April 1, No Foolin’

It’s the first of April, and because it’s a month that begins with the letter ‘A’, it’s also time for B(log) E(every) D(ay) of A(pril)! I really & truly got involved with BEDA in a serious and committed way last year, and I am so excited to reprise the blogging tradition this year on Bailey is writing. It’s a challenge to blog every day of the month, especially the last month of the semester (and my last month of #ohgradschool ever! for the time being…). But last year I found that blogging every single day had me producing some interesting blog topics and I can’t wait to see what I come up with this year.

To kick off BEDA, I’m just leaving you all with this fun & happy announcement:

Today I passed my MA defense exam! so in a few short weeks I will really & truly be a Master of English.

(I’ve actually been having this recurring dream nightmare for several weeks now that my committee would call me into the room & tell me I passed my exam only to recant that statement by shouting APRIL FOOLS! Fortunately, this did not happen. I really did pass my exam.)

Until tomorrow!

(BEDA: April 1, 2013)

february re-cap

I know y’all aren’t surprised that I disappeared from the world of blogging because this happens. In fact, my disappearances are probably more reliable than my posts, at this point in time. But it’s the end of February, and I thought I’d share some February things with you.

We booked our wedding venue.

We also booked our photographer (I could not be more excited about working with our photographer!) this past week, and now we’re working on the caterer, the baker, and the florist. March will also be the month I shop for & purchase my wedding dress, eek!

Grad school is still happening.

But not for long! I try to ignore this most days, but there are 10 weeks until my graduation. Which is so not enough time to finish all the things that must be finished — most importantly, my Master’s portfolio & defense exam. This is the main reason I don’t blog these days, but I should be back in full form in early May!

Inspiration for Feb. – March

I see a lot of bloggers posting inspiration & photo posts via Pinterest, and I really dig it on others’ blog, so why not do it here? Here are some pins that have been working for me in February.

Source: shop.outofprintclothing.com via Bailey on Pinterest

Source: shop.outofprintclothing.com via Bailey on Pinterest

Source: this-is-glamorous.tumblr.com via Bailey on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Bailey on Pinterest

Who knows if Faulker actually said this last quote (quotes are often mis-attributed on the internet), but I do still love the sentiment.

Enjoy March, everyone!

November 15: Halfway Heaven or Hell?

It’s November 15, and we are exactly halfway through November now. If you’re participating in NaNoWriMo, you should be approaching & passing the halfway word count sometime today — 25,000 words!

Whoa.

If you’re like me, and still in school, maybe you’re realizing that this is week 12 of the semester & you really only have 2 weeks of anything left. Because finals don’t count; or you’re in grad school, as I am, and you don’t have finals, so you just lose that whole last week. (Bah humbug!)

Either way, on November 15, you’re probably in either Halfway Heaven (so you rock! and we also kinda hate you) or you’re in Halfway Hell (so you still rock! but you kinda hate yourself).

Which is it?

I am in Halfway Hell. November has been productive, so productive, and now I just want to curl up in a little ball and sleep. Which is actually what I did most of this week, and now that I’ve metaphorically woken up, I’m in this cold place and feelin’ kinda panicky.

You see, I had lots of things to do this week and I did nothing. NOTHING. But, because I never started anything, I can’t actually be further behind than I am now, and that’s a weird & backwards sort of silver lining. You know, like, “I couldn’t possibly be more behind that I am now, so the only direction is forward!“

So now I am going to use November 15 for everything it’s worth: getting caught up (or, at least, getting started on catching up). November 15 is a great day to realize that you can still accomplish your November goals by just readjusting your original daily goals  – whether they be word counts for a novel or page counts for a school paper.

Here is how I will spend my November 15: (1) grading four major projects, and (2) creating a workable outline for 1/2 of my Wikipedia paper, and (3) submitting my degree plan for graduation, and (4) going to class, and (5) watching my boyfriend’s soccer match.

There are a lot of great things about this November 15. First, I get to feel accomplished for doing something I have to do anyway — going to class, where I will give a presentation, yay! — and I scheduled in some fun break time — watching my boyfriend play his last match of the season. And both of these things should help me stay motivated to accomplish real grad school tasks — the seems-endless-in-the-moment grading gauntlet, and the outline for the paper that will represent my writing in my Master’s thesis portfolio in April, eek!

So, are you in heaven or hell today? If you’re in heaven, congrats! If you’re in hell, welcome.