Riffday: first week of class is over THANK GOD

Hi, y'all.  I wrote half a post last Monday that was so incredibly boring that I never published it, but for some reason it then stuck in my head that I had posted this week.  I realized last night that I hadn't, but since I HAD TO STUDY, I couldn't do it last night.

Dang.  In three months I had already forgotten what it's like to have to study.

So.  The first day of my second year was more intimidating than I was expecting, because even though now I know where things are, and I knew at least a student or two in each of my classes, there were also several dozen students I hadn't met who were surprised to see me there.  Which in turn surprised me.  In spite of all the teasing about my older student status that I do here in my blog, when I'm on campus, I generally forget how much older I am until someone else notices it.

But I lived through it, and by the end of next week, it will be a non-issue again.  The three classes I'm taking--a James Joyce class, a linguistics class on the history/structure of the English language, and Modern Poetry-- all look like they will be fascinating.  The only downside is that they are back-to-back:  9:40 to 11:00, 11:10 to 12:30, 12:40 to 2:00.  And since none of them are in the same building, that means I have to... um....manage my time wisely to even go to the bathroom, let alone eat.

I'm sure I'll get better at it as the semester goes on, but this week has been a bit chaotic.  I have been living on granola bars.  Which is perhaps not a bad thing, considering that (due to cooler temps*) I pulled on my one pair of jeans that fit this morning and they... didn't fit.  Damn. 

In past semesters, my earliest class has been 11:10, so it is also new to have to leave so early in the morning.  I rolled out of the driveway at 7:02 a.m. on Tuesday and walked into class just as it was starting (the drive is two hours and fifteen minutes, then there's a twenty minute walk).  Due to a couple of snafus this morning, I didn't leave until 7:10, and even though I might have tried to make up time by pushing the speed limit a little (promise, it was just a little), I was still about five minutes late to class.  I guess I have to work on my routine.

So here in the States it is a holiday weekend, and we are going on our annual camping trip with three other families.  We've been doing this for at least six or seven years now.   It will be fun, but the place where we are going this year is not only far outside of internet range, it doesn't even have pit potties.  Yikes.  Usually we at least have pit potties.  It's a good thing it's only for a couple of days.

* I apologize for mentioning the cooler temps to those of you who are living through the drought and heat wave down South.  I was there for the last one in 1980-- in fact, I spent that summer as a camp counselor in an un-airconditioned cabin, so I feel your pain.  Archery.  Oh. my. god.  The archery range was like a furnace.

and p.s.  London Mabel is working on her Star Wars posts-- check them out.