Do You Hear What I Hear?

My last paper is due tomorrow.  I made it into bed last night at 1:42 AM, tired, but pleased with the amount of work I had completed.  As I pulled back the covers and got into bed, my upstairs neighbors started running the vacuum.  At 1:42 AM. 

The vacuum cleaner stopped.   Then the Christmas Carols began.  Their song of choice?  Do You Hear What I Hear - the Vanessa Williams version.  The irony of their musical selection was hard to bear, but I was too cold to get out of bed to complain.  You're damn right I hear what you hear.  Bah humbug.   

Schoolhouse Rock - New Years 2007

Here it is 11:31 PM on New Year's Eve. I'm at home, about to ring in the New Year surrounded by piles of transcripts, course catalogs, GRE test scores, and other detritus of the grad school application process, trying my best to ignore the growing din coming from revelers down on Orchard Street and the fact that the party downstairs keeps setting off the smoke detector.

Yep, if all goes as planned I'll be grad school-bound come Fall 07, pursuing dual masters degrees in Public Policy and Social Work. After rocking around the Christmas tree and generally making merry and bright with family and friends in the Midwest, I'm back in NY confronted with the grim reality of looming application deadlines. Dual degrees mean dual applications - one for Social Work and one for Policy within each university. The online application process is supposed to make things easier, but I keep getting stuck when the copmuter forgets why I'm filing two separate applications with the same school. Argh.

At this point in time fall seems like a long way off. Right now I'm just focused on putting the finishing touches on personal statements and other materials and reminding myself that this will all be over in a few weeks. I'm taking periodic breaks to put in a few rows on Natalya gauntlets and have a cold beer waiting in the fridge, playing the part of the traditional carrot on a stick.

Cheers, and warm wishes for laughter and lots of love in the New Year (not to mention fat acceptance letters arriving in my mailbox)!