2 1/2 weeks til freedom

....from this semester at least.

I have to say, I will be GLAD it is over, really more glad than I can ever remember being. Between my community theory class where I regularly spar with the teacher over her beliefs and choice of guest speakers, my intense nonprofit law class, and my excellent-opportunity-but-overwhelming-workload internship (not to mention my inability to find a job and time to do it in), I need a break. As I had mentioned in an earlier post, I was hoping to make it to Thanksgiving without losing it. Well, I was close...SO close...but it didn't happen. I managed to burst into tears in the middle of a large (and important) meeting at my internship, when they told me I had to go back to the office by myself for most of the day, while everyone else went out to lunch and then home early.

The next 2 weeks will be just as crazy as the last few...2 conferences, 2 finals, a final presentation and paper, an RFA to write, a family reunion, not to mention wedding dress shopping and going to see the Nutcracker..

Needless to say, I'll be glad for a break. But it keeps hitting me, at random moments, that this is the last year I'll really be doing these things, coming back to school after a holiday, buying textbooks, even living in NC...it's a little over 6 months before Brian and I get married, but things are already going fast. We'll likely be moving to Florida, DC, or Chicago (depending on where he gets into grad school), so next year, if we even make it back for Thanksgiving, will more than likely involve a plane flight and (hopefully!!!) going back to some sort of job on Monday. It's strange to think that, as many years as I've been trucking back and forth from New Bern and the Triangle (this makes 6), it will soon all be over. I'm not sure yet whether I'm happy, or utterly, utterly miserable about that yet. Stay tuned.

Marathon

I realized I haven't posted in a while...but my excuse is that I have been running a marathon.

If you know me at all, you'll know that this is not an actual marathon (I never run, both because I have bad knees and because I find running boring), but a work-related one.

All my assignments have ended up in the end of the semester, including what will probably be a 30+ page paper (it's currently 20 and I'm still working), a terrifying law exam, and lots of marketing & fundraising reading and papers. Not to mention all the work I have for my internship--a 3-day long Council meeting, 2 conferences, one workshop, my mid-year evaluation, and writing an RFA, which is really a big deal and is thus terrifying.

Not to mention wedding stuff...we finally got our engagement pictures made (but haven't seen them yet), and I have a host of things to do before the New Year, including finalizing the guest list, sending out save-the-dates, reserving a block of hotel rooms for people coming in out of town, finding a (preferably antique) car to take us from the church to the reception, and, of course, buying a wedding dress.

Whew.

I'm positive I'm going to fall flat on my face, but hopefully I'll manage to accomplish all this before that happens. It's looking unlikely at this point...just in the past 2 days, I fell asleep while reading and also while sitting up.

I am currently accepting assistance in the form of tasty food.