I would love to be able to journal every day of the year, or write in a beautiful composition notebook (my tastes are simple) every week. Writing by hand is difficult for me because my hand gets tired, my brain goes way faster than my hand, and my handwriting is just awful. It's easy to be discouraged about keeping some sort of written record about life. Facebook and Pinterest are full of awesome hand written, beautifully drawn, expertly colored examples of journals - not one skill of which do I possess. That's okay, I can write well, I'm funny, and I frankly don't give a crap what anyone else thinks about what I have to journal about. I can just write here.
The past month or so has been full of accomplishments, heartbreak, anxious moments, progress, holidays, and so much more. I'm actually overwhelmed with how much our lives have changed in the last four or five weeks. I completed my masters degree and never have to go back to school again (if I don't want to) - Whoo Hoo! It really was a huge accomplishment for me. Not too much later, Rob came home with awesome news too! He is going to be teaching a class at the local community college. This is something he's wanted to do for several years now. What wonderful accomplishments we have had recently, and 2014 as a whole was a pretty fantastic year. It was full of completed goals, new opportunities, and so much growth!
Speaking of college, Jake wants to go back to school soon, Matt is finishing a class here and there in the Navy, and Lindsay will start at a charter school that offers college classes and about 85% of their students graduate with a high school diploma as well as an Associates Degree when they're done. How exciting for all of them! On the down side, because life is never perfect, Jake and Willa separated recently. They are both in our hearts as they deal with this disappointment.
Matt will make a decision soon about his career in the Navy. He doesn't know yet what will happen, so we're all just being patient for his decision when the time comes. Patience! I know, right?! I swear, I am being patient! It's easier than I expected, seriously.
So then there's work. I'm thinking it's time to give my notice and become a counselor full time. I have found security in my job over the years, so making this decision was difficult and scary. Yeah, I am terrified of leaving the security I have had for all these years. I'm still not sure if I can make enough money as a counselor, but If I don't risk anything, I'll never know.
So 2015 is here! I'll be writing 2014 on checks and documents for the next three months, but so will you so there is that. I will receive a transcript soon that states I have earned a Masters degree, leave a job I have both loved and hated for so long, and jump feet first and running into a career that I have been building for the last two and a half years.
I'm not one to make resolutions - I've said that before - so I'm setting my sights on intentions... Intentions are positive change that I intend to bring about. I'm not fixing something that's broken, I'm creating a positive - so much difference! It's like the power of positive thinking; put the positive thoughts and intentions out into the universe while working toward these positive goals for change.
Showing posts with label Kids College. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kids College. Show all posts
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Saturday, September 4, 2010
It's been forever!
My life got completely out of hand. First, I walked in commencement exercises with Regis University in December and then I actually was awarded my degree in March. I am the proud owner of a mint condition Bachelor of Science, Magna Cum Laude, Applied Psychology. MAGNA CUM LAUDE people!
Knowing my degree wasn't going to pay me enough to start repaying the staggering amount that I now owe to the Federal Loan Program, I was already on the ball. I applied to, and was accepted at, Grand Canyon University for a Master of Science, Professional Counseling degree. I started June 3. So far I have one "A" and am working on my second one. At this point though, I just want to pass. Having two children living at home with active social lives and sports schedules, balancing that with a part time job and being in graduate school... oh, yeah, I'm a wife too - now when do I get to have any time for me? I'm working on it.
Jake moved out last October. He graduated from high school, enrolled in college, found roommates and decided to jump ship. Can't blame him though; it was time for him to spread his wings and have his own life. It's quiet around here without him. Well, the quiet is a relative term. With a 'tween and a 17 year old in the house, there is plenty of noise, but Jake had this huge, loud personality. I miss him.
Jake is about to turn 20 (in less than two weeks!), Matt will be 18 two days after that, and Lindsay will be 12 in October. Holy crap, I'm feeling old! I'm pretty sure I'm not mature enough to have a 20 year old son.
Knowing my degree wasn't going to pay me enough to start repaying the staggering amount that I now owe to the Federal Loan Program, I was already on the ball. I applied to, and was accepted at, Grand Canyon University for a Master of Science, Professional Counseling degree. I started June 3. So far I have one "A" and am working on my second one. At this point though, I just want to pass. Having two children living at home with active social lives and sports schedules, balancing that with a part time job and being in graduate school... oh, yeah, I'm a wife too - now when do I get to have any time for me? I'm working on it.
