Reflections

I know that last week I said it was the last week, but this is REALLY the last week. :) Week nine always feels like the last week of class, because week ten doesn't have classtime, but week ten is really truly the end. I have to admit I struggled through this term. It's been a time of family drama and health issues, and I'm afraid I got somewhat distracted from my classwork. I don't like the feeling of not being completely prepared at each seminar, and feeling that I'm running late on my discussion boards. My hope is that next term will be calmer, and I will be able to budget my time more effectively. I have learned a lot, there's no doubt about that, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I did in earlier terms.

I have enjoyed having this blog, though. I've always been one to write out my feelings more than talk about them, and this is almost as good as a private journal, because nobody is really reading it. LOL

It has been a good learning tool, though. Just making the time to write something each week and making sure that I am using complete sentences and explaining things in a way that others could understand is more useful than scribbling to myself in a journal, because I don't always take time to write very well in that circumstance.

I will probably continue to do this as time goes on. I really don't care anything about having many people involved, the few friends that know about this will be enough; just having the satisfaction of writing and maintaining some sort of school journal will be good for me.

Goodbye for now, and see you again soon.

the final week

I can't believe the term is almost over. The longer I am in school, the faster each term seems to go by. I am ready for the Christmas break, though. I started school in February, and I have thoroughly enjoyed each of the classes I have taken, and have adapted happily to being a student again. I was apprehensive when I first signed up for classes because it has been a while since I was in school. I was not completely confident that I could make the transition into being a student again, but it wasn't really that difficult. After four straight terms though, I am ready for a break. I am beginning to feel a little like I need to step off the carousel for a few days. :)

I am sure though, that by January 6 I'll be bored out of my mind and ready to get busy again. I've adapted so well to being a student that now I worry about what I will do with my time when I'm finished with school. When I started this, I still had two kids at home. They have graduated high school, moved out, and started college while I've been at Kaplan. When I finish school, I'm going to have way more time on my hands than I have ever had before.

I'm equal parts looking forward to finishing school and worried about finishing, because then I just have to find a new job and put all this knowledge that I have gained to some constructive use.

It will just be one more opportunity to start something new and make life what I want it to be. Right?

Walking in a winter wonderland

Okay, I'm not walking in a winter wonderland, I'm sitting in an office chair, but I'm listening to the song. My Christmas spirit arrived today from wherever it has been hiding. I'm not sure why it showed up today, but here it is. So I decorated the house and I'm listening to Christmas music. That's the true test of my Christmas spirit.
This time of year always makes me realize how grown my children are. I have so many memories of Christmas with the kids around the tree ripping paper and jumping up to hug me when I got the 'right' gift. I have pictures of smiling faces and videos of laughing kids and memories piled up like pictures overflowing a box: turkey and ham dinners and hot cocoa and cinnamon rolls and playing with new toys. I remember Christmases when the kids tried to sneak and open their presents early, and the Christmas that I put numbers on the tags instead of names so they wouldn't know which presents were whose.

They are all grown now, and Christmas is a different kind of joy. I get much less satisfaction from the gifts, and much more satisfaction from the meals and the playing games and telling stories. I am blessed that I've had a wonderful life with my kids. My oldest turned 26 this year, and the youngest are 18 (no, that isn't bad grammar. My youngest children are twins, so there are two of them that are 18) and none of them live home anymore. They will all be here for Christmas, and we'll eat and tell stories and look at pictures and play silly games, and it will be a wonderful day. I wouldn't want to go back in time to when they were all young, but I'm sure glad I have the memories.

God bless you all this Christmas...I wish for you all the joy that I feel at this moment.

Unit 7? Where does the time go?

