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!
