First semester - half over!

As I looked over the due dates overview for my Design and Production of Network Multimedia class last night it hit me - it's the halfway point of my first semester of grad school. Time has just flown by, but I guess that's what happens when you're insanely busy.

Since school started at the end of August, my weeks generally go like this:
Monday - Work until 5 or 5:30 pm. Go home. Eat dinner (usually some pre-made). Log on to Blackboard and work on that week's Discussion Board postings required for my Design and Production of Network Multimedia class until it's time for my Monday class to start at 8 pm. From 8 pm-10 pm, participate in my Introduction to Information Policy class - this involves listening to the professor lecture in Elluminate from roughly 8 pm - 9 pm and then breaking off into my discussion group's private chat room to discuss the question(s) of the day until 10 pm. Go to bed.

Tuesday - Work until 4:30 pm. Go home. Eat dinner (usually something pre-made). Log on to Blackboard for my Design and Production of Network Multimedia class from 6 pm - 8 pm - this generally involves participating in a Blackboard "Virtual Classroom" chat with the whole class during which the professor sometimes introduces a new topic and does a sort of chat "lecture" then answers any questions about our upcoming exercises and assignments and then we break off into our group Elluminate rooms to work on our semester-long group project. Occasionally we have a guest lecturer though, and on those days, we meet in Elluminate and actually get to listen to the lecture. Then from 8 pm - 10 pm, I continue to work on either exercises, assignments or finish up my Discussion Board postings if I didn't complete them on Monday. If it is my turn to post the Discussion Summary for my Introduction to Information Policy class, I write a draft and send it to my group for comment. Go to bed.

Wednesday - Work until 5 pm - 6 pm. Run any errands that have been delayed due to having class on Monday and Tuesday (grocery store run, stop at Target, stop at the library, etc.). Eat dinner (again, usually something pre-made unless I'm feeling especially energetic). Watch a little bit of TV. Do any more work on homework that I can (for example, revise and post my group's Discussion Summary for Intro. to Info. Policy class if it's my week to do so), or read for fun. Go to bed.

Thursday - Work until 5 pm - 6 pm. Try to actually cook something for dinner to use vegetables from the farm. If nothing conflicts, watch Smallville with Mike. Do laundry. Read. Bed.

Friday - Work until 5 pm or so. Very occasionally have a group meeting with my Design and Production of Network Multimedia class. Make dinner or go out to dinner with Mike. Work on a little bit of homework. Catch up on Heroes, the Office, and sometimes another show or two.

Saturday and Sunday - Work on homework - this usually involves a LOT of reading for my Introduction to Information Policy class. We don't have the readings ahead of time - they are usually posted by Thursday or Friday, so I tend to do them on the weekends. Weekend homework also usually involves working on my individual exercises for my Design and Production of Network Multimedia class and when necessary my portions of the group assignment for that class. I do any assigned readings for the week for the Design and Production of Network Multimedia class as well. Then I finish up anything left of the Discussion Board postings for that class and occasionally get a head start on the ones for the next week. In between working on homework, I take breaks to run errands that I didn't have time or energy for during the week, and occasionally do something fun like watch a movie or go to a museum, etc.

Note the absence of any house cleaning or yard work. My house is a disaster, and my grass desperately needs to be cut. I need to do some weeding and spread some mulch. I have a ton of vegetables from the farm that need to be frozen or used soon. When it comes to a choice between doing chores or spending time with friends and family in the time that I'm not at work or doing school work, so far, my choice has been to just ignore the chores. Of course that also means I'm getting annoyed at how much the chores are piling up. I'll have to figure out some way to work them into the schedule soon, because it's gotten kind of ridiculous.

I feel like I have to really schedule my time in order for everything to work, but so far it's been really worth it. The classes are interesting, even if I do get a little frustrated at the limitations that exist in an online class environment, and I know it's a step in the direction I want to go in.