Sweet Summer Time

Yea!  Even if the weather isn't cooperating, it is almost summer!  The one thing I really appreciate whenever I am a student is the blissful end of the spring semester.  "No more papers, No more books...."  At least for a few months! 

The cold, the wind, the rain - nothing matters!  I am excited for summer!  My second daughter graduates high school in just a couple weeks.  That means a graduation party!  I love planning parties.  We have the DJ all set, the menu is decided, but there is still a lot of work to do.  But that is ok, it is work I love to do.

Clean the house, clean the yard, clean the pool (Yea! Swimming!)  Even though cleaning is not a favorite of mine, I love sprucing everything up before a party!  New curtains for the living room were purchased today, cleaning the cartpets next week, then we will tackle the garage and the basement! 

And, even better, I am hoping my oldest will be home from college this summer.  This was her last year in the dorms, next year she will be in her own apartment, and will probably stay in Oshkosh for the summer.  But for this summer (hopefully) we will all be together!  I say hopefully, because there is the slightest chance she will sublet an apartment and stay in Oshkosh this summer.  But I am being selfish, and hopeful that she will choose to save the rent money, and stay home one last final summer. 

Graduation parties, a wedding to go to this summer, camping, a trip to California to plan - so much to look forward to!  So bring it on, Wisconsin weather!  The rain and wind and chilly temps don't bother me.  I am used to everchanging weather climate that living in the Wisconsin means.

 :) Happy Summer, Everyone!!

Not just another Hallmark holiday

Mother's Day was actually a spiritual holiday celebrating Goddesses and symbols rather than actual mothers.  Predating christianity, one of the earliest records of a 'Mother's Day' celebration was a yearly festival in ancient Egypt celebrating the goddess Isis.  She is considered the Mother of the pharoahs.  Oddly enough, she is often depicted cradling her son in a pose not unlike the Mother Mary cradling baby Jesus.

In ancient Rome, the history of Mother's day began with the celebration of Phrygian goddess Cybele (aka Magna Mater or Great Mother) and involved 3 day celebrations.  In Greece, they celebrated Rhea as the Mother of the gods.  Other societies celebrated similar deities including Gaia, the Earth Goddess and Meter Oreie the Mountain Mother.  Celebrations (often lasting 3 or more days) included games, parades, and displays of arts and crafts all in honor of the mother of the gods.

In post christianity Europe celebrations of Mother's Day began as a celebraton to honor the church.  The tradition was to travel back to the church one was baptized at to celebrate their "Mother Church".  They would decorate the church with jewels, flowers, and other offerings.  Finally, in the 1600's a decree was made in England to include real, actual mothers.  Held during Lent, servants and trade workers were given the day off to travel to their hometowns to visit their mothers and families.  It was called Mothering Day.  As an extra perk - this day was held during Lent and a reprieve was granted from the fasting and restrictions of Lent so that all of England could enjoy a family feast with MOM as the guest of honor.  Common gifts included cakes, flowers, and of course, visits from their children.

America, being founded by the puritans, put the kabash on most secular holidays, including Mother's Day.   They even reduced Christmas and Easter to somber, formal church events that lacked gifts and decorations.  It wasn't until 1870 that American women (Julia Ward Howe, to be exact) led the the charge to again celebrate mothers.  Howe was the author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, but following the devastation of the war, she campaigned for all mothers, internationally,  to unite in a day of peace.  Her plea, in the form of a poem/song, denounced the carnage of war and sons being taken from their mothers, and beseeching women of all nationalities to campaign for peace world-wide.  This day ended up being June 2, and was made official in 1873.  But it lasted only 10 years.   The cause was then picked up again by Anna M Jarvis, in memory of her own mother, petitioned the church where her mother taught sunday school for over 20 years to dedicate a day for her devotion to the children of the church.  On May 10, 1908 the first official Mother's Day took place.  President Roosevelt later made it a National Holiday, and it is now celebrated on the second sunday in May.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

The Race to the Finish Line

I feel as if I am gearing up for a marathon.  Although this is my first semester back in school after a nice long 5 year break, the feelings of impending doom and the weight of all the final assignments are as familiar as if I had never had a break at all.  Along with all the regular assignments, my classes also consist of final tests to study for and final projects to complete.  Then you toss in my second daughter graduating from high school, dealing with her stress and the added stress of planning and cleaning for her grad party and of course the stress in general with teenagers anxious for summer vaca (and mine as well!).  I feel about ready to implode. (Yes, implode not explode, as I tend to internalize everything.)

