T-56 days and counting

I woke up yesterday with a fog over my brain. I didn't feel like I could be productive at all. It think that was a sign to change my work habits a bit. Thirteen hour days of intensive editing give me hangovers, so I am going to balance the intensive nose-to-the-page editing with some lighter tasks so that I don't get sidetracked.

I wrapped up my work at SIAST yesterday as well, though there may still be some more marking trickling in by Friday. Teaching at that college was a great learning experience, and I might even consider doing it again if I have time in my workload next year. I am a little freaked at the prospect of next year, but I will worry about that after the defence.

Back to work!

All by myself

The university is one lonely place once May hits. I am here working on the thesis (t-58 days and counting) and there is barely a soul around. Not a single colleague to commiserate with. I guess that means I will just have to work.

Speaking of work... here is a little article I found quite inspiring for some strange reason:

Lucas forced himself to write Episode III

Hollywood mogul George Lucas struggled so much with writing the screenplay for final Star Wars installment Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, he had to force himself to stick to a rigid working day as he sought inspiration. The hugely successful movie-maker, 60, took on the persona of a normal office worker as he sat at his desk for nine hours a day, five days a week - and he still only managed to produce five pages everyday. He says: "I am very diligent about writing. I go to work at 8.30am and leave at 6pm. I sit there with that page in front of me but I still can't write it. "I do get it done, I actually write five pages a day. But I force myself - otherwise I would probably write a page a day."

I am not a big George Lucas fan, but it is nice to know that some of the most successful people in the world have similar writing struggles.

Conspicuous absence

Well, after a month of heavy marking and thesis writing, I had my committee meeting yesterday. I have a firm and fast deadline for the completion of my thesis... July 1st. The defence is anticipated for sometime in the last half of July, because one of my committee members will be in town then anyhow. It looks like I have my work cut out for me in the next 2 months. This is both exciting and terrifying to me right now. Back to work.

Car update

Well, SGI declared my car a write off and has decided it is worth $800, subtract the $700 deductible and I get a whopping $100 for my inconvenience. They get to sell the car off for parts and my $700 deductible. I feel absolutely ripped off now, more ripped off when the damn thing was stolen. The police are closing the case because there were no prints recovered and I am left to get another vehicle.

Thank goodness my parents are willing to help me out finding another junker until I am done school and making a bit of money and not paying tuition.

Some April Fools day...

I awoke this morning at 6:15am to the phone ringing. It was the city police. Apparently, my car was stolen and recovered before I even knew it was missing. It was found on the other side of the city when someone reported a suspicious vehicle parked on the street. I can get it back from the impound lot later this afternoon, but I guess a window is broken and there is damage to the steering column that will need to be fixed. On the other hand, how lucky am I that I will even get my poor little junker back... so many vehicles get stolen and the owner's never see them again, and the few repairs to my car is going to be less expensive than trying to replace the whole car.

Of all days too... I went and checked my spot to make sure someone wasn't just playing a joke on me. All that was in my parking spot was broken glass and the part of the steering column that the thief ripped off to hot wire it.

Mother Nature's response

She decided to send me fishtailing down a major overpass and has now decided to hold my car hostage in its own parking spot. Oh well... I am going to have some hot tea and go to bed... she can't be this mean tomorrow too ;o)

Open letter to Mother Nature

Quit screwing around with all this white crap and give us a real spring already!!!!

Sincerely, Laura

Well, the only good thing about this weather is that it has put me back in the mood to try my hand at making mulled wine. Maybe I will do that one evening while the snow still flies.

Morning at the University

Well, I am up and I am here. I just finished my delicious banana chocolate chip muffin and I am sipping my English Breakfast tea. It is so peaceful, I am dreading the thought of tainting this with work.

I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately, but what I think I really want is more time to do some things that really ground me, like cleaning and organizing. I really really want to get my pile of papers organized and filed, which is a project I have procrastinated on for months. All I need to do is pick up some hanging folders, two racks to convert my cabinet into one that can accommodate hanging files, and some labels then I can plow through this paper party in one day I am sure of it.

I don't feel completely disorganized, but there are certain things in my surroundings that I find quite draining... and this paper pile is one of them. The other is my thesis.

I have been working on it and working on it, but I don't feel like I am making progress because I am not getting many new pages, but I am making improvements to the writing of each of the chapters. I just want this thing to be done now. I know I will get it done, I just want it to be sooner than later.

Treated myself

I went today and picked up the latest CD by Tori Amos called "The Beekeeper." I am quite pleased with it. It is great background music for puttering around my apartment.








I finally unpacked a box that my parents gave me from my grandmother's old things when they were cleaning out her condo. It is a lovely set of china for 8. It is cream with silver flowers and trim. I absolutely adore it. I think I might finish up my marking with a cup of tea in one of the cups and saucers from the set. I love being a girl :o)

Plugging away

Today is a desk day if ever there was one. I have plunked myself behind my desk and don't plan on going very far until I have some solid work done on Chapter 5 of the thesis. I am planning on going on a little excursion to Edmonton on Thursday morning to visit Jimmy for a few days. That will be a welcome break after all this intense work.

This past week, with some much-needed help from Brennan, I rearranged my apartment. It is funny how refreshing it is to have slightly different surroundings. Myrah freaked out a bit with the changes, but she has settled in nicely. I am enjoying the much airier feel of my apartment now. Also, my computer has been brought out of the dark ages of Win 98 and right into the present with Win XP. That has really improved the day-to-day operation of my computer.

Well, I shouldn't take too long a break to blog, so I am off to chain myself back to my office desk. Ta ta!

