I spent the first couple days of break writing something intense (that I am not sharing here -- at least not yet), and since then I have buckled down and started to catch up on the work-related to-do list. The past couple of days that's meant grading essays, and I just finished them. Yay.

I've been a little distracted though, did not have an easy time staying focused on the grading. I almost never play music, television or the radio when I am working. I much prefer natural sounds, and my own thoughts. Another reason that I rarely listen to media while working is that it isn't white noise for me. I have a hard time not being distracted by it. However, today I decided to play pandora, as a way of tamping down my thoughts. It seemed to work, and I happily buzzed through what seemed to be an endless list of e-files. Then "100 Years" by Five for Fighting was the selection, and what I was endeavoring to block suddenly came flooding back. Life is over in a flash. Millie didn't get 100 years. And what would 100 be in dog years? I suspect Sophie didn't either.