Friday, again

Strange how horrible a Friday can seem when it is the end of a break. No longer am I lazying about with acres of hours and miles of days to waste, now it is back to a simple weekend. How depressing.

Weather improvement: Mid-sixties today, high of eighty for Sunday and seventy-nine for Monday. A week late, but better than the cold white stuff we had to start this week.

I did not get as much done this break as I wanted to get done, however, I have managed to get some things done. My usual spring break: big plans, small results. Maybe I should plan on not doing anything and then not feel guilty when I achieve my goal?

I do feel recharged and ready for the rest of the semester. I was very very grumpy Wednesday. I think I woke up sad cause I could not go to the arboretum (though I was not consciously aware of this sorrow), and so my day was miserable.

I am going to try and get some stuff done today. Eagerness comes before a realization that my expectations exceed the day's hourly limit.

Monday March 2

Because a certain sister strongly suggested I report on my weather this morning, I am.

White stuff sticks on surfaces
It is cold

I think I shall move further south
say the coast of Mexico

I thought it was Spring

feb 27

I walked to school today (~2.5 miles?) without a sweater on and wishing I had worn shorts and sandals. The forsythia is a-bloom, and better still I saw a dogwood putting out its catch a bee flags as well. If the dogwood blooms, surely it must be spring!!

I also had a flashback to the days when I was living in Lac Labiche and getting some grade ten educatioms. I have come a long ways from those years (17?) and that place. I am still broke, but I am so different in most other ways.

There was a small field I had to cut across on my way from school to grocery store on Saturday mornings. The school feed us well during the week, but we were abandoned on the weekend. It was worse than prison. Anyway, I would walk across that field, cold weather and warm, to pick up a cheap cut of cheap meat and some cheap bread. And that is what I would at Saturday and Sunday. For some reason today's weather reminded me of the weather back then.

Did I mention that the dogwood are beginning to bloom?

Well, they are!!

Post youthing post

I began my younging day (the day I grow one year younger every year 44 this year) with a lie in. I did not flop out of bed until nearly 8!! Then a couple hours of lazing about, sippin coffee, reading my rss feeds before strolling down to whole foods for lunch and groceries. I had originally planned on going to the arboretum in the morning, but it was too cold. After getting back from WF, I changed my mind as the weather had improved a great deal, so, off I went.

The arboretum is still mostly gray, but there are some plants showing signs of spring. Some Magnolias are ready to bloom, some have started, but the cold weather has hurt them. Crocuses are coming up, some Irises, and lots and lots of daffadillies.

In the afternoon, I went to a brief gathering of graduating types, we drank and talked a bit, were congratulated, and then off I went with Carol to India Mahal for a supper out.

For a celebratory taste, I had a bowl of blueberry creamcheese vegan icecream before going to bed.

The youthing day was a success.

If you are interested, this is a link to one of the photos I took yesterday.

It smells like spring this morning!! I am so happy to feel the end of winter.

For what it's worth

I have completed the exam. The final product has
~15-17 pages of text without quotes
24 1/3 pages with quotes
25 pages with bibliography

It is printed, ready to be stapled and turned in.

I am tired, but happy enough with the final product all things considered. A sense of achievement slips in behind/under/around the exhaustion. It is done.

The Event

At noon today I pick up my question and begin the final major exercise of the program. By Monday at noon, I will have completed my program. Well, there are a few small things left, like a 20 page paper in the one class I am taking and a few poems in the workshop.

How much can one write in three days? I think there is a novel writing contest that happens over the labor day weekend, so one might say one could write a little bit. Anyway, my weekend shall be invested in the exam. I am actually looking forward to this.

My defense went well Monday, but you already know that. The process was simple, I walked in, I read for ten, I answered some questions, I stepped out, I stepped in, I passed, I walked out, went across the street and picked up some channa masala to celebrate, I came home, I ate, I slept. In many ways, it has seemed anticlimactic. All those expectations and fears wrapped up in one small event, and then it's over and now what? As Carol says, I am nearly an official poet, but I don't know what that means/entails/is.

On the upside, it is going to be bitterly cold this weekend so I won't feel guilty for hiding inside.

I will see you all on the other side of Monday. Have a good weekend.