UGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

I am definitely ready for the end of this semester. Although I have enjoyed learning, the workload has been absolutely ridiculous. I guess the combination of the classes that I am taking makes for a lot of homework. I spend so much time on my homework that my 5 year old has learned how to do her own laundry, haha, just kidding, but i do have a ridiculous amount of homework. I feel like I am neglecting my family most of the time. They are watching movies, I am doing homework. They are playing games, I am doing homework. They are going to the mall........Ok you get the picture. The stuff that I have learned this semester will be invaluable, but I can't wait for it to end!!!!!

Black Friday

I have been black friday shopping many times, but I have never seen anything like what I saw this friday. I made the massive mistake of starting at Wal Mart. We pulled into the parking lot at 4:45 am to find a parking lot that was filled to the rim with cars. For those of you who are familiar with the east york store, then you can visualize the insanity when I tell you that every parking space from Sam's Club all the way past Wal Mart and around Panera Bread was filled. This should have been my sign to run!!!!! Not me though, being the eternal optimist, I decided that it would be better inside. haha! When we entered the store it was jam packed. No matter which way we turned there was a sea of people. Looking back now, It was pretty hilarious. If aliens were watching us they would probably be confounded to figure out this yearly ritual. Well 1 1/2 hours later we made our way out of the store with almost nothing that we went there for and a lot of stuff that we didn't. Oh well. We spent the next several hours driving around to several stores in search of the greatest bargains. Although we didn't find anything amazing, it was a pretty fun day, hanging out with my girls.

New Moon

I guess that it would be safe to say that I am a Twilight fanatic. I saw New Moon, the latest movie released, twice this weekend and loved every second of it. Although movies based on books are never as good as the book, I believe that they did a good job this time sumarizing the book without messing it up too badly. Maybe the director of this latest insallment actually read the books, because it seemed like the important stuff was there even if it was a little different. I am so excited for the next installment to be released in June. I wish I could see it now!!!!!!

Thank You for Smoking

I really enjoyed the movie "Thank You for Smoking". It was very informative and entertaining. I was intriged by the Nick Naylor character and especially the relationship that he has with his son. I believe that the movie is thorough in it's illustration of the power of argument. This theme is the main focus throughout the movie and is especially evident when Nick says, "If you argue correctly, you're never wrong." This ties in with Nick's relationship with his son and how Nick creates a connection with him by teaching him about this very powerful tool which empowers and inspires.

Ouch!!!!!

My husband had some friends over yesterday to help him finish some work on the patio and to hang out and watch some football outside. I guess we can all just assume when there is a gathering of men and work and football, beer won't be far behind. Well all the guys were sitting out back watching football and sipping (ha, yeah right) on their beers, when our friend Wes took a drink out of his beer, which had recently become home to a yellowjacket. Ouch!!! Yeah, you guessed it. It stung the inside of his lip. I heard my name being called from outside, followed by, "You've got to see this". As you can imagine, I was a little nervous. Wes's whole lip and half of his face were swollen beyond recognition. It was the craziest thing that I ever saw. Apparently Wes was allergic to bees. Two Benadryl, some ice, and a car ride later, I had him at the emergency room. Everything is fine, he came back after the ER visit, so I can laugh about it now, right? Hahaha, it was the funniest thing that I ever saw. Holy cow, well I know that the guys were snapping lot's of pictures with their camera phones, so if I can get ahold of one, I will definitely post it here. I guess the lesson here is that Bees like beer too!

Coupons

Well it's happened folks, I am officially addicted to coupons. It started out as a way to save a little money. Now I spend hours figuring out how I can get things for free or for very little money. I even carry around a binder with all of my coupons, so that I won't miss that great deal. Yep, I'm that person. The one that you see in the grocery store, who tells their children, "no, we can't get that, I don't have a coupon". Hahaha, I'm not sure how the addiction began. Maybe when I got bags of cough drops for a quarter, or glade candles for free. However it began, I am hooked now. So look out grocery store manager, no matter how hard you try to hide it, I will find it! Happy Shopping!

