earth day

Happy Earth Day !

I celebrated by going for a mid-morning run in the sun

(that was kind of an energy zapper...)

Working on fire scar data (from trees) for a climate project

and also on my nature reserve paper

I am exhausted.

If you are in the mood for some earth-ish chill folky music,

you should check out Patchouli

Julie and Bruce are amazing people. 

Back in my college environmentalist days we would get them to play an outdoor concert at the end of Earth Week.

As we tie-dyed shirts with dye that we convinced the art department to give us for free.

Oh, the days.

p.s. I put wayyyy too much chili powder in the chili. That I still have like 5 servings left. oops. But it is still edible. I know this because I have eaten it four times this week, and have survived.

crunchtime

[Tulips everywhere, blooming for my birthday next week !]

OK so. There are two weeks left in the semester.

And I have two 20 page seminar papers to write.

plus the regular classwork and presentations and finishing my proposal.

I am FINALLY starting to feel the stress!!!! Which is how I operate...I can only get things done at the last minute, when I am under so much stress I motivate myself to be productive every single second of the day.

I don't think it's procrastinating, it's just my way.

It's painful, and it sucks, and it makes me hate my life and go all dramatic,

but it is effective.

I'm trying to keep things in perspective because through much painful, dramatic experience, I know that it will all get done and no matter how sleep-deprived or stressed I get, life will return to calm by May.

And knowing that the next two weeks will be insanity I have prepped my life as much as possible by

• putting away ALL clean laundry
• keeping the dishes under control
• stocking up on groceries
• discovering free 20 minute yoga lasses from yogadownloads.com REALLY calm me down
• baking a stock of my new favorite quinoa nut muffins
• making enough of my favorite comfort food to feed a family of 12, or one Anna for the week

mmmm chili and cornbread

• giving myself permission to buy as many cinnamon crunch bagels from Panera as I need to
• and maybe a loaf of tomato basil bread if things get that desperate

Aaagggh ok here we go.
A part of me is psyched because I get to spend hours and hours on two topics that I think are fascinating...the impacts of protected areas on indigenous people AND the use of historical reference conditions in fire restoration. (Geography Nerd!!)
Plus, this is quite possibly THE LAST semester I will ever feel the finals crunch, since next year I don't have to take as many classes, just work on my thesis. And after next year I intend to be a working member of the Real World, where you don't have to do work for 6 hours after you come home from work.  If everything goes according to plan.
I have low expectations, frankly, with this economy and based on my friends' experiences with the Real World.

I do love school, but a job is starting to sound appealing. 
Like, someday I will have enough money to buy new clothes and real furniture?
And have time to watch tv and relax in the evenings and do fun crafty things?
That sounds way cool.

Now I'm rambling. Back to the grind.

Fill in the Blank Friday

photo from Lauren's blog

Okay I'm jumping on the fill in the blank bandwagon because it is fun, and honestly I have nothing exciting to say about life right now! This weekend is going to be a WORK weekend filled with papers, 40 degree weather and no boy. Blah. 

1.  The first thing I do in the morning is    Listen to NPR as I realize that I am awake. It is a great alarm-clock setting! Hearing voices talking instead of the dreaded BEEEEEP and maybe getting the weather or the latest natural/political disaster makes me feel...productive??

2.  Every night before bed  I    eat cereal or ice cream, call Ben, read something.

3.  My favorite thing to do when I'm having a bad day is      probably have a teary break down. Okay not my favorite, but it's how I do .

4.  Something that makes me cringe is   people with long fingernails. ew  .

5.  Social situations    are fun with friends, I feel awkward with strangers or big groups .

6.  I like to collect      cookbooks and random kitchen gadgets !!! .

7.  Weekends are for      sleeping in, trying to catch up on the endless school slog, baking muffins, sometimes being lucky to hug Ben and be awesome together :)   .