Fall semester 2008

As many of you know Ken and I began school this last Tuesday. One thing a lot of our friends have asked is, "Are you excited to go back to school?" There are a lot of reasons on both sides of the issue for me. For example I have really enjoyed the past three weeks of vacation (getting stuff done-wise) and thus dread the beginning of the semester. On the other hand, I was also quite lonely near the end especially and there is such a fulfilling energy on campus in the fall!

This fall marks the beginning of Ken's capstone year (Capstone = giant senior project that takes up too much time). So it is pretty hard to look forward to the next four months that may be virtually Ken-free. But I guess I'll be busy too. I am enrolled in my senior classes, grading for two German courses (currently 96 students, but we'll see if that lasts), and trying to keep up with social/religious obligations.

I think I'll be able to handle this semester alright though. I've been using a planner pretty consistently lately, much to Ken's delight. I also have adopted a new program for prioritizing (must do, should do, nice to do). And I think (desperately hope) that I've gained a little experience/wisdom over the past year to help deal with stress. Hopefully, if I keep telling myself how well it will go, I'll make that happen.

On a more interesting note, Ken has been working on his History of Creativity Project (which I did summer term). He is actually taking the first half of the class and will be covering ancient history to the year 1499. During summer term he emailed his professor for permission to start on his project because of his Capstone project. He is a good ways along in making his own version of Settlers of Catan, but in a Mayan style. He has carved all the pieces and is now painting the details on the last few board pieces.


And finally, even though our car was totaled we decided to buy it back and fix it up and see how long it will last us. Our trunk now closes thanks to a sledgehammer and Ken has secured the side panel with a very discreet bolt. Finally our car looks like it belongs to poor college students. JOY!