Keep on keepin' on.........

I think the sign says Grad fair....maybe

It's a bit of a gauntlet, but if you visit every table and have your "card" marked you might win a ring and a frame for your diploma.....

It has been an interesting week.  My coworker put in her two week notice ~ something I knew would happen, as her boyfriend of almost 2 years lives in Farmington (close to the 4 corners area) and she has been driving there nearly every weekend.  She applied for and accepted a job there, so she'll be leaving Albuquerque.  I am really happy for her, she deserves happiness and we're hoping to hear of a wedding soon.  But her announcement had an unexpected consequence.  Ms. Loud (remember?) came up with an idea that the practice should split her salary between the remaining 3 of us instead of hiring a new employee.  She passed it off to me as our office manager's idea, but I knew better.  It sounds just like her.  And per usual, she tried to cram it down everyone's throat.  Although I would love to earn $X more per hour, I really don't want to give up my every-other-4-day-weekends, which I would have to do once a month.  Plus, when one of us is on vacation, it would be difficult.  So, the next day I had decided I wasn't as enthused, but our OM said that a decision wasn't going to be made that Thursday.  And Ms. Loud pouted and grumped all day.  I was glad to leave early for class and have four days without being around her.

Thursday nights class was a disaster.  The grad student instructor ~ hereby to be addressed as GSI (lol) had told us on Wednesday that we would have a writing assignment Thursday.  But in true fashion, she allowed the students to talk so long that we didn't have time to do it.  She really needs to learn management.  So, she told us we should turn in our assignment before midnight ~ AHHHH! ~ but we were saved by one guy who said that when he gets home it's all about his wife and kids, so she gave us until 11am today.  So, I had to reschedule my Friday.  Not much of a big deal, but I am now so irritated with the day that it bugged.  

I had also planned to leave class and go to the monthly ladies group meeting at the church after class ~ one of the reasons I was glad to have a bit of a reprieve on the assignment.  The meeting is at 6:30, but I arrived early because the university is close by and class ends at 5:45.  So, I help the president of the organization get stuff together.  But 15-20 minutes after it started I knew I had made a mistake.  It was boring, and since I'm not on a committee, I didn't have anything to do.  I left there at nearly 8pm.  Twelve hour days are exhausting.  I won't be making that mistake again until after school is done, if at all.  

This photo is just an example of the cap & gown color.......

My goal for today ~ other than playing racquetball, which was fun fun ~ I went to UNM for the last day & as it turned out the last hour of the grad fair.  I bought my cap, gown and frame for my diploma, as they were offering a discount of 25% during the fair.  It is so exciting to have it!  It's really going to happen!  Woo hoo!  So, when I have a crappy day at class, I'll go into the closet and gaze fondly at my graduation regalia and remind myself it's nearly over.  And although I wasn't planning on buying a ring, I did.  It's quite different!

This is just an example of course.  The stone will be a garnet ~ it's my birthstone and UNM's colors are red and silver.  There's a ring presentation on May 1st, and apparently they dip your hand into red dye for the occasion.  Hey, in for a penny, in for a pound!  Might as well go for the whole experience.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone...

Love, 365

It's an investment......

In December I had to take my aging Rodeo for repairs, and the shop recommended that I have brake work done in 3 months....apparently my rear brakes were pretty worn out.  This week I had to get a new battery and have the brake work done.  Of course the brakes cost more than their estimate.....they had recommended the front rotors to be machined but I knew they would have to be replaced because they've been machined once already......still less expensive than a car payment, but does nothing to ease my desire for a new suv.  Two of my coworkers bought new vehicles this month.  Both purchased Toyota 4 Runners which are very nice, but the gas mileage isn't very impressive.  My Rodeo gets about the same, and I want the next vehicle to have much better mileage ~ and a backup camera ~ and to pair with my phone.  I remember how excited I was to buy a vehicle with cup holders and a 4 CD player, lol.  Times have changed, huh?

What struck me as funny was when the guy at the repair shop told me "your total investment is....".  Investment.  I suppose it is an investment in my own safety, the brakes are great, but as far as investment, not so much.  IF I could sell it for more than 5,000 I'd be surprised, and I just put in a bit over 2,000 in repairs and maintenance.  Hmph. 

 Here are the two investments I enjoy the most....my boys.  :-)

Have a great weekend!

Love, 365

Arriving at the end.......

Fake chickens....my sister doesn't have them in the yard anymore, hahahaha

Why fake chickens?

No one knows.....

