My poor blog. My poor, poor neglected blog.
Now before you call B.P.S. (Blog Protective Services) and
report me for this gross neglect, let me apologize for my absence and assure
you that I love this blog (and you) very much. And I promise to start taking
better care of it (and you). I promise I can do better! I can change! Please
don’t leave me…
My excuse for being M.I.A. these last few weeks is that I’m
taking an online class. Yes, like a crazy person, I thought “Gee, maybe I’ll
take an online class with all this spare time I don’t have.” That seemed like a splendid idea back in April when
I enrolled.
Now it seems downright insane.
It’s funny how time really does make you forget. When I
finished grad school back in 2006, I swore I would never take another class for
the rest of my life – not a cooking class, not a pottery class, nothing. After
three and half years of hell, working full time and completing my MBA in the
evenings and weekends, I never wanted to be a student again.
(Well, except there was that time when I was preggo for Q,
and I took a hip-hop dance class. Yeah, I did that. I was at least eight years
older than everyone else, and I was HUGELY pregnant. I’ll give you a second to
enjoy that little visual and have a chuckle at my expense. I’m not at all
offended. It really was hilarious. Anyhoot…)
Here I am, seven years post grad school, and the idea to be
a student again popped into my delusional brain. I figured since my little consulting business is
actually bringing in revenue and the subject matter directly relates to my
business, I can write off all the expenses.
It’s a Photoshop class, which is actually really
interesting. I used it a tiny bit back in my Big Girl Corporate Job, but now that Big Corporate Company
is no longer paying for the software, I haven’t used in a couple years. Even
so, I’ve actually been limping along quite well since then with my combination
of skills in Adobe Lightroom, Power Point, Paint.NET, and MyMemories digital scrapbooking software. I even managed to impress
my client by creating some really good mock-ups to pitch my ideas for their new
employment brand. (What’s “employment branding,” you ask? It’s what I do. And
it’s not something I bore you with right now.)
 |
| Here's a photo of Q and little girlfriend from my latest class assignment on color changes. |
I’ve also been able to do all kinds of fun projects, even
without Photoshop, like Q’s train-themed second birthday party, as well as some other projects for friends’ weddings and baby showers and kids’
birthdays.(One of my friends is trying to convince me to open an Etsy Shop and
sell my designs. I like the idea, but I refuse
to take on anything else right now. That might be a project for after Baby Dragon comes. As if I will
have more time with two kids.)
So I figured a more advanced knowledge of Photoshop couldn’t
hurt. Plus, honestly, how much work could an online class in the summer
actually be, right?
The answer is a whole f**king lot of work.
Assignments are due every Sunday, and each assignment has at
least two parts plus “lab work.” And there are numerous chapters to read,
exercises to practice and videos to watch. Every. Single. Week. Maybe for
someone a bit more experienced in Photoshop, this wouldn’t be so time
consuming, but for me, it takes forever. Over the July Fourth weekend, I spent ten hours doing this week’s assignment.
The Hubs, who as you all know by now, is quite clever, likes
to call me “Teen Mom” when I’m hunched over my laptop doing my weekly
assignment. “Haha, you’re pregnant and doing homework! You’re Teen Mom!” If he
weren’t so damn funny, I would glare at him.
I’ve never taken an online class before, so I was pleasantly
surprised when the professor asked us to turn in our assignments by posting
them on a blog. At least I’m familiar with how a blog works. (If you’re a
Photoshop guru and want to laugh at my early Photoshop attempts, you can view
my class blog here.)
So If I seem a little M.I.A. and my posts are less frequent than usual, now you know why. But the class only goes until the end of July, so please just bear with me until then.... And please don't leave me.
