embarking on something else

today i've made two giant leaps in terms of self-respect. okay, well, they are so for me, so, don't think "pshh, what?" when you read them. first, i received an e-mail from my supervisor with our schedule for september (that's right, it's september 1st and we got the schedule today) and in it she made little sidenotes to everyone she sent it to (in other words, everyone read what she sent to each individual) and mine said something along the lines of 'i tried to give you all the days off you requested, but i needed you to work at least one day'. hellooo, i asked for three days off the entire month. the 5th, the 7th and the 20something, i can't remember right now. and so of course, i was scheduled for one of the three days i asked off (for the whole month). well, i was upset about it and normally i would have pouted about it to myself and had a pity party that day at work. but! i put on my big-girl panties and e-mailed her back and said something along the lines of 'in case there was a misunderstanding, i only requested three days off, not this whole weekend, so, if you'd like for me to work the other two days of the weekend, i will, but let's see if we can do something about saturday'. not those exact words, but you catch my drift.

also, sigh, this was a huge deal for me, but i did it anyway. i e-mailed both of my parents (yes, both of them at the same time) and asked about the wedding. it's september now, almost a year exactly away, if anything, we need to secure our venue. that's the one thing i'm most concerned about. what if we get to said wedding venue and want to secure our wedding date and it's already taken? gulp. i'll cry. i'll cry and get over it, but i will cry. so, lord, please give me patience for this, and please give my parents patience and please give them that "in my shoes" perspective for this.

also! i went by my adviser's office yesterday and spoke with her for a long time. she is amazing. i basically want to be in her position, so i figured she would be the best person to speak with. after exciting revelations (and okay, a little more stress, because, let's face it, life is all stress until you die, right?) i dropped my education class and picked up one more english class. yippee, i may very well be on my way to graduating on time! and getting married and living in our little married apartment (even though it will be slim pickins my friends, so don't expect lavish dinner parties for the first year) and snuggling late at night with my husband. not to mention working my butt off to pay the bills and getting through my masters program, but what are those compared to the former?!

in other news, i will be visiting here in june:

not to that exact spot, of course, but to ireland, yes!

and here:



isn't that a great picture? that's right, ladies and gentlemen, i'm studying abroad for a month in england and ireland. sigh. if all works out, of course. with a little prayer and pixie dust, we can make this happen. so, let's go for it!