Another School Year

As we all start another year of school here at my little mortgage it has been interesting.  This year there are four students (1 Master program, 1 BSN program, 2 technology high school) trying to use the internet for homework assignments at the same time.  It has been an interesting situation so far. Last week there was a night or two that we could not even get our phones to download anything because of all the electronic traffic going over our heads.  This week is getting better but there are still challenges.

As 2 of us hope to graduate next Spring it will help with the last 2 years for the girls. I have been blessed with children who have stayed interested in school and were accepted to the technology high school. I feel that when they do get to college having the college prep courses in highschool will be a big plus for them. Our family may not have all the toys and gadgets that other families enjoy, but we do have a love of learning and reading that cannot be replaced with any amount of material things.

There are a lot of changes going on for our family. I am trusting that everything is going to work out the way God plans and that we will not loose faith while we transition. This last year of nursing school is going to have several moments of stress, fun, and difficult situations, however at the end I know I will have made some wonderful friends, learned things I could never of dreamed about, and learn to be stronger than I have been before.

Lazy Days

WOW! I just found this post that never got published. It is amazing how much things change and than again how much they sound the same.  As I start my Senior year of college, the girls are in highschool now and this post is just as revelant as it was when I first wrote it.  Here is a flash from my past, and a look into my present!



***It seems as if the lazy days of summer have gotten to my teenage girls.  This is the first year that we have had this type of summer.  They seem to be sleeping until noon or later, and I have no idea what time they are actually going to bed at night. I like having the peace and quiet in the morning for now but can't help but think I will be the one paying for this new habit when it comes time to start school again this fall. I know that is a few months away, but the morning arguments and missed busses from the last school year are still burned into my memory ( and the having to take them to school on my way to class). I want to be one of those care free moms that let them have some fun without going to far overboard. I just can't kick the feeling that this too will bite my own bottom in the end.

Maybe I am getting ahead of myself because I am looking forward to my next semester of school myself. I start my junior year of college which is like a dream that I thought would never happen. In two years I will be able to join the world of college graduates. ***

Time flying by

It is hard to believe that this semester is almost over already.  It feels like it was just last week that I was meeting new faces and people that would soon become part of my daily life. I have to admit that this semester has been an eye opener for me.  I have learned to see some familiar classmates in new and wonderful ways, while meeting a group of wonderful new classmates. Having a change in campuses was a culture shock of it's own, but so much worth it in the end.

I love my new college! The staff as well as the students are all wonderful and I look forward to going to class.  I even find myself going to campus on days I don't have classes just to study and be with other people. There will be a few of the new faces that I will get to know very well over the next two years.  I am excited and nervous to start the next phase of my school but the rewards will be so worth it when I get done.

Having the chance to make new wonderful friends, earn a college degree, and be able to do more for my family is worth the time I am putting into the study.

Fast Semester

This Spring has been a really fast semester.  It feels like we just got started but instructors are already talking about getting everything ready for our final grades.  It has gone by way to fast. With the transfer to a new college I have met some new and wonderful friends and made even better friends with some old classmates. I will be no means say this has been an easy semester, but it has been a rewarding one. I do wish I could make myself do more of my reading and understand what I read much better, but my grades are still on the OK level.

Many people go through a mid-life crisis.  I have finally decided that that's what I am doing.  However instead of going out and changing spouses or getting a car that has no practical value to me, I am just going back to school. This started a few years ago and I am still trudging along.  I am happy to get my associates degree this May (completed last December) and am working on my bachelors degree now. I see my mid-life crisis as a reorganizing on my time. My life has gotten better for me and my girls, and things look good to stay this way (with a lot of help from heaven).  I will be starting nursing school this fall, so my post will still be spaced out, but homework does come first.

I know life may not look easy and sometimes there is nothing to keep positive about, unless you look really hard to find it. I have been looking in all the dark corners for years trying to find the thing that keeps me going. This year I might have found that very thing. It is nothing I can show anyone and I can't really describe it very well.  I just feel it in my soul and know that I can do this.

Happy Easter to everyone out there!  My God bless you and your family, and angels watch over you daily. I cherish my angels every day.

School and stress

It seems like the further into each semester we go the more the stress doubles.  Between my class schedule and then helping to keep up with my kids class schedules there is less time for anything except homework. The dark circles are evident under each of my eyes and my hair is turning gray once again. It would help if some instructors would put realistic assignments out there for students.  It seems that most forget that generally students take more than one class and most take a full schedule so having just one instructor that has a heavy load can really put a student behind in most of their subjects. This semester I happen to have two instructors that give more than their far share of the study load.  After you add in a few children it makes it ore than a little extra burden for the non-tradition student that is trying to make a better life for her family.

I know taking the time to write this post is time taken away from other homework, but I do need a break once in a while and I really need just to get his out of my system. Please don't fret for I don't plan on making my blog a place to come and vent, today it is just necessary.  I have a ton of homework to get done two test to study for and a speech to write, however everything for me has to stop for a few hours because of my daughter's tennis tournament.  It gets even harder to keep balance when you don't want to take away from the kids just to try to make things better for them.

Front loaded summer

The last two weeks have been full of adventure for my daughter.  Two tennis camps back to back.  She is very tired and tanned already, of course the rest of the summer will be trying to even out the tan lines a little at a time at the pool.  We don't believe in laying out and sunning just for the heck of it.

I am loving the variety of movies that the cable channels are providing for the weekends.  Cartoon movies are on for background noise while I am working on summer classes to get closer to the half way point in my schooling.  I will however have to take a break tonight for my favorite all time cartoon movie, the one about a mouse who likes to cook. 

While I try to keep my girls entertained and my homework caught up this will prove to be an interesting summer for all of us.  If things go the way that I would like by the time school starts again this fall I will be able to at least hit a tennis ball back over the net and possibly even serve it correctly.  I have heard that teaching is the best way to reinforce what you have learned, so by getting my daughter to teach me it is still helping her.  I want to find a way to help improve the social skills of my other daughter and get her out of the house more.  I would also like to log several miles on the treadmill at the gym.  That is the one thing that I still love to do from before I had kids, I just have more challenges for my time to get there. 

I realize this post is not one of my best, but I needed to put some goals on paper (so to speak) to help motivate me to stay on track.

Summer time

I love the summer time and not having to get up and force my girls to get out of the house to go for a day of being pushed around at school.  I hate the summer because my girls don't want to do anything except watch TV unless I am pushing them to do something else.  This would not be such a problem except that I am taking online classes and need to spend a good bit of my time working on homework.  If I wasn't so close to finishing and the classes I need were offered during the regular school year I would take the time off.  I want to get my college finished so that I can help them pay for college when they get out of high school, but I want to be able to play and do things with them at the same time.  This is the struggle most mothers have every summer.

the swimming pool sounds like a wonderful place to go and spend lots of time.  I would love to be able to help my daughter practice her tennis, and maybe even learn a little bit about how to play myself.  It was wonderful to watch her and the other kids play at tennis camp earlier this week.  Even if most of the kids were not mine I still was very proud when the little ones played like miniature pros.  It was nice to chat with some of the older kids when they were taking a break and learning about some of the problems that our kids think about. 

Maybe one day my life will be simpler and I won't have to make such choices as doing something for my self not spending time with my kids.  I can't wait to get to the point where I can spoil my kids with unlimited attention for them once again.  However right now I have to be selfish and finish my college, I only waited 25 years to go back after highschool.

Here's to hopefully the last summer I have to take classes and that the next three years will all be during the regular sessions.