Par-tay in Room 313 :)

Listen VERY carefully...you'll hear shouts of celebration coming from me. I have finished grading the Dreaded Research Papers and grades are in the computer. I returned them to the students after lunch, and there was no wailing or gnashing of teeth from them. A couple had questions about why they missed points on certain areas, but they understood after having the problem explained to them.

I've decided to make a few changes on the junior papers for next semester. Instead of waiting until the 4th term, I'm going to go ahead and begin teaching the process with them just a couple of weeks into the new semester. I hope that will make the end of the semester much less hectic.

At the end of every semester, I really begin to get keyed up. I know all the stuff that I have to get done, and I see the days flying by. I start wondering how in the world I'm going to get everything done. I always manage to finish up, but it isn't without tons of stress.

Several years ago my gyno diagnosed me with generalized anxiety disorder, and he put me on 10 mg. of Lexapro, or my "happy pills" as I like to call them. Now, I know that having GAD isn't anything major--a lot of people have it and a lot of people take meds for it. (Some people don't take meds, but they definitely should check into it.) Every time we get to the end of the semester, my anxiety really kicks in. It is especially bad at the end of first semester because of all of the holiday stuff I'm trying to get done in addition to all of the school stuff I have to get done.

The last couple of weeks I've noticed that I've been clinching my teeth at night. I need to be wearing my mouth splint, but I'm not. The clinching is directly related to my anxiety, too. I know it's getting really bad when I catch myself clinching my teeth during the day, and I've started doing that. I guarantee that it will go away in about three days. :)

I just hope the pain in my neck goes away too...