Jake moved out last October. He graduated from high school, enrolled in college, found roommates and decided to jump ship. Can't blame him though; it was time for him to spread his wings and have his own life. It's quiet around here without him. Well, the quiet is a relative term. With a 'tween and a 17 year old in the house, there is plenty of noise, but Jake had this huge, loud personality. I miss him.
Jake is about to turn 20 (in less than two weeks!), Matt will be 18 two days after that, and Lindsay will be 12 in October. Holy crap, I'm feeling old! I'm pretty sure I'm not mature enough to have a 20 year old son.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Holiday Week
I worked Tuesday and Wednesday this last week. On Tuesday afternoon, I realized that there were only three full work weeks left in the year. "Oh, you are kidding me?" I actually said that aloud. Nope, I checked the calendar again and it's true - THREE WEEKS!
I have to get ready for January, for sending the books at work to the accountant, I have to get IFTA done... and about a hundred other things too! One Hundred!? I looked at my notes and to-do lists in OneNote from last January and February and realized that 100 things really isn't a stretch - there are 88 things on my January/February to-do list. I told my boss about the few weeks left until zero hour and told him I was getting ready. I got a thumbs up.
????????
Really?
On Wednesday, I began wrapping up financial stuff for the month of November and left the office at one. Then I blew off the rest of my day talking on the phone and watching movies. I should have been doing homework. I didn't.
Thanksgiving Day came and I made mashed candied sweet potatoes that were so good, even I ate them - and I hate sweet potatoes. I also made cranberry sauce from scratch that gelled in the refrigerator overnight - I like it runny, so lesson learned: add more water! There were also creamed peas and green bean casserole. Nothing I took to Thanksgiving dinner at my grandmothers house was low fat or 'healthy'.
Much to my mothers delight, I refrained from speaking to my aunt who is a racist and a bigot.
After dinner at my grandmothers, we stopped off at Rob's grandparents house. We talked, they played cards (I don't play) and everyone (but me) had pie. I was just too stuffed and didn't want to risk real pain.
We got home around eight and started to relax.....
And then it happened.
The shit always hits the fan on holidays. No pun intended. There were no feces involved, thank heavens.
The toilet got clogged and we couldn't clear it. The stupid thing has had something stuck in it for over two years; something we could never get out and we couldn't identify. Rob decided to take the toilet out and put the snake in from the bottom to try and clear it but couldn't get the toilet off Thursday night so we left it until Friday morning.
So Black Friday came and we found ourselves at Lowes buying a new toilet. It's cheap. It's white. It's clean. It's new. I love it. Except that we had to replace the shut off valve and it's leaking. Our house is a never ending nightmare and I can't wait to get out of here and rent something. I don't want the responsibility anymore. At least not for a little while. When we buy again, maybe we won't get stuck with a money pit.
And the toilet? It was blocked by this. Well, not the whole box, just one of the trays they go in. I guess it fell in the toilet, sank and got flushed. And YES, I broke the toilet to find out what was in it.
So now I'm down $98 and I have a beautiful new (CLEAN) white toilet in the master bath.
Today I had the Meeting of the Moms. We were at Starbucks for four hours planning and enjoying each others company. We are looking for a place that will allow us to bring in the soda and maybe some snack food to supplement whatever catered food we have. All of the catering companies around here bring in cans of soda rather than 2-litre bottles and charge $1-$2 each. Well, with a guest list of around 175, that could add up pretty quickly - especially with the kids.
Tonight Jake called me and asked if the GF could come to Christmas at his grandmothers house with us. I told him I didn't mind and I'm sure Grandma wouldn't. He said it was okay with the GF's mom as long as he could go to Christmas Eve dinner with her family. None of this is a problem for us so it looks like the kids are sharing holidays already. They are also planning to go to the same college, along with several of their best friends. They've all been accepted so now it's just a matter of graduating and figuring out how to pay for all of it. Yeah, not looking forward to that, but we'll do what we have to.
Meal Plan for the coming week.
I have to get ready for January, for sending the books at work to the accountant, I have to get IFTA done... and about a hundred other things too! One Hundred!? I looked at my notes and to-do lists in OneNote from last January and February and realized that 100 things really isn't a stretch - there are 88 things on my January/February to-do list. I told my boss about the few weeks left until zero hour and told him I was getting ready. I got a thumbs up.
