No rest for the weary, or how did it go...

                        {my apologies for the boring "update" post}
... I'm exaggerating, of course, but I haven't been able to rest after yesterday's cooking marathon and I won't any time soon because of the worries about the grading (I know! only 9 papers!).

The worst part is that I didn't actually do any grading today -- I had/have a good excuse (I have misplaced the rubric and I haven't been given an electronic copy by my colleague/boss), but still...

The dinner was a resounding success. There were plenty of leftovers, but I had bought 15 disposable containers and the students took lots of food home with them! So I had only a little bit of food to take back. Several students also came early and helped me cook, so they started eating at 5:30! And by 7:30 several students had helped me clean as well.

Colleague acted as a "host" and talked to the students after they arrived and were waiting for the food & I was thankful for that. I didn't count, but I think we had almost 50 people, including a party-crasher from Cameroon whom "the kids" liked and who ate a lot, after spilling a lot of pineapple-mint juice (and I had to go finish cleaning).* I couldn't eat a bite because of the stress of it all, but I did drink.

They all loved the food (colleague too**) and all students were thanking me profusely for cooking all that "amazing food" (their words, not mine). And I was super thankful for all their help.

After it was over (the students loaded my car for me!!) I called my family & then headed to a nearby Indian restaurant where my hosts and some other friends, colleagues and two Mexican academics who were visiting were having a meal. I had a mango lassi and enjoyed their fun company. We headed home and I put everything in the fridge/freezer and talked to my friend while she graded.

I had a good night of sleep, just had some really weird dreams... And this morning it was raining crazily and I felt super tired and like I just wanted to stay in bed. But I had to drive to the university, teach my two classes, print out a test and materials for Wednesday's class, then drive straight to my sons' school where I had a 1h "parent advisory committee" meeting...

And at home I did have some down time online & with my sons, but I needed to prepare two syllabi that my dept. chair at U#1 needs to change to U#3 (the "teleteaching" recipient).

Meanwhile, K spent the day away in the D.C. area and he's not home yet, but I'm heading for bed. I will try to hit the farmer's market tomorrow before heading to U#2. I don't know if I'll have the energy to wake up early for that. I'm still exhausted.

* Cameroonian guy asked me whether I was an "average" cook for a Brazilian woman or way above average because he'd like to keep that in mind for future reference. I tried to answer & couldn't help but laugh one of those loud "forced" laughs that try to diffuse the awkwardness of the situation.

** so maybe I have a better chance to be a "keeper" in the dept. since part of my future depends on "hir" good-will (in spite of the fact that s/he mostly doesn't know what s/he's doing, more on that on another time).