Sheri's Scribbles

Hi! Remember me? I'm the person who used to post here, frequently. I tend to do that, some times more often than other: summer vacation, spring break, Christmas vacation. I see a pattern here. Well, I just wanted to pop in and let you all know that I had not fallen off the face of the earth.

It has been a busy couple of months. Really, has it been almost two months since I last posted? Well then, I guess I should give you peek at what I have been up to. In a sense, my excuse for not posting more.

1. Well there's grad school. Two mornings per week I have class and one night every other I meet with a group of students on an independent study project. This is fun and educational and usually involves coffee or food, but it's still work. Two full days per week of internship. I love this too, but it's quite a time investment. Then there's homework. Well, that just squeezed in wherever an extra hour or two appears. Sometimes the time just has to be made. It feels like my waking hours are spent either in class or doing homework. But, that's not all I'm up to. I'm an overachiever...

2. My oldest son an I are volunteering for a program called Circle of friends. This one evening per week is spent in the company of a "special friend," a child who has lost a loved one. My special friend is the same age as my middle son and he witnessed his younger brother's tragic death (due to confidentiality I cannot give more detail). Each session we are given a topic to talk about while we play together. It is heartbreaking to hear some of these children's stories, but a gift to be able to be there for them to share with.

3. I am also involved in a couple of research projects. One taking about 10 hours a weeks, that I'm actually getting paid for. One, that will look good on a resume and gives me another opportunity to work with my favorite prof. These will both prepare for the grueling work of writing my thesis next year!

4. I am the PTA secretary at my children's school. This means I go to all the meetings and take meticulous notes (ha!) and in theory, I am supposed to prepare and print all the notes that go home regarding PTA meetings, movie nights, and other activities. I have been kind of slacking in this area this semester. It's a good thing I have a good team of officers I can count on to back me up.

5. I am on for the month of April to teach Sunday school. I love teaching Sunday school, but sometimes it gets overwhelming to plan lessons and activities. It's especially hard because my class ranges from Kindergarten to 6th grade, in about 15-20 kids. We do not have enough teachers currently to split the class. But, it's hard to find activities to engage all of the kids at the same time. Feel free to pray for more Sunday school teachers!

Then there are the little things like doctor, dentist, eye doctor appointments, teacher conferences, other random meetings that fill up my days. And I just haven't made time to blog (although, I have found Bejeweled on facebook).

Today, one of my classmates interviewed me for a paper she was writing. It was about the effects of grad school on my life. Questions like: How has grad school effected your social life? Um, what social life? How has grad school effected your time management? Um, I'm lousy at time management and I like to procrastinate. Grad school and procrastination do not go well together. And I need to learn to write everything in my planner. Finally, How do you practice self care? Ha ha ha ha... Seriously, I have a husband, four boys and I'm a grad student. You've got to be kidding me.

So, I'm looking for tips on self care. Help me out here, what do you do for yourself?