So, the semester is well under way, and I am well...under. :)
I actually ended up dropping one of my classes, since I just had too much on my plate. Between full-time work, school, three callings, and a new position on the state UAEYC board, I think I can safely say I have plenty to occupy my time. But they are all good things, and I really do enjoy them. And, with one class off the list, I feel like I might be able to manage things. I even occasionally have time for a social activity or two. (Hey, going to the gym with a friend counts, right?)
So, to answer the above question - Yes, chances are I'm busy. But chances are also good that I'm happy and feeling productive.
I actually have had some time to do extra little things lately. If I really leave work when I'm supposed to (which might happen 1/2 of the time on a good week), then I can be home around 3:30 a couple of days a week, when I don't have class, etc. Now, you would think I would use that time for all the stuff piling up, such as cleaning my house, reading for classes, etc. Instead, I have been (not so wisely, perhaps) reading some great books. I read the fourth Twilight book, "Breaking Dawn", in a day, along with most of another book, "Fairest" by Gail Levine (author of "Ella Enchanted"). It's the Snow White story with a twist, and I really enjoyed it. Then yesterday I bought a new book, "Beauty", by Robin McKinley (author of the Blue Sword series) which is the Beauty and the Beast story. So far, I'm liking this one as well. So, even though it might not be the most productive use of the little spare time I have, I enjoy myself, and it is a good balance for the stress and busyness of my regular activities. So, I refuse to feel to guilty....most of the time. :)
I'll just be brief today. I finally got around to getting a new student ID card (my old one mysteriously disappeared this summer...it'll probably show up now that I've paid for a new one). This one is nice, though. They have changed the layout, and I finally have my married name on my student ID instead of my maiden name. Also, it shows that I'm a "grad student"...oooohhhh...the status! I am also now officially a contracted employee of the university, so they noted that on the new card, too, although I am not allowed to get a staff ID card along with a student ID card. I had to choose one or the other. And, it was either sacrifice my grad student library priveleges or else sacrifice my bookstore discount. I chose to keep my library priveleges, since my classes often force me to make use of them. Guess I can't have my cake and eat it, too. :)
So, back to the new student ID card. Because I have one again, I can make more use of the student computer labs (which is where I am now), and might actually get to update things online a little more often, if I use my time wisely. While I should still technically be doing homework right now, I chose to spend a little more time here. Maybe next time I'll even get around to posting some pictures from my summer adventures. We'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, here's hoping!
Technology, what a blessing, and yet what a curse at the same time. In an instant, we can communicate with someone in the remote desert wastes. On the other hand, when technology chooses to cease to function properly (see later paragraphs for SEVERAL specific examples), our world seems to come to an end. So many other pros and cons, but since the cons seem to be on my mind as of late, let me share with you some recent moments of frustration.
As you may notice by the extremely long stretch of time since my last post, I have not had much chance to spend time here as of late. This is, primarily, due to my still non-functional home internet situation. Seriously, just don't even get me started. I could rant for days about the attitude of neglect towards residents of the trailer court these days. Just because it is technically closing in 2011, it seems that university housing has decided we deserve a permanent place on their backburner. Well, I'm definitely getting heated up. :)
So, I am actually writting this when I really should be madly working on homework and/or work, since it's piling up like there's no tomorrow. Ah, school is definitely back in session. Which brings me to my next technology woe. I arrived plenty early to my first class, set up my laptop (also struggling these days), and played Free Cell diligently untill my teacher arrived. As it got closer and closer to the time for class to start, two things came to light. First of all, no other students were joining me, and I have since discovered that I am the only student registered at the Logan site (I have several classmates at other sites, as it is a distance ed broadcast class). So, I prepared myself to be the center of my teacher's attention for a good part of the time. Not really what I had in mind. Secondly, the technology which makes it possible for these classes to be broadcast across the state to my other classmates had also ceased to function. Instead of a view of our instructor, the other sites saw a pixelated jumble of part of the computer screen, part of the instructor's face, and probably parts of the technology ghouls hard at work. And, since my teacher was not the most technology savvy soul, we made little to no progress in the technology area as we plodded through a syllabus we couldn't see and went on to watch a video made in 1996 (yet another long story). I think we were assigned some readings, as well, but since I haven't been able to look at the syllabus, I really don't know.
Which brings me to one final technology woe. All of my classes are distance ed, meaning all are broadcast across the state, and much of our homework/readings/etc. are posted online. And, since I have no online access at home, this is FRUSTRATING!!! And that truly is an understatement. And, as a result of these woes, you do not find me using this short amount of online time to catch up on the massive amounts of online material I have to process, but instead updating my blog so that the world can sympathize with this disgruntled grad student.
Kudos to the wonders of technology.....
Well friends, I'm sorry for the lack of recent news. My home internet isn't working (again!), so I'm limited in my internet access. It's really a royal pain. I have lots of fabulous pictures and news that I need to post, but it'll have to wait until I can take time to go somewhere with wireless access. I probably just need to take a trip over to the main part of campus where they have wireless all over. Then I can just sit down and go to town. We'll just see what happens. In the meantime, I'm having a great time playing this summer, and I'll have to update this with all the great times when I get a chance.
So I went out and played with my new camera. (This was a while ago, but I'm just now getting around to posting some of the pictures.) It was probably a little too late at night, and we were probably all a little too sleep deprived, but we sure had fun as we played on the little kid toys and took crazy pictures. As my sister has often mentioned, there is often no rhyme or reason to why I take the pictures I take, but thank goodness for digital cameras and the ability to delete the horrible ones and play around with the good ones! :)
I got to have my nephew, Devan, sleep over at my house on Saturday night. He was so excited when I pulled out the sofa bed (he knows what that means). We enjoyed watching a Veggie Tales movie together, then I had the adventure of trying to get him to calm down enough to sleep. He's just so cute! So, I'll include some pictures of him at my house that night. Yay!
Well, it's been a while since I posted anything here. I've been having too much fun playing. :) I've been camping the past two weekends, and I'm going again this weekend. Hooray! I also get to go to Lagoon this week with some friends and family. I wish I'd have my camera - oh yeah, forgot to mention that I have bought myself a new digital camera (it's being shipped, hasn't arrived yet), so I'll probably have lots more fun pictures to post in the future. Hooray again!
I started class this week (it's just a two-week course, every morning from 8-noon, and lots of homework in the evenings), so that's keeping me busy for now. I also joined a gym in town (just $10 a month!), and last night I walked a 5K on the treadmill while I read my textbook (boring). I was proud of myself! I'm hoping to go at least a three or four times a week.
Well, there's my summer fun so far. I'll have to post lots of fun pictures after I get my new camera. Yay!