A Juggling Act

What a weekend I just had! I definitely think it tops as one of the greatest weekends that I have ever had in my life! Making a statement like that is a pretty tall order, especially when I was so busy. However, I know this to be true...

Being a parent, a Chief in the Navy, a gamer, a student, and a husband all at the same time poses an incredible challenge. Somehow, I have to be able to do everything that I need to do, that I want to do, and tend to the needs of others. So, when I was presented with the challenge of completing a paper for my class, running a couple miles for my kids' school district, visiting with old friends, playing some games (of course!), and spending quality time with my wife and kids, Juri and I took a step back and made a plan!
I'm hard at work on completing my Bachelor's in IT Management by currently working on a class on finance information systems. Unfortunately, with my hatred for anything involving money and economics, this class isn't as easy as others for me. I am taking the material very seriously, attempting to squeeze every drop of knowledge out of the key terms and concepts. So, I wrote my first paper for the class earlier in the week and attempted to work on my second paper (due on Monday, today) while I was on 24-hour duty at work. Unfortunately, things kept coming up and I was too busy to concentrate on school at all. In between my duty days, being at home wasn't any calmer. So, once Friday rolled around and I still hadn't written anything, I needed to come up with some sort of plan to make everything happen. Juri and I talked it over and came up with a schedule that would allow us to get it all done.
That night, I read the majority of the information that I needed to review for the paper and started to jot notes. We had signed up for a "Run for the Arts", a fundraiser for the kids' art programs at their school. That was going down first thing Saturday morning. This would be followed by a meet-up with old friends that moved to the San Diego area at Breakers Beach in Coronado. We also decided at the last minute that we would go out on a movie date night, so we needed to get a babysitter. I would then spend Sunday morning writing my paper and then go jet skiing with another set of friends that afternoon. Sounds like a good plan! Oh, I made time for some Final Fantasy XIII that night too!
Saturday morning, we get up and head out to Lindo Lakes in Lakeside for the "Run for the Arts." I'm running competitively, Juri runs to run it, and the kids walk the course. It was a great event and I managed to get 21st place overall with a 14:40 run time, coming in first in the 30-39 age group! I went back up the course, cheered Juri on, and then walked in the rest of the way with Sean and Maia. Once we got near the finish, I encouraged Sean to run it the rest of the way in. Maia didn't want to, so I threw her up onto my shoulders and ran in with her. After word, we had some lunch and I found out that I got first place and received a medal. We then went home and started to clean the house while I took some more notes for my paper. I began to have a clear direction that my paper would take. We called for a babysitter from Marion's Childcare but didn't know if we would be able to get one or not, since it was last minute.
Next, we headed to the beach. I was feeling pretty damn good at this point, so I started running around the beach with the kids, climbing up the frame of the swing set there, and playing wave tag. I even took the opportunity to get some sun, attempting to become less stark white! After a great visit with our old friends, we returned home, finding out that we did secure a babysitter! So, we finished cleaning up the house, I finished my notes for the paper, and Juri and I went to the movie. We saw Hot Tub Time Machine (which she talks about below) and enjoyed the crap out of that! Once the movie was over, we still had an hour to kill. So, we headed over to Eastbound Bar and Grill in Lakeside for some drinks and conversation.
The next morning, I wake up and start typing my paper. I managed to get it all wrapped up quickly, having it proofread and submitted by 11am. While I was writing the paper, Juri finds out that we aren't going to jet ski after all, so our day opened up. With the paper done, I relax by playing some Final Fantasy XIII. We then take the kids outside for a while to play with our neighbors and then invite them over to play DJ Hero at the house. It was tons of fun with pizza and good music.

Thankfully, I managed to get my paper written successfully, spend some quality time with the kids and Juri, get my work done, and make some progress in my games! It is definitely a juggling act getting all these tasks done and it may sound weird to plan on playing games, but sometimes it is absolutely essential in order to meet all of your obligations to your work, your family, and yourself. Especially for games like Final Fantasy XIII! Overall, I had one of the greatest weekends of my life. I was able to get so much accomplished and I feel completely satisfied because of it. Oh, expect a review from me for DJ Hero soon. That game is incredible and it has an awesome soundtrack too!