Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Woke up to a thin blanket of snow this morning, along with great sheets of fog that hung somberly over the landscape. The fog was the closest thing to a Vancouver morning since we got here. I checked the weather, as I am compulsively wont to do, and there was a winter storm watch issued for this evening and into tomorrow. 5-15 cm of snow forecast.

They removed it later in the afternoon. Fortunately.

Turned out to be an astoundingly beautiful day. The sun came out in the early afternoon, and warmed things up considerably. In fact, by about 11:00, all the previous night's snow had melted. It may still be snowing, but at least it's not overstaying its welcome.

Of course, we took advantage of the nice weather to take a long walk. Went out in the direction of the three hills; got about halfway there and came back. It's too long a walk, and the road turns to stroller-unfriendly gravel, so it's a no-go. But it was a nice walk, nonetheless. Got some Slurpees--again--and then came home and let the boy run around outside for a while. The neighbour kids were busily playing in their yard, and they incorporated Theo into their games as much as they could, which he loved. Things went well, until I told him he couldn't follow a neighbourhood cat into someone else's yard. Then I heard it. Fortunately, it was dinner time, so we at least had a distraction.

What else? Not too much, actually. Had a very productive day, school-wise. I submitted my second-last distance education assignment that I'll ever have to submit, which was somewhat nostalgic. As much as I malign the distance education program, it did get me through the vast majority of my degree program, and it will always hold a special place in my heart. When I submit that last one, that'll really be weird.

This whole thing has been such a definitive part of my life for the past five years that I can't imagine not having to worry about it. Since September of 2002, I've always had something that needed to be handed in, something that needed an edit, something to take notes on. I realize it's a familiar theme in this space, but graduating will truly be the beginning of a new experience for me--one where I won't be constantly worried in my free time that I have something better I could be doing.

Anyway. In speaking with my distance education advisor today, I picked up a couple of interesting pieces of information. First, there are four other distance education graduates this coming April, and I will get a chance to meet them all at the Friday "President's Reception," an event which sounds a lot more fancy than it is, considering it takes place in our dining hall (or "dinning hall" as it is commonly misspelled in campus emails). Plus, on the Saturday of grad, there's a special "distance education only" reception being held by the distance ed school. They're inviting all the distance ed instructors, many of whom are off-campus (retired professors from the community, for example), and it's a chance for the students and professors to put faces to names. Should be interesting, if only to meet the other insane people who decided to make distance ed a part of their lives. I wonder what brain programming we're all missing that allows us to get through it.

Speaking of grad, I learned last week that it turns out I'm not going to be speaking at the ceremony as I was told I would be. I'm a little bit bummed about it, but it was one of those situations where they asked a bunch of people, figuring some would turn it down, but none did. Then the class exec had to get together and make some cuts, and I was one of them. I didn't expect that I'd clear the cuts, considering my dubious status as a distance ed student. I'm sure the people whom they chose will be excellent representatives of the Prairie experience. Even so, it's a little disappointing. Especially since I went from possibly speaking on two separate occasions to none. Oh well. People around here have probably heard enough of me talking.

I also got my grad details memo in the mail the other day. What a production. We have a rehearsal on Friday, a reception that evening, two separate ceremonies on Saturday, the opportunity to treat ourselves and our guests to a Prairie cafeteria lunch (no, thanks), and now a distance ed reception Saturday afternoon. I'm going to be so tired by the end of it all. But I'll have my degree, and that's really the important part. I even got some VIP passes to grad, which just means that people holding them can get in earlier than the rest of the public to get good seats. Whatever.

I recall that I was talking about the day somewhere up above, but lost my train of thought. Here it comes again. Besides accomplishing some school work and going for a walk, there was very little in the way of excitement around here today. Sometimes, when I sit and type these blog postings, thinking back on the day, I wonder how the heck I managed to spend the 16 intervening hours, but somehow I have. Not sure where they went, but I think they were really fun. How's that for vague?

Right. Time to go sleep on the floor. It's going well, thank you. We've set up and taken down the makeshift bed (which consists of two single mattresses, some sheets, and pillows) so many times that it's become an exact science. It's precision work; one false move and you might lose an appendage. But it is substantially more comfortable than the actual bed, so we're a step ahead. How much longer are we going to sleep there? Maybe until the end of the semester. We figure there's no point in going back to the bed, especially since we know we'll be compromising the quality of sleep we get at night. No sir, it's the living room floor for us. I think we'll warn whomever rents the place next about that bed.

With that, another day is done. Thanks for the business today--I do appreciate you coming by. Tomorrow's posting will include many more exciting things, so I hope you make it a part of your day. See you then.