it's okay to want to run away.

despite the slightly emo feel this post's title may have, i promise it isn't going to be a whine fest.  in fact, it's going to be the opposite of a whine fest.  i'm not exactly sure what that term would be, but whatever it is, it's this.

these past two-ish weeks have been all kinds of crazy busy with everything due all at the same time and not enough waking hours to complete it all (hence the reason i stayed up working all night thursday night...well at least until 4am when the royal wedding coverage started which forced me to stop doing homework and start wishing i was a princess).  anyways, it's been a hectic and stressful last couple of days, but i can FINALLY breathe.

the last month projects - DONE!

that's right, 3rd semester of graduate school. we are so dunzo. don't call, text, tweet, facebook, linkedin (i don't even understand what that is but i still get invites to "link" with people...something i don't think i want to do ever because it sounds a tad strange), myspace (do people even still use that?), etc. me.  for realz.  this is one of those breakups where it's good riddance. i will burn your pictures (or books - gasp! i know, the librarian shouldn't burn books), stop factoring your importance into my decisions, and truly feel better because i am no longer tied to you (at least not until august when i start writing that pesky little master's paper thingamajig).

naturally, as assignments pile up and the stress gets to the pimple-breakout stage, it's easy to think about running away from graduate school and becoming a bartender (which after my librarian days are up, i think i'll try).  but then i go to the public library and i realize why i can't give up.  i just like it that much.  if you don't get that feeling or you don't think you've ever met a librarian that actually feels that way, you've obviously never been to my library.  you lose in the game of library love.

despite this, i still think it's okay to want to run away.  i never ran away as a child because let's be honest, i was terrified of the dark (still true), i don't think i'd survive very long in the wild (duh), and i don't believe in sweating so i wouldn't walk very far before i threw in the towel (true forever).  i have this vivid memory of my sister running away one time to the stop sign down the road.  i remember being petrified, although to be honest this entire memory could be distorted due to the fact that i was probably 7ish and i suffered (and continue to suffer) from an overactive imagination.  this is what i remember thinking: i didn't know how she was going to make it on her own.  she was all of 9 and woodmere loop was a loooong loop.  yikes!  i'm pretty sure she just packed socks and panties and i remember wanting to sneak her food in the garage.  i don't think she even made it half an hour sitting at that stop sign before she realized whatever chore she had, punishment she was given, or tv show she couldn't watch didn't cancel out the importance of a toilet and flintstones vitamins.  who knows what parts of that occurred in real life or as a chapter in the book i will one day publish about two sisters and their adventures around the country, but that's my story and i'm sticking to it.

and it's not just people that think about running away.  my mom recently sent me a video of ali trying to do it.  granted she and jennifer were actually playing with a ball in the ocean, but it really looks like she's swimming out to sea (she should really be more careful because she can't possibly know about all the creepy ocean creatures that will bite her toes in that murky water).  if dogs want to run away sometimes and so do their human counterparts, we must all be onto something.   if i had run away from grad school i'd not only have a lot of classes to retake, but i'd also owe my parents a lot of money.  i think we should copy ali (in the video below) and even if we think it'll be better out in that big scary ocean, turn around and come back.  it's so much better when you do!