Almost there

Right now my floor and desk are COVERED with books, papers, binders, pencils, and potato chips (A girl has to have a little somethin' somethin' to get her through all this work, doesn't she?). Tomorrow and Thursday are my last two days of class of Fall term. I am almost done and I cannot wait for the sweet satisfaction that will come when I am driving out of the parking garage after class on Thursday night.

Since August, I have been away from my husband because I returned to PDX to work on my doctorate and keep my place in my school district, while he remained in Germany where we had been living together for the past year. I started teaching Kindergarten at a new school while at the same time struggling through a full load of doctoral courses (13 credits!). I have spent most weekends doing homework, reading, and writing. I have been engrossed in research about culturally responsive teaching while at the same time attempting to be a totally awesome Kindergarten teacher who actually employs those culturally relevant teaching methods in the classroom. I have spent approximately 10 hours per week in class in addition to the 45 + hours I am working and sometimes when I had weekend class, I spent as many as 21 hours in class in a single week. In the past few weeks, I have been writing, re-writing, and editing papers for each of my courses, all the while stressed that my writing will not be good enough for the rigorous standards of this intense program I am part of. I know that I have been extremely stressed and not once in the past 14 weeks have I been able to get a hug from the person I love most in the world. :: tear ::

Whew. Sneaker Teacher==> plate= FULL

After Thursday, I will not have class or homework for an entire month! I am so excited to enjoy the simple pleasure of being able to relax and enjoy some free time. In exactly 17 days I will reunite with my cute husband for two weeks in Arizona. I will soak in the jolliest time of year with lots of hot cocoa, books read for pleasure, gossip magazines, and I will definitely catch up on hugs. I cannot even express how excited I am for December 17th! I absolutely love this time of year and the impending sense of relief of being done with classes makes it all the more sensational.

Oh how sweet it is!