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| Erica, Ryan and Me on Saturday - Evelyn joined us on Sunday |
It's a ritual now...the weekend before the dossier is due to our colleagues for the Annual Review. I know this is the way it is everywhere, but it still doesn't make the process enjoyable at all. I suppose it is a necessary evil (and at one point yesterday I even said I was thankful we had to do this every 365 days so when we go before rank and tenure, we're that much more prepared).
Ah, but the trees we kill from printing. The divisions we create at home with friends and family who wonder why we're miserable. The neglect our poor animals feel and don't say anything about housekeeping. What is saddest, though, is that for 48 hours we are distracted from doing the work needed for our classes that exist in the week ahead: grading, planning, organizing, and thinking.
And breathe. That's what the tenured folks tell us. And breathe.
I wonder if there is any other profession that needs to collect one's achievements in a given year like that expected in higher education. Fascinating to fit every molecule of your existence into spread sheets, binders and page sleeves. Yet, this is what we do (and for me, the real thing is getting really close - I need to find out if I have to go through this again next year at this time, or if I'm allowed to delay it for the summer. I have to check into that).
At one point, Evelyn played Michael Jackson and we all danced in the hallway to destress. That may have been the highlight of Sunday (because it wasn't the fact that I spent from sunrise to sunset - and beyond - working on this puppy).
I'm breathing. I promise I am.
Oh, snap! It's February already?
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