Twenty-one

I can't believe how long it has been since I've had time to peruse the 'blogosphere'. In thinking about what I could write about quickly, all that comes to mind (and frankly all that I am) right now is the number 21.

If anyone has ever wondered what it would be like to load yourself up with 21 credits in one semester, lemme tell ya! I'm two months into winter semester and I have 18 credits at school (two GE's, one 400-level engineering class, one 300-level computer science class, and my senior project) and 3 credits online (American Heritage). My online class is due by the end of March if I want it to count for graduation (which I do, of course) and I need to pass all 18 credits if I want them to count for graduation (which, of course, I do). No pressure, no problem. Unfortunately, it's starting to get real.

I would say that the past two months have been pretty good to me. I've been able to keep up with my projects and homework, take the midterms as they came, and stay relatively current with everything that is being taught in all of my classes. All of this is starting to change. For the past two weeks, to stay caught up I've had to stay on campus till late, a couple nights till around 9pm. When I leave for my first (and daily) class at 8am, leaving campus at 9pm is something only choice swear words could near-accurately describe. And eight- to twelve- to thirteen-hour days are becoming more and more common, including almost every Saturday for the last month, including Valentine's Day. That was when I realized my twenty-one credits were finally catching up with me.

I had a project due for my Operating Systems Design class that day. I thought that I could easily finish it during the week, and then when that didn't happen, I was sure I could finish well before the 11:59pm Saturday deadline. As I pressed forward Saturday, more and more bugs in my program were uncovering themselves, and it wasn't long before I knew that 'heart string day' was going to be a heartache day for both Shauna and me. I was up until after 12am Sunday morning, and still hadn't quite finished the project--not well enough to submit, anyway. The next day, Sunday, after returning from church and my quorum responsibilities, I quickly came down with a horrible stomach flu and was knocked out for three days straight, and just like that, I fell behind, I missed a couple of assignments I just literally did not have time to do, and my 'calm' 21 credits became the nerve-racking thorn in my side and the bane of my existence.

But, I don't mean to be all gloom and doom. I just want to whine a little. I'm doing fine, Shauna's doing fine (I bought her a huge block of BYU Bookstore cheesecake fudge to make up for Valentine's Day and for taking care of me while I was sick; she quickly forgave me). I have been blessed greatly this semester to do well at school, even better than I have ever done. And I'm even having fun doing it--making new friends, finding new places to chill, appreciating little things (like sunshine) more, and overall, I'm just trying to make the best out of my last semester at BYU (it's still unreal). I guess I should also mention in case you were wondering that I did have the foresight to quit my job at BYU at the end of December. That has helped greatly, although I miss it and my coworkers.

But, don't even get me started on jobs right now. That's a whole other blog-worthy topic. I mean, seriously, who wants to graduate in the middle of a recession?