The day before yesterday I was at the monthly meeting of the Writers Guild when I realized it has been a long time since I posted anything on my blog. Then I was thinking about, wondering why I fell out of the habit, and began to reflect. I realized that for the past 7 weeks I have either had events or company and I have not had two days in a row that there hasn't been something of some importance on my schedule. At first I was a bit dismayed by this realization, but now I have decided to relish in the fact that I have people and responsibilities in my life that are meaningful enough for me to put aside the fact that I am exhausted, to muster up the energy to push on.
Just a year ago I was adjusting to being back in the mitten after nearly a year of dealing with death and terminal illness. The future was bleak as well, and I was having a very hard time rising above despair. My children were grown and didn't need me, my parents had passed and didn't need me, and I was in the worst funk of my life.
Since I arrived in Lawrence in January I have been busy, but mostly busy figuring things out. I finally feel like I am finding my bearings. Since this semester started we have done 2222 consultations including 50 at special events like the research write-in last Saturday. In collaboration with the libraries here at KU we have been holding a series of these events this fall, and apparently the word is spreading. We take over a whole floor of the library and last Saturday 75 Graduate students came to write, research, attend mini-workshops, have consultations and write, write, write some more. It was awesome.
The weekend before I did my first "solo" at a conference presenting at the Midwest Writing Center Association conference in Madison, Wisconsin. I travelled by train with three of our fabulous, brilliant graduate consultants - who also presented at the conference. It was exciting and exhausting, but mostly a wonderful opportunity to learn and laugh. I almost forgot that it would have been my Mom's birthday that weekend. And the two weekends before that my boyfriend was here and there was a lot to show him.
This past week I did a workshop for honors science students and one for honors business students, 7 graduate consultations, 4 onlines, covered shifts for consultants and office assistants who were ill or had some other kind of emergency, did a workshop for professional development for faculty and staff who needed to learn how to do online responses to writers, planned and held a birthday party, and set up and attended this month's consultant practicitum. Whew.
Now I only have two weeks before I go home for the Thanksgiving break, and then less than four weeks until I go home again for Christmas. In between I have four undergraduate write-ins, consultant observations, end of semester meetings and probably about 300 online consultations to get done. I am exhausted, so this weekend I am going to relish being a bum, watching football on TV, eating when I am hungry and taking naps whenever I feel like it. (Oh - and I am going to remember to change all my clocks!)
