Hooray! My final project is complete and I have turned in my paper. This means class is done for the fall quarter and I am officially on winter break. Woo hoo! This year it is especially nice because all my classes in the past have gone right up until the very last possible moment and all I’ve ever had between quarters was a two week break. But this time my professor had us turn in our projects at the end of regular classes instead of at the end of final exams and I get a month’s break until my next class begins January 4th. And I have just two weeks of work before my two week reading binge vacation.

This long break with a vacation at its end could not have come at a better time. As much as I have been enjoying my classes, I have been feeling tired of the whole enterprise and my encouraging chant this quarter has been “one more year, one more year,” which isn’t really that encouraging. Taking one class each quarter is dragging this MLIS out for what seems an eternity, yet more than one class at a time would make me unbearably stressed out. For a brief time last spring I considered not taking a class over the summer but the thought of having to take it over the course of a later summer prompted me to grit my teeth and power through. I am expecting this month long break to allow me time to rest and rejuvenate so that when class starts in January I will be excited and ready to dive in.

All last week I imagined the things I would do as soon as I turned in my paper but of course I haven’t done them. I suddenly realized I was tired and needed to breath a little before throwing myself into new projects. So today I have been doing weekend chores and tidying up here and there, getting some exercise and reading. Gaskell’s Lois the Witch is coming along nicely and I finished Closely Watched Trains. I’ll give the latter a proper review tomorrow. For the rest of today I am not going to worry about anything.