something's gotta give

It's been 2 weeks, and I think it's hitting me, I am in graduate school (again). I have to say the second time around is a different experience. The students in my class are pretty diverse, which is nice. The curriculum isn't as foreign to me as it was when I was in my masters. I mean how much can things change in 5 years? Although I have to say that I have a lot of refreshing to do. At least I don't have to memorize the DSM-IV! My classes are your basic clinical classes: assessment (IQ), clinical interviewing (therapy 101), psychopathology (diagnose-o-rama). They sound intense. They are. I think the challenge for me will be how to balance of all of this and still have a life and a full time job. When I started school the last time around, like 6 years ago (damn, was it that long ago?) it seemed like I can do it all. I was 29, which isn't spring chicken territory, I had an intense job that took alot of brain power, a life that included a new relationship and good friends, volunteer work, etc. What I remember from that experience is that I didn't feel like I had put enough time in my school work. I felt different things pulling at me and I let go of some things and I didn't feel the repercussions until much later.
This time around, I'm in the same situation, a full time job, a new relationship, good friends, volunteer work...I'm a little older, as the greying of my temples can attest, and I still think I can do it all. But I don't want to. I want to focus on my dream and that may mean that something has to go. Yes, I may have break up this ongoing relationship that has become abusive and unhealthly over the years. For forty hours a week, I have paid attention to this relationship and although I appreciate the compensation for my time, it doesn't make up for the countless hours of banality, boredom and pettiness. It's time to call it a day. I hope to get a part time job sometime in the Spring of '06, just in time for me to start my practicum. I may still have to work to pay some bills, but this time around I'm going to be choosy.