I have been using my spare time to work ahead on all my 'regular' assignments, so I can concentrate more fully on the added 'final' assignments coming due.  Checking and rechecking my due dates to make sure nothing is missed.  Getting all the little assignments done early gives me time to procrastinate (justifiably) working on the bigger, more time consuming final assignments, as well as giving me a some sense of accomplishment to defer the feeling of drowning in paper work for little while. 

This big push towards semester-end is also to allow time to enjoy (guilt-free) the down times:  visiting with my neice who is here from California, and going to Oshkosh tomorrow to applaud my eldest daughter's much worked for win at the national Model United Nations competition in NYC. (Go UWOSH MUNS!  Bringing back top honors in 7/9 categories!!!!)  Yeah, I am a proud mommy, even if I don't understand half of what that is all about!

So, "Yea, Me!!"  All homework that is due by tomorrow midnight is now done!  Homework for all of next week is also completely finished (or nearly so).  The semester may actually end on a positive note!  I see the finish line up ahead, and I still have stamina left for the final push.  And, now I can go enjoy the rest of the weekend!! 

Hoppy Easter!

This will be a short one this week... Easter weekend and all. 

Holidays have always been a big deal for my family.  We don't get together very often since 1/2 my family lives up here, and the other 1/2 lives down in Racine, so we all make an effort to make it to whomever is hosting the festivities.  This year the Sheboyganites are traveling down to Racine to my brother Mike's.  And, the get together will be a dual purpose one, as his daughter was just confirmed.  I remember hosting Easter each of the years my kids were confirmed as well.

Easter is a religious holiday. I grew up celebrating it as such.  But many people I know just celebrate the Easter Bunny!  I seem to have become one of those on-again, off-again religous people.  During my grade school and middle school (although it was called Junior High in my day) years, I went to church often and was very devout.  Then the high school years hit, and that meant boys, sneaking out to parties, and wanting to sleep late every Sunday.  I went sporadically over my twenties, mostly just on holidays, until it was time to get married.  Then, although my husband would have perfered eloping, I insisted on the traditional church wedding.  That meant going to church more regularly.  After I got married, and moved to Sheboygan, I slipped back into being a non-practicing Lutheran.  Until, you guessed it, the babies started arriving.  Then, of course, it was baptisms and Sunday School, and then later Confirmation classes.  I considered it very important to make sure my kids were confirmed.  Once confirmed, they were given the option to go to church or not.  After my last child was confirmed, we all went less and less and eventually, I slipped back into treasuring my lazy Sundays. 

I ran into my Pastor at the gas station the other day.  I have to admit, although he doesn't chastize me, feelings of guilt wash over me for days after running into him.  I feel like a small child again when I talk to him.  The whole time I am praying he won't ask me where I have been.  Unfortuneately, guilty feelings or not, I am right back to being a Holiday church goer.  But I won't be there for Easter this year, because we will be out of town. 

I wonder what my children will do when they get around to marriage and children.  I suppose I haven't set a very good church-going example for them.  I know that my oldest, being away at college, never attends church.  My middle child refuses to go, saying she believes in God, but doens't feel the need to prove it by going to church. (Confirmation classes didn't make that point clear to her, I guess.)  My youngest continues to be very religous, he volunteers at Campus Life, goes on mission trips, attends bible studies, etc.  But, even he doesn't go to church on Sunday mornings.  Looking at my own brothers and sisters, I see that although we were all raised the same, religion didn't 'stick' with over half of us.  Out of the five of us, only my brother and I actually got our kids confirmed.  And only three of the five of us even got our kids baptized.  Although we consider it important to get together every holiday, it is not for religious reasons.  It is for family.

