Official book club plans for Lent, and navigating the snow into the spring semester...

Good day to you all! I'm working hard to have a better week over here. It's been intense, to be sure. Once again (*long suffering sigh*) we've completely redesigned our course, and thus each week the way that we are presenting the material is totally new to us. As you can imagine, this makes for time consuming preparation, in addition to all of the teaching, grading and email answering that is involved with having 200 students. It's not entirely pleasant, but it's not all that unpleasant either, if that makes sense. I'm getting used to it again, and if you can believe it, the volume is actually *better* than it's been in previous semesters. So I'm trying to look at the positive things, and not complain about the negative things. It can be a challenge, but it's actually going pretty well.

We also continue to get lots of snow and cold temperatures here in Western New York. Not that this is an unexpected thing in the dead of winter, but this has been a much colder winter than usual. It does wear on a person after a time. I've had the winter blues a bit, and actually joined a gym to try and climb my way out of it. In fact, I think we need a whole separate post on that topic, since it is a brand new one to me. Look for that in the next few weeks. ;-)

Lent starts NEXT WEDNESDAY, how did that happen?! I've been busily planning away. I downloaded the Magnificat Lenten Companion, and plan to read that each night with Henry. I also may give up wine. 😨 That might be a little rough when I'm looking to wind down in the evenings after work and the kids go to bed, but I think it would be fruitful. What are your Lenten plans shaping up to bed?

There is also our book club to plan for! You know me, I'm a Kindle reader, so I downloaded the book yesterday:

I know many of you are awaiting your copy from your local library. Here are my thoughts: We'll begin reading as Lent starts, so our first official "meeting" won't be until the week after Ash Wednesday; out timeline will run through Holy Week. We'll have a little book chat weekly, and I'm aiming for posts on Thursdays. I thought Tea Time for the book club worked well for Advent, but this time I want to try written posts again. I rather missed doing them over Advent. And speaking of that issue...

I had a little heart-to-heart with myself, and realized that during Lent, while the semester is very much in full swing, I will not have time to both write a book club post each week *plus* put out a short Tea Time podcast episode. I really wanted Tea Time for the major liturgical seasons, but Lent simply isn't going to work, at least not this year. I still think Summer Ordinary Time is a very viable possibility though, so that is my goal. For now, I'd like to focus on weekly therapeutic posts, along with the book club. These will likely be together in one longer post each week.

And here is how I see the dates/reading assignments broken down:

February 22nd: Chapters 1-6
February 28th: Chapters 7-12
March 8th: Chapters 13-18
March 15th: Chapters 19-24
March 22nd: Chapters 25-30
March 29th (Holy Thursday): Chapters 31-36

How does this sound to everybody? The chapters aren't long (the book is about 340 pages total), so I think it will be manageable. As soon as your copy arrives, you can get to reading, and I think the timing will be good! Thoughts? Who do I have joining me this Lent?! Leave a comment!

"Why can I still not see this stupid portfolio? Was this not tested before they rolled it out?!" - 1st week of class adventures...

*waves weakly*

Hello all, I'm coming to you from a prone position on the ground, but otherwise, I'd say I'm holding up pretty well. :0 It's been an interesting start to my spring semester, but before we go there, we have to cover blog housekeeping, and thus talk about THE LENTEN BOOK CLUB!

Ok, so the tiebreaker poll was a bit of an epic fail. :0 We're all apparently book lovers who simply CANNOT be forced to choose between books because the tiebreaker poll ended in a tie.

😎

I get it, I really do! So here's what I propose that we do: Let's read The Thief for Lent, the theme is just SO perfect, and for the Summer Book Club we will read Kevin Lowry's conversion story, How God Hauled Me Kicking and Screaming into the Catholic Church. We will not have another book poll for a while, because well, we're all polled out. ;-) But we *clearly* all want to read these two books, and so we will read both! Let's work on acquiring The Thief for Lent, and after Easter we'll look at starting a Summer Book Club focused on apologetics in June-ish. Sound like a plan?

*virtual fist bump*

All right, sooooooo, my week. I'm exhausted, so there's that. Emotionally and physically. :0 It's not that it's gone poorly, but just like in every other semester, technical debacles abound the instant the first day of class rolls in. Combine that with multiple classes (I have 8 this semester, and this is the *lowest* number I've had since this enterprise started a year and a half ago), nearly 200 students to manage, and catching some sort of nefarious winter bug, and, you know, it takes a toll. I've been dragging the past few days, although my spirits haven't been down, so that's good.

I arrived on campus Monday morning in my little Honda Fit feeling mighty trepidatious. I know how first days tend to go: I walked up to my office, and soon learned that internet connectivity was spotty across campus due to a server issue of some kind. 🠔 Yeah, pretty much like that. :-\ My office PC was unaffected, but you want to know what was affected all day long? Our classroom's teaching station. And I was up for the 10 am class slot all by my lonesome.

Yyyyyyyaaaaaayyyyyyy 🎉

One of my colleagues finagled an iPad mini with an HDMI cable that was able to connect to the WIFI. So I was ultimately still able to use the teaching station and the projector, albeit a bit more awkwardly. The larger problem wasn't fully solved until Tuesday morning, but all's well that ends well, right?

Well. 😱

Tuesday morning found a new problem.

"Tiffany, are you over there? We have a problem. A BIG PROBLEM."

That's just what you want to hear shouted from your boss's office first thing in the morning, is it not?!

In the first few weeks of our library lab, we guide the students in creating an ePortfolio for their English course; we set them up with step-by-step video instructions on how to do this. Sounds foolproof, yes? It IS, unless a previously undiscovered little glitch occurs in the new ePortfolio software, and students cannot open or edit their portfolios after they've created them. This wouldn't be quite so apocalyptic save for the sheer volume of students that we teach in our lab - and this would be a couple thousand. Whenever we need to apply a fix with so many students affected, things get messy. Some had already created these ill fated ePortfolios, and so now we need to have them create new ones, but do other things to fix the problem and try to banish the old ones. Some had not yet created an ePortfolio, and so now we need them to do yet different things to create a Portfolio. Some will have no idea what is going on (can't really blame them in this instance), some will have 2 ePortfolios and forever be confused by which is which, some will not follow the correct instructions and will produce a malfunctioning ePortfolio, and some will do nothing at all until the end of the semester, when they will inevitably come complain to me about their low grade.

