I got started thinking today about what is left ahead of me in terms of school and where it may lead me. I'm not far off from finishing my AA at SPCC, and I took a moment to check out the website for UNCC and see if I could figure out what's next. UNCC seems the most logical choice. I've never even been there, but as far as state schools that are convenient to my location, it seems fairly certain that is where I'll end up.
Since I've never done this before, I don't have anything to draw from in terms of how many and what kinds of classes I'll need to finish this process. It turns out that the good news is that if I transfer with an official Associate's in Art degree, they won't pick it apart. In other words, I'm good to go for all my general courses, and I can move on to the required course for the baccalaureate degree. For the English program, that means I'll need 33 credits in English (about 11 classes), a public speaking course (I think), and 18 credits (about 6 classes) for a minor of my choice. So that's 17-18 classes total!! That is so doable I can almost taste the victory! I know, I know. I'm getting ahead of myself. But remember, I'm 35, almost 36, and I never thought I'd see this in my life. So it's pretty exciting.
As far as a minor goes, I was thinking about either Sociology or History. Sociology has been a new favorite of mine, and I think it would be something that would help in my future studies as well as in my writing. I'm not a huge fan of history, but I see that as something that could only add to my general knowledge and also help if I decide to pursue any fictional writing as well as some non-fiction. My other choice would be to pursue a teacher certificate instead of a minor. I would be eligible to teach HS English, which is not where I want to be for good but would be something I could do in the interim.
This leads to the next point, and it is that we have decided that we would like to move back close to where we came from, probably somewhere around Maryland or Delaware. North Carolina has served it's purpose, but I'm really ready to move on. It won't happen until I graduate, but I'm hoping it does happen shortly thereafter. My goal is to be able to afford to move because I'd like to work, maybe teaching, after I get my BA while working toward my MA.
So there's the plan! I'll elaborate more as we go about some of the other stuff, especially about how sick of NC I am. Sorry, NC! You've been good to us, but I think we've overstayed our welcome. Anyway, I had to blog about this and put it in writing because I'll be excited to look back on it periodically to see my progress and which goals were met and which were changed. By the time we get to day 180, or however many days we've got, I will hopefully be a new UNCC student and preparing to move to the next step in this crazy process.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Day 44 (eve)- Cool School and an Infection Injection
It's been a couple weeks since my last post so I'll start where I left off. The parent-teacher conference we had went great...not that I had any doubt. Veronica's teacher basically told us how wonderfully smart she is. She's not only way ahead of the class, but she's socially adept as well. Ms. Livesey said that she "gets it" right away whenever they are given a new assignment, and she helps the other kids that are having a hard time or struggling to understand. We were shown the levels in the different categories of learning they hope to accomplish by the end of the year, and Veronica has already mastered about 50-75% of it...2 months into the school year!! I'm so impressed with her abilities, and it's going to be exciting to watch her grow academically through the years.
My final class for the semester started a couple weeks ago. It seems like it shouldn't be too bad, so I'm hopeful about getting through the semester relatively well. My dreaded Biology class is going well, too. I've now taken 2 exams and done really well on both. On the other hand, I took my first World Civilizations exam and bombed. Well, my version of bombed, anyway. I got a 72% on it, and that's the worst test grade I've gotten since I started back to school. Thankfully, it didn't destroy my overall grade, but it certainly doesn't help. Hopefully I will fare better on the next one.
Evan seems to have found his groove at school. I've been getting good reports from the teachers, and he's been telling me about these two other boys in his class that apparently have taken over as the resident trouble makers. I'm just glad it's not him! I keep asking him how it feels that he's the good listener and has been getting popsicles at snack time while these other two don't. I'm hoping he understands how rewarding it is to be on the good side of things. Evan really impresses me in his own right, as well. I'm constantly amazed at the impressive train track configurations he puts together. He's always got this massive "town" running all over the toy room, and it even goes up and down from the couch to the floor. He figures this stuff out all by himself, and I'm convinced this type of thing is where he's going to excel. Move over, Marcus! There's another engineer in the making.
Last weekend Veronica started feeling sick and came down with a pretty high fever. She was looking really pathetic, and I started worrying about her. On Monday, it looked like she might get over it, so I cancelled the doctor's appointment I had made. By the next day, it became apparent that I was going to need to take her anyway. When I brought her in, the doctor said it sounded like she had pneumonia. They did a finger prick and determined her white blood cell count was really high, so he decided it would have to be treated aggressively. That meant that Veronica had to get a shot in the butt. It was horrible. I have never heard her scream so loud and violently. The nurse and I had to each take an end and physically drag her out of the corner and hold her down on the table. After almost 6 years of parenthood, this is the first time I lost it and started crying. I felt so bad for how sick she was in the first place, but to have to add insult to injury in the form of this shot just broke my heart. Anyway, we went across the street to have an x-ray taken that confirmed she did have full blown pneumonia. Luckily, the shot did it's thing, and we didn't have to go back for another. They started her on an antibiotic, but she still ended up missing school through Thursday. Friday morning was career day, and she was adamant about wanting to go to school. I checked her temperature when she got up that morning, and she was still a little elevated at 99.1 degrees. However, I just pumped her full of ibuprofen and figured she'd be okay for one day. Friday evening she started feeling bad again, obviously signaling that we weren't out of the woods yet. Saturday morning she woke up with a rash on her legs, so back to the doctor we went. It turns out she was having an allergic reaction to the antibiotic, so they gave her a new one. We did get a little good news though when the doctor listened to her lungs and said they sounded better. Today, she seems MUCH better, so I'm crossing my fingers that the worst is over.
