Finished at last! No school for three whole weeks. Yea!

I've been busy this week madly preparing for Garrett's Eagle Court of Honor. I'm using a modified version of the script used at Robert's Eagle Court of Honor, then had to make further modifications when I learned that the Wildlife Bird Sanctuary, whom I invited to attend and share with the audience one of the wild birds (hopefully an eagle). Due to time constraints, they need to make their presentation at the beginning of the program rather than at the end.

I wish I had had better options for scheduling, but there didn't seem to be any. I needed at least three months from the time he earned it to write and receive letters, etc. on his behalf, but I also worried about my school workload, so wanted to wait until school was done. I didn't want to wait until the first of the year, which seem too far away. But December 19 isn't the best choice for dates right before Christmas when everyone already has plans. So I don't expect a lot of people to be there.

I've been rushing to put together a scrapbook and a video presentation for the court of honor. The scrapbook is all his letters, certificates, project information and pictures, merit badges and so forth that deal with obtaining his eagle. The video presentation is pictures of him growing up. It's been fun looking at all the pictures, but more than that, it's been fun being reminded of what a special young man he is.

I created a pattern for a gingerbread castle, partially created, that is. I found a picture of a gingerbread castle on-line and made up a pattern. I made two batches of dough and plan to get it rolled out and baked this morning. On Sunday afternoon, Britta and Matt (yea, Matt!) and Emmaline are coming over. We're decorating our gingerbread houses together. We've done this for the last couple of years and it's been a lot of fun.

Thanks to Amazon and free two-day shipping, Rick and I have done most of our Christmas shopping last Sunday. Packages are arriving daily already. The boys may be disappointed, but we're having mostly a 'family Christmas' this year. We're not giving too much in the way of individual gifts, but gifts for the whole family to enjoy. Christmas is only 9 days away! Yikes!

Making Up for Lost Time

Writing in a blog is as bad as writing in my journal. I think I last wrote a few months ago. When I finally make time to write, there's too much to say and I get overwhelmed, so don't write anything at all!

Well, the best news is that the semester is nearly over. Today I added another honors class to my load with the idea that I'm lightening next semester's schedule. So I'm at 18 credit hours with twelve of them honors. Thank goodness there's only five weeks left. Yea!

Monday is registration for next semester. I've ended up with more English classes than I realized and found that with what I plan to take next semester, I can get a minor in creative writing. I just don't know how to go about it. That's pretty exciting though.

Britta informed us yesterday that Matt got his orders and is being sent to Korea--without her. She was devastated. But like her, she started thinking of the positives, as miserable as the situation is. I was really proud of her. Her baby is due May 2. I hope that Matt is able to come home for the baby's birth. Matt told Britta that the air force is usually pretty good about that kind of thing, so we'll remember them in our prayers.

Halloween was a lot of fun again this year. Last year we had a lot of friends over for a murder mystery party. The decorations were really cool and there was lots of food. This year I couldn't bring myself to plan a big party, but told Rick and Robert if they wanted to decorate, they could. They did, but on Halloween, I helped them re-decorate. We had friends over and played board games. It was so fun. We played Balderdash, a game of lying and Pit, a card trading game. I haven't played either in years. Pit got so loud that Spencer, who was watching TV upstairs, came down complaining he couldn't hear the TV. And as usual, there were too many treats!

Rick's dad passed away on October 13. Although expected, it's still sad to think that we'll never see him again-in this life anyway. His wife, Johnie, had his body cremated and will hold a memorial sometime in the next month. We plan to go. They live in McAllen, Texas, near the Mexican border.

The weather has gone from being unseasonably cold to unseasonably rainy and now it's unseasonably warm. Guess which one I like best!

General Conference

This weekend was both relaxing and uplifting. To have an excuse not to do homework but instead sit in front of the TV is pretty nice. But to also listen to the prophet and apostles was a wonderful experience. I thought that conference, true to form, followed a general pattern of similar talks making it seem like there was a theme. It was being like Christ through loving others as well as being bold in sharing testimony. Britta also noted a similar theme, but her idea of the theme and mine were totally different! I though that was funny. Obviously we were each hearing what is important to us and on what we need to follow through. Listening to conference really brought a feeling of peace into my heart and home.

Rick and Robert are at Bob and Johnnie's house. They will be leaving around mid-night to come home. I miss them and will be glad to have them here, but I also know it's hard for Rick to leave with the idea that he may never see his father again in this life. Although his voice was strong yesterday, his body has lost so much strength and he's having to take quite a bit of pain medication. As a result, Bob slept most of the time today. Any time at all to visit is worth while. While there, Rick and Robert went to the ocean. I'm so jealous!!! I would love to go there during Christmas break and take the boys and just spend time playing. But I also want to go see Skip and Moira and Christy, Wayne and the kids. They are all in different directions!

Done With Week 6

Rick and Robert are on their way to Texas to visit Rick's dad. His dad has cancer and probably won't live too much longer, but is receiving excellent care from his wife. At previous visits we've found them to be happy, cheerful and grateful for friends. It has been pretty amazing to me to find them in such good spirits in spite of the gravity of their situation.

