Today I just completed grading the fourth of four giant piles of major assignments — the last piece of the puzzle. I spent hours longer at the office than I intended, but when I left, I was done. Well, fine, “done” except for the score calculation and posting of grades, but that’s the easy stuff. It’s the evaluating and providing feedback on 200 handwritten mini-essays that was the hard part. I think my brain may have partially melted. For real.

Saturday morning is the half-marathon I had been training for before I hurt my back. I am avoiding the thought of that because I am trying hard to get over the disappointment and the feeling of having been betrayed by my body — which is especially frustrating after having tried so hard to treat my body well. This combination of feelings (disappointment in, betrayal by, and frustration with my body) seems to be surfacing in more than just this area of life, and I do not like it.

Luckily, I will have plenty to distract me this weekend because my in-laws will be visiting for a couple of days as they make their long road trip back to their snowy midwestern home state from their winter place in Florida. We didn’t know they’d be coming until last night, so the usual flurry of preparation has been cursory at best. As my husband put it, this is what happens when you come visit us with short notice and at the end of a long work week. A less than tidy house will have to do.

Enough of that, though. How about a few happier updates?

I’ve been going to a spin class at the campus rec center twice a week, usually with at least one friend, and I’ve been really enjoying it. It’s not aggravating my back and I feel like I’m working satisfyingly hard.

I’ve also started a three-month subscription to Barre3 online workouts and I’m really happy with that as well. I have tried some generic barre classes at the rec, but I didn’t feel like I was ever getting a good workout there. No heart rate elevation, no sweat, no muscle soreness afterward. The Barre3 workouts, on the other hand, are more challenging and, honestly, just seem more legit. The great thing about the site is how easy it is to find just the type of workout I need on a given day: I can choose a duration (10-60 minutes) and a focus (whole body, upper, lower, core) and there are even workouts targeted for runners. Recommended.

My chiropractor has been really helpful not only with my back but also with this old, nagging shoulder injury. Today he used some Kinesio tape on me to help me keep the joint aligned better — I feel pretty cool, I tell you what.

I had a day full of work but no classes and no meetings on Tuesday, which is an incredibly rare combination and meant I could take my work to a coffee shop. They sold me a latte the size of a bucket of paint. It was delightful.

We have had some great cause to celebrate in our house lately — not only did my husband just have a birthday, but that same weekend, he received THE official notice from the University President of his promotion and tenure. I can’t say enough how happy and proud I am. He’s the hardest working person I know and a great scholar to boot. I can’t imagine a more deserving person.

In addition to my husband, a good friend of ours has a birthday that same week, so a boatload of us went out for dinner and then came back to our house for drinks and other revelry. My friend E brought this bourbon grapefruit punch over and it was fantastic. There was also a lot of cake. Delicious cake.

The possible Florida getaway I mentioned a while back is becoming reality! CW is heading down ahead of me so he can attend his conference, and I’ll stay in town an extra couple of days to teach, then meet him in Tampa/St. Petersburg for a few days. It’ll be short and sweet, but that’s all I need. I want to escape this town for a few days, see some sand and palm trees, feel the sun on my face, and relax. Room service may be involved, as may tropical drinks.

My BFF sent me this amazing wine glass along with some other Crappy Day Presents recently, and I love it.

The only problem was the day I was having a really rotten day and I emptied the last of my wine into it when I got home from work and suffered the cruel, taunting fact that I had exactly enough wine to fill it only to the “good day” line. See my consternation?

With all the festivities lately, there have been many occasions for treats and drinks. I love treats and drinks. I’m happy to say, though, that I’ve kept my consumption virtuously and uncharacteristically moderate and therefore have maintained my weight loss from January.

There now. Have I successfully outweighed my complaints? Then I bid you good night.