*collapses*

I've decided to deal with all of this...NEXT WEEK. 😳

I'm hanging in there; I mean, what else can we do?

I've also started to get the expected student emails, confused about where to click and look for assignments. No matter how clearly we try and spell things out in the directions, this always happens. I get it, to a certain extent. There's nothing like being addressed in an email as "respected madam," to make a girl feel old, though. :0

All right, that is my week in a nutshell! Over in CatholicLibrarianChildren Land, it is Catholic Schools Week, and my two munchkins have been enjoying all of the special activities and treats. I'm busily planning for Lent, and have I mentioned that despite my 100% failure rate with journaling, I want to try a journal again for Lent? Because THAT'S guaranteed to go well, right? What could go wrong?!

*high five!*

Let's discuss next week! In the meantime, what's up with YOU?! Would you rather our Lenten Book Club be Tea Time podcast discussions or written posts? I'd love to hear from you!

Tea Time #112 - Spiritual journeys amidst the hectic everyday...

It's a cathartic edition this week of:

Today I talk more about my spiritual crisis relating to my job, how I am managing it, and why the podcast may not be weekly anymore. :-\ But hope springs eternal, and I have ideas for other ways we can connect during the week and offer each other prayer support. Join me!





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Feelin' Good" from http://www.purple-planet.com

Items mentioned in this episode:

My heart-to-heart post from earlier this week

On My Bookshelf - Super Girls and Halos: My Companions on the Quest for Truth, Justice and Heroic Virtue, by Maria Johnson


Prayer Corner - The rosary. I am currently obsessed with my St. Teresa of Calcutta rosary. :) Allison's rosary shop, if you'd like to message her to request a custom St. Teresa rosary!

Creative Commons - I finished the Rhinebeck sweater! 

Not the greatest photos, but I'll have Mike get a good one of me wearing it after it's blocked! For the time being, the front:

the back:

 and cable detailing on the back:

OK, let me hear from you! What are your thoughts with dealing with spiritual crises, and not overdoing things? Do you have ideas for an online chat place we can all hang out and ask for prayers?

In which I finally admit to myself that I cannot do everything...

Hello all, and welcome to a brand new week! I wish I could report in for duty that I am having this glorious week in which I feel validated as a teaching librarian, that my job is so rewarding, and that I have been pert and chipper all week long. Well... :0

I'm going to just say it: I had a terrible weekend. Why, you reasonably ask? Because I allowed work to creep into my home life.

I knew that with this being the fall semester, the very first college semester for all of our students, plus the Labor Day holiday in which we wouldn't see some of them for week 2 of our content, this meant that we would receive a lot of emails with questions. I decided to check my email on Saturday afternoon to just clear the recent messages, to save myself some time when we all came back from the long weekend on Tuesday morning.

Dozens. Dozens of emails to field. Also, emails from my boss with instructions on how to fix various unforeseen technical calamities with our course management system. On Labor Day, I spent 2 hours  on my laptop manually changing due dates in assignments for all 11 of my sections, and answering yet more student emails.

It was...discouraging, to say the least. That type of work isn't meaningful in any way, and with the volume of classes and students that we have, the last minute, frantic nature of these types of problems just makes us all feel harried and frustrated.

Yesterday morning, I was downright dreading going into work. I haven't felt that way since last fall (which was an epic nightmare with our course being brand new in a revamped curriculum), and before THAT I hadn't felt that way since I was a practicing attorney writing a brief at the office at 1 am. It's not a good feeling. I'm a LIBRARIAN, my job shouldn't be this stressful. That's why I made the major career change that I did 12ish years ago.

I got in the car Tuesday morning and had a heart-to-heart with myself. Yes, I talk to myself sometimes, I see it as part of my charm. :0 And I realized something very crucial: I'm trying to do too much. I am simply trying to do TOO MUCH. Indeed, I work full time outside of the home. I'm a wife and mother. And I have all sorts of interests and hobbies that I enjoy. Some of those items need attending to on a daily basis, and others do not. I cannot do everything. I simply, for the good of my own health and well-being, need to prioritize better.

Obviously, my family comes first. Yes, I do need to go to my job, and to do my best effort with it. But I do not need to let it take over the rest of my life. If email and course management disasters build up over a weekend, so be it. I can deal with all of them, as expediently as I can, during the week. We are not paid to work on the weekend. So why am I taking on that burden?

I have felt for some time that God has been trying to tell me that I'm trying to do too much. I put pressure on myself to meet these daily expectations that I set for myself, but see the keyword in that sentence? *I* am doing this to myself. Nobody else is. I can feel less harried if only I allow myself to. So I'm going to try.

Before I left the driveway, I set up my phone in its holder and set my Divine Office app to play the audio for Morning Prayer. And do you know what happened? It wouldn't play.

😱

It really seemed to fit the theme of my life at that moment. :0 Because you know what? IT'S OK. I picked up my St. Teresa of Calcutta rosary and prayed that on my way in. And I felt WORLDS better by time I arrived.

There has been more chaos and gnashing of teeth throughout the land here at my university. But it's OK. Classes have been good! I've done well teaching, and I've been patient and charitable with the students. That's all that matters. Sometimes, my volume of email during the day, and my family time in the evenings, may mean that I can't get Tea Time out that week, or that I won't write a post when I usually do. But you and I have known each other long enough now that I have confidence you realize that I am always coming back to you - if a week goes by, send me a Tweet just to check on me. ;-) But I will *always* be back. This is my happy place, and I'm so grateful to share it with all of you.

How do you fare during busy seasons like this? How is your own September prayer challenge going? I would love to hear from you. *heart*

Tea Time with Tiffany #91 - Frantic week, & Holy Week preparation...

It's our vigil of Holy Week edition of:

Today I talk about the crazy week that I have been navigating, teaching drama, SQPN meet-ups, upcoming dance performances, prayer, and my plans for Holy Week!





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Tea Ceremony" from PlayonLoop.com

 Items mentioned in this episode:

• Crazy Tuesday post
• Expression Fiber Arts spring KAL
• Live Today Well, chapter 11 on prayer

How was your week, dear ones? What are you plans for Holy Week? I would love to hear about it in the comments!

"What day is it?!" Adventures in frenzied librarianship...

