Avoiding Homework

Today, I have a day off from working since I'm all caught up. I really need to do some homework as I have a final project due tomorrow, and another due soon after. My project due tomorrow is insane. First of all, it took nearly 7 weeks to do the project in the first place. Just Thursday, the instructor whom is a complete homework Nazi has decided she wants an edited version of the entire project due immediately. How is that supposed to happen when it took over a month to complete??? I am ultimately dreading the edits because she is very unclear in her expectations. I also have several odd comments on my returned assignments that don't mesh with the points I've received. It is going to be a long and exhausting day... I am not looking forward to doing this.

Finals are Coming! Finals are Coming!

Well as the title indicates-- my finals are coming. I hate finals because they always seem so daunting. This week alone, I have 2 tests. One today and one tomorrow. I'm more worried about the one tomorrow than I am today's test. the nice thing about test days is that I get out of class early. Once the test is done, I'm out of there. Sometimes it makes things nice.

I finally got registered for my classes for next quarter. They weren't what I wanted, but they are some of the ones I needed. I am taking a writing 121 class, sociology, and an intro to fiction literature. It should be a decent quarter but I'm going to have a lot of papers to write. I may have even less time to work. :( I hope that I will be able to keep up with everything that I want to do. On the sunnier side, I will be going to class only 2 days a week, but I have to be there at 8 am for my first class then I have a 2 hour wait before my next one. I guess that gives me enough time to do my homework...

Unfocused

Lately, I can't seem to focus on much. I am sure that a large part of it has to do with exhaustion. I am so burned out from chasing Hail around all the time, telling him no, homework, attempting to do work, working on my finals that are going to slam into me in no time at all, and trying to keep up with my house. I have a pile of laundry that has needed folding for almost a week. This actually isn't anything unusual-- everyone that knows me knows how much I hate doing laundry. Honestly, I would rather do dishes, scrub toilets, or even chop off my own arm.

Last weekend, I rented the movie The Help. It is a fantastic movie. I liked it so much, that I started reading the book. It is very moving-- so much so, I can't stop reading it or thinking about it. I know that this is a large part of why I am so unfocused. Racial issues are such a hot button issue for me that this book really gets under my skin. Not that I don't love it, but because I hate people's attitudes during the 1960s!

I am so confused as to what my Virtual Assistant teacher is looking for. I really don't like her. I have been in a position of virtual assisting (and never knew it!) for nearly 4 years now. When I do my assignments, she confuses me more than anything when she returns them. She gives me nearly full credit for my assignments then leaves a bunch of comments on my work of how she wants things changed, what I did wrong, something she forgot to explain that she wants added, and so on. She is not a very thorough instructor. For instance, when we send in assignments, everything is sent from our personal school email. She still wants us to format papers with the typical information and was taking points off for not having it done, but that was something that we had to guess at because she never bothered to say that was how she wanted things done until week 3!! Never again will I be taking a class from her again. If she wants to be a teacher, she needs to go to school and take some courses in educating others. I don't feel that any instructor should leave students more confused than they were previously.

Have You Ever Had One of Those Days?

I am having one of those days today where I feel like doing nothing; and that's about how much I've done. I did go to school... and fell asleep in class. I finished my homework after I finally figured out what I was supposed to be doing. Then, Hail and I watched Rio for the 546 time. He loves that movie so much. He loves to shake his booty and dance like nobody's watching. Just this morning he was dancing like nobody's business and smacked his head of the coffee table, giving himself a huge goose egg. He just kept dancing like it didn't matter.

I have been trying to work on a few articles but I keep getting distracted and can't focus on things. I keep thinking that my list of ideas to write about is getting shorter-- I write most all for revenue share, so my articles need to be within topic as well as evergreen or holiday related so that I can make money on them each year. I don't want to work on my other CBS article yet because the first one hasn't been reviewed yet and I would really like the feedback so that I know more about what they are looking for. I didn't do the orientation before they gave me articles and although I have told them this several times they kept handing me articles!

