In the know

I need to develop a better system where I can't miss class.  Oh, there's always a reason.  Of course there is always a reason.
• I was stuck at work
• I haven't eaten all day
• I fell asleep from studying all night & working since 5am
• I am more worried about homework for this other class, so I better skip and work on that instead
• and so on.
This might be understandable a couple of times, but not when it goes on at least once or twice a week.  I will admit work is taking precedent over school a lot, because I need to go to work and I need to be making more money.  But moreover, I am simply not utilizing the free time I do have effectively.  For example, instead of getting caught up on last week's Chinese homework, I am updating my blog.
However, as frustrated as I get with myself, I simply can't force myself to sit down and hammer through everything at once.  What can I do to solve this? Well, I really am going to work on Chinese after this post, so it's a start.  The funny thing is that in high school, I would have loved to have the opportunity to study Chinese and practice character writing, translating, reading, listening comprehension, etc.  Why not now, when that is a reality? I was never good with online homework though, regardless of the language or subject.  I can't keep track of what I've done and what I haven't done, because clicking some buttons on the computer is not as memorable as turning in a sheet of paper.  To clarify, the class is not online, just 90% of the homework is.

In other news, work is going very well.  The weekend before last, I got one of many e-mails from Karen (the Aquatics Director), chastising me about something I did wrong, due to a communication failure between the two of us.  It was the last straw.  I replied with some apology and explanation, but the more I thought about it, something snapped.  I put my coat on, got in my Jeep, and drove over to the Aquatic Center, where I knew she would be just finishing up a class.  I closed the office door, sat down, and said, "We need to talk."
Essentially, I explained to her how she was making me feel, always berating me with criticism and cutting me down in front of the other staff and managers.  I said it needed to stop.  She did not realize the extent to which she had been doing this.  I kept it calm, reassuring her I was not attacking her nor trying to make her feel indignant.  We explained our recent frustrations with one another and came to the conclusion that most of it could have been avoided if we had a better relationship and communicated with each other more.  It was also apparent that she is having a very difficult home life right now for reasons she could not disclose, which makes sense why the added stress and irritation I had been contributing were responded to so harshly.  I still think she was behaving inappropriately and making me feel disrespected and unhappy in the workplace, but I also see now ways in which I had also acted inappropriately.
In the end, I am so very grateful I got up the guts to confront her, and I think she is too.  It really dispelled the tensions and hard feelings we'd harbored against one another, and now I am more conscious of the repercussions of my own actions.  As a result, we have a lot better relationship and communication.
Don't tell anybody, but I kind of like my job.