Wow. Where to start...You'll notice that today is usually Book Club Day. And well...I forgot the book. 😱 When you hear about my past 2 days you'll understand why.

Let's start with Monday. Grab your coffee!

Monday morning heralds a string of text messages from my colleagues. Our students have an automated quiz to complete this week, and there's been a problem with the course management system not granting them partial credit like we had intended. They are receiving either a 100, or a 0, and as you can imagine, this is generating some angst. I start class at 9 am on Mondays, so I rushy rushy at home to get into work and fix this before my first class begins. When I open my email I already have a half dozen questions about this problem, and I'd rather not accumulate more to have to deal with. The issue when we encounter a problem like this is that we're all teaching 10 sections of this same lab. When we have to change something in class #1, we have to change it in all 10. That's a lot of mundane mouse clicking for a Monday morning, but I manage. It makes me run a few minutes late, but I finish, and rush off to class in the other library building.

Immediately upon my arrival, my colleague that I teach with in that time slot informs me of yet another problem: there's a troublesome question in the quiz. She thinks we should remove it. I look at it and agree with her.

*long suffering sighs are heard throughout the land*

We have 3 classes in a row for this Monday stretch. Between each of them, she and I are on laptops, our fingers moving at lightening speed to eliminate that quiz question, and re-set up the partial credit option. For all 10 sections, it takes a LOT longer than we wanted it to.

Class 1 comes and goes with just some questions about about quiz problem #1. While the students are working on something, I send out emails to the other sections, alerting them that the problem has been fixed. Class 2 begins, and I immediately pick up on a vibe: there is tension and dissension amongst a table towards the back of the room.  They had a group project due last week, and there is apparently strife with regards to what was turned in and who did what. As the other students are working on something else, I hear shouting coming from that table. I.KID.YOU.NOT. They were in my colleague's section, and she had to EXTRACT them from the room to deal with the problem out in the hallway. We never signed up to be K-12 teachers, y'all. Good grief!

By Class 3, we were both emotionally drained and just hanging on to make it through the morning. This group was confused when we mentioned that they (assumedly) had to write a paper for their English class, and we were here to help with that. A paper in an English Composition class? This was shocking news, apparently. :0

After that, I headed to my regular fitness class, though every muscle in my body ached to just go back to my office and build a hermitage to live in for the remainder of the week. After that, I stuffed my lunch in my mouth while answering emails and dealing with assorted other work issues. I left at 5 pm totally exhausted.

Yesterday, I had the day off from work, but it was jam packed with social outings. If you've known me for any length of time, you know that I am an introvert, and that socializing, while I very much enjoy it, isn't exactly on my list of activities that induces *relaxation.* 😅 I visited with an out-of-town friend, and we walked to Canada (long story :0). We had lunch and did lots of lovely visiting. After a rushy trip home to shower, clean up the house and tend to the children, I had a date to go out to dinner and to see Swan Lake with my mother-in-law.

*collapses*

Again, lovely, but by the time I dragged myself home at 10 pm, you could have blown me over with a wisp of wind. Today, I'm back to my regular class schedule and feeling like a nap may overtake me at any moment. And of course, I forgot our book club book. :0 And I have to prepare for a dance performance this weekend. And a small gathering we're hosting for some friends to watch the Masters golf tournament. Hermitage, anyone?

Sooooooo, tomorrow we'll have book club! And Friday we'll have Tea Time!

How was the beginning of your week? Was it as frenzied as mine?

Tea Time with Tiffany #90 - Librarian identity crisis...

TGIF everyone! And welcome to a bookish librarian edition of:

Today I am talking about my recent crisis of faith with my treasured identity as official bun-wearing, glasses-bearing reference librarian, and how I have resolved this little midlife crisis of sorts.





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Tea Ceremony" from PlayonLoop.com

No items mentioned in this episode today. Just lots of heart-to-heart!

Have you ever had a crisis of personal identity? How did you resolve it? How is your Lent wrapping up as we approach Holy Week? I'd love to hear from you!

A Monday in the life...

"Hon, have you seen Anne's library book?

One would think that as the offspring of a librarian and a college professor, our children would have it made with regard to their library books. They would be catalogued and organized at home, read lovingly to them every single night, and then popped into their backpacks on the morning of library session so that they could procure a new book to begin the adventure again. One would think.

"I read it to her the other night." *gold star!* "I can't remember which night, though." *so typical* "I do think I brought it to her bedroom when we were done. Isn't it there?"

*why would he be asking if it was there?!* 😂

 "No. I looked in all the usual places."

Naturally, this is all transpiring as:

(a) I'm readying for work,
(b) the kids are readying for school,
(c) Mike is readying for work,
(d) Anne is obsessing about not being able to pick out a new library book, and
(e) we're all about to be late.

"Let me look. I think I put it in her bedside table drawer."

Once again thinking that somehow, someway, a different result would happen despite repeating the exact same motions, I ignore this little factoid as I plow forward and open the drawer. A gigantic messy pile of books awaited me. She really *is* the child of a librarian.

"Hum. It's not in here." Somehow, I am still surprised. "Did you look under the bed?"

"Yep. And under the crap on her dresser." Ugh. Our child is a pack rat.

"MOM! I won't be able to check out another book if I can't find The Little Penguin!" *sobbing*

*long suffering sigh*

We scour more hidey-holes, but no book. Anne is sent dejectedly in without it, as I scramble to finish getting ready. This is NOT the first time this has happened. In fact, it's not even the FIFTH time this has happened. We are failures as library parents.

So then I rush in to work. And rush in to my office. I rushedly check and answer email. I rushedly glance over the lesson plan for the week again. On Mondays, I have 3 classes in a row, and they begin at 9 am, which I think we can all agree *bites*. I rushedly pack my stuff up, since I have to walk over to our classrooms in another building, and right from there I go to the Barre class, so I need my workout clothes. Just as I'm stuffing my water bottle into my bag, my colleague comes to my door so that we can walk over together. We rushedly walk over. And we've barely dumped our ridiculous amount of stuff on the floor up by the teaching podium before students begin entering the room.

*another sigh*

Class #1 we have to really work it to get them to talk. Class #2 wouldn't stop talking. And by Class #3 I can barely keep my eyes open. Not exactly the disposition you're going for to initiate an effective teaching and learning experience for all.

