I'd rather be a juggler than a mime

OK...so it's been 1 month, and I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of this larnin' thang. It's a matter of dedication, priority, focus, and a burning need for scholarships and awards.

If I was "just" a student, it wouldn't be so challenging. I'd be balancing the books with the beers, the studies with the socializing.

But I'm not "just" a student.

I'm a mom of 3 teenage boys.

I'm the owner of a farm, and haying and crops were a disaster this year. I have little food preserved/stored for our family consumption, no turkeys for sale, and it's a long way off until maple syrup season. My tractor, roto-tiller, and chainsaw all went up in puffs of carbon-rich smoke this summer, so I don't even have my firewood to heat the house. I'll be watching the $ race out of my savings account this winter.

I'm a wife, a role that I keep defining as I go. See...my husband's family believes a wife should be the Harriet of the 50's...docile, domestic, and deferrent. I am none of those things. I've been a career-oriented person for the past 26 years...the primary bread-winner throughout that time...primary parent for my children...politically and socially active. So..there is a bit of tension between what is expected of me, and what I expect from myself. Thank the goddess my husband loves me just the way I am...flaky, brilliant, and prickly...yeah, I said prickly.

So...the juggling act. Here is an average day in my life:

6:30

alarm goes off

6:45

husband lures me out of bed with an always-just-out-of-reach cup of coffee

7:00

shower finished, teeth brushed, hair combed, eyes open

7:15

become the lunch nazi - "You MUST have fruit in your lunch! You CAN'T have all the cheese!"

7:15

become Sherlock Holmes, tracking down kids' assignments, calculators, socks, cellphones,iPods

7:30

water and feed the dog, water and feed the cats, water and feed my belly

7:45

start shrieking "The bus is coming, the bus is coming" like a crazed Herve Villechaise

7:50

say the kids' litany "Have fun, learn lots, be good, be safe, use a condom, love ya"

7:55

drive husband to work, kiss and shove him out the door, search for latest favourite CD

8:00

crank a tune to get the heart going, then switch to CBC radio

8:30

park in visitor's parking, vow I'm going to get my pass today, curse the $5.75 I pay/day

8:45

hit the library, vow to get 3-days ahead in my reading and assignments, break vow

3:00

classes over (usually), race for afterschool chores: groceries, diesel, parent-teachers, dentist, etc

4:00

get home & feed/water the animals, clean coops and stalls, pull at least 3 weeds, laundry on line

4:45

share supper chores, insist that we do have to eat vegetables, actually talk with kids & husband

5:30

get dishes started while helping kids with science, math, English, law homework

6:00

troubleshoot shared internet connectivity, home network, and media server problems

7:00

review kids homework, participate in scheduled conference call with client in Toronto

7:45

work on client's portfolio/media solutions - loudly cursing our 28.8 dial-up HELL!!!!!

8:45

bully kids through shower, review kids' homework, tell husband I remember he exists

9:00

finish clients' work, start on my schoolwork, keep my vow of 3-days ahead

10:00

poke husband with pencil until he wakes up from the couch and stumbles into the shower

10:30

greet husband in bed with reading glasses on and only 3 textbooks to read....sexy, eh?

I'm juggling as fast as I can. Stressed? A little bit. Thrilled? A lot!