Manzanita, Cannon Beach, and a Greenberg sandwich

For weeks--maybe even months--Taylor and I had been planning to spend a weekend with the Greenbergs. Without Kat and Mike, there would be no Kate and Taylor. (And, if we really want to get technical, without Allison there would be no Kat and Mike!) 

Anyway, we had the weekend of April 30th marked off as our get-away weekend, but a couple of commitments came up along the way, and we didn't end up going too far away. We did, however, put together a successful slumber party at the Greeners' as well as a day trip to the beach.  

 Kathleen, Mike, and Bear were busy in the kitchen, grilling up fajita fixin's.

 Aaand...after a pit-stop for breakfast, we were off! 

Mike and Tay built a fort while I documented.  

 Taylor gave Bear a bit of exercise. 

 What a stud pup. 

My favorite shot of the day, and hopefully the Greeners' Christmas card. 

 Couldn't beat the weather that day. 

 Taylor took us on a hike to watch the surfers. 

Mike and Kat all tuckered out. Day trip No. 1 = success!

Cue 'Pomp and Circumstance'

Gosh, I know I said it in the last post, but it's true: I love a good deadline. Maybe I should start putting a deadline on absolutely every task. It'd sure help me get things done.

Last week was a doozy, but I made it. I cranked out that paper in one night, and my master's oral exam went off without a hitch. Now, all I have left to do is pass the two classes I'm taking--and I'm golden.

Umm...actually, I take that back. I have to pay a massive university fee. Then, I have to find a job. 

I'm not out of the woods yet, but it sure feels nice to enjoy the moment.  

One of the professors on my committee was also the teacher who pushed me to get my book proposal together. He said it's time to set my focus back to perfecting that beast, so that's just what I'm going to do. He has a lot of faith in the project, which helps when I have lapses of extreme--what's the opposite of motivation? Laziness? Yeah. 

Well, besides the book project, for the next month and some change, I'll be continuing to work as Coach Benzo, leading individual workouts with the post players and making a manual for the person who will be taking my job. Also, I'll be tying up loose ends in my two classes as well as hitting the job hunt hard. 

I almost forgot to mention Taylor and I will be kicking off wedding season with a trip to Austin for two weddings. We leave in nine days, and yes, I'm counting! The ceremonies are a week apart, so we'll be soaking up the rays, throwing back the margaritas, and seeing how many barbecue joints we can hit in a week. 

Yahoo!    

The clock ticks harder?

Like most journalists, students, or I guess most people in general...I love a good deadline. Most of the time, the pressure propels me to crank out my best work.

I think I've met my match.

Yesterday, I found out my master's oral exam (the equivalent of a thesis defense) has been moved up one week to this--excuse me, THIS--Friday.

Somehow I neglected to realize I have a ten-page paper due in conjunction with the exam. The paper was due a couple of days ago, and I nonchalantly ignored the due date. That's a lie. I panicked when I realized I missed the deadline, but I put a band-aid on the issue by promising a completed paper by tomorrow morning.

On top of that, I have to re-format my portfolio. I can't go in to detail about the unfortunate series of circumstances that led to this dilemma, but I will. Oh, I will. That will be a beast of a blog post.

And ... sooo ... naturally I'm blogging instead of writing. Not to worry, I've got the outline all mapped out. I'm not quite sure how I'll manage the re-formatting of the portfolio, but first things first. It's time to get the creative juices flowing, and coincidentally I think my coffee pot is finished percolating.

Let the games begin.