I made it though. And then rushed over to the Barre class, which I was late for despite my best efforts to walk fast. *glares* By the end of the work day, you could stick a fork in me; I was done.

It wasn't a bad day by any stretch. It was just a Monday. :0 Oh, but I *did* get an email in the afternoon from Mike, letting me know that he found Anne's library book. In her clothes hamper.

😒

How was your Monday, dear reader? Book club tomorrow for Chapter 4 of Live Today Well! We'll be talking about setting yourself up each morning to be holy. Yes, I do see the irony of that given what I've just described to you above. :0

WWSFD? What Would St. Francis Do? :)

Found during a tour of the new rectory/community center at our parish yesterday

Soooooo...this St. Francis de Sales theme for 2017 has taken a really interesting turn.:0 Here we have me going through the biggest crisis in my career since I left legal practice 14 years ago, and suddenly St. Francis de Sales is sending me subliminal messages left and right about the simple devout life, and leaving me love notes, apparently. :0 I feel like it's God telling me that I can't always change my circumstances, but I can change the way I see and react to those circumstances. Case in point is the following. Grab your tea or coffee cup!

Friday afternoon, let's just say that I had a WEE bit of a breakdown bad afternoon. I had 2 classes (my 9th and 10th of the same lesson that week), OK no problem, but then was just slammed with other unexpected "Quick, you must do this NOW before you leave!!" mini emergencies that have become so typical in our teaching experience this academic year: immediate fixes that needed to be made to our online Course Management System in all 10 of my sections, tons of grading, and answering/sending emails. Regarding that last item, I needed to send out emails to both the instructors and students (2 different emails) in each of the English sections, but one of our fixes involved sending a different message to people in Monday sections (yet 2 more different emails) as opposed to other sections, and in the frantic confusion, despite my care in distinguishing the Monday emails from the others, I sent the wrong email to the wrong people.

😱

I just...I had a moment. A series of moments, actually. I just felt furious that my happy, peaceful little job has turned into this frantic situation in which we're constantly in full out Panic Mode, and putting out fires. I always feel breathless, like I can't focus on any one thing, because there are 20 other debacles needing my attention, and like I am making so many mistakes due to the omnipresent confusion and developing emergencies. It has been a nagging source of frustration to me since mid-August.

 I took the weekend to settle down and re-evaluate things a bit. My job, despite its current set of challenges, has some really wonderful aspects, and I'm incredibly grateful to have it and contribute to our household in this way.  I also read Chapter 3 of Live Today Well for our book club over the weekend, which focuses on prayer upon rising for the day. It REALLY had an impact on me.

Like St. Francis de Sales teaches, I should focus on the positives, NOT on the negatives. This is Life: it is ALWAYS going to have some negatives. And if we dwell in that negative place, EVERYTHING seems negative, it's like a line of dominoes. However, if we make the choice to be happy, even in amidst a difficult situation, it makes the entire day seem brighter.

I've been doing that this week. And it's WORKING. I feel at peace and happy, and I see lots of student smiles coming my way. And it's not like the circumstances of the week are all that much better. Let's take Monday as Exhibit A. When the last item on your to-do list reads:

"Fix Blackboard/ Group Disaster thing,"

...that gives you an indication of what my day was like yesterday. :0 But you know what? It was *fine*. I was still happy and calm, even during an in-class Crisis Moment that developed into full out Chaos when the group assignments didn't happen in our Course Management System the way that they should have.

So I'm going to try to continue on this path. St. Francis has really come through at the right time. Have you had any St. Francis moments lately? I'd love to hear about them. *heart* And don't forget, Live Today Well book club tomorrow!

AND the frenetic pace begins again...

*long suffering sigh*

Well, I had my first day of teaching for the spring semester yesterday. I think that overall I can sum it up in two words:

It sucked. 😱

I had student emails out the wazoo, excuses for not coming to class and confusion about other things, another Course Management System crisis that consumed my afternoon, and general administrative nightmares. There were English Teaching Assistants including incorrect information in their syllabi that was the cause of half the confusion, and general flurried activity amongst my team that had my anxiety in high gear.

BUT, that being said, there were a lot of positives during the day, and a lot of positives that I'm still looking forward to coming up this week. So let's focus on those. We have:

• Support - I have tons of emotional support from my family and friends. I've been leaning on them a lot lately, and their warmth and words of wisdom have been invaluable.
  
• The students - actually, the students were GREAT. The ones who came to class. ;-) But that was most of them! I had three really good classes yesterday.
  
• Barre class - After my classes, I was able to go to the Barre fitness class here at the athletic center, and it was wonderful. Working out gives me an endorphin high that really gets me through the rest of the work day.
  
• Catholic school - As I drove home yesterday, I passed the kids' school. It's Catholic Schools Week, and they're both all excited about the activities and special lunches that are planned out. I am so grateful that we are able to send them there.
  
• Dinner with Mike and kids - Yesterday evening, we all went out for dinner, and despite some initial Anne surliness due to being overtired, everyone had a great time, and it ended up being incredibly relaxing and comforting.
  
• Feast of St. Blaise is Friday - This, and the accompanying throat blessing, is one of my favorites of the entire year. Our parish is having a special Mass for it Thursday evening, and I'm planning to go. It's gotten me thinking about Lenten preparation, which REALLY brings out the Catholic Nerd in me.
  
• Super Bowl- We're having friends over to watch with us, and the food planning process is providing a delightful distraction right now. 

So, I'm trying, I really am. I've been channeling the wisdom of St. Francis de Sales like there's no tomorrow, and I'm anxious to talk about him again tomorrow. Have you gotten chapter 2 done?! Post will be up tomorrow afternoon sometime. *heart*

A day in the life, 2017 edition...

We have the first installment in our Live Today Well book club tomorrow, so I'm taking a break from intelligent and spiritual discourse to wax on about the Exercise In Patience that was my day yesterday. Because, let's face it, we all need to have this catharsis every once in awhile :0

6:30-8:00 am - Drag self out of bed. Make effort to look alive. Get kids off to school, both fully clothed, and remember to pack lunches and snacks. Victory is mine.

8-8:30 am - Drive in to work while both listening to a podcast AND praying a rosary. Pats self on back for ability to multi-task.

8:30-9:30 am - Frantically try to tick things off my to-do list before the dreaded first meeting of the day.