I could have gone with Rick rather than have Robert go, but chose to stay home and do homework instead. Now that they're gone I regret my decision and want them to come home and get me! I miss the opportunity to have alone time with my hubby and they get to go play in the ocean! I'm really, really jealous. I had such a good time when Rick and I went last time.

Such is the commitment I've made for school. Ugh. As mentioned on Facebook, Tuesday I left class early due to inappropriate scenes from an R-rated movie being shown in class. Obviously I need to think about R-rated movies being freely shown and be proactive in making arrangements. But it was surprised upon us and I didn't even think of asking about the rating. I will from now on.

I didn't make a big deal of it. I e-mailed the prof. and he offered an alternate assignment, but said the objectionable part was over with. I opted to finish the movie, as in that case the alternate was also rated R. Like most R-rated movies, it was good except for the 'dog poop' in middle. The movie was 'Deliverance' with Burt Reynolds.

This weekend, besides ton of reading, I have two tests to study for, two essays to write and hope to get started on my second of three honors projects. I hope to complete the honors projects by the end of October leaving November free for term papers and finals. That's my plan anyway. If I don't make it, I'll be pretty close, anyway!

A Tough Week

School was pretty hard this last week and it didn't help that Rick was out of town in Seattle. I've really been struggling with the amount of foul language used in student's writing in my Creative Writing class. For the most part, I've had to ignore it, and 'suggest' that other words be found rather than expletives. Then one student, writes about something that was rather sensual. He's really quite talented, which is why the piece bothered me so much. I tried to state my opinion in class that I didn't think the topic appropriate, but was told I couldn't say that kind of thing in workshop. I was humiliated. I wish I knew the words to state how I feel without breaking workshop rules.

My American Studies prof. used two articles from our text on religion, "A Model of Christian Charity" by John Winthrop and U. S. Supreme Court decision by Justice Hugo Black in class. It was a great discussion until the end when he pointed at the words by Black "religion is too personal, too sacred, too holy, to permit its 'unhallowed perversion' by a civil magistrate" to prove that you can have gay marriage. I was shocked. It totally came out of the blue. Each day he says more and more that I disagree with, politically and religiously speaking. After class on Thursday I was nearly in tears when another student kindly put things in perspective for me, supported me in my discouragement and cheered me up. It really helped!

I have two classes on American Identity so I feel pretty bombarded with people saying how bad America is. I know that there are things that need to change, but do not feel that we need to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

In my art class we continue to view nudes. Others may see them as a work of art and I certainly applaud those that can accurately depict the human body. But for me, it's pornography no matter how beautiful the lines, strokes, composition or color.

Dealing with the assault on my senses is bad enough, but thoughts of the economy or political situation adds to my stress. I keep coming to the same conclusion. The world needs the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must keep His commandments and in doing so, we will receive His blessings. I've also come to the conclusion that most of the world doesn't know who God is. If they did, it would change their lives.

I am now one-third of the way through the semester. I do love learning and am gaining so much at school in spite of the difficulties. I know the Lord will help me to conquer this, too!

What I Love About School

Out of necessity my attitude about school needs to change so I decided to start looking for all the tings I love about school. This hasn't been exactly easy! Here goes:

• I like that there are fiften-minute breaks between classes. It's enough time to stretch, freshen up, and exchange books at my car before my next class.
• I like that I've found a place to park that is central to my classes so that I can use it as a locker room and not have to carry all my many books to class after class.
• I like that one of my classes is two blocks from the campus. It's a nice walk and makes me feel like I'm out of school.
• Not exactly about scool, but it helps...I like the weather this time of year. It's not too hot or muggy with a slight breeze. Being outside between classes is relaxing.
• I like that I get a four-day weekend since my classes are stacked Tuesday/Thursday.
• I like that when I leave on Thursday, I've finished another week.
• I like when teachers let class out early saying, "That's all I have for today, get outta here!"

I'm getting a start. I'll keep thinking.

On to better topics...today is Emmaline's birthday!

Happy Birthday to her!

Happy Birthday to her!

Happy Birthday dear Emmaline,

Happy Birthday to her!

She is now two years old. My favorite thing about her is her curly hair and the way she calls herself princess. She's one smart little girl. Britta is having a little birthday party for her this morning. It'll be fun.

Rick left yesterday for Seattle-again. He's spent a lot of time there this year. It's hard to have him gone for long so I hope it doesn't turn into a seven-week stint like it did during the summer. He's pretty busy as well with a job that gives him 30 hours overtime and working on his dissertation. Frequently he's up at 4 a.m. just to accomplish all that he needs to. Wow.