I still pray every day.  And I do miss church, I have always loved the formality and the community feeling of church.  I tell myself that God understands, and plan to go back soon.  My family treasures the holidays as a time to be thankful for family and all that God has given us.  We try to be good people every day of our lives.  My husband has never attended church (except for the baptisms and confirmations of his own children, and the occasional church wedding).  He is not quite an atheist, he just doesn't believe in church.  He would give the shirt off his back for anyone in need though.  And, of course, even though we don't go to church very often anymore, we still celebrate Easter.  Easter baskets, Easter egg hunts, the traditional Easter dinners, and of course spending time with my brothers, sisters, neices, and nephews. 

As I reread my post, I wonder what my point was when I started.  Probably trying to assuage (sp?) my guilt at missing church, yet again.  Well, however each of you celebrates, whether it is with church or just the Easter Bunny, I hope everyone uses the day to celebrate family.  Happy Easter!

R.I.P.

Checked my Facebook a little bit ago...  A post from a friend, asking for prayers for the family of another friend.  No details were posted, but the BIG detail... that a friend had died... was made clear by the R.I.P. at the end. 

This is, unfortuneately, how I have learned of other friends' deaths as well.  On Facebook.  My husband came up the stairs, as I came out of the livingroom.  We met in the kitchen and he told me that this person had died.  I said, "I just found out, too."  He said, "Oh, Facebook."  My husband had heard the old-fashioned way.  Via telephone.  His friends all know he does not "do" Facebook, so they called him to give him the funeral details.  I wonder if those will be posted on Facebook later as well.

The last funeral I went to was for a friend of my kids'.  FaceBook, being the venting ground of the young, was awash with comments from all who knew this young man (as well as sympathy notes from those who didn't know him, in support of those that did).  He (the deceased) even has his own R.I.P. Facebook page.  His friends still post on his page, even though nearly a year has passed since his death.  It brought fueds to an end, and many reunions of those that had known him and lost touch during or after high school. 

But grown ups grieve differently, more privately.  Other than the plea for prayers for the family, I am sure this death will not generate the public displays of sorrow that Facebook allows for the young.  This upcoming funeral will be much more sedate.  But no less heartbreaking for those that loved him.  My prayers are with all who knew and loved Jeff.  I, myself, did not know him.  He is (was?) the brother of one of my husband's closest friends.  I know that this will be a hard time for all these men.  For all their bluster and joking over the years hides the tenderest parts of their hearts.  I know these guys will grieve deeply, but most will do so privately. 
I wonder, perhaps, if it is easiser to deal with the grief over the computer. No one sees your tears.  

It's a small world, after all...

On Friday I was finally feeling almost human.  I was also feeling a bit generous, so when my daughter, Susan,  called to beg a ride home from college so she could borrow my car and spend the night in Milwaukee, I agreed.  It might sound one-sided to some people, after all she wasn't wanting to come home because she missed her mommy!  But I often pick her up for selfish reasons: I like that still needs me, I enjoy an uninterupted hour and half of  conversation with my first-born, and I get to hear some really funny stories.  My first-born has been on the go since she learned to walk.  And she began walking early - 11 months.  I don't believe she ever crawled first. From the time she could talk, she talked about going on adventures - and let me tell you, to her, everything was an adventure!  She went to Peru at age 15, and she went to Paris at age 17, she has friends in Peru, France, Argentina, England, and Ireland.  She keeps in touch with all these people via the internet.  It is a small world!

So, as we are driving, she is telling me about her upcoming trip to New York City with MUNs (Model United Nations).  Turns out one of the other students in the club is from France.  Susan tells me that when they first met, he kept staring at her, saying she looked sooo familiar.  He finally asked her if she had ever visited a high school in France.  Now, what are the chances of that?  He did not really expect an affirmative answer and was prepared to defend himself against an accusation of using a bad pick-up line, when Susan said, "Yes, I was at 'such-n-such' for two days before Winter Holiday in 2009!"  Ha! Turns out they have friends in common in France and did indeed spend a little time together back then!  They were both amazed to run into each other at Oshkosh and find themselves in the same club.  It is a small world!