9:30-11:45 (!!!) am - Aforementioned meeting. So many souls released from purgatory. So many souls.

11:45-11:55 am - Frantically change for lunchtime Zumba class.

11:45 am -12 pm - Walk briskly to aforementioned Zumba class, stomach rumbling for lunch, but no time to eat for the weary.

12-1 pm - Zumba. Managed to stay upright for the entire class.

1-1:30 pm - Get back from Zumba and scarf down food at desk while working.

1:30 - 2 pm - Attend virtual meeting. Because there just aren't enough meetings in my life. 😱

2 - 4 pm - Frantically tick additional items off to-do list before leaving for home. Semester starts in 6 days. 😟

4:30 pm - Arrive home and re-acclimatize. Attire self in soft leggings and loud tunic top because I deserve it.

5 pm - Mike and I pull the leftover options out of the refrigerator for dinner, because God knows nobody feels like cooking.

5:01 pm - Children come into the kitchen, discover the leftovers, and begin to complain.

5:05 - 5:30 pm - Dinner, with 2 long suffering faces for the duration.

5:30-5:45 pm - Kitchen cleanup.

5:45 - 6 pm - Cuddle with Anne while she watches the same episode of Shimmer and Shine that we've all seen what feels like 40 dozen times.

"Two genies in a bottle...up in the starry skkkkkkyyyy!"

6:05 pm - Call Henry down to finish homework, since he proclaimed needing much assistance with Spanish and Religion. I am the official homework helper for both of those subjects, as well as ELA, while Mike tackles Math, Science and Social Studies.

6:06 pm - Henry unhappily appears, and things transpire as follows:

"Here's my Spanish worksheet. I don't understand this verb conjugation stuff."

"Oh I love verb conjugating! Gosh, I miss it... (and indeed anything mentally stimulating of late, but that's a topic for another day :0). Anyway, I'm rusty since I haven't done this since college. Let me see."

*examines sheet*

"All right, these are the basic forms you need to learn. You did some examples in class?"

"Yeah." *unhappy face* "But I can never remember them."

"Well, you'll get them. For all of them, you take off the -ar ending, and then apply the ending for that form. So with yo, you add an -o..."

*long verb explanation follows*

I want to check my memory for some of the forms to assure that I was guiding him correctly, since it's been approximately 20 years since I last conjugated a verb. Thus, I look one of them up while Henry works diligently away. I am distracted, because Henry is asking me questions while I do this, and so when Google asks me a bunch of (what I see as) inane questions, I punch answers in without really examining them. When I turn back to my phone screen, I see that Google Translate has been an eager beaver and translated my Spanish verb page into English. So.Not.Helpful.

While I fight with my phone, which is suddenly moving at the pace of glacial melt, Henry informs me that he also needs to define the verbs.

"Where's your Spanish dictionary?"

"My what?"

"Your dictionary. The Spanish one. So you can look up what these verbs mean."

*long pause*

"oooohhhhhhhhhhh! *That's* what that is for!"

The Tiffany inside of my head heaves a very long suffering sigh.

"Yes. That's why we got you one of those. Where is it?"

"At school."

😣

"Henry. When you have a Spanish assignment, *always* bring the dictionary home, OK?"

"OK."

"For now, you'll have to find an online Spanish dictionary, but I'm far too tired to turn on the computer. You'll have to use my phone."

I remembered what most of them meant, but I was trying to be all parental and make him look them up himself. Several minutes elapse.

"Why is your phone so slow?"

"I don't know, I think it has something to do with Google Translate." *nostrils flare*

15 excruciating minutes later, the Spanish worksheet is complete. Grand.

"Now I have to answer my religion questions. Do you have the story about Joseph in the Old Testament memorized, because that's what I have to write about and I don't remember all of what we read in school."

The Tiffany inside my head is getting exhausted from all of these deep heaving breaths.

"Go get your Bible, Henry. That's what it is for."

7 pm - Get a cranky Anne up to bed and read 3 books to her because I'm too tired to try and talk her out of at least one of them.

7:30 pm - Come downstairs and pour BIG glass of white wine. For rest of evening do nothing but knit, drink and chat with Mike and Henry. Head to bed by 9:30, depleted by the thought of starting all over again in the morning.

3 am - *small hacking sound emanates from Anne's room.*

😷

Sometimes, I tell you, nothing seems to go right. But I'm here, alive, and as of this moment, not sick yet. *cries!*

Have you had similar stretches, dear reader? All commiseration desperately welcomed. *heart*

We're all entitled to one existential crisis every 20 years or so, right?

Even when a gal is doing her utmost to make the best of a difficult situation and to keep her spirits up, sometimes one still can't help but wallow in self-pity. When things are CRAP, that is. :0 It's normal, but it's like you feel like even more of a failure that once again, you managed to fall off of your fledgling pedestal of self-imposed comfort. Not a good feeling, to be sure.

And so on Friday afternoon, I was here in my office questioning my decision to ever get involved in teaching. Why? Let me count the ways...

 It does not come naturally to me. I have had to work for YEARS AND YEARS to become comfortable up in front of a group of people and able to speak. And by years and years, I mean DECADES. Even after all this time, I still get incredibly nervous, such that I am compelled to take specific secretive actions to mask that anxiety for every class that I teach. I am a sensitive person, and very apt to have my feelings hurt via thoughtless words and actions by others, and this is also not a good combination with teaching 18 year olds. I do think that I do a good job making the material understandable and (to the extent it is possible :0) interesting, so there's that. I'm also naturally a kind and empathetic person who can set others at ease. I suppose that is a good quality in a teacher, but it also means that you set yourself up to be taken advantage of.

So...that's where I'm at right now. Meaning:

Current emotional state: Longing To Be Cataloger Who Hides In Basement With Stack Of Books. Toss Cup Of Coffee Down Occasionally To Assure That Aforementioned Cataloger Still Breathes.

Circling back to Friday... I had one outstanding class that afternoon, but my last one of the day tested every iota of strength I had in my body to keep it together. I couldn't help but think:

"Is this really what I should be doing with my life? Would something else be better?"

The grass is always greener on the other side, yes? I know that. But I also know that I'm miserably unhappy at work right now, and that the toll on my emotional and physical health is very real this semester. This isn't good for me. But should I stick it out to see if it gets better? Yes and no.

