Working through the Summer - or not

I kind of wish I had gone with teaching two classes this Summer instead of one. In the Winter and Spring Quarters, I taught 2 classes, had anywhere from 60-80 students, and graded quizzes and worksheets everyday (because I gave them everyday). I felt like I never had any time to myself, between grading and answering student emails, I felt like I was a tutorial email service at times.

This Summer I decided to try something different, as a way of giving myself a break; I would teach one class, have no worksheets, and give 7 quizzes over the course of the quarter. This has led to me having a lot of time on my hands. If I don't give a quiz (which will be most days), I don't have much work responsibility after about 1 pm. The thing is, I find that I don't really know what to do with myself for the rest of the day.

I don't really enjoy free time as much as most people do. People have told me to read a good book, or see a movie, but I've never been much of a reader, and don't have the patience to watch movies on a regular basis. I think I just like working, so I do things like clean, cook, and do laundry; all things I really enjoy doing. Maybe I should find part-time janitorial work.

I originally was going to teach 2 classes, but then thought about the last 2 summers and how hectic they were, so I decided to just teach one. The thing I neglected to think about was MBA classes; this is the first summer since 2006 where I am not enrolled in an MBA class while teaching Summer Session, so I have this time to kill.

What am I doing with this time? Stressing out, as much as a person as mellow as I am can. I'm looking into banking solutions for Lauren moving to Oxford in September, looking at housing in Oxford, jobs in Oxford, and trying to figure out what we're going to do with out cat when I leave in January.

I was talking to someone a few weeks ago, saying that I wouldn't know what to do in Oxford. The response I got was "there are lots of museums in the UK". That's not at all what I meant by "what to do"; I was thinking work-wise, not fun.

I almost feel guilty posting this because as I write this Lauren is working harder than she probably ever has, writing up her dissertation. Meanwhile I sit here, writing a blog, watching myself lip sync to Ella Fitzgerald and Eric Clapton on my webcam.

I really should have gone with teaching 2 classes this summer.