Anyway, that aside… lately I've been trying my best to get healthy. I honestly don't have much of an appetite — though I've been eating. I've been drinking tonnes of tea though and water and other beverages. I've been sleeping a lot, and I've generally been just healthy enough to do what I need to be doing (but barely). I called in sick to work to recuperate (one of the best decisions of the week, as it's allowed me to be healthy enough to attend various events in the last couple of days for networking purposes, Christmas purposes, fun, and well yes life balance.
You see this is my last term of classes. I'm done the in-person part of classes, and have only three assignments left (2 small ones and one large one). And it's important to me that I take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves.
So earlier this week I had my last three in-person classes, though Wednesday's class essentially consisted of our prof treating us to breakfast at the High Level Diner as a thank you for some help we gave him for a research project. I dragged myself out of bed for that one, which was good, as I spent the majority of the rest of the day in bed after running errands on campus.
Thursday I went to the Butterdome Craft Sale — my annual traditional start of Christmas shopping. And like usual I bought a mix of things for myself (and the household) and items for gifts and/or for Christmas. I got my Reddit Secret Santa's remaining gift items, a small present for JD and some of the usual. Plus for myself I got this lovely wrap sweater from Luved Clothing (this is the most similar listing I could find for it actually — it's super comfy I've worn it all day!), a scarf from Bab's (honestly I can only splurge a little — I am still a grad student afterall!), a zipper pull (ladybug!), a brown sugar bear (well it's coincidentally shaped like a ladybug too, but don't read anything into that — those were just the cutest designs those craft-makers had), and some delicious food items.
In the afternoon I attended SLISmas (the School of Library and Information Studies' Holiday party). It was unfortunate that I wasn't up to eating most of the goodies, because there really were a lot of things to try!! But I did enjoy the punch and the mandarin oranges and candy canes… and a bit of bland snacks, though really there weren't many of those. What was better was really connecting with some of the other students — I honestly don't take enough time to do that, and in the job world, these connections might really make a difference: the library world isn't all that big in reality. And hey, my fellow students are more than just cool — they're certifiably awesome (okay that's a definition that I've made up, but I mean it — we had such great conversations about pedagogy, pteradons, grad school, children, food, work/life/school balance, cultural differences, religion, politics, marriage, and well… probably more of the typically taboo topics than I normally get to talk about in such a great manner!
Today my first plan was cancelled so I got some extra well-needed sleep before heading to the NAHLA Christmas luncheon and re-gift exchange (I got a bag of lavender Epsom salts… which should come in handy). We were at Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse (I finally got to eat there!) and while I still had no real appetite, I did eat rather well, and very healthily, all things told. My favorite meats were the steaks and chicken. Like usual the pineapple is one of my favorite things, and ALL the items I tried from the salad bar were delicious — this is a great thing, as I normally have a hard time discerning what to get from a buffet of any type as I'm often a poor judge of what I would like. The conversation was great and the gift exchange was totally fun too!
In the evening I attended the GELA pub night at Elephant and Castle. I must have asked the waitress for more hot water for my tea 4 times, but it was what was keeping me going. I nibbled a bit on the provided platters of pub grub for sharing, but what made that event awesome was the conversations. I really am in the right place when I interact so well with members of the profession I wish to join… aren't I?
So while outside of these events I'm not getting too much done (and I certainly need to), life goes generally well, and I'm doing my best to stave off further illness. Christmas is coming and I do love this time of year so much — even if it has to be ridden with homework, research and other stress-inducing times if combined with illness.