I have finished grading the final exam!
I have calculated final grades and posted them on Blackboard. I have notified the class of these with instructions to report if their calculations differ from mine.
Next week some time, we will begin the drive to Florida to visit my parents. Not sure when we will arrive, (it takes 2 full days to reach my parents' house, but 3 days is sometimes more manageable.
My dad's birthday is 12/30, so we will not be leaving before that. Given the date, I m not sure when we will try to head back. I dont want to drive on 12/31, and I suspect that 1/2 and 1/3 will be busy driving days.
In January we are taking a 4 day Disney cruise. We are both fully vaccinated,(including boosters), and Disney requires everyone be vaccinated and tested on the dock. However, a Carnival ship with similar requirements, just returned to New Orleans with infected passengers. HOwever, they were on board a lot longer, so hopefully, our exposure will be of limited time.
Classes begin the day after ML King Day.
What are Your plans for the break?
Lucky you, clean.
I have a long drive for Christmas which I'll be spending with the usual folks. Had to stay home last year because of the pandemic.
I'll probably be grading on the Monday before Christmas.
We don't finish up for 2 more weeks, so fun is still a ways away. Thinking about a trip somewhere in the warm west after New Year's but it would involve a plane. Will evaluate safety next week.
We have through the 17th for our institution.
My wife and I will visit my parents for Christmas and then we will take a little road trip. We are planning on driving the Florida Keys as we've never been there and I honestly don't know how long they will be around for.
I got put into an interim administrative position with no notice a few weeks ago, so my month off abruptly became a week off. Fortunately, I had no travel plans, but I will enjoy getting together with friends nearby.
We're staying put, although doubtless we'll have to hop over to the mainland at some point. Nobody is visiting us. We saw my partner's family in early November, when cases were very low, so that's it, I'm afraid.
I'm staying put.
It's very weird for the second year not to be planning where in France, or Belgium, or England, or Luxembourg, I'll be heading, and when, and which libraries, etc.
But many of the places I'd go to are closed or so restricted it wouldn't work, my cousins are health-impaired, and I have so much to do at home that it's becoming very satisfying to see all the gifts garnered from past trips being used for the purposes they were intended--this photo here, that quote there, etc.
I'll probably do a couple Zoom calls and have festive food for each one, and keep tooling through on things I once despaired of finishing.
Those are the gifts of past trips being given again, to me.
M.
We had rescheduled our June 2020 trip to Spain/Portugal to December 2021 and into the New Year, but with omicron we just cancelled it.
So trying to get our heads around what we will do for Xmas and NYE.
I have no plans. I'm still licking my wounds from money that I lost on canceled travel in 2020. I'm real skittish about putting money down in advance of any travel or even making travel plans & reservations.
Looking on the bright side, this might be an opportunity for a different type of vacation, a vacation from planning. This means that I get up every morning, and I decide what to do that day (which might include an unplanned road trip or a random trip on Amtrak). It might be kind of liberating.
Yes.
Lots of walks.
M.
As I'm not in academia, I have holidays to look forward to, but not an actual break that I could treat as a vacation. The holidays will still be enough to get home and visit family, and I'm glad for that.
No travel for me, and, being in administration, only a short break. It is much anticipated, though!
I was hoping to leave for my parents' house tomorrow, but I am not sure that all of the many tasks will be done in time to make sense to start the trip.
On the other hand, there is a big city that must be traversed early in the trip, and I HATE the traffic. I have often left late in the day so that I go through there about 9 pm, and then find a hotel on the other side.
It is over a 20 hour drive, and If I can get through the first 4 or 5 hours at night, just knowing that it is over is a relief to be on the road and through the first horrible part of the drive.
Not yet sure when we will attempt to return. With New Year's Eve on a Friday this year, I dont think that there IS a good time to return!
Leaving for Arizona a week from today for a week, to visit my 93 year old grandmother. My parents will arrive the same day but stay longer (the joys of being retired!).
We are all boosted and will test to try to minimize risk for grandma (who is also boosted). She has been clear that the risk of socializing is worth it to her-- she is a very social person, and the early lock-down period was extremely bad for her mental and physical health.
Looking forward to sunny upper-60s, spending time with family, hiking, and just being in an a very different landscape.
BUT FRIST, giving and grading a final, a bunch of other work, and three days of campus visits for a search I'm on the committee for, with the last one one the day before I leave.
Doing some important socializing with the elderly in various far-flung locations and trying not to to kill any of them. All the prevention tools will be in place.
We may meet SO's Mom at an outdoor restaurant since isn't sure about getting vaccinated (apparently there is too much conflicting information for her). Can't seem to convince her to get one... We are vaccinated and boosted.
Other than that, we may visit some of my family. I'm not sure if I can handle them this year. They are emotionally exhausting.
Worst case scenario- we stay home, which is fine with me.