Catch Up

Hello!

It has been so long since I last posted. I feel very badly about that. On my last few posts I told you how I went back to college to get a degree in English. It's been a little over a month now, and I'm still at it. The experience is everything, and more, than I thought it would be. The best part of college this time is that I get to see my daughter twice a week. She's been great. She helps me with so many things like accessing the computer and telling me where things are and most importantly sharing dinner with me on Tuesday's before my night class. She also shares a few of her friends with me, Samantha and Stephanie. They live in the same house with her and I get to visit with them. The really cool thing about getting to know them is that I get their names confused all the time. Neither one of them corrects me. They kind of giggle at it. At least I treat them the same way I treat everyone else in my life, I confuse their names too.

Well, it is mid-term time and I am doing the take home tests. That is perhaps the biggest difference about college this time. I think it's because it is a liberal arts program and not the professional program I did with PT the first time. The classes now, are not as stressful. That doesn't mean they are easier, because there is a ton of reading and writing to do, but they aren't life and death like PT was. PT was biology and chemistry and labs and write ups. Every quiz or test was intense. If I didn't get the grade I was in jeopardy of getting kicked out of the program. With this English degree there is more verbal discourse. There is an exchange of ideas~not right or wrong answers so much just support for a text or meaning of a text.

My professors are all younger than I. They are very kind and helpful. The girls in my class are more accepting of me as time passes. At first I think I was considered the "old lady" who might ruin the curve. Then I think I became the "neurotic old lady who loved to read and discuss." Now I think I'm the "old lady who has four kids, a busy business and a lot of homework." Hopefully, I'll make some new friends.

Other areas of my life are plodding along. My PT work is slow and that worries me. Even though I have a lot of homework, I still need the PT income, so I'm hoping it will pick up. The house work and cares with the family are a juggling act. I try to prioritize face to face time with my family and squeeze in the laundry, grocery list and cooking. My husband has been helping me most. But things are messy and done half-hazardly.

Right now, I'm concentrating on finishing the semester. I'm not sure I'll go beyond this semester because of the costs of college and the demands of family. I have loved it so far. I've got a few more weeks to think about next semester.

Well, it's late and I'm beat. I'll write sooner, I promise. Until then...

Have hope,
Donna