Monday, October 27, 2014

A Bit of This and a Touch of That

Fall break is already over, and it went by so quickly.  It really didn't feel like any other normal weekend, really.  I definitely don't feel rested and recharged, being that I kept myself so busy.  Thursday I cleaned all day, Friday I shopped all day, Saturday I watched debate all day, and yesterday I worked on homework, laundry, and went grocery shopping.  There was hardly any time to relax.

The one thing I did get almost accomplished over break was trying out a new crochet project.  I am currently making a sweater dress, and I just have to finish up the sleeves and I'll be all done with it.  Usually, when I try out something new, I have to take it apart and start over a couple of times because it doesn't turn out right the first time.  This project, however, I nailed from the get-go and I can't believe how easy and cute the dress has turned out.  It's a sweater that's the length of a dress, has a dress like body, but buttons up in the front.  I'm so excited to be finished with it, and I better get a move on because it needs to be finished by Wednesday.  That's when the baby shower is, and I want to give it to the Momma on that day.

Speaking of, I have quite a few things going on this week.  It's Drug Free week at school, which means lots of dressing up and spirit days.  Wednesday I'll be gone from school all day for a grade level meeting, Thursday we have our Terrific Tiger assembly, and Friday is Halloween.  That's a lot of stuff cutting in to class time that I have to work around.  Thankfully, I don't have a college class to worry about for the next eight weeks thanks to my class now being an online, but that doesn't mean I'll be any less busy with homework.

In fact, my homework is due tonight.  I managed to get one of my assignments finished yesterday, but after spending over 3 hours working on that, I didn't manage to get to the other assignment.  I'm hoping that I can knock it out after school, while I'm waiting for Butter to go to wrestling practice.  

I was very stupid in thinking that my online class would be easier or less time consuming.  It most definitely won't be.  As I flipped through the syllabus again yesterday, I noticed the part that gave the homework time expectations.  Basically that's a break down of how much time we should be spending on homework each week.  For the majority of the weeks, it states we should be spending 6-10 hours a week on homework, and a couple of weeks it's more like 12-14 hours.  Thats's a lot of hours for a 3 credit hour class.  It's not necessarily hard work, but all of the assignments are very time consuming.  They require watching several videos and reading several articles and then writing up summaries, opinions, and assessments of the material we've covered.  If you read my blog on Friday, you'll understand that 6-10 hours a week is a lot to fit in, with the type of schedule I'm already keeping.

I have to also really buckle down on my field experience hours.  I have a deadline coming up in December, and it's amazing how quickly that deadline will come.  We're only a week away from November and with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming very quickly, the amount of time I have to get in my internship hours is quickly dwindling away.  

I won't lie, I'm feeling a little stressed by the whole school thing.  Not unbearably stressed, more like extremely pressured.  I knew that getting my Master's degree wouldn't be a walk in the park, but I severely underestimated how much time I would have to put in.  And I'm only just getting started.  I still have 16 months to get through, and I can only see the expectations getting more demanding with every class that is completed.  If I wasn't working full time, then it really wouldn't be all that hard.  But, I am, and it's a job that is already very time consuming.  Throwing in the extra work comes with a nice level of stress, but I know that I'll get through it.

One thing I'm trying very carefully to watch is how the stress relates to my eating patterns.  Usually, when the pressure starts to rise, so does the amount of food I consume.  With the success I'm having with my weight loss, I'm being very cautious about not letting the stress get to me enough to cause me to start mindlessly eating.  Over the break I wasn't exactly perfect in that area, and I'm really hoping it doesn't come back and bite me in the rear come weigh-in day.  On Friday, I took the kids out to eat lunch while we were shopping, and on Saturday, Peanut and I ate lunch out due to being at the debate contest.  Yesterday, we picked up a quick dinner to cook because we were out so long grocery shopping.  It wasn't fast food, but it wasn't exactly the most healthy option, either.  I just hope that being back at school this week will calm me down, and limit my food intake.  I can go back to eating my regular three meals a day, and avoiding the temptation to eat from stress.  The scale hasn't risen since my last weigh-in, but it hasn't gone down all that much either.  I'm just praying that it goes down over the next three days.

On the plus side, though, on Saturday I put on a pair of pants that I haven't worn since last year and are two sizes smaller than what I've been wearing.  They fit.  Quite nicely, too.  That was a nice little reminder to keep doing what I'm doing, and that my hard work is paying off.

It's hard to think that we're only a week away from November.  We're moving in to my favorite time of the year, and I am excited about what's in store for the next couple of months.  I can't believe I need to start thinking about Christmas shopping.  Not right now, though.  Right now, I need to think about getting off here and getting ready for work.  

It's going to be a busy, but fun week.  I'm ready to get it started.  

Have a great Monday, everyone!!

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