Spring Break 2011: The Stay at Home Edition.

  Spring break is here!  I have slaved away for the past two weeks... writing, cramming and stressing over midterms.  What a relief to finally have a semblance of a break this semester.  Unfortunately, I have to stay in town for a few reasons.  The first being that I have to work a few days this week.  Another is due to lack of funding... one must have dinero if they plan on going on a vacation!  But, those things are NOT going to stop me from having a fantastic break.  Here's what I've been doing (or plan on doing) for the next few days:

1. TV Shows: I have missed out on so many great shows these past few months due to classes and homework.  This makes me so sad, because I am a self proclaimed TV show addict.  I especially love to watch full seasons, one after the other.  My choice for this break is HBO's "Rome."  I must say that Showtimes "The Tudors" is still at the top of my list (who can beat Jonathan Rhys Meyers at King Henry VII?) for historical dramas, but "Rome" is pretty good so far as well.  There are only two seasons which means I will be able to finish the series since each episode is 40 minutes and there are about 20 episodes total (yes, I have no problem with sitting in front of the TV for 10 hours straight.  It's terrible, I know).  Since I'm also a huge literature/historical buff, one could practically claim that I am watching them for educational purposes...? 

2. Reading for Leisure and School:

I am on day 3 of my break and I've already finished a novel for one of my classes that is due for the next time class meets.  I must admit that this novel is fantastic, which is why it was such a quick read for me.  "The Penelopiad" by Maragaret Atwood is just one of the books assigned to me for my Lit Theory course this semester.  I have already endured Kafka's "The Trial", so this novel was a much needed break.  I have also stocked up on a few other novels for my Nook as well to read when I get a free moment.  Leisure reading is amazing, but it's also nice to know that I'm probably ahead of some of my classmates.  Here are a few of the books that I plan on reading over break.  Wish me luck on completing them all!

(I purchased these from amazon.com and bn.com)

3.  Spring Cleaning:  I don't know about you, but I feel like my closet is brimming with winter clothes that are just asking to be put away and be replaced by summer dresses and shorts.  I plan on setting aside a few hours to pull out things I know that I will never wear again and I am going to sell them to second hand clothing stores.  Where I live, there are many trendy second hand stores with great deals, which in turn also pay fairly for my gently used items.  Everything else will go to Goodwill and jackets and sweaters will retire until October.  

4. Randoms:  During the week, when classes are in session, I always feel so incredibly overwhelmed by the amount of homework I am assigned.  I know that this is the case for many other college students as well.  It seems as though nothing else exists beyond school, work, homework and the occasional bit of sleep and necessary consumption of food.  Now that my head is somewhat clear, I can take care of the little things that I've been putting off.  For example, I've accumulated quite a few books to study for the GRE (which I will talk about in more depth in a future post), but I have yet to open a single one!  

Now is my time to look through them and plan out the best study path for me, so that I will be ready for the exam by July!  I've also need to update my YouTube website www.youtube.com/cupcakegel  I always feel so bad when I go weeks without posting a video, because I love the interaction I get to have with the YouTube community when I'm involved.  Other than that, frequent naps are also on the agenda this spring break because that is definitely something I was lacking during midterms...      

5. Mini-Kind of-But Not Really-Trip:  Budget cuts to the education system within my state have been a hot topic and I for one am heavily involved with my school overall.  I couldn't imagine it having to shut down due to lack of funding, nor am I keen on the idea of losing my favorite professors to cuts or having to pay a 12% tuition increase for my last year of college.  These sorts of things make me think very seriously about leaving the state when I attend graduate school.  My point here is that my college is funding a totally FREE bus trip to Northern Nevada, for an education rally taking place there, on the last weekend before break.  Although spending 16-hours round trip on a bus does not sound like the most ideal "vacation" to most... it could be fun and hopefully it will have an impact on our goal.  I'm definitely looking forward to the experience that this day trip has to offer and I won't mind the chilly weather there either.