Haha, it's fun to take a look at my last post and use it as a checkpoint.  Hard to believe that I never blogged about how the lesson went (tragically) or the Holiday Booty Buster Challenge (forgot all about it after that weekend).

I dragged out my practicum, both because once I had my required hours there were only a few days left in the semester and why quit? and because I liked spending time with my host librarian.  She let me do some cataloging and I tied up loose ends (although I'm going in tomorrow to help her with some computer stuff and to work out some bugs that have cropped up in the orientation).  So for me, "Christmas break" began on December 22.  I've essentially had three weeks off, but all in all it's felt like about two days.  There were the holidays, and a very busy week at work between Christmas and New Years.  Last Tuesday was the first day I truly relaxed.  I had hoped for the same today, but I'm caught in a weird space between trying to wind down from last semester and already winding up for the next.  Today I proofread a friend's essays, washed my kitchen floor and polished my kitchen chairs, and read John Green's new book.

I don't know what to make of last year.  I feel like as a whole it served as a good illustration of burnout, as I started the year bursting with motivation, then got sick.  I met Mike at the midpoint of being sick, so balancing my new life with him (ie any non-school life at all) became a new challenge, and unfortunately, stressor.  This past semester I did find some peace by accepting his boundaries - be up front about when I need to do homework instead of just working constantly while we're supposed to be hanging out together.  616 was easy enough that it was little more than a minor annoyance compared to the intensity of my practicum.  I expect this semester to require more focus.

I would like to make resolutions for this year, but I don't know what to expect.  I will graduate this year.  This will be the first time in four years that I haven't had a clear path carved out for me.  I've had to make some choices along the way, but I am finally at the end of the preparation phase and will be on to the business of living my life.  What I can reasonably ask of myself:

• Commit to taking what I can from my last semester in terms of career prep, networking, and teaching experience
• Explore options for improving the Bookstore
• Meet or exceed expectations for work at circulation and on teen space projects
• Maintain a fitness routine, improve Iron Girl time
• Keep my relationship with Mike in the foreground of my mind, keep working at it and not taking it for granted
• Make my job choice with integrity