The New Term

Welcome to 2005... albeit a bit late, but that is not a problem. I am in the middle of a new term and have news. I took on a new job. So now, in addition to writing my thesis and teaching at the U, I will also be assisting another teacher at the local tech college. It is a good course, but definitely a different scene from my students right now. The money will really help out as I am finding it tougher and tougher to make ends meet with just the one job.

Speaking of money, I am counting the seconds until payday. It is only at the end of the each month, but my last paycheck came on Dec 24th. So I am waiting a week longer for pay and the last paycheck overlapped with Christmas and travel and generally excessive spending. Eek!

As for new years resolutions, I have been making it to the gym a lot this year, and I have been making lunches for myself fairly regularly. The Bacon Buffeteria is a bit on the pricey side when you eat from it everyday... and as dubbed, features bacon in just about every dish. Bacon is my arch nemesis. Down with bacon! Well, I will continue my crusade against cured pork products tainting my meals another time. In the meantime I have to slog through a few more assignments.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Hi all! I am in Cranbrook, BC visiting the family for our annual Christmas gathering. I am just relaxing and letting my tummy decompress after a rather large Christmas dinner sans turkey and gravy of course ;o)

I got lots of wonderful and thoughtful gifts this year. Much thanks to everyone!!!

There will be pictures when I get home from the trip. In the meantime, happy holidays to everyone and I will see you soon!

The company we keep?

He swears that he didn't do it, but one of my crazy friends from my hometown of Cranbrook, BC has been accused of submitting this personal ad to a local paper:



I am not totally convinced that he didn't do it :o)

I have some kooky friends.

I have been meaning to put this one up for a while...

It's funny because it's true :o)

Oh baby, it's cold outside!

Yes yes yes, yet another Saskatoon blogger commenting on the final arrival of frigid temperatures to our unseasonably warm winter so far. Well, a girl's gotta vent you know. And she also has to find solutions to daily problems that living in a chilly part of the world can cause... for example, grocery shopping.

At the best of times, getting my groceries is a bit of a chore. I like shopping in all its forms, but the problem I find with grocery shopping is little ol' me lugging a couple weeks worth of groceries up four flights of stairs all by myself. I can usually handle it (or make two trips), but I am much less inclined to do it myself in the -20C weather. Enter my favourite online helper Pic n' Del! They deliver my groceries right to my door for a fairly minimal charge. I don't even have to leave my home or office to order. I just have to be around home the next day. Hooray, problem solved!

One nice thing about the cold weather though is that it makes sitting in a hot tub over the weekend all the more luxurious. I was lucky enough to be invited to some friends' house for a hot tub soak on Saturday night. I had never been in one in such cold weather, but it was lovely. It was cold enough outside that the steam formed into ice crystals on my hair, but the water kept us all nice and warm. Quite the experience!

The weekend was not all fun... it was also quite productive. I was able to finish up marking all of my students' portfolios in time for Monday when I would trade them off for their reports. Once I am done marking the reports, I will be free and clear of marking until the exam on the 23rd. That will give me plenty of uninterrupted thesis writing time. Well, maybe a couple of interruptions having to do with Christmas preparations and parties :o)

I think I am going to revamp my site a bit in the next few days if not right away. That tag board is getting mighty annoying with the slow uploads and popups. With no one using it right now, I don't think it will be missed.

Purrrrr-fection

Call me a girl, but I love French Kitty. I was given one of the books and I think it is the cutest thing ever. When I have a bit of extra money I might just have to order a shirt and some stickers :o)





As for work, I have been plugging away all day at Chapter 2 again and I think I might have it just about under control. I can't wait to have it done so I can concentrate on polishing my analysis chapters. I see a faint light far off there... could that be the end of the tunnel? Well, I still have work to do, so I better get back at it.

Oooo... and I get to meet her at the gym this evening for step class. That will be fun :o)

Writer's Block

It is not that I am actually experiencing writer's block, but I was sent this link and I kinda like it. I think there are some good ideas to get me through those times when I stare blankly at the computer screen with nothing going on between my ears except the whistling of the wind. My favourite is "Talk to a Monkey"

Update

I have been working pretty hard on the thesis lately... including a few more of those 15 hour days. I submitted Ch 4 on Monday, it isn't really great, but it is definitely moving forward. I want to get an improved (though not perfect) draft of Ch 5 in this Monday. I am even nearing a state of completion on Ch 2... it is about time.

Also, I am back participating in Persian Dance. I am performing November 14th at the 40th Anniversary Multicultural Showcase, held at Castle Theatre at Aden Bowman Collegiate. That should be a lot of fun too. The show starts at 7pm and tickets are $10 at the door if anyone wants to see the show.

Oh, and here are the much anticipated photos from Cati and Kurt's wedding reception that happened at the beginning of October.



Other than that I am just trying to stay on top of my marking and thesis work, while getting ready for Christmas. Eeek!

Long long super productive day...

I just finished a 15 hour day at my office. I got in at just after 7am and left just after 10pm. It was great. I submitted 2 chapters to my supervisor and did a good chunk of marking. I think I am going to try and stay late again tomorrow so that I can catch right up on my marking. I am tired, but it is an accomplished tired.

Now to toss in a load of laundry, mark a couple more assignments and go to bed.

Rewrite

I decided that because I think this entire day was so frustrating and annoying to me it no longer exists in my mind. I am rewriting the day here:

I woke up to a warm and sunshiney morning with my well-behaved kitty and both of us were in fine moods. Nothing went wrong. I had no errands to run and so I worked all day on my thesis and marking and made major progress. My apartment was clean and spotless. I was in fine spirits all day without the slightest annoyance or distraction. That evening I had a hot bubble bath and a nice cup of tea before snuggling into bed.

And that is exactly what happened... really.