As most of you who sometimes read this normally pointless blog know, I will be graduating with my bachelor's degree in a little over 2 months.  We have another long term commitment that will be completed in 5 months.  Our mortgage.  I had called the mortgage company a few weeks ago because I couldn't find my tax return document, and after the guy I spoke to had helped me navigate the web site to find it, he also mentioned that we will soon be making our last payment.  I knew this of course.  Anyone with a mortgage looks forward to that final payment.  Unbeknownst to me, the final payment is handled a bit differently than all the payments that precede it.  It has to be made with a certified check, or cashiers check or something like that.  Interesting.  So, they have been automatically withdrawing our monthly payment for 15 years.  I don't really understand the reason for this change, but I will call them a month before to get the payoff amount and arrange for the check.  I just thought it was interesting that they trusted me for the last 15 years but not for the last payment.

I'm looking forward to it because I had thought that the first thing we would do is purchase a new car for me.  I have been driving the same vehicle for longer than the mortgage.  Romeo said "Once the mortgage is paid.......we'll redo the roof".  I was deflated.  Guess that new vehicle will have to wait.  In the meantime, I'm going to start some test driving. ;-)

On Tuesday our instructor was out, apparently she was interviewing at a university in Toronto.   She had someone come in and show us a movie about William Walker ~ someone you probably don't know much about unless you study American history during the expansion period.  I certainly had never heard of him.  Here is a review of the movie by Vincent Canby if you're interested.  Personally I found it boring.  Especially after the first hour.  Parts of it remind me of Monty Python.  The story takes place in the late 1800s, but there's a car speeding down the road, guys drinking Coke and using zippo lighters to light their Marlboro's.  These are "anachronisms" that are intended to point out the continued "filibuster-ing" of Central America by the U.S.  Whatev.  

I digress, because she started out telling us we would watch the last 15-20 minutes of the film.  But she never got there.  Instead she handed us a list of the questions that go with our readings, and a handful of different maps.  We were to answer the questions as a group, but our group, which has some of the more knowledgeable folks of C. Amer. history in it just sat there.  We didn't discuss much.  Instead, some of the group were looking at the maps and putting them together in chronological order.  Then, ignoring the questions, she had each group stand up with our maps in order.  The first group, which I felt sorry for, were first ~ and like me, they didn't have a clue what to do.  They were chastened for not being in the right order or knowing what was going on.  It was a fiasco that is typical of her teaching style.  Oh, and I forgot that she announced at the beginning of class that if you had a "see me" note on your essay, it meant you didn't meet the mark on your essay, oh, and please stay after class to go over it.  Humiliating much?  I can't wait to be done with it.  As I've said before, I wish I had taken the medieval wanderers class.  =sigh=  

Love, 365

Oh, and I made a 87 on my essay, which I was happy with. 

Family......

I don't know why I put this photo in.....I just saw it in my photos

Yesterday was family day.  Not long after I sat down to read my class material, my eldest son called ~ well to fair I texted and asked if he was free for a call and he called me.  Talking to him is rather like talking to an automaton.  He rarely expresses himself on the phone.  Here's an example:

"How are things going?"

Answer: "Fine......(crickets in the background)"

Yeah, well it's typical for him to be this way on the phone.  It's like I have to pry the news out of him with a crow bar.  

While I'm on the phone with him my youngest calls, so I call him back.  He is extremely animated on the phone, and gushes out a bunch of info in a relatively short period of time.  He makes me laugh.  My eldest makes me worry.

Then I call my Mom because I know my sister is there to stay with her while Mom's care-giver is in the hospital receiving his last cancer treatment.  I tell her that Son #2 is coming for the graduation, he's sent me his itinerary and they will be here together.  She claims the bed in one of the spare rooms, and I tell her she would have it at any rate, #2 can have the air mattress, and we both laugh.  She might not laugh so much when she remembers that our spare bed is a single.  At least it's cozy and the mattress has a pillow top on it. :-)

By this time I have spend a little over 2 hours on the phone and have read nothing.  I berate myself for sabotaging my efforts and get to it.  I did get some done, but put off a bit to read at lunch today....and as I start the long article I think to myself that I've read it before.  It seems familiar.  And sure enough it is an article we read the first week of class.  I assure myself that senility is not yet settling in as I thought.  Whew!  So, I suppose I am ready for tomorrow.  

I just have to stay off the damnable phone. :-)

Love, 365

Patchwork thoughts......

I am that girl ~ but I admit that after having 3 class days off, it was tough to go back on Thursday.  And our grad student instructor was nearly manic.  I think she was irritated that the uni announced a snow day, lol.  But she continues to fail to lead us in a logical way.  I overheard three of my class mates discussing it on Thursday.  I think she is trying to break away from the usual highly structured classroom, and I commend her for that ~ but it's not really working. 

