Isla verde

After returning from California very late on Monday, March 8, we had two days at home before we took off again, this time to Puerto Rico to visit with my parents. We've been here since Thursday, March 11 and return home this coming Thursday.

We've had wonderful weather and after staying for a few days at my titi Eileen's small apartment in Panorama, where we've stayed before, we are now at the Verdanza, which used to be the Holiday Inn, but has been recently refurbished under local management. This is the view from our window on the sixth floor and the sun streaming through our windows, and its warmth, is simply delicious. My very generous mami is treating us to two nights at the hotel for which we are very thankful.

A few minutes ago, my husband went off for a run on the beach and I'm going to leave shortly for the fitness room to work out at the treadmill. I'm going to try to be more consistent with my visits to the gym for what remains of this semester since I'm a much happier person when I exercise regularly rather than allow my busy life to interfere with my commitment to taking care of myself, first and foremost.

In the meantime, I have finally whittled down the 171 papers I have to grade over break to 144, and hope to reduce that staggering number some more in the days to come, especially on Thursday when I'll have a three-hour layover at the Detroit Airport on my way home. The flight to Detroit also is longer than the one to Atlanta (where I will never stop again after Thursday's 11-hour ordeal) so, thanks to my beloved mini Acer, I hope to get a lot of work done then, too.

Every year I pledge that I will assign less writing to my students, but every year my students comment in their evaluations that they find my classes challenging and that they become better writers thanks to all the writing I assign, so I have, once more, erred in their favor rather than in mine. However, this can't be the case next semester, when I'll also be teaching three classes but will undergo my pre-tenure review. That's no time to be overwhelmed with grading so I'll have to re-think, once more, my assignment load although I'm afraid that I just don't see how to reduce it without compromising my pedagogical goals. Oh, well. I'll just have some thinking to do over the summer.

The fact is that it's no fun having so much pending work during what is supposed to be break, but I guess that is part and parcel of working at an institution such as mine, a job for which I am very grateful. Still, I've also been able to do some reading (albeit class related) so I hope to start the last six weeks of the semester somewhat caught up.

In the meantime, I will enjoy what remains of our time in Puerto Rico by making the most of these gloriously warm and sunny days. I'm eager to be back home with Lizzy and the kitties but I wish I could take the weather, and the calorcito de mi gente, with me.