It's so quiet. Not a sound here except the blowing of our over-worked air conditioning units. My roomie is off romping around in Dallas for the week (well, fine, taking a review course to prepare for her nursing boards - not exactly "romping"!), and I'm here in Abilene trying to crank out some lesson plans before school starts in a couple of weeks. I'm teaching a Greek class, and the thought of school starting is both exhilirating and terrifying at the moment.

But so far so good! Today I went to the Bean Counter to finish filling out the assignments page on my syllabus, bribing myself with steaming mugs of coffee along the way. I might have overdosed on caffeine, but the upshot is that I completed my syllabus. (But I think I'll compare notes with someone to make sure I haven't forgotten anything!) It's amazing how finishing that makes me feel a lot more confident about teaching the course - writing lesson plans isn't as daunting now that I have a general outline for the semester in mind. I'm feeling confident about Greek, translating, and the material, but the teaching part is still a bit intimidating. I can study and prepare ad infinitum, but what does it matter if I can't present the material in a meaningful way to my students? I guess it's not something you can just learn to do "by the book" - you have to jump in with both feet and give it your best shot. Okay, Dr. C.: "Arete!"