Romeo has been substitute teaching this past week.  The school was so close he simply walked there and back, which he loved.  His one issue with substituting is that the school be within a 5 to 15 min drive and no further, which makes sense because they don't pay much.  If he has to drive 30 minutes, then it's simply not worth it no matter how cheap gas is.  It does provide us with a little more discretionary income which is always welcome!

Speaking of jobs, even though I do enjoy working where I'm at right now, I might consider looking for a job that pays better after graduation.  I really need to stay put until graduation though.  Who else is going to let me leave for class?  I consider it a huge bonus that they support me in that way, but don't be deluded....they also don't need to pay me for those hours either.  The only requirement they have is that my coworkers are ok with me leaving on certain days and times.   What about loyalty you say?  Well, considering I have worked there for over 4 years and I'm still way underpaid, and considering the history, I don't see them changing that anytime soon. 

Lest we all forget that "spring forward" is right around the corner.....

Oh, I think I can think of a few more things that suck time away.....like blogging, haha.

Love, 365

This is no way to spend a day off.........

This cartoon is a complete description of my life......

I have only just finished writing my essay.  I started it on Saturday, made a bit of progress on Sunday, and then spent the entire day today ~ with the expected interruptions of laundry, bed making and sustenance like lunch and dinner ~ finishing it.  

This is what I do.  I receive an assignment and then procrastinate.  The result is that I get it done, but not without gnashing of teeth, and wondering if I should call in sick the next day as I keep hitting road blocks.  Or writers block.  

At least I don't have to take a vacation day to finish it.  

I don't do this when I have exams, so I perplex myself on why I do it with writing assignments.  In some respects I think my writing somewhat improves when the deadline is looming.  But I think that the real reason I've procrastinated this time is that I have problems understanding what this instructor wants.  She's made some improvements, but it will take some time for her to be clear in her presentations.  Oh well.  It's done.  I just wanted to crow about it a little......

Love, 365

Don't you hate it when.......

...and the best laid plans seem to always go awry.

I've been working on my paper and hit a bit of a mental snag.  So, I'm taking a bit of a break from the tedium that is writing college papers.  

Yesterday it took me an hour or so to really get into writing.  I had just gotten the hang of it when I had to stop to shower & get ready to go to the church, since I had volunteered to help out with setting up for a post-baptism meal that the child's parents had put on.  In my previous Protestant life, baptisms were not followed by a catered lunch.  But, I know that Catholics throw a fairly big shindig whenever they can, and baptisms are one of those.  I am still new to orthodoxy, so I continue to learn new things.  The ladies group I joined posts a list of "happenings" for each month, and in the spirit of things I signed up for the event that happened yesterday.  For some reason I was under the impression it was just decorating.  When I arrived, the hall was already decorated.  Apparently what I signed up for was to heat up all the food and then help serve.  So I immediately texted Romeo and told him it was not going to take the hour I set aside.  It turned out to be 3 1/2 hours instead.  

The only downside for me was that I knew that I would not be writing after I returned home.  I was really tired......and being around a group of Greek women that have done this for ages was a little stressful.  I kept trying to find ways to be helpful and follow their direction.  Then it was cleanup time, and that took awhile too.  I arrived at 2:30 and was not home again until nearly 6:30.  And I had a raging headache.  Luckily, two Advil did the trick, but I was in no mood to sit at my desk.  

They did have some wonderful food that had been prepared the day before.  Chicken and spinach wrapped in philo dough, and a beautiful eggplant parmesan that was rolled to resemble rosettes.  It all smelled wonderful.  And they let me take enough of the food left over so that Romeo and I could have some.  Don't get me wrong, it was delicious.  But after some thought, I decided that I am a huge fan of tacos.  Which I would have enjoyed so much more than this complicated and delicate Greek food.  Truly the one Greek dish I really like is gyros.  And that's just a sandwich, haha.  

Yes, I'll have tacos please.......

The next time I volunteer for an event at the church, I'll email and ask how long the event will be.....

Love, 365

Quiet.........

Early morning in Comfort, Texas

It was quite early when I got up this morning, Romeo let the dog out and when she was finished, came back upstairs to bed.  I couldn't go back to sleep so wandered into my office with my coffee to read blogs and finish waking up.  An hour later I hear a bit of traffic, and the box fan we use as white noise but nothing else.  It's funny how sometimes I relish those quiet moments, while other times I prefer to listen to music or watch the news to fill the silence.  

