Returning to an Old Routine

Back to work today. To be honest, I was totally ready to get back to the routine of designing the curriculum, teaching, figuring out how to get the writing center moving forward, and seeing all my friends. I've missed all of them very much. I saw them a couple of times during my leave, and we texted at times, but not seeing them on a daily basis created a hole in my life. They're wonderful people I am so glad are my friends.

I did run into a problem first thing. I turned on my computer and began working on a document only to have Word crash on me every single time I opened the document. I tried other documents. I tried creating new documents, but each time, Word closed out on me after about five seconds of being up on the monitor. This is really weird to me since my computer was off the entire time I was gone. What could possibly have happened to the program while the computer was off for seven months? Thankfully, I can work from home tomorrow, doing all my Word doc work from my own computer.

This afternoon I had to take Ado to the vet. His lip on the right side of his mouth is swollen and red. I first noticed it last Thursday and hoped it would clear up over the weekend, but this morning it was worse. The vet did a test and he does have an infection, so now he's on an oral antibiotic, a topical antibiotic, and Benadryl. The poor guy can't have any of his chew toys for at least a week. Just a few minutes ago he was stretched out on my bed, howling at the sirens in the distance. Such a goof.

To finish off my day, I learned I won third prize in a writing contest. The theme of the contest was holiday food, and I wrote a poem that went up against a lot of short stories. I think there were only three poems entered amongst all the submissions. Third prize earned me $50. Not bad. So, now I can say I have one poetry publication and one poetry prize award. Baby steps that make me smile.

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