The party's over--almost

I came home from our holiday road trip to find my snail-mail box stuffed with bills and my e-mail inbox stuffed with--well, stuff, most of it interesting and all requiring responses. January 1 was the deadline for submissions to the anthology I'm editing, but people interpret "by January 1" fairly loosely so I'm still getting submissions alongside requests for extensions, which I'm able to grant since I built some leeway into the schedule. 

I'm excited about getting to work on editing all those submissions, but I'm also excited about getting back into the swing of teaching and reading and keeping house. A regular routine will feel comfortable after all the holiday hoo-hah.

Our holiday road trip was short in both distance and duration. My winter break is briefer than usual and Dad now lives in North Carolina near my brother's house, so we made a quick drive to NC instead of going all the way to Florida. This means I'll have no sunburn to contend with when I step into the classroom next week (EEK), but it also leaves me hungering for sunshine, currently in short supply.

We saw no sunshine at all on our drive down to NC; in fact, the fog was so thick that the mountains effectively disappeared. Driving in stop-and-go traffic through horrible weather on the Interstate is no one's idea of a good time, but the trip home yesterday provided adequate compensation: clear skies, no traffic, back to Ohio in record time. 

Dad is doing well in assisted living, making many friends and spending time with family. The Florida house in which he lived for 40 years has sold, so my brothers cleared it out. I brought back boxes of things to sort through, which will make an interesting project for those long winter evenings: My wedding gown can go in the cedar chest but what do I do with that spelling-bee trophy? Maybe my granddaughter would like Mom's old music box, but what do I do with her porcelain figurines? They don't really suit my aesthetic.

The boxes and bills are calling and the essays need editing, and have I mentioned that classes start next week? All the festivities and travel and rich foods and gifts were tons of fun, but it's high time to stop holidaying and get back to work.