The Treats I'll Give Myself Once the Last Final Is Done

The second half of this spring's school semester has been kicking my ass.

It's not like I haven't had difficult semesters before...my transcripts and GPA will prove that!

It's something about this semester that is making it my own personal kryptonite. Perhaps it's that both classes are requring final papers among regular case write ups. Normally I ADORE writing-intensive classes because I can write like crazy and I'd much rather do that then work on statistical/accounting/math problems.

Maybe it's that I'm working full time and having to do a lot of writing at work to update procedures for my department.

Possibly it may have something to do with the fact that the average sleep I've been getting each night for the past few weeks is around 5 hours.

Perhaps I've finally met the symptoms of the crazy gene in my family. I'm normally a very resilient person who can stay evenly keeled for the most part, barring a few days due to hormones or lack of sleep. But my mom, sister and I know we have to keep an eye out for that crazy gene. My Nana had it, my uncle has it in spades, and chances are it will crop up for me at some point. My ability to deal with problematic things has lessened considerably from what I'm used to. I'm moodier and prone to snapping or breaking down at things that in the past I would have breezed right past.

Possibly it has something to do with the fact that I still have to wash the Big B's legs when he showers. He's doing really well now and has so much more mobility than before, but some things he still can't do. He's been helping with dishes, to the point now where he can do them entirely on his own, if it does cause him a bit of pain to stretch himself. He did his own laundry the other day, another big step forward. There are still things he can't do however, and that's part of the stress adding to the stress of schoolwork.

But.

Never let it be said that I'm all doom & gloom! Eternal optimist here, seeing the sunny side of life (or trying to) at all times, despite the looming threat of the family crazy gene.

Because, you see, there IS light at the end of the tunnel.

A few days more of frantic studying, paper writing, and reading and I will be done until fall. Four blessed months of no homework, no dry textbook reading, no weirdly demanding instructors who force you to turn in a rough draft of a paper only to knock you 11 points for grammar and spelling errors (isn't a rough draft by definition "rough"?).

It's so close I can already taste the freedom. So much so, in fact, that I couldn't help but compose this post while daydreaming of what I'll do with all my new found free time:

1. Finally join the legions of frenetic fans of Firefly and become a true Browncoat in my own right.
2. Ditto on Doctor Who, except not the Browncoat thing.
3. Build that Elder Dragon Highlander (aka Commander) deck for the Magic the Gathering nights at my friend's house
4. Finish the background story on my new character for the Zero to Hero game that is replacing the Kortoe adventure as my new favorite D&D game.
5. Get working on my Rainbow Brite steampunk outfit for the swiftly approaching CONvergence in July, along with my accessories and other goodies.
6. Enjoy the outdoors, get started on exercising regularly to get in shape. Its sad when you are winded after running a couple of blocks to catch the bus.

Oh yeah, and and RELAX and do ABSOLUTELY nothing for a day or two while my brain coagulates from the mush it was pounded into by my finals.

It's sad when your required life gets in the way of your real fun life. I keep telling myself it'll pay for itself in the long run...

I think I'm on the right track, as the fortune I received with today's chinese food lunch states:

Watch ones thoughts, as they become actions.

I certainly hope so!