????????
Really?
On Wednesday, I began wrapping up financial stuff for the month of November and left the office at one. Then I blew off the rest of my day talking on the phone and watching movies. I should have been doing homework. I didn't.
Thanksgiving Day came and I made mashed candied sweet potatoes that were so good, even I ate them - and I hate sweet potatoes. I also made cranberry sauce from scratch that gelled in the refrigerator overnight - I like it runny, so lesson learned: add more water! There were also creamed peas and green bean casserole. Nothing I took to Thanksgiving dinner at my grandmothers house was low fat or 'healthy'.
Much to my mothers delight, I refrained from speaking to my aunt who is a racist and a bigot.
After dinner at my grandmothers, we stopped off at Rob's grandparents house. We talked, they played cards (I don't play) and everyone (but me) had pie. I was just too stuffed and didn't want to risk real pain.
We got home around eight and started to relax.....
And then it happened.
The shit always hits the fan on holidays. No pun intended. There were no feces involved, thank heavens.
The toilet got clogged and we couldn't clear it. The stupid thing has had something stuck in it for over two years; something we could never get out and we couldn't identify. Rob decided to take the toilet out and put the snake in from the bottom to try and clear it but couldn't get the toilet off Thursday night so we left it until Friday morning.
So Black Friday came and we found ourselves at Lowes buying a new toilet. It's cheap. It's white. It's clean. It's new. I love it. Except that we had to replace the shut off valve and it's leaking. Our house is a never ending nightmare and I can't wait to get out of here and rent something. I don't want the responsibility anymore. At least not for a little while. When we buy again, maybe we won't get stuck with a money pit.
And the toilet? It was blocked by this. Well, not the whole box, just one of the trays they go in. I guess it fell in the toilet, sank and got flushed. And YES, I broke the toilet to find out what was in it.
So now I'm down $98 and I have a beautiful new (CLEAN) white toilet in the master bath.
Today I had the Meeting of the Moms. We were at Starbucks for four hours planning and enjoying each others company. We are looking for a place that will allow us to bring in the soda and maybe some snack food to supplement whatever catered food we have. All of the catering companies around here bring in cans of soda rather than 2-litre bottles and charge $1-$2 each. Well, with a guest list of around 175, that could add up pretty quickly - especially with the kids.
Tonight Jake called me and asked if the GF could come to Christmas at his grandmothers house with us. I told him I didn't mind and I'm sure Grandma wouldn't. He said it was okay with the GF's mom as long as he could go to Christmas Eve dinner with her family. None of this is a problem for us so it looks like the kids are sharing holidays already. They are also planning to go to the same college, along with several of their best friends. They've all been accepted so now it's just a matter of graduating and figuring out how to pay for all of it. Yeah, not looking forward to that, but we'll do what we have to.
Meal Plan for the coming week.
- Thai Spaghetti with shrimp
- Beef Stew
- Pork Loin Roast with mashed sweet potatoes and sauteed spinach
- Pork Chops
- Orange Chicken with rice
- Chicken Piccata
- Turkey with mashed potatoes
Friday, October 10, 2008
We Live
It has been insanely busy around here since the beginning of school and I just haven't had the time to think about myself until this last week. We've got football, we've got soccer, I've been working more hours, the hubby's got classes, I started a class, and of course the kids are all in school and the homework is astounding.
Rob and I recently had a disagreement with Lindsay's school regarding their mathematics curriculum. We are seriously considering home schooling her in math, nothing else, just her math curriculum. We have parent/teacher conferences next week where we will discuss it, then schedule an appointment with her math teacher and do it all over. In the end, I think it's possible for us to get them to see the light - at least for Lindsay - but only time will tell. If anyone knows of a good home school math program for 4th grade, please comment.
I have finally gotten internet access - real honest to goodness NON-dial-up access - at work, along with a new computer and finally (just this week) a new chair. I like being at work again. YEA!
The boys turned 16 and 18 last month. Jake seems to feel the need to remind us of this on a regular basis. For their birthday we bought them one present... an X-Box 360. They fell in love with us all over again. Matt plays two football games a week - one Varsity (kick return) and one JV (whenever the coach puts him in). Jake is blessed with only the Varsity games (O-line, left tackle). They both are juggling school and sports rather well this year, makes a momma proud.
