Senioritis

There are typically about 4 weeks a year (midterms and finals for each semester) that I say to Mike, "this is going to be a really bad week for me, so please just bear with me." However, I feel that recently I have been beginning every week with this phrase.
This year isn't especially stressful, in fact it is probably less stressful than last. I am feeling extremely motivated to get my degree and a job, but I am having a hard time finding the motivation to get all of the work done.
I was talking to another student in my cohort about our lack of motivation, and difficulty dealing with our unstructured schedules. It is so easy to allow ourselves to take days off, because we don't have any real deadlines. I think she hit the nail on the head when she labeled our lack of motivation "senioritis." I feel like a senior in high school again :/.
So here I am sitting at home on a Friday morning trying to convince myself that I need to finish proofing my paper, and read at least a chapter of my textbook. Maybe I should tape a picture of a diploma in every room of my house, and on the wall in front of my desk in my office, so that I can keep my eye on the prize ;). 

Flippin' your fins you don't get too far

I started this week the same way that I start every other, by creating my to do list. This week's included: finish the next job application, complete the final draft of my manuscript, write my dissertation proposal, do my reading for class, and prepare my materials for FPU for next week. I thought that because I did not have much else going on this week that, while this to do list had major items on it, I should have no problem getting them done. I was going into the week with high anticipation of the feeling of accomplishment that the end of the week would bring. 
Then life happened. Monday was pretty productive, in the sense that it usually is, it was spend finishing the last couple of items off the week before's to do list. Then on Tuesday, I had an early meeting and decided that I could come home to take a nap and then work from home. Well, after a three hour nap I woke up and started cleaning out our closets, finding clothes that we no longer wear to donate (not on the list). 
After taking off Tuesday, I came back Wednesday to find my inbox overflowing, so Wednesday was lost to e-mails. On Thursday, I offered to sub in for a friend of mine who was going out of town. I was to teach her 300 student Psyc 100 class about hearing. So not only did I need to lecture to 300 students, but I had to lecture to them about something that I knew nothing about! So most of Thursday was lost to preparation and mild panic attacks. It ended up going really well though, and reassured me about the fact that I can do it, which is important because I will probably have to teach large sections of Psyc 100 the first several years of my appointment. 
Then there was Friday, which was spent in bed. I headed to my research project early Friday morning, but the whole time I felt sick to my stomach. So, I came home and spent the entire day sleeping, not waking up until Mike came home from work at 4. 
So, here it is on  Saturday and all I want to do is go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather we are having in C'ville, but instead I need to focus on getting items crossed off the list. The good news is that we have off on Monday, and my research isn't meeting on Tuesday, so I have extra buffer days this week. 
Maybe we will go have a picnic in the park, and I will take some work with me, that way I can get the best of both worlds. 

Job apps & Grandmothers

On Friday I sent out the first application for my first big girl job! Hitting send was a very exciting, but also a little nerve-wracking! I am currently working on the second and third, which will both be submitted some time next week. Please send positive thoughts my way!

Then on Sunday my family had an 85th birthday brunch for my grandmother, Momma. What an amazing women! Momma is the mother of 5 children, the grandmother of 15 children, and the great grandmother of 1 baby. All of us have enjoyed spending summers at Momma's summer home at the beach, where she makes us feel like the most important people on the world, as we eat zucchini bread, sip iced tea, and discuss our lives. Momma is a fun loving woman, who makes me feel like the 85 year old when we are walking through the mall and I am unable to keep up! We have all been very blessed to have this woman in our lives, and I am glad that my family was able to come together to celebrate her life.