Week 4

I'm nearly a third of the way done with school. Today is the beginning of week 4. Thursday is the end. I love my four-day weekends! I just wish I could do something besides homework. I checked over my TO-DO list yesterday and found that I had an essay, due on Thursday, that I'd completly forgotten about. So I had to add that as well as two chapters reading in preparation for it, to my mental schedule for the day. Of course, it took most of the rest of the day, but I got a viable rough draft out of it. My plan is to work on it again tonight before submitting it to turnitin.com tomorrow. Otherwise, I got through everything except reading the nearly 200 pages assigned in my art class. I made a good stab at it! I divided up my time for my honors projects. I plan to have them done by the fourth weekend in October, which gives me two weeks for each project. The first one is a paper on Shakespeare's MacBeth, the second is a research paper and presentation on the Missouri Compromise (if I get it approved) and the third is an annotated bibliography and research paper on American Indian mythology. Dividing them up into weeks helps me to focus on each. I'm still praying (literally!) that I make it through!

Even though I spent most of my time on homework, I did spend some time with Britta. On Saturday we went shopping at Target for towels for my bathroom and came home with a Halloween lantern and two scull candlesticks for my decorations. I'm thinking of having Halloween party for Garrett and Spencer and their friends. Our ward is having a party on Friday night. I really don't have time to throw as big of a party as I did last year, so this should work out well. I can re-use the decorations in the same way as last year for the party this year! (I almost feel like I'm cheating--must be the influences of school!)

I'm Sleepy

I'm actually glad to feel sleepy. For the past two nights I could hardly sleep. Yesterday I thought I'd have trouble making it through a long day at school so I took a caffiene tablet at lunch time. It worked too well! I was alert and energetic through the rest of the day and well into the night. I tried going to bed at 10 p.m. but couldn't sleep. Iwas up until 1 a.m. and got up this morning at 5 a.m. So I'm glad to feel sleepy. Maybe I'll actually fall asleep tonight.

Not much is new around here. I spent the entire day working on homework. Yesterday was the first day of the school week-week 3-and tomorrow is the last day. I love how that works! It just makes Wednesdays very busy.

I'm trying to read Shakespeare's MacBeth. I need to read it and write an essay on it for honors credit. So I decided to break it up into pieces and read one act each day. Then I'll do some research on it to find out what other's have to say about it. I might need to re-read it again. We have a movie based on MacBeth coming in the mail from Netflix so that'll help to really understand it. I want to get this finished before the end of the month so I don't have to worry about it towards the end of the semester. Tomorow I'll find out what I can do for honors in my other two classes.

I find that Facebook, Farmville, YoVille, WoW and this blog are incredibly fun wasters of time. I should be writing my essay about Vincent Van Gogh but instead I'm writing about me. I have nothing against Van Gogh. I even found a painting of his I really like. But I don't know what he means by his statement concerning his paintings, "here and there portions that are left absolutely unfinished, repetitions, savageries," which quote I need to encorporate in my essay. So, I'd much rather be writing this and checking out facebook than finishing my homework!

Matt has been at boot camp two weeks now. Britta was able to talk to him twice, very briefly. Missionaries serving at the camp took a picture of him and the other LDS servicemen and e-mailed it to her. It was so cool to see his picture! I really miss him!

School Woes

While in conversation with a classmate as I was walking to class on Thursday, I realized that I'm taking EIGHTEEN credit hours! No wonder I'm going crazy. I don't know why I do this to myself. Most of the tight schedule occured when I changed majors my first semester and dropped classes leaving me with only two. Second semester I had five classes, but it turned out one didn't fulfill any requiremnts. It was frankly frustrating to find that out! So now to still graduate by May I have to kill myself.

What adds insult to injury (a cliche we writers abhore), is that last semester I signed up for the honors program. The program opperates by talking with the prof. of the class you want to take honors in, one you're already enrolled in, and doing an extra paper, project or presentation-whatever the instructor dictates. Then, if you get an A in the class, it will be marked with 'honors' on your transcript. For example, I'm taking my World Literature class as an honor's class, so in addition to reading Hamlet as we're currently doing, I will also read another of Shakespeare's plays and write an essay about it. In all, I need eight classes taken as honor's classes to graduate with honors. Last semester I took three with the plan that this semester I would have another three and in the spring I would take two. So far I've talked to my World Lit prof. and American Studies prof. about honors for this semester. I'm still deciding which other class I want to subject myself to such horror!

So I'm taking EIGHTEEN credit hours with nine of them honors. Last semester I thought I was doing a good thing by getting a 4.0 g.p.a. I really worked my tail off for that! But now I'm faced with the fact that last semester I did it, so I have these high expectations that this semester I should do it as well and I guess that means next semester, too. Ugh. It's Frankly Frustrating!

So I just started a new blog cause I didn't like the name on the old one, so WELCOME to my new blog!

School Begins

I started school last week and had homework the first day! Most of my classes are overwhelming as I feel like I'm struggling to catch up with where the prof. is lecturing. But then, I'm in classes in which I've had no background. Two are 20th century art and Mythology and Civilization. Another two classes aren't turning out to be what I imagined them to be, Intro. to American Studies and Missouri and the American Identity. That leaves Creative Writing and World Literature. Those classes are okay-not great, but okay. What I do like about my schedule is that all my classes are Tuesday/Thursday so I have more time at home. Of course I just spend the time at home doing homework! Speaking of which....