In The Home Stretch

So, my Internet decided to not cooperate with me anymore, so I'm writing this entry before I go to bed and I'll post it tomorrow. Today wasn't too terribly exciting from a blogging perspective because it was a Tuesday. As I'm sure I've said before, Tuesday is the busiest day of the week because we have one or two staff meetings depending on the week, as well as things like freshman seminar and wing meetings. I've read that Tuesday is the most productive day of the week in an office setting, so I'm sure that's why our schedule is like this. With that said, I don't want to blog about specific work stuff because basically all of the information is either confidential or really boring to an outside observer. 

For all of my life that I have clear memories of, my year has revolved around the academic calendar. We can all sing along to the progression of a year. We meet people and begin new courses in September. Our friendships bud in October while activities and hobbies take off. In November, we feel like the semester has dragged on long enough and long for Thanksgiving Break. December brings the end of the semester as things come crashing together with finals. January starts the process over again, yet the friendships mostly stay the same. February can feel bogged down due to the weather and a mid-semester grind. March is brightened up by Spring Break. April is when spring really takes off and May is wrapping a semester up and mentally planning some things out for next year. 

This was the cycle I adopted as a student, and now as an administrator (that felt weird to type), I see the cycle both in myself and in the students. Of course, the specific job responsibilities I've taken on also color this cycle. (March and April are both huge competition months and April specifically can be summed up with "We're going to state!") One big difference between my own schooling experience and the Missouri Academy is that the spring semester ends in late April and all students are required to stay for a 4-week May Session. So, before Spring Break, it feels like "la la la, the students are here until June. We have so much time" but now that we're back it's more "holy crap, we have four weeks until finals and then May Session will fly by and then it's graduation and you're all moving out ahh!". Every. Year.

The reason I'm thinking about this today is that it was the first day the staff really started to talk about the end of the year. We didn't get to the giant checklist of things to do for commencement, but we did lay out dates for final staff meetings. I may have to go back and look, but apparently my contract ends a day before the students actually graduate and move out of the building. The timing for the spring semester this year is just weird. 

Alright, at this point, I don't want to subject you to more work-talk. Today's holidays. There were a few holidays, but the one that caught my eye was National Cherish an Antique Day. My grandfather ran an antique store for several years and I went with my parents to many antique stores growing up. I can remember how different stores looked, but I couldn't tell you what my parents were specifically hunting for. If I had to guess, it was cookie jars and cookware… and niche stuff.
 

Okay, so what antique do I have to cherish today? Well, a couple of years ago, I visited my grandmother who was having a yard sale to whittle down on the amount of stuff she had. One item that caught my eye was a 1950's box that had a light and a colored disc in it. My grandma told me that it was for lighting up a metal Christmas tree and the disc would spin and change the color of the light.

(I  was kind of surprised to find this picture as easily as I did, because this is the exact type I'm talking about.)

We tested the light out and it still worked, and by that point, she insisted that I kept it. It was definitely a unique little item, so I figured, why not? Since my guys have parties and things on the wing, I figured I could have it going for mood lighting.

The light has a permanent spot in my living room for mood lighting. It's on the windowsill, so I don't have to worry about someone accidentally kicking it, but I try to keep an eye on it whenever it's on. I realized today that I haven't had it on much recently, so when some guys came over to play Kingdom Hearts, I turned the other lights off and had the mood light going. It's not much, but it made me think of my grandmother and the various antiques she held onto throughout the years.

Here's to you, Grandma!