special delivery

This weekend, the new camera lens I ordered online arrived. I missed the delivery, so they left it in our apartment office. After walking the dogs this morning, I picked it up, got back to our apartment, and within 60 seconds proceeded to open it up in an excited frenzy. Then I ran around taking head shots of my husband and dogs.

I think as an artist, it is completely possible to fall in love with something like blurriness in a photo. I am completely smitten.

week 4

coffee + class notes = another saturday spent writing a paper. kind of feel like if i were to run away and join the circus, nobody would really notice.

progress

When you're going back to school one class at a time, you tend to forget where you're at in the process. "Oh, I think I have a little over a year left," I always respond whenever someone asks how much school I have left. I'm starting to feel like I'm finally making progress, so this quarter, I got a little more serious. I called and talked with my advisor, updated my degree plan, and the light at the end of the tunnel seems is right around the corner.

So far, I've taken 1 class at a time, but this quarter I'm taking two classes. The discipline it's requiring has been a challenge for me. Obviously- hello, blog post when I'm supposed to be writing a paper! I'm trying a different approach this quarter, making a more conscious effort to to find an appreciation for things that suck. For example, rather than thinking, "I have no life! I sleep, work, go to class, sleep, work, go to class, submit a project, read, and sleep," I am trying to appreciate the lessons I'm learning on being disciplined. I like to be busy, but being spending lots of time creating jewelry is different than being busy reading about the latest geeky too-in-depth-for-me trends in the computer industry.

I just checked my degree plan again, and one of the general classes I'm taking right now is my last core class, and every class that I take after this quarter are specialty courses directly related to what I love- web design and development. So. Excited.

Eight weeks from now, I'll officially be 50% done with my degree. If I push myself, I could be done within a year. Feels like I've been going back to school for ages. I started in January 2008.

I knew this semester would be a challenge, so before this quarter began I posted colorful construction paper quotes all around the apartment. Genius move, self from December 2009 who knew I'd need this in January 2010. This one keeps catching my attention:

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out”

Robert Collier

a fresh start

I feel like I'm going through a sort of nesting in preparation for the new quarter. I forget that when you're taking 10-week classes, you're always required to do a bunch of prep work before class even begins. So this weekend, I'll be reading 8 articles, four chapters, and writing an introductory bio which I will no doubt have to share with all of class on Monday night. But I'm also doing crazy cleaning. I think it's partly a last-minute panic as I realize I won't have as much free time in the near future, and partly because it's the new year- good for fresh starts.

This morning I've gone through about 4 months of backlogged paperwork which has grown into a monstrous 1-foot tall pile in our mail bin. I discovered an overdue dental bill, and lots of messages from old credit cards informing us that the government is telling them they can no longer be a-holes to customers.

While I'm on a roll, I will likely try to tackle the Christmas decorations. Putting them up was so exciting this year, and I'm really a little sad to think of all the colorful, shiny, and sparkly decorations going into hiding for another year.

Wishing you all a merry 2010! I'm excited about what this year has in store. I think it's going to be a good one.