Spare Rooms

Anne considered them a thrill and an honor, a certain faun referred to it as the land of Spare Oom and I am currently residing in the one at my grandmother's house. I'm on a brief holiday from school; however, my family doesn't have a spare bed so I'm in the "front" (spare) bedroom.

I'm enjoying the holiday and I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. I have so much that I'm thankful for this year. Being at my grandmother's is a blessing and I'm enjoying my time with her and my family. I've also enjoyed visiting my church family! On Tuesday, I finished my volunteer work with my 4th grade class and we had a delightful class party.

One of the best parts of being home has been the delightful fall weather and colorful leaves. The trees at the University are evergreen and the few deciduous liquidambar trees have been holding onto their green leaves. I've had some long talks with them about fall and changing colors etc. Coming home has felt wonderful with cold and wet weather. The trees are decked out in the most gorgeous display and it finally feels like fall!


However, I don't have internet in the land of Spare Oom so I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to post until next week. I also have several papers, projects and assorted assignments due when I get back so it may be awhile before I post words. I will post some pictures though!

A week in the college life of Lora

This post is actually a part of the blog carnival happening over at the Young Ladies Christian Fellowship where lots of discussion about schedules and routines has been happening.

I started working on this when I first heard about the blog carnival but then I got sick and everything is a bit behind. Warning: long post ahead, read with caution... ;)

Here is my week:

I do dishes after every meal but cooking happens in chunks. I tend to cook enough for 3-4 dinners at a time so I cook about three times a week. The good news for me and the fridge space is: I have finally figured out how to make enough rice or pasta for just a couple meals. After cooking for the family it was hard to adjust to cooking just a little rice or pasta. Plus, I got tired of eating the same starch for a week!

My morning routine is get up, cleaned up, dressed and fed. I don't hassle with makeup and my hair is scrunch and go; so, it cuts down on how long it takes me to get ready, Evening routine: sometime after dinner and homework, brush teeth, wash face, get ready for bed and hopefully be in bed before 10 where I read until too late (Bible and/or pleasure or school books).

Here's a generalized week:

Mondays and Wednesdays

6:45 wake up (6:30 if I’m really being proactive)

7:25 out the door for the shuttle to main campus

8:00-9:20 Introduction to Teaching and Learning (it's fun community learning based class with great interactions between students)

9:20-9:45 “Studying” with friends in the Library

10:00-11:20 (I think… I have too much fun to think about the time) Physics

Depending on the day and homework load, I go home and work on homework or go to the library or computer labs and do more homework or I go home and goof off while making lunch. This also depends on if I made and brought a lunch with me.

1:25 Leave for Shuttle if I’m home

or

1:45 Start walking towards class

2:00-4:00 Computer Class/Nap Time – I’m being honest here… the class puts me to sleep. It would be easier if the teacher gave us the assignment and guided us with less lecture. Although she’s been starting to do that more…

After classes, I go home and do more homework, eat dinner and watch something on the computer. Sometimes I run and do a little shopping at Target but I try to keep that to a minimum. My goal each night is to be in bed by 9:30; I might still be studying but I’m in bed and hopefully asleep by 10:30.

Tuesdays and Thursday

In the mornings, I volunteer at a local elementary school as part of my classes. I’m currently working with 4^th graders in Math and English Language Arts (ELA). The goal is to learn about the classroom environment/management and teaching styles. I love the kids but it’s hard to see their knowledge gaps (I work with the lower performing students) and wonder how they’ll ever catch up.

4:00-5:50 Physics Lab (Tuesday only)

6:00- 7:30 Culture and Diversity class

8:00- ? Christian club (Tuesday only) Fellowship with great teaching and worship

Thursdays and sometimes Fridays are Library days and shopping days. I usually pick up meats, dairy and grains (or goodies) on my way home from volunteering at the school. Recently Thursday has also added writing lab reports up with my lab partner before our culture class. I also type my notes for Friday’s class and do the readings for Culture.

Friday

8:00-11:00 Upper Division Major Exploration

I spend the rest of theday working on homework if I have something due that evening or Monday, I may tidy things up or I relax and go for a walk, watch some tv or a movie, read or work in my little garden. Friday is also Fellowship Friday with the Christian club.

Friday and sometimes Saturday is Laundry Day. I have a good block of time to run everything through. The trick is I have to wait until after 12 on Saturday to do laundry or vacuum since we have some late risers here. The picture is of my "clothesline". I can't have a clothesline so I've used my table and chair to dry sheets and towels on sunny days.

Saturdays have been anything but consistent but typically sometime during the weekend I’m doing something with friends. Service Saturdays with the Christian club helps with that. Physics homework is usually a Saturday task.

Sunday is church time. This week I didn’t go to church since I was sick but I’ll go this week. Sunday School has been a different experience at this new church and I don’t know what to think about it. I really enjoy the church itself and I’ve been consistently attending the main service. I did check a couple churches out but this one seems to be the best fit at this point. After 18 years at one church, finding a good fit has been hard.

After church, I finish my shopping with a visit to the local farmers market where I round out my stores with fresh vegetables and fruits. This is the easiest and best place to find organic produce without driving 15 minutes. I usually come home and if possible not do homework but keep the day dedicated to God but honestly, that’s happened maybe twice this whole semester. Sometimes I go to the evening service at church but that’s also happened twice. Usually school or my procrastination/forgetfulness gets in the way of this.

This is my routine and schedule for now and in a couple days I'll know what my schedule for next semester will look like but for now this works. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you've enjoyed this peek into my week!