So, I haven't posted in over a week. But I do have an excuse (whether or not it is a valid one..well).. One of the incredible things about being a doctoral student is that I get to make up my daily schedule. No boss to tell me when I have to be at work, no nine to five, and no set lunch break. I really am spoiled. My alterego of academic and athlete work seamlessly, in a symbiotic relationship that keeps me happy and productive.
However, I am still in coursework until April. Coursework means that the first two weeks of every December and April, I am writing term papers. These papers are not more than about twenty pages long, so they aren't too overwhelming. But, writing three in a row with (ack!) Deadlines! means that I don't have time to do much else except research and write. I always plan to have these two weeks of paper time as training downtime - but I usually end up feeling awful for the lack of exercise. I handed in the last paper yesterday. I don't start class again until January, and for the first time in my university life, I have absolutely NOTHING to do over the holidays except train, read fluffy books, train some more, and...sleep!
It's going to be an emotionally difficult holiday for me for a lot of reasons, but I also know that it will be good to go home and see my mom and dad, and my best friend, Pamela. For the last three Christmas holidays, I've spent four or five days with Pamela's family; they have always welcomed me with open arms, and we all just have so much fun! From sitting around the table after dinner chatting as a family, to snowball fights, side trips to Ottawa, I don't think I've ever laughed as hard as when I'm with her family. Pamela has something I didn't have growing up - siblings. I really feel like I've been adopted into the family as one of those siblings. I can already see the giant tree that takes up the whole living room, smell the woodstove, and Catherine's amazing coffee brewing, hear the sound of the kids as they get more and more excited about Christmas, Paul's continual jokes, and I can envision Melissa dancing across the kitchen floor with me laughing all the while.
Yup, it's going to be a good Holiday.
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
-- John Calvin Coolidge
