Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

And now I wait. Yesterday I defended my promotion portfolio to a group of colleagues from different areas of the college: Environmental Science, Early Childhood Education, and Nursing. I've known the members of my reading team for many years, and honestly, it was a real pleasure talking teaching with them. At one point, when one of the readers said our gathering was a celebration of teaching, the thought crossed my mind that they were in favor of my promotion. But I won't know for sure for nearly two more weeks. So now I'll have to turn my attention to other things, things that will keep me busy, like loading Ado into the car and driving up to the lake for some long walks. Or working on a few of my own pieces that will be a part of my sabbatical project. Or getting the bike out and taking that first ride of the season now that the sun is warming our days. I'm sure I can find other things to focus on, to distract me from wondering if I will get that coveted letter ...

As I was driving to work today, the thought that a week from tomorrow I go in for my promotion portfolio defense flitted through my mind. A nano second later, that rush of adrenaline that happens when a person feels fear shot through the pit of my stomach. I calmed myself, thinking hopefully my portfolio readers are all reasonable people. Then, almost as soon as I sat down at my desk my phone rang. I answered and found it was one of my promotion portfolio readers. Another rush of adrenaline coursed through my core, speeding up my heart. The reader, someone I've known for many years and have cycled with, tells me a page from my teaching philosophy is missing. The last page. Pages 1, 2, 3, and the works cited were all there. Page 4? Where'd it go? I quickly pulled the document up on my computer to check it. Yes, page 4 was there. Why it wasn't in the portfolio is beyond me. I checked, double checked then triple checked each copy of the portfolio before submitting them, so I k...

February is over! Dang 2017! Slow down! I feel like the semester just started and I'm already talking to the students about spring break being less than two weeks away, which is midterm. Then, just a mere eight weeks of the semester will remain. Not that I'm counting the weeks down. Not that my mind is on a summer full of cycling, gardening, and prepping for my Pac coast cycling trip, followed by my Southern Tier cycling trip, both directly connected to my sabbatical project. Nope. I'm not counting down the weeks at all. With it being March 1st, the days are lengthening, and we're not all that far from spring. I've already seen robins and red-winged black birds, as well as crocuses blooming and daffodils pushing up. Even what usually are the late spring thunderstorms have been moving through. Seems so early for all of these things. Because of the in-between weather, I'm not sure if I should pull my spring clothes out or continue wearing my winter clothes. Th...

Finally, the official word came through: promotion granted. I've known unofficially for a little more than a month now that my promotion review team had recommended me for promotion, but until the Board of Trustees says yes, the recommendation is just hanging in limbo. And because my mind works the way it does, for the last five weeks, I've had thoughts of the Board scrutinizing the recommendation, picking it apart, rubbing their hands together in glee just before banging the gavel down, emphatically saying, "Denied!", much like Suze Orman does to those who don't have the money to buy the luxury item they really want. Thankfully, my little scenarios are only in my head. Today the email I've been waiting for arrived in my inbox. Like a little kid who'd just received the best piece of candy from the pinata, I did a booty dance in my chair and waved my hands in the air. My title as of the fall semester will be Professor II of English, which means I'll h...