Shopping trip successful.  Got lots of food related goodies to go in the next few care packages.  The Canada Post service counter attendant reminded me that I only have a week left to take advantage of the shipping program. It seems like she’s a big fan of it.  She wasn’t sure why the organization doesn’t allow it year round.  I suspect the Crown Corporation can’t afford to keep using taxpayer dollars to fund a program that only benefits a small part of the country.  On the other hand, my taxes help fund child tax credits, scholarship programs, sports credits, and other child related benefits that my family doesn’t partake in, so maybe it’s not such a bad idea to support military members in this fashion after all.

While I was at the post office I picked up the course packs for my Experimental Psych and Statistics courses *shudder* I’ve spent a bit of time reviewing the course introductions, assignments and welcome messages and plan to spend a bit of time tonight and tomorrow reviewing the first units of study.  If I don’t jump in right away I’m worried I may procrastinate – definitely not a good idea by the looks of these two course packs.  Since I did manage to get so much pre-reading done for my Military Psych class I shouldn’t have any problems completing my first assignment early.  I’ll have to keep on top of the readings and assignments in that class or I have a feeling I may quickly fall behind. I think I’m beginning to quickly realize why part-time students with full-time employment are limited to a maximum of 3 courses a semester with a recommendation that they take 2 courses at a time.  This is my first semester taking 3 courses (normally I complete 2) and I have the distinct feeling that it will also be my last.  While I’d finish my degree 6 months early if I took 3 a semester for the remainder of the program, I just can’t see myself managing the workload. Especially since I’m already going to school year round.  December 2010 can’t come fast enough. It’ll make the 5 month wait from completion to graduation well worth it I’m sure.

That 2010 completion date seems awfully depressing when I think about it.  I still have 2 years of courses left before I’m finished this degree and then it seems I’ll be on to the next without much of a break. Ok – that’s not the depressing part.  The depressing part is that I could be finished in less than a year if I were attending classes full-time instead of working. Of course I need to work. In this economy the idea of NOT working to attend school just doesn’t sit well with me. Besides, I’d probably go stir crazy if I weren’t working 5+ days a week.

I do know that I’ll definitely be taking advantage of an unpaid leave when I’m working on my Master’s thesis many moons from now.  There’s no way I’m going to try writing that while working full-time!  I’m slightly bonkers but I’m not insane!

Beef Jerky is apparently on sale at London Drugs so I’m off to pick up scads of it in order to fill Drew’s next package.  They’ve got a few other things on sale that I’m sure will make for a change in the type of contents Drew’s been receiving from me.  Apparently the Canada Post free shipping of military packages option is extended until January 16th so I’ve got time for one last package (after this one) before I have to start paying shipping.  Drew is being inundated with packages at the moment – having become a depot for sending things to soldiers who aren’t getting mail and for distribution to Afghan children (Afghan? Afghani? Anyone know which is correct?) – but I’m pretty sure that will all tail off once people have to pay the crazy Canada Post shipping rates.

On the bright side, I did remember to include the letters I wrote in this package.  Nothing like getting a home video that references the letters you’re writing and then finding no letters in your package.  I forgot to include them in the last one.  I’m feeling a bit guilty about the letters.  I haven’t written one in about a week.  I tell myself the little 5-20 minute home videos I’m recording every few days to provide the around the house, neighbourhood and city updates should make up for my lack of discipline.  But it’s not really that. I am disciplined; I’ve just shifted my efforts from letter written to my fall courses.

Speaking of my courses, I received a notice in the mail that a package has arrived for me so I’m hoping this is my course pack and textbooks for two of the three classes I’m taking this semester. I’ve had the books for the third class for a few weeks and have done some pre-reading and preparation.  The class started Monday and for once I’m not behind.  Give it a few weeks. I’m sure that will change.

Three classes while working full-time.  What was I thinking?  Well, most should be over by the time Drew gets home. I just won’t have much free time at all while I’m working on these. I’ll definitely be busy most nights and weekends though.  Hopefully not too busy to post.

It’s a few days into the new year and I’m already suffering from blogging gaps. This is why I’d never be as crazy dedicated as Dawn was and sign up for the 365 days of blogging. Just wouldn’t happen in this household. Although since I started blogging part-time from my iPhone I have noticed that I’m blogging more frequently.

On Friday I was back at mcpyper’s place for another screening of Breakout of the Masala Kid. This, of course, was required because someone who shall remain nameless Loxley didn’t appear on Thursday night for the original screening. We traipsed to Montana’s for dinner and embarrassed the teenager (mcpyper’s son) for the duration. Poor schmuck was under the delusion that four adults would act maturely in public!

