One Down, Nine To Go

Well, week one of classes is finished. I've turned in my first two assignments, and taken the quiz on Unit One. Now, all I have to do is participate in the online discussions, start on Unit Two, and wait for my grades for Unit One to come in.

This class is proving a little harder than I expected. It's an Intro-level class, and I expected it to be a little more about the abstract -- more of an overview, really -- but we've jumped in with both feet. I'm a little out of my depth, as the subject matter is something I'm not familiar with at all. I'm enjoying it, at least when I'm not stressing about getting my assignments in via scanning and uploading and chewing my nails waiting for grades.

Going back to school after almost 20 years is frightening in how same and yet how different it all is. Maybe if I were actually on campus, it might strike me in a different way. Back in my day, "computer skills" consisted of programming, not uploading and file sharing and online text/video chats with your professor.

At any rate, it's nice to be back in school. If you're interested, I will keep all of you posted on what grades I get.
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Edited to add:
First set of grades are in, and I got a 93.34 on Quiz 1, a 100 on Quiz 2, and an 80 on my Unit One project. I'm still waiting on the grade for the classwork from Unit One, but I hope it will be a good one. I'm a bit bummed by the 80, but it's a decent grade, and I have room to improve. The thing about this class is that there's the practical knowledge to learn and the application of said knowledge, and my downfall was not applying all that I've absorbed from the text into applied knowledge. I have to work on that. But, I have to look at it this way -- I can only hope that that 80 is my lowest grade, and go from there. Not a bad start.

What In Hell Made Me Think I Could Do This?!?!

School (college) starts on Monday. I have spent the latter part of this week getting ready for the start of Summer Term. School (elementary school) ended on Wednesday, and since then, I have had to focus away from my full-time job, and onto my soon-to-be-starting school (college.)

Yesterday, I had to go downtown to the main administrative building to get my student ID, even though I will be taking an online class. The reason that I went ahead and got the student ID was so that I could get into various buildings, should I need them, like the library, and the student center. I also took my husband to lunch, and then we went to pick up my textbooks and some of the supplies. My God, I had forgotten how freaking expensive college is! Thank God I had some of the necessary supplies here at home, or I'd be in deep doo-doo.

This morning, I finished up my online orientation, and the requisite assignments that that entailed, and printed out the 10-week syllabus. I looked over the first lesson, and went ahead and read the first 3 chapters in the textbook. My overwhelming thought now, is "what in hell have you gotten yourself into? Don't you know you're pushing 40? It's not like you're a coed who can cram all night and still function like a living human being during class during the day!" A good bet for your entertainment for the next 10 weeks would be to stay tuned and watch me self-flagellate daily. That, or spontaneously combust. Oy.

Whine/Anti-Whine

Some of you lovely people read the Wednesday Whine, a sort of blog-Brigadoon that I've been involved with for quite a while. Some of you are not familiar with the concept, so I'll (briefly) explain:

A long time ago, a delightful bloggy friend named Phantom Scribbler hosted a weekly bitch-fest at her personal blog. It was a place where friends could complain and commiserate with each other over the joys and flops in their lives. It became a task too heavy for lovely PS, who allowed a collection of moderators to take over the idea and give it its own home. WW, as it is familiarly known, has been a great community, and I've greatly enjoyed taking part in it.

But, since I am colossally lazy, I have decided to repost here my submission for the WW, and this will keep all of you three dear readers updated on what's going on here at Chez KLee. Here follows my tale, told in whine/anti-whine format.

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W: I'm in a bad bad BAD situation at work. It hasn't been very much fun for several weeks. Tensions are high, and with only 2 days of school left, we're all testy and short tempered. But, most of the bad bad BAD situation makes me look bad to everyone else, even if that isn't actually the facts.

A/W: Got accepted back to school, so that mitigates some of the bad bad BAD stuff. I'm excited about it. It will allow me to mark off one of those things on my major "To Do" life lists.

W: Was supposed to have a scholarship to cover cost of tuition for Summer Term at said school, only to find a bill for almost 3K (that I seriously DON'T have) in the mail today. Uh.....guys?!? Hello?

A/W: If I am still going to school, it'll get my mom off my back. Plus, President Obama is urging people to further their education in times of economic crisis, so it's almost like I'm *helping!*

W: Am still sick. Not as sick as I was about a month ago, thank God. But, still sick. And, apparently, I now have high cholesterol, too. Thanks for that! Sickness involved almost accidentally overdosing on migraine drugs the other day, and a cyst on my neck that will have to be cut out at some point. Trying to save the day surgery for after school is done so I don't have to work or move during the recovery process.

A/W: At least I DIDN'T overdose, though I had double vision and serious nausea. And, I gotta figure that every day I'm not taking the Great Dirt Nap is a good day. So, yeah -- I'll count being alive among the anti-whines these days.