Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.....

I hate snow. My husband loves it. We don't get much here in the Northwest, but when we do, all heck breaks lose. Today is the first snow of the season. We mainly get rain here, but the weather "experts" have decided that because it is a La Nina year, then we will probably be in for some rough times. Last week, we had a wild windstorm that blew down my patio umbrella, knocked over the table, and almost took out one side of the deck railing. They predicted a "slight breeze" that day. Phooey.

Today, its snow. When we heard it was coming late last week, I became anxious. Argggh! I'll have to drive in it at some point, I thought to myself. Out with the boots, scarves, mittens, and windshield scrapers. With the snow brings cranky, inept, or crazy drivers. Nice to look at, but that's about it. Then, last night, I heard the sound of kids laughing and screaming. Neighbors came outside and actually started talking to each other. Dan (my husband) was absolutely beaming....I don't know why he loves it so much. I took the bundled baby outside to see how she would react to it. She had a look of pure concentration as she looked up at the softly cascading flakes. A small bit of the frozen fluff landed on her nose. It was then I remembered how excited I used to get at the thought of snow when I was a kid. As I looked again, I could have sworn that I saw little white fairies dancing on the evening breeze.

Let's Not Forget to be Thankful...

I was listening to the radio this morning on the way to work, and the morning show entertainers brought up a very good point about how we rush through the holiday way to fast. I love the holidays. I include Halloween and Thanksgiving in the line-up as well as Christmas and New Year's. But what I absolutely HATE about these last few months of the year is that it seems like everyone is chomping at the bit to get straight to Christmas, completely bypassing Thanksgiving, and leaving New Year's Eve as an afterthought. No wonder we all feel so let down the day after Christmas. The problem is that people generally don't take the time to appreciate the essence of each holiday, as one would savor the juicy flavors of the Thanksgiving turkey and the sweet spiciness of mom's pumpkin pie. As a person who values sensory experiences, I try to take my time to enjoy it all, as it comes in its own good time. What really gets me is walking into Walmart on Nov. 1st, fresh from the Halloween candy hangover, only to be greeted by a gigantic Christmas tree and winter wares all around me. It saddens me that commercialism is what it really boils down to these days, especially when the economy is stale and most of us are just trying to make ends meet, not load up our credit cards as many of us have during previous holiday shopping seasons. Families that make the decision to forget about gift giving and volunteering together during this time of the year really inspire me. They are the ones that "get it." Personally, I would rather have a fun holiday season enjoying the warmth and closeness of my family and friends in hearty celebration, than getting that Kindle, or an expensive pair of heels this year. Let's all make it a point to start simmering in the true meaning of the Holidays by giving Thanksgiving its due, and truly give thanks for the blessings we have in our lives, even if we are having personal, financial, or medical hardships. These too, shall pass.

little moments II

I can relate to my fellow student's post about kids. Only I was nervous about having my first child because I didn't know if I had what it takes to be a good mom. I am an only child, and there were never many opportunities for me to be around babies and young children as I got older, so I had no clue as to how to take proper care of them. I worked at a daycare center in college for a short time, but that didn't qualify me to be an expert full time mom! When I did have my daughter 9 months ago, I quickly learned that this "job" can only be learned once your'e on it. But motherhood is an awesome adventure. Currently, the thinking is that I only want to have 2 children, but I do really want the next one to be a boy. Maybe my husband and I will be the type of couple who get 3 girls before we get a boy. That would be a trip! The one lesson that I really have taken to heart in having a child is that NOTHING is more important than family. My daughter, my husband, my parents and in-laws, and my own grandmother always come first when they need me. Without my family, I have absolutely nothing. Here is a link to the post that inspired mine:

http://imaginationunknown.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-moments.html

The Challenge

This week's blog question pertains to academic challenges. What is a particular challenge that sticks out to me at the moment? I think one challenge is gaging what to focus on and what cn be put on the back burner when I read my tex books. Being in the health field, there is A LOT of useful information to retain. However, not all of us in the Health Sciences school are here to become medical assistants, or nurses. I am here to complete a degree in Health Information Technology. Many of the concepts in my studies will have little or no value to me in my career. I can't always predict what exactly I will need to know, but I can get a feel of what may be the ideas and facts that I should be paying the closest attention to. For instance, I am currently taking Pharmacology. In my text, it explains how to administer medication intravenously. This is essential to a nursing student, but probably not helpful to someone in my area. I also have taken a medical terminology class, which will come in handy at some point in the future. I guess it all boils down to there will never be a one-size-fits-all course of study, and that we have to learn to discern the what is going to be the most beneficial areas to focus on, and to ditch the rest....as long as we learn enough to pass the course!

