Back to the Grind

Welp, it looks like I need to go back to work full-time!

My financial situation has changed to the point that I might not be able to go back to school full-time in the fall. I hope this works itself out before registration starts, so I'm hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. I still have four semesters' worth of classes before I qualify to transfer to a university (and two more semesters before I can apply for an AA!). To that end, I asked to increase my hours at work, and, to my surprise, they agreed! It's a mixed blessing. I'm happy for the extra money, but I'm getting sucked back into a career I was hoping to escape.

Speaking of work, though, I had the strangest experience the other day. I attended a departmental lunch, and I was informed that employees are not allowed to drink during their lunch break. I can understand not going to work drunk, but we're not even allowed a glass of wine during the meal. I almost fell out of my chair, but everyone acted like it was the most normal thing in the world. Now, every place I've ever worked has had a drug- and alcohol-free policy, but I've never worked at a place where the employees are not allowed anything at all, ever.

So, yeah, I'm currently visualizing financial independence.

images courtesy of Flickr: bread line sculpture by krossbow; vision board by marissabracke

Seems like old times.

My math teacher returned our tests today, announcing the As as he came across them. When he handed me mine, he said, "And by one point, you got an A!" He put me to mind of last semester's programming instructor, who, upon seeing my program, remarked, "This is very good . . . for you."

Thanks, gents! It's this kind of reinforcement that will undoubtedly land me a bachelor's degree in what will seem like no time! /sarcasm

First day of school!!!

Holy crap, has it really been five months since I last posted? So much for my resolve to post once a week. New semester, though, so new resolve!

Well, maybe not such new resolve. With this being the first day of school and still being early enough in the year to count as a resolution, I was supposed to get out of bed at 5am-ish to start my new habit of eating breakfast and to leave the house by 7am to walk the two miles to my bus connection, which I thought would be a simple way to incorporate exercise into my daily routine. Ha, I say. My insomnia kicked in at 3am, and I didn't get drowsy again until 4:30am, which meant I hit the Snooze button until 7. Happily, I still managed to get to class on time, but I was hyper-aware of my stomach rolls once I saw all the teeny-weeny students at school. On the plus side, the fashion parade on campus was out in force today - the shoes and boots worn by my fellow students are to die for! And there's always tomorrow, right?

At the least, I have to start eating breakfast because, about an hour into my morning class, I had a low-sugar moment. I was so hungry after class ended that I decided to walk the mile (incorporating exercise into my daily routine!) to my local California Pizza Kitchen where I ate the entire 1069-calorie portion of kung pao spaghetti with chicken and shrimp (self-sabotaging at every turn)! Would that I had stopped there, but no. I ordered the focaccia appetizer and ate half the complimentary order of bread I was served while I was waiting for my app. Yeah, the meal wasn't over until I hated myself. The kicker was that not one hour earlier I was totally disgusted at how my gut was touching the edge of my school desk. Funnily enough, my gut also hit the edge of the table in the booth at CPK!

Enough of my fattitude, though, since this is supposed to be a school blog! Not that I have a school story ready right now, but soon, my pretties, soon.

image courtesy of Flickr: Abandoned School Desk by Whole Wheat Toast