So. Very. Tired.

I'm exhausted. All this week. Possibly anxiety induced. We have been keeping regular sleeping and waking hours for weeks and it has worked beautifully for accomplishing an impressive amount of reading and research and maintaining an even keel on emotions and moods and even making my headaches and health more manageable.

But as soon as I had deadlines, I couldn't sleep and also had to get up earlier due to some last-minute crammed in make-up lectures and pre-presentation rehearsal sessions, etc. So, this past week: tired and headachy and generally angsty. I brought it on myself in a way, by having coffee in the evening on Tuesday. But who knew it would keep me up til three and have days-long ripple effects? Well, any reasonable person, you might say. But that's not me.

At this point, I'm one presentation and an environmental law problem question (about pollution control laws and nuisance claims) into my coursework. This week, I'm to give a presentation on social partnership (wage and tax agreements) between unions, business, and government in Ireland during the "Celtic Tiger" economic boom of the 1990s through to the current situation. Interesting to research, but not groundbreaking. Since the presentation was originally scheduled for last Wednesday and I didn't get the memo that it had been moved, I'm pretty well prepared for it and took the opportunity to review my project with my professor, who didn't toss me out on my ear for being a loser, so it'll probably go okay.

This week, no official deadlines, but some self-created ones designed to smooth the way for next week, when I have two due, and the week after, when there are three. Then some studying for an environmental law exam and I'm home free.

Then it's on to the dissertation, which I'm excited about and terrified of. It's due by September 15th and is my sole academic responsibility over the summer. Yikes. I've meant to tell you all about it, and just haven't mustered the energy. I promise to do so soon, so check back.

Today, Jason and I went to the Farmer's Market and walked home the long way, through the park. It really is beautiful here right now. So many trees in bloom and several varieties of delicate sage green fuzzy leaved trees, alongside occasional alarmingly colorful arrangements of tulips and something highly sneeze-inducing. We didn't have the camera, so I can't show it to you. Sorry. Maybe I'll take some shots of the lilac and three tulips and hundreds of humongous dandelions in our back garden soon instead.

Judging from the hullaballoo outside our window each morning, I'd say there are some baby birds around. The cat wanders through and the birds spend half an hour shrieking and bobbing around to distract him. Must have babies around somewhere. I can't remember the specifics, but it calls to mind some vague memory of a cartoon character (maybe a bird?) who kind of runs back and forth frantically and wide-eyed, making a panicked racket about every little thing. Any guesses as to what my half-baked memory is trying to recall?

Sorry for the randomness, just wanted to put up some kind of update.