Sleep well stressful week

A quiet Friday night at home alone?

Yeah.

For at least one weekend I am trading booze and bullsh*t for NBA on ESPN, deep-fried frozen chicken nuggets and drinking OJ out of the gallon. Here's hoping I don't have to do this often. Well, this is more of a pre-emptive measure by myself, knowing that I have to drive 5 hours to Springfield, Mo. tomorrow, sit on my fat but for about 4 hours (1 hour lunch, 3 hour basketball) and then drive another 5 hours back to Carbondale, Ill. I'd rather not have to make that drive hungover as all hell. It's just not necessary.

But maybe it is as I'm trying to get over one of the more stressful weeks I've had this school year.

Balancing school and work is the BIGGEST challenge any one has at the university level. When work consists of working at a daily newspaper (5 days a week) with the circulation of 22,000 not including the countless eyes on the Web, it becomes a little more difficult than your average on-campus job. During sleepless nights, I've often stayed awake thinking to myself how much easier my job would be if I didn't have to go to class. Or if I didn't have to study for a mid-term. Or if I didn't have to meet with an adviser.

Life would be easier, no doubt. But before I brush it off as "I can't wait to graduate if only because I'll be free of my classroom duties" I'll remind myself that one day I will (HOPEFULLY) have a family. And by family I don't mean the group of guys I go sit at the bar and watch Cubs games with. Or the guys in my fantasy football draft. I'm talking about beautiful wife, two kids, nice house, 2.5 car garage, a white picket fence and a dog. Saluki, of course!

So there's school, which I had to drop a class to accomodate work and my overall life. I felt terrible because I felt I could learn so much from a newsroom management/picture editing class from a very respected photojournalist. Yet, when I fell behind on the class work despite two off weeks because of the inauguration and the snow day, I knew I needed to make the change. And you know, work might sound easy on paper, but running a two-man sports desk is kind of taxing for all parties involved. Not just myself and my assistant editor, but the e-i-c, managing editor, copy editors, picture editors, layout people, people who run the press...everyone. But thankfully, I am surrounded by the best people in the world. Seriously, I'm not sure what I'd do without the people around me.

They've all been really supportive, especially with finding creative ways to try to cheer me up. I like that in people, creativity.

...

I also think this crummy weather has to do a little bit with what's going on in my life. A lot of people have asked me if something was wrong, of late. Whether it be in the classroom, newsroom or out and about, people have been like "why do you look so sad?" and "what's wrong?" so I've come to the conclusion that it's OK to blame the weather. It sucks. It's cold. It's cloudy. It's still snowy. Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) makes sense for an excuse. I don't want to get from under the covers and can you blame me?

Bad weather puts me in a bad mood. Good weather makes me want to go outside and grill. Everyone's happy when I cook. Therefore, bring warm weather and I will bring the happiness. As long as someone helps chip in with the grub and the booze.

...

As I've tried to balance work, school and sh*tty weather I have also had to balance my emotions. Makes me think about my bowling class when my teacher said we can't be emotional. F*ck that, that's who I am. That's like telling Peyton Manning not to be funny in commercials or Ozzie Guillen not to be controversial in interviews.

Whatever.

One of my close friends has spent the better part of the last two eeks in the hospital. Sad. And it's not even about her working with the paper, because it's more than the talented writer she is. She's a fun person. A great person. One of my favorite people to be around. And trust me, when you get those people in your life you don't let them go. Can't do it. I wish her a speedy recovery, and even though you probably don't know her, you should wish for the same, too.

But seriously, I've spent too much of my time this school year at a hospital. I've seen two of my best friends go in and I don't want to have to see another friend have to go back. Hospitals are bad, except when they deliver babies. And guys on the Maury show would despute the goodness of hospitals when that happens.

...

This week's album addiction: Kanye West's "808s & Heartbreaks."

I'm not sure if it's the auto-tune singing or the smooth beats or the fact that Valentine's Day is around the corner, but "808s" is getting lots of play on my iPod touch of late.

As for the musical guilty pleasure of the week, it's Lil' Wayne's "Prom Queen." I'm not sure what I like about the track other than it's thinking waaaaaaaaay out of the box for Weezy F. Baby. The concept is played out and has been done better in its prior editions performed by bands capitalizing on teenage angst.

So until I figure out a really good reason to hate the song, it will stay on my good list.

...

I'm not sure if I really captured the stresses of this week. At this point of the night, I don't really care if a blog summarizes it or not. I'm just glad this week is over because next week doesn't get easier.

But all I can do is smile because I have a feeling if I need to fall back, someone will catch me.

And that kind of makes me smile.