Memes that define us......

Really, what is with this dude's hair?  

However, I noticed that Romeo and I have nearly the same hair as this guy this morning.....

"To accomplish the goals of 2018 which I should have done in 2017 because I promised them in 2015 and planned them in 2014" 

Story of my life.....

Yessss..........

Have a wonderful week!

Love, 365

Wait, there's more.....

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