School tomorrow

Not really school, simply a work day to get ready for school which begins in earnest on Wednesday. I am less than excited about going, mostly because I've not made much of a dent in the mountain of grading I still must do before Wednesday at 10:00 am. I can do it; I will do it, but I continue to dislike it. How can I love teaching English, love talking about the works, love seeing them ponder new ideas through literature, and still hate reading their work so much? I actually remember a time in my own education when I decided to focus more on literature than teaching writing because I knew that teaching writing would lock me into a lifetime of reading bad writing. But here I am, with stacks of 10th grade work to mark and little desire to do it.

Hmm. On the bright side: I love my classroom, love my students, have a few wonderful colleagues and many others I do not know yet. My husband is wonderful, my kids are doing well, I have a new plan for my own fitness, and some optimism stored for the future. Grading papers is a minor woe. I can handle it.