I could ask the same question of my brain.
I know that the folks that struggle through NaNoWriMo, in which they write a 50,000 word novel in a single month, have more to brag about than I do. After all, I’ve been working on my portfolio since September, and when I turned it in earlier this week it only reached 106 pages and 30,592 words. That’s including a table of contents, both of my resumes, two pages of references and five appendixes. Still, I turned it in with an unbelievably satisfying sense of accomplishment.
Now I wait, and see how many credits I get for it. I should hear something by the 13th. I have 92 credits right now, and I need 120 to graduate. The max I can get on my portfolio is 30 credits – if I get 28 or above I only have to take the History of the Civil Rights Movement class I have scheduled for the Winter semester (which is just five weeks long). If I get 25-27 I’ll only have to take one additional class in the Spring semester. If I get 22-24 credits I’ll have to take two classes this spring. Any way I go, I have a May 2013 graduation date, because according to my professor it’s very unlikely that I’ll get any less than 22 credits.
Just in time to celebrate by going to Maine (in 187 days)!
I haven’t written this formally, for this amount of time on a single project, in my life. Sure, I’ve written papers before. I’ve written short stories. I’ve written blog posts and articles, some of them damn long. But I’ve never had to write about the “what” and the “how” of my skills (in this case I wrote three chapters – Supply Chain Management, Photography, and Writing for the Internet), then reflect upon them with the “why” that follows the path of how I got from “there” to “here”. “Zoom in” to develop narrative, then “zoom out” to provide high-level context, with an introduction and conclusion that tie those three very disparate subjects together in a single theme. It was very challenging, and very rewarding.
Though if I never have to write in the APA format again I’ll be JUST FINE WITH THAT.
It’s funny. When I turned in my paper I was convinced that I wouldn’t feel like writing again for MONTHS. But here I am. Can’t keep a good wordy bitch down, I guess.
GOD it’s nice to be able to swear again.
Aside from busting my ass at school, life has been lovely. We’ve been hanging out quite a bit with our friends Aaron and Michelle, going Jeepin’ and hanging out at each other’s houses (EPIC ROCK BAND). They’re awesome. Really, they kick ass. You WISH you had friends as awesome as these. Well, and if I am your friend, lookit that. You do. We went to Sedona a couple of weekends ago and if anybody wants me to take their engagement pictures, I have just the spot:
Yes, the colors actually do look like that. No, they aren’t actually engaged (ha, YET). And YES, I still don’t do weddings. Heh.
I finished our Christmas shopping yesterday, with shipments going out to long-distance friends and relatives, and stuff arriving to the house to be wrapped and lugged up to Flagstaff for what we will henceforth refer to as our “Chalet Christmas”.
Did I talk about that? Maybe I didn’t talk about that. I probably just told Facebook. Anyway! We’re renting a cabin in Flagstaff (called a “chalet” in the description, which if you stick strictly to the definition of a wooden, sloped roof vacation residence in the mountains, is correct) for Christmas. Friends and family are coming up on the night of the 23rd for food and fun (tamales and tacos for Christmas dinner!), and spending the night. Then Bill and I (and Bailey!) will be by ourselves, barring any other day visitors, until the 26th. It’s in the middle of a Ponderosa pine forest, at an elevation that allows for hopes of a white Christmas. There’s a huge stone fireplace, every amenity we need to keep us fed and occupied, and plenty of places nearby to hike and Jeep.
We’re really looking forward to it. What I didn’t realize about going away for Christmas, though, is the logistics that are involved. Lugging up the presents, cooking holiday food ahead of time, procuring party necessities (read: booze), packing clothing and necessities for us and the pupster… it’s certainly more of a challenge than just making sure the house is “company clean”. I suspect, though, that it will be totally worth it. I haven’t felt this much in the way of holiday spirit in YEARS.
Who wants to bet that Oz will poop in our shoes while we’re gone? The NERVE of us leaving him (and Zoe) alone at Christmas! With big bowls of food and water. And blankets and kitty beds on the couch to lay on. And umpteen-million toys. Yeah, the nerve. I bet every single cabinet in the kitchen will be standing wide open when we get back.
Other items of dubious interest:
- Amanda and I had a Magic Mike squee-fest one evening while Bill was gone. I taught her how painless tequila shots are when chased with a chunk of fresh pineapple. The tequila was better than the movie, though there were some drool-worthy scenes. THE V CUT, LADIES, AMIRITE?
- I made homemade chicken stock for the first time, and it turned out awesome (if you don’t have one, you MUST get a dutch oven. I have this one
and I LOVE IT). Then I filled up a couple of muffin pans to freeze it into 1/2 cup serving sizes. Popped them out, put two in each baggie then put all of the baggies into a couple of gallon sized ziplocks, and felt very much like Harriet the Happy Homemaker.
- I am apparently a sucker for specific-use dishes. I got a couple of these and a couple of these from Uncommongoods.com. Now all I want to do is make tomato soup and grilled cheese, and tapas with a variety of dips. We are going to use the CRAP outta these. Also, I totally want these. Oh, and this! Thank God for wish lists.
Okay, that about wraps it up for this edition of Ohai Let’s Get All Caught Up. How are YOU?
