376: blizzard one

The Huberts, my friends, are winning the war. I caught one not many evenings ago, and it spent the night in an old twenty-gallon aquarium, and when I woke, it was gone. Ryan left some crumpled paper in there (he apparently felt badly that the cats had greedy wet noses pressed against the glass) but when I woke, no mouse. And since then, I have been peanut-butter-filling and getting-foiled on a regular basis. There are sweet little claw marks in the peanut butter and clear gnawings at the ridiculous plastic trap I've set. I told Ryan that I couldn't let them go in the snow now; it's too cold. He said I couldn't keep them in that glass cage, which makes sense too, so I suppose I ought not to get a new trap. Of course, checking beneath the sink has become a habit, a kind of gambling I've lost more often than anything else, which I don't mind. I have a secret grin reserved for the Huberts when they win.



We had a blizzard here in the Midwest, a storm which technically brought seven inches onto our town, but Ryan and I suspect that number is a wee bit inaccurate, and we are guessing something more like ten inches onto our own shovel-able land. All I know is that it was one of those rare days in winter, the ones where we take turns with shovel versus plow, and my back hates me more than usual. The worst, though, was the driving, which was a tad precarious after thesis, but I made it, proving, once again, my prowess as a winter driver.

This week, was a big one for me, for my students: it was our last day of classes. And I've taught for five or so years now, and I've had many, many individual students I've been very fond of, but this is the first year I've been fond of an entire class. I do feel sad I won't see them as a group again, but it was a good semester, felt moderately complete, felt ready to nudge them on and into new experiences at the university. I hope next semester's crew is just as pleasant to be around; they may convince me that teaching freshmen comp. is my calling, which is something I've begun to suspect. How incredibly unexpected.

PS: I'm bashful to admit how much I've enjoyed our new cable-acquisition. My favorite is Ace of Cakes, which I chided Ryan about until I actually sat down to watch an episode and decided I could only dream of being in such a magical workplace. Also: most anticipated judges for Iron Chef America? Tiny Fey on the Paula Dean episode and Michelle Obama in early January.