Holy crap it's been ages

My. How the hell have 6 weeks passed and no blog? Probably because for the actual 2nd half of school I was having 2 nights of classes (6-10...sucks) and had to do homework. One of my classes involved a lot more work than the other...Research Methods. For those of you out of the school circuit, (ya know, all 3 of you that read this...lol) research methods is a lovely class most hate. In ours, you had to learn about the whole research project, create a 2 page survey, have 50 people take it, then enter all the data into a lovely program called SPSS. It took 3 hours to enter everything in, but once you do that, the program can do practically any statistical information you ask...in under 5 seconds.

Then, you had to write a Literature Review....another paper thing, and finally, turn in the whole stack of papers that was about 4 inches tall...and that didn't include any of the printouts from your statistical findings. That'd be about another 4 inches. Lots of trees!

But, Lucky to report, Got an A in the class! A- actually. but none-the-less. still an A. Last night I was working on some other stuff for my other class that wraps up next week. I wanted to just skip one of the assignments, but luckily I have a fiance that'd kick my ass. So, while he watched southpark, I sorta-kinda BS-ed my way through the assignment. I know, I suck.

But I'm less than a month away from my birthday, christmas, and the last thing I really want to do is school work. I have 6 weeks off, then I'll be starting another semester of torture. I think I'm going to take 4 classes. But I have to find out if I can. The program director only likes you to take 2, maybe 3 a semester. I'm an overachiever and want to be done by next fall. So, by this time next year, I hope to be a master's graduate that's also survived a wedding. And that'd be one hell of an accomplishment....Especially if everyone around me survives both my educational endeavors....and my wedding. Last week was a bit torturous. I almost didn't survive....

I can almost see the end...

I'm currently in the middle of my term paper for my first class. It's only been, oh, 3 years since I last wrote one. It's a bit hard trying to submerge yourself into the references, the APA writing style, and making sure you get all your points across, WITHOUT boring your audience. But I hit a wall. That's why I'm online. I just need to get back in the mindset to finish the damn thing. But, as soon as I'm done, I have about 15 other things to do. I started my other two classes this week for the 2nd half of the semester. They both will be quite a bit of work - both involve a research project...and did I mention the class is only 8 weeks long? It's like speed reading...

So, I guess I should stop procrastinating and finish that damn paper. The only thing I have to look forward to as my mini-reward is getting to work on my bridesmaids invitations - well, their little mini project to ask them. Wahoo!

Quite excited

Today feels like the first official day of fall. The air is crisp, I can wear my emus again, and a sweatshirt, and be comfortable. I'm excited to drink hot coffee again, and enjoy going to sleep at night without the AC on, and it's still a comfortable 70 degrees.

Last night I started my research class for my program. I did take this class previously for my undergrad work, so luckily I wasn't too nervous about it. But, it's technically only 5 classes long...5 weeks. And, in that time, we have to find our research topic, develop our survey questions, distribute, input, analyze, and write the report. Luckily the teacher is really laid back, smart, and most importantly, funny. Sitting through 4 hours of that a week can get pretty gruesome if your teacher doesn't have a sense of humor. I was telling J last night how he's from the same town as me, so he's familiar with the issues around here (which was great because he helped me figure out what to "research"). But, he's also had plenty of experience around the world - going about 4 times a year to other countries to help with their research, he's worked for aerospace companies, nuclear power plants, and his expertise is in Terrorism. How awesome is that? He gets paid to go all over the place! Of course, he said, it has his downfalls - he said his wife hates that he's gone so much, and he rarely gets time off. But, he can read a book a day, can play chess without even looking at the board, and likes to be called "Dave", not Dr. Ballard.

But, for now, between work emails, phone calls, and tasks, I'm just enjoying my cup of coffee, my emus, and my sweatshirt. lol.

Back to the grind

This is the second week of classes. I was pleasantly surprised last week when we went around the room, offered brief info on ourselves - where we worked, if we were new to the program, and if we worked for the private or public sector. There was an incredible mix of folks. There was a lieutenant from the Santa Monica PD, a realtor, an HR manager, people who worked for the city of LA and surrounding communities, and even someone who just literally moved from Ecuador.

The class is 4 hours long, which is quite daunting. Luckily the teacher is great, and we get a few breaks and some group discussion time to break up the block. In order to do well, I have to seriously maintain the homework. When I went after my bachelor degree a few years ago, I wasn't the best when it came to keeping up with the reading. Luckily I was an excellent note-taker, and that helped me do quite well on the tests. For this class, there are not tests. There's a term paper due at the end of the class, along with an oral presentation regarding your topic for the paper, and smaller class discussions that occur each week. I have a lot going on outside of school right now, but if I keep at it, I know I'll be fine.

Obviously taking time out to blog doens't exactly fit with the school work focus of tonight, but I needed a break. Reading a chapter on politics and charts and everything is a bit overwhelming. My bachelor's degree didn't quite fall in this related spectrum. Actually, it was pretty far from it. I'm learning a whole different world, but I'm excited to open myself up to the new opportunities that will be available once I'm done with this program. And, I can't lie, the (hopefully) huge salary increase. A girl can hope, right?

Just a week left!

Well, only one week till I start classes again. I've got everything ready to go, including all the reading I have to do before I get to class next week. I don't think I've had to do work to prep for the first day. But oh well, can't complain with just one class to attend a week :o)

I also purchased a new laptop this week. Macbook. Quite interesting. I'm still getting used to the different features and what not. I love the photobooth application. It's a lot of fun. Tomorrow J and I head to Colorado for the weekend to visit our friends. I'm excited! We have a lot of tentative plans, and hopefully most (if not all) of them occur.

In following up with the family situation that has recently arouse with my dad & stepmom, I've talked to my sister about her thoughts. I'm a bit frustrated with her at the current moment. After she returned from Europe, he took her out to lunch to talk to her about the recent turn of events. He says the meeting went well. She called me hysterical on the phone. Apparently it brought up all the past thoughts and emotions she's been holding on to since her childhood.

I don't have the same memories and thoughts as she does from our childhood. Things were a bit different for the two of us. Part of the differences are the cause for the recent things she's been going through. But what makes me the most frustrated is the fact that she has all this going on, and won't tell him. She won't say anything. Why? Not sure. But I know it's not healthy. I know this will come up in the future, especially if/when the baby comes home to their house for good. I haven't been able to figure out a good way for her to understand why she needs to talk to him, but I'm still working on it...