Jake went on a campus tour of Mesa State College here in Colorado and will go on a tour of the University of Wyoming next month. I think that's probably where he'll end up going. I've been sick with worry (it's what I do best) about him leaving home. I've also been working on getting comfortable with the idea. We've raised an exceptionally grounded young man with lots of ambition and drive. "He will be fine. He will succeed. He will thrive." That's my mantra.
A turns 10 next week. She's so excited to be turning 'two digits'. I've gotten away easy on the party aspect with her the last two years. We have her party at a park adjacent to her elementary school right after school lets out. I meet them at their classrooms, walk them to the park, give the kids an 'after school snack' (read: cheap and easy), let them play, feed them cupcakes, open presents, and then everybody goes home. That's the cheater-mom's party. I'm only responsible for these ten kids for an hour and a half and Lindsay loves it.
I started a class this week, Psychology of Personality. I have a passionate dislike of Freud. I'll leave it at that, but I'm really getting into Jung. The class has been condensed (even more so than a normal 5-week class)! We're only going from 6-8pm because, among other reasons, there are only four of us. I really love small classes. I've got an online class that starts in two and a half weeks but I'm just not worried. As a matter of fact, I'm much more confident in my ability to not only do well in school, but in the fact that I will actually be able to finish my Bachelors Degree. I've discovered I have just enough financial aid available to finish my degree... and then? Then I've decided to apply to the Masters of Counseling Psychology program at CSU. I have no idea whether or not I'll be accepted, but I have to try.
All in all, the last month has given me a run for my sanity. When football and soccer season end, I should finally be able to lean back and relax a little.
Rob and I recently had a disagreement with Lindsay's school regarding their mathematics curriculum. We are seriously considering home schooling her in math, nothing else, just her math curriculum. We have parent/teacher conferences next week where we will discuss it, then schedule an appointment with her math teacher and do it all over. In the end, I think it's possible for us to get them to see the light - at least for Lindsay - but only time will tell. If anyone knows of a good home school math program for 4th grade, please comment.
I have finally gotten internet access - real honest to goodness NON-dial-up access - at work, along with a new computer and finally (just this week) a new chair. I like being at work again. YEA!
The boys turned 16 and 18 last month. Jake seems to feel the need to remind us of this on a regular basis. For their birthday we bought them one present... an X-Box 360. They fell in love with us all over again. Matt plays two football games a week - one Varsity (kick return) and one JV (whenever the coach puts him in). Jake is blessed with only the Varsity games (O-line, left tackle). They both are juggling school and sports rather well this year, makes a momma proud.
Jake went on a campus tour of Mesa State College here in Colorado and will go on a tour of the University of Wyoming next month. I think that's probably where he'll end up going. I've been sick with worry (it's what I do best) about him leaving home. I've also been working on getting comfortable with the idea. We've raised an exceptionally grounded young man with lots of ambition and drive. "He will be fine. He will succeed. He will thrive." That's my mantra.
A turns 10 next week. She's so excited to be turning 'two digits'. I've gotten away easy on the party aspect with her the last two years. We have her party at a park adjacent to her elementary school right after school lets out. I meet them at their classrooms, walk them to the park, give the kids an 'after school snack' (read: cheap and easy), let them play, feed them cupcakes, open presents, and then everybody goes home. That's the cheater-mom's party. I'm only responsible for these ten kids for an hour and a half and Lindsay loves it.
I started a class this week, Psychology of Personality. I have a passionate dislike of Freud. I'll leave it at that, but I'm really getting into Jung. The class has been condensed (even more so than a normal 5-week class)! We're only going from 6-8pm because, among other reasons, there are only four of us. I really love small classes. I've got an online class that starts in two and a half weeks but I'm just not worried. As a matter of fact, I'm much more confident in my ability to not only do well in school, but in the fact that I will actually be able to finish my Bachelors Degree. I've discovered I have just enough financial aid available to finish my degree... and then? Then I've decided to apply to the Masters of Counseling Psychology program at CSU. I have no idea whether or not I'll be accepted, but I have to try.
All in all, the last month has given me a run for my sanity. When football and soccer season end, I should finally be able to lean back and relax a little.
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