Itinerary In Hand

Oh yeah. I'm goin' to Cairo! The week after I present my Action Research paper, I'm off to reconnect with a place and people who are near and dear to my heart. It is a well-earned graduation gift to myself. It's been too long since I've been connected to that other side of who I am.


I'll be heading over to Om idunnya from March 13-March 21 during my Spring break. Most of my friends are gone during the summer, or I would visit when I had more time to spare. It will be hard to have only 6 full days to spend there with all that I'll want to do and all of the people I'll want to see--but 6 days is better than nothing at all!

Since I have the ticket in hand (and the money out of my bank account :( ), and four offers of friends who I can stay with, I am starting to allow myself to anticipate and open parts of my heart that have been closed off. It feels great to blow the dust off these friendships and anticipate reconnecting with my Cairo friends.

Incidentally, I've been trying to figure out where I stored all my "butt covers*" and long sleeve shirts since my dear husband won't be coming along with me to ward off competing males.

*long shirts covering the buttocks so men are less tempted to grab my butt--why do they do that, by the way??

The End Is In Sight

Yup, that's how I feel these days. Papers floating everywhere, buried in data and analysis and writing that needs to be finished yesterday. I get through a long day at school only to have some dinner before re-motivating myself to dig back in and be productive. Sometimes I am able to crank out a few more paragraphs, other times I just have to put the computer down and grab a magazine (and feel guilty while I'm reading thinking about how much more I have to do and should be doing at the moment).

But now there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Eight years working on this dual masters degree and I'm weeks away from being finished. I can't imagine what it will feel like. I present my action research on March 8th and graduate from Eastern Mennonite University on April 27th.

What will it be like to come home from work and have the luxury of doing light work around the house, flip through a magazine (guilt free), or spend an evening watching a movie with my husband? What about when my weekends are back and I can make decisions about how I want to spend them? What will it feel like to not be constantly managing my work load and making trips to Pennsylvania for classes and presentations? Wow, I can't wait.

Oh, and by the way, I already have a tentative date picked out for my graduation party -- put May 10th on your calendars, people!