fox | nose + grindstone = ... sharper nose?

Last semester I was enrolled in a course that called for six items of written work: three response papers, a lit review, a site-visit write-up, and a take-home final. I had handed in two of the response papers and the lit review when my dad's diagnosis came down and ruined my ability to focus on anything at all, and the professor was absolutely understanding about my taking an Incomplete, and that was that. Only because of a logistical error I'd made on the first of the response papers, it actually hadn't counted, which I knew before I handed in the second one (he was pretty groovy about that, too, letting me redo it instead of taking a zero), so actually what remained for me to change the I to a grade other than F was two more responses, the site-visit write-up, and the final. I have until the end of the spring term to do this.

Last day of classes in the spring term is May 9. I've done the two responses (they suck, but they're done) and half the final (four short-answer questions, two of which are longer than the prescribed single page but two of which are much, much shorter, so it's still four pages of text total, for whatever that's worth :-P; what remains are the two long essay questions, bleh, but whatever, the project is get it done). The site-visit thing calls for some thinking, some going somewhere, and a 7-10 page paper, which knowing me will probably clock in at about five and a half, but my feeling is, DO IT, that's the important thing, I don't actually mind taking a low grade in the class as it will be the only low grade on the transcript and I can point to the serious sinker life threw at me in that semester and it'll all be fine. As long as I get it all handed in.

This semester's class is going fine. I am not concerned that I'm going to get whomped again. Whew.