I Didn't Really Fall Off the Edge of the Earth

...though it's been close - there were a couple times over the last four months that I was only holding on by my fingernails. And quite honestly, even if I had scrapped together the time to post some entries here, you wouldn't have wanted to read my tantrums.

Remember those online classes I was so excited about? I only took two classes: math and world history. However, I grossly underestimated how much more time it takes to teach yourself math from a textbook compared to attending a lecture. In a classroom you are able to see a demonstration of the math, hear how it's done, write the process, listen to classmates ask questions you never thought off, etc. Online classes consist of you and the book. To be fair I did have lecture notes, but reading is reading. I also was able to participate on discussion boards with my "classmates" and get help there, but again, reading is reading. I found some YouTube videos that helped a bit, but weren't really worth the time it took to sort through the duds. And I'm good at math: I shudder to think of what it would have been like if that wasn't the case.

So, I lowered my expectations , stayed up until the wee hours of the morning far too many nights, missed Jake's field trip, stopped writing the blog... and basically cut out anything that wasn't absolutely necessary in my life, and somehow ended up getting a better grade that I expected in both the math and essay-heavy history class (gotta love those participation points!). I am taking another math class this quarter (business calculus), but ONLY that class. Hopefully I can get some balance and joy back into life!

I have so much to catch you up on now that I won't be lacking for topics for a while. In addition to normal everyday news such as our new puppy, Michael's Statue of Liberty cake, and the Crocs that make Jake look like Donald Duck, we just got back from a fun-filled two weeks in China. If you haven't been checking the blog very often these days, I can't say that I blame you - four months is a long time to go without posting - sorry about that. But I'll try to get in several a week going forward. Thanks for hanging in there with me!