That's a rhetorical question. I know where the time goes. It goes flying by while I'm sleeping and working and talking to my kids. This week sure hasn't started the way I wanted it to. I can't even remember for sure what day it is. I woke up sick Thursday morning, and haven't been out of bed since. And yes, that is 'Thursday' as in 'Thanksgiving'. (frustrated sigh) Like it isn't bad enough to get a stomach bug out of nowhere, to wake up with it on Thanksgiving morning? That is just totally unfair. I didn't get to eat anything! Not that Thanksgiving is really all about the food, and I was thankful for plenty of things that day...but eating wasn't one of them.

It's okay though. I'm just having Thanksgiving part II next week. I'll cook a turkey and some dressing and a scaled down Thanksgiving dinner and have the kids over, and it will be lovely.

Between now and then, however, I have a lot of writing to do. I need to finish my draft so I can edit and get my final project done. I have peer reviews this week, which are not my favorite thing, (not even on the top ten list, to tell the truth) but like it or not, I do believe it is a useful task. I need an objective eye or two on my paper.

So I need to read a couple of other papers and review them (that's the part I don't like) and I need to finish my paper and I need to do the same thing in my other class, and I need to throw off the remnants of this stomach bug that is still pestering me and then I can have turkey with my kids.

Notice how I am not even talking about Christmas shopping? That is NOT an oversight.

First sentence struggles

Every time I write a paper, I remember that old movie Throw Momma From the Train. Does anybody else remember that? Billy Crystal is an author who can't get the first sentence of his book just right. If he can only get that first sentence, the rest of the book will flow with little effort. LOL The first sentence is always the hardest. It has to grab the attention of the reader, it has to inform, it has to lead to the second sentence. Should I use a question? 90% of the time, a shocking statistic is more effective. I'm attempting different sentences to see what works best, and I'm struggling against my perverse sense of humor and an unfortunate tendency toward really bad puns.....I am here to say this. I promise my first sentence will not be "Obesity is a growing problem". :)

I have entire paragraphs composed, I like the way my paper is going, but getting that first part exactly the way I want it is a continuous struggle. I probably spend more time trying to get a title and a first sentence than I should, but the beginning is very important. I know that I never judge a book by it's cover, but sometimes I do judge a book by it's title. The first couple of sentences will determine if I do or do not buy the book. (This is a little off topic, but I would like to point out that it's also important to never judge a book by it's movie.)

I'm off to work on my paper, and all I have to say is this: The night was sultry, and obesity is growing problem. :)

update to 'ripping out the carpet '

He says "I think the foyer will be okay like it is, I don't think I'll tile that."
I say "Okay. I'd like to redo the kitchen floor, but the foyer is okay."
time passes......
He says "it's weird that the floor in the foyer is raised. I wonder why. And did you notice that this is just a stick on laminate?"
I say "hmmmm.....that is weird. I wonder why the floor is raised."
time passes....he starts picking at the edges of the laminate on the raised floor.
time passes
I say, "it's really weird that the floor is raised..." I get down on the floor to see if that's just a sheet of plywood, or what. I laugh.
He says "what?"
I say "oh, it's just funny. This floor is tiled. The laminate is on top of ceramic tiles. When we lay down the new tiles, it should be just the right height."
He says "hmmmmm....."
time passes, he picks at the edges of the laminate.

Last night, there was nothing on tv. Nothing. If the cable service had gone out, it would have been an improvement. I guess he was finished with his book, because he got bored and went out to the shed and got a scraper, and started scraping up the laminate. Just the edge, like it wasn't an irreversible decision already. So he scrapes up enough of the laminate to see what is underneath it, and as we should have guessed from previous experience with this house (see below) there was another layer of laminate. It is absolutely hideous. Seriously, I think somebody probably bought it in 1974. From a clearance sale. They might have been paid to take it. Trailer house manufacturers in the 70's would have rejected this flooring. So we start scraping up THAT layer of laminate to get to the ceramic tiles underneath. They are even uglier than the laminate. Why? sigh. So now, in addition to laying tiles in the hallway, and painting the hallway, and the closets and the bathroom and repairing the drawers in the linen closet....we also have to remove two layers of laminate flooring, chip up the old tiles and the grout, and retile the foyer. I'm going to have to bribe my sons into coming over here and doing some manual labor. Time to make a big pot of spaghetti. :)

