Last week was my spring break, and this week and next week, the kids are out. There's been lots of late night parties around here. Meaning, they fall asleep on the couch playing Minecraft on the Xbox. I've been back in class, preparing to write paper number two for English class, studying memory in psychology and tests coming up in both Music and Algebra early next week. Between homework, class and work, I try to catch a little sleep. There's not much time for anything else, like, say housework.
I've been trying to convince the kids to clean house for me all week while they've been home. I came home from work this morning and asked Matthew why he hadn't done dishes. "I fell back asleep." Awwww. Poor tired baby! How hard it must be to play video games all day long and then try to hold up your head to wash a plate or two, while mommy goes to work, comes home, does homework, then goes to class. I really do understand the whole animal eating their young thing.
I marched him back into the house (I found him outside picking up limbs from the yard instead of doing his own chores) and told him it was time to clean their bathroom. He made a show of putting on giant yellow gloves and a gas mask. I don't care... clean the toilet already. I've spent the last hour or so doing homework while he was "supposed" to be cleaning. I can hear him chatting with his brother and no sounds of scrubbing at all. It's going to get ugly, I fear.
This weekend is Easter and I am working. I will have to take my books to work and hopefully Sunday will be slow enough to get some studying done for my tests. I do have some time off before Sunday, but it will be the only time I have to spend with my family for the holiday, so I'm going to have to steal moments when I can. I love my family, I really, really do...
...but I hear giggling from down the hall. I'm off to find a big stick from the yard to chase him around with
until the bathroom is shiny.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Spring Break
Last week was spring break. A time to relax and recharge before heading back into the trenches. HA! Instead of going to class, I worked. When I wasn't working, I was writing a 1000 word English paper. Relax? Recharge?? I nearly fell asleep at work Sunday morning. I was never so happy for break to be over so I could get back to class. I pulled a Hail Mary and my paper was finished Sunday night, but when I went to print, I was out of printer ink. Off to Walmart. I ended up buying a small printer I could keep next to my desk instead of more ink. The printer only cost a dollar more and it came with both ink colors. Buying ink for the all in one is still needed, but it can wait another week. I've been needing this printer for a long time and running out of ink was a blessing in disguise.
The rest of spring break is a bit of a blur. Classes ended on March 7 for me and I went back yesterday, March 18. I worked 8 out of the 10 days, rotating between night shift and day shift. I've been living off of Java Monster and chicken strips. On my two days off, I squeezed in several loads of laundry. If this is what is summer vacation is looking like, I am running away.
Yesterday, I returned to class and did a peer review over our papers. I don't know if it's my lack of shame, my bold personality or sheer stupidity, but I always volunteer to go first. After reading my paper out loud, looking for mistakes and waiting for their critiques, they looked at each other and said they weren't reading their papers after that. Huh? I guess my hard work really did pay off. The only critique they could come up with was that I used the same descriptive word in one paragraph three times. I can totally fix that. I am 28 words over my goal anyway, so changing a little wording isn't going to throw off the entire process. My biggest concern is that my instructor sees my hard work the same way I do. I'm not looking to just pass this class, or any of my classes for that matter, I'm looking to pass my classes with flying colors.
I'm glad to be back in class. This week is business as usual, but next week, the boys go on spring break for two weeks and the week of April 1, my step son goes on break as well. We're hoping he can come stay with us, so I'm trying to get some serious house cleaning done between classes. Yesterday, I attacked my kitchen sink and counters with a can of Comet and a grout brush, then I set Matthew to work washing dishes in the now sparkly sinks. I know I'm going to be on my hands and knees cleaning by the end of next week. After going back to work at the store instead of class, I would much rather be cleaning my kitchen floor. It was great reminder as to why I am working so hard in college. I don't love my job anymore and I'm ready for a change in my life.
Tomorrow, I meet with my faculty adviser about what classes to take next semester. I've done some research and if I am correct, then next semester would be Math 110, Biology 137, Sociology and some sort of oral communications class. It would be the rest of my prerequisites for my major. I'm also planning on attending the pre-admissions conference for respiratory care in April. I don't know if I would be able to get in to the Spring 2014 rotation or not. I'm hoping I can. I'm working my tail off for it. If not, I'll keep taking classes until the next rotation opens. Maybe I will even be a double major. I'm not sure in what, but I'm not quitting over a class rotation. I will update how my meeting goes to see if I am on the right track.
The rest of spring break is a bit of a blur. Classes ended on March 7 for me and I went back yesterday, March 18. I worked 8 out of the 10 days, rotating between night shift and day shift. I've been living off of Java Monster and chicken strips. On my two days off, I squeezed in several loads of laundry. If this is what is summer vacation is looking like, I am running away.
Yesterday, I returned to class and did a peer review over our papers. I don't know if it's my lack of shame, my bold personality or sheer stupidity, but I always volunteer to go first. After reading my paper out loud, looking for mistakes and waiting for their critiques, they looked at each other and said they weren't reading their papers after that. Huh? I guess my hard work really did pay off. The only critique they could come up with was that I used the same descriptive word in one paragraph three times. I can totally fix that. I am 28 words over my goal anyway, so changing a little wording isn't going to throw off the entire process. My biggest concern is that my instructor sees my hard work the same way I do. I'm not looking to just pass this class, or any of my classes for that matter, I'm looking to pass my classes with flying colors.