Jon and I got to go on a much needed date the other night. We got our neighbor to watch the kids for free, and we went out to dinner for a belated anniversary celebration. It was simple but very enjoyable and relaxing. Also, we've started dedicating a couple nights a week to watching the series LOST. Yes, I just finished it myself, but I thought it was something that Jon would like and a chance for us to have some inexpensive quality time together. This past week we got through the first 4 episodes, and Jon loves it! We actually would have watched more but the disc we had only has those 4 on it. We go through Netflix, so we're waiting for the next one to arrive on Monday. Now that we realize there are only 4 episodes per disc, we'll probably just watch all four at once, and then get the next disc. Jon and I like some of the same movies and shows but not many. So I'm obviously thrilled that we are enjoying this together.
Tomorrow is back to the grind. Unfortunately, I missed my whole week of school last week because of Veronica's illness, so I'm hoping to be able to jump back in easily enough. Thursday I'm having a Pampered Chef party and hoping it turns out well. Then Friday the kids are leaving for another two week visit with their grandparents. It's Veronica's first long break in the school year, and Jan jumped at the opportunity for another visit. I'm excited to have some time to potentially knock out the majority of my major assignments for the semester. Also, this week it looks like we finally make it out of the 90's for the outside temp. I guess we've officially made it the whole summer without fixing our broken A/C. Yea!! I'm just waiting for the heater to go next. Damn! Why did I say that?!?
My final class for the semester started a couple weeks ago. It seems like it shouldn't be too bad, so I'm hopeful about getting through the semester relatively well. My dreaded Biology class is going well, too. I've now taken 2 exams and done really well on both. On the other hand, I took my first World Civilizations exam and bombed. Well, my version of bombed, anyway. I got a 72% on it, and that's the worst test grade I've gotten since I started back to school. Thankfully, it didn't destroy my overall grade, but it certainly doesn't help. Hopefully I will fare better on the next one.
Evan seems to have found his groove at school. I've been getting good reports from the teachers, and he's been telling me about these two other boys in his class that apparently have taken over as the resident trouble makers. I'm just glad it's not him! I keep asking him how it feels that he's the good listener and has been getting popsicles at snack time while these other two don't. I'm hoping he understands how rewarding it is to be on the good side of things. Evan really impresses me in his own right, as well. I'm constantly amazed at the impressive train track configurations he puts together. He's always got this massive "town" running all over the toy room, and it even goes up and down from the couch to the floor. He figures this stuff out all by himself, and I'm convinced this type of thing is where he's going to excel. Move over, Marcus! There's another engineer in the making.
Last weekend Veronica started feeling sick and came down with a pretty high fever. She was looking really pathetic, and I started worrying about her. On Monday, it looked like she might get over it, so I cancelled the doctor's appointment I had made. By the next day, it became apparent that I was going to need to take her anyway. When I brought her in, the doctor said it sounded like she had pneumonia. They did a finger prick and determined her white blood cell count was really high, so he decided it would have to be treated aggressively. That meant that Veronica had to get a shot in the butt. It was horrible. I have never heard her scream so loud and violently. The nurse and I had to each take an end and physically drag her out of the corner and hold her down on the table. After almost 6 years of parenthood, this is the first time I lost it and started crying. I felt so bad for how sick she was in the first place, but to have to add insult to injury in the form of this shot just broke my heart. Anyway, we went across the street to have an x-ray taken that confirmed she did have full blown pneumonia. Luckily, the shot did it's thing, and we didn't have to go back for another. They started her on an antibiotic, but she still ended up missing school through Thursday. Friday morning was career day, and she was adamant about wanting to go to school. I checked her temperature when she got up that morning, and she was still a little elevated at 99.1 degrees. However, I just pumped her full of ibuprofen and figured she'd be okay for one day. Friday evening she started feeling bad again, obviously signaling that we weren't out of the woods yet. Saturday morning she woke up with a rash on her legs, so back to the doctor we went. It turns out she was having an allergic reaction to the antibiotic, so they gave her a new one. We did get a little good news though when the doctor listened to her lungs and said they sounded better. Today, she seems MUCH better, so I'm crossing my fingers that the worst is over.
Jon and I got to go on a much needed date the other night. We got our neighbor to watch the kids for free, and we went out to dinner for a belated anniversary celebration. It was simple but very enjoyable and relaxing. Also, we've started dedicating a couple nights a week to watching the series LOST. Yes, I just finished it myself, but I thought it was something that Jon would like and a chance for us to have some inexpensive quality time together. This past week we got through the first 4 episodes, and Jon loves it! We actually would have watched more but the disc we had only has those 4 on it. We go through Netflix, so we're waiting for the next one to arrive on Monday. Now that we realize there are only 4 episodes per disc, we'll probably just watch all four at once, and then get the next disc. Jon and I like some of the same movies and shows but not many. So I'm obviously thrilled that we are enjoying this together.
Tomorrow is back to the grind. Unfortunately, I missed my whole week of school last week because of Veronica's illness, so I'm hoping to be able to jump back in easily enough. Thursday I'm having a Pampered Chef party and hoping it turns out well. Then Friday the kids are leaving for another two week visit with their grandparents. It's Veronica's first long break in the school year, and Jan jumped at the opportunity for another visit. I'm excited to have some time to potentially knock out the majority of my major assignments for the semester. Also, this week it looks like we finally make it out of the 90's for the outside temp. I guess we've officially made it the whole summer without fixing our broken A/C. Yea!! I'm just waiting for the heater to go next. Damn! Why did I say that?!?
