I'm a Grown-Up Now: Getting with it

Holy cheese and rice! My apologies for abandoning posting at a time when I'm sure so many are feverishly checking daily to be updated on my scintillating life, but (oh, that's just Gracie? Shucks.) this week has been...so much! It's been challenging and it's been overwhelming, but it's been wonderful and sweet, too. Mostly, it's been busy, and so, at any given time, I've been at the gym or in the kitchen or (only occasionally) in the bed. It's been a week of learning and adapting and figuring out new routines and how exactly to transition back from "I have nothing to do but read Harry Potter" to "I've abadoned Harry Potter, poor Harry Potter!" (I miss Harry Potter.)

You college-y people know what I'm saying when I say that I'm taking 17 hours. To you folks who aren't quite so familar with collegeness, let me just say that it's A LOT of class. More than I anticipated, even. And I am definitely up-to-date on my collegeness. I've never spent this much physical time in class before. Remember the good old days of freshman year? No? Well I do, vividly. My first semester I only had classes on Tuesday and Thursday, for five hours on Tuesday and three on Thursday. Oh, and one on Monday. (And I took 15 hours that semester. I'm still not sure how it came down to that.) This semester, I have class for at least two hours a day, with seven (7!) on Tuesday and five on Thursday. And the studying rule assumes that for every hour you spend in class, you spend two outside of class. Now, we all know math isn't my strong point, but can we just note that I have lots of schoolwork?

I spent this week trying to figure out how to go about making it all work. I shoved Clif bars down my throat for lunch and squeezed in time at the gym every day and drank coffee like it was going out of style. No, really. NO, REALLY. (Come on roommates, back me up here. Tell 'em how much coffee we drink.) And still, I tried to make sure I got at least seven hours of sleep a night because all of that working out and running to and fro to get to class demands sleep. I worked hard to get my body on a schedule this summer, to find out what kinds of foods and exercise and sleep my body needs to be its healthiest, and I refuse to sink back into unhealthy habits. Those habits, I'm learning, are only partially about eating. Sleep is important and sleep is good and I like sleep. I'm making it a priority or, basically, I'll just fall out dead. I haven't tested this theory out yet, but I stand firm in my hypothesis.

Are you wondering how it all works? I'm learning that this year (and subsequent years, probably) is going to look a lot different because of the classes I'm taking and life choices I'm making (i.e. what's important to me now that hasn't been in the past. Read: sleep.) and overall growing up I must do. And because this is not only an outlet now but a record for later, I think I may want to know how I swung it all. And slept. So, I picked a day to give you- and 45-year-old me- an idea. Also, this week had some added kinks of the functioning car kind, and that sort of threw me for a loop at times. Hopefully such things will not repeat.

Wednesday:
(This particular Wednesday was August 25, 2010, but other Wednesdays are likely to look like this, I would imagine. Minues the aforementioned car issues which went on Monday and Tuesday, too.)
8:00 a.m.: Wake (without an alarm! Snaps for body adjusments!)
8:30.: COFFEE. NEED COFFEE. (Have a cup + put a cup into freezer for iced coffee later.)
9:00.: Oatmeal + brown sugar + yogurt + a whole glass of water
8:30- 9:45: Blogging, email, Live with Regis and Kelly (in place of TLC because I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant creeps us out at 9 in the morning. Or any time, really. Listening, TLC?) roommate bonding (my favorite part of the day!)
9:45-10:15: Shower, get dressed, listen to music, get ready for day mentally (read: plan until you can plan no more, and then formulate a plan b)
10:15: Realize I'm almost late, make iced coffee (coffee, milk, splenda), grab lunch, keys, sunglasses
10:20: Head to school (on this particular day, I rode with Janie because I thought I had flat tires. I had over inflated tires.)
10:30: Arrive in parking lot (also known as EGYPT.) Stalk walkers to their cars. Vicously steal their parking spots. (Another option is to circle the parking lot 48 times, find no spots, and head to one in West Egypt.)
10:37-10:53: Power walk the mile to class; arrive sweating, breathing heavily, and appearing frazzled. (I like to smile at people here so they know that while I may be frazzled, I've had six cups of coffee already and am in a downright terrific mood, generally spekaing.)
11:00- 11:50: Speak, write, curse, pray in French.
12:00 p.m.-1: Speak, write, curse, pray in English (albeit Old English/ Anglo-Saxon)
1:10-1:35: Lunch at dining hall: turkey, lettuce, provolone, tomato, pickles, mustard on wheat + salad + apple
1:40: Library (this includes Facebook, Google Reader, AND homework, I swear.)
2:00: Janie: "Let's go home and do a p90X workout! No gym!" Lindsey; "Super idea!"
2:30: Arrive home, sit on couch, watch TLC
3:30: Take car to have deflated and faith in said car reinstated
4:30: KenpoX
5:30: Begin dinner preparations (chicken noodle soup + french bread + brie + salad w/ onion, tomato, celery, & cucumber. We later added blueberries and grapes.)
6:30- 7:10: Eat, drink, be merry with friends
7:10: Shower, scrunch, smooth, etc.
8:00: The Well (for you non-Tuscaloosians, this is a gigantic college worship service)
10:00: TCBY: The Wednesday Night Social Scene (actually, we hit up Starbucks for some decaf instead and then went to TCBY) (We also invited a friend, switched venues, showed up late, and forgot to tell him. So then we took him some yogurt because we felt bad.)
11:15: Arrive home, have frozen Yoplait on the couch, watch a little Remember the Titans
12:15 a.m.: Bed, bed, bed

So that's a typical day. Honestly, that down time from 3-5 happened only on that day, and by Thursday night I was so exhausted that I couldn't even attend any social going ons that night, ones I had really planned on going to. Instead, I stayed home, washed clothes, did homework, and ate a sweet potato. I am the poster child for a rowdy college student, I'll tell you.