I'm glad to be back in class. This week is business as usual, but next week, the boys go on spring break for two weeks and the week of April 1, my step son goes on break as well. We're hoping he can come stay with us, so I'm trying to get some serious house cleaning done between classes. Yesterday, I attacked my kitchen sink and counters with a can of Comet and a grout brush, then I set Matthew to work washing dishes in the now sparkly sinks. I know I'm going to be on my hands and knees cleaning by the end of next week. After going back to work at the store instead of class, I would much rather be cleaning my kitchen floor. It was great reminder as to why I am working so hard in college. I don't love my job anymore and I'm ready for a change in my life.
Tomorrow, I meet with my faculty adviser about what classes to take next semester. I've done some research and if I am correct, then next semester would be Math 110, Biology 137, Sociology and some sort of oral communications class. It would be the rest of my prerequisites for my major. I'm also planning on attending the pre-admissions conference for respiratory care in April. I don't know if I would be able to get in to the Spring 2014 rotation or not. I'm hoping I can. I'm working my tail off for it. If not, I'll keep taking classes until the next rotation opens. Maybe I will even be a double major. I'm not sure in what, but I'm not quitting over a class rotation. I will update how my meeting goes to see if I am on the right track.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Since When Is Writing Hard?
I've been struggling for the past few days with coming up with a topic for my midterm paper for my writing class. It wasn't easy, and I hope my topic isn't too mainstream and boring. I'm just going to go with it and give it everything I've got. I can change later if I need to, I guess. Up until about 3 hours ago, searching for a topic has consumed every waking moment, and a few while sleeping. The topic had to come from pop culture, has to be an analytical piece, have an argument and proof of that argument.
When I think of pop culture, I think of celebrities, television, movies, popular books, things like that. Oh good grief. I only watch 4 shows on tv when I have the time. "Grey's Anatomy", "Glee", "Bones" and "RuPaul's Drag Race". The last movie I watched was "Pitch Perfect". The books I read aren't every one's cup of tea and I doubt most people would recognize them. I wracked my brains, wondering if I should analyse the relationship between Meredith Grey and .... pick one. What is "good" drag? Ah, No. I thought I could use Friday the 13th as a basis for a good paper. The day, not the movie. But then, I decided that a superstitious date isn't exactly pop culture. Is it? I still don't know.
I wanted to be able to argue my point with whatever topic I chose. I wanted it to be thought provoking and not just a review of my favorite tv show. I also wanted it to be something I believe in. While I'm sure that picking apart Meredith Grey would have been fun in another setting, I felt the need to ground myself in reality. I REALLY wanted to write about something compelling such as the need for research on heart defects, but that becomes an informative piece, not persuasive and watching kids die wasn't pop culture either. I could write about how to change a trach all day long. I can blog with wit and sarcasm until my fingers fall off. All of these things would have been easy, but that isn't the point of the assignment. The class is Argumentative Writing.
I kept batting my ideas around and finally asked for suggestions on Facebook. I was able to narrow down the topic thanks to some wonderful friends and family. After seeing all of the ideas I had written down or in my head, one of their ideas sparked and I was able to run with it. (Thanks, Jamie!) Since I want to be able to argue and not just say "this is good, this is bad", the topic is perfect. So, until I have to revise my current outline, here is my thesis statement for my paper...
"The overuse of texting has taken away the social, verbal and written language skills of our society."
Duh!!! Blog much, Chickie girl? I use language every day and being able to write well is important to me. Of course, I text all the time, but there's a difference in texting a complete sentence and my son replying with fragments of words, intentional misspellings and at times, he actually uses the acronyms in a sentence. He actually pronounces "lol" as a word. Writing this paper is doing society a favor! Hehe.
This is about a 3 week process. I will update later after I've had it ripped apart by my instructor and classmates. Until then, have a great week!
When I think of pop culture, I think of celebrities, television, movies, popular books, things like that. Oh good grief. I only watch 4 shows on tv when I have the time. "Grey's Anatomy", "Glee", "Bones" and "RuPaul's Drag Race". The last movie I watched was "Pitch Perfect". The books I read aren't every one's cup of tea and I doubt most people would recognize them. I wracked my brains, wondering if I should analyse the relationship between Meredith Grey and .... pick one. What is "good" drag? Ah, No. I thought I could use Friday the 13th as a basis for a good paper. The day, not the movie. But then, I decided that a superstitious date isn't exactly pop culture. Is it? I still don't know.
I wanted to be able to argue my point with whatever topic I chose. I wanted it to be thought provoking and not just a review of my favorite tv show. I also wanted it to be something I believe in. While I'm sure that picking apart Meredith Grey would have been fun in another setting, I felt the need to ground myself in reality. I REALLY wanted to write about something compelling such as the need for research on heart defects, but that becomes an informative piece, not persuasive and watching kids die wasn't pop culture either. I could write about how to change a trach all day long. I can blog with wit and sarcasm until my fingers fall off. All of these things would have been easy, but that isn't the point of the assignment. The class is Argumentative Writing.
I kept batting my ideas around and finally asked for suggestions on Facebook. I was able to narrow down the topic thanks to some wonderful friends and family. After seeing all of the ideas I had written down or in my head, one of their ideas sparked and I was able to run with it. (Thanks, Jamie!) Since I want to be able to argue and not just say "this is good, this is bad", the topic is perfect. So, until I have to revise my current outline, here is my thesis statement for my paper...
"The overuse of texting has taken away the social, verbal and written language skills of our society."
Duh!!! Blog much, Chickie girl? I use language every day and being able to write well is important to me. Of course, I text all the time, but there's a difference in texting a complete sentence and my son replying with fragments of words, intentional misspellings and at times, he actually uses the acronyms in a sentence. He actually pronounces "lol" as a word. Writing this paper is doing society a favor! Hehe.
This is about a 3 week process. I will update later after I've had it ripped apart by my instructor and classmates. Until then, have a great week!
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