Conquering Time

I'm racing the clock for many projects, work- and home-related. My classes end next week, with finals the following week, and I have most of my grading finished. Some of the students, as I mentioned previously, are not going to make it. While I prefer that they all succeed, only so much of that is in my hands. Those who won't pass either have missed too much classtime or not turned in work -- or a combination. It isn't a hard class! Anyone who has shown up almost every day and turned in the assignments would say so. Most of those students will pass with high grades although there are a few whose skills aren't great; no matter how much work they (and I) put in, they might need another round. I'm stressing on getting my part done in the time remaining, but mostly I've done a good job of keeping up.

My home-related tasks are certainly taking a back seat to work. The main thing I'm focused on now (other than work) is finishing the Christmas gifts I'm making for family. Neatening up the house has taken the last seat on the bus. My bedroom looks like the women's department at Macy's exploded. I started getting winter clothes out when the weather got chilly (yeah, I needed winter clothes for those two days!) but then it got hot out again so I never finished putting away my summer clother. Then I got slammed with work. Yesterday I pulled out my older granddaughter's cardigan, on which I hadn't made much progress, and started back in. This morning I realized I had gotten off-track and had to pull out six or so rows. I've caught back up to where I was after the big "rip-out" and gone a bit further, but it's slow-going. I finished my middle son's cardigan's back and sides but unfortunately the pattern was awful; I'm going to have to figure out how to extend the top back and shoulders before I do the sleeves. My youngest son's cardigan is confusing and complicated, but I have about half of that one finished. Now that he's here, I'm not working on it as much. Maybe they all know what I'm doing. Until I'm sure, I'm going to do my best to hide each one's piece.

My oldest son is coming down the weekend before Christmas, so we'll be having our gift exchange and dinner that Sunday. I can't wait to see him and my granddaughters again, even at a loss of five days of crochet-time. If necessary, I can give all them small gifts and send their sweaters (or, in the case of my son, comfy pants) after they go back. I can't make more time. When my classes end and I have grades entered, I'll be able to sew and/or crochet all day. At some point in there, I'll also put my clothes away and give the bathtubs a good scrubbing. Or I'll put my son to work on everything house-related (except my bedroom) and take a moment to breathe. That sounds real nice.