Random bullets of Monday morning; or, my life as Whack-A-Mole

I miss my teaching-free Thursdays! With no free day during the week, I always hope for some free time over the weekend, but it just isn't happening right now. The harmonic convergence of a whole mess of deadlines led to my working all weekend, with just a few idle hours last night to read the paper and play silly card games. Hence I'm starting the week already feeling like I can't get caught up, and it's not going to get better any time soon because I have both a doctor's appointment and two special meetings this afternoon--and by special I mean long and angry. So I've got nothing of any value to contribute to the universe this morning except some random thoughts:

• Years ago when I was the most junior member of my department, a senior colleague asked me to cover a class for her on a day when she expected to be absent. Why? Because she expected that attending a controversial faculty meeting on a particular topic would upset her so much that she'd be in no condition to teach the next day. I agreed to cover the class, but what if we all did this? I'm attending a meeting that's bound to upset me so I need you to cover my classes. What, you're attending the same meeting? But surely you won't be as upset as I will!
• Overheard from a prospective student: "I'm looking forward to taking liberal arts courses because it's nice to have an easy class that lets you shut down your brain for a while." He's in for a rude awakening. 
• Prospective students who participated in a scholarship competition on Saturday morning impressed me with their ability to engage in academic conversation, but I was really impressed by their attire. High school guys in suits and ties! I can't remember the last time I saw so much professional attire assembled in any of my classrooms; dressed in my usual casual teaching gear, I felt a little outclassed. Will they look any different when they show up next fall? If they show up next fall?
• All that hard work over the weekend allowed me to finally check two major items off my to-do list: I finished proofreading the page proofs for the comedy book, and I revised and resubmitted a journal article. It feels great to get these projects off my plate (for now), and just in time, too: I'm collecting drafts and papers in all my classes over the next 10 days. 

My life right now is like a giant game of Whack-A-Mole: smash one time-consuming project into smithereens and another two pop up demanding attention.