Mental Break ( + Book)

I've been stomping around the house this morning, griping at G and Lucyfer about having to jump back into the fray today. I really needed Spring Break to be more of a "break" than it was. A lot of work came in for the side job, which ended up taking about 2 whole days. I managed to grade projects for one of my classes (2 more days) but not the other, so now despite all my hard work, I still feel under-prepared for the week.

I hate being Type A.

The good news is that I have a draft of the Virginia Woolf syllabus for my independent study in the fall and I meet with the prof about it this afternoon!

The good news is that Lucyfer is 100% back to normal. No more tum tum issues!

The good news is that although I'm in over my head this semester, I only have to cling to the flotation device for 5 more weeks.

How was Easter? When we lived in VA, we would visit an extended branch of the family and spend the day together. G's parents still go, and I miss it a lot. This part of the fam is eccentric and fabulous. My favorite part of the Easter festivities was the lamb cake. My MIL made sure to send me a full account yesterday:

Step One: The Wet Dog Look

Step Two: Determine that the dog is a Chihuahua. Add Snickers eggs.

Step Three: Voila! I have no idea what this cake has to do with the resurrection or anything but it's the best.

I did manage to read for fun, though. Priorities. This latest book was a treat to read. I highly recommend it and also recommend that you watch the movie, "Julie and Julia."

My Life in France by Julia Child

With the help of her nephew, Julia recounts the years that she and her husband lived in France (and also other parts of Europe) while he worked for the government. She paints such a beautiful picture of the culture and the food and their daily lives, and what she calls "the generous pace of life" in France. It's enough to make you want to move there immediately. Or at least open a bottle of wine and dig into a rotisserie chicken or something.

Julia's zest for life and passionate enthusiasm for food, travel, and adventure are precious and contagious. I appreciate her tenacity. I appreciate that she found her life's passion relatively "late" - in her thirties. I appreciate that she didn't let difficulties affect her humor; she was able to take them in stride and still be her authentic self. She valued learning and never accepted that to be an expert meant there was nothing left to discover. She appreciated the differences in people (and in cultures). And man did she love food. I think I gained ten pounds just reading about it.

And with that, I must feed Loo Loo Bell and make myself put down the coffee and get ready for the day. <colossal sigh>