Ika 17 ng Disyembre 2008: Pressing Matter

As Christmas draws near, there are more things on my plate and I couldn't even think if I can handle everything.

I have to play it smart today. School work is the most pressing task on hand. I finished preparing the midterm examination for my other subject yesterday. Now, I need to check test papers and the other requirements. I need to finish preparing the grades of one class. I cannot prepare the grades of the other class since they will just have their midterms tonight and I still have to check their test papers. But I hope to partially prepare the grading sheet and just plug in the midterm exam grades as soon as I finish checking their paper. I have devised an excel file which allows automatic computation of grades.

I actually can make the Friday cut for submission of grades except that I will be on a two-day leave tomorrow and the following day. It's my son's birthday tomorrow and I would like him to have a little celebration in school. Every year, he brings donuts or pastries to school by himself. I want it to be special this year because this is his last year in elementary barring any unforeseen event. I think that he would be too shy having birthday parties in high school.

On Friday, the kids and I are going to renew our passports. Tomorrow, my son and middle daughter start their Christmas break. Eldest daughter is just attending Christmas parties this week. Incidentally, she is off to their lantern parade today. I have seen this while I was at Diliman many, many years ago and it really is a joyous occasion. We waited till the Christmas break because getting or renewing passports now requires personal appearance with the new biometrics system. I have been planning to renew our passports which expired a long time ago because I want to bring my son to Disneyland HK before my friend Dayap finally retires. The two girls who both were able to visit HK in the past want to tag along.

So I would not really have time to submit the grades on Friday. We are to follow a strict schedule as required by our administrator. With many preoccupations and invitations, I need to discipline myself in focusing on what I ought to do. I hate doing this as with patience running thin I usually end up cranky and too stressed out. I hope the holiday sets in already. Then again, who knows what that brings.........

PS: Masakit ang likod ko at parang pagod na pagod ako nitong nakaraang mga araw. Sana ay makapagpa-spa bago magpasko. Kahit bakasyon ang pasko, madalas nakakapagod sa dami ng lakad at iba pang gawain. Sana nga tahimik na lang ang pagdiriwang ng kapaskuhan........