Early to bed, early to rise...

...fish like hell and make up lies.

It's only Monday and I'm already exhausted! Today wasn't exceptionally trying; I taught at 8, worked in the tutor lab from 10-11, sat through a class from 12:45-2, and sat through another class from 2:30-5:30. All that was enough to keep me from getting bored (well, that's not completely accurate), but it was far from being a hectic day. Still, by the time I arrived home this evening, I had to collapse on my bed to lose myself in an episode of Are You Being Served?.

This past weekend came as a much needed breather after a long (four-day) week of school. Friday night Dora and I saw Balls of Fury and then ate a late dinner at Chiang Mai Thai. Saturday I slept late and then Aaron came over that night to make dinner with me. We ended up going out to the Saloon late that night, and consequently, slept most of the next day away. Though somewhat uneventful, Sunday was my favorite day of the weekend. Aaron and I spent most of it in bed, which was probably what I enjoyed the most.

I've experienced at least one session of every course I'm taking this semester, and honestly, I'm not incredibly excited about the content of any of them. I think my Medieval Lit course will be my favorite, which is a scary thing to admit.

After class today, one of my students pointed out that I had a hickey on my neck. I tried to come up with a quick excuse, but realized that anything I might say would sound stupid, so I just smiled and changed the subject. C'est la vie, je suppose.

You go backwards but then you go forwards again.

As expected, my life is once again in a crazy place. This change in the status quo, of course, stems from the fact that school started yesterday. Already I can tell that this semester is going to be crazy. Most likely, I won't have time to do anything but read, plan lessons, write papers, and correct assignments. What a life, right?

Things around the U of M have been pretty crazy with the onslaught of masses of students rushing around. I suppose I became accustomed to the campus being somewhat deserted during the summer, so seeing the place so hectic again has come as a rude awakening. I feel like the class I'm teaching this semester is going to be a challenge--not the actual course material, but the students. Granted, it is an 8:00 am class, and we have only met two times, but I have this lurking feeling that I'm going to be the one putting forth all the effort. We'll see.

The temperatures have been pretty unbearable. It's not that I mind to sweat, but it's really frustrating and embarrassing to have to walk around with my face glistening and my shirt spotted with wetness. I'm ready for a break in the temperature.

Something happening at home that I just caught wind of today has me pretty worried, but it's not something I can really go into here. I think I would give anything to go back and undo what can't be undone.

I go when all I want to do is stay.

shaughnessy.revisited

Looking back over my blog at Livejournal (shaughnessy), I've decided that I don't really know how or where to pick up from where that journal left off. It's not that I can't still relate to it; rather, I feel like making a clean break...like, starting fresh. So, here goes nothing.

Tomorrow sees the beginning of a new semester in my graduate career at the University of Minnesota. It's hard to believe that my first year is already over. Last year I focused on survival. This year, somehow, I have to be ready for my Master's exams by the end of the spring semester. Go figure. I can already feel that this is going to be somewhat of a whirlwind year. Already, I can foresee that a great deal of craziness will most likely ensue, but in a strange way I'm excited about it. Kinda.

One of my most recent preoccupations has been the simple fact that I don't know what I want to do with myself after this academic year. Although I haven't divulged this information to a large number of people, I'm thinking about leaving graduate studies after finishing my Master's degree. For a number of reasons (which I'm sure I'll detail at some point in a future post), I'm just not sure that a life in academia is right for me.

That whole concept comes as a pretty big change for me. For at least the last eight or nine years, I've been certain that I wanted to pursue an academic career. And now, that's all changed. I'm still trying to get used to the idea, actually. Maybe I was just in love with the idea of all of it--that is, with the intellectual prestige associated with academic work. I'm giving lots of thought to my options, but currently leaning away from pursuing my Ph.D.

Anyone who I've been keeping in touch with recently will know that another big thing on my mind lately has been my new relationship. Aaron and I just sort of happened into each other's lives, and now, he's on my mind so much that I can't imagine what would be filling my thoughts if not for him. I'm hopeful that things between us will last.

I'm not much of one for abrupt conclusions, but I should finish getting ready for school tomorrow. I need to finish my lesson plan and then think about sleep at some point.