Beyond proud of my oldest for giving her time, for nearly 6 weeks, to take a trip to South Africa with some classmates to help out those in need. I’m sure she got right to it after playing with this adorable lion cub! Words cannot express how much I miss her right now…
It is a difficult thing to process when you have conflicting feelings trying to overwhelm your senses. Being very excited for my oldest daughter to be going to South Africa to do mission work makes me very proud. And the immediate panic I experienced as I hugged her for the last time for 6 weeks and told her I was proud of her; it took my breath away. It literally felt like my heart was going to pound out of my chest while I was driving to work. We have went 6 weeks without seeing each other before, but I also knew she was less than an hour away, and always a text message away. Now I will be relying on the group’s blog postings to keep me up to date on how my daughter is doing.
Am I concerned for her safety? Of course. I am concerned for her safety when she is on her college campus where she is going to start her 4th and final year in the fall. I am always concerned; the location does not matter.
As the newness of this situation wears off, and I get settled in to the idea of keeping tabs on my daughter via the internet, she will be on her way back and I know it will feel like she never left.
I really am excited for this amazing opportunity she has. I could never even begin to explain how proud of her I am, to her or anyone else. She takes opportunities as they present themselves, even if it is new or frightening. She creates opportunities for herself to grow as a young woman in a fast-paced-always-changing world.
She will change lives, and her and I both know that she can change the world, even if it is one person at a time.
I am beyond happy that my statistics class is over. It was difficult at times, but I have to say I am beyond pleased with myself on how well I did, and how much I learned and retained! I am now taking a class on Organizational Behavior, which appears to be a lot of paper writing in my very, very near future. I generally tend to enjoy these types of classes, once I get that tedious issue of citing and referencing taken care of. This will be my chance to check out the Perrla software that I purchased, and see if it actually helps me. I kind of messed with it a little bit when I first installed it on my computer, and I can’t say I was thrilled with it, but I will definitely give it the good once-over this weekend so I am comfortable with how to use it.
I was looking forward to a weekend of working (really, I was!) but that changed so now I am debating on what projects I want to get started on at home. The weather appears to finally be breaking in West Michigan; it sounds like only 1 day with a chance of snow in the upcoming week. I just hope it is warm enough that my girls can enjoy their spring break and not be stuck in the hosue because it is cold and rainy (and therefore, fighting, arguing, and keeping me awake, while simultaneously destroying the house).
Which also means I need to buy double the groceries this week. Ughhh. I don’t know how it is in your area, but here, every single type of grocery product has went up a huge amount in price over the last month. One week, I paid $2.54 for a gallon of milk; 6 days later, the same brand was $3.08 for a gallon. I have noticed at least a $0.50 increase on the majority of things I buy every week. Liquid hand soap that was $3.49 for a large container, is now $3.99. I think I will be stocking up on toilet paper this week if that hasn’t went up yet!
So here’s to a great weekend of getting things done, and relaxing in-between, and sunshine and warmth, and a good book to read!
http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/common-core-parent-facebook-post-indiana-school-181841158.html
I have been dealing with this common core math teaching issue for a couple years. My 9 year old is doing basic math problems in such a manner that I cannot help her. I literally cannot help her. I have taken numerous math-based college classes, I have 2 college degrees, working on my 3rd, and I cannot help her.
Honestly, it pisses me off a bit. OK, a lot. She is not going to be taught how to write in cursive (other than by me), and she is processing a basic math problem that can be done in a couple steps in 20+ steps.
How exactly are we helping our children’s education? How are they learning to be successful? Much like the father in the above link points out, if anyone tried to do their job by completing math in this manner, they would be fired. No employer wants you doing a 3-step process in 108 steps. 108 steps!
Check out the link, and let me know what kind of ridiculous public school teaching/learning situations you are dealing with!
Do you remember my 2014 to-do list? I certainly do! I have been thinking about it for the past almost 3 months, and I have definitely made some improvements! Here’s my list if you want to check out my some-what lofty goals. https://parenthoodandotherhorrorstories.com/2014/01/02/my-2014-to-do-list/
So, what have I worked on, and what do I still need to do?
1) I am going to church a lot more than I did last year. And not just because Erin’s confirmation classes moved from Wednesday night’s during WOW to Sunday mornings between services 🙂 I have went when Erin has decided to skip her classes. I actually read the verses this weekend which is the first time I have done this and I loved it! I can’t participate in activities as much as I would like to, but I do what I can.
