What have I done to myself?

I just graded papers for more than two hours, and I am only about a fifth of the way done. I would be completely upset with the assignment and the person who made it, but I'm the one who made it. My poor colleagues who teach the other sections have to do the same grading because of me. This is a great assignment for the students to learn and get feedback, but it is killing me to get it all graded. I would be upset, but it's all my fault. Be sure that I won't make this mistake again. I'm only going to have each student write one essay instead of two from now on. The only thing that made the grading doable was that I had the olympics on mute, so I could look up from time to time and take a break. Maybe it slowed me down a bit, but it kept me going too.

The best part of watching the olympics tonight is that I got to see Julia Mancuso from the U.S. win the Giant Slalom. It was amazing to see her ski that course in conditions that slowed everyone else down, and yet she made better time than anyone. It was even more rewarding for me because early in the games I saw an interview with her and a comperable interview with Lindsey Kildow, her friendly competitor on the U.S. team. Lindsey said winning was everything. Julia said that as long as she had a good time and tried her hardest, she was happy and felt successful. What a difference in attitude! I admired Julia for her attitude and wanted her to win.

Unfortunately, in her first three events, she performed well, but did not medal. Then came today. She won the gold! I knew it earlier today, but watching it, I realized that she deserved that medal just for her continued positive attitude and hard work. She was amazing. I love her attitude. Then, in the end, to see her excitement and her family and coaching staff's excitement, I was even more impressed. It was so genuine and refreshing. It was a great end to the olympics for me. I know that there is still tomorrow and Sunday to go, but I'm not that interested in the rest of the results. This was a great finish for me. Thank you Julia Mancuso for your refreshing attitude and performance compared to so many spoiled U.S. athelets. You would have won gold in my book without an actual medal, but you deserve this.