Welcome to My Crazy Life

It’s been a long week, and it’s only Wednesday. Monday was my first day of training for my new job at the library. It’s been going well so far, but I’ve been basically sedentary for a month since the surgery, and the whole ‘get up and go to work’ thing is a big adjustment. I worked from 8:30 to 5:00 on Monday and 9:00 to 5:15 on Tuesday, with an hour for lunch each day. Granted, this isn’t exactly a full schedule, but for me, it’s more than enough. Monday went by really quickly, but by Tuesday I was beginning to feel the strain. To be fair though, a big part of the problem came from the stress of trying to get my homework all caught up.

I did most of the reading assignment for my Astronomy class by Tuesday afternoon, and I had hoped to read the final two chapters that night before doing a couple chapters of the homework and re-take the practice tests before I went in for the real test on Wednesday (this afternoon). By the time I got home Tuesday night, I was so wiped out that I lay down to study and immediately fell asleep. My dad woke me up with food at around 8:00, and I did finally read those last two chapters, but by then, I was way too out of it to focus on the homework, and just by looking at the assignments, I knew I would need help with it. So, I decided to work on the practice tests instead. I was awake until after 2:00 in the morning. I’m not quite sure how that happened, but I am pretty obsessive compulsive.

When you get a couple questions wrong, you have to keep going back again and again until it’s at least close to perfect. Well, I do that anyway. Luckily, I had Wednesday off! I was supposed to go see my counselor this morning at 9:00, but I ended up canceling that, and my therapist is a truly wonderful and understanding man, who had already anticipated my call due to the amount of stress I have on my shoulders this week. The whole reason I’d scheduled the counseling appointment for that early on my mid-week day off was so that I would get up early before my test to study. I guess what they say about the best laid plans going to waste is true, because I slept in pretty late. On the plus side, it was much needed rest! I did have time to retake the practice quiz that was giving me the most trouble when I finally did get up, and then it was time to go. Just to get my Happy Consumer plug in, I stopped on the way to the college for a yummy and nutritious Jamba Juice. I’ve nearly been living on them this week, drinking one for either breakfast or lunch over the last three days. Life is good with Jamba - Jamba is life! Okay. I’m done. Go buy some Jamba Juice.

Back to the story, I got to school a little after one, and I’d forgotten it was an actual school day (it’s easy to forget when all of your classes are on-line). The Astronomy building, being sky oriented, sits at the highest point on the campus up a huge freaking hill. The lot I’ve usually been parking in was full, so I had to hike up all the way from the very bottom point of the campus. It was a long, long walk! Besides that, it started raining when I reached the halfway point, so by the time I got to my professor’s class I was both soaked and winded. The test was easy enough, with only a few exceptions. I finished it within an hour and got 90%. Then I spent the next couple hours getting tutored on a couple of the homework assignments so that I can finally get all caught up by the end of this week. It took time, but now that I understand what I have to do, I feel a lot better. The work isn’t done yet. I feel overwhelmed by it, and that tends to make me push it off a bit. However, I’ve been getting better at avoiding the usual things I do to procrastinate - like reading. I’m a big reader in general, but lately I’ve acquired a voracious appetite for it that I’ve had to subdue in order get the important stuff done. It’s frustrating, but I’m proud that I’ve been able to do it. Something else that helped was making a ‘To Do’ list. I’ve done this many times in my life, but my mom suggested it last week, and writing all of my homework assignments out eased my mind a little bit. Now that the test is done and all my reading is caught up, I have to finish my Lab assignment (which I worked on with my professor today), and homework assignments from last week, this week, and then the next two weeks before the end of the semester. I also have two Observation Projects to work on before we finish, another practice quiz, a practice test, and then the actual Final. My Short Story Writing class is much simpler. Next week is a workshop, where I’ll pick one of the stories I’ve been working on this semester, edit it, and submit it for peer review, and review the work of the others in my group. After that, I’ll pick my top two stories to revise a final time and submit to the professor for a big portion of my final grade.

Finally, I have one last project, in which I have to write an essay about an author reading a portion of his book to an audience (which I did before the surgery). The ironic part is that school ends the exact same week as my training ends and my new job officially begins. In that same week, I have to see if I have time to attend a congratulatory luncheon for the scholarship recipients of the AAUW award. There are some other, more personal things going on, all contributing to the general disarray that is mi vida loca. In the end though, all will be well. I thrive in high intensity situations, so I know I’ll make it through, no matter how insane it all feels. The important thing to remember, for anyone with a crazy life, is to take care of your self. It’s important that I sleep, so when I’m exhausted, I have to sleep, no matter what else is going on. It’ll all get done eventually, but only if I’m in good enough health to do it!