2) Of course the more I am going to church, the more I am tithing. It feels good, but I have yet to reach that “give-till-it-hurts” level. Honestly, that is a scary thing for me! But, I have more than doubled my weekly tithing from what I was doing (I am not saying that for bragging rights of any kind, and I find it kind of rude that I am mentioning it, but it was on my list, and I got better! So I will not be bringing this one up again!)
3) Stop swearing. OK, this has gotten a LOT better. Really. But I wonder if the fact that I am still often thinking the words in my head means I have gotten no where? Taste your words before you speak them, right? I am still working on this, but I can say that my swearing is down to maybe a couple times a week; HUGE improvement. I’ll deal with the thinking-the-words issue later.
4) Stop yelling. Yep, much better as well. I do not yell at my kids when they get me frustrated or don’t listen to me. I tend to just yell when I am upstairs, and they are in the living room or kitchen trying to have a conversation with me. What do I yell? “I can’t hear you. Come here so I know what you are saying!” Kind of ironic, huh?
5) Make and take some “me” time. Nope, not yet. Not really, anyways. I did have one weekend away without my kids this year, and am trying to plan another one. Generally I work 7 days a week if I can, and my college classes keep me busy. But I do still get my recreational reading in. And as soon as it gets above 40 degrees here in Michigan, I am going to the greenhouse for plants.
6) Patience. Yeah. I can say I have gotten nowhere with this one. I pray a lot. For patience. And forgiveness for my lack of patience. Really.
7) Exercise. LOL
8) Read the Bible. Not good here either. I have started 2 different plans, and the reminders daily that I have not got my reading done yet irritated me, so I deleted the plans. However, I do a bible study every Tuesday and with what we read in Church on Sundays and at WOW on Wednesdays, I’m getting some reading in. Yeah, I’m stretching that one.
9) Improve my photography skills. Hmm. Haven’t had my camera out of the camera bag for months. NEXT…..
10) Allow myself to be happy! Yes, I am feeling good, great in fact. College is going good, work is going good, life is going good. Of course there are still numerous bumps in the road, but I am for the most part; Happy!
How are you doing on your to-do list?
…then feeling like you are the only person awake in the world 😦 Now I know why I don’t mind working so many weekends.
Being a shift worker, I am no longer able to flip my sleep schedule when I don’t work and sleep at night and remain awake during the day. I have went as far as staying up for 30 hours straight; went to bed at 11 pm, only to wake up at 2am, wide awake and unable to sleep any longer.
Now, I generally don’t mind it too much because I get ahead on my homework, reading, and television shows I missed. I also manage to get the house chores done, and I even made creamsicle cupcakes last night (this morning).
But being bored, and knowing you cannot call anyone, text anyone, see anyone; it just sucks. That is all there is to it. It sucks. It is now 7:30am, one of my girls is up, and I am waiting for my sleeping pills to kick in so I can go sleep for the majority of the morning and afternoon. Only to get to do it all again tonight.
I don’t think I would be so grumpy about it today if I didn’t have an extra night of it because I took a vacation day. The up side; I am on for at least the next two weekends, and think I will take the two after that.
I absolutely cannot wait until I get my Benjamin (hairless sphynx) and have someone to keep me company 🙂
So here’s to wishing you and yours a wonderful weekend, and I promised myself I would get up with a better attitude than I am going to bed with, and make the most of the rest of my weekend. It is pretty much all planned out, so it should go a lot faster.
What are you planning for the weekend?
It’s pretty bad when they can only show 1 warning at a time!
School is closed by 6pm for tomorrow. Wind chill warnings and non-stop snow until at least Wednesday. Warned by police to stay off the roads unless necessary, I am sure my employer will find my attendance at work necessary 🙂 It is becoming difficult to find things for my girls to do that keep them quiet during the day while I need to sleep. They are burning up their laptop and the Wii, but have been getting along rather well. I fear the number of days they may have to go to school into their summer vacation due to this cold snap that seems like it will never end.
OK, let’s be honest, them going to school through the summer would honestly make me happy 🙂 There, I said it!
I know the feeling!
Even my online classes are having connection difficulties! We are hunkered down, taking it a day at a time. I stop to the store each morning buying what I think we may need to get through a couple days if we end up completely stuck in the house. The worst is yet to come, so I need to be prepared.
Yes, I think 3 gallons of milk in the fridge is enough (actually, I ran out of room). I guess I could buy more and keep it in my snow bank! My girls are tearing up the latest boxes of cereal I bought, therefore the fear of a personal milk shortage.
