Conflicted Productivity

At my only Z's expense, I got a ton of work today. I hate to take her to school on days where I don't have to go into the University because she a) walks around like a lost puppy for the first few minutes and b) tends to contract one of the millions of diseases the kids (or is it the teachers?) keep on hand for her arrival.

I also let her watch two, TWO!, movies this morning before school. But I did get this done:

• Wrote Letter of recommendation
• Wrote metablogging presentation
• Made linky for said blogging presentation (if you get more hits after tomorrow, you can thank me and my metablogging way).
• Contacted other creative writing directors in this fair state to introduce myself
• Contacted AWP to ask them to make me their contact person.
• Responded to student essay.
• Compiled Nonfiction Contest responses from students. Rejoiced when they agreed. Shook my head when they didn't and read the essay myself.
• Emailed students about teaching Intro to Poetry
• Emailed chair to make sure said teaching was going to happen.
• Emailed one-time summer scholarship student and said I'd write her a letter of rec.
• Checked mail for birthday gifts, acceptances, and money. None of which was therein but it was worth checking (I'm pretty sure this high altitude makes it difficult for mail to actually reach me in a timely fashion.)
• Brined some pork chops (oh. And dumped the first brine all over the kitchen when trying to shake the liquid upside down. So brining and cleaning. I think that might be worth two bullet points.
• And, most important, finished a 69 page nonfiction proposal.
• And blogged.

Now I have many other proposals and grants to write and essays and poems and things to revise and laundry to finish and sweet potatoes to bake but I first will go retrieve my poor child who bears the brunt of productivity. Hopefully, her lost puppy-like ways became something more complacent monkey and less sad-making five minutes after I left. Usually, she's happy if she finds the pink shovel for the sandbox but man will the guilt be even heavier if not only did she go to school on my "off" day but if the pink shovel could not be found.