Monday, September 13, 2010
Day 34- Falling into the Groove, Sans Peanuts
So it's day 34, and everything seems to be going smoothly. We've definitely found our groove, and although I wouldn't say I'm on top of everything, I'm doing pretty good at managing everything. Veronica has certainly found her groove. She is a happy morning girl every morning, and she walks down to the bus stop with a smile on her face and a "good morning" for the neighbors, which of course shows me up since I have that "Don't talk to me because I haven't had my coffee yet" look on my face. Anyway, she loves going every day now, and she even gets disappointed sometimes when she doesn't go on the weekends. Tomorrow is my first ever parent-teacher conference which is so surreal. Welcome to adulthood, Rhoda! It's official now.
Evan's school is going well too. The big drama with the preschool this year was the addition of the peanut allergy. Evan is attending the same school that he did last year. He's just in the older class with a different teacher, but it's a really small school with only a total of about 12-14 kids. So the classes are often combined, and he has interaction with both teachers on a regular basis. The point is that school for him--and me--is not much different than what he experienced last year. The big thing that I was looking forward to this year was having both kids in school every week for longer times. Evan's school hours are the same, but he now goes for 4 days instead of 3, and Veronica now goes all day every day. But the other thing I was excited about is that now that Veronica buys lunch every day, I only have to pack one lunch. And I wasn't worried about Evan because he is happy to eat PB&J every meal for the rest of his life. So I'm thinking that this is a perfect situation because all I need to stock is a loaf of bread, some peanut butter, and jelly. It's cheap AND easy. Needless to say, we found out about that there is a child in the school with a peanut allergy, and it was 6 o'clock the night before he was supposed to have his first day. This threw a major wrench into my system...as if I don't have enough on my plate. To make matters more complicated, apparently this child has such a severe allergy, they wanted to make sure we didn't allow any product that even contained a trace of peanuts, oils, etc into the school, and if our child ate breakfast in the morning that contained peanuts, etc then we needed to make sure they wash thoroughly so there are no traces on their hands. Aaaaggggghhhh!! I don't need this kind of stress right now! Anyway, I went to pack his lunch the next morning and realized that almost everything I had in our pantry either contained nuts, traces of nuts, nut oils, or was made in a factory that also produces things with nuts. WTF?!? I sent him to school with a slice of pizza and some juice. Thankfully, Evan doesn't eat much so he was fine. Since then, we decided to try bologna sandwiches, and luck was on my side because Evan decided that bologna sandwiches are his favorite now.
I am officially a quarter of the way through my fall semester, and it's going well. Thus far, my semesters have always gone well, but I put such pressure on myself you wouldn't think so. Anyway, my challenge of this semester is Biology 111. I HATE this class! I fully believe that my life will not be enriched in any way just because I have learned that we are made up of millions of microscopic cells. I truly do not care. There are other people who will make sure that all those cells are where they need to be and doing the jobs they are supposed to, and that person will not be me. The one useful thing I have learned, however, is that I was pretty sure that science was not my thing before, and now I know for a fact that science is not my thing. I am also taking a music appreciation class that isn't really making me appreciate music any more than I already do, but it is an easy A and something I do find at least mildly interesting--which is more than I can say for Biology, of course. Another class is Intro to Communications which is funny because I took Intercultural Communications last semester so this isn't really an introduction for me. Hopefully what it will be, though, is another easy A. Then there's World Civilizations 1. I enjoy history a lot more than I used to in high school, but there's not much about these early B.C. years in which we are studying currently that interest me much. I had wanted to take an American history class or maybe a World War I or II class to fit my history requirement, but unfortunately this one fit my schedule the best. I will say that my teacher is fun, albeit very nerdy/dorky, and I really like him. In my adult years, I don't really think of people in terms of being nerds as much anymore, but this guy really fits the bill. He's never been married, and he just seems like the kind of guy that loves World of Warcraft and spends time fantasizing about Princess Leia in her gold bikini. BTW, sorry if I just offended anyone. The fact is, I do think of that kind of person in those terms, but it doesn't make me like them any less. Anyway, he's a super nice guy and very upbeat, and for me, that's all that matters. The other thing about this class is that it consists of probably about 50% high schoolers. We have an early college program for high schoolers in my county, and they attend our college. I have lots of classes that have no HS kids, but it seems like the ones that do have them, they make up the majority of the class. In this class, they seem to know everything! I'm not exactly a history buff, and I definitely haven't thought much about the stone and iron ages throughout my years. But these kids seem to just pull facts out of thin air. Myself and the girl I sit next to in class--another 30-something--always look at each other like "where did that come from?" whenever one of them pipes up with some random fact. It's ok, though. They can have the Stone, Iron, and Bronze ages. I don't need them. I'm coming up on middle age anyway.
