In which I make some lists

Hi! I'm back from my hectic holiday schedule of sleeping all day and playing nerdy computer games all night. It was exhausting, but someone had to do it.

I'm clearly in denial of the fact that the winter quarter starts on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. for me. I did manage to update the syllabus, but I haven't decided what to do about the final exam/essay option. I really don't want to read 40 essays on Why Rosalind Is Awesome, but I'm also thinking that an essay exam in a class intended for upper-division English majors does a disservice to the students.

So, looking ahead, I have two lists to make, one domestic, one academic:
Domestic:

• Laundry!
• Take down the cute li'l tinsel tree
• Organize my closet so I can dress like a grown-up again (strides were made toward this with the 10 bags of donations we dropped off on the 31st)
  
• General dusting, sweeping, vacuuming
• Call landlord about the tragically slow drains in the bathroom sink & tub
• Make a hair appointment (only three months after the last)
• Disassemble & felt sweaters for the felted-throw project I'm planning
  

Academic:

• Revise Chapter One & resubmit to committee
• Plan meeting with committee
• Draft Chapter Three
• Read a bunch of Marlowe-related stuff
• Sort & file Fall class notes
• Sort library books, renew & return
• Turn in receipts for conference-travel reimbursement
• Get an old essay into shape for journal submission
• Get Chapter One into shape for journal submission
  

Well, it doesn't look so bad laid out like that. Now I just have to put it in motion. Oh! And I have a resolution: I'm going to stop being lazy and whiny about going out to eat. This is step one of the Plan to Enjoy Chicago While We Can, which goes into motion tonight with a date with C. to go for steak frites.

Oh, yes, there's also news on the Get C. a Job front: two interviews at MLA, both of which went well, both of which were with schools located in places that wouldn't suck my soul dry. Now comes the fun part of waiting for the campus-visit calls, as well as news from the schools that weren't interviewing at MLA.