Check, check..1..2...is this thing on?

It's reality check in the Buie household...hard core reality check time. I've been in school a mere three weeks and oh my heavens, it is kicking my butt. I am still loving everything about it, well almost everything, but it's so much harder than anything I've ever had to do before. To kind of put things in perspective, in order to be considered a full time student at the graduate level one must take 9 credit hours. Full time for my particular program is 18 or 19 credits - almost double. I am taking 9 this term and I'll be taking the same number next term in addition to field placements in actual classrooms to be followed by student teaching shortly thereafter. I was planing to do all of this while still working full time. I mean, who really needs sleep these days? Well, apparently I do. I also would like to have some semblance of a social life and try to maintain my sanity. I didn't think this was too much to ask. Again, apparently it was.

So lets rewind a week, shall we? After a wonderful and deliciously relaxing Memorial Day weekend, I went to class rejuvenated and excited to get back to work then Wednesday rolls around...I got my first paper back on Wednesday. Umm...... Not so bueno. Turns out grad school is hard, really hard. From there the week turned into a downward spiral of stress, extreme anti social behavior and on several occasions almost breaking down into tears. So what am I going to do about it, you may ask? After doing the research and thinking and praying about it all, I do have a solution. One that I am not going to talk about right now for logistical reasons. However, if all goes according to plan, and you're all good little children, I may be able to tell you all by the end of the week.

In other news, I had another pretty fantastic weekend. I woke up early on Saturday and played tennis with Lisa. Hey! I play tennis! Or at least, I try to play tennis. I took lessons when I was a wee young thing and haven't played in over a decade but it's still fun. Showered, ran some errands with the mum, came home worked on my paper and had a few hours to kill. I then went on a picnic up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Now, when I first proposed a picnic I was envisioning a park or something and playing Frisbee and what not. I, accordingly, wore shorts, a tshirt and flip flops. Did you know there is still snow on the ground up at Brighton in June? Well there is. We still had fun, though. I should probably learn to pack a spare pair of shoes and socks and a sweater..possibly gloves and a hat....and maybe snow boots. But really it was a fun night.

Next week Lisa, Shannon and I are all speaking and singing in church. We haven't been in the ward a month yet and they've already put us to work. The ward is pretty small, probably 40 or 50 that come regularly, so it's no surprise there. They wanted us to speak over Memorial Day but thankfully Lisa and Shannon were out of town. So between writing another paper this week and field placements and class, I get to write a talk...without being given a topic. I've got a couple ideas mulling around in my head but nothing too concrete so I'm open to suggestions!