Sharknado descends.

After graduating from the master's program, I looked forward to a bit of downtime with the knowledge that I had some goals of applying for the Ph.D. program as well as submitting an article for publication. What I didn't foresee was a whirlwind of crazy busy-ness at work that meant I put in way more hours than normal and that made February through July a blur, almost tornado-like (not sharknado-like, fortunately...much better acting). I like to approach each day as it comes because looking too far into the future can cause anxiety and frustration, and spending too much time in the past prevents the appreciation of the present. That being said, it felt as if each day was all I could focus on, with constant triage of tasks just to maintain what little sanity I have (seriously little. minute. tiny. itsy bitsy, even). I knew that eventually I would receive communication of what to expect and how to prepare for the start of the new journey into the Ph.D. program with the upcoming colloquium week. So I waited, unconcerned, treading water (figuratively and literally - keep reading, the literally will make sense in a moment) and getting through each day. Then came vacation. (I did enjoy a pre-vacation a month prior to vacation: a week of traveling with friends and family around California, spending incredibly wonderful moments with people I love very much.) Ah, how I was so happy to have vacation. Two weeks at one of my favorite spots in the world - Hawai'i (treading water make sense now? Good!). The relaxation and sense of home filled me to the core, a much needed recharge of sun, sand, ocean, and culture. Then I received a phone call. It was bright and early one morning when my phone rang (buzzed, actually. I don't like ringtones.). I didn't answer. I sensed it was from the college, but the early hour and relaxation brain prevented clear thought, although I did get a jolt of adrenaline from recognizing the area code.
The voicemail asked about my bio that was supposed to be submitted 3 days ago. Huh? Bio? I wracked my brain trying to recall getting communication about writing a bio and realized the last I had heard was a "Oh hey, soon you'll be getting an email from the head honcho guy who'll be asking you for a bio to share all the things your cohort peeps will want to know about you before meeting them in person in a month" (in those exact words. Promise.). An email followed the voicemail with the same info. Panic ensued. This is how I begin this journey? With completely failing at the first "assignment"? This cannot be true! Fast forward to home from vacation and a careful combing through of email communication when the realization hits that a single letter was forgotten from my email address. (This is occurring with alarming frequency as of late, which leads me to this public service announcement: read email addresses carefully! I feel bad for the person who owns my incorrect email address, you know, the one with the missing letter.) And the realization that other communication was most likely delivered to the wrong person. And the realization that I missed out on other communication. Eek!
You'll be happy to hear that I completed the bio and submitted it with no problem. I also contacted the appropriate peeps about the incorrect email addresses and am now all caught up with the communications. But I'm a few weeks behind on purchasing textbooks and reading the chapters necessary for discussions that will occur in two weeks. Don't worry, though (I know you were worried), I can rock it out and be ready. I got this. What.