what a difference a day makes...

... 24 little hours.

(yes, I'm going to have that song in my head now too)

I missed the blog last nite, both ways: I didn't do it and I wish I had. I hope I haven't lost my rhythm for writing yet - and yet I realise it's not the rhythm I've lost, it's the time.

I was way too tired last nite when I got home for a full day on a selection panel, and then I had to prepare for meetings with students today. It was a case of falling asleep reading and waking up tired and (I'll admit it) scratchy.

Talking with cousin Terese today, I realised how *unreal* the whole trip to Canada is, even though it's exactly a week from my departure. Yes, a week from today I will be three hours into the flight frpom Auckland to Vancouver - I'm guessing I will be finishing my first movie (I'll pick a sad one so people don't think I'm odd for crying so much), enjoying my first drink, and deciding between the beef and the chicken. The thing is, it doesn't feel like it is all going to happen so soon; now I am home I have lost the sense of urgency and 'not-business-as-usual' that I had in Australia. I have slipped so easily back into familiar routines that it is my conscious rather than subconscious self that is aware I've got a 'to do' list the length of a rugby field. The list is slowly being addressed, but this takes up a whole lot of time, and the thing that is starting to 'give' to make the time is sleep.

At the same time as I'm attending to tasks and specifics, on Friday morning I need to talk 'big picture' about how I can see my work (teaching, research, and so on) as a part of the university in the future. This kind of dreaming about future possibilities is fun, but I must admit when it's done under pressure it's easier to be  glass half empty than glass half full. I am trying to steal time out for preparing my presentation about this future, well aware (among other things) that this future will be better served if I do the things I'm setting aside to think about it.

I'm tired again tonite - there's no time to blog or I'll fall asleep in an awkward position again, waking up a while later with the lights blazing and a sore neck. So, I'll go to bed and sleep, dream about the future, and tomorrow I'll write again.