Day 30 - Old Study Habits Return

Hi all!

First, since it's Remembrance Day (Veterans Day down here) I feel compelled to take a moment of pause to remember that we are only able to travel around the world because of the sacrifice of countless servicemen & women over time.  And, I hope you are all enjoying a well deserved stat holiday at home.  They don't sell poppies down here, so here is my virtual poppy to mark the day.

 

Wow - one month, 30 days, 1/12 of a year - how strange is time?  It seems like we just left home and also that we have been in Reno for ages!  We have seen the weather go from flip-flops and deliciously warm, to chilly by day and freezing bloody cold by night.  Ahhh!

When formulating the plan to "go south" for a couple of months, Steve planned to spend several hours a day organizing the new company and making sales calls.  He has certainly held up his end of the bargain and has been making some great progress.  Me, I planned to sit in the sun, get a slow and steady tan while working on my real estate course as much as possible (minimum 20 hours a week).

Sue's Original Plan:

Sit at the RV Park's Pool - read textbook, complete assignments, go for a dip when the excruciating heat is too hot to bear........dry off, continue to read, repeat.......

Sue's Reality Check:

Chilly in the daytime, freezing at night.  The pool is covered up and closed. 

So, I work at my desk in the trailer.  A little less glamorous, perhaps?

FYI, the outdoor hot tub is open, but the cruel joke is that after an invigorating soak one has to climb out of the tub into sub-zero crisp air conditions and high-tail it back to the trailer before the biting cold reaches one's internal organs.  I've "enjoyed" this experience twice and Steve has braved it four times.  Thankfully our trailer is at the near end of the park and our post-soak run is fairly short.

Old Study Habits Return:

As when I was a younger student, any and every distraction causes me to gaze away from the books and interrupts my studies.  Why you ask?  Those text books look incredibly inviting, interesting and full of meaty content?  Well, the reality of the situation is that this course is chock-a-block full of legal facts, case examples to memorize, the in's and out's of ancient and current contract law, industry terminology and no, no pictures.

So, when my laptop dings "you have mail," or one of the dogs snout in for some attention,

 

or a glimmer of sun shines in the window (reminding me that people are outside having fun), or my internal clock tells me it's time for "Dr. Oz" on TV, or my stomach starts to growl,

and I head into the kitchen for one of the 3 C's - Coffee, Chips, Chocolate - I take a break.  Why do you think I'm writing this blog in the middle of the day?  Yup, distraction.  Funny, I haven't been a student for quite a while but my flawed study habits returned to me like a faithful old dog.

Chapter 5 - looks like I'll have to re-read this one.  I'm at a 95% average on my assignments - time to pull up my socks!

All kidding aside, this is a challenging course, and while it's a bit of a slog to get through the material, it's quite interesting and something that I think will be right up my alley.  Organization, diligence and industriousness are required for success in this course and profession - all qualities (I believe) I possessed at one time in my life, so I guess I'll have to pull out my old "Gainfully Employed" trunk and dust off these skills.  Well, that is, after I finish this blog, check my email, pat the dogs, and get a snack.

Miss you all!
xoxox Sue (and Stephen)