 Sioux has a very early internal alarm....

One of you bloggers mentioned how some folks post every day or nearly so.....it made me think of how I barely manage one post a week.  I think my life is so full of stuff to do I find it difficult to write of the flow of life in our household as it is mostly uneventful.  Which is a blessing in my eyes.  

Romeo is struggling to figure out what to do with his time now that he is retired.  It's tough when one of a couple is still working and the other isn't.  He does do the majority of the house cleaning and cooking, although I get into the kitchen during the weekends because although he does a fair job, I just can't do his simple meals 7 days out of 7.    It's really not that mine is complicated ~ it's that the flavors are more complex.  I think we need to go to 5 Star Burgers this weekend.  They have a great bison burger and wonderful sweet potato fries. It'll be a nice change from cooking at home......

I have an essay to write this weekend, so will be very busy while sitting.  I'm going to try getting up every hour for a 15 min walk on the treadmill.  If I go outside, I doubt I will come back, haha.  

Tuesday morning was a dreadful day to have to drive to work, as we had snow......it wasn't too bad until the last 1/3 of the drive, and then it was awful.  I put on my brakes (at an intersection) but continued to slid around, as did many others.  There were over 100 accidents.  I was thankful that UNM closed (as did all schools) because I really didn't want to venture onto the freeway to go to class.  I think our instructor was a bit peeved, but I'm not sure if it was because we didn't have any class this week (she was out yesterday) or because students were asking for the scan of one of our reading assignments from the textbook they should have had 4 weeks ago.  I mentioned in class that I got the book for less than $10 from Amazon, but since she was providing copies I guess they decided not to buy it or check it out.  She sent us an email with GET THE BOOK all in caps.  I had to chuckle.  Students are notoriously lazy.  I include myself in that ~ case in point, I've known about the essay for two weeks and haven't started it yet.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love, 365

Treading the waters........

Happy Belated Valentine's Day ~ a holiday that is highly over-rated 

and downright cruel to some.....

You know how I can tell that we are fully into the semester?  You guessed it ~ I rarely have any real "down" time.  Even if I am relaxing for an hour or so, my thoughts keep drifting to all that I have to get done.  I have a paper due in 10 days that I haven't started yet.  Why?  Because I was too busy studying for the writing assignment we had to do in class last Thursday, and I have a ton of reading to do for Tuesday.  There's no class on Thursday, but we are required to turn in our thesis statements and list of sources by 4:30pm.   So, I will have to be satisfied by what I've read today and start on that tomorrow afternoon, because I am working Monday - Thursday next week.  

Because I have very little interest in politics and government, the readings are laborious and have little information that holds my interest.  I find that after 30 minutes my mind starts to wander, and I have the overwhelming urge to go do something else.  And although I realize that forcing myself to continue is not conducive to retaining it, I do it anyway, or I don't get it done in time.  So, I have to write notes so that I can refer back to the "relevant" info ~ even though I discover that what I consider relevant and what our instructor considers relevant don't always match.  She is doing a better job of giving us that information ~ in lists ~ of what she wants us to know.   The problem is, I just don't find it interesting.  The colonization of Central America is very much like the colonization of any other country.  The natives are enslaved, or killed (either by force or disease), their land taken away from them, etc., etc.  Goods and valuable metals are sent back to the "Mother Country" to enrich the monarchy or to fund European wars.  Social classes are developed in line with the invaders country of origin, and of course, further beats down any attempt of the indigenous people to rise up and threaten the colonizers.  Ho, hum, same ol, same ol.  It's really quite embarrassing to be European in the America's, considering what was done to the original inhabitants, although of course, I didn't personally DO anything, I still am profiting by my heritage.  Which, I discovered with my participation in 23 & Me is European.  Sigh.

3 1/2 months to go.  

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Work has had it's moments too ~ we have a lady who wants to have some major dental work done, and there were some issues with the insurance, namely we didn't file the preauthorization correctly, which required me to call and spend hours on the phone trying to sort out.  Then she decides she can't wait any longer and then the Dr. changes the treatment plan, which basically threw out all the work I had put in on the aforementioned claim out the window.  Or down the toilet.  Pick your analogy.  On Thursday she came in and we were discussing the change in treatment amongst ourselves, and she thought we were making fun of her (because later she heard laughter, totally unrelated to her) ~ which we weren't, but we shouldn't have been doing that where she could hear it.   Stupid, stupid.  I feel really bad about it, but there's no use in trying to explain it to her.  But if we are filing the claim, we need to understand the issues.  Still.  Ugh.  I'm sure we're going to hear about that next week.  She has not been an easy person to deal with in the first place.  She already accused me of lying to her to our office manager, she's on the outs with one of my other co-workers, but now she wants me to call her instead of the other person.  Knots tied up in knots.  Maybe I can call in sick next week........

