Life after grad school...

I have been ignoring my blog for over 2 months now. (If this blog was a close, personal friend of mine, she would have given up on me weeks ago!) There are a variety of reasons for this...grad school, children, housework, grad school, youth group students, trip to Florida, grad school, ministry, house construction, grad school... But I am a short 11 days away from my final presentation in Marshall, and about 3 pages shy of completing my massive action-research paper. The end is in sight! But after 2 years of work and reading and papers, it's hard for me to grasp that I will be laying aside my teacher "hat" once again.

This morning at the YMCA, I ran into a friend who had recently read my blog (from February...thank heavens she didn't realize how long ago I had written that post!). My first thought was, "people actually read my blog?" (and I know this is true, but I've sorta forgotten it since I haven't made the time to update it...and I've sorta forgotten all about it as well.) My second thought was, "what had I written again?" Then I realized that it had been about my on-going struggle to fit in. And two months later, the struggle is still very real. And especially over the last few months, I have not been able to nurture friendships, play dates, or other couple time due to my incredible study load. THAT will change very soon!!!

So what will life after grad school (or LAGS as I affectionately call it) look like? Hopefully I will get back to posting about my life and my kids on a MORE regular basis. I hope to get into a more regular "pre-school" routine and design a curriculum for Sammy. I want my house to be cleaned REGULARLY every week. I want to have more dates with my husband. I want to spend more time with my girlfriends in Brainerd and in the Twin Cities. I want to read FOR FUN!!!

But most of all, I want to be thankful....thankful for a WONDERFUL husband who has been with our children for 20 weekends and countless study nights over the last two years for me to have this opportunity...thankful for what I have learned and how I have been able to pass on that knowledge to so many others...thankful for a place to be a "teacher" again and know FULLY that God is NOT wasting this time I am setting aside to be at home with my children...thankful to know that I CAN be a student again...thankful that I haven't lost my desire to learn and grow as a professional.

And after being thankful, I hope to wildly celebrate my graduate experience and LAGS!