Mondays stink (but less with deodorant)

This morning I almost forgot to put deodorant on because I was standing in the bathroom, feeling sorry for myself because I had (have) such a long day ahead.  Even as I type this, the notebook with my to-do list is serving as my wrist rest.

When I planned out this semester/quarter, I thought taking my two grad classes on the same day would be a great saver because I'd only have to travel into the city one night a week.  Makes sense, right?  Except I didn't allot for how early I'd have to get to work several days a week to account for the hour I leave work early on Mondays in order to allow for traffic or random road congestion.

But if I take two classes on separate nights, I probably won't be able to adjunct because I won't have enough available nights for the campus location I prefer unless they institute classes that meet once a week or on Saturdays - and I'd really rather not teach on Saturdays right now because I need those days to do homework.

I think it would all be a smidge more manageable if I wasn't teaching a class at my full-time job this quarter.  I'm very grateful to be teaching the class (I'm learning a lot from the experience) but it requires a significant amount of prep time because I've never taught a developmental reading course before.  If this were an ensuing semester, I'd have lesson plans and quizzes ready to go and it would be less time-consuming.

But it is what it is.  I'm mostly keeping my head above water at this point.  The one thing that keeps ending up on the losing side is grad school; I'm having a hard time completing all the readings every week, but so far it hasn't affected me.  I skim effectively and gather a lot of information from the course discussions, so I'm hanging on.  I know how to do the grad school thing, so that helps.  I just have to keep an eye on when I start having projects and presentations due.  Those weeks are going to require some serious time management and a lot of, "No, I'm sorry, I can't hang out this week."

I was disturbed by the fully decorated Christmas trees and display I saw at Lord & Taylor this weekend because I'm a firm believe that you don't decorate for Christmas until Thanksgiving, but at the same time I'm already really looking forward to the last third of December when all of my classes (teaching and grad) will be over.  I adore school - both teaching and being a student - and can't imagine working as happily in any other environment.  I just need some breathing time.

Comments

[Nadia]

Hang in there lovie. You put my recent rat race into words perfectly (teaching 2 days a week (including a Saturday) at 4-5 hours at a go, having a full time job, and taking two classes on the off nights). There is NO TIME for life anymore. But I hope you're a least feeling accomplished for taking on so much - and succeeding. You are a superwoman Candice! You can do this - but I hope you find time for yourself soon. You deserve it.