Grad Journal: Fall 2018, Week 8

Year 3, Week 8: October 8th-14th

This week got off to a rough start but ended well. I had an anxiety attack on Monday and ended up missing class. It was the first full blown anxiety attack I can remember having since last spring so I suppose it was about time. I still felt like my brain was shut down this week but I managed to squeeze a little brainpower out of it. I was so happy when Thursday arrived and I could take a mental break. The Photo Club excursion to the Calhoun County Carnival was really helpful. It was a refreshing change of pace to just walk around a new environment with friends and practice night photography with no specific goals aside from exploration. 

I spent Friday recuperating from the week. I tried to catch up on some sleep and get a little gaming in. I suspect that my lack of gaming this past month is also contributing to my stress levels. I think it’s good for my brain to have some off time and to completely switch gears. For years I’ve said playing games is my therapy, and I am sorely in need of some therapy hours right now. Sadly, it’s midterms at school so I just have to power through everything as best I can.

Karl and I spent most of Saturday looking at houses in Jacksonville and running errands. I hate that on top of everything with school and my health (I’m about to start week 3 of Keto) we have added house hunting. We should have waited till December to start looking. We do plan to take our time but not I’m mentally hyped up and anxious about the process. We saw two houses that are on our to-consider list but one is at the max end of our budget and doesn’t give us the space we want. The other is overpriced and in need of major work. The occupants let dogs have the run of the place and the whole house reeks of dog pee. It’s so bad I’m sure the subfloors would have to be replaced. It’s a real shame because I’m in love with the location, and the yard, and the amount of space. But we are hoping to move in another 2-4 years and don’t want to spend our remaining time in the area working on another major fixer-upper.

I had planned on working on homework Saturday night but was in desperate need of a new pair of sneakers. We drove to Academy Sports in Gadsden, the only reliable place where I can find wide sizes in sneakers, so I could get a new pair of kicks. 

Since Friday was a recovery day, and Saturday was errand day, that left me with only Sunday to do all the homework. Which also made me an anxious mess. I’m happy to say I did manage to get a ton of work done. A photoshoot for my AR project, and filming for my video class. I didn’t get everything that I needed to get done, done, but it’s good enough. I can always revisit things later. With how I’ve been feeling the past few weeks I’m satisfied with the progress I was able to make.

Monday

• missed classes – sick

Tuesday

• Design Tech
  • applied the first two coats of silicone to my half mask

Wednesday

• Video
  • Assembled and tested new Ikan lights in the lighting studio
  • Audio test
  • HW: create a 1-minute instructional video
• Adv. Contemporary Media
  • Reviewed AR project proposal
  • HW: complete the AR assignment

Thursday

• Senior Projects
  • reviewed projects
  • large format printing demo
• Design Tech
  • applied silicone layer with strengthener
  • HW: apply 2 more coats of silicone over the weekend
• JSU Photo Club
  • photo excursion to the Calhoun County Carnival

Friday / Saturday /Sunday

Recuperation, house hunting, errands, meal planning, and homework. I squeezed in a few games of League of Legends which made me feel better. But I also had to take my emergency anxiety meds twice over the weekend. Also, all the homework!