A Wife/Student: How I Get Ready for School to Start

I've noticed that many people in my generation successfully juggle marriage and school, which makes me wonder why so many that I knew were shocked and slightly appalled when I announced that I was getting married in college. Oh, wait, maybe that's because I planned my wedding to occur during the semester rather than in between semesters like most people. I see.

I attended college for three full semesters after I got married, which makes me feel rather experienced at the whole balancing school and marriage thing. Now I'm starting cosmetology school, which will be 10 months of 40 hrs. per week at school. And this time, Angel is still working full-time, as he always has, but he's also recently started his grad school program. That program is only part-time, so he's only taking two classes, but this means that both of us are going to be pretty busy for a long time to come.

Here's what I do in the weeks before school starts to make the transition to being much more busy a little easier.

1. Cook! I hate browning hamburger. I don't usually mind cooking, but this is my least favorite job. For this reason, I always cook my hamburger in bulk, rather than just what's needed at each meal. What's pictured here is enough ground beef to make six meals (chili, tacos, casseroles, etc.) for us and enough pork sausage for 2 meals. We actually eat chicken most of the time and beef rarely, so this is a couple months worth of meat pre-cooked, and ready for the first few months of the school year.

2. Clean! I clean on a regular basis...but there's certain jobs that don't get done nearly as often. I've been on a bit of a cleaning/organizing spree, getting rid of junk that collects in odd places, mopping floors, scrubbing the stove top, organizing cupboards and bookshelves, and emptying drawers that look like this:

Oh look, there's Angel boutonniere from our wedding! And a wrist brace, Norman Rockwell 2011 calendar, sunglasses, and way too much more random stuff!

3. Exercise! In college I started experiencing severe back pain nearly all the time. The doctor said (the audacity of her!) that I needed to exercise regularly. The problem was that my usual and preferred lifestyle is that of a sedentary scholar, but my back was rebelling. I started exercising more, and the pain went away. The problem is that I hate exercising so sometimes I start getting back aches again because I've been lazy. With cosmetology school approaching, I know that I need to be in better shape for my body to be able to handle standing 8 hours a day, so I've kicked it into high gear for exercising. Starting two weeks before school starts, I made it a goal to bike 2-3 miles a day or else do pilates. For me, that's a lot of exercise, though I know it isn't for many people. In case you don't know, I hate doing pilates and biking is pretty much the only exercise that I do like, so mostly I'm picking biking. I'm just trying to get in good shape to start with, and we'll see how often I continue to exercise after school starts, but it should be at least 2-3 times a week after that.

Now what am I forgetting that I ought to do? And I'm starting to feel a bit intimidated about cosmetology school. I don't even own a hair dryer, people. I wouldn't know how to use one if I did. My hair is always short and I just let it have its own merry way most of the time. Do any of you hair experts have any advice on what I should try to learn in the six days before school starts?