I'm on break, sort of

Welcome to this week's Reno News & Review.

As I've whined for the last several months, I've started a master's degree at the University of Nevada, Reno. I'm only taking two classes, but … man … I have not been a college student for a long time. So much has changed. One of the funniest things, for me anyway, is that I no longer know the rules of English grammar. I've been writing in newspaper grammar (Associated Press Style) for so long that simple rules no longer occupy a folder in the file cabinet of my mind. And it's not like I'm a stranger to the college experience since I've been teaching journalism up there for a couple of years—in fact, I'm teaching a class now.

I have a job that requires more than 40 hours a week. I have seven hours of classes in which I'm a student on campus. I teach four hours a week. I have homework. I run a single-parent household with a young adult. My Wednesdays start about 5 a.m., and my last class lets out at 10 p.m. There's just one thing that gets me through the week—the countdown to spring break and then summer.

And the real sad part is I'm right in the middle of my spring burst of creativity. Give me a little vitamin D, and I'm building projects. For example, this weekend, I sanded and refinished some end and coffee tables so that their tone matches my new hardwood floors.

Of course, some things had to give: my time at the gym and my time in the bar. But by the time you read this Editor's Note, I'll be on spring break. My last midterm lets out at 11 a.m. on Thursday, and I may just walk out of that class and straight over to the Little Wal. I don't think anyone would say boo. Fat chance. But if Thursday is productive and my karma is good, I might take Friday off.

That's all fantasy, probably, fueled by the promise of a 70 degree weekend. But with a little luck, I may get to spend some hours in the garden or on my back deck, hopefully reacquainting myself with a frosty Corona Light.