It's 8:30 am. Saturday. I am at the stable with my 8 year old, a horse lover. Her interest sparked by a book, she talks endlessly about horses. She begged us for lessons until we gave in. We drew the line at her pleas for a horse that would live in our backyard (which is barely large enough for a dog). We have been very clear that THAT is NOT happening. My husband and I are lucky if we can keep the back end of the horse straight from the front end, if you catch my drift. But we're slowly learning about the horse world, since one of us is here every Saturday morning.

Today my daughter is riding Samantha, a beautiful white horse. It's cold after the first frost of the season last night, but the sparkling sunshine helps a lot. Much better than last week's 45 degree rain. Things go fairly well and I'm ready to leave at 9:30 but she wants to stay to help with the grooming and tending. Getting out of here is always a problem. I'm finding,though, that it works better to take the “early shift� on the Saturday activities. This way, by early afternoon, I've done some kid stuff and some home stuff, and there's still time (hopefully) to get some school work done. I don't feel as guilty about hiding out in the home office for a bit (while I run several loads of laundry) because I know the kids have had a chance to do their thing and I've been a part of it. I'm still trying to minimize the impact of my commitments upon them.

School's been a bit crazy. I had my first midterm a week ago Friday in Research. I had hoped to have the middle of the week to study, but the girls and I fell prey to a flu-like virus. We started dropping like flies late Monday. With first one, then both girls home on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, my study time was largely limited to what I had memorized early Monday and daily review. The test was multiple choice (which to me is always a gamble), but I did ok. This past week, the beginning sections of the major paper in Research were due. Previously in school I was one who had the paper done early. This time, it was 7pm Wednesday before I emailed my paper to my partner in the class for comments. I love my topic and hope to do it justice. It is difficult, though, to carve out a large chunk of time for focused attention on one thing.

A couple of weeks ago we were assigned a group project in Human Behavior. This worries me a bit. I'm comfortable with my fellow group members but am not sure what sort of time commitment I'm looking at here. That's really key for me. I want to do my part; I'm a little bit worried about how many extra trips to Baltimore will be necessary to do a good job on the project and how I will squeeze them into the family schedule. I don't like being so far from the main campus. When I was in school previously I was always within walking distance of my classes.

The time is flying by. I can't believe we're in the middle of October now. We've survived the first third-grade science test (something my daughter worried about all summer) and the daily homework is getting done. Dinner's on the table each night and the baths/showers/basic needs seem to have been met. I've missed a few details I probably wouldn't have before (ie. pick-up of school fundraiser purchases, denim day (ie. no uniform) and the minor details of pajama day). I don't have a lot of time to socialize with the other mommies these days, but that seems to be the tradeoff for a life outside of the home. I don't know how, but somehow each week I make it through the assignments, one by one. We're halfway through the semester now; I just hope I can keep it all going on the home stretch.