*previous history with house. The owner before was a contract painter. When he retired, and he was bored, his children brought him buckets of white paint so he would be happy. He liked painting. He painted the whole house white. Over and over again. Then over again. Then he painted the bricks outside white. Then he painted the sidewalks and the porch white. Then one day he painted the suburban white. Inside and out. ouch. The kids decided maybe it was time for Dad to go to an assisted living apartment. Now when we start redoing something in the house, we scrap off layers of paint only to find wallpaper. We remove the wallpaper, and find holes in the wall. Paint is peeling off the kitchen cabinets because he painted over the varnished surfaces without prepping. It's a challenge. :) So now we have tiles covered by laminate covered by laminate. eh. Adventure is always good. right?

Scattered thoughts

I've been doing research and then doing more research, and thoughts are beginning to fall out of my head and scatter on the floor. I think it's time to gather them in some form of logical order and start writing. I lay awake in bed last night thinking of way to form my report...I'm still struggling with that. I can come up with a nice sounding sentence, but it doesn't really cover all the information I want to write about, and when I try to include all the information, the sentence gets disorganized and too long. It's a work in progress. :)

I'm writing my paper about weight loss, and what I believe is the right way to do it. I've done so much research on diet plans and found so many diets that I have never heard of that I am amazed at the number of people who publish these things. I've decided that I'm going to combine some of the diets, and add another element or two, and publish my own diet plan. LOL Maybe I'll get rich.

I'm going to call it the 'Green Diet' because as you all know, GREEN is the new black. (ed. note: I am SO tired of everybody calling everything 'the new black', that has become kind of a personal joke of mine). I do, however, like the play on words. My diet plan would be 'green' because I would stress the importance of eating food in the most natural form possible, thereby reducing the carbon footprint of the processing and reducing the garbage created with packaging; I would also stress the importance of eating things that are green. (Not like moldy leftovers from the fridge, like spinach and broccoli).

I think if I combined The Banana Diet (eat a banana and drink a glass of water for breakfast every day) , The Apple Diet (eat an apple before every meal), add in the elements in several different diets that advocate eating food in its most natural form whenever possible, then add in my own encouragement to eat something green at every meal (except the breakfast banana, of course) then I could have a winner. My 'diet' would urge people to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, cut out refined sugars and the chemicals that are added to processed foods, and drink lots of water. If that is combined with some physical exercise, it would help a lot of people to lose weight and feel better. The trick to this is, I don't actually consider it a 'diet', I consider it common sense. People need to stop thinking of a 'diet' as something that prescribes a certain list of food they can eat for a specified period of time, and start thinking of a 'diet' as a lifestyle choice. No diet in the world works if it can't last forever, and most diet plans are not designed to be fulfilling to us in the long term.

I don't have my project figured out yet, but my conclusion is along these lines - the only way to achieve and maintain a healthy weight is to eat sensibly sized portions of healthy food, drink a sufficient amount of water, and get physically active.

Now, if I would only practice what I preach, I could probably lose this 30 pounds that I don't need. :)

Men (exasperated sigh, hands on hips)

So yesterday I came home from work, and his jeep was backed into the driveway; that means he was hauling something. As I stepped out of my car, a gust of wind approximately 40 degrees cooler than me sent leaves skittering across the driveway and down the street, and I indulged in a brief fantasy ' oooh, maybe he went and got some firewood....that would be nice. We could sip some wine and watch a movie with a nice roaring fire....' but then I stepped into the house. The carpet from the hallway is gone. Gone. The floor is concrete.

This is why I don't let him vacuum.