My last but not least class starts tomorrow. I've got one more to throw into the groove before the groove is hopefully officially closed for the next couple months. I'm kind of excited about it though because it is the second in a line of Sociology classes, the first of which I took last semester. I have the same teacher from last semester, and I found that not only did I really like him, but I also have a new appreciation for the subject. I find it very fascinating, so hopefully this class goes as well as the last one. Another easy A? *fingers crossed*
School is challenging at this point of my life, but not only am I doing it, I'm doing it well. I dream of graduating at the top of my class, and while I know that I am pushing myself really hard, I'm trying to find the balance between working to achieve that goal and not letting it consume me. My other dream just has to do with graduating, period. I'm so excited because I never thought I would see that day come in my life, but each semester it gets closer and closer. I may be getting ahead of myself here. After all, I do still have about 2 1/2 years to go. But other than the birth of my children, this is quite possibly my most amazing accomplishment. It is coming at a high price though. I feel pressured in all directions as well as financial stress. However, I will not give up! And when it's all said and done, my other dream is about the fantasy vacation that I'm going to reward myself with...aaahhhhhh!
Evan's school is going well too. The big drama with the preschool this year was the addition of the peanut allergy. Evan is attending the same school that he did last year. He's just in the older class with a different teacher, but it's a really small school with only a total of about 12-14 kids. So the classes are often combined, and he has interaction with both teachers on a regular basis. The point is that school for him--and me--is not much different than what he experienced last year. The big thing that I was looking forward to this year was having both kids in school every week for longer times. Evan's school hours are the same, but he now goes for 4 days instead of 3, and Veronica now goes all day every day. But the other thing I was excited about is that now that Veronica buys lunch every day, I only have to pack one lunch. And I wasn't worried about Evan because he is happy to eat PB&J every meal for the rest of his life. So I'm thinking that this is a perfect situation because all I need to stock is a loaf of bread, some peanut butter, and jelly. It's cheap AND easy. Needless to say, we found out about that there is a child in the school with a peanut allergy, and it was 6 o'clock the night before he was supposed to have his first day. This threw a major wrench into my system...as if I don't have enough on my plate. To make matters more complicated, apparently this child has such a severe allergy, they wanted to make sure we didn't allow any product that even contained a trace of peanuts, oils, etc into the school, and if our child ate breakfast in the morning that contained peanuts, etc then we needed to make sure they wash thoroughly so there are no traces on their hands. Aaaaggggghhhh!! I don't need this kind of stress right now! Anyway, I went to pack his lunch the next morning and realized that almost everything I had in our pantry either contained nuts, traces of nuts, nut oils, or was made in a factory that also produces things with nuts. WTF?!? I sent him to school with a slice of pizza and some juice. Thankfully, Evan doesn't eat much so he was fine. Since then, we decided to try bologna sandwiches, and luck was on my side because Evan decided that bologna sandwiches are his favorite now.
I am officially a quarter of the way through my fall semester, and it's going well. Thus far, my semesters have always gone well, but I put such pressure on myself you wouldn't think so. Anyway, my challenge of this semester is Biology 111. I HATE this class! I fully believe that my life will not be enriched in any way just because I have learned that we are made up of millions of microscopic cells. I truly do not care. There are other people who will make sure that all those cells are where they need to be and doing the jobs they are supposed to, and that person will not be me. The one useful thing I have learned, however, is that I was pretty sure that science was not my thing before, and now I know for a fact that science is not my thing. I am also taking a music appreciation class that isn't really making me appreciate music any more than I already do, but it is an easy A and something I do find at least mildly interesting--which is more than I can say for Biology, of course. Another class is Intro to Communications which is funny because I took Intercultural Communications last semester so this isn't really an introduction for me. Hopefully what it will be, though, is another easy A. Then there's World Civilizations 1. I enjoy history a lot more than I used to in high school, but there's not much about these early B.C. years in which we are studying currently that interest me much. I had wanted to take an American history class or maybe a World War I or II class to fit my history requirement, but unfortunately this one fit my schedule the best. I will say that my teacher is fun, albeit very nerdy/dorky, and I really like him. In my adult years, I don't really think of people in terms of being nerds as much anymore, but this guy really fits the bill. He's never been married, and he just seems like the kind of guy that loves World of Warcraft and spends time fantasizing about Princess Leia in her gold bikini. BTW, sorry if I just offended anyone. The fact is, I do think of that kind of person in those terms, but it doesn't make me like them any less. Anyway, he's a super nice guy and very upbeat, and for me, that's all that matters. The other thing about this class is that it consists of probably about 50% high schoolers. We have an early college program for high schoolers in my county, and they attend our college. I have lots of classes that have no HS kids, but it seems like the ones that do have them, they make up the majority of the class. In this class, they seem to know everything! I'm not exactly a history buff, and I definitely haven't thought much about the stone and iron ages throughout my years. But these kids seem to just pull facts out of thin air. Myself and the girl I sit next to in class--another 30-something--always look at each other like "where did that come from?" whenever one of them pipes up with some random fact. It's ok, though. They can have the Stone, Iron, and Bronze ages. I don't need them. I'm coming up on middle age anyway.