Maybe I'll just take the rest of the night off and work on gaining some ideas so that I can start fresh tomorrow. It's my Friday tonight.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Well it's that day again, probably the most undivided day of the year; 25% like Valentine's Day, the other 75% hide in the house and avoid going out if they can. Today is my nephew's 4th birthday. Happy Birthday Anthony!!!!

Personally, I'm a little mixed up about this Valentine's Day. While I have a sweetheart, the older one won't be home from school until 11PM and Hail is grouchy from teething. Also, I suspect that he has been getting up in the middle of the night to play now that he's in his big boy bed. (I woke up in the middle of the night hearing, "weee, weee, weeee!") So my Valentine's Day is coning to consist of homework by myself, watching Teen Mom 2. I have a weird/sick fascination with that show. I know it is all drama and teen issues but I can't stop watching.

On the up side, I got my first two assignments for CBS. I am freaking out about it because one of them is due Thursday and I haven't written to a specific format/deadline in months. I feel like I'm a little rusty!

Crazy Days

The last few days have seemingly been super busy even though nothing out of the ordinary has happened to make me feel that way. I have been going to school and attempting to keep up on work so that I can have some kind of cash flowing in, even though that seems to be more difficult than it sounds. While I have a full course load, I actually only spend approximately 5 hours a week doing homework and I am only in class for 2 hours a day, 4 days a week.

I think that my biggest challenge has been Hail. While he has been behaving, his schedule has been so off from because two days a week he goes to Rachael's while I'm in school and the rest of the week he stays home with Raph or I. It can be tough although he loves getting to go and play with the dogs and kitties. Hail has now started walking most all the time. I suspect, however, that most of his walking is because we were bribing him with candy to get up and do it. Now, I cannot get him to sit down and look at his books or play or anything. He just wants to walk. In addition, because he is so tall, I have to constantly chase him around and make sure that EVERYTHING is removed from the counters because he can reach. With his bare feet flat on the ground. So chasing him around gets a little overwhelming.

I hope that once I can develop a schedule that things will start to even out some. I still have yet to come up with a schedule that works for me since I spend most of my time chasing a little one. He does not really take naps any longer either and he does surprisingly well with no nap as long as he is kept busy. Here's for hoping!

The Little Things

Hail LOVES Thomas the Train. Unfortunately, I have seen every episode on our on demand as well as the two DVDs he has about 50,358,742,584,710,256,931 times. Yeah I know-- its a lot. He loves it and it is the only thing he ever wants to watch in the morning, when he's upset or before bedtime or nap time. Since we got a new TV, we decided to try putting the old one that is starting to go out in his room so he can watch Thomas any time he likes and I don't have to watch it with him. (I know most all the words to the stories and say them as they go)

This was probably one of the best decisions I have made in a long time. Even when the TV is off, he can still hear Thomas through his stereo. Nap time and bed time has gotten significantly easier and he is finally willing to play in his room without constant attention, meaning I can do some homework while he is awake instead of having to wait until he is in bed. This is a life saver for me. As I type this, he is contentedly playing with his stuffed Kitty in his room while Thomas is on. Never before has this been possible for me. I just wanted so share my little moment of success.

Time Management

Time management is something that I have always struggled with. I never know when to stop working on a project and move onto the next. This quarter could also prove to be a huge challenge for me as I have a full course load with over 15 expected hours of homework and I want to work as well so that I can keep some sort of money flow in my home. Regardless of the fact that the household expenses have been taken care of through financial aid.

One of my classes is an online class, working to create my own virtual assistant business. this course will be hugely beneficial in my work life, hence the reason for taking it. Luckily, I was able to finish all my coursework for the week because it has all been light since it's the beginning of the quarter. I haven't worked in a few days, so I know my revenue share is low. Hopefully when I get home from school tonight, I will have some time to work on some articles I have been composing.

I guess, my overall question for everyone is this; how do I spread my time out to care for all my responsibilities- parenting, school, and work?