I can just imagine the process...he vacuums the dog hair out of the bedroom, he vacuums the muddy paw prints from the living room, as he is finishing up in the hallway he thinks "I hate this carpet. I've always hated this carpet, I'll be so glad when I can pull it all out and put down ceramic tile....(push the vacuum. pull the vacuum back) This carpet looks like crap. I hate this carpet. (push the vacuum, pull the vacuum back).....(push the vacuum)...you know, it wouldn't cost that much to tile just the hallway...(pull the vacuum back, mentally measuring the hallway)...I really hate this carpet....(push the vacuum, mentally pricing tile) ... stand, with the vacuum droning uselessly....he shuts off the vacuum, pushes it out of the way, and starts ripping up carpet.



This isn't entirely a bad thing. But the timing leaves a little to be desired. The problem here is finding a stopping place. If we put down tile in the hallway, we really REALLY need to paint the hallway. I don't mind painting. Well, I don't mind painting walls. I hate painting corners and trim. The hallway has three bedroom doors, one bathroom door, one linen closet that has four doors and three drawers, and a laundry room door. THEN there's the entry way, and the front door...(confession time. I started stripping the paint off the front door right after Christmas, and I haven't repainted it yet)...so we need to lay tile and paint the hallway and the entry way and the front door. We both work full time, we both take college classes, we have company coming for Thanksgiving, and OH! by the way....I'm having surgery next week. So, yeah. Should be fun. :)

As we get into bed last night, the wind blows THE BRANCH against the roof, and he says "Oh, crap. I forgot to fix that."

Tomorrow I am off work, and I'm working on my paper. I really have to get started on that.

just because

I'm sitting here working on my discussion board postings (why am I always doing this on Friday night lately? I MUST get my scheduled organized and add a few more hours into my day)....but anyway, I am working on my postings, and in the course of finding the articles to write about on the discussion board, I did find several very good articles to use for my project, so now I feel like I have a decent amount of information to study and get started on writing.

But the best part? I turned on my itunes, and made a "Genius" playlist off the Eagles Desparado, and MAN I AM LOVING THIS MUSIC. :) I really am working, music is very freeing to me, makes my mind release the stress of the day and relax and that helps me work, but I just have to say that I just listened to Billy Joel singing "Just the Way You Are" and I'm very happy and relaxed now. Oh, goody. John Mellancamp. ;)

Pre-Writing

In our first seminar we touched briefly on the pre-writing phase of our final projects, and discussed the importance of brain-storming to come up with a topic. Since that time, I've been attempting to 'brain-storm' my topic; unfortunately, that works out more like an endless loop of pointless thought process. It's more like a thoughtless process. My mind just wanders, then it wonders, then I remember the old joke about 'not letting your mind wander, because it's not big enough to be out alone'. :)



So after seminar last night I was determined to come up with a topic and move on to the next step in the process. I didn't come up with anything last night after seminar, so this morning when I woke up, I decided my first task of the day would be to GET A TOPIC. It's important. It deserves capital letters. Luckily, today I am off work and I also feel like I am over my stomach bug so it's going to be a good day. So I lay in bed and think about my paper (that passes for multi-tasking in my world). I am going to share my thought process with you. No, seriously! this is how my mind works.



