Out of Focus Saturday

I am feeling a bit out of focus this morning, which means I'm not feeling as run over as I would be if I said I was frazzled, but I'm also not refreshed the way I sometimes am on a Saturday morning.

I've been fighting off a minor cold.  I don't usually get sick twice in one year, but I'm trying not to read too much into this baby cold.  Lots of sinus stuff, which is only slightly unpleasant and controlled by nasal spray.  But then I go to bed and wake up hours later unable to breathe.  Again, easily fixed, but disruptive.

It's better than the cold I had in March, which is the first cold I had which couldn't be controlled with over the counter meds.  But still two colds over the course of several months--it's strange.

I've also been hard at work on an online curriculum project.  It's been interesting, but more work than I anticipated.  I'll get paid, but more than that, should everything fall apart in my current job, I've got something new to add to my CV.

Still, when I look back at my submission notebook, it's clear what projects have been put on the back burner to get this project done.

Since my poems pay in contributor copies and this curriculum project pays in dollars, it's worth it.  But still, I want to write it down, so that I remember in future years when I'm beating myself up for poems which haven't appeared.

As I've created the curriculum, I've become fond of the course.  I'd like to teach it.  It's unclear whether or not I'm qualified, despite creating the curriculum, because it's a Humanities class, and my credentials are all in English.  We'll see.

Again, I'd like to teach it not only because I want to see how the curriculum ends up working, but also because it's an online course, and I've never done it before.

As with much of my professional life, it's unclear to me what I should be doing to prepare myself for future job searches, should they become necessary.  Will anyone care whether or not I've taught online?  Will job search committees be impressed with my paid blogging at Living Lutheran or will they wrinkle their noses?  The few papers I've been presenting at conferences, will they matter?

Or should I be getting a different degree?  Where will we all go, when the higher ed bubble pops?

So far, my professional life has worked out, although I'm sure some of my graduate professors would be shaking their heads over the zig-zaggy ways I've trod.  So I'll carry on, doing projects here and there which interest me, working hard in my primary job, and I'll see how it all turns out.

Today my brother-in-law and his wife arrive.  I've said it before:  I love it when we have houseguests, because we get out there and remember all the reasons that we love living here.  Still, that's another reason for my lack of focus.  I'm wondering if I should have done a bit more housecleaning or shopping.  Are we ready?

If not, we'll go to the grocery store!