Thank goodness for the little successes

Today's successes:

1. I submitted my portfolio for Qualitative Methods. Finally. What a relief!

2. I contacted the IRB (Institutional Review Board, who oversees any scientific research with human subjects, which weirdly enough includes sociology, anthropology, and social work, but not history or journalism), which I'd been dreading, putting off, and otherwise freaking out about for three months, and submitted the remainder of what I needed to so that I could return to data analysis for my research internship with their approval. PHEW! So, I'll be able work on that paper I mentioned last night, even if it means going back to interviews from the summer of 2006, without fearing reprisal from them.

3. I rescheduled with the prof I was stressing about, and will meet her on Monday, when I will have had enough time to think lucidly and write something substantial for her. In fact, I've been in touch with all the people in supervisory roles with me in the past few days, and am in good standing with all of them. I'm on target to get everything finished for my MSW but my research internship by the end of this semester, I think, and will have all my incompletes from Social Work off my back finally.

4. I've arranged to have the next several days free, which means a big solid block of time to work on papers, whether at home or at the library. Which is, after all, pretty much the only way I can write properly. Running from teaching to office hours to exam writing to my internship to a meeting, and having 5 papers I'm working on at once, I don't have my head screwed on straight enough to sit down and write quality work. I'm down to three papers I'm working on now, one of which is a program evaluation for AFG, and one of which I've already got a clear, focused idea about (the one I mentioned last night). So now I just need to figure out what I'm writing for this "Parenthood, Childhood, and the State" course I am pursuing with Dr. Sarri. And I have the weekend to think about it. Phew.