Gratitude

I was late for an appointment with a friend today because my son Riff (who had his guitar lesson today in the same part of town) was tired and slow due to the fact that he was writing a new song last night (he was getting a ride from me to town). My friend remarked that it's kind of wonderful that I was made a little late because my son was up late doing creative stuff! Believe me, he could be doing a lot worse.

My creativity is really going to have a challenge soon, as I got a call from Dr. X (not at all his real name), the chair of the department, who told me that the woman who teaches the class right after mine (in the same room) has had to leave campus for the rest of the semester, and asked me if I might consider taking her class. Even though I am about at the edge physically, I am going to take her class over--it's near the end of the semester, anyway, and I hope I can stagger the papers due for her class and mine so that I don't have to correct 50 papers in one week. There is entirely different reading for her class, but they're essays and not a textbook/essays/novel like my class.

Mr. Strega remarked that it was a good stroke of luck to see if I can teach two classes, something I have been considering on and off for some time. We'll see--the hardest part of this, I think, will be coming into a class for the final six weeks of the semester and bonding with them.

I am absolutely frozen over the "last fifteen pages" and have stopped thinking about the book that way. I've actually written portions of this section before, so I need to stop freaking myself out. Mr. Strega seems a little sad that the book is leaving the dock--we have had the most incredible journey together with it and our relationship has grown and changed all along with it; he's heard me bounce around ideas for chapters, cooked all the recipes with me, and been there to soothe my fears about it and encourage me. I doubt I will ever have such a life-changing experience as the one I had writing this book--I've learned everything about what NOT to do as I've worked on it (remember, it took two years to just revise what I turned in as my thesis to make it into a cohesive story)--but I'm so glad I am close to finishing.