It's a drizzly, dreary Sunday in Nashville, and I'm trying to get motivated to keep working on my take-home exam. It's the only thing between me and being officially done with classes for the semester. We technically have until Saturday to turn it in, but I told my professor I'd have it to him by 10am on Tuesday, since he preferred to get it in hard copy and is leaving town that afternoon. This give me some additional incentive to get moving. I'm probably halfway done, but still far enough from the finish line that it's just exhausting to think about. It's an analytical exam, in that the test asks us to learn about new topics and read a new article and then analyze them and connect them to existing learning. On the one hand, it's nice that I'm not just regurgitating what I learned all semester. On the other hand, this takes a lot longer, and I'm never quite sure if I'm giving the professor what he's looking for. I just want to do well and show some growth as a student.
Wes, Oliver, and I spent the morning (and some unseemly amount of money for what we bought) at Lowes. We got blinds for the front door, new locks for the front and back doors, a piece to fix the downstairs toilet (which has been out of commission for I don't know how long), a small Shop-Vac for the more industrial cleaning, and lumber for the proposed bookshelves in the front room (which we affectionately refer to as the library). And a 9-volt battery -- for the smoke detector in the garage, which was going off yesterday. We looked at lamps and rugs but decided to keep looking. It was a nice morning together. Oliver spent his time pushing the shopping cart by the lower rung, lamenting the fact that he isn't tall enough to reach the handle. He fell asleep on the way home, then ate lunch, and is now talking to himself in his crib rather than nap as I'd hoped he would.
The Christmas tree is in the corner, still naked as I spent yesterday either working on my exam or trying to keep Oliver from "helping" Wes too much. We're going to put mini white lights on the columns out front and decorate the tree, and that's about it for this year. I'm having some girlfriends over Monday night to make Christmas cookies, so I've got to finish my final early enough to get things cleaned up before they come over.
It's nice knowing that in a day or two I'll be pretty much done for the semester. My PhD application is not finished. I have a personal statement that just needs revised, and I need to resume studying for the GRE. I know studying won't significantly impact my score at this point, but I'll feel a lot more confident going in on the 28th if I take some practice tests, do some more problems, and keep reviewing vocabulary. The school seems to care a lot about these scores, which I find odd for a school of education, but I'm certainly happy to use it to my advantage if I'm able.
We have friends coming over on Saturday evening, family in town from the 22nd-25th, and the 30th to January 3rd. So we'll get some family time in between all that as well as during. I go back to work January 5th and to class January 13th, so I'll get a bit of a break. I'm hoping to have the house in great shape with some sort of plan to keep it that way before next semester starts. A semester in which I have the usual four classes, my job, plus a master's capstone project and news of my acceptance or denial to the PhD program. It's a big deal to me, for sure, but somehow I know that everything will be okay even if I don't get it in. I guess that tells me what's most important to me. The worst thing that could happen is that I don't get in and I stay home next year with Oliver. Not a bad gig.
That said, I'm back to my test. I'd hate for a first-semester incomplete to ruin my chances.
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