Hm. Haven't for real posted since the new year. Well, a whole bunch is happened since then and I know I can't cover it all. So here's a list.
- celebrated New Year's day with Patrick's family/family friends, when I tried oysters for the first time
- went to Rhode Island with Jason, Chad, and Andrew to visit Brown University. We stayed at Dr. DeNoia's house and heard good fishing stories from her husband and ate their tasty food. (Thanks, Mr. & Dr. DeNoia!)
- came back to school, still dreading the semester and all the changes it would bring
- a dear friend's dad died, was heartbroken for him (still am). The snow day came the day after I found out. After he called me I couldn't do work that evening, just called my family and cried. The snow was wonderful, like a reprieve, gave me a little time to refocus and get some work done.
- played in the snow with Patrick, we built a snowman
- dealt with some crazy drama going on with my friends, I don't even want to talk about it
- made chili for my UNCC friends one Friday
- had the Bible study group down and made spaghetti for them one Sunday
- Patrick surprised me and took me to see Rent, where we met Samantha & Evan, some other friends, that was really sweet
- made sushi for the super bowl with the Bible study friends
- hosted ACM speaker last week, he was pretty cool
- did a whole bunch of schoolwork
- failed at making petits four for Valentine's day
- succeeded at making gluten-free cake (from a mix)
- went home to spend time with my family a couple times, I'm more homesick every time I go home
- submitted a paper to INTERACT with VT people
- got a paper accepted into ACMSE with UNCC people
- had a lovely first non-single Valentine's day
- got my assistantship and fellowship letters from Clemson
- bought my cap and gown
- Bubbles, my fish, got sick twice, but he's all better now
...uhh, there's probably more. I can't remember it all. It's detailed in other journals, I'm sure. Overall it's just been really busy and really intense. All this thinking towards the coming transition wears me out. Generally I'm a pretty even-keel kind of girl. I don't get upset that often, I cry only rarely, I ignore things instead of turning them into huge issues. This is just not so this semester. I'm a mess. I'll cry at the drop of a hat. I run miles to get out all the tension. I hide under the covers and in video games and behind computer monitors to delay dealing with the inevitable. I've recently realized that this is most likely a selfish and ineffective way of dealing with things, and it probably isn't good for me or for the people I care about. I'm working on it, I promise. Just too much transition at once and too many unknowns. I'm breaking it into little pieces and taking them as I can. I'm trying to do better.
So there's a brief summary. I'd like to be a bit more reflective but there is no time for that. I'm looking forward to this weekend, not because I get a break, but because it presents two solid, uninterrupted work days that I desperately need. Despite my greatest efforts, I am terribly behind in most everything. So, in lieu of a blog post during the next two or so weeks of my life, here's a list of what I will be doing:
- making a poster to present at SIGCSE
- presenting that poster at SIGCSE
- visiting Kevin, Emily, & Chloe in Knoxville
- submitting camera-ready version of my paper for ACMSE
- building a website for myself
- submitting an internship application to IBM
- practicing piano lots
- filling out bunches of SLC event reports
- assigning tasks to my SLC team and being their Junior Achievement contact
- planning and hosting ACM meetings
- planning & helping to host a Women in STEM lunch
- writing a paper for my religion class
- finishing implementation of my project for software engineering
- dealing with whatever other chaos that ensues; I'm sure there will be plenty of it
so there.
more later. probably much later.
