Something to blog about

Lest you fear that I have been the victim of some terrible accident, perhaps involving an enraged platypus*, I have taken some time from my “vacation” to post this update.
When last we spoke, I had aged a year overnight. This was, one might argue, because it was my birthday; I prefer to think it was a direct result of overextending myself for the last four or five months. Consider June, for instance: I finished marking all the late submissions from the winter semester and updated my already-submitted marks; I wrote a short commentary for the Philosophy of Education course I took in the winter semester; I wrote a longer paper for the same course; I reflected upon and revamped my personal teaching philosophy, again for the same course; I complete three journals, one academic paper and one term paper, including a new teaching strategy, for the Dynamics & Diversity course (i.e., Sociology of Education); I created a 185-page course text for my new Formula Fiction course so I could bring it in to the bookstore so that it’s ready for the fall semester; I reviewed a 300-page textbook for a publisher; I spent an afternoon with a colleague going over his courses for the fall semester; I moved from one office to another; and I read 150 placement tests for incoming students. There may be other stuff, but for some reason I can’t think of anything else right now.
On the home front, the kids have been off school since last Friday; there have been various end-of-year events and projects to deal with, naturally, but they’re home now, and we’re alternating between ‘I love being home with my boys’ and ‘when are you moving out?’ Over the month, there have been a few birthay parties and at least one wedding on the weekend. We’ve had the front of our house rebuilt (Really. I’m serious); I have done the tiniest bit of gardening, and since the winter semester was a little distracting, we’ve done a very late spring cleaning. The big clean was partly because we’re currently hosting two visiting couples, Mark and Erika visiting from Sweden, and Alison and John, with small Joshua, from Halifax. Since Mark and Alison are both former Montrealers, they have other friends in town, so last night we hosted a gathering of some of these friends. Oh, and on Wednesday – after making a salad for a potluck lunch for fellow M.Ed. students in Point Claire and picking Alison et al up at the airport – we went out en masse to our latest discovery, a teeny tiny Mauritian restaurant that is walking distance from our house, then all hopped on the Metro and went to Laronde for the fireworks.
Tomorrow, Robert has a playdate and we have two birthday parties to attend. Sunday, we’re driving out to the Eastern Townships, for brunch with the Muir-Wylie clan, then supper with my parents, and a Monday-afternoon stopover with a friend who’s visiting from Stateside.
Oh, and did I mention that the boys and I are flying to England on Tuesday?
*I have no idea where that come from, so don’t ask.