Don't you know this life goes on

Well, I wasn't quite able to swing starting night-classes this semester, so I'll be starting in the summer. Although it'd be nice to feel like I'm finally moving on, I'm actually kind of happy. It'll be nice having nights free for a while without grad school research or a portfolio hanging over my head. I have delicious plans for finally getting back to weaving, reading a bunch of books, cleaning, redecorating, drawing, toying with photoshop, maybe reading a little fanfiction, plus I'm thinking about taking a 10 week pottery class at the UICA come spring. I've never successfully been able to throw a pot on a potter's wheel, which is something I'll have to be able to teach if I teach high school art. Even if I take a pottery class later at AQ, I have limited confidence in my ability to master the technique without a heck of a lot of practice. Plus, clay is fun. Nothing relieves stress like beating air bubbles out of clay; basically you take the hunk of clay and hurl it at a table with great force. Repeat. Very theraputic.

Kathleen and Courtney are both gone now -- Courtney to Spain to teach English; Kathleen and husband Noah to Oregon for a new publishing job and grad school. I'm legitimately happy that they got out and found interesting new lives to sink their teeth into; they were at least as dissatisfied in their publishing jobs as I was, if not moreso. But... meh. I miss them.

This summer will be my 5 yr anniversary at Workplace, which, while that particular thought fills me with ennui, panic, and despair, it does mean I get an extra week of PTO starting this year. This is something I'd totally forgotten about, and it immediately brightens my mood whenever the thought pops into my head. Chances are I'll be using a great deal of it for classroom visits, but my joy refuses to be quelled. More vacation time, guyz!!!!! Yaaayyyyyy!!!