Pieces and Piecing and Peace

Or, welcome to the end of the semester. That's right, friends, I just turned in my last paper and can officially say goodbye to the semester that I knew from the get-go was going to do it's best to do me in. Between reading four books a week on 20th-century history, to writing a chapter of a dissertation that I'm still not sure about, to a class on American women's religious history with just me and my professor (so I really had to know what I'd read and what I thought about it--no skimping here!), I did it. I finished. I did IT in. And the best news is that I only one more class left IN ALL MY PhD CAREER. (and my orals and my dissertation)

So here are some things I've learned this semester:

• "Read" is a loose term. It's all about really knowing the main idea, the conclusion, and the line of argument. And in all reality, you can figure that out within an hour, even if it's a 400-pager. I promise--this really is empowering information.
  
• It's all about making a plan--a manageable plan. I accomplished my big paper by biting it off in chunks. Each piece was so much more manageable than the whole darn thing. And I think it even might be a pretty good paper.
• Sleep can go a long way. I'm even willing to admit that sleep may be more important than reading the same page over and over and over again. And in the battle between whether to be tired while on a really good allergy medication or to be awake with a sinus infection, I choose the meds. Bring on the Zyrtec. And bring on the sleep.
• Saturday is a special day. I have worked and read and edited and written on the metro, in line, on the phone, even at work when things got slow, and even in the car at stoplights. And I've had some great Saturdays to clear my head, planting flowers, at the zoo, dancing like an African, watching American Idol. My point is, you need balance. Thank goodness for distractions. And really great people who are great distractions.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the quilt exchange I've been working on with a bunch of friends. Well we finally got together and exchanged our blocks. Now that I'm done with papers and reading, it's all about figuring out how to piece together my pieces... just the same way I'm now trying to figure out how the pieces of my post-Spring 2008 semester life will all fit together. I've laid things out on the floor and moved things around, trying to find just the right mix of colors and patterns and textures. Where will my white spaces go? What about the borders? If only I could manage my life and its excitement the same way I could piece together a paper or a quilt...