Inside Out

Today was the longest day ever, but the best day ever. I had my Senior Seminary Conference today, during which all of the Senior English majors (like 30-ish of us) read their final papers. I was #3, so thankfully I got mine out of the way early. One of the hardest professors at _________, who I had one class with my Junior Year, said my paper was "really good." It's very hard to get even an "it was okay" out of him when it comes to a paper, so I'm thinking based on that, I did very well! I only had to drink one large french vanilla cappuccino and two 16 oz. Redbulls and literally not go to bed last night. Needless to say, when I went to the bathroom on a break during the conference, I noticed my underwear were on inside out. Yes, that bad. But, my amazing husband got back to the FOB today after 17 long days outside the wire with zero communication. They got attacked, so it took them an extra three days to get back. I'm really not happy with my husband's unit being the closest one to Pakistan, now that we've done pissed them off. We only have a few more months, and I was praying they'd be relatively quiet with the approaching snow. Thanks a lot to whomever has ruined that possibility.

I was planning on writing a little while, but I literally just (finally) hit the wall and can barely keep my eyes open.

To be continued....

Okay, so now that it's 7:02PM the following day, I have no idea what I was going to talk about. But this is what I'd talk about as of right now. Today, my parents brought the truck to my apartment and took home my big items from my apartment (furniture, storage bins, etc.). Then we ate at a local restaurant down the road seeing as it was 25 cent wing day. (I just noticed there's no cent button on the keyboard--weird). Now, my room looks pretty bare, but I'm excited because that means I'm so close to moving out of here, and one step away from moving to Hawaii.

Now that David is back and could approve the bedroom set I found for us, I can get our furniture for our house! I'm so excited. This is the bedroom set I picked out:

I'm obsessed! It's so warm and beach-cottagey, but with a modern, clean feel. Perfect for my "Modern + Organic" design style. I also found my living room tables. I couldn't find any sofas and chair/ottomans that I loved, so still searching for those.

Due tomorrow by midnight is the first of my two 100+ page papers. I will be starting that as soon as I'm finished this blog post! I'm very stressed about getting all of this done, but at the same time, I'm starting to feel the weight slooowwly lifting.

I talked to David about the Masters thing, and it's a go! So, I will be applying to Liberty University's On-line Masters of Education in School Counseling Program. Aaaah.

So, that's where life is for me this weekend. I doubt I'll blog again until this coming weekend because my life will be INSANE.

On the Edge of Insanity

It's been a while since I've written, for quite a good reason. I'm taking a break from my insane life so that I can explain why my life is insane. Mainly just for myself--to get it out "on paper" so I can get it out of my brain.

(1) My husband has been gone for 16 days today. No communication at all. Miserable. I finally broke down today. But I'm proud of myself for making it 16 days without doing so. He should be back tomorrow or Sunday, says some of the guys, so I'm praying on that. I miss him so much.

(2) SCHOOL IS CRAZY. It's my final 7 days of the semester. After I finish these 7 days, I only have student teaching to do, which I hear is a breeze. I had to take that huge Praxis II test (0041) in order to graduate. Today, the scores became available by phone for $30. On Dec. 6th, they'll be available on-line, for free. Yes, I called and paid $30 because I couldn't wait any longer. I had to get a 172 to pass for the state of VA. Virginia has the highest passing requirement in the country. I called about an hour ago and I got a 1-8-6! YES!! Such a huge relief and a motivation booster, because I totally thought I wasn't going to pass that. What do I need that motivation for, you ask? This is what I have due in the next 7 days:

Saturday (tomorrow): 10 page research paper that I have to read in a conference (that I have to attend from 10am to 5pm). This paper is on Virginia Woolf's androgynous vision in Flush: A Biography. I'm about to go to the library until it closes--at 4AM--and finish that.

Monday: An entire unit, with reflections and essays, due by midnight. Other people in my class who have finished have written anywhere between 80 and 100 pages. Hopefully mine will be in the 70-80 range.

Tuesday: My last day of teaching.

Wednesday: A 3-4 page "Literacy Autobiography" due in my Reading in the Content Area class. I have to talk about myself as a reader. This is a waste of my time.

Thursday: My Teacher Work Sample is due. The TWS is the culmination of my reflections, data, essays, lesson plans, worksheets, assessments, and so forth for the teaching I've been doing in the last month. My friend Ashley finished hers at over 200 pages. Joy.

Friday: A 4-5 page paper due on something Shakespeare. I haven't decided on what play yet. A 3-page paper on The Tempest and a 3-page paper on Henry IV Part I. And a 3-5 page final exam for American Literature.

I am doomed. But I will survive. I have no choice, or I don't get to move to Hawaii when my husband gets home, and I refuse to let that happen after us having to spend 2 years apart because I was in school. No more of that.

(3) In this midst of all of that, I have to move out of my apartment on Friday night. Thankfully, my parents are coming this Sunday to take half of my stuff home--which I'll still have to pack tomorrow or sometime in the next 2 days. That will make it a little easier for me to move out alone on the  following weekend.

Help.

The Final Weeks

So I got to talk to my wonderful husband for TWO hours (FB for an hour and phone for an hour) today. It was awesome and just what I was needing lately. We talked about all of our memories from all the different times he's been home on leave. We talked about our wedding. About how when we were dating and he came home for the first time, how things feel into place right away--in just a few hours, you would have thought we'd been together for years. Amidst all this great conversation came some bad news. He's going to be gone, without communication, for my last 2-3 weeks of the semester. I'm pretty bummed about it, because I know how stressed I'm going to be, and how much I'll need him to keep me together and motivated. But I know he has a job to do, so I'm going to work my butt off so that when he gets back, I can tell him I finished out strong. This is what my last few weeks of school look like, starting this Monday:

Monday 11/14
Shakespeare's The Tempest read with 3-page paper on it, due at 2:30

Tuesday 11/15
Teaching Lesson 3 of my unit

Thursday 11/17
Teaching Lesson 4
Lead discussion on a chapter of book on-line

Friday 11/18
American Lit term (final) paper due--like 5-7 pages with 4+ secondary sources

Saturday 11/19
Lit Crit Take-home Final Exam (3-4 page) due by 4pm

Monday 11/21
A whole American Lit novel due at 11am
Shakespeare's Sonnets read in full with 3-page paper by 2:30
Reciprocal observation write up due (5-7 pages)

Tuesday 11/22
Teaching Lesson 5

Monday 11/28
American Lit 1500-word essay due at 11am
4-5 page Shakespeare paper due at 11am
English + Culinary Arts cross-curricular lesson to teach to my class

Tuesday 11/29
Teaching Lesson 6 (being observed this day!!)
Annotated Bib (8-10 pg) and Abstract (1 pg) due for my Lit Crit final paper at 6pm

Wednesday 11/30
Learning Strategy Portfolio Due (approx. 12 pages) at 645pm

Thursday 12/1
Teaching Lesson 7 (my last one!)

Friday 12/2
Entire unit due (probably 40-50 pgs) one that I'm not teaching, but have to make) at 6pm

Saturday 12/3
Lit Crit final paper due (8-10 pg)and presenting (reading) it to the English faculty at the Lit Crit Seminar

Tuesday 12/6
MFAT exam (English exit exam all English-majors have to take) 6:30-9pm

Wednesday 12/7
Literacy in the Content Area final exam

Thursday 12/8
Teacher Work Sample Due (the 100+ page binder of the unit I've been teaching all semester)
Still teaching the English + Culinary Arts lesson during our exam period

Friday 12/9
American Lit take home (3-5 pg) exam due

THE END.