such great heights.

So, I put on jeans for the first time in months.

{this is not significant because of the changing fall weather.}
This was delightful because it meant I was wearing something other than “work clothes” or pajamas, or ‘study sweats’. It meant I was going ‘out’…out to meet an old college roomie, out to Cuppies-and-Joe, out on the town with my husband. Out with plans.

Back to the land of the living, as my mother would say.
Let’s not take this free time for granted, shall we?
It’s amazing how much ‘time’ there is now, when you have waking hours that don’t involve study + work {or + anything else, but feeling really stressed and guilty because I’m wasn’t doing the former}. The old adage of realizing something’s value when it’s been stripped away.

I’ve already used by newfound free time for good… cooking, baking up a delicious treat for my birthday boy (Velvet Devil’s Food Cake with coffee buttercream frosting from Cooks Illustrated}, planting flowers and decorating for fall, catching up with family, visiting the state fair, planning a bridal shower, shopping til I drop, cleaning {yes, this is even a luxury.}, enjoying our houseguests--especially Griffin--this week, throwing myself shamelessly into fall season premieres, planning a hiking trip-slash-zoo trip-slash-plaza district festival for this weekend, and just enjoying the freedom.

The test, you ask?

Well, we all agree it was just weird. I think I did okay, I think I probably passed. But, with that kind of test, you just really wouldn’t be too surprised either way. It was unpredictable in that it was very psychosocial/counseling based. Situation X, what would you say/do next? Those are so subjective, and often not well written. Not that that isn’t a part of our training and our profession, it’s just a difficult skill to assess on a multiple choice exam. It was disappointing, and frustrating, and didn’t feel like the best assessment of my skills as a GC. On the upside, I don’t feel like there was anything I would have really done differently to prepare. I felt very capable and confident with the material that I knew, but felt a little let down that the questions didn’t dig very deep in the science. Regardless of what happens, I feel “better for it” after studying so hard these last few months, even if some of it was overkill. This is the first year to test out this new format. So, we were little test subjects, with no way to anticipate what those long four hours would be like. The same sentiments are shared across the board, and from what I gather, across the country as well. We’re all sitting in the same boat, just waiting for our scores. Hoping we’ll be able to place those three little letters after our title, and moreso I think just hoping we won’t have to endure another summer at the books.

Oh well, for now…it’s OVER.

…and how have you been?