Should I stay or should I go??

So I've been seeing this girl who lives in Arlington. We went to high school together and have since reconnected last Thanksgiving. Ever since then we have been slowly talking and getting to know each other. However, now we're officially "dating". I would almost have to say we're somewhat in a relationship now too. It's not officially official yet, but pretty darn close. I'm not sure what to do though.

She is about to start a clinicial lab sciences program which may lead to her finishing a Master's degree. The CLS program alone will be 16 months of her life. She will be a full-time student during the day 8-5pm and will have to work part-time in the evenings and on weekends to make ends meet. Which means, we will never be able to see each other. If we don't have our weekends, then dating is going to be impossible. At least from my logical point of view. A real relationship...at least a healthy one, needs in person contact. Internet and txt msging only go so far. You HAVE to see each other and spend time together in person. CONTACT. That's what it's all about. And damn my luck, we're about to not even have that. Not as if the long distance wasn't bad enough. Now we'll never see each other...at least not for 16 months or 2 years. She's been here the last 3 weekends to see me. We've met each other's parents and have talked about what to do. Neither of us have any answers.

I'm starting a heavy 2 class summer session for my MBA, and I myself have at least 16 months to go. Some friends have said, "Just wait the 16 months when you're both finished with school.". No...that doesn't work for me. People change...feelings change...I don't know that we're solid enough right now to go almost 2 years without really having contact and STILL want to be together at the end of that. To be honest, I really don't know her that well. We went to HS, but were never friends then. If you add up all the time we've spent in person together since Nov08, it's been maybe 3-4 weeks. Of course we chat, talk on the phone, txt, and email 10000X a day. But still...in person..maybe 4 weeks. She's starting the 16 month long CLS program in the summer. We have until July, and then (if she does the program), our relationship comes crashing to a halt. She says she doesn't want that and I know for sure I don't. But I'm clueless as to how to make this work.

My instincts are telling me to just bail. Why fight for it when it's still so new and we're not "in love" or anything? Friends have told me I would be stupid to do that. They've said, "You never know. Everything can change in 6 months...it could change tomorrow....don't give up just yet". But I don't want to sit here and wish and hope that she doesn't do the program. That would be selfish and wrong of me. But to be honest...deep down...I wish she would just find a better job and not go to this program. At least then we'd have our weekends together. :-(

What to do

I've got a lot going on lately. I'm stressed about Grad school. I have 6 more classes to take before I graduate. I've been a bit disinterested in Grad school for the last year or so and have taken only one class a semester since my 2nd semester in the program. I used to have a life, so taking one class a semester allowed me to maintain that and still be in school. Well, my dating and social lives are now a thing of the past and I'm wanting to hurry up and get finished with the MBA. However, there's one problem.

I'm afraid of the Finance class I need to take. Everyone that takes it has the choice of taking it with a guy named Pracado online, or with the Indian Dr. Sundar in person. Apparently Sundar's english isn't too great, so being that it is a difficult course to begin with, his broken English makes it even worse. The other option, the online class, is even worse. Everyone with a 4.0 GPA that takes it gets a C in the class. It's that hard. In fact, it's so hard that most people who take it with Pracado, have to take it again because they make D's or F's. Yeah...Finance is NOT my best subject and I don't have a good background in it. So I'm worried. No matter when I take it, I need to take it alone and not with any other classes.

So here's what I'm thinking. I'll take Finance in the summer if I can get Sundar in person. If not, I'll take two electives to get them out of the way. If I can take Fin in the summer and IF I pass it and my GPA stays at 3.0 or higher, I'll only need to take 2 classes a semester for another year and I'll be done. Otherwise, we're looking at another two years to finish at my current one class a semester speed. F*&#@.

Also, I've been invited to go hiking for 5 days in the Grand Canyon in May. I have no experience with hiking or backpacking and the person that wants me to go is a woman I've been interested in for some time. She's not interested in dating, so going away on a trip like this doesn't sound like a great idea. Even though part of me does want to do it. She's an experienced hiker and has invited 4 other people to join. I'm not sure what to expect and she's not the greatest at really explaining things without taking the long way around and missing all the important details. I'm thinking of saying no just because my instincts are telling me not to go there.

I have a wedding in June I have to go to as well. It's in Louisiana and is for one of my good female friends. She and I have a music duo project of her singing and me playing the guitar. She's a close friend, but I really don't agree with her getting married. She has NO idea what's in store for her. She's a single mom and has been married twice before to the same man. Yeah...twice before to the same man...LONG story. Anyways, the man's she's engaged to is a seminary student at Baylor!! My friend is a well-known wildchild and simply cannot be caged. Oh yeah, less than a year ago, she was an atheist too. No shit. I'd like to believe people can change, but in her case, I think she's pretending to be someone she's not just so she can finally have a man that isn't white trash or abusive. Preacher boy seems like a nice guy and apparently had a wild past before finding Jesus or whatever. I don't believe she's ready for this. Preacher's wives...esp Baylor preachers' wives are EXPECTED to be good little Baptist Christian women. Almost like Stepford Wives. Who the F wants to live their life like that?

My friend..the singer, like myself, is NOT someone who can be contained. Give her an inch of freedom and she'll take an entire light year. I've seen this in person and I know for a fact she's kidding herself if she thinks this is going to last. I don't know HOW in the world to approach her about this....so I'm venting it here. I'm worried for her, scared, and a little disappointed that she would be so foolish to pretend to be someone else. I'm not saying the path of self-destruction she was on a year ago was good. I just think she needs to develop and awareness of herself and deal with who she REALLY is before she gets married again.

It's not really my problem, but I'm very concerned about this. I'd rather not go to a wedding I don't think is going to result in a life-long marriage, but that's me. Of course, I can never tell her that and I will go to Louisiana with a big smile on my face and wish them well and say I'm happy for them.

So there's what's eating me lately. I NEED a freakin vacation. However, I don't think my Grand Canyon trip is going to be what I need. I will need a vacation from that vacation is that's what I choose to do. I want to go to a beach...I want to go deep sea fishing again and eat seafood everyday and drink beer on the beach. Even if I have to do it alone...I'll do it. I need to get away and clear my head.