Monday, February 11, 2013

Happy Winter Storm Nemo!

What have I been up to?

Since all of the snow melted, I have not been skiing but for 3 times since my weekend in Lake Placid. Luckily, Winter Storm Nemo dropped some snow on us on Friday, so I was able to get some skiing in both Saturday and Sunday at Mendon Ponds Park. In typical Alexa fashion, I got lost on Sunday trying to ski the Quaker Pond trail (that's the purple trail for all of you who can actually follow a map) and emerged at a trailhead that was so not the one I parked at. Since it was getting dark soon (again, seems to be theme with me), a nice couple drove me back to my car.

Ridiculous.

I am also several weeks into Calculus 2 at Monroe Community College. It's fun and I really like being in class again, doing homework (WHAT), and all that jazz, but it is HARD to adjust to being away from the apartment for so many more hours per week. Especially since I have been on nights the entire time so far, so I will get home from work at 8 am, sleep until 4 pm, get up and get a quick workout in, eat dinner super early at 5:15, hop in the shower at around 5:40, and then I am out the door at 6:15 to be at class from 7-8:50. After class, I have been going to a random lounge (I like it because it's heated) in one of the MCC buildings and doing homework or practice problems until about 10:30 pm, which is when I head back to work for another night shift. It's been doable, but by Thursday evening (my class is Monday and Wednesday) I am EXHAUSTED and still have a night shift to get through. Maybe it will be better when I work days? Not sure yet.

However, I am one of those people that gets more done when they are busy. So this class, while adding quite a bit of stress to my mundane life, is helping me with time management. Because I know that homework is a priority, I will get my workouts done right away so that I can then do stuff for class, rather than sit around for hours dreading my workouts, only to eventually skip them because it has gotten "too late." I also like that I am being forced into critical thinking situations. Since I took Calculus 1 in 2002, I haven't looked a a derivative or an integral since then, and now I am being forced to work with both, which was stressful at first trying to recall this information but I guess it was buried in my head somewhere!

I actually have my first exam today! First exam since 2007!!!!!! Wish me luck!