So, her adventure this weekend was attending a concert in Milwaukee with her cousin, Alisia, and her best friend from high school (and multiple others as well).  Her cousin (also my Goddaughter) is dating a boy (man?) from France.  While they were hanging out before the concert they got to talking about places they've all been, and places they plan on going to soon.  Alisia spent two months in Africa last summer, and plans on touring Europe this summer with her boyfriend.  My daughter is understandably jealous, but excited for her own plans for taking a semester studying in Europe next Spring.  Now when I was 19 years old, it was exciting just planning for a trip to Six Flags.  I had never been out of the midwest, much less the country!   But, to give these girls credit, they work hard and pay for these trips themselves.  And what an education!  They know and understand more about world politics and policies than I ever will.  I don't think they even realize that the world is big - they know it as easily accessible, and never more than a few clicks away on the computer, or a plane ticket and a passport away.  It is a small world!

My adventures are closer to home.  Oh, I have been a few places... down South, out West, even Canada and  Jamacai.  Some day I hope to make it to Paris.  There is an open invitation to stay with my daughter's friend there.  My children are my world, and for now I am content seeing the world through their eyes.    And I know that no matter where their travels lead them, they are only a phone call, text message, Facebook status, or a needed ride home from college away.  It is a small world!

Point of View

Am I posting this a few days late?  Or a few days early?  I didn't realize we had one due this past Sunday, but I notice we have til this Sunday for a 'makeup' post... so ... I guess it depends on my point of view.

Did you ever notice that what we believe and and are willing to stand up for have a lot to do with our 'point-of-veiw'?  It is always easier to tell others what they 'should have done' or what you 'would have done' in their shoes.  It is always easy to take a stand on a principle you yourself will never actually face.  We talked in class about whether we thought ourselves to be creators or critics, I have taken other classes that asked whether or not we thought ourselves predjudiced or open mined.  We are asked to label ourselves in many ways, in many different formats.  Single or Married, Democrat or Republican, ProLife or ProChoice, some labels are more volitile than others. The way we choose to answer often depends on our current point of view: our current age, our current economic situation, our current job, or the status of those closest to us. 

In my early teens I was very passionate about so many things. I won't get into specifics, this isn't about the specifics.  What I most hated hearing then, in response to my spouting off, was that I was too young to have a valid opinion on so many of life's issues.  Too young to vote (therefore my political rants were unfounded) and too young (and female) for the draft (therefore not considered vested enough to hold an opinion about Regan bringing back the draft).  I turned 18 two days after the presidential election that year.  Funny thing was, that was a time when I was most aware and knowledgable of the political platforms of each of the candidates.  I may have been too young to grasp the consequences of some of the platforms, but, from my point of view, my opinions were valid at the time.

Many of my opinions were formed based upon the views of my mother - the most influential person in my life growing up.  But that doesn't mean they were the same opinions as hers.  I had my own experiences that combined with the lessons she tried to teach me that ultimately made me who I am.  Some people see the world in 'black and white', they don't consider all the shades of gray.  For them, there is only ONE right way, ONE right set of behaviors, ONE acceptable way of viewing each situation.  My grandfather was that way.  My mother rebeled, she saw all the shades of gray, considered all the possibilities before making a stand on any subject.  She taught me to do this as well.  She taught me to come up with my own 'right' answers, not just parrot what my friends said, or what my grandfather said, or even what our pastor said.  She felt knowing "why" we believed something was as important as the belief itself.

To 'put yourself in someone else's shoes' is the ability to empathize, to not just hear  their point of view, but to see it from their eyes.  It is so easy to just say, "I know, if that happened to me, I would do ________".  We never really know what we would do until we are actually in a specific situation that requires us to make that choice.   And until we have aquired sufficient knowledge, be it age related, book learned, or life experiences,  it is premature to state what we - or anyone else - should do in any given situation.  When one of my children does something wrong, I have them explain to me "why?".  My second daughter was almost expelled from kindergarten for fighting. The letter from the teacher said she held a boy by the throat against the fence until a teacher intervened.   I asked her, "Why did you choke that boy?"  She told me, "I had to stop him from hitting my friend, boys are not supposed to hit girls!"  From her point of view, she had commited an heroic act of protection - not an act of violence.  Cudos for protecting her friend, which was taken into consideration when deciding the punishment.  Punishment focused on her learning that two wrongs don't make a right.  (She had to apologize to the boy and tell the teacher how she had learned to handle similar situations in the future.)   'Point of view' colors our speech and our actions every day.  It detemines what movies we like, the friends we keep, how religious we are, and the jobs we do. 