And now because we need something funny to lighten the mood...

Enjoy your weekend, and don't forget to floss!

Love, 365

The Good & Bad in all of us......

Bing images...

I've been watching The Story of God with Morgan Freeman ~ it's a series on Netflix that Romeo stumbled on recently.  The second episode deals with evil, posing the question on whether or not evil exists.....which I found very interesting.  I immediately agreed that evil exists.  Don't we see it every day?  Mass shootings, serial killers, and of course the lesser evils that FB posts constantly of animal abuse and cruelty; included in this I place indifference ~ for example an elderly man trips and falls and no one approaches to help.  Interestingly, In Hiduism, it is believed that good and evil exists naturally as an integral part of creation itself.  Not all evil is attributed to man ~ it can be caused by demons, gods and deities (interesting distinction, I thought they were the same thing).  Buddists believe that we all live with the good and evil inside of all of us ~ a duality that must be fought daily.  

Morgan Freeman narrates The Story of God and does not limit himself to Christianity.  He travels the world to ask religious leaders and followers for answers to the question he poses at the beginning of each episode.  If nothing else, it is an education of the myriad of practices over the globe.  Some are recognizable (to Americans) and some are exotic, beautiful, or strange and incomprehensible.   Curiosity takes me to strange and wonderful places.   

********************************

I did hear back from our grad student instructor.  I thought she took the criticism rather well ~ she did say she appreciated the feedback, that she would be careful to explain in a "more linear way" and that class would become easier as we get further into it.   So, time will tell.  If I could though, I would switch to the Medieval traveler class.  Life is ever filled with disappointments and regrets....haha.

And now for some lighter thoughts.....

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love, 365

Mixed emotions.....

WEEK 3

There are a number of issues I have for this final semester.  My goal is nearing its end.  I am nearly done.  Although I have sometimes had the feeling of "what the hell am I doing?" before, it is particularly poignant at this stage of the game.  

I expected to feel done with it all, but am committed.  It's like a marathon that was fun, exciting, painful, and horrifying and now you see the finish line and for some awful reason your feet don't want to move anymore.  Frozen in place.

 

Many of my professors have demonstrated total organization.  Each class has it's own agenda, power point, readings and explanations.  Last semester our professor was the best example of this.  Although obvious that she has been teaching this class for years, I appreciated her power point presentations, and the mini break when she would show us clips of Monty Python's Holy Grail.  She knows what she is doing, because she's been doing it for years.  

My current instructor is a graduate student.  She obviously knows her stuff.  But her class is disorganized at best.  She will start to make a point and then rush on into another before finishing the first one.  I missed class on Thursday when we were to have the first of 5 in class writing assignments.  (Most of my co-workers have been sick the past week and shared).  I offered to send her the assignment in an email and she agreed (which she didn't have to do).  And in the email I sent her this: I want to take a moment to admit to you that I am having a little bit of trouble in class.  I am not familiar with Central America, and so the terms and theories you put forth are unfamiliar to me.  It is so much easier to grasp the ideas when you explain them thoroughly.  Your enthusiasm gets the better of you, and sometimes you don't finish your thoughts before you move on to something else.  Anything you could do to help would be so appreciated!  And that is the problem in a nutshell.  She throws out terms, many times in Spanish without explaining what they are.  She was discussing 3 points of what the Spanish were doing and moved on to another subject before mentioning what the third point was.  And I have yet to discover what she thinks are the important points in the reading assignments.  

Plus, I'm tired of all this.  I don't want her to spoon feed it to me, but I do expect that after 3 weeks I would have a feel for what she wants to concentrate on (is it the political? the history? the dates and people?).  Yeah, the truth is I really don't want to work that hard to figure her out.  

Last Tuesday I stayed after class to ask her a few questions.  Another student was there with me.  And when we left, I asked her if she was as frustrated as I am with her lectures, which she emphatically agreed were chaotic.  

But I will get through this.

I haven't had her reply to my email yet.  And it's possible she won't take criticism well.  I get it, she's a graduate student who hasn't taught that many classes.  But it's my last class.  The time to speak up is now or never.

Now I'm wishing I had taken the other class even though it would have led to a loss of work hours, and eating lunch at my desk every day.  But, it's too late now, we're nearly a month into it.  So, it's true that "I didn't come this far to only come this far".   

Love, 365