D for DONE!

Hello, lovely reader!!! I must apologize for my long absence. Silly me thought that, after the two weeks of hell were over, classes and summer would calm down enough for me to blog again. I was sadly mistaken. The English class I took was a doozy. I mentioned in my last post, that the English instructor was bat shit crazy, and it just got worse.

The problem basically boiled down to the fact that she was a terrible planner. She’d assign 120-200 pages of reading on Tuesday with a Thursday deadline, and she’d give a quiz on the reading on Thursday. On top of that, we’d have a 3-5 page draft of a paper due the same day. Of course, instead of handing out the explanations of what was required for the paper in time for us to maybe get a jumpstart on it, she’d hand it out Tuesday. Then, each paper had to include quotes and other citations from 2-4 research sources. That meant assigned reading, research for the paper, and writing of the first draft all had to be done within a day. Because I work full time, that wasn’t entirely manageable.

Of course it goes without saying that I am eternally grateful that English class—and all summer classes for that matter—are done. Over. Complete. Finished! I spent this weekend just relaxing and plotting how I’d spend my two week break with no homework to work on or worry about and no deadlines looming. I have been so used to always having something that I absolutely must get done, and working hard to make sure I’m staying on track and on schedule, that it actually felt kind of uncomfortable to just sit for a moment and do nothing except space out in front of the TV or knit a little bit. I didn't really know what to do with myself!!

Yesterday I got an email from my instructor for the math course that starts August 23. (A.K.A MusicMan’s and my two year wedding anniversary! Happy Anniversary to us. We're planning on celebrating the weekend before.) Now it's goodbye two week break. Within the next two weeks, I have to log into a couple different online systems to read the class syllabus, get the schedule of classes and assignments, and try out the online systems. I have to read Chapter 1, watch a video lecture or two, and dabble with an online homework assignment before class starts on Monday, August 23. Nice.

*PITY PARTY ALERT* You know; just once it would be nice for instructors to consider that maybe—just maybe—some of us didn’t take the summer off. Maybe some of us took classes all summer, which means we’ve worked hard to earn a piddly two week break that she’s now ruined. Dammit! *END PITY PARTY* I know that the world doesn’t, and unfortunately never will, revolve around me, but I’m so bummed. Really, really, really bummed.

I’m going to try not to let it get me down. I’m going to just do what I can, but not push myself too hard. This isn’t a college level math course. It’s an algebra refresher, which I have to take before being able to take any college level math courses. Unfortunately, when I took the college entrance exams, it had been way too long since I’d used Algebra, so I’d forgotten most of it. I’m hoping that Algebra is like riding a bike; once I get started again, I’ll remember it and just fly right through.

I’ve earned this two week break, and I’m going to make sure I get some leisure time in. I have some fun stuff planned already. I will be missing the third day of math class to go see Lady Gaga!!! MusicMan and I are planning on taking a day off of work at the end of August to go enjoy the Great Minnesota Get Together, or the Minnesota State Fair. Oh! And, I’ll be missing a week of class in the middle of September, because—get this—work is sending me to Lake Tahoe for a software conference!

Lake Tahoe!!! I am so super excited. I’ve never been, but I’ve heard great things. To make this even better, MusicMan is going to tag along with me! We’re flying in on a Sunday and leaving Wednesday evening. Unfortunately, there are no direct flights from Minnesota to Reno, so we’ll have to deal with layovers and connecting flights and about a one hour shuttle from Reno to the hotel in Tahoe. The first day of the conference only has one late afternoon session on the agenda, which is only a few hours long, so we’ll get to enjoy Tahoe together on Monday. Then, we’ll spend a little time Tuesday evening after the conference exploring Tahoe a bit, and MusicMan can go out and enjoy it a little more Wednesday while I’m at the conference. It will be nice little getaway for both of us—more so for MusicMan, since he’ll have no other obligations, but I should be able to work in some downtime too while we’re there.

I’m catching up on all of your blogs, lovely readers, but I haven’t left a lot of comments lately. My brain has been entirely too fried to leave coherent thoughts. I’m hoping to get back into the swing of blogging, reading, and commenting this week, and I’m so looking forward to catching up with all of you!!

How have you been?
How is your summer going?