First Day of New Semester

Here I sit at the computer lab, the first day of this semester.  Of course I got here early, first to get a good place to park and not walk across the whole parking lot, and second to leave the house while the kids fight waiting for the bus to pick them up.  I am fortunate to have them kicked off the regular bus and picked up by the special needs bus so that they can wait for the bus in our living room.  Neither of them is functionally disabled, but because of some issues we do qualify for the transportation.  (OK, I will keep chasing this rabbit and then get back on subject)  I agreed to letting the school put the girls off the regular bus for a few reasons.  Their bus was so overcrowded that there were days the kids ended up sitting on the floor either by falling of the edge of the seats, or not even enough room to get into the seat.  The second factor was that they were being bullied so badly by kids at their bus stop and on the bus.  The kids that were bullying my girls would even curse and make aggressive gestures at me driving down the street, so having my girls put off the bus was not that bad of a thing.  Yes, it involved some teasing for one of my girls, but I think she is over that this year and is happy to not deal with those kids anymore.

OK, back to my first trail.  I have printed out my schedule for my notebook, and then one for my kids so they know where I am on what days.  I have had a wonderful conversation with a friend (instructor this semester, and then my friend again after that).  I have aided a few classmates on what the user name and password combinations are to get into the school system so they could print their schedules.  I really do like being a student.  I may have graduated high school while most of these kids were still in diapers, but when I am here they don't look at me like an old lady, I am just another student.  I listen to their stories and make as few comments as I can (for people who know me this is hard)  and add comments when I can without upsetting the ego of youth.  It is funny what they consider a crisis and what I deal with on a daily basis.  It would be nice to have their problems to deal with, but then again I do not want to relearn everything I have gone through to get to this point.

I am over 40, and was extremely happy when I made it to 30, and did a little dance when I hit 35.  In my 20's things did not look so good,  I lived in a rough neighborhood by myself 6 months out of the year (military spouse).  Right before I turned 30, my high school sweetheart found me and saved me from the spiral I was in.  Shortly after that we were blessed with twin girls that are still a blessing and a challenge at the same time.  My 30's were a great transition period as I was able to be a full time mom to my girls and take care of them to the best of my abilities.  We ended up in Italy for a short period of time so we were able to show the girls a different way of life and now my 40's seem to be for me.  I am back in school and trying to secure a future for not only myself but for my girls.  My goal for graduation is to be able to get a job that will pay for the bills and allow my to help the girls both go to college as well.  As long as the big sledge hammer of life does not crash through our world again I think we are on a good road.

Better stop for now and get ready for my class.  Computers is my first one up.  To the younger kids this is no big deal, to me this is very scary.  I remember when the Commador 64 was the newest and hottest thing on the market.  I think I need soda.