Slacker

Yesterday, my neighbor and I ran nine miles (it was 30 degrees warmer than Friday, and felt fabulous!). I talked to my mom on the phone. I made pita and hummus and almond rocha and took them to the swinging holiday party at a friend's gorgeous loft in Saint Paul. I was very social, and at the unsubtle insistence of the girls in my department, chatted up both that young Greek engineering student and the rather nerdy geographer whom, the hostess informed me, she had invited just for me (no pressure!).

It wasn't much, but it was something. Today, I have accomplished virtually nothing. And as lovely and relaxing as that may sound, it is stressful because I have things to accomplish (another conference abstract is due tomorrow, and I finally scheduled my French exam for Tuesday), and it makes me depressed that I can't seem to do them!

Partly, I was out very late. And partly, when I did finally wake up, it was incredibly dark, because we were under heavy gray rain(!)clouds (though now it's apparently 7° and snowing, which meant that getting to this evening's Soup Night [though I did thankfully have a ride!] was a bit hairy). I also seem to have spent several hours in my kitchen--doing last night's pita/hummus/rocha dishes, cleaning my counters and stove, making asiago crackers and crudite to go with last night's hummus...

But not only have I not written this abstract (due tomorrow), I have not even decided on which topic to write it. And I don't want to. I want to go to bed, or clean my house some more, or watch a movie, or go to bed, or read a book, or maybe have some tea, or go to bed.

I do, however, want to go to New Orleans in April, and I don't want to tell my advisor that I neglected to submit anything. The fact that I don't have finals, and won't even have grading to do until Thursday (though at that point it will be a rush to finish before I skip town Sunday morning), just makes me feel like more of a slackerly failure.

UPDATE: Check it out; tomorrow's HIGH is predicted to be one below. Yikes.