Thursday thanks

This week I am thankful for the successful end of a super-short summer-session semester with an excellent group of students.

We all managed to survive 16 weeks of study, quizzes, writing, and grading crammed into a mere 6 weeks (on top of our "day jobs"). All of my students had one, if not two, jobs in addition to their studies, but yet they made time for class and turned their assignments in on time. Given the time crunch, I was pleasantly surprised at how well they all did. I am fairly confident that they all learned something, and I certainly learned from them, too.

I even managed to keep up with my running, despite my worries that I would backslide with the overloaded schedule. Running-wise, the teaching weeks weren't my best weeks on record, but I managed 10-17 miles each week, and lifting, and cross-training. Plus, I won my age group at a 4th of July 5k.

My students were partly the motivating force behind my refusal to "take it easy." After all, if they can work two jobs, go to class, and care for their families, I have no excuse to skip a run.

So, really, I have much to be thankful for:

• An excellent class of students who made teaching a pleasure,
  
• The health and stamina to balance two jobs, running, blogging, and home-life,
  
• And the beginning of a few weeks of "vacation" where I can sleep in AND still go to the gym before my "day job" starts.

And last, but not least, I'm thankful for today's photo, which made me smile. Photo, titled "Pen and Paper" courtesy of Nationaal Archief.