work and non-work

It's currently intersession here at H-town U. That's the time between semesters, aka "sessions". I guess "intersemester" is too cumbersome a word. Historically, this is the time when we catch up on all sorts of jobs and projects, take a breather, and spend desk hours bored beyond belief. The Powers That Be have decided that one person is plenty to cover the desk (thank you!) so most of my hours are "on call". This means I check in at the desk, make sure the person assigned is there and doesn't need a break or help, and then crawl back to my office. So I am whizzing through some jobs and generally trying to make sure as little as possible slips through the proverbial cracks when I am gone next month.

Yesterday afternoon we jetted over to the school where we volunteer, my pal and I, to pull weeds and get as sweaty and dirty as possible in under two hours. The weed-pulling party had started a few hours before, so the kids and parents and other volunteers had already made good progress. We tried mightily to finish all of our tasks, but pulling up grass with one's hands and balancing on a slippery rock while trying to pull plants away from the pond side of the plant mass is tough work. Tough, dirty work. My pal said that she was starting a new trend, a reverse French manicure! I was sporting my new gloves so my hands got wet but stayed fairly clean. Best $12 I ever spent.