“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion....I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward"

This quote brought to you by Kurt Vonnegut, American writer famous for his satire/science fiction combination books, such as Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions. He passed away last year at the age of 84.




Here I sit in Panera Bread, working on staff evaluations.

Ick.

My absence has been because my life has been taken over by preparing to close my building for Thanksgiving (my first ever closing!), working on evaluations (I'm convinced they were created to make my life miserable), and sogging through the random drama in my personal life (boys, boys, boys). I am trying to stay positive and keep my sanity until I make it home for Thanksgiving, but with each day I get more and more excited to pack up and spend a few days with my family - both biological and the one made up of my friends.

[I would like to digress to point out that for whatever reason, children appear to love me. Despite the fact that this place is pretty much empty at the moment, three children come tearing in the door with someone and immediately run over in my direction and sit right by me. Normally I think it's cute, but right now all I crave is solitude and to melt into the chair.]

Anyway, my building has turned into the last place I want to be. I think the pre-Thanksgiving crazies have hit the students, and they're being loud and obnoxious 24/7. Last night I was up until after 4am because people were thundering around the halls and slamming doors. I think some sort of indicator goes off when I open my apartment door and start walking the halls, since my round of the building that I did at 2am was silent except for the various residents in quiet conversations in the hallways. I wasn't back in my place for more than 15 minutes before the noise started all over again and I decided to give up and admit defeat. My energy level is rapidly plummeting and I can't keep up with all these 18 and 19 year old students anymore. I am old, and I need some peace and quiet. It's definitely time to make my way to my hometown and enjoy the quiet, boring place that it is.


Getting out and working on these evaluations was the best thing to do today. I've managed to get through more than half, although I'll need to go back through everything again before it's time to submit them. My motivation is starting to slip away and all the coffee I've consumed has left me jittery and unable to sit still. Getting anything else accomplished today is probably not in the cards, and the lure of the stores around me is proving to be too much to resist. Maybe one day I'll get back my concentration and desire to work.