The end is near

I longingly await the day when I will once again embrace my long lost friend - sleep. That day is coming soon. Today is the last day of classes. On Monday I have one paper due and one exam to take, then next Saturday I graduate.

I've discovered an interesting dynamic in my sleep patterns (or should I say, lack of sleep patterns). I've always known that the less sleep I get, the more it takes to wake me up (i.e. the more alarms I need to set, the longer they will inevitably go off before they rouse me, the longer I will groggily hit the snooze bar, the higher the chance that they will not wake me up at all, etc.). However, my level of sleep deprivation has reached such a height that even on the rare occasion that I get a normal night's sleep, it takes just as much to wake me the next morning. In fact, night before last I slept an amazing 7 hours - but it was just as difficult for me to wake up as it was this morning after sleeping an hour and a half. I had been thinking that I would be able to get some extra rest this weekend, but then I realized that I'm scheduled to work a total of 24 hours over the weekend, plus I have to write a paper and study for an exam, so no luck. Looking at my schedule, I'm thinking maybe I can sleep in on Wednesday. That would be nice. If not Wednesday, it will probably be the following Monday or so. Then again, the following Thursday I'm moving, so it would be helpful to pack at some point. Oh well, after I move, I'll have three days off before I start work again. Lots of sleep will happen.

So maybe I spoke too soon, that day isn't quite as near as I thought - it's getting closer though, and the pressure is decreasing, even if I'm not getting more sleep. But for now, I'm off to my last class, then to celebrate the last day of classes by having lunch with a friend at Thai Tom's- my favorite restaurant. Mmm...I can taste it now.

Choose your own title

That's right, choose your own title. It's like Choose Your Own Adventure, only I'm not giving you options to choose from. It's all you. Please submit title suggestions by posting them as comments. All suggestions will be considered. Winners will be announced whenever I feel like it and some random prize will be made up at that time. No purchase necessary.

Hmm...three more weeks and one more blog. So that two week break that I mentioned in my last blog was nice - it was way too short, though. The finals crunch has begun. I had a paper due on Tuesday and one due today. Then I have one more next Thursday, a final on Friday, and two finals the following Monday. Then on Tuesday...dun dun dun...(drum roll)...I'M GOING BACK TO SPAIN! HOORAY! I'M SO EXCITED! CAN YOU TELL? YES, I KNOW I'M YELLING - I CAN'T HELP IT! Actually, fortunately for me I can help it. I'm only yelling internally. I don't think the rest of the people in the library would appreciate me yelling out loud, even if I am going to be in Spain in 2 weeks. AAAAAHHHH!!! I'M GOING TO BE IN SPAIN IN 2 WEEKS!

My goal right now is to get through the next week and a half without entirely burning myself out. I have a game plan, too. Ready? Here it is: Quit procrastinating. I put this game plan into effect last week and it started out nicely. I actually decided on my topic and started organizing my thoughts last Friday for my Tuesday paper. Okay, rabbit trail: Who came up with the expression "organize your thoughts"? It's dumb. It's like I have a box full of thoughts and I'm putting them all in labeled file folders or something. Who does that? It's a waste of time and file folders. I just leave 'em all in a pile in the corner and pull out a random thought whenever I need one. So now you know where I stand on organized thoughts, as if it weren't already clear by my blogging style...ha! Anyway, back to Tuesday's paper. So by Friday I was already researching and making notes for my paper. I even came up with the title, "The Role of Religion in Machiavellian Politics." (Did you hear that, Jess? I said, "Machiavellian Politics." It makes me think of you every time ;) This is huge, people. I'm not sure you understand the magnitude of the effort that I put forth. It was only a 5-page paper, and I started thinking about it not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4 DAYS IN ADVANCE! And it did help. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to begin the actual writing of the paper until the night before, so I was up until 3:30 am finishing it, but it definitely helped that I started ahead of time. Then again, I probably would have finished a lot earlier if I hadn't taken so many breaks and then decided to hang out in the living room with Isaac and Lindsay while I wrote my paper... Oh well, starting on Friday helped my stress level, if nothing else. The real problem with the plan is this: If it is not implemented early and correctly, it cannot be sustained. Case in point: Tuesday's paper was started early, but not finished until the night before. So, after sleeping 4 or 5 hours Monday night, then spending all day at school, I arrived home exhausted at around 6:30 pm Tuesday night. I managed to do a little bit of reading for today's paper before I crashed. Then on Wednesday (yesterday) I had to work until 6:00. So I didn't start on today's paper until last night. Alas, but I started out with high hopes. After arriving home, I, of course, procrastinated some more, because as a great American icon once said, "That's what Tiggers do best!" I didn't actually begin typing up the paper until about 2 am. As a result, I did not finish until 7:30 am.

After a 2 hour nap, here I am, back at school. I've got 2 more classes before I'm free for the day, and I've gathered supplies to help me make it through. Sleep will not be my master! I'm drinking some french press coffee right now, and on my way to the library, I bought a 16 oz can of Full Throttle, some Lunchables, and a bag of Cheetos. I ate the Lunchables for lunch. Yum. If my enemy, sleep, starts gaining ground during one of my classes, I will simply crack open some of my provisions and the day will be mine! Mwah hah hah! I'm not sure about the whole Full Throttle thing. I've never actually had one before. I'm not really an energy drink type of person. Oh sure, I enjoy the occasional Red Bull (especially because, as they say, "Red Bull gives you wings" and I like flying), but I don't generally drink too many energy drinks. I was hoping for some Rocket Chocolate, but they didn't have any. It's okay, though, I'm sure what I have will suffice. I've got to go to my next class now, so this is where the blog ends. I'll add a note later to inform you of the outcome of the Battle Against Sleep. In closing, I'M GOING TO SPAIN IN A WEEK AND A HALF! HOORAY! That is all.

School is out, finals are over, and I'm never going back. Hooray!

Just to clarify, by "never" I mean "not for 2 1/2 weeks." I am so tired. I wrote papers in lieu of finals for all of my classes this quarter, and they were all due on Monday. So, I've been fairly stressed out for the last few weeks because I just haven't had time to write them. I was up all night Sunday night finishing up the papers, then I left at around 9:30 am to go turn them in. After that, I came home for a couple of hours, then went to work and worked until 10:30 pm. And due to my work schedule, I sustained that sleep deprivation for the remainder of the week. I finally slept in a little on Thursday, only to have a Family Guy marathon with some friends until around 4 am on Friday morning - then I had to work at 11. Genius, I know. Oh well, I'll get some sleep eventually. But for now, I've got to get ready for work.