Life is crazy for me right now at this precise moment. Well in truth not at this precise moment, because I am at my parent's, should be headed to bed. Life in general though is very stressful right now.

I work a 40 hour a week job. I am a night shift manager at the local Wendy's. What that means is that from 6 to close on Thursday, and 4-c on Friday and Saturday, and anywhere from 2-c or 8-c on Sunday I am at Wendy's. This is almost always shorthanded (tonight I was 3 people short), and definitely overworked and underpaid. For these hours I am unable to do anything constructive, unless you count making money to pay my rent and such constructive. There are some silver linings, when I have a crew there they are good people, and hard workers. The only other plus, sometimes if we are slow enough I can read my textbooks while cleaning, or doing other minor things. A couple of my employees have been trying to pitch in so that we can get done faster so I can do homework.

I am also in my last semester at UNA. This means that all those classes I have been putting off for the last three years are all being forced upon me this semester. That part is my fault, I know. One of these classes has an evil slave driving tyrant (aka professor) who is crazy liberal and anti-Christian. He has been a unique challenge. His 30 page research paper is becoming a nightmare. Mine is going to be on Islamic women in Pakistan and Iran. I know not the most exciting thing ever, but I think it will be interesting. The crazy thing, tonight instead of reading my bible, I read part of the Koran. In any event, for some time now I have been looking at homework and going what is due today, dropping everything else, then saying which class is first, and dropping everything else, then going ok, what do I do, and what half do I neglect. THAT is what kind of homework I have here. I love to read, study, and write papers, so for us to be talking about me getting this little done, you have to understand just how much we are talking about here.

That's not all though, I'm also trying to get into grad school. This means a variety of time consuming things. I have to re-take my GRE. My advisor wants it up from a 1050 to a 1200, aka I have to study harder and more for it. I have to write an intelligent sounding personal statement. Apparently, "I like history because it's groovy, please let me into your school." doesn't count. I have to have a write sample that shows original research, good writing skills and a potential for graduate level work, and professional research. This means that I am having to rework most of the 36 page paper from this summer's Celtic study to include a wider source base and such. I have to make contact with possible graduate advisors and major professors. This means I am firing off several e-mail a day to different secretaries and professors, calling a couple of them every Wednesday, and making plans to meet them all. This means I am traveling to North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee all in November, plus I'm going to the Southern History Convention in b'ham in order to forgo the trip to Rice. I still have to make plans to get to Ohio State and Georgia. In the midst of this I'm trying to line things up this spring at UNA so I can continue to get funding.

Then there are little things that I continually have to take care of. For example, this weekend is preview day for UNA, aka they give away scholarships, we play our big rival, and high school students who register get in free with parents. What this means for me is that my parents will be carrying my brother so I'm going to the game with the family this Saturday. I am trying to give back to the community in some way, so I'm helping with Habitat for Humanity. We will finish our house this Saturday. Finally, the Ren faire is this weekend in Flo-town (aka the Alabama Renaissance Fair). I go every year, and this year I'm being required by my Shakespeare class to attend. I found out Friday that I have to have a lady-in-waiting style costume, so today Grandmother and I went to pick out fabric, and she's going to help me make it, since mother's sewing machine isn't working for me to do it myself. See random craziness.

With all of this going on I stay tired, and it is easy to forget that I need down time. My brother and I watch an episode of Angel every night (Mon-Wed) that I'm in Florence and I cook, so we have an hour together a day at least. I don't know what I will do when I leave and he doesn't come too. I also read a chapter of Proverbs every night. Then I've been trying to take an hour the last couple of weeks to go downtown and sketch for quite reflective time, it's a nice two hour break (takes me 30 minutes to walk the 10 blocks there, then 30 mins back). On campus when I'm abnormally stressed, I put on the headphones and listen to good old PB hymn singing. This morning on the way to church I finished making a baby blanket, while preparing my mind for the service. I wasn't doing this but recently I realized, that if I don't take a little time out I'm going to go crazy.

I guess what I am saying is please forgive the sporatic blogging for the moment, and any prayers you can spare would be greatly appreciated. On that note, I'm so off to bed, I have to be back up and at g-mother's in 6 hours and 37 min.