It's been hard coming back to my Real Life after a vacation. I have to catch up on all the math I skipped last week. I have to prepare for the next class I'll teach. I have to finish grading the things that came in late from last term. I have so many things to do around the house: grocery shopping, laundry, planting bushes, etc. I have two blankets, a pair of socks, and a sweater to make as soon as possible. I have to enjoy my mom while she's still here. I don't like Real Life; I want to go back to the week when the only stress I had was whether we'd get all the red jellybeans put together.

Posted by: Sarah at 07:40 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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We went to a concentration camp today. It was raining and I was very cold, but not as cold as they were. I was frightened by the enormous pyramid of ashes, but not as frightened as they were. I felt angry when I heard some German start yelling, but not as angry as they were. And I cried when I was by myself, but not as often as they did.

Posted by: Sarah at 03:58 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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My life this week has been filled with hurry-up-and-relax. I race to work, race home, race back to class, race to find time to spend with my mom, and race to sleep. But I'm done now; it's vacation time. In two hours, Mom and I will pile into the car and head here. For a whole week. With no plans, no alarm clocks, no superscript th, no work, and no stress. And likely no internet. I'll return next weekend; in the meantime, enjoy the sidebar.

Posted by: Sarah at 02:33 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Dang, you know what? It's fun to delete people...

Posted by: Sarah at 04:12 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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I truly believe in basing my life around my values. I changed my career plans away from being a French teacher because, after my experience in France, I didn't think I could promote the culture in good faith. My husband and I also tried to change our living plans: we never intended to get stationed in Europe -- we even tried to find a way to trade our slot away -- because Europe is generally the antithesis of all that we value. I believe firmly in making choices based on principles, and I applaud others who do the same.

In that sense, I can sympathize with these DUers who want to leave the country if President Bush is re-elected. I personally don't see their arguments, I sure think calling it a "junta" seems over-the-top, and I can't begin to crawl inside their minds. But if that's what they believe in, then they should act on it. They should be decisive and alter the course of their lives based on their convictions and values. I completely support that. I wonder, though, how many of them will actually back up their words with actions. And I wonder how easy life will be in another country for someone who is unemployed and broke in the US right now. But I wish them all the best of luck, and I hope they feel more at home elsewhere.

MORE TO GROK:

Here's everything I like about the US. Heh.

And yes, I learned to heh from the Instapundit. I had never heh-ed in my life before I started reading Reynolds.

Posted by: Sarah at 04:18 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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It was a heck of a weekend: I went back to France, which I never thought I'd do. I did a lot of thinking; I'll write about it after I get my stats test out of the way tomorrow. Read this in the meantime.

Posted by: Sarah at 05:23 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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In three hours my mom will be here!
Of course, now that I've weaned her off of TV news and she's addicted to the blogosphere, we're going to be fighting over the computer...

Posted by: Sarah at 02:12 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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I got an update on our friend LT A today: he's home and doing much better. His wife says he is "tube-free" and except for the temporary colostomy bag and the shots of blood thinner, he's doing very well. I'm so relieved.

Posted by: Sarah at 12:00 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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