In studying other cultures and subcultures, we learn about the why's and the how's of a life or experience different from our own. When we write about it, we are 'walking in their shoes' for part of the time while contrasting/comparing it with our own 'why's and how's'.  By learning about others, we learn more about ourselves.  We broaden our 'Point of View'.

Mental Health Weekend

I usually advise against blowing off due dates. I usually make every attempt to complete what is expected of me.  But after trying and failing (or at least feeling like my attempts were not very successful) all last week, I made a conscious decision stop trying so hard... to take a break, regroup, rejuvenate... and yes, to reevaluate.  I decided to take a Mental Health Weekend!
 
Haven't you ever needed to take a mental health day?  I knew a day wouldn't be enough, so I weighed my pros and cons, and decided to take the whole weekend.  After having a completely crappy week, the weekend was actually pretty great.  I was able to spend time shopping with my daughter, had an actual date with my husband, got to spend some much needed catch-up time with my sister-in-law, had a fabulous night out with a close friend, and even enjoyed a lazy Sunday.  Now I have the MondayBlues, with an extra dose of guilt for ignoring my homework the whole weekend.  Playing catch up with homework, knowing the points I have lost for finishing everything late should make me even more depressed.  But, I needed that weekend for myself.  Paying the price is worth every minute of fun and relaxation I was able to enjoy.  I also had plenty of time to ponder...

Have I taken on too much?  Am I just too damn old for attempting another degree?  Is a bachelors degree in nursing even worth all the time, money and effort?  Did you know a BSN does not make more $/hour than an ADN?  I knew that, and still I made the commitment to obtain my BSN.  There will be more lateral opportunities for jobs with better hours and benefits after I obtain my BSN, one of which is being qualified to work for a school system and/or Social Services.  But, thanks to Walker, that may not be enough incentive anymore!  But after my glorious, nearly guilt-free, weekend off from all my responsibilities, I do have to admit I enjoy learning (Even though I hate tests).  I am a geek at heart.  So even if I hate deadlines... they are what motivate me.

Will it all be worth it in the end?  I may not bring home a bigger paycheck, or ever get that coveted Monday thru Friday job, or even get a job that is strictly day shift.  After my lovely weekend off, I am feeling pretty positive.  I know it won't be easy, and I know I will assuredly flounder on and off through the process.  But, I will have the self satisfaction of finishing what I started, of setting a goal and obtaining it, and I will probably learn a lot along the way.  So, I guess my 'mental health' weekend was successful.

ZZzzzzzzz....

I am too tired to be creative.  Who's idea was it to create the human body in such a way that requires us to need 8 hours of sleep a night.  I have no problem going a 48 hours or so without sleep, provided I am kept busy doing something I enjoy - or something I am highly motivated to do.  Attending school, even just a class or two, is hard to do when one must work full-time to keep the lights on. It becomes even harder when said classes require you to be creative and come up with your own subject matter for papers, speeches, and now blogs. 

I use to hate the days of my earlier education when we were told what to write.  When the subject of our paper was dictated by class or by the teacher.  You remember ~  History Class:  "Write a report on John F. Kennedy"  or "Write a report on Hitler" or Geography Class:  "Write a report on Germany, or Africa".  The most creativity we were allowed was the occasional English class that would assign: "Write a report on what you did over Spring Break"...   Oh, how I longed to just be able to pick something of my own choosing!  Now my brain is too tired to think, just tell me what you want!

Remember the old adage: Be Careful What You Wish For!  I use to believe I was a creative soul.  I use to write poetry and songs.  I use to ponder philosophy, debate religions vs Darwin.    Now my only debate is: "Should I be late for work so I can finish my homework?"  or "Can I go another few hours without sleep?"  So, yesterday sleep won - I got 4 whole hours before I went to work, after finishing my paper for another class!  I knew my blog would have to be late, I was ok with that because I was too tired to come up with a subject to write about anyway. 

