Day 44 - Governor Newsom imposes new restrictions

Creating a Syllabus and Canvas shell for “the class that will not run”…

12/29/20. Tuesday

10:30 - It stopped raining today and when I go downstairs I see that the dog had no accidents. Good news. We go outside for her morning routine and she does her business. Since the leaves are a wet, soggy mess, I take this time to clean the patio. They are much more manageable to sweep in this state. Unload the dishwasher and make coffee. I assess the leftover situation in the refrigerator and package several items for freezer storage. I use glass containers for this - no BPA plastic in this household. The sink quickly fills up with dishes but I am. sick. of. doing. dishes. I turn off my automatic sprinklers. Back upstairs I go.

10:30-12:00 - I read Displaced - Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives. I’ve mentioned this book before - it’s a collection of short stories from refugees who came to America and was referred by my student from Specialty Class No. 2. I ordered the book in the event I ever teach that class again (it runs once a year). Fingers crossed that I don’t teach this class as my colleague J. is watching my numbers as far as grades go. While not my favorite read, I’m tying up some loose ends with regard to unfinished 2020 books and thought I would finish it. This is a library book and it’s due in a couple of days.

12:00-2:30 - I have my tilapia leftovers and rice for brunch and continue reading. This was the first time I made this fish dish and it turned out pretty good. I will add this recipe to my rotation of meals.

I finish Displaced. Meh…I’ve said all I need to say in the above paragraph.

3:30-6:30 - The syllabus is done for “the class that will not run”, but now I have to prepare the Canvas shell for “the class that will not run.” So, what this means is there are 27 assignments that must be completed in this condensed 5-week class and each assignment has three different dates that must be manually inputted individually, resulting in a total of 81 dates. While I input the dates, I also check to ensure that none of the assignments are missing.

I break periodically to review the slides L. has finished reformatting for the final chapters of my Core Class!!! [fireworks emoji, here]. On this day, tonight, L. completed the “slide makeover” for my “bread-and-butter” class aka Core Class. In all, for the Core Class alone, L. reformatted approximately 225 slides for 15 chapters, my standard 16-week class. In addition, she’s reformatted numerous slides for Specialty Classes 1 and 2.

I take notes on each chapter because I have a few changes, but other than minor tweeks, L. did a wonderful job on this entire project. The project continues, however, because I’m teaching Specialty Class A at College No. 1 for Spring Semester and L needs to complete the bulk of those slides by 1/15/21.

For me, creating the class in Canvas is tedious, boring work and I binge-listen to one episode after another of a new podcast that I discovered called Financially Naked. Highly recommend.

Time to pause.

-L. and R. arrive from …somewhere??? They leave again to get Olive Garden take-out.

7:00-7:30 - I take the dog for a walk. It. is. freezing.

8:00 - 8:30 - I change clothes, put my contacts in, put my hair up - light make-up.

-L. and R. return and watch movies in her room.

8:30 - I leave for Whole Foods. They close at 9:00 and this is the only time I will shop there. New Years Eve is just around the corner. While I have plenty of champagne on hand for the party I’m NOT having, I’m running low on prosecco-in-a-can and am unable to order that online, ANYWHERE. This is such a convenient product but, sadly, the only places that sell it are Whole Foods and Bev Mo.

The store is busier than I thought it would be. I’m glad I came because there are not that many prosecco 4-packs left. In order to decrease my viral load, I’m in-and-out in 15 minutes.

8:30 -9:00 - If I’m out of the house, running an errand, than I “batch-task” and run several errands to uphold what I call “the economy of time.” Why would I want to run an errand, come home, then leave again to run yet another errand? It’s more efficient to have an errand day, which typically falls on my two monthly therapy days, because I’m already out of the house, attending my appointment.

-I run to the ATM and deposit the Xmas check I got from my parents. Thanks Mom!

9:15 - 11:00 - Home and I make a meal from our Xmas dinner leftovers. It is a straight-up carb. fest with L.’s cream corn; my Dad’s cornbread stuffing; L.’s cheesy mashed potatoes; my cheesy cauliflower dish; and my spaghetti salad. All of it is soooo good and I’ve just gained 5 pounds.

I eat while I wash the huge pile of dishes that has somehow built up over the last two days. This takes a really long time and I have a glass of champagne (maybe TWO) to keep my stamina up (ha ha)

-I binge-listen to another new podcast I discovered called, Financial Confessions.

-R. leaves.

11:30-2:30 - Back to work. I finish inputting the 81 dates for “the class that will not run” and check ALL the links for the videos I assigned to make sure the documentaries are still available for the students. This means I have to click on the link for every video and podcast that are assigned, one-by-one, to ensure they’re working [there are 17 documentaries and podcasts assigned for this class].

-A podcast quiz is missing from the Canvas shell so I have to manually input it.

-L. and I have a meet-and-confer regarding the changes that I requested on the slides. She makes the changes in around 30 minutes and I insert the new slides for Chapters 1-8 into Canvas. I pronounce the Canvas shell…DONE!!!…for “the class that will not run.”

2:30-3:00 - I still need to record the “Audio Syllabus Lecture”, but decide to leave it for tomorrow morning. L. and R. are leaving at 2:00 p.m., for their New Year’s Eve celebration at the Mission Inn, so I’ll record the Audio Syllabus tomorrow morning. I print out the syllabus and get my desk ready for tomorrow’s project.

3:00-3:30 - Night time ritual. Bed.