My last but not least class starts tomorrow. I've got one more to throw into the groove before the groove is hopefully officially closed for the next couple months. I'm kind of excited about it though because it is the second in a line of Sociology classes, the first of which I took last semester. I have the same teacher from last semester, and I found that not only did I really like him, but I also have a new appreciation for the subject. I find it very fascinating, so hopefully this class goes as well as the last one. Another easy A? *fingers crossed*
School is challenging at this point of my life, but not only am I doing it, I'm doing it well. I dream of graduating at the top of my class, and while I know that I am pushing myself really hard, I'm trying to find the balance between working to achieve that goal and not letting it consume me. My other dream just has to do with graduating, period. I'm so excited because I never thought I would see that day come in my life, but each semester it gets closer and closer. I may be getting ahead of myself here. After all, I do still have about 2 1/2 years to go. But other than the birth of my children, this is quite possibly my most amazing accomplishment. It is coming at a high price though. I feel pressured in all directions as well as financial stress. However, I will not give up! And when it's all said and done, my other dream is about the fantasy vacation that I'm going to reward myself with...aaahhhhhh!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Day ???- Not Sure, and Don't Care (repost)
This is one of those rare blogs where I won't write about the mundane life. But you will get a small glimpse inside me...like it or not. This past week has been all kinds of crazy for me. My semester started and quickly took more of me than I was prepared to give. I knew I had to make some adjustments quick, but the fact still remains that sometimes I step outside my life and wonder when I got here. Don't get me wrong...I wouldn't trade a thing. I love my husband more than ever, and my children are the biggest blessing I've ever been given. This life is something I've never thought I deserved or would ever have, but I'm thankful I've found myself here. But what exactly does that mean...
I'm someone who is always looking deep into the philosophical meaning of things, but I find religion hard to grasp. That's another blog for another day, but suffice to say that I'm constantly searching for the meaning of life. Anyway, it's 1 o'clock in the morning, and I'm listening to some inspiring music after watching one of my favorite movies, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." I think I've come a long way, and I'm confident in the fact that I'm raising 2 wonderful children. However, I don't feel that far removed from the mixed up girl that once felt eerily similar to the girl in the movie.
"Too many guys think I'm a concept, or I complete them, or I'm gonna make them alive. But I'm just a fucked-up girl who's looking for my own peace of mind; don't assign me yours."
So much of this quote makes me hurt, but at the same time rejoice because I've moved past this point. Basically, I think I've finally found my peace of mind, and the only reason I'm sharing this online is because I don't actually think anyone is reading this.
Anyway, happy anniversary to the one guy that has been able to stick with me through the attitude and everything else. I once trusted no one and saw myself being able to not be with anyone for the rest of my life. Now I am with Jon and my 2 children, and I can't imagine who I am without any of them. I'm not sure which is worse...
I'm someone who is always looking deep into the philosophical meaning of things, but I find religion hard to grasp. That's another blog for another day, but suffice to say that I'm constantly searching for the meaning of life. Anyway, it's 1 o'clock in the morning, and I'm listening to some inspiring music after watching one of my favorite movies, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." I think I've come a long way, and I'm confident in the fact that I'm raising 2 wonderful children. However, I don't feel that far removed from the mixed up girl that once felt eerily similar to the girl in the movie.
"Too many guys think I'm a concept, or I complete them, or I'm gonna make them alive. But I'm just a fucked-up girl who's looking for my own peace of mind; don't assign me yours."
So much of this quote makes me hurt, but at the same time rejoice because I've moved past this point. Basically, I think I've finally found my peace of mind, and the only reason I'm sharing this online is because I don't actually think anyone is reading this.
Anyway, happy anniversary to the one guy that has been able to stick with me through the attitude and everything else. I once trusted no one and saw myself being able to not be with anyone for the rest of my life. Now I am with Jon and my 2 children, and I can't imagine who I am without any of them. I'm not sure which is worse...
Friday, August 27, 2010
Day 20-New Friends and Playing Hooky
We find ourselves at the end of the fourth week of kindergarten. Evan starts his school on Monday and is thrilled! I'm pretty thrilled about that myself. This is the end of the second week of school for me, and it has proven to be intense already. My biology class might be the death of me, but I won't go down without a fight. I feel like I've gotten into a manageable routine, but unfortunately, I still have another class that will be starting in about 3 weeks that has the ability to throw a wrench in my system.
I'm especially happy that Evan will be starting school on Monday because that will be the end of me having to find someone to watch him on my school days. I had to play hooky from school this past Monday on what was only the third day of classes when I couldn't find someone for childcare. The funny thing is that it suddenly got me started remembering all the times I played hooky from school when I was a kid, and I called my mom to share some of these memories with her. I figured a safe amount of time had since passed that I shouldn't find myself punished for my actions. We ended up both having a good laugh over some of them. I told her about all the times that I would come home during our lunch period or go out to eat, and I had always said that we were allowed to leave during lunch. This was definitely not the case, and I stopped doing it when they threatened us a few months before the end of my senior year, saying anyone who was caught leaving would not graduate. I was also reliving the time that I had her write me a note in pencil because she kept refusing to tell the school I was sick when I had stayed home the day before. I knew the school would not accept her note saying that I was tired and needed a break or whatever she had written that was the truth, so I handed her a piece of paper and pencil, asking to be given a note for school. As soon as I got to school, I erased all of it except the signature and rewrote the note. I failed to mention that eventually I decided it would make more sense just to leave her out of it altogether, and I think my mom's official signature on record at school probably belongs to one of my friends. It's so funny to think back on these things. My ability to "think outside the box" has continued to be one of my strong points and has definitely served me well over the years. However, I'm bracing myself as I wait for it to come back on me in the years to come. Thankfully, I still have a little while to wait.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Days 8-11: A dose of college with a side of mold.
The good news for these past few days is the tears that come with school days seem to have finally stopped. Veronica's good friend, Abby, had her birthday party on Saturday, and I had resorted to threatening her with not going to the party if she couldn't get it together. Needless to say, she put her big girl pants on and had all good days at school. The weekend was fun, with Abby's party being Saturday, but when Sunday night rolled around and bedtime came, she started with the tears again. I quickly had to think of something else to hold over her head, and the tears stopped again. Thankfully, there have been no more bus episodes since the one. She happily boards the bus every morning, briefly turning to say "bye mom!" before hopping on and taking her seat.
