May Mayhem: How was life? #337

May, 2024 was just as crazy busy as April! I finally wrapped up my semester exams and handed in one giant assignment, but that wasn’t all. I still had a viva exam, a quiz, and another assignment due all before the first week of May was even over. Talk about starting the month with a bang!

So, I figured I’d block out two weekdays to cram for the viva. They gave us weekend slots, and let’s be real, there was no way I was cramming everything by Saturday morning. No surprise, everyone else seemed to have the same plan. We’d just finished another exam the previous Saturday, then raced home on Sunday, and figured Monday and Tuesday were write-offs for anything but work and that last-minute assignment.

By Wednesday, May 1st, we were finally free after a whirlwind of exams and assignments. But guess what? Our viva exams were happening on the 4th and 5th! On top of that, there was a pop quiz on the 4th and an assignment due by the 6th. Our professor, bless his heart, wasn’t a tyrant about the Saturday slots. Most of us got to do our vivas on Sunday. Although, a brave few took Saturday slots after getting some encouragement from the professor, rest all got Monday (the 6th) for our viva exams. Talk about a last-minute scramble!

The weekend was coming up, and let me tell you, I was DYING to be done with this semester. My brain felt like a monkey with a jetpack, bouncing all over the place! I kept telling myself, “Just two more days, you can do this!” Every day, I chipped away at the assignment, refusing to let it become another last-minute nightmare.

The pop quiz happened on schedule, but my viva exam got pushed to dinner time – 8:30 pm! It turns out everyone wanted a Sunday slot. The viva itself was…meh. Let’s just say the professor wasn’t exactly going easy on the folks with later slots (unofficial rule, I guess?). But hey, I was still numb from my previous written exam disaster, so this wasn’t a big deal. At least I gave it my best shot, right? Finished the last of the assignment that night and hit submit with a sigh of relief. Knocking something out a day before the deadline is the best feeling ever – it’s like buying yourself an extra day of freedom, free from the anxiety of looming unfinished work.

So, I was back to the grind on Monday, May 6th. But let me tell you, my body and mind were toast. Totally wiped! By the end of the week, I came down with a cough, fever, and my blood pressure decided to take a nosedive. The whole week was a struggle to get through basic work tasks. I really wanted to call in sick, but I’d already used up my days for exams. Brutal!

To top it all off, a family fight (not involving me) left me feeling super unsettled and like I could barely get back on my feet. Then came the agonizing wait for grades. Will I pass this semester? The odds seemed stacked against me! I decided to wait to share my result with everyone until things calmed down at home – grades were posted separately for each course anyway. On a brighter note, I finally kicked the cough, but then bam! Dad’s health issues took a turn for the worse, which meant a complete overhaul of our eating habits. Mom and my sister even got sick too. Our house became a full-fledged “sick ward” at that point!

After all that chaos, I could only manage a walk for three measly days the entire month. Normally, some light exercise chills me out and blasts away stress, so being stuck inside was making me crazy irritable. On a brighter note, I finally dragged myself to the eye doctor for a checkup – I’d been putting it off forever thanks to exams and deadlines. I even tried to connect with some people online, but talking to strangers about the same stuff over and over just sucked the life out of me. Back to my bubble I went!

On a positive note, I finally made it to the eye doctor for that checkup – you know, the one I kept putting off because, well, exams and deadlines? I even tried to chat with some people online, but after a while of the same conversations with strangers, I felt my soul slowly withering away. Back into my comfort zone I went!

Movie nights were a saving grace though. I caught “The Idea of You,” “Laapata Ladies,” and “Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya” and started watching “2 Broke Girls” and season 7 of “Young Sheldon.” Speaking of saving graces, you might have noticed a blog explosion this month – more posts than the entire last year combined! I also had grand plans to get back into reading and embroidery, but well, life had other plans.

In addition to that, I did manage to bake some delicious cakes and a super chewy pizza after months of neglecting the kitchen. Now, when it comes to matters of the heart, let’s just say nostalgia was playing a confusing game – keeping some feelings alive while simultaneously smothering others. Maybe after a while, you forget exactly what love feels like, even though you know it existed. Like a beautiful dream you can’t quite grasp anymore.

The work was a nightmare last week. Thanks to some re-orgs, my team basically became a one-woman show – that’s me! Clearly, tough times are ahead. To top it all off, I got called back to the office. Bummer! I was really hoping that new office space closer to home would open soon. Without it, I’m looking at another move across the country, all by myself. Feeling a major mix of fear, anxiety, and despair, but I’m trying to stay busy to distract myself. Unfortunately, nothing seems to be working enough to keep my mood up.

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