Five Things that Don't Suck, Improvement Saturday Edition

1. eating
2. being really, really grateful about the ability to do so
3. spending a minute watching the bees
4. Indian summer
5. have I mentioned eating? Because: eating.

Five Things that Don't Suck, Sickie Friday Edition

1. saltines
2. ginger ale
3. sleeping as much of the day away as possible
4. being smart enough to call in sick
5. tea

Five Things that Don't Suck, Lots of Grading Edition

1. being off-campus for a day
2. procrastinating by having brunch with a good friend
3. procrastinating by paying bills
4. procrastinating by going grocery shopping
5. procrastinating by writing a poem

Five Things that Don't Suck, Random Edition

1. not having to grade anything for the next 3 hours
2. last-minute student cancellations on a day when I can use that time to grade, thus allowing me to take 2 or 3 fewer papers home with me
3. the quality education I received, which taught me, among other things, the difference between "less" and "fewer"
4. warm sunny afternoons with the sunroof open on the drive home
5. going home

Five Things that Don't Suck, Another Poetry Edition

1. getting poems out into the world
2. editors who are as happy with them as I am
3. beginning a new series
4. having the time to devote myself to writing the new series*
5. mythology

*so theoretical I don't know whether to laugh or cry

Five Things that Don't Suck, Largely Theoretical Edition

1. sleeping without an alarm
2. waking up without an alarm
3. days on which I have not overscheduled myself to the point where I fear for my own mental health
4. friends who check in during difficult times*
5. naps**

*not theoretical. And if you think this is you, know that you are not alone because I'm pretty sure a bunch of you will think it's you today

**if you are a praying person, please pray that this is not theoretical for me today

Five Things that Don't Suck, It's a Good Thing Edition

1. hanging out with the Foley family in Newport for the Martha Stewart food/wine pairing event
2. being 100% certain that the Foley family is cooler than Martha Stewart
3. that time before MS was really famous where I stumbled on her Thanksgiving special on PBS and snorted soda out my nose when she started talking about serving the kids' table pumpkin soup using her collection of turkey-shaped candy dishes because it was a fun thing for the children
4. the fact that I am not making any part of #3 up
5. Newport