Readin’, Writin’, and ‘Rithmetic

Whew!  The first week of class is done.  Can the choir say amen and pass me a margarita?

Here at Harvard, they follow the Readin’, Writin’ and ‘Rithmetic model. 

In the past week, I was assigned no less than a thousand pages of dense course readings.  I’ve read about genocide, the Holocaust, the loss of grey matter in adolescent brains, the United Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Treatise on Rhetoric, and op-eds concerning the Chicago teachers strike among other things. For grins and giggles, they threw in a case study about cholera in the 1800’s.

Now that it’s Thursday night (my next class isn’t until Monday morning) I’ve got to start Writin’.  I’ve got an op-ed and at least two responses papers due by noon on Tuesday.  It wouldn’t be a lot of writing *if* I had finished all of my readings for the week.  I’ve decided to use tomorrow (Friday) as a reading day to get caught up all of my required reading.  I’ll start writing on Saturday morning (after archery practice) and use Sunday to go to church and to revise what I’ve written.  Between now and Monday, I’m also looking to attend a conference on Poverty, a study group on Gender, Sexuality and Human Rights and the inaugural Diversity and Inclusion Committee meeting.   

I also have a problem set due for the Statistics course that I’m required to take. (That’s the ‘Rithmetic portion y’all!)

It wouldn’t be so bad if I have didn’t have the grouchies from putting myself on a diet. My love/love relationship with food and drink has caused my pants to be a little snug.  Actually, they’re more than a little snug…they’re down right TIGHT, but not in the “I’m-on-a-man-hunt” kind of way.  They are tight in the “Girl, that-button’s-going-to-pop-off-and-injure-someone” kind of way.

My comfort food of chocolate has been replaced by an apple with a tablespoon of peanut butter. I’m still going to indulge in an occasional margarita or glass of wine, but only because it’s medicinal.  I’ve been tracking/restricting my calories for the past week and 1) there has not been a midnight run to the 24 hour CVS to get chocolate, 2) I haven’t had withdrawal tremors and, 3) no one has been hurt by a flying button.

Is it too early to start the countdown to Christmas break? or better yet the American Candy and Chocolate Festival also known as Halloween?