Still up to my ears in essays I need to grade, but managed to sneak some fun into this weekend anyway (in between worrying about finances and spending time on the phone with our families in Cincinnati and Knoxville.) Yesterday we went driving down the 101 looking at the coastlines of neighborhoods – Del Mar, Solana Beach. We stopped in at a “health food” restaurant and had wonderful mahimahi with avocado, black beans, rice, and handmade corn tortillas. Besides the lack of salt, it was all very tasty. Then we went to a park that overlooked the ocean. While we were strolling around, it was very unnerving to think that it was close to December, but we were outside, there were palm trees, and the blue ocean curling away in the distance. Incongruous with my more familiar Christmas-type landscapes, despite the fact that they were offering horse-drawn carraige rides decked with lights last night around the outdoor mall by my house and lighting a huge Christmas tree up (I assume to encourage holiday-type spending 🙂
In fact I really enjoyed being outside yesterday because it was finally down to around 65 degrees, much more comfortable to me than all those eighty-degree days we’ve been having.
Don’t throw snowballs at me, friends in the rest of the country!

I’m worried that I’ve fallen behind in writing and submitting my own poetry, as well as my book reviewing. I don’t know how people who teach four classes do it! Once I’m done grading, I have two freelance articles to finish and a new class to design!