Yes, in that I made a commitment, and my team needs me for the spring. So, yes, I'll do that. But long term? I'll be honest, I don't know. Maybe something else would be a better fit. I didn't think it would get to this point, but it officially has. I'm keeping my eye out for clues as to what I should do. That's not a quick process, and that's fine. The 54 day rosary novena is going to come at an excellent time for me.

I wish I could be more uplifting this Monday, but I always keep it real here. I did have an outstanding weekend at home, taking the kids to a pumpkin patch and watching my honey in his latest play. You all know how I feel about THAT scintillating part of my husband's creative life. *simpers with happiness* I am tremendously grateful for that part of my life. Tomorrow we can talk about things we are grateful for this fall, how does that sound? It might be an early INSPIRE kind of week. :0

Common conversations currently in my work inbox...

*drum roll*

My emphases in paren.

*clears throat for dramatic effect*

_________________________________________

Dear Professor (bonus points for this. *unladylike snort*)

I am confused about the assignment to pick a topic. (chances that they were in class last week, PLUS paying attention = pretty low).

You mentioned something about not picking something that is too broad? But I'm not sure what that means? Is this topic OK to use:

The Sun

If this topic is not OK to use, could I meet with you so that you could explain things to me again? (I taught the same lesson 15 times already last week, KILL ME).

Thank you very much for your time! (sweet and polite, indeed. Good souls, it's just that pesky listening and following directions thing).

_________________________________________

*collapses*

 It has already been decided that next semester we need short, FAQ videos that we can link students to for these sorts of questions. Because otherwise... we may all lose our minds.

And how are YOU today, dear reader?! Do you have your INSPIRE ready?! That's what's on tap for tomorrow. Already looking forward, and I hope you are too. *heart!*

Tea Time with Tiffany #67 - Sometimes, we all need a sick day...

Today, all technical things are working correctly *streamers!* and it's a cathartic episode of:

This morning I dwell on how we all *need* to take sick and vacation days at times, and why Jessie from Toy Story is an inspiration to me. Please join me!





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Tea Ceremony" from PlayonLoop.com

Items mentioned in this episode:

• Mother Angelica Her Grand Silence
• Fall 2016 Managing Stress series 
• Toy Story of Terror
• St. Therese novena

Are you also reading the Mother Angelica title? Praying the St. Therese novena? Seen Toy Story of Terror? We all find a way. ;-) Write in and let me know how you're doing!

Just a little window into my brain right now ;-)

This is actually going to be a multi-post series about my plans to manage stress this fall, I'm thinking. And can I SAY that I am LOVING blogging like this again? Let me circle back to that. In the meantime, grab your beverage:

But in a nutshell, this is what I have been struggling with lately:

Work.

:0

Work/life balance, to be precise. I don't want to dwell on it (because one of my goals for the week is to keep a more positive frame of mind), but I feel overwhelmed. I've experienced a big change at work, and it looks like this: I'm teaching 15, 1-credit classes, and that translates to 15 hours of teaching each week, with approximately 330 students. So, that's 330 potential emails to answer in a given week, and 330 assignments to grade. I'm not in any way saying that this is more onerous that what you all are dealing with on a daily basis. We all have our crosses to bear, this just happens to be mine right now. And because it is so different from what I used to be doing, I'm having a difficult time managing it.

Teaching is performing in a sense, and for an introvert, it's very exhausting. But I can handle that. For the most part. ;-) I've been really tired, but I'm making it. Here's the thing though: it's *everything else.*

My daily schedule is so frenzied between actively teaching, putting out small fires that come up during class with confused students and technology problems abounding, preparing for the next week's lesson plan, and answering more confused emails, that I feel like I can't catch my breath. And the emails go something like this:

"I'm confused. I know you told us where the outline was with the class schedule. But I've looked EVERYWHERE and I can't find it. Where is it?!"

*long time lapse while Tiffany composes herself*

"It's in the folder [on our course management system] labeled 'START HERE.'"

If only I worked in a Mad Men-esque universe in which I had a cart full of scotch and whiskey tucked into the corner of my office for just such occasions. :0 Being sloshed may improve my disposition in answering these emails.

Peeps. I spent 45 minutes with each group of students last week showing them step-by-step how to set up their ePortfolio for class. There is also a screenshoted handout with step-by-step instructions for how to set up the ePortfolio. And do you want to know what I find (not in all cases, but in enough) when I go in to grade them on whether or not they successfully created the ePortfolio?

"Let's see, John Smith, did he complete the ePortfolio setup? Wait, what?"

John Smith. Title of ePortfolio: Eng 105 INSERT YOUR LAST NAME HERE

I.Am.Not.Joking. I just...

*scream face emoji!*

Yesterday, I had a low moment. I thought to myself:

"Am I doing something wrong? Were the directions I thought were so simple actually INCREDIBLY complicated and I just didn't realize it? I am having a librarian identity crisis!"

The emails. So many emails. But it's not their fault I have so many students. They just want help for themselves, and they're entitled to it, and from a librarian who is kind and patient with them.

Usually that is second nature to me. But lately? Friends, I've been struggling, big time. Everything that I described above: the lack of time to collect myself during in-person teaching weeks, the frenzied weekly pace, the countless frustrating emails... they're all setting off my anxiety triggers. I feel anxious ALL THE TIME right now. I'm doing my best to act like my usual happy, calm self, but inside, I don't even recognize myself anymore. This Current Inside Tiffany is surly and annoyed all the time, and I don't like her very much.

I had a Come to Jesus session over the weekend. I discerned a few things.

First, this blog. Blogging was always fun for me, but lately? Even the lighthearted life-y posts have been difficult for me to write. I felt pressured when I wrote them, because there were so many other things requiring my attention at that same moment. Do I need to discontinue this blog as a result? No, I don't think so. Here is what I DO know:

I need more prayer in my life. I also need more positive thoughts in my work life. I need to be more prayerful and recollected throughout my work day, so that I can bring joy and ease to others, not impatience and irritability. Does blogging fit into this? It very much does. This blog started out as an online, public journal for me. It remains so to this day. It has only become stressful for me to write because I've been putting pressure on myself to write these long posts, and to maintain a very specific schedule. I used to blog more frequently, but my posts were much shorter.

