This is the first day I've had to myself in almost a month, what with those 2.5 weeks with my folks; that long weekend with GWB, the Fergusbergs, and the luau; and most recently those manic three days of early-to-bed, early-to-rise orientation sessions--and now that I've been able to sleep in, take a long bath, and spend some uninterrupted-except-by-choice time on my dissertation today, I'm feeling much more calm and on top of my shit. Here's what I've recently gotten done:

• Finalized and ran off 70 copies of the syllabus for my Brit Lit survey
• Finalized (though not yet photocopied) the syllabus for my comp class
• Read the first work we're reading for the survey
• Read an essay on said work
• Jotted down ideas for teaching said work
• Sent copies of my job-market materials to INRU's Job Placement Officer
• Made my LAST textual corrections to Chapter 4 (though I haven't yet typed them in)

Things that remain to be done before Monday:

• Write conclusion to Ch. 4
• Hunt down sources and citations for parts of Ch. 4
• Finalize diss bibliography and table of contents
• Double-check a handful of citations for Chs. 1 & 3 (checked all but the three for which I need library books)
• Photocopy comp syllabus
• Read another essay or two on the first book we're reading in my survey
• Create lesson plans for both classes for the entire coming week (more or less)
• Laundry
• Grocery shopping
• Drinks with Ms. D? (actually, it was brunch today)

[Updated at 10 p.m. on Sunday]

They probably won't all happen, but in theory they're doable, and that's very calming. I don't have the faintest idea how to conclude Chapter 4, which should really be the envoi to the entire dissertation, but otherwise the only big thing remaining is my diss introduction. It's probably just going to be a quick-and-dirty ten pages or so, but since it's the first thing anyone is going to read, I'd really like for it to be at least somewhat engaging.

But, that's a task for tomorrow. Right now I'm chilling here with some vodka-rocks and thinking about turning my attention to a magazine, or possibly to bed. I'm not really a vodka fan (I hate how flavorless it is, and I hate the fact that some people like it for just that reason), but I'm broke, completely out of all my decent liquor, and vodka at least recalls me to the Polish half of my roots.

And anyway, it gets the job done.