Dreary Saturday Morning Coffee Ponderings

The warm liquid is a welcome blessing this morning on this dreary damp day.  I recall the weather guy last night saying that by mid-morning it will be sunny and beautiful.  It looks like a thick cloud layer this morning may thwart any outside plans that I had.  I am not going to complain however (except for having to click the furnace on this morning - BRRRrrrr) because the moisture is a blessing and we need it.

Two themes this week - CHANGE and COMPLETION.

Completion first - my first semester of going back to school wraps up this week.  I look back to 16 weeks ago when it started and think - "whew" and "that wasn't so bad".  I think I said that right after childbirth too.  YIKES!  But the first few weeks seemed very hectic and I couldn't get into the groove.  It seemed I was always stumbling and frantic to get the assignments done and submitted by the deadline.  BTW - all the courses were online.  However, as the semester kept going, it seemed to be a little easier for me.  And I believe if I recall many people said that it would be that way.  So "you all were right".  As I finish up this week (hopefully have it all done by the weekend), I think I will be a straight A student which hasn't happened since HIGH SCHOOL!  Maybe we should all wait to go to school until we are well into our 40s.  Probably not reasonable huh?  I have discovered in this process that I am not sure I could take an actual classroom class at this point.  I am sure there are things that are lost in translation between the online chat and what the other students are submitting for assignments, but I think I may be too old and impatient to sit in a classroom and hear some of the comments, attitudes and ideas of the younger students.  Patience!  Praying for patience!

Another completion is that Miss Bailey graduates from DMACC this next week.  Wednesday night we will all converge on Wells Fargo Arena (yeah - the arena) for the largest graduating class from DMACC in their history.  She has done very well in her community college experience and we are proud of her.  We attended her last vocal concert last night where she had a solo and did such a good job.  Curtis videotaped it so watch Facebook and/or here for a post when it gets edited.  The next process is under way for her.  Job interview next week and hopefully she can secure a FT job while she tries to save some money to finish her 4 year degree.

Change (and a sort of completion) -- Today is the one year anniversary of my transition to Central Iowa.  I can't believe that it has been a year already.  Many things have happened in that year - too numerous to list here - however in the big picture they all have been positive.  While this sort of thing is always a challenge, it was definitely the CORRECT decision for me and for my family.  It amazes me that the process started October 2010 after a little journey to a spiritual place in North Carolina.  After that retreat, I knew that I needed to make a big change in my life.  And four months later the transition began.

So now there is a new job, a new house, a new life -- that sounds KIND OF like a Michael Buble song (sexy, sexy man - in a nerdy sort of way) - and I'm feeling GOOD.

So back to typing my last film class journal and studying for my Intro to Human Services (that still makes me laugh) final.  I have missed posting here -- sorry for the delays.  I will have more time this Summer.  I decided not to take any classes this Summer -- many reasons, but most of all I am looking to transition to USD online courses sooner than a graduation from DMACC maybe.  Don't want to go through the motions of getting that degree from DMACC and then not everything transfers.  Colleges seem to like to do that for some reason.  So off this summer and back at it this fall finishing up at either DMACC or USD.

Have a great day y'all and I want to share with you something that brought me immense joy this week.  Take a quick five minutes and watch the video of Sophia Grace and Rosie meeting Nicki Minaj on Ellen. Those two little girls have so much energy and "WOO HOO"ness that I hope it is never squelched by any one.  My favorite part is the reactions of the parents because they know what this means to them to meet their idol.  And I LOVE Nicki Minaj.  Watch and laugh -- and have JOY today!