Yesterday was an experiment. I set aside a short amount of time, had something on my heart, and used that window, and that window only, to blog about it. Bam! I finished it and off it went to you all. And I felt GOOD afterward. It was cathartic and joyful to write like that. THAT is how I will approach blogging from now on. You'll actually be seeing MORE posts for me now. They'll be shorter, but they'll be fun and they help keep me sane. Win/win.

I'm also feeling really excited and inspired about some ideas that I discerned on how to use this blog to also aid on the prayer and anxiety-easing front. BUT my writing window for the day is done, so it'll have to wait til tomorrow. ;-) Tomorrow is another day though, another blogging day, my friends! Stay tuned, because I think you'll like it. And you can participate too. ;-) Curious? I'll see you tomorrow!

In the meantime, who else struggles with anxiety? What are some of your coping mechanisms? If you feel comfortable sharing, I'd love to hear from you. *heart*

Tea Time with Tiffany #65: Hope & wellness...

Hi all! I had a TON on my mind this morning, and so this is a super sized edition of:

Today I talk about life. And I had a lot to get off my chest, that's why this ran over 20 minutes this week. :0 But I think you'll all relate. So I would LOVE for you to grab your tea or coffee, and join me.





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Tea Ceremony" from PlayonLoop.com

Items mentioned in this episode:

• Stressy Divine Mercy/teaching episode. :) 
• New Year's fitness resolutions anew.
• I talked about fitness during a few Tea Times over the winter too. Here and here.
• My goal to have fitness improve my cholesterol numbers.

How are you today, dear listener? I would very much love to hear how your September is going! Do you have any harvest-related activities coming up?!

Tea Time with Tiffany #64 - "Wait. Did I already tell you this story?!" Fall semester exhaustion...

Lack of sleep seems to be a theme this week, no? ;-) But alas, I'm always spontaneous with these posts, and that is definitely what is on my heart this week for...

Today I talk about stress. Yes, I know, AGAIN. But such is life right now. ;-) And my new chaotic teaching schedule and how I'm managing it. Which is to say that my students probably think I'm a walking example of someone who is slowly losing her mind. Tune in for the deets!





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Tea Ceremony" from PlayonLoop.com

Items mentioned in this episode:

• Rosaries by Allison pumpkin spice rosary.
• Living with Christ prayer journal available via Amazon Prime this week. 
• I Will Praise Your Name Forever, 2017 prayer journal from Word Among Us.

How are you faring this first day of September, dear listener? Do you have suggestions for dealing with chaotic times of stress? I would love to hear them.

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!!* And so the fall semester begins...

*bleary*

Wow, so...I don't really know where to start. The beginning would be good, but I'm so tired that I can't remember what that was. Let's see...

On Saturday I had a picnic at my friend and colleague Cindy's house. While out in her back garden, I started suffering from seasonal allergies so badly my sneezes were frightening local wildlife. My eyes were watering, my nose was itchy, and my entire face felt miserable. I ended up having to leave early, with a curmudgeonly Anne, who decidedly did NOT want to leave early. I had her walking beside me sullenly out to the car after we said our goodbyes, I toss her in there, and away we went.

Between Cindy's house and mine, which is maybe a 5 minute car ride, I sneezed what felt like 100,000 times. When I got home, I immediately took a shower, and I sneezed in there too. After the shower, I drank tea and laid around taking it easy and knitting in my pajamas, and sneezed some more. I ended up going to bed at 9 pm just to stave off the misery, taking a Zyrtec on my way up.

Sunday dawned with my nose finally feeling non-itchy, but I was decidedly operating at less than 100% capacity. We made it to Mass, we made it out to get the kids school shoes and a few final supplies, and to my in-laws for dinner. After that more knitting in my pajamas ensued.

Right before we settled into bed Sunday night, I nervously showed Mike my new travel alarm clock, that I bought especially because I have two 8 am classes this semester:

"It's supposed to have a 'gentle' alarm sound. I'm nervous about it working right and going off, because I hate being jarred awake by alarm clocks. But I have to make sure that I'll be up by 6."

This one can sit right on my bedside table and lives on my side of the bed for quick turn-off when the "gentle" tone unfolds.

"Why don't you test it out now?"

*pause*

"Oh. That's a really good idea."

D'oh.

I set the alarm for a minute hence, and wait nervously. One minute later:

*gentle beeping noise*

"Oh good, that's not bad at all!"

"No, it really isn't."

I happily set it for 6 am, and read myself to sleep. I turned my bedside lamp off before Mike, closed my eyes, and attempted to fall asleep. Except I was so keyed up about classes starting, and about how nervous I am about all of the teaching I'll be doing this semester, that I couldn't settle my mind down and actually sleep. But I laid with my eyes shut and tried to settle myself.

I did what I could, and soon Mike turned his light off. The instant he did so, a searing blue light permeated my eyeballs.

*eyes fly open*

"What the!"

My new gentle alarm clock has a "soft glow" that lights up the entire face when it senses darkness. I will grant, one DOES want to see what time it is overnight, but this is decidedly Too Much Glow. However, at that moment, I didn't exactly want to turn the lights back on to figure out how to dim it.  I quietly angled the clock to minimize the blue glow on our faces. I could see Mike discreetly turned over on his side so that the light wasn't shining on him. He didn't want to squash my gentle alarm clock dreams.

That all settled, I tucked back in and prayed to fall asleep. I tossed and turned. Tossed and turned. TOSSED AND TURNED. Until I finally drifted off into a fitful slumber. And then...

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

*bolt upright*

Why is it that the gentlest of beeps sounds positively PIERCING in the middle of the night?! And gosh, didn't it seem like I JUST fell asleep?! Wait. I DID.

*looks at glowing clock face*

*clock reads...* Wait for it... MIDNIGHT.

*insert emoji of screaming face here*

I set the alarm for 6 am, but apparently there are multiple alarm settings (why God, why?!) and my 6 am setting got pushed to 2nd. And the first setting defaulted to midnight. Well, I figured this all out the next day, when I was calm and coherent, rather than incredulous and ragey. In the moment, I turned the alarm off, and tossed the entire thing under the bed, relying solely on the other, non-alarm clock, in our room. Thus, I had no guaranteed alarm. Thus, I woke up automatically EVERY 20 MINUTES, my mind needing reassurance that I would not oversleep.

