Day in the Life of a Middle Aged Full Time Student/Mom/Wife/Friend etc .etc. etc.

I'm Peggikaye 

I'm a 45 year old wife and mother who, after 20 years of being home decided to go back to school. Majoring in psychology with the goal of becoming a clinical psychologist to work with families of children with disabilities (and provide a service that was lacking when I was going through the diagnostic and adjustment period as a mother of a kiddo with disabilities). When I went to school 22 years ago, I'd gained all of 24 credits before I became too ill with Myasthenia Gravis and Lupus to continue. I'm not in remission, but I don't feel any worse at home than I do going to school so ... WHY NOT?

As a wife, mother, full time student (during finals time no less) I sometimes get a bit shocked when normal problems crop up. (like pharmacy misplacing my medication)

My favorite statement when someone is causing me difficulty is "Stop messing with my midlife crisis!"

I've been a reader and occassional commenter on this blog since it's inception. I comment under Dreaming Again.

6:00 AM … wake up even though alarm isn’t set until 9 am. 

Know that if I get up, son #2 (17 years, 11 months and 2 weeks old) will ask for a ride to the bus stop a whole 3 blocks away.  After all, it’s colder than the arctic out there!! It’s all the way down to 27º (he’s really going to not like me when it’s in the single digits, which it will get to)

So, lay in bed, reminding myself that I didn’t go to sleep till 3 AM so it’s just as well. REST PK REST!!

7:10 AM

Hear front door shut and get up to work on speech that did not get quite finished at 3 AM when my body gave up.

7:12 AM Start the coffee (most important job of the day!)

7:15 AM Find all the information that I left on the computer desk at 3 AM that has been moved. Evidently someone got on the computer before school this morning. (it’s ok, he’s allowed. Just wish he’d leave my stuff be!)

7:20 AM Sit down with coffee (yum!) and start to figure out where I left off with the speech.  (and randomly go to Facebook for a distraction)

9:00 AM FINISH speech!! Realize morning is getting away from me and jump into shower.

9:18 AM Grab second cup of coffee

9:22 AM Finally get around to taking my turns on my word games (Lexulous and Wordscrapper, my life would be so tense without you!)

9:27 AM Start to get ready for school : Breakfast, make up, hair, dress. (While doing hair realize that I miss my long hair …wash and go!)

9:55 AM  Realize I’ve got an errand to run (Pharmacy) before school and I need to be at school early to print off report for Personality Theories (10 page paper, developing my own personality theory …while using the text book theories to support my theory. I am still unsure how this isn’t just a review of material as well as still protesting the assignment in general. This is graduate level assignment ...not undergrad and certainly not freshman/sophomore level!)

10:00 AM Leave for school/pharmacy.  Argue with pharmacist about the medication they say they have no record of ever having.

10:10 AM run back home, grab Mestinon Rx bottle and go back to Pharmacy to *SHOW* them that I get Mestinon there every single solitary month, without fail … They tell me it needs a refill authorization.(the bottle clearly states 3 refills) They tell me they can’t help it and it could be Monday before they get it back. I ask to speak to the main pharmacist. I ask him if he knows what Mestinon is and what it’s for. He says yes, I tell him that I have 2 days of medication left and there is no way to wait 5 days. He agrees and finds my refill in the computer. (Amazing!)

10:20 AM Finally get onto school, now running later than planned. Stop at Quiktrip to grab an extra caffeinated Mighty Mocha Cappuccino that I wasn’t going to get but after Pharmacy rigmarole, need it!

10:30 AM Arrive at school and calculate if I have enough time to print off all I need to print off. Decide to try it walk as fast as possible to get to library and pray there is a computer!

11:00 AM get to Speech class, unsure if I have to present my speech on talking about critical care medical choices before the time comes to need them. 

Sit through speech class impressed with my young classmates at the seriousness of their choices as well as the quality of their research. Listen to final speech and about get knocked out of my seat with the offensive nature of her conclusion.

12:20 PM Head over to Personality Theories, more nervous about turning in this 10 page paper than any speech I’ve ever had to give.

1:50 PM Review over, paper handed in, it’s all over but the crying.  (Something is wrong when a science phobic, stage frightened Psychology Major enjoys biology for non majors and speech class above and beyond their psych class!)

2:00 PM Walk into 17 year olds school to check him out early to go to a doctor appt to get toenail removed.

2:45 PM Arrive at doctor’s office and check in. Check in sheet says we’re there to get results of flu test. Um, no, we’re really not. We got those the day we got the test. We’re here to get is very infected toe fixed. (again, this will be the 3^rd time to remove his toenail!)

3:10 PM get called back, they weigh and measure my son who was 6’ tall just 6 weeks ago …he’s now 6’1.5’’

3:30 PM Here a male voice outside the room sounding like he’s in a panic. “I can’t do that! I’ve never done it!!”  While I try to keep my OCD teenager in the exam room till we find out what is going on.

4:00 PM Office manager comes in to explain that we, #1 needed an appt with a doctor, not a medical student (yes, I asked for one …) and #2 it’s a procedure and we had to have and we have to have an appt for the procedure room. (Which had it been booked, the computer would not have allowed her to assign a medical student nor resident to his case) (yes, I know, I specifically asked for a procedure appt, we’ve been through this before) They leave, come back and apologize, give him antibiotic to help infection and reschedule for Tuesday. In the middle of my class … where I must give my speech. Husband gets the honor!

5:00 PM Finally make it home. Work on homework and play on Facebook until time to figure out dinner. Realize we don’t have anything and a grocery store run is in order.

6:45 PM come home with readymade chicken from the grocery store.

8:00 PM Sit back down to computer to work with philosophy portfolio. Wonder if I’m really ever going to finish this. I’m 12 chapters worth of reviews behind and it’s due next week.

8:30 PM Decide to email speech professor about the offensive speech. There is nothing she can do now, it’s already done, but maybe she can keep it from happening in future semesters.

3:00 AM stand up from computer to stretch and look at the clock. Realize it’s 4 hours after I’d planned on going to bed. Shut down computer and get ready to start the whole thing over again around 7 am.

The Family:

Don 54 (hubby and sometimes child)
Samuel 20 (going on 21 going on 12 going on 40)
Benjamin 17 years, 11 months and 2 weeks (I refuse to put 18 and the fact that both my children are leagal adults one moment before I have to!)
Myself ... Peggikaye ...45 years old