So....geez I don't even remember the last time I posted. Ahh yes, November 13th. Well, things have happened since then....obviously. This past week was a week of hell to beat all weeks of hell. I had so much to do that I'm still not done with it all. I have an exam that was due a week ago this past friday that I haven't yet turned in. Don't worry, she knows my situation and will allow me to turn it in the Monday after Thanksgiving.

This week was a lot easier. It gave me a little room to breathe, which was nice. I have been getting decent sleep and also have gotten to all my appointments (classes, work, etc). Today I don't have to work as late as I thought I was going to have to because of Thanksgiving tomorrow. The helpdesk closes at 5:00. So I lose two hours today. That's ok because I volunteered to work on Friday all day. I'm all set there. I'm going to use that whole time to write my exam papers. Then the weekend is free.

Last week, I had a speech, a 2 hour program at the TV studio, another production to work at the studio as well, a program to give on Thursday as well as a booth to run for several hours. I also had two exam papers on my head and a conference to go to over the weekend that I was giving a program at. So I had a lot of stress last week. Amazingly, I got everything done except for the papers. One big success was the two hour production. For once, there was only one snag with the production and it got fixed fairly quickly. The big issue was making sure every room was shot and edited. I had delegated out the 10 rooms to the eight staff members in my department as well as myself. I wasn't sure if they would all get done because I wasn't sure I could depend on everyone. I apparently can. Every room was done and done well. I was so proud of my department. They really kicked ass and made everything work.

I have also asked several of my department members how I'm doing as the department manager. So far I've been told that I'm doing a pretty darn good job. That's good to know. I was worried I was pushing them too hard with the last month we had. Or perhaps that I wasn't offering enough help. Bill, especially, said I was doing an excellent job. He's been in production for a while. That made me happy.

This weekend was the women's leadership conference at a college across the state. I'd been looking forward to it all semester since last year's conference was so cool. They planned ahead for my workshop this year and gave me a whole lecture hall. That made things much easier for me. There were about 60 people in my workshop and it was probably one of the best deliveries I've had. The group was very responsive. They also laughed at my jokes, which made me feel great, thus, making my delivery better. So, I was quite happy with it. I got great questions, particularly about transgender sexuality. People seemed very interested in that. Several times throughout the day people randomly told me that my workshop was great. I was in a great mood all day because of that.

There were four keynote speakers throughout the conference. I saw all of them. With each speaker, I felt more motivated, more activist, and more feminist. I was amazed to hear just about every one of the speakers mention transgender and how we as feminists should support it. That made me very happy. I made sure to give the speakers my card. Networking is a good thing.

The only really bad part of the weekend at the conference was the hotel. We were in a Days Inn, and my friend Emilie and I were rooming together. Friday night I walked into the bathroom and there was a nasty brown thing crawling across the counter. Yes, that's right...cockroaches. Apparently it was just our room, but still....nasty. We complained and it was "taken care of". We didn't see anymore after Friday night. If I had been paying for the room, I'd have been more of a bitch about it. We still had half of the room price dropped at least. Aside from that, though, the weekend was pretty cool. I learned a lot and really made some great strides mentally as a feminist.

Last week was the end of GenderFest on campus. On Thursday I gave a program and sat at the "Ask a Transsexual Anything" booth for two and a half hours. It was fun. I got some really great questions. Most people just walked past looking a little uncomfortable. Some even had a look of contempt. I didn't care though, I got enough good attention that I felt it was a success. The program only had two people in it, which was ok. I would have liked more though. It's just so hard to get people involved with anything here.

Well, I think it's just about time for me to get ready to go home. I will likely think of more to write, but I don't really have time right now. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I have to drive home yet tonight. So, I will let you all know how my Thanksgiving went on Friday. I'm sure being at home among all the couples will make me feel so happy...Talk to you all then. Bye.

Luv,
Jess