*cries*

It was a LONG night. When 6 am rolled around, it was, needless to say, extremely difficult to get out of bed. And I was DRAGGING for the entire day. I was already downtrodden from the allergies, and the lack of sleep just made everything exponentially worse.

And the students? I had three classes yesterday, two more this morning, with one this afternoon. Very sweet, very respectful. But super quiet, and with a perpetual deer in headlights stare back at me whenever I pointed the Beatific Beam of a smile out at them:

"And if you ever need help with anything, that is what I am here for! I have tea waiting for you in my office."

*beam*

In response, I get:

*blink blink*

I did get some smiles, I will grant, as I wove my always anecdote-heavy way through the first day of material. And nobody fell asleep, even in the 8 am section.

#winning

So I'm getting there, but let me tell you, I feel overwhelmed. And tired. So, so tired. Today it was a little better because I didn't have class until 9:20, but tomorrow it's back to 8 am. Offering it up for all of you. :0

What is going on with YOU, dear reader? I would love to hear all about it. :)

Tea Time with Tiffany #63 - Divine Mercy in time of stress...

Good morning to you all! This week's edition definitely falls into the "stressed out" category, but the tea always helps, right?

Today I talk about STRESS, managing stress, and praying to manage stress. ;-) I also talk about my upcoming teaching load, and my schedule plans for the blog this summer. Join me!





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Tea Ceremony" from PlayonLoop.com

Items mentioned in this episode:

• This week's stressy post ;-)
• Divine Mercy Chaplet
• Living with Christ 2017 Prayer Journal
• Sacred Reading 2017

How do you manage stress? Are you changing up your prayer routine this fall? What's coming up on your schedule this fall? Do write in!

Real jeans, anxiety flareups, and surprise! It's a baby jacket...

 This is very unusual, but I'm writing this blog post in the evening. Anne is upstairs asleep, after being comforted for an hour by yours truly following a sobbing spell (Anne's, not mine, though based upon how my day went, it could have easily have been me :0), Mike is at rehearsal, and Henry is at an audition for a kids part in the December play. I am drinking wine. A BIG GLASS of wine, and it's not working fast enough. This was one of the most difficult days I've ever had as a librarian, and I'm thinking that it's going to take some time for me to normalize afterward. Let's circle round, though, shall we?

Over the weekend, I experienced more This Back To School Thing Is Really Happening sentiment. I took Anne shopping for school clothes, just her and I:

"I like girl time, Mommy. I do NOT like *boy* time."

Something tells me that will change, but for the time being, there you have it. We arrive at JC Penney, and Anne makes a beeline into the girls section. She comes out carrying a jean jacket. And jeans. REAL jeans, with sparkly pockets.

"Mommy. I love these. Can I get them?"

When, oh when, did my little baby get so big?!

Now I may cry again. This was not a good idea. :0

We also procured many tops, both long-sleeved and short, some comfortable cotton pants, a back pack, lunchbox and new matching water bottle. And declared her ready for Kindergarten.

She went to Pre-K last year, so its not like this is her first time going to school. But this year she'll be going a full day. And she'll be at the same school as Henry. It just feels very official.

A new chapter of my life has begun. And now I really am crying.

It's the Anne/baby thing. But it's also work. I had an incredibly long day today, so I'm feeling a wee bit vulnerable.

Nothing truly bad happened today. It's just that I've felt all summer like I was always super distracted, much more busy than anticipated, and hanging on by a mere brain cell. As the summer progressed, it got worse. A LOT worse. 

And in the last week I have felt nearly suffocated by anxiety. With the fall semester officially beginning next Monday, the pace of our lesson planning and last-minute logistical nightmares has grown frenetic. Today was BAD. The lower half of my body actually ached from sitting so much (which I HATE) due to hours of training on new citation management and ePortfolio software, and then panicky time-sensitive things that HAD to get done before our appearance at the new instructor orientation later in the afternoon. I could barely eat, frantically shuffling food across my desk as I worked, my stomach in such turmoil over worrying about everything. By the end of the work day, I felt like a wrung out dishrag, both physically and emotionally.

The way that we're going to be teaching in the fall is totally new; new for us, new for the university, since the curriculum is dramatically changing as of this semester. So everyone is scrambling, no one knows exactly how this is all going to work, and there is a lot of anxious tension in the air. I'm going to be responsible for providing a 1 credit hour Library Lab for 15 sections of English Composition. That's a lot more teaching than I've ever done before. There may be other instruction requests that come up as the semester progresses too, and we'll have to squeeze those in where we can. I'll also be meeting with students, grading over 300 assignments, and somehow writing a book. Taking a day off until Thanksgiving week is pretty much not a possibility. Needless to say, I haven't been sleeping well. And on Monday and Wednesday mornings, my first class is at 8 am.

#purgatory

#ALLthesouls

I don't mean this as a litany of "Look how crappy my life is!!" Because it isn't. I know it isn't. I have a fantastic life. I have a beautiful, loving family, fantastic friends that I love as if they were family, and I work with people that I genuinely like and care about. I'll be busy, but my situation is a good one. But anxiety? She is there, my friends. This has always been a personal demon of mine, and I'm just trying to deal with it as best I can.

When I got home, Mike had dinner ready and on the table, and a wine glass chilling in the freezer. Is it any wonder that I married him?! Afterward, Anne burst into tears about something she saw on TV, and I spent the early part of the evening comforting her and cuddling. But truth be told, I really needed that too.

*group hug*

I'm doing what I can to try and keep my spirits up. In the meantime, I've been knitting. And JUST under the wire on Sunday afternoon, I finished my Olympic/Ravellenic Games project!

*drum roll*

I knit Elizabeth Zimmerman's famous Baby Surprise Jacket for Sam's niece. I mentioned in a recent Tea Time that you knit it flat, in a blob-like configuration, but when you are done, it miraculously seams into a perfect baby cardigan. Here is the before photo, with sweater fully knit, but still on the needles and waiting to be bound off:

It seems to be begging for help and TLC.

And here it is bound off, with 2 small seams:

This is a very happy baby sweater!

I mean, did you ever?! I love the pattern. And I finished it within the timeframe of the Olympics, and so this means that I won Ravelry's version of a gold medal:

:0

So that's a brightener, to be sure. I'm about to embark on fall socks and scarves.

#happyknittingdance

How are you doing, dear reader? Come commiserate and join the group hug. :)