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So... things are a wee bit fractious at the Lyons household right now. Lots of things I can't control are making me somewhat of a stressbasket, and at least a couple of them are self-inflicted (accidentally paying a bill twice in one month can be quite unpleasant). Nothing worthy of serious concern, just little data points adding up to ratchet up the stress meter over the week or so.
I have the second half of my Critical Practice midterm tonight. Given that the first one was worth 30 pts and I got 28, plus feedback on the couple of areas in which I fell short, I think I'll be able to do well. He's also giving over the entire class to it, so that should help -- I'm not the fastest writer in the world, especially by hand. Might have helped more if I'd gotten to study, but honestly, if I don't have the arguments and critical understanding in my head by now, just reading over the essays again would do nothing. I feel pretty confident about it overall.
Reverified that I have roughly 35 hours left, if I take the absolute minimum I need to graduate. That gets me through the fall of next year, assuming I take the summer off and stick to 2 classes a semester (which is a wise plan, honestly). There's a senior capstone class for winter focusing on Coleridge and Wordsworth. I like the professor -- she's who I have for Romanticism this year -- and I know she knows what she's talking about. I also know that neither Coleridge nor Wordsworth are my passion. But I also also know that this is the only evening capstone course that will be offered for the '08-'09 school year, and that if I wait to take it, it could easily prolong my graduation (and the associated schedule issues with kids and ex). I think it may just be a case of making do with what we have, as there's frankly no guarantee I'd like the other capstone course any better, whatever it might happen to be.
Food is being an issue. I know what I need to be eating, and I'm still mostly on track, but the school schedule is playing merry hell with my ability to even get dinner two nights a week, much less a dinner that's on the plan -- yes, I know I should be planning ahead, but grocery money is tight right now and is being spent mostly on my kids rather than on more expensive, perishable ingredients, and when it isn't, I'm starting to find that they're going bad before I have a chance to do anything I'd planned to do with them. I need to fix this. I don't know how to make time to do that right now. I'm not gaining weight, which is a good thing, but my progress has slowed in losing any and I know I'm falling back on carbs way too much. I need to take a deep breath and regroup, but in order to do that, I need to go grocery shopping again... and that'll be a little while. I do have a spaghetti squash and a butternut squash, so I'll be doing something with those soon to try and give myself something useful to cart back and forth for lunch.
Haven't been exercising well either. Ran out of the prepaid training sessions at the gym, so now I'm back on my own again. I have a schedule worked out and a set of exercises, and I'm only two blocks away, so now it's just getting out of my seat and going. I know if I do that it'll jumpstart my weight loss again, even if I'm not 100% on plan. Also, stress is ratcheting up my heart rate and my blood pressure, so I know I need to get back to it if for no other reason than I need to get this back under control.
Kid schedule issues with the ex re: my school. Not unpacking that here.
*reviews post*
Man, what a downer. Things aren't all bad... those are just weighing on me right now. Threre are good things that are going on, they're just small and momentary points of light. I think I'll make a post of those for later today. They deserve more than a footnote.
I have the second half of my Critical Practice midterm tonight. Given that the first one was worth 30 pts and I got 28, plus feedback on the couple of areas in which I fell short, I think I'll be able to do well. He's also giving over the entire class to it, so that should help -- I'm not the fastest writer in the world, especially by hand. Might have helped more if I'd gotten to study, but honestly, if I don't have the arguments and critical understanding in my head by now, just reading over the essays again would do nothing. I feel pretty confident about it overall.
Reverified that I have roughly 35 hours left, if I take the absolute minimum I need to graduate. That gets me through the fall of next year, assuming I take the summer off and stick to 2 classes a semester (which is a wise plan, honestly). There's a senior capstone class for winter focusing on Coleridge and Wordsworth. I like the professor -- she's who I have for Romanticism this year -- and I know she knows what she's talking about. I also know that neither Coleridge nor Wordsworth are my passion. But I also also know that this is the only evening capstone course that will be offered for the '08-'09 school year, and that if I wait to take it, it could easily prolong my graduation (and the associated schedule issues with kids and ex). I think it may just be a case of making do with what we have, as there's frankly no guarantee I'd like the other capstone course any better, whatever it might happen to be.
Food is being an issue. I know what I need to be eating, and I'm still mostly on track, but the school schedule is playing merry hell with my ability to even get dinner two nights a week, much less a dinner that's on the plan -- yes, I know I should be planning ahead, but grocery money is tight right now and is being spent mostly on my kids rather than on more expensive, perishable ingredients, and when it isn't, I'm starting to find that they're going bad before I have a chance to do anything I'd planned to do with them. I need to fix this. I don't know how to make time to do that right now. I'm not gaining weight, which is a good thing, but my progress has slowed in losing any and I know I'm falling back on carbs way too much. I need to take a deep breath and regroup, but in order to do that, I need to go grocery shopping again... and that'll be a little while. I do have a spaghetti squash and a butternut squash, so I'll be doing something with those soon to try and give myself something useful to cart back and forth for lunch.
Haven't been exercising well either. Ran out of the prepaid training sessions at the gym, so now I'm back on my own again. I have a schedule worked out and a set of exercises, and I'm only two blocks away, so now it's just getting out of my seat and going. I know if I do that it'll jumpstart my weight loss again, even if I'm not 100% on plan. Also, stress is ratcheting up my heart rate and my blood pressure, so I know I need to get back to it if for no other reason than I need to get this back under control.
Kid schedule issues with the ex re: my school. Not unpacking that here.
*reviews post*
Man, what a downer. Things aren't all bad... those are just weighing on me right now. Threre are good things that are going on, they're just small and momentary points of light. I think I'll make a post of those for later today. They deserve more than a footnote.
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no subject
Date: 2008-10-30 07:22 pm (UTC)From:I have a yummy butternut squash soup recipe that's really easy.
Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place the halves flesh side down in a baking dish or cookie sheet with edges. Add a little bit of water (less than a 1/4 inch). Bake at 350 or 375 for 45 minutes.
Let the squash cool a little bit,until you can touch it to scoop out the flesh.
While it is cooling, slice up a small onion. Saute it in a largish pot in a couple Tbsp olive oil until soft. Add a box or a couple cans of chicken broth. Add the squash flesh that you've cooled and scooped out. Cook for 10 - 15 minutes on simmer to mix the flavors. Puree in blender or food processor or just mash really well. Season with cumin and salt and pepper. Sometimes I add a dollop of plain yogurt or sour cream.
Alternatively, just peel the squash, cut it in chunks, toss those in a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and your choice of herbs or nutmeg, and roast in the oven at 400 or so for 30 - 45 minutes. Nom nom nom!!
OK, I must be ready for lunch -- I'm on a food writing spree!
Seriously, I hope things slow down a little for you. At least enough so that you can get yourself back on the track where you want to be. I'll be thinking positive thoughts.
no subject
Date: 2008-10-31 05:06 am (UTC)From: