At Sixes and Sevens

When two of my projects ended in mid-September, I hoped that it would be at least a couple of weeks before another one presented itself. I needed some respite. And since classes at Simmons-west had just started, I needed some prep time.

Be careful what you wish for. Except for a few days here and there, I haven't worked since.

The good thing is that I've had plenty of time to prepare for the class I'm teaching. It's going well. It's taking me just as long to prep as last semester since I'm reading each chapter with the students and reviewing all of the notes, etc. but being more familiar with the details of the course has made a big difference in my confidence level.

And the students are great. I have a smaller class (17) this semester than last (22) and they're a younger bunch overall. They are so bright and energetic I have great faith that libraries are in good hands.

Otherwise, I'm going through my periodic "What do I want to do with the rest of my life" phase. When I'm not working at least part-time, I'm "at sixes and sevens" - a phrase I've seen in British novels which means discombobulated, disoriented or just plain confused. There are lots of things I could do, but just don't feel all that motivated to do them.

I have lots of external factors on which to blame this feeling. Of course there was the October 29 snowstorm which left us without electricity for 6 days. My house is totally dependant on electricity. I have well water that needs electricity to be pumped into the house and an electric starter on the oil furnace. I do have lots of passive solar heating and a wood stove so we melted snow, cooked as if we were camping and were able to stay reasonably warm. My local public library was up and running after only a couple of days so I was able to charge my cell phone and use their Internet connection to communicate with the rest of the world.

But that was only one week of my life. What about the other 10 or so? I've done lots of reading, cooked some meals and frittered away many hours doing who-knows-what. I've had ample thoughts for posts, but they didn't travel to my fingers.

A few days ago I began to read Eat, Pray, Love. It's wonderful and I'm feeling very inspired. I've actually translated my mental To Do list onto paper and begun following through. One of the items was BLOG.

So let's hope this spurt of energy continues and I can become more productive than I have been the last few months. And maybe some external factors will also guide me along this journey called life.