A New Semester Begins

First class was last night. After work today I'll be watching the video of my other first class.

Last night was enjoyable. Another of my online Cohort, Milana, has also decided to take courses on campus, being local, and a fellow named Zach (who I met during site visits last semester) is in class with me, so it was nice to see a couple familiar faces. The professor in this course is the same as the one I had for my School Library Media Center Mgmt. class last semester, and she loves to separate people into groups--Milana and Zach are both in my group. Again, nice. Not so nice is I made five potential new friends last night, and only one of them is in my group, so likely I won't see the others very often.

The class itself is going to be fun, I think--Resources for Young Adults. I am disappointed at the lack of sci-fi and fantasy works on the list, given how popular such books are with the YA set, but you'll have that. Nobody gives SF/F any love; it's the nature of the beast. Even the graphic novels are not of the SF/F variety. What is irksome is that the lone example of this genre on the list (not counting the books on the "pre-reading list," which include City of Ember and Maximum Ride) is Twilight. I was, however, relieved to discover that the vast majority of people in class also despise the book and Stephanie Meyer.

I found it shocking that the "Young Adult Fiction Through the Decades" list did not include The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, or Harry Potter. But again, sci-fi and fantasy. No love.

One of the instructors for the class is the school librarian where my brother-in-law teaches. That could make for an interesting semester. At very least it means I have to bust my hump in this one to make a good impression.

A bit nervous about my other class: Organizing and Retrieving Information. It's supposedly one of the most grueling classes in the whole program. We'll see how it goes. I got A-'s last semester. I'm shooting for solid A's this semester.

It was interesting seeing some of the first semester (January start) students in there. You suddenly feel a lot different when you're not the new one in class. Even having one semester under your belt in a grad program gives you a lot more confidence and self-assuredness about where you are and what you're doing. I kept thinking that these kids (and many of them are kids; I'm still at least 10 years older than most of them) are in for the ride of their lives.

In other news, it's going up above freezing for a few days here, and will even hit a balmy 40 degrees tomorrow and Friday--and we will see SUN. Sometimes Sophia says "yes." I'm happy about that.

I am taking training in purchasing for the department on Friday--I had hoped to slide into the purchasing manager job that is currently vacant, but we are now concerned that they're not going to fill the position and will just dump the responsibilities on the heads of Billie (the Undergrad coordinator) and me anyway. That will suck--not because it's such hard work, but because I was really hoping to finally get away from being someone's assistant, and getting off the damn reception desk. Plus, it's the responsibilities of two jobs, without a commensurate pay increase and/or title adjustment. But, I keep telling myself, have faith and things will fall into place. They generally work themselves out for the best as long as you keep your head down and plow forward.

I'm feeling a bit more "up" about things today. That happens this time of year. I go back and forth. The fact that I've been sleeping like garbage probably doesn't help matters at all, but I won't take sleep aids for two reasons--first, I don't like relying on drugs of any kind. I don't even like to take cold medicine or ibuprofen for a headache. Second, those sleep aids put you out for 8 hours--I only sleep 6.5. I'd have to go to bed at 10:00, which would throw my schedule completely off. So there you have it. Julie has an herbal tea that's supposed to help. May have to try that.

Last night was a bit better--when I woke up at 3:00 AM instead of laying there frustrated b/c I couldn't get back to sleep, I went downstairs and got a drink of water, then came back to bed and was able to sleep. Woke up again probably around 5:00 AM and from there on out it was an in-out doze, but at least I didn't lay there wide awake and frustrated. This happens every so often, usually when I have a lot going on. My brain just won't shut down at night like it should. I'll suck it up till these two grant renewals are done, and then things will be okay.

Okay, I've rambled enough. Guess that's about all for now. Stay tuned; 2010 is just getting started.