Life After Graduate School

Spring Semester has started, and for the first time in three and a half years, I'm no longer a student! It still feels different, not thinking about assignments and homework, but it's a good feeling! I've started to think about other things, both professionally and personally, that I can develop.

One thing I did recently was buy a Yamaha alto recorder. I don't know how to play the recorder, but like to learn! Fortunately, decent recorders come fairly cheaply, and I got mine with a gift certificate. :-) The recorder is so portable, there's a recorder playing group in my area, to boot. I'm really wanting to plug back into my musical side. So stay tuned!

On the work end, one thing I'm doing is shadowing a colleague at the library's  Help Desk  once a week for a couple of hours. I enjoy working with KJ, who has a lot of energy and is eager to take advantage of teachable moments.

I'm also planning on attending three professional conferences this year, and am presenting at one of them. Busy, busy!

Grad School Complete!

I finished my last assignments of my grad school career a week ago today, and gave my final presentation (of library school) last Monday (December 1) in class. So hard to believe! I've spent much of the last week (beyond my full-time job) resting, catching up on errands and cleaning, and thinking about how I want to spend my newly re-found free time!

One of the things I want to do is cook more healthy foods at home. So recently, I picked out an easy, yummy looking chicken curry recipe, and went grocery shopping yesterday. A few minutes ago, I decided to go ahead and make the recipe for an early lunch, and learned that I have TWO bottles of expired olive oil (called for in the recipe) in the pantry! (On the flip side, I have three bottles of lemon juice in the refrigerator, all within the expiration date. Sigh.) I have a feeling I'll find a few more extras and expired items before it's all over, but I'm looking forward to giving our kitchen and pantry the reboot.


Graduation is next weekend! I'll post all about it later.

Clipart from Clipartheaven.com

Almost Done!

It's hard to believe I'm almost done with graduate school! All my assignments are due on December 1, when I have my last class period (and a presentation due that night). Graduation is December 13. These days, I'm tired and pretty stressed, but it's almost over. I'm looking forward to taking a big nap, then starting to catch up on things I've missed, like exercise, reading for pleasure, and learning how to cook more dishes. I'm also looking into taking up some new hobbies, like learning a musical instrument or new foreign language. Stay tuned!