to revisit them in a theater with the bonus of 3D was a great little outing. The downside to the evening is that it led for a later night than usual, and with that, my day has decided to seize me.

I woke up late. I was expecting that. I rushed to get ready and was about to get out the door when I noticed a funk steaming from my take-home-stuff-from-work bag. I think I had noticed it the night before when I went to the basement to feed the cats, but I couldn't identify a source, so I thought nothing of it. Now, with me fighting to get out the door, the smell was unmistakably familiar--urine.

"You've got to be kidding me."

In my bag, a folder full of graded papers and my school laptop marinated in a puddle of piss. It was a moment when I couldn't even think of a swear to fit my irritation. My wife felt horrible for me, but obviously her sympathy was all she could offer. I wipe the machine free of most of its foul feline coating and popped the battery out figuring that it could be anywhere among the cracks. Eventually I wrapped it in a grocery bag and headed for work.

Couple of hours later, and nothing has improved much. People have asked me if it still works. "I don't know," I tell them. "I'm afraid to check." Eventually, I did. I clicked the battery back in, plugged it into a wall, and it squealed at me. The sound was like a whale song, but higher pitched and furious. I picture a guy listening to the sounds in a room and interpreting. "Mmm...she's angry."

I'm angry.

Parent teacher conferences are tonight and that machine has my student records on it. Luckily, I know my students fairly well by now and we can talk about character and work ethic more than assignments.

The only other joy of today is that the computer guy at school was very cool about the who thing. I'm on a list to get a new computer by the end of the month anyhow, so my old one was going to be gotten rid of anyway. I'll be without a laptop now for a couple of weeks, he says, but after that, I'll have a better machine.

Nine and half hours to go before I head home...

I'm glad it's Monday...Weird.

I generally take side with the "I hate Mondays" crowd. But for some reason, I'm really happy to be at work. There seems to be just enough going on at home or in my personal life that has kept me either on-edge, worried about something, or just stupidly busy. I haven't been able to get the grading done that I need, I've had a lot on my mind about tenure, and I've finally started thinking seriously about looking into Master's work. The frantic busy times of my Sundays have made it very difficult to put energy into any of it.


At work, I'm diagramming sentences (something I've always been nerdy about) and I'm getting more time to relax. I've been able to put myself at ease more thoroughly than I have been able to do this weekend.

Also, I had time to read a good chunk of scripture. Hebrews 12 is just plain groovy, and got me highlighting all sorts of juicy spiritual tidbits.

Not so Much of a Break

So after a movie-fest this last weekend, I took Monday off to recover. I was starting to see things Sunday evening decided I wouldn't be much good at work anyhow. I had some of the strangest dreams of my life, then. More hallucinations and the like. I had multiple wives, but they were all Amy...very bizarre. There was something about snow and mountains in there, too.

So yesterday brought me back to school in a pretty good and energized mood, but it didn't last. I'm not sure why, but I feel that I wasn't planned at all for anything. I think the rest of the week will be better, but it's put me in a bit of a funk for now. Mostly, it's noticing what day it is and knowing what you still have to do before the end of the week. My sermon is my main concern now. I think I'm going to speak on one thing, but I don't know how that will go, or how I want to put it together. Alas.

Tis unfortunate when I realized that under certain stressful times, I tend to shut down completely instead of rise above it. That's the funk talking.