Yesterday was the beginning of another college semester for me. I have 5 classes (16 credits) this time, and I'm eager to get into some sort of groove. My attitude toward school this time around has been less than desirable so I'm fighting to change that. Unfortunately, my day yesterday did not seem to go as well as I had hoped. My biggest issue is I'm still fighting to obtain all the books I need for my classes. I try to never pay full price for a book as they are so expensive, but buying discounted has it's challenges. I've had one book I paid for not show up at all, one book I paid for I have been informed is out of stock with a refund having been issued but will take a few more days to show back up in my account, one book I haven't been able to find that great of a deal on so I've procrastinated buying it, and one book I sold from last semester that supposedly hasn't been received by the buyer, so I'm waiting for the inevitable debit of the funds from the sale--no book and no money. In addition, the book that was refunded to me is the one I need the most, the first assignment being due tomorrow. While I'm busy stressing out about all this, Evan decided to have a bad day also. It seems nothing was able to make him happy yesterday, and he was arguing with everything I had to say. To top it all off, I was fighting some abnormally intense fatigue, and I finally gave up and decided to lay down for a nap. I was jolted awake when Evan came into my room screaming about something that he wasn't happy about and figured I guess I needed to get up and get back to my list of things to do. I noticed the "check filter" light on the A/C unit was on so I went to check it out. I was having trouble getting the door open on the front and kneeled down to have a closer look...and that's when I saw it. MOLD!!! Our unit in the bedroom was covered in it all over the inside. It was lining the vent where the air blows into the room as well. Instantly, I got online to research mold on A/C units and whether it's a normal issue and what to do about it. We've never dealt with window units before so I wasn't sure if this should be something to be expected or if we were neglecting to do something to prevent it. I also came across many articles detailing the symptoms of sickness caused by ingesting the mold. It seemed logical that the persistent cold symptoms and chronic fatigue I've been dealing with can probably be explained by our mold problem. I waited for Jon to get home, and we pulled the unit from the window and thoroughly cleaned it out. I thought a little too late that we probably should have worn masks while we were dealing with the mold, and I woke this morning with sinus problems, a massive headache, and some body aches. But at least the problem is taken care of, and we know to look out for it in the future.
Overall, things seem to have worked out. I was able to get my books straightened out, and my parents were kind enough to help out with the purchase of one of the more expensive ones. I was also very touched by their showing of kind support for this school journey I am on. Obviously, I'm not feeling very physically well this morning, but I'm glad we got the issue taken care of last night instead of putting it off. I got most of my "chores" done yesterday despite everything, so I should be able to focus on hopefully getting a little bit of a head start in my classes. I knew this wouldn't be easy, but it seems like my summer break went by too quickly. I'm going to keep my eye on the prize, though. One day at a time...
Yesterday was the beginning of another college semester for me. I have 5 classes (16 credits) this time, and I'm eager to get into some sort of groove. My attitude toward school this time around has been less than desirable so I'm fighting to change that. Unfortunately, my day yesterday did not seem to go as well as I had hoped. My biggest issue is I'm still fighting to obtain all the books I need for my classes. I try to never pay full price for a book as they are so expensive, but buying discounted has it's challenges. I've had one book I paid for not show up at all, one book I paid for I have been informed is out of stock with a refund having been issued but will take a few more days to show back up in my account, one book I haven't been able to find that great of a deal on so I've procrastinated buying it, and one book I sold from last semester that supposedly hasn't been received by the buyer, so I'm waiting for the inevitable debit of the funds from the sale--no book and no money. In addition, the book that was refunded to me is the one I need the most, the first assignment being due tomorrow. While I'm busy stressing out about all this, Evan decided to have a bad day also. It seems nothing was able to make him happy yesterday, and he was arguing with everything I had to say. To top it all off, I was fighting some abnormally intense fatigue, and I finally gave up and decided to lay down for a nap. I was jolted awake when Evan came into my room screaming about something that he wasn't happy about and figured I guess I needed to get up and get back to my list of things to do. I noticed the "check filter" light on the A/C unit was on so I went to check it out. I was having trouble getting the door open on the front and kneeled down to have a closer look...and that's when I saw it. MOLD!!! Our unit in the bedroom was covered in it all over the inside. It was lining the vent where the air blows into the room as well. Instantly, I got online to research mold on A/C units and whether it's a normal issue and what to do about it. We've never dealt with window units before so I wasn't sure if this should be something to be expected or if we were neglecting to do something to prevent it. I also came across many articles detailing the symptoms of sickness caused by ingesting the mold. It seemed logical that the persistent cold symptoms and chronic fatigue I've been dealing with can probably be explained by our mold problem. I waited for Jon to get home, and we pulled the unit from the window and thoroughly cleaned it out. I thought a little too late that we probably should have worn masks while we were dealing with the mold, and I woke this morning with sinus problems, a massive headache, and some body aches. But at least the problem is taken care of, and we know to look out for it in the future.
