Not in the sense of, "Oh no, I forgot something at school and I must go back." No. I went back to school after two years of doing nothing but working.
And it's weird.
I have an Anatomy class at 8 AM Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with a two-hour Friday lab. My professor seems okay; the impression I got this morning was that he knows exactly how hard this class it, and he would genuinely prefer it if his students succeed. That's always helpful.
In two hours - no, an hour and a half - I have an Algebra class (from 11-12 PM). I've heard that that professor is nice, and also cares about her students. And then on Tuesday nights I have a three-hour computer class. Fun.
I just went to get my books, and though I was convinced that I would have enough financial aid to cover them, they still ended up running $84 over because - get this - these three books are costing me $430. Three books. And yeah, I know that textbooks are expensive, but...I'm buying all of these used. This just shouldn't be. Though I have to admit that complaining about having to pay $84 for books is like complaining that a 9-credit semester is costing me $90: it's ridiculous. I'm very grateful that my financial aid is so generous this semester. I may end up applying for a very small loan, but that will be to help make up for the work that I'm not going to be able to do because I'm, you know, studying and not able to cover for people at the bank.
I'm sitting in the cafeteria smelling the (probably awful) coffee coming from the...ah, "Cobblestone Market", and wondering if it would be worth it to put a cup of coffee on my credit card. Probably not, but the jury's still out. I'm very sleepy, and I'd rather not get a caffeine headache on top of it. If I do go get coffee, though, I'm going to have to lug about sixty pounds of books through the line.
So yeah. That's that. Here I am, living the dream, getting my degree, and somehow, at least for this semester, not putting myself further in debt. Unless you count the interest that my previous loans will accumulate while they're on deferment, of course. If I sound somewhat less than thrilled right now, don't worry about it. It's just early, and the cost of those books really took me by surprise.
One last thing: a few days ago, I submitted a piece to the fantastic Six Sentences blog. Well, today it was published! I know it's just a small thing, but it's super exciting to have anything published, so I'm pretty thrilled.
Heather, if you read this, the piece is (quite obviously) about our experience at the Assembly of God. Also, want to hear something freaky? I had to go to my mom's new church to pick up Sarah last weekend, and guess who attends? Joanna's sister. She said hi to me and I was all like, um, do I know you? BUT I DID KNOW HER. So. Yeah.
How weird is it that I randomly decided to check this blog today (that six months ago you basically said you abandoning) since I had stumbled across Heather's a little while ago, and you had updated the same day! Very weird indeed :D
ReplyDeleteYay for going back to school! And yay for generous financial aid packages! I'm really happy for you. Yeah, the textbook prices are outrageous, but at least you can re-coup some of that when you trade them back in. I'm so stoked you got something published, too! I'll check it out later! I have to get ready to bring Young Sir Babbin to a playdate once he's up from his nap. I'm a little scared to read because Assemblies of God scare me. A lot.
And I believe that it's never wrong to charge a cup of coffee. Yes, you're technically creating debt, but you need to have a treat once in a while.
Oh and it's my old due date today. And Snape's birthday. Which is awesome.
Haha, that IS weird. But awesome! I'm thinking that I might take up blogging again - I can access it during downtime at work, unlike facebook, and having it as an outlet could be helpful during school.
ReplyDeleteI'm really pretty psyched about going back to school, since it means that I'm finally up off my butt and doing something about my future. But as I'm getting back into it, I'm also getting more and more scared of some of the things that contributed to me dropping out before coming back into the picture. Things can be tough just working and everything, but realistically, I'm SO much less stressed when that's all I'm doing. I think I'm probably going to be going on some anxiety medication in the next few weeks, though, so we'll see if that helps. The textbook thing really threw me for a loop - I had remembered them being expensive, but I got so used to buying the (comparatively) super-cheap English books that $170 per book just seemed...evil. Lol.
Anyway. Do you guys really call Gavin Young Sir Babbin? Because that is FREAKING ADORABLE. Omg. I love it. I wish I could meet him so badly. I'm still working on his quilt - I can't believe I've been working on it for almost two and a half months, and all I have left to make are the leaves, but they're soooooo slooooow. I have the grass, tree trunk, and sky all knitted, though. We'll see how it comes together.
So how are things going overall? I bet you're super busy with that little guy. Are you guys having as insanely mild a winter as we are? It's like, 50F today. Mid-January. It's supposed to be so cold right now that even breathing outside hurts, and instead I can take the dogs for walks at night with only a light jacket. I heard that we're probably going to have a horrible March, though, and a very late spring, so that might suck.
Okay, this comment is way too long. I wish blogger had a direct "reply to" function so that you could see that I did reply. That seems like a strange oversight. Talk to you later!
(Oh, and I totally charged that cup of coffee. And I have no regrets.)
Oooh...coffee... I miss that.
ReplyDeleteAnd also YOU BLOGGED! YAY! DO THAT MORE OFTEN! I like stalking your life. :)
There's so much to comment on! It sounds like you're knitting friggin' complicated things - kudos to you! I still haven't ventured beyond the garter stitch. No ambition. :( Oh well. Sounds like awesomeness!
And yay! Going back to school! I know the working/school combo must be incredibly stressful, but at least you don't have to deal with certain dramatic people this time around. That should help out a little bit.
Cannot wait to see you in February!
Urk... I realized after reading this yesterday that you being in school means it will be pretty much near impossible to attempt to fly you out to MA this semester. Unless you'd be able to do it during spring break, but I totally understand that you might need that time to pick up extra hours at work. Waaah...I'm still determined to try to make it work, but school is the most important thing! I'm leaving for Kingston on the 22nd or so and probably staying until end of May/beginning of June (depending on when Zach's grandfather gets back from Florida and if he brings his girlfriend with him O_o)
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you were knitting his quilt! That's...kind of epic. I can only do some basic stitches and only like a scarf cause I don't know how to add or drop rows or do anything in the round. I have a friend here who offered to teach me, but I honestly can't stand knitting and only did it for something to keep me awake when I was working overnights. I can't wait to see it. I bet it's going to be awesome and waaaay too cool to actually give him to use until he's old enough not to destroy it. And yes, we do call him Babbin a lot (or also like Babben, with a French accent). I decided someday I'm writing a book about the Adventures of Young Sir Babbin who is 5 years old and a knight (and the only one in the kingdom cause it's reaaaally small). It came from us calling him "Baboo" (which is his most-used nickname) from a baby in "We Love Katamari" who says "Baboo!" over and over. So Baboo + Gavin = Babbin. There's also Gabbin, Dapper Davin (but we don't use that very often) and Bababooie (like Baby Boy...ie.) Yeah, we're weird parents.
Winter has been insane. The only snow we've had AT ALL was that freak storm in October where we lost power for four days. It's been mostly in the 40's, but we've had more than a few days up to 60. I kind of hate it because I love winter. This comment is also too long, so don't feel bad. I never know whether to write to you on Facebook or e-mail or send a text (which I try to avoid since I text sooo freaking slowly even with a full touch keyboard.) I'm with Heather, I enjoy stalking your life, so write more! And you too, Heather, cause I'm stalking your pregnancy!! Haha, it's how I keep myself from having my own baby fever. I have like five other on-line friends who are pregnant right now, so it helps a lot :)