Snow diving

Lizzy's favorite sport, now that we have 7 or 8 inches of powdery snow on the ground, is to go snow diving. That means that she throws herself into snow drifts, digs herself in face forward almost to her torso, and spends time under the snow sniffing around for God knows what.

Today, she got her first walk in the trails in weeks because the frigid cold just doesn't act as an incentive for either myself or my husband to do our doggy duty and take her out. Instead, we'd rather get Pepper, her beloved dog friend, and bring her here for a play date.

Also this morning, we drove Pepper's owners and their kids to the airport and now my husband went to get Pepper to give the dogs some eagerly anticipated play time now that the day has "warmed up" to all of 21 degrees, with a windchill that makes it feel like 12.

That's much better than tonight, when temperatures in this area should plummet to 6 degrees, according to the weather forecast. January sucks, there's just no two ways about that. In fact, the weatherman was celebrating the fact that, next week, we should get up to 34 degrees. It'll feel positively summery, let me tell you.

While Lizzy and Pepper chase each other in chest-deep snow, I keep myself busy preparing my three classes and have succeeded in scheduling them so that I will teach everything I've already read before spring break and can read any new books during our two-week break. That should prevent me having to be constantly "catching up" at the same time that I'm teaching, which I absolutely hate to do.

My friend IL and I had a debate this morning in my car, as I drove to the airport, while my husband rode behind us in the car driven by her husband. She, a clinical psychologist, claims that making lists and double-checking things feeds anxiety, rather than appeases it because it makes the anxiety -- the need to double- and triple-check things or check them off a list -- the center of one's attention.

I had to totally disagree. I'm an devoted list-maker and feel a lot less stressed when I can scratch off things from my sundry lists, as opposed to forgetting something important because I didn't include it on a list, which is what happens. What I don't write down flutters away from my consciousness and simply doesn't register. Lists make me feel in control, forgetting things makes me feel like a fool. I think the psychological research is definitely wrong on this one. And, even if they're not, I'll keep making lists and double- and triple-checking myself, no matter how OCD that may be.

The good news is that I don't have that much left to do before classes begin in about 9 days, but I also have a few paper proposals to get done by month's end for upcoming conferences, and also have on my To Do list to work on my book proposal after getting good, encouraging feedback on my dissertation at MLA.

All in all, I like keeping myself busy, especially when I can set my own agenda so, like Lizzy and her snow diving, I'm trying to make the most of these wide open days when we're practically snowbound.