Overall, things seem to have worked out. I was able to get my books straightened out, and my parents were kind enough to help out with the purchase of one of the more expensive ones. I was also very touched by their showing of kind support for this school journey I am on. Obviously, I'm not feeling very physically well this morning, but I'm glad we got the issue taken care of last night instead of putting it off. I got most of my "chores" done yesterday despite everything, so I should be able to focus on hopefully getting a little bit of a head start in my classes. I knew this wouldn't be easy, but it seems like my summer break went by too quickly. I'm going to keep my eye on the prize, though. One day at a time...
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Days 5-7: Meltdown Mania!
I'm about as independent as they come and always have been that way. So I'm not sure if it has something to do with my personality that has helped my children be that way or if they were just destined to be free spirits, but I have never had any problems with separation anxiety or anything of that sort since they have been born. Throughout the years of daycare, preschool, church sunday school, or babysitters, not only have they not been clingy, but they've often been excited for the "adventure" of something new. Kindergarten was no different, and Veronica had been looking forward to it for months...until Friday. And that was when the first "I miss my mommy!" meltdown began.
The grandparents had come to visit, and both kids were overly excited and fully energized on Thursday night. The crying started at bedtime because, grandparents or not, we were on a schedule. She immediately thought it very unfair that she had to go to bed simply because there was school tomorrow and decided she no longer wanted to go. I think it also added to the problem that I let Evan stay up longer due to the fact that they were sleeping in the same bed while our guests were here, and I thought it would make more sense to allow her to fall asleep before I put Evan in the bed. That, of course, was also VERY unfair! Even after all that, Veronica seemed to be in good spirits the next morning and was happy to have Nana walk with her to the bus stop. Needless to say, I was caught by surprise to get a phone call from the school counselor a couple hours later telling me that Veronica had been crying and upset in class and had to be pulled from the room and calmed down. The counselor was very kind and let me know that all was well, but she wanted to let me know what had happened. Thankfully, the rest of her day went well, and the weekend was upon us.
Saturday I cooked the pork shoulder that I bought previously. Wow, was it good!!! My neighbor was redoing the floors in his house all weekend, and that, combined with the fact that his wife had gone out of town, left him in need of some good food. I offered him some of the pork--it made a TON--and he was extremely happy to take some off my hands. He let me know later that he especially liked the homemade BBQ sauce that I made to go with it. I mixed half the sauce with the meat and left half out for people to put on their sandwiches as needed. Again, if anyone wants the recipe, let me know. It was a crowd pleaser, and I would say a 8-9 pound pork shoulder would amply feed at least 12-14 people, if not more. Not to mention, I only paid about $11 for the meat and the ingredients for the sauce were somewhere around an extra $6-8, maybe less. Add to that the buns, coleslaw, and other side items, and you're looking at a delectable meal for around a couple dollars per person. I'd say that is success!
The weekend was enjoyable, and Jon and I managed to escape for a little grown-up time while we had a cheap, built-in babysitter. The folks left early Monday morning, and although Veronica was upset to see they were gone when she awoke, she didn't let it ruin her morning and had a pretty good day...until last night. At bedtime, the dramatic tears started again, and nothing Jon or I could do would calm her down. We let her cry for a while, and then I finally decided to offer her a small bribe. I told her that if she could be a big girl, calm down, and show me she could bravely face the day tomorrow, I would send extra money for a snack with lunch to school tomorrow. That seemed to work, and she finally calmed down and fell asleep. This morning we immediately began talking about the impending snack. Will it be a cupcake? brownie? crackers? I made a face at the crackers thinking that must pale in comparison to a chocolatey cupcake, but she quickly assured me she really likes the crackers. Far be it for me to talk her out of such a sensible choice. By the way, she ended up choosing the cupcake. Anyway, it seemed all was moving along well until we headed for the bus stop. Our neighbor, one of Veronica's favorite people, was outside getting ready to leave for work and happily greeted Veronica, who returned his greeting with a scowl. She then did the same thing to our other neighbor who waved good morning as we went by. This is not normal behavior for a girl who usually considers herself the president of the welcoming committee. As soon as we got to our stop, she started clinging to my leg and telling me she would miss me. When the bus arrived, so did the full onslaught of tears. I walked her onto the bus--which I've never done until today, not even on the first day--and tried desperately to make her a friend. There was even a girl from her class that said hi as we walked by, but unfortunately she was sitting in a seat made for two that had three little girls in it already. We continued through the bus and found another kindergarten girl that only had one other girl sitting with her, but when I tried to encourage Veronica to sit with her, I was met with horrified looks from all of them. Not only did Veronica not want to sit, she was pitching such a fit that the other girls were hesitant to share their seat. Finally, I gave up and told the driver that I would drive her to school myself. The extra time it took to go back home and get us all together in the car allowed Veronica time to calm down, and she seemed agreeable enough when we got there to go to class with the promise that the school counselor would check on her later that morning.
I know this is a really big adjustment in her life, and I guess I shouldn't have expected to have things go so smoothly all the time. However, once again I have been thrown into one more of the great unknowns of parenting. Not only are so many aspects of this job very challenging, but every child is unique, and that makes it hard to tailor your particular responses to each situation. I was able to talk to the counselor for a few minutes this morning, and she reassured me that she thought I was doing a great job. I think she even used the exact words of "I wish all parents could be more like you." According to her, Veronica seems very happy and well adjusted, and this is just a normal part of adapting to life in school. And of course, the rest of Veronica's day went just fine.
