Rewards for Clear Thinking

Dad has left for Kuwait and it's hard to know what to feel, so I've decided to feel proud and thankful. I do feel those things. My dad is a very mellow and loving man and it is strange picturing him doing what he must be doing over there... and it's strange to picture him over there. I'll manage, though. I have a lot else to keep me occupied.
It's "dead week" for me. I mistook the meaning and woke yesterday morning feeling like I was dead, really it just means you don't have as much class work. I was nauseous and head-achy from the moment I work up until I fell asleep. I had to have Tom pick me up from my night class because the bus was making me miserable. Fortunately he is wonderful and did so as willingly and sweetly as he does everything else. I was well looked after.
It was horrible to try to do my papers in that state though; to sit reading off the computer screen or tiny-print of the novels while my head is throbbing. But I realized looking back at my day that it forced me to take it slow and ease myself into my work - rather than what I normally do which is try to dive in and work like crazy only to spin my wheels and dispense a lot of energy while accomplishing very little. Slow and steady wins the race.
I'm writing one paper on Dreiser's Sister Carrie and Wharton's House of Mirth (I really liked this one), and one on the demography of Kuwait (what's a more mature way of describing my lips making a fart noise?). I also have a couple final exams to knock out and another scarf to make. (Yes, I made a scarf.)
Oh how excited I am to be done with this term! Oh how beautiful the apartment will look! How organized we will be! A glimpse of Heaven on Earth!