To My Dukies...

I'm alive.
Still moving,...just a little slower...

The last week was crazy busy, and I'm pretty sure I had a stretch there of 4 days when my total sleep time was in the teens.  I was one restless night from an assault charge....on someone else or myself.
By Sunday Oscar and I were both worthless and managed to sleep all afternoon, do half a load of laundry, and check off zero items from the to-do list.
For someone addicted to their own productivity, that is torturous and sends the anxiety into overdrive.  But honestly, I couldn't fight it.  I went and surprised Sparkles for Mother's Day,...and that combined with little sleep and stress about having little sleep was enough to put me in a coma.
Oscar didn't mind.

Apparently my thigh converts to a pillow.
...perhaps the sluttiest thing I've said all day.

 The weekend was exhausting, but a lot of fun....out with friends, Haven's 3rd birthday party, Duke graduation, friends' 30th, and lots of celebrating in between.
It sounds like I'm popular.
Its a lie.
Dad is probably still sneaking checks somewhere.  Its fine.  I get it. 
Thanks Dad...because I am broke.

But seriously, my body was pooped by the end of all this.  And there was that moment walking to my car at 1:30 Sunday morning in heels when I debated whether or not to rip them off in the parking lot and risk hepatitis.  My apathy was peaking.
I caved.
They came off faster than a stripper's....well....anything.
I should probably update my shots.

It was graduation weekend or most of Durham.  My Dukies were celebrating the end of justifiable late nights and endless studying.  (The two not always correlated).
I've had the privilege of working with a handful of graduate students this year who have truly kept me entertained to no end.  They think I've taught them a great deal, but as any "teacher" would say, I've learned just as much.
On a serious note, I am grateful. 
Grateful for their perspective on life and inspiring drive to move forward and create themselves.  They are sharp and genuinely open to opportunity.  Opportunity presented to them, and opportunity constructed from intentional steps towards a goal.  To say they are focused on the road ahead is an understatement.
I admire that.
I envy the energy they find day in and day out to continue a path that is both difficult and uncertain.
That takes incredible courage.  I applaud them.
But perhaps the greatest thing I've learned is that life in its purest is enjoyed and experienced in the moments we allow ourselves to simply BE. 
...To relinquish any temptation to question the future or recall the past.  Instead, liberate yourself into the moment that IS...and stay there...live...enjoy.

This challenges me on many levels, and for that I am thankful.  I will miss you all more than you know...