Finals Week

I know you worry when I don't post updates on my to-do list. So here it is:

• 12-15 page historiography - due Monday
• 3 page book review (still need to read that book) - due Monday
• Add a paragraph or two to the Title IX paper - due Monday
• Finish grading the last 6 portfolios and about 6 projects - Grades due Monday
• 1 Final exam (which is now a take home!) - due Friday
• Grade 19 lesson plans

Once that is done, it is sweet freedom until classes resume August 31st. When all this is complete I will have 30 doctoral credits! I still haven't gotten this fall figured out, but my advisor doesn't seem to be worried about it. He told me that we can figure it out during finals week, which is next week. I am a little paranoid, but that is my nature. I like to have things like this planned out. The last conversation I had with Pablo made me happy. He told me we would look for a master's course that would cover, leaving me with 9 credits left to take! I don't want to get my hopes up, but that would be fricking awesome.

Summer for me this year is beginning to look more interesting. I am going to watch my youngest nephew this summer, about 4 days a week. He will be two this June and is just a riot at this age. Since my other jobs are 10 month contracts, I am free this summer. I will be trying to get my DQE books hammered out this summer. On top of that, there might be two more courses that I can develop online. If the money is anything like this past semester, that would be fantastic. Speaking of development. I still have one more course to finish up, which I can do next week. The course doesn't begin until after Memorial Day, so I have a little more time to finish the second half. I just need to light a fire under my own behind, then get on the professor's case.

Lastly, I had a doctor appointment yesterday. No I don't have the swine flu, I just went for a check up. I am officially down 24 pounds since surgery. I am happy with that, but I am trying to figure out how my height shrank one entire inch.

Update

I know that you are all concerned about how I am doing with my work load with a little over two weeks left in the semester.  I have finished two of my assignments, the 250 word paper on childhood in the 1950s and a 500 word essay on the history of Play-Doh for my show and tell.  My show and tell got moved to next week, but those two papers are done.  The group presentation on HPV is done, now to hammer out the 1000 word essay on it.  Below is my list of my own work to take care of by the end of the semester.  It helps me to make lists of what needs to be done.

• 12-15 page historiography of Girls' Secondary Education
• 1000 word paper on HPV and a group presentation on it as well.
• 8-10 page paper on Title IX
  
• Six 1-page legal briefs
• Three page book review of Oakes' Keeping Track
• One final exam

I also have a pile of grading to take care of for the courses that I am teaching.  I was able to catch up on some of the work, but I just feel a little overwhelmed.  I know things will get done, but I felt the need to complain here. 

On the other hand, it has been 5 weeks since my surgery.  I have lost 17 pounds.  I feel back to normal, I just need to find the time to get back into a workout routine.  

For an update on the stats situation, I have enrolled in the stats class that will work for my program.  The faculty member believes that this class should work for me, as long as I am willing to read earlier portions of the book when I get lost.  I had to drop the other course that conflicts with the stats class.  I am waiting for Pablo to write me back and let me know what I can do.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that they move the course to another night so I can have it all fall into place.  I am not too worried, I was the only student registered for the course.  I just like having this planned out a head of time.  It is one less thing for me to worry about.

5 Weeks and Counting...

Today it has been 3 weeks since my surgery and I am really feeling like myself again. Food is still entertaining, and I still have protein shakes to scarf down, but it is a little easier each passing day. Things are looking up.

As for the academic side of my life, I have been trying to plan what should be the last year of coursework! I have 12-18 credits left to take. Three of which are proscribed by my program and I am not quite sure about the other 3-9 credits. I meet with my advisor, Pablo, Thursday to hammer out the finale to my academic career. It is very exciting to see the halfway point in the marathon that is my doctoral program. It is also an odd feeling to think that after the coursework is done, I will be on my own, with no net. There isn't someone setting deadlines as to when my drafts are due or I will fail a course.

On the subject of deadlines, I have been way too good at procrastinating this semester. That 1000 word paper, got an A. I know that this school should come easy to me after 10 plus years, but it is a little scary that I can do this without putting in the effort. It worries me. I have a few papers and projects that I am putting off, alongside all of grading that I have piled up. I need to find a way to stop doing this to myself. Any suggestions? With 5 weeks and counting left to this semester I need to find something to kick me in the butt.

Back in the Saddle

So my surgery is over. I stayed one night in the hospital, just to help control the pain and make sure I was strong enough to get home. I have asthma, so I worry about making sure my breathing is consistent and not too painful. I have been mending slowly but each day is a better improvement. The toughest part now is to stick to the very strict diet attached to the recovery. I am only allowed to eat pureed food for the next two weeks and also have to consume 3 protein shakes a day. I feel like I am always preparing, measuring, or eating/drinking. I have to try and keep to a more consistent schedule, and this requires me downing the protein shakes while teaching. Let me tell you that they do not mix. I am not one to drink lots of shakes, so doing this three times a day is becoming problematic. I just have to get over this dislike of eating/ingesting these in front of my students. I have disclosed to them the nature of the surgery and why I have this going on, and they are fascinated by the whole process.

