That Time of Year

So another week has passed since my last post and because the past couple of weeks have just seemed to run together, I had to refer to my previous post to catch myself up on my own life before I could inform all of you. :) I know, pathetic.

Last week consisted of a whole lot of homework and shivering and volleyball. This is the time of year that things start to seem very monotonous and sometimes quite pointless actually. Homework piles up more than usual. I'd like to blame this on professors deciding to make us squirm, but I think it's equally likely (at least in my case) that the growing mound of textbooks to read, papers to write, and tests to study for is due to a lack of motivation. My attention span simply begins to wan with the shorter days, and thinking about doing organic daily assignments or sitting through another 8a.m. microeconomics lecture makes me cringe. So what to do? Stock up on 5 calorie packs of crystal light wild strawberry drink mix (with caffeine :)) take a few deep breaths, adopt a mind over matter philosophy, and plug away. I might be needing a bit more caffeine than usual this week as I just realized this morning that my 13 page summer research paper, the one I have yet to start or really even give serious thought to, ummm, well, I'm going to have to start thinking and thinking quickly because it's due in 2 weeks - 2 weeks full of other classes that surely will not show me any pity for my procrastination.

As if I don't already feel pressed for time, I spent nearly the entire weekend on the road. Saturday we had a volleyball game in York, NE, a 3 hour bus ride. We were victorious in 3 sets, thank goodness, so the 6 hours on the bus were at least not in vain. Sunday did not offer me the ever-eluding time to sleep in either. I was up at 7 so that I could go to church before leaving for another 3 hour bus trip, this time with the Bio-Chem Club, destination: the bodies in motion exhibit in Watertown. The old building housing the exhibit proved to be sufficiently chilly and haunted-house-ish. The full body plastination figures of real humans were completely fascinating. It's so weird to think outside the box and really contemplate the intricacies of the anatomy and physiology of the human body and very surreal to actually see such excellent models of that anatomy. As fascinating as it was though, I also found it to be quite disturbing. You see, these chopped up/sectioned views of these real human bodies had to be created by someone, and the whole time I was there I could not shove that knowledge from my brain. As if it wasn't cold enough in that creepy building, the thought of chopping up someone's face into sections literally chilled me to the bone. Overall, it was a good experience, but the 3 hour bus ride on Sunday, what is usually my quiet homework day, kind of tainted the experience for me and left me wondering where my weekend went.

On a positive note, we had an AGAPE meeting last night. AGAPE is a women's spiritual group here at MMC that meets on certain Sunday nights. Last night's gathering was a "share your favorite Christian song" festivity. It was very refreshing to lay on the floor and simply allow the powerful lyrics to cloud my brain. Music can speak volumes, and it was a great re-focus hour for me before the start of another busy week.

This week is a big one for volleyball. We play our last 3 regular season games, all on the road and all conference matches. The adrenaline will be pumping and come Saturday, I'm predicting a state of mental and physical exhaustion, all very satisfying sleepiness though of course. :)

Though it is still sufficiently chilly in Yankton, the rain has stopped and the sun is again shining. And so the beat goes on... :)