So I guess all in all we're doing pretty well so far. It seems a couple bumps in the road are to be expected, but we've managed to stay on task, and her crying hasn't beat me yet! But, I started thinking as we were walking back from the dramatic episode at the bus stop this morning and Veronica asked me in her whimpering voice, "How much longer do I have to go to school?" I'm thinking, OMG, thirteen more years of this and all it's new and exciting challenges seems a little more than I want to think about either. So I just smiled at her and said, "It's ok, honey. We'll get through it." I'm just trying not to think about the fact that next year I have to send Evan. Only with him, I'm expecting more calls from the principle than the counselor...
The grandparents had come to visit, and both kids were overly excited and fully energized on Thursday night. The crying started at bedtime because, grandparents or not, we were on a schedule. She immediately thought it very unfair that she had to go to bed simply because there was school tomorrow and decided she no longer wanted to go. I think it also added to the problem that I let Evan stay up longer due to the fact that they were sleeping in the same bed while our guests were here, and I thought it would make more sense to allow her to fall asleep before I put Evan in the bed. That, of course, was also VERY unfair! Even after all that, Veronica seemed to be in good spirits the next morning and was happy to have Nana walk with her to the bus stop. Needless to say, I was caught by surprise to get a phone call from the school counselor a couple hours later telling me that Veronica had been crying and upset in class and had to be pulled from the room and calmed down. The counselor was very kind and let me know that all was well, but she wanted to let me know what had happened. Thankfully, the rest of her day went well, and the weekend was upon us.
Saturday I cooked the pork shoulder that I bought previously. Wow, was it good!!! My neighbor was redoing the floors in his house all weekend, and that, combined with the fact that his wife had gone out of town, left him in need of some good food. I offered him some of the pork--it made a TON--and he was extremely happy to take some off my hands. He let me know later that he especially liked the homemade BBQ sauce that I made to go with it. I mixed half the sauce with the meat and left half out for people to put on their sandwiches as needed. Again, if anyone wants the recipe, let me know. It was a crowd pleaser, and I would say a 8-9 pound pork shoulder would amply feed at least 12-14 people, if not more. Not to mention, I only paid about $11 for the meat and the ingredients for the sauce were somewhere around an extra $6-8, maybe less. Add to that the buns, coleslaw, and other side items, and you're looking at a delectable meal for around a couple dollars per person. I'd say that is success!
The weekend was enjoyable, and Jon and I managed to escape for a little grown-up time while we had a cheap, built-in babysitter. The folks left early Monday morning, and although Veronica was upset to see they were gone when she awoke, she didn't let it ruin her morning and had a pretty good day...until last night. At bedtime, the dramatic tears started again, and nothing Jon or I could do would calm her down. We let her cry for a while, and then I finally decided to offer her a small bribe. I told her that if she could be a big girl, calm down, and show me she could bravely face the day tomorrow, I would send extra money for a snack with lunch to school tomorrow. That seemed to work, and she finally calmed down and fell asleep. This morning we immediately began talking about the impending snack. Will it be a cupcake? brownie? crackers? I made a face at the crackers thinking that must pale in comparison to a chocolatey cupcake, but she quickly assured me she really likes the crackers. Far be it for me to talk her out of such a sensible choice. By the way, she ended up choosing the cupcake. Anyway, it seemed all was moving along well until we headed for the bus stop. Our neighbor, one of Veronica's favorite people, was outside getting ready to leave for work and happily greeted Veronica, who returned his greeting with a scowl. She then did the same thing to our other neighbor who waved good morning as we went by. This is not normal behavior for a girl who usually considers herself the president of the welcoming committee. As soon as we got to our stop, she started clinging to my leg and telling me she would miss me. When the bus arrived, so did the full onslaught of tears. I walked her onto the bus--which I've never done until today, not even on the first day--and tried desperately to make her a friend. There was even a girl from her class that said hi as we walked by, but unfortunately she was sitting in a seat made for two that had three little girls in it already. We continued through the bus and found another kindergarten girl that only had one other girl sitting with her, but when I tried to encourage Veronica to sit with her, I was met with horrified looks from all of them. Not only did Veronica not want to sit, she was pitching such a fit that the other girls were hesitant to share their seat. Finally, I gave up and told the driver that I would drive her to school myself. The extra time it took to go back home and get us all together in the car allowed Veronica time to calm down, and she seemed agreeable enough when we got there to go to class with the promise that the school counselor would check on her later that morning.
I know this is a really big adjustment in her life, and I guess I shouldn't have expected to have things go so smoothly all the time. However, once again I have been thrown into one more of the great unknowns of parenting. Not only are so many aspects of this job very challenging, but every child is unique, and that makes it hard to tailor your particular responses to each situation. I was able to talk to the counselor for a few minutes this morning, and she reassured me that she thought I was doing a great job. I think she even used the exact words of "I wish all parents could be more like you." According to her, Veronica seems very happy and well adjusted, and this is just a normal part of adapting to life in school. And of course, the rest of Veronica's day went just fine.
So I guess all in all we're doing pretty well so far. It seems a couple bumps in the road are to be expected, but we've managed to stay on task, and her crying hasn't beat me yet! But, I started thinking as we were walking back from the dramatic episode at the bus stop this morning and Veronica asked me in her whimpering voice, "How much longer do I have to go to school?" I'm thinking, OMG, thirteen more years of this and all it's new and exciting challenges seems a little more than I want to think about either. So I just smiled at her and said, "It's ok, honey. We'll get through it." I'm just trying not to think about the fact that next year I have to send Evan. Only with him, I'm expecting more calls from the principle than the counselor...
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