My support system

To give you a peek into our lives and some background info on this story here is an outline of my class schedual this summer:

5 days after my last class of the spring semester I start my speech class. It's a 3 hour class every Wednesday night. It will go on until the end of August, and the instructor is a jerk. (Blech!) I have Math for Liberal Arts II from 11 a.m. until noon, Monday through Thursday. I thought I was done with math once I got my A.A. but my program requires 3 math courses instead of the normal 2. It's pretty easy, but the students are SO immature, and they expect to be spoonfed the tests. Our final is July 20th.

Those two aren't too crazy. Babyzilla goes with Mimi for a couple hours while I go to class and do homework. I'm home 6 nights a week, except for the occasional shift at work. Then June came. With June came my Educational Foundations class. It's Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday for 4 weeks. This class is a sprint. I'm used to that. My entire program is based on 4 week courses (4, 4 week courses 3 nights a week is a semester). This is different. This time I have other classes. And not just another night class, a class durring the day, too!

My day starts at 7 with feeding Babyzilla. Between the time Hubby leaves for work and we go to Mimi's (about 2 hours) I feed the baby his morning bottle, change diapers, feed Babyzilla his oatmeal and apples, pump, start a load of laundry, wash dishes (sometimes), make bottles, pack the diaper bag, pack my school bag, play with Babyzilla, and get out the door. Maybe I'll eat breakfast. Most of the time I don't. And by "breakfast" I mean a banana and a glass of milk or juice. I walk Babyzilla to Mimi's (we live in the same apartment complex), give a run down on how the morning went, walk home, get in the car and drive to class. I come home, switch over the laundry, do my homework, try to beat the apartment back into submission for a bit, eat lunch (normally a fried egg sandwich), pump, pack Babyzilla's dinner stuff (jar of babyfood, bowl, spoon and another bottle) and head to Mimi's. I usually get there around 2:00 p.m. She's decided that she's going to cook the month of June on nights that I have class (AWESOME!), so I don't bother to schlep Babyzilla home just to come back in 2 hours. I eat, feed Babyzilla dinner, and get on the road by 5:15. Hubby and I exchange a quick "hi" and a kiss. I get home about 9 that night. <- That has been my life for the past month, except when Hubby was out of town for a week on a business trip. That was peachy.

The good part: This is the last week of the madness! Tonight I have a presentation and I'm DONE. (We're getting an "independant study" night on Thursday. Wooo!) After this week, I'll get to cook again. I'll get to have an actual conversation with my husband. I'll get to see my kid for more than 4 hours a day!

The bad part: This weekend I had a bunch of homework. A PowerPoint presentation worth 25% of my grade and online quizzes worth 10%. Not to mention, I have to write a speech for Wednesday and study for a math test on the same day. (I had nightmares about my homework load, if that says anything.) Lo and behold, our keyboard dies. I was not in a happy place, let me tell you.

Another good part: Without even being asked, Hubby went to Target and bought a new keyboard. I asked him why he went right then. You know what he said? "You have enough to worry about without dealing with a dumb keyboard." At which point he hooks up the keyboard (I don't do technology), and packs the diaper bag. He takes Babyzilla to Mimi's place so I have the apartment to myself. No distractions. 2 hours later, he calls and tells me to take a break and get some dinner. Mimi cooked. :)

People ask me how I do it all (school, work, family, home). The truth is, I don't do it all. I have an insane ammount of help and support. I have faith that life won't always be this nuts, but even if it is, we can handle it, because that's what families do.