Book Reading - The Ice Dragon - Chapter 8

Chapter 6 of The Ice Dragon by George R. R. Martin with illustrations done by Luis Royo.

Click here for the full list of readings from The Ice Dragon.

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== Spring Semester ===

     If you've never taken Spring classes at school, then oh my goodness... let me tell you about how different this semester is compared to last semester. My previous semesters have been much MUCH slower than this one. I didn't realize it at first, but I already have midterms coming up in about a week and my finals are only about a month later. I have assignments due almost every day with not much of a break between each one.

     It's definitely been really hard to keep up with everything and still help out around the house and with the baby. I want to be able to do a great job at work and around the house and with school all at the same time, but instead I think I'm tiring myself out and not doing an amazing job of anything. It's a tough position to be in; I know I want to do so much that I wouldn't sleep if I didn't have to, but I simply don't have enough energy to accomplish everything I want to do at this time.

     As an example: my blog. I have hopes and dreams and goals of wanting to post things at least every couple days in an effort to grow my site and viewers and also as a way of sharing myself with the world in a way which could possibly benefit others. Instead, I see myself only posting maybe once a week at best and the rest of the time I sit in front of my computer after work and fall asleep until I finally drag myself to bed. This unfortunately happens with homework some days as well.

     Combined with the busy-ness of how work has been at this time of the year, I can certainly say I'm looking forward to after June once I'm done with 99% of school. I'm looking forward to finally having time to think without feeling guilty that I'm not constantly working.

Have a great day everybody! ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== Semester 3 Begins! ===

     Hard to believe the finals of last semester just happened a week ago and now here I am completing my first couple assignments today. I definitely wasn't expecting the final semester to begin so quickly but here we are starting the last leg of the journey (for the most part).

     It's been a tough road so far getting through all the classes. These days I don't have much energy to work with where I'm not physically exhausted. Some days I'm quite mentally exhausted as well, but for the most part I'm wanting to do so much and get so much done but I'm just not able to because my body wants to sleep. I know I'll be able to get through it all in the end, but right now it feels SO bad.

     Let's use tomorrow as an example. Tomorrow I want to work on my blog by making a post and promoting it. I also want to upload a video or two on my YouTube channel. I have hopes of wanting to play with the dog, steam clean the carpets, do a bit of writing, watch a show, work on school work, spend time with Carley, bake banana bread, go for a hike, play DDR, read a book, play a game on a console that I haven't played before, and probably more. There's so much I would love to do! Unfortunately I just don't really have the energy to do all of that in one day.

     It isn't all bad though. I'm sure I make it sound all awful, but seriously I actually think we're doing quite well at the moment. I'm super proud of myself for having made about $0.40 so far through my blog (which is a huge accomplishment for me!). And I'm still managing to find some time to do things other than be a vegetable or only work so much that I have no personality. Just give me a week or so from now and I think things might be a little better. Next coming month we're actually looking to be doing much better than we have been previously and oh boy I can't wait to tell you all about it!

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== Long Weekend Ahead! ===

(Posting this on April 14th, wrote this on April 12th)

     I can't tell you enough just how excited I am for the coming long weekend. I would like to say I'm going to catch up on sleep, but instead I'll likely be keeping myself busy with all my media, our baby, and preparing for my next round of classes coming up. This semester wasn't so bad, but I'm thinking I'll change a little bit of how I've been studying. I obviously haven't been able to work on my classes quite as well as I would have liked due to having our baby recently, but I also think I haven't been focusing very well on the work I've been trying to learn.

     I've noticed that even though it takes a little bit longer to get through any textbook reading and things of that nature, I retain and understand the work much better when I type it out. I tried writing out my work once upon a time, but that's a little bit TOO slow. Typing on the other hand, does two things for me. It excercises by brain by making my hands work and learn to type better and more consistently with greater accuracy, and it allows me to focus better on the words in front of my face rather than skimming through everything to find anything that pops out at me.

     As fun as it is to save time and cut corners, I think there's a healthy balance to doing some things a little bit slower rather than trying to get everything done as fast as possible. I think learning something slowly than speeding up as you get better at something is a much better way to go until you're able to do a task or activity quickly without having to give it much thought. The first semester, I took things a little slowly and I think I did well; the second semester, I tried to cut a lot of corners an messed a few things up which may mean I'll have to retake a class at a later time. This coming third semester, I'll be going for a middle-ground sort of approach where I will take things slowly as necessary, and hope to pick up speed as things go on.

     So besides thinking so much about school and my finals which are happening tomorrow, I'm looking forward to having the next three days off followed by a calm Sunday of work. Maybe Carley and I will get ourselves some fresh air and perhaps I'll use the time to make more posts or upload more videos. I love having time to work on hobbies and things.

Have a wonderful day everybody! ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

Midterms February 2017 - Part 1

     My first two midterms are done and now I wait for tomorrow when I will do my last midterm and set up my keyboarding final tomorrow morning. I'm quite sure I did really well on my two tests today. In fact, this may be the best I've felt taking tests recently. At no point did I really feel like I had no idea what I was doing. I suppose there's not much for me to really tell other than how happy I am over today.

     It's nice really, to be able to relax and feel good about things. Classes are going well, work is going well, things at home are going well. How can I complain about anything at this time? Honestly... I can't. I'm having a great time and I'm happier than ever. Now, perhaps I'll have a nap and prepare myself for my next midterm.

~ Kyle Welykholowa

First Semester Finals

   Well, that wasn't so bad. I wasn't sure how I would do this first semester. It was my first whole semester back in school since high school. Now I know I could have done better than I did, but I'm actually quite happy to have only failed one class. Sure my other marks weren't as high as I probably would have liked, but I'm thinking it will be much easier now to focus on school this coming second semester now that I'm living in Moose Jaw with Carley who's working full-time.

   I managed to fail math. I've never been awesome at math, so I'm not too heartbroken over it. Obviously I would have liked to pass the class, but I'll get through it when I get the chance to take it again. The extra time to do it again, this time in the comfort of a closer home, will be good for me I think. I'll be able to take the time to go through my textbook and get math practice in. Especially since I don't have to worry about making money while I'm trying to learn school things.

   I guess I don't really have a lot to say today. Mostly I'm just really happy to be done my first whole semester. That's a milestone for me. It's been a while since I've actually accomplished something useful outside of my room or having a girlfriend. So here's hoping us moving here was the right choice. I know it will make my life in school easier, and I know Carley is really happy to finally have a job... even if it's a little hectic for her right now.

~ Kyle

Where School Takes Me.

     The realization begins. Such a short time left until the first work-term. I only hope I can get through my finals in one piece and make it into the next semester. I find myself getting nervous about what is coming up for me. I know I can make it through this. It’s both scary and exciting for me at the same time. Scary because I’ll be getting into something I’ve never done before. A real job with important responsibilities. Exciting because I’ll finally be getting out of the minimum wage job market.

     I find myself having difficulties focusing on much else other than my thoughts right now. I hope this is all worth it in the end. I can’t deliver food for the rest of my life. Well… I suppose I could, but I wouldn’t want to. I mean, I actually want to be able to support a family one day. That’s just not reasonable doing the kind of work I’m currently doing. So I’ll follow my path to it’s end and see what it brings me. One day when this is all over with, I’ll look back and laugh at how silly I was for worrying about everything.

~ Kyle