And I fell into exhausted sleep the moment I got home from work this morning as well.  Six solid hours of blissful, uninterupted sleep. Ahhh... I feel refreshed! Rejuvenated! Ahhh.... NOT!  Still feeling exhausted for some reason.  I feel the weight of all the things yet to be done - the dishes, the laundry, the cleaning, check all four email address, and of course, the homework!  And here I am... Homework wins!!  As I struggled with the attempt at creativity, trying to think of a book or a movie to blog about, I had to laugh.  A teacher once told me years ago to write what I know.  So, I know I am glad I don't have to look up facts about Africa or JFK. I know I'd rather blog than scrub the kitchen floor.  And I know, someday, I will have enough time for both sleep and creativity.  Still not feeling terribly bright or creative, but I would still rather do homework than housework! 

Lazy Sundays...

I love a lazy Sunday.  Skipping church, staying in my jams, watching TV or reading a book -- all of these are on the options list for lazy Sunday's.  Most Sundays I have to work, so when I get one off I like to spend it doing next to nothing. 

Today, however, I had to get the dratted taxes done. The kids' taxes are easy, I breeze through them with no problems.  No frustrations, still feeling like a lazy Sunday.  They are actually so easy, I should make them do their own.  But I like to feel needed, so I get them done first so I can check lots of boxes off on my to-do list. 

Then come the dreaded business taxes.  My husband is self-employed and, until this year, his sister always did our taxes.  This year I decided to save some time & money and do them myself.  HA!  Save money, maybe - but where has my lazy Sunday gone? I started at the computer at 10am, got the kids done by noon, procrastinated by cleaning & organizing my desk for two or more hours (actually a good thing, I found several needed documents), then decided I needed a break to sneak in a little lazy!  So, 3:00 I started on the business taxes.  Yeah, amortization and depreciation are not my thing.  Even with last years taxes as a guide, I can't get it figured out.  After becoming frustrated with Turbo Tax, I started all over with TaxAct.  The estimated refunds/payments due do not match.  Hmmm...  I have struggled not to become crabby and lose my 'lazy Sunday' mood regardless of my frustrations.  Just when I think I have a handle on it, my husband hands me a disorganized pile of business bills that have never been entered.  I smile.  I thank him.  I take a deep breath.  It is after 10pm and I am in no mood to start over.  But I know they have to be entered.  But, not tonight.  I am done.

I have not given up, I have just given up for today.  I am going to enjoy what is left of my Sunday off (after I finish my homework, of course) and start all over tomorrow.

Snickers...the furry member of my family.

Our household consists of 2 adults, 3 wannabe adults (aka teenagers) and 1 furry, four-legged, much-loved dog, Snickers.  It almost hurts to call her a mere dog - she is a member of our family.  She was born on August 22, 1996.  She is a large dog; a shepherd/rottweiler mix with the large frame of her Rottweiler father and the caramel colored fur of her Shepherd-mix mother.  She has soft and fuzzy and perpetually shedding clouds of fur.  Now some may argue that a pet can not be a true member of the family, but anyone that has such a pet can surely see what I mean. 

Over the years we have housed many pets. Lizards, mice, goats, fish, turtles, frogs, toads, a bunny and a multitude of cats to name a few, and the death or relocation of each pet was hard.  But nothing bonds with a family like a dog, and I always wanted a puppy.  My husband always said we didn't have the time to devote to a puppy; they bark too much, dig holes, chew everything up and need to be house trained. 

We compromised when he showed up with Brittany, a shepherd mix, that had no home since her owner could no longer keep her.  When we took her to the vet we were told she was approximately 5 years old and a mix of Shepherd and possibly Dingo or Wolf.  You wouldn't think that would make a good combination for a household with small children, but she was perfect.   We never asked the vet, but we assumed she was 'fixed' since her previous owner told us she had never had a litter.  Then came the family camping trip where she met my brother's dog, Marlin - a very large, overweight, gentle giant of a Rottweiler. Now, we weren't sure who the father was until after the pups were born, but once they arrived it was pretty simple to figure out.  My husband brought out all the old reasons against puppies, but the children & I won out, and we were allowed to keep one.  Considering we only had Brittany another 2 years before she died of cancer, even my husband was thankful that we did. The children chose carefully and named her Snickers.  

During those first years with Snickers, we hardly had to train her at all - Brittany did!  Snickers would say a quiet, "yip" to be let in or out, never chewed anything inappropriate, and guarded the kids better than any nanny.  The only time she barked was when she believed someone in her family was being threatened.  When Brittany died, it truly was my first experience with grief over the loss of a pet.  We all cried, consoling each other and taking turns holding onto Snickers as we kept Snickers in the house while my husband buried Brittany in the field beside our house.  As soon as Snickers was allowed out, she went straight to her mother's grave and howled mournfully for over an hour. 

