And almost ready

I didn't go to the community Thanksgiving service last night. I was kind of tired after helping decorate the church (One of the bigger tasks I had? Re-stringing 300 lights onto a large wreath where the existing light strands had died). Lots of running around in a slightly-overheated church on what turned out to be a too-warm day.

And anyway, I had to finish packing. I am done with it, barring any last minute "Oh no, I forgot..."

I will admit I'm a tiny bit apprehensive about the trip as I found out my relatives are bringing their new dog. I am not a dog person; I had some bad experiences with dogs as a child and am not that comfortable around dogs I don't know well. (Also, this one is still a puppy, and while I did ooh and awww over the part-Pekingese puppy a colleague brought to campus one day - well, that was a TINY puppy, and the dog in question here is a Shiba Inu, which is good-sized. (I hope the dog has been well-trained). I've been promised he will stay in his crate for at least some of the time, but....). This was one of those "My opinion was not asked" sort of things. I know that happens in families, but still....I will have to be sure to keep all my stuff closed up in my room so it doesn't get chewed or worse. (Also, I have pretty bad allergies to dog hair. I'm allergic to cats, too, but I put up with it - and my allergies weren't as bad then - when I lived with my parents and they had cats)

Also, today started not too well. I cannot find the take-home exam (collected Friday) for one of my students. I can't even remember if said student turned it in, but knowing the student, I would expect that they had. I'm hoping I didn't lose it - I graded them quickly and without looking at names on Friday) I suppose I could walk down to the classroom and check; it would likely still be there. (ETA: Dangit, nope. I e-mailed the student in question; they are an honest person and will likely tell me if they handed it in or not (I phrased is as "Did you hand it in early [some people do], because I can't find it now"

If I did lose it I'm going to offer to double the grade on their in-class portion which would be a respectable grade for the overall exam....but I hate when stuff like this happens because it makes me feel incompetent. I probably should have counted the exams Friday but I was SO SURE I had all of them (everyone was accounted for; the one person absent from class had handed hers in early and I had even already graded it) and I was in a hurry to get done so I could get my car in to the shop for the oil change....

But I don't know where it could be; I looked in all the likely places and several unlikely ones.

I ALMOST finished the second of the gift mitts; at any rate, I'm up past the divide for the thumb and I plan on using them as invigilating knitting. If they're not done I will toss them in my kit before I leave home today and finish them on break, seeing as the party where these need to be a gift is the week after Thanksgiving, and when I come back, it's going to be crazy busy time with preparing for finals.

Other than that, I'm taking a half-finished pair of socks I haven't touched since summer and a shawlette that is the same. I don't anticipate getting much knitting done, though, because I expect there will be lots of other things to do. (And if the dog's running around, probably having yarn and circular needles with nice, chewy-looking cables out is not a good idea.)