We get three days off for Mardi Gras. Down in Lafayette, there's a lot of bead-throwing, king-cake-eating, and other celebrating going on, but I'm in Florence, AL until Wednesday. I have a writing project I'm trying to get out the door, so I'm going to put in a lot of time at the public library working and take advantage of the free babysitting from my mom, which is no easy task now that my ten-month-old-day-after-tomorrow baby is constantly on the move:

This is just a post to check the RSS feed of this blog's content into my Facebook profile. But just so there's something of some substance, I'll give you this. At about 9:00 last night, I started to get overwhelmed because of all the work I have to do -- all my active projects, etc. So I cleared out one of my plastic file boxes, got a few hanging folders for it, and taped my business card to it. I'm putting materials for my mid-tenure review, and eventual tenure review, in there. It made me feel better. My mid-tenure review isn't taking place for another year, mind you, but this is an example of what soothes me.

This is that meme that's going around in Facebook.

1. I minored in photography in college. I almost wish I'd double majored in it and English.

2. I used to be a big fan of the show Prison Break, but I lost interest in it.

3. TV shows I watch regularly: Big Love, 24, Battlestar Galactica, Lost.

4. Every night before bed, I watch an episode of Star Trek on DVD from Netflix. I'm now in season one of Deep Space Nine.

5. I haven't worn nail polish on fingernails or toenails in nearly six years.

6. I haven't worn makeup (not regularly, anyway) in nearly ten years.

7. For a while, I was trying to phase out perfume as well, but that's not exactly working. I'm still going to try not to buy as much of that.

8. For a while, I was also trying to phase out buying office supplies, since I get so many of them from textbook publisher reps at work. But then Vera Bradley came out with a line of office supplies.

9. Girly things I have not phased out yet: hair products, jewelry, Vera Bradley purses/accessories, shoes/clothes.

10. I use cloth tote bags at the grocery store instead of paper or plastic.

11. I am not at all into dishes or silverware. I don't care what the pattern looks like or if the pieces match or not.

12. I get jealous sometimes when I read all the conversation across Facebook profiles among women I went to high school with who live in Florence, AL and have kids now. They (you) all seem to have this great, supportive group dynamic going on, and I hate that I can't be a part of it.

13. I had my son via c-section because he was breech, and I haven't had any complications. Some women say that it continues to hurt years later, but I can't even tell I had it done unless I look at the scar.

14. I put cocoa in my coffee instead of sugar so that I can have a mocha every morning.

15. When I go to the gym, the thing I most like to do is a class called pump, which is group weightlifting.

16. I absolutely love cold, COLD weather.

17. I drive a 1998 Honda Civic, red.

18. I haven't been to see a movie in the theater since Sex and the City when it came out. I'm not ever that interested in going to the movies.

19. I have never read a Harry Potter book or a "Stephenie" Meyer book and have no desire to do so.

20. I can't stand to have bottles of shower gel or shampoo in the shower that have just a tiny amount in them. Once they start running really low, I mentally say to those bottles, "your days are numbered," and I use only those (as opposed to rotating) until they're gone.

21. I only own two pairs of jeans, and I'm thinking about donating those to Goodwill.

22. The reason for wanting to donate the jeans is that a couple of years ago or so, I started wanting to have in my closet only professional-looking clothes, and my casual clothes would then consist of button-down shirts and twill trousers.

23. It's always impressive to me how people in the past used to dress up more, even if they were only going to the store.

24. I have a Topsy Tail, and I use it all the time. Anyone remember those? I live in fear that it will break, as it doesn't seem like you can get one now.

25. I use the Cherry Blossom theme in Gmail and the Denimfox theme in Firefox.

I had a wonderful time at Walgreens earlier today. I should preface this by saying that I've been delighted to see and hear Henry do a lot of laughing. He laughs when we tickle him, of course, but he also laughs when I make a funny face at him or when I pretend to look away from him for a minute, then spin around suddenly and look at him. He also laughs when I laugh, even though he usually has no idea what I'm laughing at, which I love.

Tonight in Walgreens, "Do You Love Me" was playing.

I had Henry in a shopping cart. He wasn't too happy to be there, so I started lip-syncing the song, really getting into the performance and mugging. Henry laughed so hard and so loudly that people came from other aisles to see him. Of course by this time I was laughing too from being so embarrassed about my own carrying-on, which was making Henry laugh even harder. Baby laughter! It was pure euphoria.

What do you do when you need pen holders in your office but don't feel like buying any?

Take one old Crystal Light container and one old peanut butter jar, or whatever cylindrical container you have around. Then hot-glue tissue paper from your stash of gift bags/wrap from presents you've received onto the containers (I used three layers). Then take some of those parade beads you saved and swore you'd find something to do with someday and wrap them around the jars. You'll have the following:

• Hey everyone, don't submit anything to CCC for a while.
• I had a dream the other night that Brooke Shields was my cousin. She was very snooty and unpleasant, and she smoked. She also didn't have any children. I woke up puzzled because that's not at all how I imagine Brooke Shields. I read her book, Down Came the Rain, and I like her, based on the book. I imagine she'd be friendly, genuine, and fun.
• I got an email a while back saying that I'd been nominated to submit materials to run for the CCCC Executive Committee and the Nominating Committee. I'm still trying to decide whether or not to do it. I might run for the Nominating Committee. The Executive Committee requires NCTE and CCCC attendance, and I don't want to commit to that. We'll see, though. Whoever nominated me, if you're reading this, thanks for thinking of me.
• I dread going to work tomorrow. I'm so behind on just about everything, gah.
• Okay, Jack Bauer now.

The next couple of weeks may be hectic and stressful due to the beginning of the semester, but there will be some great premieres:

January 11, 12: 24
January 16: Battlestar Galactica
January 18: Big Love
January 21: Lost

I've basically spent this entire winter break visiting family and doing home improvement projects. I wonder if this is how my years are going to go: teaching/administration during the fall, family/home in the winter, teaching/administration in the spring, research/writing in the summer. These are predominant themes, of course; it's not as though I don't do research and family/home year-round.

Ugh, it's been forever since I posted. Not much has been happening to speak of, really -- Henry is growing, of course; he has his two front lower teeth, but those top teeth have been taking their time coming in. He laughs all the time, especially when I laugh at something. I'm watching him gum Cheerios right now. We're finally getting his nursery in shape; I just bought a 4-in-1 crib that converts into a toddler bed, a day bed, and a full-size bed. I also got him some wall-mounted shelves for books and these prints, which I hung up in a windowpane configuration.

I have a ton of research work and teaching prep to do, as one would expect, and not much time for it. However, I am making one much-needed trip to Florence, AL before the semester starts. I leave tomorrow. More soon.

By the way, I am so glad I'm not at MLA.