surfacing

The pre-semester panic has officially set in, with a vengeance. Even if I didn't sleep or see my family for the next ten days we would not be ready for classes to start. We'll function, but not at full strength. There will be things not done, equipment that hasn't arrived, students not hired. Not exactly the first impression I hoped to make, but the summer is barely long enough when you can hit the ground running after graduation. This year we started six weeks late, with me coming on board in late June and a new department head starting July 1. It's a little like trying to get it all done with one arm tied behind your back.

To top things off, Eleanor starts going to daycare Monday and we have to do "the welcoming process." I have blogged about this before, even referring to it as daycare for people who don't need daycare. In a nutshell, she can only be there part of the day for the first week, and one parent must be with her the whole time. Hello? It's the week before classes start! This is university daycare! Do they not look at the academic calendar? I know they do, and I know there are good reasons for the schedule and the process, but I don't have to like it. The next two weeks were going to suck, even without this added complication.

What I am dreading most of all is the end of the nanny. I am going to miss having my errands done, dinner started, laundry folded, and the floor mopped. It's been just like having a wife. Every woman working outside the home should have one.

Enough whining. Time to go to bed so I can function tomorrow.