Nice ending to an up & down long weekend

Today was a holiday from work--yea!!! It was beautiful, too. I spent the morning in a local cafe grading papers with my friend Valerie, then we started to go to an afternoon movie, but she wanted to apartment hunt. So I graded some more papers, then we went to an evening movie. We saw Off the Map, a well-acted and beautifully filmed movie set outside Taos, NM. The movie is poignant without being sappy, truly a lovely film--much to laugh at too. It's weird because eventhough I did have to do some work, and still didn't do enough, I had a nice, relaxing end to this weekend. I needed it to end that way.

I found out Saturday afternoon that my application to study in Ireland this summer was rejected. I was actually devastated, perhaps even more devastated because until the moment I read the rejection letter I had been having a really great holiday weekend. I had just come from perhaps the best session yet for the essay workshop I'm taking. After reading the letter, I spent the remainder of Saturday in tears and sleeping away my sadness. Sunday morning I was angry at God, myself, the world, everyone & everything, but by Sunday afternoon I had recovered enough to consider what I will do this summer instead.

I'm still not sure what that will be but I think it will include taking a literature course and working on my master's thesis. I have procrastinated on the thesis long enough. I have to make enough progress on it so that I can defend it in the fall. I truly believe that if I have to teach another year that I will not survive it, professionally or emotionally. With my thesis completed, I will have more options. I think I want to become a librarian and/or work on a Ph.D, both of which require a masters' degree. Whatever I decide to do, I have to act on my decision soon so that I don't procrastinate and find that it's too late to act on it. I tend to do that more often that I like to admit.

Now, I have to get ready for work tomorrow, which I so don't want to go to--a refrain I've been singing all year. :-( (I said that to Valerie earlier today when she said she didn't want to go to work tomorrow. I liked it then and I like it now. ;-) Later.