Saturday saw me drive half-way across the city in order to see my “niece” and “nephew” from Winnipeg.  They were up visiting their dad in Calgary and were in Edmonton to catch the train back home. Once again I was out for dinner. I’m seeing a trend here.  If I’m not being fed by my friends and neighbours, strangers are cooking my meals. Perhaps I should start eating something other than soup and sandwhiches when Drew’s gone and I’m at home. I just don’t see the point in cooking for one. Then again, I did have soup and salad for dinner last night. Even at restaurants I’m apparently stuck in a mini-rut.  After dinner I took some video of the kids and their messages for Drew. Today I’ll convert them so he can watch them on his laptop and burn them to disk with my horrific home movie/messages.

This morning I met the kid’s dad and step-mom for breakfast before heading out grocery shopping. I needed some more soup and luncheon meat you see. And gas. And I finally broke down and filled my prescription for my epi-pen. Since I’m allergic to peanuts and my previous epi-pen is expired I had to buy a new one. It’s my least favourite prescription to fill.  They’ve risen another 10$ in price this year and aren’t covered by my health insurance.  It’s not the cost that bothers me so much as the waste. I’ve been lucky and haven’t needed to use one in years. However, since the epi-pens expire after a year, the old ones have to be thrown out and replaced by a new one.  We’ve probably trashed (well, returned to the pharmacy) hundreds of $$ over the years. Of course, the minute I don’t have one on me will be the day I end up accidentally injesting something peanut related. As I twittered earlier today, I’d hate to see the day when my life depends on whether or not I can afford to pay for the epi-pen. I suspect I’ll be going hungry for a while if that ever happens.

Drew is calling this evening.  Yippee!  I’m trying to contain my glee by making bad home movies to send to him in the next package. When I’m tired of that I’ll go back to finishing my pre-reading for the Psych class that starts Monday. I was hoping to get through at least half of the readings during my time off, but only managed to get through 1/8th of them. Not good.  I spent too much time away from the house this holiday season. I have a horrible feeling that I might fall behind if I can’t finish at least two more chapters this evening. Perhaps it’s not too late to put in for some vacation.

As much as I want to see my co-workers again, I’m dreading going back to work tomorrow. The dogs will likely tear the house apart while I’m gone and I’m not looking forward to coming home to a mess every day until they settle back down into the “mom’s gotta work” routine. Usually they’re pretty decent on work days and only act out on weekends but after this much time at home, I’m sure they’ll misbehave for a day or two.

Today is the last day of work for a few weeks. There are some upsides to working at a college.  The main one being the annual closing of the institution and Christmas vacation. After spending years working every day over the holidays it’s really nice to have nearly two weeks where I can sit back and relax.

I finished registering for all next semester’s classes and am officially poor again. I can’t believe how much textbooks cost these days. For some classes the texts cost more than the course registration fees! At least I’ll have something to do on my days off.  There’s lots of pre-reading to do before my courses officially start on January 5th.

In a few minutes I’ll be heading off to the Post Office to send out Drew’s first package. Hope he enjoys the contents since they’re pretty dull.  All our friends and family seem to be sending him the interesting stuff.  In this first box from me he’s just getting the basics.  Letters.  Foot powder. Snacks, snacks, and more snacks.  Some reading materials. Timmies gift certificates.  I figure I deserve a medal for finally finding the gift certificates he wanted.

Of course, I taped the box shut before I remembered that I wanted to send him stamps. Guess I’ll be sending them in box number two.  I’ve already started putting that box together since I want to take advantage of the free shipping Canada Post is offering for military packages before it runs out at the beginning of January.  Finding more interesting things to put in the box will also give me something to do next week.

Exams are over and, discounting the weekend that I know will be nuts as we try to get everything ready for Drew’s departure, I’ve been busy doing as little as possible today. Got to sleep in this morning which was very lovely. Decadent even. Classes and exams are done until next semester so there was no need to get us early to study.

When we finally crawled out of bed we headed to the mall – Kingsway, not WEM – to do some last minute shopping for friends and neighbours. I’ve been pretty lazy this Christmas and am using Drew’s impending departure as my excuse. I didn’t sent out Christmas cards this year and am only sending a few packages out to friends and family. I haven’t actually shipped any of those yet either. The plan is to get them in the mail tomorrow. So don’t feel that I snubbed you if you receive nothing from us this year. You’re in good company as we snubbed nearly everyone. Grandma’s excepted. Can’t miss sending a package to Drew’s grandma. Just have to find her address. It’s around here somewhere…

After shopping we headed to our local Legion to renew our memberships. We really should be more active in our Legion since they do so much good work. I tend to say that it’s hard to find the time between school and work but I’m sure if I tried harder I could. Must do better in future.

As for school, I have one of my texts already so perhaps I should make use of the break between semesters to get some pre-reading before classes begin. Sounds like a good and mature plan. Likely means I won’t get around to it during the Christmas break. I don’t think my books for the other two classes will arrive before the new year.

Enough babbling. Time to spend some quality time with the hubby. Night all.