ugh

too.

damn.

hot.



i mean, it's april for goodness sakes! blargh.

it's beginning to look a lot like...finals?

it's that time of semester again! a time for laughter, tears, anxiety, and self-hatred. today i spent about twelve hours trying to write a ten page paper about something i do every single day: commenting on students' writing. i'm writing a paper for grammar class about the language of teacher comments and whether or not they actually do anything (and whether the language has anything to do with them). it is surprisingly hard to write. i figured i'd be done in about four hours. well, since i've probably REALLY only worked on in for, say, six, i'm still behind. i've only got five pages! the problem is, at its heart, this paper is really a sociology paper, and i'll be darned if these aren't harder to write than regular english papers!

i feel like an utter moron staring at the screen, reading and re-reading what i've got, trying to just b.s. my way to ten pages. anyway, i want to get this as done as i can tonight, so that it's out of my life and i can worry about my other papers.

new to-do:
1. finish grammar project (that's this)
2. begin shakespeare (presentation due the 11th, final due the week after)
3. begin victorian lit (another paper only 8-10 pages, but i think that one will be tough, also). Presentation next tuesday, final due the 15th).

and then? HOME FREE. :) :) :)

rainy day

i thought today it was supposed to rain, so i put on one thing.

then, it was sunny and hot for a while, so i changed, and put on another thing.

then, a few hours later, i came out of school and it was raining and cold; the second thing i put on proved a poor shield.

new england weather is so curious!




side note: i have 20 papers to grade tonight. that deserves a big "WAH."

after swearing off cookies...

i don't know why i bother saying i won't eat cookies, when clearly, i like cookies. who DOESN'T, i ask you? your obvious answer shall demonstrate my point (unless you say, "nobody," in which case, you are sadly misinformed). right. so i did okay all weekend, and then today i was stressed, and though not at all hungry, wanted to eat a cookie. so i bought one. and while at the counter, well, i also bought a bag of peanut butter m&m's. i did not eat the whole bag, but i did eat about half. well, now i have heartburn as a reminder of why i should only eat these types of goodies in moderation.

my goal is to fit into that sundress again. i wore it a year ago at pete's graduation party, and there's pretty much no reason that it shouldn't fit me now. so, i hereby declare, it shall fit again!

i need to swallow my pride and go back to weight watchers. it's not like i hate myself when i go (on the contrary, i rather like myself), but now that it's been about 3 months of not going, i fear the scale. i need to get over it. this thursday, i'm back in the swing.

friday

finally friday, and finally nice out! i'm totally digging the good weather. i can't wait for the flowers to start blooming in earnest, especially flowering trees! that's always the prettiest, methinks. i wonder if they've got any flowers on the trees at home yet...

hm, i have to stay at school an extra three hours today to meet with some kid about his paper. i'm not looking forward to it, though it'll give me a chance to catch up on Tess of the D'Urbervilles, which i have to read by tuesday and which, as usual, i've only barely started. so far so good, though.

i'm also trying to decide whether i should go down to pete's tonight or not. he's going to a big party tonight and he's bringing punch. i would really like to go. i think, let's me serious, it's not like i'm going to do work on a friday night, anyway. yeah, i'll probably go.

also, i really, REALLY want the following two things: Paul Taylor handmade-to-order sandals ($275) and a Nissan Cube (approx. $13, 995).

five more weeks?

something like that, anyway. the end is certainly nearing! how nerve-wracking! today's post will be a to-do list of things that need to get done before the end of the semester. i think it will make me feel better. they are in no particular order.

1. write grad paper: "literacy in thomas lodge's rosalynd" 25-30 pgs.
2. write victorian lit paper: "something about fairies and the guy who wrote sherlock holmes" 10 pgs.
3. write grammar paper: "how teacher comments affect student writing" 10 pgs.
4. final grammar exam
5. grade the research paper for my class
6. grade the persuasive paper for my class
7. read Tess of the D'Urbervilles
8. read The Winter's Tale

bother bother

so, i don't want this to be monday. but what else is new? i have to finish "king lear" today before 5:1o. perfectly do-able, i just don't feel like it.

i had a perfectly annoying conversation with pete last night about how, if we were to get married, we would deal with the fact that i like my traditional catholic services, and he likes his contemporary non-denominational ones. it feels like the only good solution would be for us to meet halfway: traditional protestant services. on the one hand, this bothers me (but i really can't say why...i'm just being selfish, probably), on the other hand, it actually doesn't bother me much (i just went to a United Church of Christ service for palm sunday and was so moved i almost cried). maybe i'm just afraid that my parents will hate me if my children aren't catholic. i know that isn't true, but sometimes it's just an irrational fear. i don't want my kids to feel left out (but is that a bad reason for making a decision one way or the other?) i don't even HAVE KIDS, so i don't know why this is bothering me so much lately. i'm also not getting married anytime soon. bah. i'm just an Anxious Annie...always.

aaand that's my life right now. gotta take a shower, go meet trevor the robot for a conference, then finish king lear.

tower of power

today is april 3rd! that means the following things are happening:

1. ALLYSON'S BIRTHDAY! i wish she was around so i could hug her. :(

2. tower of power concert tonight at the hampton beach casino ballroom. pete is very, very excited.

3. party at my house for incoming/accepted students to unh for next year.


numbers 2&3 mean i'm going to have a busy day, what with all the cleaning before the party, and all the cleaning after it. i just hope people aren't rowdy and throw up on things. i don't know these people...who knows what they're capable of! i do know that my vacuum is broken and our rug is very sandy and dirty from the winter... whatever. they're a bunch of poets and fiction writers, which means their houses are probably a lot grosser than mine ever will be. but i definitely have to clean the bathroom (which...let's face it...is one of my favorite things).

mhm. that's all. roommate went to go get her license this morning. i wonder if she'll pass the driving test. we'll see in not too long, methinks!

ugh, i don't want to go to school today. if i can find cash maybe i'll drive in. i just don't feel like waiting for the bus today.