Today, however, is the first faculty-staff meeting of the academic year at Guilford and it is MUCH TOO EARLY FOR THIS!
Whatever happened to starting school after Labor Day?Oh and P.S. we don't have Labor Day off. (First college I ever heard of in the U.S. where we don't have most Monday holidays off - only Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.) And classes start next Monday, August 20.
Do I sound cranky?
Nowhere near cranky enough; go ahead, you may tell us how you really feel.
ReplyDeleteSchools in the South seem to end earlier in the Spring, which made sense, given the heat, but also start earlier in the Fall, which makes no sense whatsoever on that basis.
Sounds like a classic "Speed-up" from the bosses to me; teachers and students of all nations, unite!
Now, Jane, I'm not messing with you. Don't take it that way.
ReplyDeleteMay God give you a better rest of the day.
Wow -- what a sudden, swooshing end to summer! Rant away.
ReplyDelete[Here's mine: It's just too bad that my teenagers are not off at school yet. Try writing on deadline when they "must" discuss important matters like their fall wardrobes "right now" even though experience tells them that my response will be short, unpleasant, and not the least bit helpful. And I thought I only needed patience during the toddler years. *Sigh*]
So very sorry about all your meetings -- the worst way to begin, are they not? I remember a university professor in a former parish who said she'd get through departmental meetings by imaging the face of each individual as being illuminated and lifted up to God -- or at least she did this during contentious ones and claimed that at times it helped the meetings, not just her.
Thanks, friends. :-)
ReplyDeleteklady, that is a lovely spiritual exercise. Unfortunately I have a Bad Attitude today (though I did start the day with Morning Prayer, which helped a bit) so I took notes at the meeting, worked on my schedule, and fixed my calendar/planner while listening. It was nice to see colleagues again. There is some tension left over among us from a very difficult year we had last year, and we did have small groups to address that, and an excellent lunch. Still, I'm not done with the bad mood. I now have to do some church work because in a spectacular case of bad timing (partly my fault) our diocesan Anti-Racism Committee, which I chair, has an all-day retreat on Saturday. The good news is that I decreed we would spend part of it in prayer and that the staff person and I scheduled it at a nice, quiet, beautiful retreat center nearby, and for the same price we can come a little early and stay a little late. But I'm sitting here contemplating agenda items and meeting structures. At least it's church/justice work, for which I have more tolerance than academic committees. But don't get me wrong, I love my students and do enjoy teaching, and was very glad to see some of my colleagues this a.m. I'm just not ready. Neither, apparently, were they, so I'm not the only one. Over and out. I have to go make an agenda.
Can't possibly blame you for being cranky! Awful schedule.
ReplyDeleteGrump, grump. Grandmère Mimi's prayers did reach my soul; salvation in the moment came in the form of my new part-time colleague's 8-month old baby, of whom I am very fond, and who made an appearance at the faculty-staff picnic at the end of the day and cuddled cheerfully in my arms (after pulling off my glasses and my earrings and trying unsuccessfully to pull off my nose) for about an hour. You can't stay grumpy with a curly-haired chubby-cheeked dark-eyed tawny-skinned cherub in your arms. Especially if his name is Elijah.
ReplyDeleteI am not entirely de-grumped, but after school things were over at 8 p.m. I went to the gym and read a nice nerdy theological feminist hermeneutical essay on the treadmill (how sick is that?) which was not for a class but for my own theological edification and my writing (which nevertheless means some of it will show up in my teaching somehow, everything cross-fertilizes, but it's not something I'm using as either a course assignment or a help in lecture prep). Blow off steam, burn calories, feed the brain.
I'm going to deal with the backlog of school e-mail tomorrow. Enough is enough. Thanks again for the sympathy, all y'all.
Also, we had good weather today: no mugginess. Praise the Lord.