[adpi*violet]

If you are going back to school after an extended period off and you have a husband/wife and/or kids... Make sure they know that things are going to change while you are in school. Try to balance your time with being with your family, but at the same time, when it is school work time, the door needs to be shut and only an emergency should pull you away from what you are currently working on. Also, the house might not get cleaned and that is ok (either that or hire a maid if you can afford it.) Dinner might be fix yourself a can of soup or reheat the casserole and those are ok too. Same goes with your activities outside your family and school- let your church know you will not be able to volunteer for everything, let someone else have the job of coaching the soccer team or being the Boy Scout Leader. It is just for a short amount of time in the long run, but the more concentrated effort you put towards grad school now, the faster and easier it will seem to go.