In the years that followed she lived up to the good reputation of her mother and then some.  She spends the nights checking on each child periodically and sleeps blocking the hall to their rooms.  She has never growled at us, our kids, or anyone else's kids. If she's outside napping when we get home, she immediately comes to attention, watching out for strangers until we're safely in the house. This is actually quite comical as we live in the country.  When the kids were little, she waited for the school bus with them in the morning and guarded the intersection until the kids were safely aboard.  When one of the kids was being picked up for a play date, she waited with them and wouldn't allow the kids to get into anyone's car unless I was holding her telling her it was okay. The one time my daughter made it into the car wtihout my holding onto Snickers, Snickers jumped onto the hood and barked ferociously at the driver (picture Cujo) until I ran over to let her know it was OK.  I then had to calm the driver down, but she agreed we had a pretty special dog. 

Now, Snickers has her mischievous side as well. Snickers never begs at the table, knowing she will get her treat when dinner is over.  She prefers to have her treat in the living room, but somethings are messy.  I'll  tell her, "No, stay in the kitchen!" or "Bring it back" and she will slink back in giving me those sad puppy eyes.  But as soon as I turn my back, she sneaks it right back into the living room.

Now that she is older, it takes her quite a while to make it up the stairs and she gets lonely now that the children are nearly grown and seldom home.  She spends more and more time sleeping.  But she still makes her rounds at night.  And she still comes to attention outside while I park my car, watching for danger until I am safely at the front door.  She is more than a pet.  She is my baby, my sister, my guardian, my best friend. She helped me raise my children, and was easier to train than my husband!

A Day Late...

Ok... Maybe working full time and taking 8 college credits and trying to get the taxes done and cook and clean and do laundry are just a little bit too much!  After an 8 hour night shift that felt like 12, I thought I better review my multiple to-do lists. I was thinking of all the items I could cross off - but the first thing I notice is that my blog entry was due by midnight last night!  Well, Hearts & Flowers! Happy Valentine's Day to me! 

Seriously, though... I can't tolerate lateness.  I often procrastinate, but I work well under pressure and always (ok, almost always) get my to-do list done on time. My goal for this week:  ORGANIZE!!!  I can tell I am out of practice when it comes to organizing a calendar and 5 e-mail addresses.  I have heard there is a way to have all e-mails forwarded to just one address.  If this is true, and anyone knows how to do that, I could sure benefit from your knowledge! Then all I will need is more shelves and another filing cabinet... and another 10 hours in each day.  My husband tells me I should just go with out sleep, but I feel like I do that already on most days.

Lack of sleep aside, I know I spend more time thinking about doing things before actually doing them.  I believe this is the key to my current disorganization.  I am a GREAT list maker.  If only the jobs could by completed just by the mere fact that they have been written down on my To Do List!  My other conundrum is that all of my work is split between my old desk top (on which I am now writing), and on my new laptop.  If only I had been able to purchase my new laptop before classes started, I might have avoided the need to transfer files and set up new software and struggle to remember all my passwords that I had auto-saved on my desk top.  Yes, I know the smart thing is to keep them written down somewhere.  I am great at list writing, and note writing, and jotting down all sorts of important bits of information I know I will need.  Unfortunately, I am also great at losing everything that is not pinned down.  "Ah Ha!",  my son says.  "Just e-mail yourself all of your lists!"  Hmmmm... maybe he knows how to forward all my e-mails to one address.

So, I have the day/night off of work.  I plan to spend my Valentine's day cleaning, organizing, and finishing more homework.  I hope everyone else has time to enjoy some romance today!  Happy Valentine's Day!!

Day 1

Ok... this blog is for the Advanced Composition class I am taking.  I feel like I should be starting it with "Dear Diary" but I guess that is showing my age!  Our assignment for today was simply to set up our blogger address (done) and bring it to class.  But I felt the need to do a 'pre-post' to get my feet wet, so to speak.  I don't believe this will be read by anyone other than my teacher and my classmates, but you never know!  I am off to class now!