Tranquil as a forest, but on fire within

First year exams complete!  At least the writing part... I have my first year exam defense coming up at the end of this week.  But the miserable hell weekend is over!  And you know what?  It actually wasn't that miserable.  Not that I want to do it again anytime soon, but I actually managed to spend most of the weekend feeling happy and fulfilled.  I will say, thank goodness we got cats!!!

Day 1: got to school at 9:00 AM, got the questions.  Then out came several of my colleagues with breakfast and gift bags!  We looked over the questions together, talked strategy for a few minutes, then home I came prepared to write my first question.  But first, I opened the gift bag.  It contained ten little packages (two to open before answering each question), dinosaur stickers, half-pops, owl erasers, a package marked "Open for Chocolate-y Good Luck," a few packages to open before beginning, and letters from all of my colleagues wishing me good luck and reminding me to stay calm, to take care of myself, and to remember the important things in life.  By 10:30 AM, I had made an outline for my first question, and I was off!  I finished the first question by early evening, took a break to get gelato, and began on the second.  And that was with two twenty-minute breaks for lunch and dinner!  Zan was soooo good to me this weekend.  He made so many meals, never asked me to wash dishes, and woke up early so that I didn't have to write all alone in the office knowing he was all warm and sleeping.

Day 2: finished the second question by mid-morning.  Started the third.  The third fought back.  The question just didn't want to be answered.  I also talked to my colleague Lezlie on the phone A LOT.  She was so wonderful, letting me talk through things, pointing out where the weaknesses were in my ideas and helping me to strengthen them.  It was a long, hard day of writing (but still had regular meals and bolstered my resolve on a short walk to Bartell's for coca-cola and cereal), and the question was finally knocked out by 11:30 PM.  Then blessed sleep.

Day 3: my colleague Samer came over bright and early to make breakfast for me and Zan!  He made us Turkish coffee (so rich!) and a meal whose name I can't pronounce, but it was basically tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, and spices all stewed together in a pot with poached eggs over top.  AMAZING.  I worked on setting up my fourth question while the guys cooked, then we had a leisurely breakfast, and then I wrote.  Fourth question knocked out by 4:45 PM, then I got cupcakes with my colleagues Michelle and Jyana.  Jyana was so wonderful and already had twelve beautiful cupcakes waiting on plates when Zan and I arrived!  I took it more slowly that evening, watched an episode of Buffy, and set up the fifth question.

Day 4:  Woke up early, and wrote.  And wrote.  And wrote.  And took a short lunch break.  And wrote some more.  By 5:00 PM I had the question complete, I went over my papers and footnoted them properly, and then DANCE PARTY!!!!!  Florence & the Machine, Billy Joel, Toto, Mulan (thus the title of this post)!  Dance dance dance!  Then PIZZA!  Off to Flying Squirrel for their pepperoni and garlic pizza and Fremont Summer Ale!!!!  And bought a dress online!  Hooray!!!!!

So overall, while an incredibly busy, stressful weekend, I stayed calm, powered through, had the help and support of the most amazing boyfriend, colleagues, family, and kitties in the world.  Moving on to the last two weeks of the quarter, then looking ahead to a fun-filled summer!