September 26, 2001
Looking Up and Looking Forward
Well, I seem to be recovering from the choking death plague that had me in its grip all of last week. It's amazing what a few antibiotics and a lot of sleep can do. Life has been busy, but it's a sort of busy that makes me very happy. I seem to be enjoying almost everything that I'm doing right now, and that's a great feeling.
Work is sometimes dull, but often amazing. Part of it is just that I love learning new things, and part of it is just that I'm finally getting to use my brain at work. (The downside of this, according to Josh, is that now I'll always be expected to use my brain at work.) I've learned a lot about how the programs I'll be supporting work, about how computers work, and yes, I've learned quite a bit about accounting too. That's sort of scary, but I'm dealing with it. The best part is that I'm getting a sense of respect from others that was missing when I was a receptionist. While on the one hand, that's sad for the current receptionists, it's been great for me. And best of all, payday's tomorrow, complete with my raise. Woo!
School is equally amazing, with very little dull. My history class is a little dry, but the textbook at least is interesting. My two Saturday classes, African-American Literature and Reading of Drama, are shaping up to be the best classes I've ever taken at Eastern, perhaps the best classes I've taken anywhere. The exact reasons are difficult to pin down. For one, both classes are very talkative. Once upon a time, I dreamed about literature classes like this. My AA Lit class is mostly older students (what else would you expect from an 8 am Saturday class?), and our discussions are almost always thoughtful and intelligent. My Drama class also has active discussions that range from thoughtful to wildly speculative to just goofy. Last week that professor commented that we have a class full of class clowns. She's right, but we have a wonderful time.
The truly odd thing is how close-knit the classes have become, particularly my Drama class. It's only about 20-25 students, and everybody already knows faces, and almost everybody seems to know names. It feels like we've been hanging around for months instead of just three weeks. I can already tell I'm going to be incredibly sorry to see this class end. AA Lit isn't quite as friendly yet, but I have a feeling we'll get there. I'm not sure what the difference is. Perhaps part of it is that we meet for three hours at a stretch. The other interesting thing is that both professors insist on the class sitting arranged in a circle. I can't help but think that has something to do both with the talkative nature of the classes and the sense of closeness. Believe me, when I start teaching, I'm going to remember that.
I can't believe I haven't taken the time to rave about my Palm handheld! After toying around with the idea, I finally broke down and bought one about three weeks ago. Now I'm wondering how the hell I got anything done without it. For the first time in my life, I'm keeping a to do list -- and getting things done. That's so scary. Also for the first time in my life, I'm using a schedule planner to keep up with where I'm supposed to be. I feel so organized I almost don't feel like me anymore. Of course, the question is why I can keep up with this where I couldn't with a paper planner -- I guess part of it is that the Palm is much more fun, in all honesty. Pretty sad, huh? However, I'm well aware at this point that without some form of organization I would be sunk this semester. Plus, it just feels darn good to be organized.
There is a downside to all of this positive stuff, as there always is with me. The month of October is looming near. The month of October has, almost always, been rough for me. I don't know if it's a seasonal thing or what, but I often get depressed around October. I'm crossing my fingers and taking my Zoloft this October. (And calling my therapist often.) Things are just going so well...
Posted by Lisa at September 26, 2001 02:13 PM
