Well this is my last blog update.  The class seems to be going well and I don't have any complaints about anything.  I have definitely been forced to write more of my thoughts and try to let all of my restraints fall to the side and trudge through.

I still have an issue with final drafts.  I can't seem to get a handle on always wanting to cut and replace thoughts.  But as with life sometimes perfection is only in the eye of the beholder.  We strive to get there, but there is always going to be a flaw that someone points out, or one that we try to hide and hope it doesn't come to light.

I just hope that my flaws add to my charisma. 

Well the homework for this week is definitely going to be interesting.  I have read both stories in the past, but I have never studied dialogue.  The example in the book is a little help, in compare and contrast, but another would have been helpful.

To compare and contrast the two is going to be hard.  Both writers are a world apart in many aspects.  Especially in dialogue.  I have seen Poe's work recreated in a one person play, and it was very gripping to watch as a many claiming to be sane falls apart at the seams.


This is a paper that can't be written on a late night.  I have sat and read and then reread the stories trying to figure out a place to start.  The paper will have to wait until tomorrow to complete.  I have ideas running in all directions of my rough draft and it resembles the true definition of a chicken with it's head cut off.  Hopefully all will come together in the end.

Well this has been a week of fall break.  My family and I have spent a week in Orlando.  Every day has been a new and different adventure.  One day was spent at Gatorland just peeking in through fences at the "wild and dangerous."  Another day spent in a canoe on the Little Manatee River actually seeing gators in nature, no fence or obsructions to prevent danger.  I link these experiences to what could be my attitude toward this class.

I could choose the Gatorland experience and keep at a safe distance and just coast, never really learning anything and only experience what I'm told.  Or I could choose the up close and in your face experience that will stick with me as far as I want to take it.

I think I am choosing the full experience.  Why else would I pay so much for an education and not learn anything.  I want to remember what I learn and the hands on way is how I can pass on what I know. 

     This week had definitely gotten off on a running start.  We have started reading poetry.  I do have some favorite poets, but some I have a hard time understanding.  I guess with poetry it can be interpreted differently according to the reader and whether it touches a response in each person.
     Reading for me is many times like a vacation.  I can be take to different worlds, times, and places all without leaving my side of the bed.  The lamplight can become a moonlit path to a beach, or the sunrise on a mountainside. 
     Poetry requires a little more concentration or deep insight to understand where the writer is trying to lead the reader.  I just have to keep in mind to take it slow and savor each line or else I might get motion sickness, and not enjoy the experience. 

Week 4

Well it's week 4 and I think I have written more papers in these four weeks then I wrote all last semester.  I'm already trying to look forward to the reserch paper that's due the end of this semester.

In the past I have been a person that liked to wait until the last minute, but with 3 children and a new job that requires 40+ hours a week I can't afford to wait until the last minute.  With my luck if I did one of us would catch the Flu.

I'm still trying to figure out how I complete English 100 and English 300, but skipped 200 without someone telling me before now.  Well I guess they may not  be a pre requisite.

Week 3

Well it is another Monday.

I work with special needs children and sometimes Monday is a new beginning.  The weekend seems to throw everyone off of schedule.  The best way I have found to look at Mondays are that they are the start over button.  If something didn't work last week, just pick up and start over on a Monday.  I wish everything were that easy.

To have the privilege to work with special need children is truly a blessing.  They can be so innocently and bluntly honest, sometimes it hurts.  The children I work with, their love just seems to shine from every pore of their body.  If I'm having a bad day they can sense it and only try harder to make me smile.  If you've never experienced the love of one of these children I suggest volunteering to see what you're missing out on.

Special need individuals are not helpless or lower in class.  Many times they have better manners and more education than those they pass on the street.

So next Monday, press your start over button, and get to know someone special.

Week 2

Well as a returning non-traditional student this week has been full of ups and downs.  I spent the entire week trying to pick up classes so I can fulfill my full time status, and make sure that I don't take classes that I don't need.  Today was the final drop/add day and I find out that my full time status doesn't really matter because my financial aid is in limbo.  So now is decision time.  Do I keep the classes that I have fought all week to get into and just come back next semester?  Or do I go forward and hope everything works out?

Well I must go to part time, and drop half of my much fought over classes.  This means that I will have less out of pocket if my financial aid falls through and that my family gets to see more of my smiling face since I won't be secluding myself in my husbands office at night.

For anyone considering going back to school, it can be done!!!

Don't let doubts and worries keep you from doing it.  It is a great experience.  I thought about it for years and thought that I didn't have time or would not be able to do the work.  Believe me, I'm up for the challange and the sense of accomplishment is the power that keeps me going.  With 3 children housework never seems to end, and the laundry will always pile up.  The thing to remember is that each assignment down is one step closer to the finish line and a great career.  My children will grow up and start doing their own laundry, in their own houses and I will need something to do with my time.  Other than spoil my grandchildren. 

And a final note, if I finish with 3 children, then they don't have an excuse not to finish when they graduate high school!