"okay, I really have to think of a topic. So I have to write a scientific paper about a controversial subject. Okay. I can do that. I could write about....hmmmm......well, I could write about kids with ADHD and 'to medicate or not to medicate' but I think somebody is already writing about ADHD. I could write about.....what is that noise? Oh. The wind is blowing that tree branch against the roof again. If I thought I could get onto the roof with a chain saw I'd cut it off myself, but if I didn't kill myself trying to do it, somebody would kill me when he got home. Maybe he'll do it this weekend. I have to get him to fix Stephanie's computer too. Think about your paper, Kathy. Okay. I could write about......man, whoever said that your mind could not be a blank never met me. My mind is like the whiteboard when Ms. Perales has it set to private. ha ha You know, it's a shame that I have these beautiful french doors in my bedroom and the view is of a telephone pole with an extraordinary number of lines on it. That's not pretty. I wish that wasn't there. I wonder if I could get somebody to build a really tall fence and paint a pretty landscape on it. ha It would be nice if I could see all the way across the street to the park and the pond....think about your paper, Kathy. I could write about...okay....what's controversial? Gay marriage? Yes, but not scientific. Though isn't it odd how gay men are exposed to so much more prejudice than gay women? Or at least I think they are. I do have a gay woman friend that broke down in tears last Thanksgiving though, about abuse she has taken because of her lifestyle, so maybe not. The paper, Kathy. Controversial subjects......gay marriage, death penalty, Obama, actually politics in general....this is going nowhere. Scientific subjects....well, I'd like to research and learn more about depression and what causes it and what cures it, but that isn't controversial. I think society is basically united in the 'depression is bad' opinion. I maybe could use that for my A & P paper, though. Okay. Controversial things that affect our bodies: pregnancy, sports injuries in children, depression, piercings, tattoos.....oh my GOD that branch is driving me crazy. There's a branch on the neighbor's roof too. They are probably going to shoot out our windows if we don't get this tree trimmed. What was that dream I had last night? That was weird. I can't really remember it all, but it was something about a baby picture of my cousin, which is weird because she isn't a baby. She has grandchildren. Why was I dreaming that someone wouldn't let me have her baby picture? So strange. And then her sister was in my dream, and I don't speak to her. The subconscious mind is a strange thing. I think right before I woke up my cousin had a seizure and passed out in the bathroom, and my friend was trying to help her...maybe I could write about epilepsy? Not controversial. My cousin is controversial....but that's a different story. Sigh. Okay. Well, what else makes somebody have seizures? My friend had them once because she was taking speed to lose weight and she took too much. Wait. That might actually work!!!! I could write about obesity. Maybe not obesity, really....I think someone might already be doing that...but about weight loss products. The attitude of society that there should be an 'easy' way to lose weight. I could do that. I could write about the physiology of our bodies, what nutrients our bodies need to function, what kind of crap we fill our bodies with instead, and what we really need to do to get healthy, as opposed to what most people do, which is fill their bodies with dangerous products that make them lose weight fast and how bad that is for them."



And on that note, ladies and gentlemen, (not that there are actually any gentlemen here, but whatever) I actually got out of bed to e-mail Ms. Perales and see if that topic is acceptable. If it isn't, I'm writing a ten page paper about the tree branch that is hitting my roof. :)

I never said it would make sense....

The strangest things irritate me and make me feel incompetant. I'm sure that for the most part it is just getting used to the new term and getting back into the swing of being in class...(although how I get OUT of the swing during the short break between terms astounds me)...but what should be the simplest task seems to be beyond me at the moment. LOL
Find a specific article in the library and read it?
Check
Post an opinion of said article on the discussion board?
Check
Follow all of my classmates on their blogs?
Check
Make screenshots of Writing Center links for this weeks activity?
Che....wait. What?

Now, don't get me wrong. I know how to make the screen shots...no biggie there. But I can't find the links. I'm sure any third grader I pulled off the street (not that I would EVER actually pull a third grader off the street, but work with me here) would be able to find the links. But not me.

I'm wondering if a glass of wine might help my powers of observation. If not, it'll at least help my frame of mind. I'm disgusted with myself. Not really...I just want some wine.

See how this works? I'm writing on the blog when IT ISN'T ASSIGNED instead of finding the links and making screen shots. I WILL get this done.

The beginning

The first seminar is over, and now I'm trying to get ready for the term. I'm getting my task list in order and making sure I have all the necessary requirements to succeed in the class. I'm still not at all sure what we are supposed to be blogging about, but I can usually find something to say, so I'm sure it'll work out fine. This post is mostly to make sure that I set this up right. :) I tried several different names for my blog, and couldn't really come up with anything that I liked, then I thought that surely no one else was using 'paper plate or silver platter', and I was right. That is just a line from a song I like - basically saying that the important things in life aren't things at all.


"A lot of love and a little laughter, you'll find out that's all that really matters."