T - 3 Days

Until the marathon, that is. Even though the planning required to coordinate an event like this among 3 runners + various friends, family members, and other assorted spectators is incredibly difficult, I am beyond excited for this weekend. I mean, there's almost enough to be excited about without even thinking about the running itself. And I think that's going to demand about 99% of my attention.

Anyway, today I led 2 more lector sessions and also held my first "office hour" during which the French 100-level students come to practice their conversational skills with me. Or recite a poem. Like the kid who sang "Ma Vie en Rose" to me today. That was interesting.

So, in completely unrelated news... yesterday I went outside to enjoy a pre-class granola bar. (I have this class from 4:30 to 6:30 every Monday and Wednesday, which is, if you remember well, Dana's cranky/stupid time and also Dana's "wow I'm ravenously hungry" time.) So I'm chewing, minding my own business, when I notice a pair of eyes boring into my skull. No, it wasn't a creepy old man or a masked thief.

It was a squirrel.

And he didn't seem so interested in me as he was in my granola bar, I guess because he's doing that whole getting-ready-to-hibernate/stuffing-himself-silly thing. As I ate, though, he proceeded to hop in little circles around the bench I was sitting on, slowly honing in on his prey. At one point, he hopped off around behind me, and feeling his beady eyes on the back of my head, I whirled around. He had one paw on the back of the bench, ready to attack from behind. When he saw I'd discovered his plan, he backed off only to come back around in front and make little half-lunging motions at me, as if he were going to pounce at any moment. I stamped my foot on the ground in front of him a few times, but that only caused him to first back up an inch or two and then advance a little closer the next time around. At that point, I couldn't shake the visions from my head of him clinging to my hair, clawing at my eyes, while I screamed and thrashed, running in circles around the quad. So I grabbed my bag and left.

I know Mother Nature is cruel, and that's it's every man (0r squirrel) for himself out there, but something was seriously wrong with that rodent. I hope he doesn't make it through the winter.