Today in the midst of summer break we are beginning our crazy weekend of turning over 2 apartments. They have to be ready for the carpet cleaner on Monday, we have to paint, clean and repair. We will come out of it about $500.00 richer and every penny counts!
We also found out Chris is going to have to miss a day of school in the fall or we will loose our job because there is a required fair Housing tour we have to go on. He is debating what to do! Oh my this should not be such a hard decision but it is. Missing one day of school is huge, but having an income and a place to live is huge too!
Seriously!
Friday, May 31, 2013
Thursday, May 30, 2013
The First Semester
At the start of his first semester he kept the same basic schedule as in undergrad, basically going to school, then a little studying, and coming home and being with the kids and I. We were in this brief period of time before we truly understood what was coming, it was nice while it lasted! Then he had his first round of midterms, after that we KNEW that things were going to have to change dramatically.
It changed from being home in the evenings to coming home for a couple hours for dinner and leaving again to go study. We saw him briefly during the week, and at this point he only studied for a few hours on Saturday. He was feeling better, I was still doing okay. With two small children and trying to run a business, I was also feeling SLIGHTLY (understatement of the year) overwhelmed. We were drowning in bills and running out of the student loans we were not suppose to be spending, but I didn't want to worry him, he had so much on his plate. The second round of midterms came and went, he did a bit better, but no where near where he needed to be.
That led to more studying, longer hours, less time at home. He spent Thanksgiving vacation studying, any and all 3 day weekends studying. Saturdays we didn't see him except for at dinner and the monthly Costco trip. He made it through and pulled a 3.0 out of the semester, we were all HAPPY with that. His lowest GPA since starting college by a lot but it was passing, and he qualified for the masters program he wanted to do concurrently with his OD degree. SUCCESS!
Now it may sound all bad but it is not. During that time we both made some good friends, and I was beginning to learn what it takes to be a single parent! HaHa!
However, through one of my new found friends who was a second year Optometry Widow we got a NEW job. No more home daycare, no more 50+ hour weeks working and still not making enough money. Managing apartments never sounded better than after our first semester of optometry school. It also meant moving again, and moving during his first real break from school, but the perfect opportunity!
It changed from being home in the evenings to coming home for a couple hours for dinner and leaving again to go study. We saw him briefly during the week, and at this point he only studied for a few hours on Saturday. He was feeling better, I was still doing okay. With two small children and trying to run a business, I was also feeling SLIGHTLY (understatement of the year) overwhelmed. We were drowning in bills and running out of the student loans we were not suppose to be spending, but I didn't want to worry him, he had so much on his plate. The second round of midterms came and went, he did a bit better, but no where near where he needed to be.
That led to more studying, longer hours, less time at home. He spent Thanksgiving vacation studying, any and all 3 day weekends studying. Saturdays we didn't see him except for at dinner and the monthly Costco trip. He made it through and pulled a 3.0 out of the semester, we were all HAPPY with that. His lowest GPA since starting college by a lot but it was passing, and he qualified for the masters program he wanted to do concurrently with his OD degree. SUCCESS!
Now it may sound all bad but it is not. During that time we both made some good friends, and I was beginning to learn what it takes to be a single parent! HaHa!
However, through one of my new found friends who was a second year Optometry Widow we got a NEW job. No more home daycare, no more 50+ hour weeks working and still not making enough money. Managing apartments never sounded better than after our first semester of optometry school. It also meant moving again, and moving during his first real break from school, but the perfect opportunity!
What it is like
I am starting this blog in hopes of shedding light on what it is like to be the spouse to someone who is in a competitive time consuming and all encompassing program in school. When people told us that it was going to be busy, we believed that it would be busy. When they told us it would be hard, we thought yeah he will have to study a little more than in undergrad. When they told me I would be a widow for the next four years, I thought yeah he may be gone a little more than before.
Oh man we should have listened to what they were saying and added in more hours, more stress, and less time. That would have been accurate preparation... maybe. It is like when someone tells you having a baby changes everything, you say, yes it is going to change things but we will still basically live the same life - HAHA.
We are in the midst of his one and only summer off during the 4 year program, I hope you enjoy reading!
Oh man we should have listened to what they were saying and added in more hours, more stress, and less time. That would have been accurate preparation... maybe. It is like when someone tells you having a baby changes everything, you say, yes it is going to change things but we will still basically live the same life - HAHA.
We are in the midst of his one and only summer off during the 4 year program, I hope you enjoy reading!
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