Back to School and Saying Goodbye to Summer

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Today is my first day of my field placement for my degree, as well as my first day of class. I'll be doing my placement 2 days a week, working 3 days a week at my job, as well as taking a night class and an online class for my placement, so I'm expecting a lot of long days and busy weeks to come, especially since I'll be back to commuting out of town two days a week again. I have spent a lot of time in the last few weeks trying to get our apartment fully organized, and working out some schedules for meals and chores, since Zen will also be attending university at the same school as me, and will be doing his own commuting and classes. so both of us will be crazy busy in the months to come.

So overall, I'm trying not to freak out, trying to schedule in some time to do all the things I have to do, as well as some more downtime than I managed last school year, as I was definitely starting to crack a little bit under the pressure of everything going on. However, I guess I just have to focus on the positive bits: I have a steady job now, so there's less worry about finances as long as I keep to a budget and plan ahead well for things like meals, I'll have enough to pay for my courses and get through this placement, and come out on the other side with some more knowledge in my head and more experience under my belt, that can lead to eventually working in another field.

I am also trying to be more organized about blogging, so I don't neglect you lovely friends as much as I did last year, and ensure that I keep my aura of craftiness and sanity intact throughout school. I already have some posts and photos taken for some posts for next week, and have set up a new blogging notebook to keep track of my ideas, posts and to do lists. I'm also still really pleased with my blogging update, and have a rough schedule in my head of how many times a week I can reasonably post given my workload and other things going on. I also made the decision to stop sponsorship other by swapping/displaying ads from a few of my bloggy firends, as I honestly lack the time to dedicate to sponsorship, and it's not always the part of this blog that I love the most. I do want to incorporate a few interviews and shout outs to bloggers and shops I enjoy though, so I'm putting on my thinking cap of how to do that in a way that works well for me and is an interesting read.

Overall though, I'm sad to see the end of summer, which has been filled with lots of time to putter, to hang out with the boy and the pup, to meet up with friends randomly and go on adventures that end in ice cream and walks by the river and meals and laughter and good times. I'm worried a bit that things will be as lonely and over-filled as they were last year, and that all of this work and effort will begin to seem not worth it again. However, I guess all I can do is really focus on the positives of the summer, stay organized and on top of things, hope for the best and trust that this year is a new year with no mistakes in it yet. (Case in point of super nerdery: I think I just quoted a line from the Anne of Green Gables series  in that last bit which has been one of my re-reads over the summer) I also need to hope that I can manage a bit more in the way of balance this year in order to stay happy and focused and getting things done.

Any tips for keeping life balanced in the middle of work, school and life? I'd love to hear them!

♥ Craftzilla