What's been goin' on?!

Well,
What's been going on in the past six weeks is really what has been going on for the past year or so. Ever since I have decided to go back to school, everything has been thrown into chaos, it seems. I really get frustrated to the point of tears, sometimes. I get resentful of the extra burden I have put upon myself with taking classes, although I know that getting a degree is one of the best things I can do for myself. It seems like the whole world can be against you when you try to better yourself in any way. I have shifted my life into overdrive compared to what it once was, and compared to what many people are doing these days....and that is simply surviving.
I suppose it would be much easier to go to school right now, if I was not a new mom. I have an eight month old now, and like other babies, she demands quite a lot of my time. I feel guilty most of the time when I have to take time to complete what I can for my studies, because if feels to me like I am not being fair to her. I am sorry if this is beginning to sound like a pity party, but this is actually hurtful to me. The way I see it, she just needs her mommy right now, and she is certainly entitled to that. I feel like I fail her in that respect sometimes. So, as a consequence, I don't do as well as I feel I could in some classes. When push comes to shove, my family always win out. I'm not capable of thinking any other way. But this pulling in all directions is tough. I also work full time, have a husband and a house to keep. The house continuously loses out! My parents taught me never to give up, however. They taught me to be like a bulldog in that manner. Sometimes I can't help but feel like I am the only one who struggles this much. Sometimes I feel like I bit off much more than I can chew even though I only did for the ultimate benefit of my family. My self worth rides on if I feel that I have tried to contribute in the best way I can with the most effort I can possibly give, even if that means running on a lot less sleep than I did before. If anything, going to school has been a humbling experience after having to ask several of my instructors to be patient with me and not take me for a slacker if there are assignments being turned in late. Its not that I don't care, its just that I don't have any more hours in the day than anybody else. It is common knowledge that being a parent, employee, spouse and student is not an easy feat to pull off for anyone, but for someone who sets standards that are perhaps a little too high for themselves, it more often than not feels like the loneliest place in the world.

....thought theft.

If I were in the situation where someone had stolen my original ideas, I would not take too kindly to that, especially if this person were to gain monitarily from it. The appropriate form of action I suppose would to contact a lawyer specializing in these situations. I'm not ashamed to say it, I would try to get some money from that individual, because with thieves, the only way to hit back in a meaningful way is through the pocket book. The only way that someone could take my original ideas, other than anything I might have said aloud, is from anything I write online in my blog, on Face book, or in any emails I might send. With friends and family, the rules are a lot more relaxed on this, because I trust them not to use things against me or to profit and then not share any gains with me. However, if a complete stranger plagiarized my work, it would be a different story. I can see how difficult it would be to try and copyright something written on face book, or submitted to YouTube, etc. If it is willingly submitted publicly on a privately owned site, then the legal ownership of the content remains questionable. In my opinion, if someone were to submit a document to Wikipedia or a video to YouTube, then those sites should be required to seek permission to re submit the content to other sites. The way I see it, because you own the site, it doesn't mean you should have the only say as to where else the content should be submitted.

Students without faces...

Yeah,
that was meant to get your attention. I don't mean literally "without faces," of course. The best part about being an online student is the flexibility, I think. With my busy schedule, it helps that I can go to class when I'm not at work, and access assignments and message boards in the middle of the night, if needed. I find that because of the anonymity of the format at Kaplan, the instructors and the students try very hard to create a sense of community, and a different sort of "student life" emerges. The message boards, chat rooms, and blogging opportunities give us a chance to interact and empathize with one another in a meaningful way, if we choose to utilize them. I think maybe students should make more of an effort to contact each other outside of class, even after the class has ended. Even though we are all very busy people, perhaps it would be a way to bring students closer and find a way to offer emotional support to each other throughout the Kaplan experience.

The only drawback is that we rarely get a glimpse of each other's faces.