tests and papers and presentations, oh my!

I HATE being sick! Hate it, hate it, hate it!!! And considering the fact that I have so much trouble dealing with the aches and pains of the common flu (or whatever the hell it is I have), remind me to never, ever get pregnant! Being sick = lower back and joint and head aches for a week (well, two, now), whereas pregnancy = 9 months (+) ! I love you, Mom!

And all on top of tests and papers and upcoming presentations, and the regular homework load that I need to get on top of, and research "stuff" (I LOVE cleaning test-tubes! and entering data!), and trying to get back to working the horses now that the weather is nice. But all that really matters is that I am feeling at least a little better by Wednesday morning when I leave for my conference. I am SOOOOO excited!!! I'm going to the EAGALA (Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association - http://www.eagala.org) conference in Ogden, UT from March 14-17, and I am super excited! Plus, I finally get to see Kristen live-and-in-person again!!! Yay!!! I can't really afford it, but I applied for some $$ from the Grad-Student Association, and I can't really afford to not go - I'm taking some workshops on research in the field, bringing mindfulness into the equation, etc. - all applicable information that will help me with my studies and with our own EFP project. And, who knows, by next year maybe I will have enough together to actually present...

And the conference is followed by Spring Break (yay!) - so maybe I can actually get on top of homework and research and my lit. review. AND, I can finally catch up on my correspondence - I always mean to write and call, especially family, and next thing you know, it's midnight, or I'm at home where I get practically zero cell-phone reception. Ahhh, so close.

Well, back to my paper for now (it's for my psych history and systems class - the one that we had a test in last Monday...yeah, 4 1/2 hours and 14 (single-sided) handwritten pages later, and I'm still really nervous about how I did). Anyways, it's on the early beginnings of music therapy - specifically, music as cause of and cure for melancholia in the late 16th - early 17th centuries. It's interesting that melancholia was an affliction reserved for intelligent (often wealthy) white males, whereas males of lower SES were thought to be overly effeminate, and women sporting similar symptoms were accused of witchery... gee Heidi, any thoughts on that topic?