Freedom!

I am free at last from the semester, like a chest-burster breaking out in Alien.

It's a very satisfying feeling. I won't be checking my grades until after Christmas. No need for the pressure. Here life is all reading books and seeing wonderful people.

I hear it snowed back at the university. HAH. That must be a terrifying sight to see, all those southerners panicking.

Here it continues to snow, and the sky is the same color as the ground--a phenomenon I strongly dislike, especially with the red orange overtones of sodium streetlights at night. It makes me feel as if everything were burning, unpleasantly.

It is difficult to get settled. I feel like I'm walking in a dream. I wish I had a list of things to do (you DO have a big stack o things to do)... well, okay, that helps.

Finish WSTAR work
figure out car and house insurance
call stupid billing people about my health insurance
finish christmas shopping (!!! FUCK)

glub glub

glub, glub glub. glub glub.

The Great Convulsion

So here we are. Last day of classes. Everything coming to a head.

I'm coasting. Not quite on top, but with my chin above water. Like being pushed by a reasonably sized coastal ocean wave--my feet don't touch the bottom, so it can send me anyway, but I'm pretty buoyant so I can still breathe. And for now I'll let it carry me along. It's my direction and my guidance. I can try to return to shore later (and we'll see if I have the strength for it).

Things to do today:
finish Steve's lab write up, gah!
finish Li's analytic write up
finish my motherfucking star.
study at least 2 hours solid for Li (which is 3 hours attempted, I believe).
sleep like hell.

Those are good goals. I have a lot of studying to do for the next couple of days, with a splendid reward on Saturday night in the form of a cookie-baking-plus-alcohol-drinking party.

I can do this. Just keep paddling... just keep paddling... paddle paddle.

Crazy Astronomers!

Yesterday was fun! It consisted mostly of panicking about programming until 5 in the afternoon, panicking about a locked up key until 5:30, an hour and a half of break, and then 4 hours of lab followed by 8 hours of observing.

If you did your calculations carefully you should see that this leaves us at about 7am, which is the time I was driving home this morning. I was surprised and a little pissed at the early morning runners who decided that the road was the best place in the world to do their jogging. Seriously, people? It's still dark out, and you think that you need to cross the road at the blind spot on the downside of a hill? get outta my way! *honkhonk*

I made it home accident-free and crashed until the afternoon. Now I'm all wired, which is good since I have a butt-load of homework to do.

Thanksgiving was fantastic. yay for family! and plans have been laid--INTRICATE, UNWIELDY, AWESOME plans--for getting home for the holidays. Glee!

Now I just need to survive the next three weeks. *sigh* at least one final has been commuted into "project". That will help.