This morning, Gerald informed me that today is National Grammar Day. Now seriously, what could be a better contribution to my spring break than that? Nothing that I can think of. What a marvelous idea: National Grammar Day, a day to celebrate the many idiosyncrasies and peculiarities of our glorious language. If it weren't spring break, I would definitely show my students my favorite discussion of our language, a video entitled "A Light History of the English Language," by Dr. Eliot Engel. It's a bit dated but still relevant and quite entertaining. My students will have to wait until school resumes next week to see it. It's definitely worth your time if you're so inclined.
What have we done so far to mark this day? Gerald posted his top grammar pet peeves on his Facebook status, and I added a few of my own to his list. This led to a comical discussion among our "friends," mostly focusing on comma usage and pronoun-antecedent agreement. We'll see what else people have to say as the day goes on. From my perspective, there's hardly anything more interesting than grammar, so a big thank you goes to the person who instigated National Grammar Day. What fun!
Other than this, I've done very little today. However, if you look at my "spring break list," you will see that I am well on my way to crossing off many items. So far, I've slept late every single morning. There is really nothing that compares to morning sleep. It's so refreshing and rejuvenating. I've also done P90X doubles every day in addition to walking four miles most days. I wish I could keep this up when school resumes, but often one hour of exercise is all I can fit in when I teach during the day. Yesterday, Gerald and I prepared and froze 20 meals. As often as we eat out, these should last well over a month. On Saturday, we saw the movie Dear John. I loved it although it made me cry, but then what doesn't make me cry these days? This weekend we'll see Valentine's Day.
And as far as regaining my mental and emotional stability, progress is slow but sure. A dear friend gave me some excellent advice. She said no matter how happy we may be about such milestones as marrying off a cherished daughter, change (even glorious change) is still bittersweet. We can celebrate with joy the "sweet" parts, but it is not selfish or silly or strange to grieve for what we have lost. Thank you, Susie. I really needed to hear that.
Tonight? Opening night of Brigadoon. We will be there applauding Eli all the way.
Happy Grammar Day to all!
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