This last month has been very stressful but the semester is over and I have graduated. Yayay! I am expecting A's in two of my classes for sure and a possible A in the other but it could just as well be an AB. I kind of wanted to end my senior year on a high note but I graduated with distinction anyway. (1/15/01 -- When my grades were posted I discovered that I got an A, not an AB so I am satisfied with my grades.)
I wasn't handling the stress very well though. The last two weeks I spend most of my non-school time sitting on the sofa in my bathrobe either studying or playing solitaire. One day I literally spent the entire day doing nothing but solitaire.
The last day of class I was incredibly stressed. My stomach was in a knot. I got a couple blocks from home and the check engine light came on. The roads were a little slick from the snow storm we had had over the weekend and I would be coming home after dark when it would be even icier. I turned around and went home and asked Tom to look and see if he could spot anything wrong. Perhaps it was fixable. He didn't find anything but offered to drive me since I was so worried. What a sweetie! He drove me in to class and picked me up in the evening. He ended up driving 4 hours during the day. I really appreciated it.
The next day I went shopping for the food for the weekend. We were expecting guests for the weekend as we were doing our nest Yule ritual. I slipped on an icy sidewalk and wrenched my back trying to avoid hitting the ground. I did manage to stay upright but also sprained my big toe! So we didn't go in to Madison to have coffee with some of the local poly group and a reporter. I didn't make it in to the Pagan Tea & Talk in town. I did make it into the hot tub but that was about it for the day. Luckily I had done the cleaning and gift wrapping in the morning before shopping.
We had a very nice Yule. Phoenix makes quite a wassail:) It was a small group of regulars so it was more intimate than some of our open circles. That was a treat.
So today is the start of the first week after graduation. I wanted to begin the week with a different routine and not just sit at the computer all day. I started exercising again (though mostly just stretches and Tai-Chi moves since my back is still stiff and a little sore), spent time meditating, made a list of things I hope to get done this week from finish Yule shopping to cleaning the kitchen and organizing the piles of papers and books on my bedroom floor, started up writing in my journal again, and am debating going outside for a walk. It is snowing, a light fluffy kind of snow and looks so beautiful. I love to walk in it but it is also 0 degrees out and I don't want to let my back get chilled right now. And there are plenty of things I could be doing in the house. I seem to be running out of steam now though.
Maybe a few hours reading - not textbooks - but actual fiction would be relaxing. Hmmm is that rationalization?
Copyright © 2000 Kyril Oakwind