On other news, I am procrastinating from writing a 1000 word paper that is due on Thursday morning. I am just wiped out from my first day back after spring break surgery. I just cant seem to find my motivation to just get it done. I have 6 hours in my office tomorrow to work on it, plus all night tomorrow. I do have some other homework due on Wednesday that has to get done as well. Instead of working on these things, I am writing about it. I feel like this is becoming a broken record with me. I want to know where my motivation went. How can I get my energy and focus back? Anyone have any ideas?

Tomorrow is one of my favorite holidays, St Patrick's Day. I don't say this because it is an excuse to drink, but I am of Irish descent, and it is a day to help people understand Irish culture. I will not be able to partake in my traditional events, I am not allowed to drink alcohol for a year, and I cannot have my Reuben lunch that I traditionally share with a friend. Well I could, but it would have to be pureed and that is just the desecration of the blender. So the only way to help me get into the spirit of the holiday was to look yet again at my photos from my trip to Ireland. The last two I posted were well accepted.

Here is a photo of an area called the Burren, County Clare:

Here are the Dublin steps. This is the old entrance to the city and reportedly the most haunted site in Dublin. Do you see any thing?

An lastly for you all is the Irish version of the dollar store:

Reflections

I am on break this week and anticipating a life-changing surgery on Tuesday. Now that I have been able to clean up a few loose ends I have been reflecting on the last few years of my life and all of the changes that have occurred that led me to where I am today. Almost a year ago, my husband and I went on our honeymoon to Ireland, and there I feel I found some of the most peaceful places to reflect on life. I wish I could go back there now. The country had such a calming effect on me. Here are two of my favorite places that help me focus more on life than on the projects I have to complete. The first is of Ladies' View in the Kilarney National Park, looking down on the Lakes of Kilarney.

The second photo was taken in Glendalough, on the grounds of St. Kevin's monastery. The place was so peaceful and serene that words could not even begin to describe it.

So now as I a mentally preparing myself for surgery, and for the end to this semester, I have tried to find the mental peace that was so readily available to me on my journey through Ireland. Viewing the photos of these places have brought me some peace, hopefully sharing them with you can do the same.

Bad, Bad Blogger

I realize that it has been almost 2 months since my last post. This just shows how busy I have been this semester. Partly because I prefer to clear off my DVR some days than sitting and grading papers, and partly because I am just that busy. I have found it very difficult to say no when I am offered jobs on campus.
It is now week 7 of the semester, spring break is right around the corner. On a happy note, both institutions that I work with are off at the same time. I have scheduled to have a medical procedure done over break, so that I can start the second half of the semester without having to take any time off. Everyone seems to be very supportive of this surgery, which is such a relief, and work will not be an issue. I will be having the surgery on Tuesday 10 March, and should be able to work from home Wednesday and Thursday. I am hoping that I feel well enough to come to work on Friday for a little while. I have had a surgery previous to this one and felt pretty much normal within a few days.
Along with this I have to start planing for the next school year. I am debating on renewing my assistantship. The pay is consistent, but more importantly, it covers 4.5 credits a semester. The reason I am thinking about not applying is the headache I had at the start of the previous semester. I really don't want to have to deal with another faculty member who doesn't understand my needs or my schedule. If I get signed on to teach at the other college again, and continue my IT job, that is more than enough money. We survived on less my first year. This does mean that I take out more in loans for my last year. My husband doesn't mind if I do. He says it's up to me. I don't think he even has a full comprehension of my student loan debt, and I don't think that is how he views me being a student. I have 12-18 credits left to take, and should pound out at least 12 next year, leaving one or two classes to complete. I will have 30 in the bag at the end of this year, and I think that I am just getting too old to run around like this. I think that if I had a contract for teaching this fall and an assurance that I could work on more course development next spring, I would drop the assistantship in a heart beat. The monthly check would be missed, but it would be one less thing that I have to take care of. I think that the major crux of this is that I would need to know that I would either be teaching 6 credits again this fall or that I would be assigned as an assistant to the awesome faculty member that I have been working with for 2 years. I know that the latter won't likely happen, but the former is very possible.
On a happy note, I had the Dean of Faculty sit in on one of my classes. Of course he chose the morning section where the students are very quiet and non-participatory. We have been discussing Persepolis. Based on their homework, the students have been enjoying the work. In class they are almost silent. I fretted about what to do in class. I received some great advice about how to get them talking. The class went well, they were talking. The dean thought I rocked it! He told me how much fun he had had in the class, and even told this to other faculty that I work with. I was on such a high all week. Hopefully this translates into a fall contract.