aw gawd

Yep, it's been kind of a long day. I had a committee meeting today where the agenda included going over my proposed reading lists and collectively brainstorming questions the committee might pose as my comprehensive exams, to be written in the third week of May.
The agenda did not include restructuring my three topic areas with significant implications in the reading lists and a major reconceptualisation of the timeline.

Ah well, give an academic an agenda and he/she will do all she/he can to thwart it.

I'm not writing my exams in May. I might write them in June/July and I definitely won't be defending them until the last week of July.

This means two more additional months of heavy stress, additional readings since the third comp area has now been completely rewritten, and probably a change in exam criteria that I will return to the committee. Sounds like a lot of mumbo jumbo, doesn't it? Tell me about it, yo. You tell me about it.

After the meeting my body was doing very strange things. I saw a friend and tried to fill her in but I kept bending over and rubbing my face. Really odd. I was also laughing/crying without really the crying but the impetus to cry was still there. I'm feeling pretty messed up. It will pass. I already am of the opinion that these changes we devised (it was a team effort, after all) will be good and I'll have a better product at the end of it, but still, I was sure looking forward to offloading a tonne of stress on June 1st. Now the earliest that can happen is August 1st. Donald, we can probably still work something out for your visit. I intend to write on weekdays and take weekends off, so give me a call and I'll reassure you that your hunting trip is still ok. Mom, maybe my request to join you on your Alaskan cruise was premature. Yep, it was.

aawwww gAWd I might, very almost, be done. Done. Like dinner. It's been a hell of a couple weeks.