Finished!

Yesterday was my last day of economics class (hallelujah)! It's not that I didn't enjoy it most of the time, but Monday, March 15th was a day that I had been dreading for a while. I had a final paper due in addition to a final take home exam, and to top it all off I had to give a presentation on my paper topic. Needless to say, I've been off the grid for a couple of days trying to finish all of the work. Because having a doozie of a Monday in terms of schoolwork wasn't quite enough, last night the organization I work for part time was hosting a lecture. Basically, I was at work by 9:00am and didn't get home until 10:30pm with class and stuff in between.

The day actually wasn't as horrendous as I imagined it would be and that's due partially to scaring myself shitless into finishing all of my work ahead of the absolute final deadline. This was a first. (I also convinced myself in that fury to finish my work Sunday night that I had somehow killed our baby, but that is an entirely other neurotic story.) I woke up early on Monday morning starving, with the baby thumping and poking around -- probably waiting impatiently for an energy rush from a giant bowl of cottage cheese.

The weather outside yesterday was unusually nice, which made being chained to a desk at work even harder. That is, until I looked up and a little sign was glowing. "Open Windows." It's not like I hadn't noticed the sign before. I just assumed it was something for fire code that meant the windows were operable. However, this was the first time I had ever seen it glowing. So, I turned around and asked the nearest person what it all meant.

Prepare to be wowed.

Apparently, a few feet below that sign is a high tech fancy weather meter. It calculates the outside temperature and humidity and when the conditions are just right, the sensor shuts off the HVAC system and flips on the light. It quite literally means "open your windows right now because it's beautiful out and you will love the fresh air." I looked around and nearly all of the office had the windows cracked, even if just a bit, and were basking in the gorgeous weather. The architecture firm that currently occupies the floor renovated the space, which is the top floor of a historic building. They're really into taking sustainability seriously and have done as much as humanly possible to advance their efforts -- there are even food scrap bins for composting in the shared kitchen area.

I have to say, this idea wouldn't work everywhere. I think there would be about 3.2 days a year when the weather would cooperate enough in Washington, D.C. to warrant turning off the heat or air conditioning in favor of fresh air. However, Portland has an abundance of really nice weather, so why not take advantage?

Today wasn't quite as nice, so I wasn't sad to be inside finishing that one final paper. It's done now and I can breathe a huge sigh of relief. Spring break officially begins.....NOW.