Pre-Semester Rituals

Does everyone do stuff like this?  I mean, some of it isn't ritual at all, but some of it sort of is.

The non-ritual part:  I have to finish up my syllabuses or syllabi (do you prefer Greek or Latin, or does anyone else care?  I don't care, but I don't want to get it wrong), and then get them copied.  I've made up the basic class folders, but I need to staple in class lists and the calendar and syllabus for each. 

I really should buy some clothes, but I think I'll wait a bit until it gets cooler?  Otherwise I'll want to buy a couple short sleeve AND a couple long sleeve tops.  (I have pants enough for both.)

I got my hair cut today.  I'm not sure if it's a beginning of the semester or a my hair's too shaggy for the heat cut; could be both.

I put through my first copy request, and have been getting stuff PDFed, and now I have to finish up and put stuff up on the computer teaching interface with the stupid acronym.  (We're all about stupid acronyms here.  I heard the other day that someone with an administrative role got criticized for not creating an acronym for a meeting room for students.  It's called the Rainbow Room or something, and not an acronym name.  Horrors.)

I'm dog sitting two dogs, both between, say, 40-60 pounds, both very nice dogs, getting along well.  Both of them are also used to sleeping with people, and both a little jealous.  So last night, one dog got on the foot of the left side of the bed and lied down.  The other dog came up towards the head, but before he could get up, the first dog decided she needed to be there instead.  So the second dog went to the other side.

Try to sleep sandwiched between two really warm dogs on a hot night.  I think they'd be GREAT for winter, though!  (One dog finally decided he didn't have enough room, and got off and slept on the floor nearby.)

I partly love sleeping with dogs, but I don't do it often enough these days to get a good night's sleep at it.  And then one of the dogs decided that 6:30 was time for breakfast!  She started wriggling, and then breathed in my face a bit, and I decided getting up was a better option than breathing hot doggy breath.  So I put them out (yay for a fence yard) then got them breakfast.  But the second dog wasn't quite read, so only ate part of his.

I've been feeding them on opposite sides of the kitchen island, so they can't see each other.  But the first dog, she eats fast, and then wants to offer to help the other dog.  He didn't want to eat, but didn't want his food taken, either, so I finally put it up out of reach, and gave it to him again a couple hours later, when he was happy to eat it (and she was distracted).

What's best is when these two decide it's play time.  It starts with a huge THUMP, which prompts me to look up just in case something bad is happening, but it's one of them jumping into that front down butt up play posture.  Then the other thumps, and then they're at each other, mouths open, tails wagging, thumping into play posture every little bit.  If I can get them outside in this mood, they run all around the yard.  Otherwise, more thumping and less running.

I love watching dogs play.