What are you doing to keep yourself and your children busy when it’s too cold to leave the house?
I have officially made it through my first week of college for my MBA. I have to be honest and say this is only a 3 week course, to go over the school policies and requirements for writing essays, with about 6 assignments due a week, and 2 quizzes. Then I have a short break before the real fun begins; Research and Statistics. Yep. That type of class. The last one made me cry on a daily basis, nearly have a nervous break-down, and almost give up on getting my BBA.
I’ve gotten over that though. I didn’t give up. I didn’t have a nervous break-down (I am honestly not exaggerating here, it WAS that bad for me). I am going into this next class with a positive, can-do attitude, and know if I keep the right attitude, the class will fly by.
That about sums it up!
One thing I have noticed in 7 days, is I have no time to blog. Keeping my two blogs is my evening (morning for most of you) relaxation and unwind time. It’s what I do when I get home from work and get the kiddo’s up and off to school. I dig into my bowl of chocolate candy sitting right next to my laptop (like that’s going to help me sleep!) Then it’s a movie in the DVD player, ear plugs in, eye mask on, and hopefully some sound sleep before the kids start coming home.
My nightly snack (not all at once!)
So until I figure out how to add college back into my schedule and not give up the things I enjoy, my postings may be few-and-far-between.
Here’s to higher education, and the things I willingly put myself through.
I am not one to do resolutions, only for the fact that it seems to be much more pressure to accomplish something than you would normally feel if, say, you decided to go on a diet starting the 3rd Wednesday of February. And I also figure I gave up more than enough things in 2013, and I lost about 30 lbs (not entirely intentional) so I am going to share my To-Do List. I am an avid list maker; I have them in my desk at work, in my purse, in my car, on my dresser, on my bookshelf, stuffed inside books I was reading at the time, I think you get my point. With that being said, it is my intention that this To-Do list is one I will actually follow, and work towards.
1) Go to church a LOT more than I did this past year (This tends to be difficult on Sunday mornings because a. I work 3rd shift, it’s a whole sleep/awake thing we aren’t going to get into here, and b. my 12 year old needs to go to confirmation classes from 9:30-10:30am, and trying to get her to church by 8:15 am for the actual service is next to impossible impossible.
2) Tithe a LOT more at church than I did this past year. Granted, attending more should lead to tithing more, but I truly want to get it to the level it needs to be at. Give until it hurts, right?
3) Stop swearing. Yes, I swear. A lot. Not as much as I used to, but enough that I cannot justify my faith and attendance at church while continuing to cuss like a sailor in my home.
4) Stop yelling. Ugghh; this is a big one for me. I have gotten much better, but my 2 youngest tend to communicate by yelling (yes, they learned it from me) so I tend to continue to communicate in that manner with them. Meaning, if they are yelling and screaming at each other, I yell “Knock it off!” So not necessary.
5) Make and take some “me” time. I do not get time away from my girls, pretty much ever. I also have college classes beginning in 7 days for my Master’s Degree (which could really hinder any chance of free-time what-so-ever!). So I think this year it is going to be more important than ever that I make sure I have time to myself to recoup, and relax, and keep my sanity right where I need it; with me.
6) Patience. I just gotta get some. This in turn will likely help tremendously with #’s 3 & 4.
7) Exercise. Exercise. I do NOT like to exercise. Never have, likely never will. My intention is to actually begin running as soon as the temperature gets above 10 degrees in Michigan.
8) Read the Bible. The WHOLE Bible. Even the hard parts that I never understand and skip over. I have started a reading program with the YouVersion Bible App. I should complete this task in 6 months.
9) Improve my photography skills. I have an amazing camera system and lenses, but never seem to take the time to experiment with it. I spent 4 years in high school taking photos for our yearbooks so I am familiar with the technical speak of photographers, I just need to test the limits of my camera.
10) Allow myself to be happy! I have felt incredible for the last 5 months, and I just really need to enjoy and bask in that.
What are your big goals?
Ordering my next set of textbooks to start on my next college degree came with mixed emotions.
I am excited to begin working on my Master’s Degree, and sad that I will lose the little bit of free time I had. I am excited to be learning new things again, and worried I will get stressed out.
So here’s to taking it one class at a time, and before I know it, I will be finished like I was with the last 2 degrees.
My kids think I’ve lost my mind; I think they may be right 🙂 Here’s to never-ending education!
I have to be honest, it is a pet peeve of mine 🙂
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