Volleyball Banquet

My daughter Brittani is a Freshman at Suburban high school. She played volleyball on the JV team this year and last night was the banquet to celebrate the season. It was a lot of fun. It was held at the Wisehaven Banquet Facility. The food was great and after everyone ate, it was time for the awards. The coach wrote a poem about her players and added a little humor to the evening. The girls all recieved their letters and small gifts. The most fun was when the senior girls presented the rest of the players with awards that they called "Most Likely Awards". My daughter received, "most likely to play an entire game with her mouth open", hahaha. I guess she can't focus if she closes her mouth. The seniors each gave a speech and it was really touching. I suppose the best part was seeing the comraderie between the girls and how much they loved the game and each other. I imagine that I will be attending many more of these over the next 4 years. Go Suburban

Peer Review

I had a lot of fun in class today. Peer review was a lot more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Everyone had unique insights and I found it to be very helpful. I guess the hidden bonus was that we got to know our classmates a little better. I liked hearing about their ideas and what interested them about the assignment. I feel like I am much more prepared to finish my paper now. Yay!

Halloween

I love halloween and am sad that it is over. My youngest daughter Addie had such a good time dressing up like a princess and trick or treating. When she was tired, we came back home and she really enjoyed passing out candy to all the other children. Everyone sits on their front porches and neighbors talk to each other. It's a lot of fun. I made a bunch of food for my mom, brother and sister and their families, so that everyone could enjoy the evening together. I am sad that it is over, but am looking forward to thanksgiving. I really love this time of year.

Scheduling

I think scheduling is more stressful than taking the classes. I am a nursing major so I was trying to make sure that the classes that I took would have a reasonable enough workload for me to maintain my 4.0. Any other health career majors know what I am talking about. The competition to get into clinicals is ridiculous. They warn you that a B could mean that you wasted your time and money because there is no telling when you can get in to clinicals. Ugh! The stress of beginning a new semester, with new professors and new expectations is really intense. If you make a wrong course selection it could have serious repercussions. Well good luck to everyone. Hopefully I will find enough hours in the day to study.

Pumpkin Cookies

Ok, so I was trying to find anything to do today besides studying, but whatever my intentions, I made the best pumpkin cookies ever. I asked my mom for a recipe and she hadn't been able to find one, so I went to my favorite website, food network. I found two recipes for pumpkin cookies with icing, so I used the cookie from one and the icing from the other. It was a spiced pumpkin cookie with cream cheese icing. Yum!!!! I have to say that I was inspired by Lily's blog about the pies she made. Thanks Lily. I love the fall and baking and all the warm, cozy feelings that come along with that. It was alot of fun spending the day in my kitchen with my 5 year old. She loved measuring and mixing. Maybe when she grows up, she will share these special times with her kids.

Presentations and my Grandpa

I really enjoyed class today. It was interesting hearing all of the different ideas about Fahrenheit 451. When we have projects like this, we get to look at the selected reading through the eyes of everyone else in the class. There are a lot of different perspectives! It affords us the opportunity to learn and grow as students, as well growing in our humanity.

My Grandpa used to always tell me that life is about learning. He used to ask me everyday what I learned and he was passionate about this. Although we have had a lot of work in this class, the genuine learning that has taken place has made every second of homework worth it. I can't believe I said that!

He also used to tell me, to never be afraid to change my mind. He said that if you never change your mind then you aren't truly learning and growing. My Grandpa was an amazing man!

Scheduling

Why does everything in college have to be so confusing. I went to guidance in the summer and they helped me sign up for classes and then sent me on my way. Never told me what to expect or what would be coming next. So when the signs went up all over campus that scheduling starts November 2, I was a little nervous. Not only do I not know how to schedule classes, I also have no clue about what I am supposed to take next semester. I didn't even know until I saw those signs hanging up everywhere that I even had a question about what to do next. I think that the HACC Bureaucracy thinks that we will all just go online and take care of it. What happened to people guiding you through your process. Isn't that what guidance is for. We need help. We don't know the 50 billion rules about what classes you have to take in what order. Oh well, that is my crisis for the day. Hopefully I will schedule correctly. I guess I will know soon.

Coffee Table

Who knew that it would be so incredibly difficult to find a new coffee table? I picked out the sofa and chairs in about 2 minutes, but for some reason picking out a coffee table escapes me. I have been to 5 million stores and looked at 50 trillion tables and I can't find anything that I like. I don't get it, ugh! Well as soon as I figure it out I will post a picture of the winning table, ha. Until then the search continues. If anyone knows a good place to look, let me know.

Colleen and Jordan's Wedding

We were in New York all weekend for our nieces wedding. Everything was so beautiful. I just love weddings. The Bride and Groom looked amazing, the ceremony was beautiful, and the reception was out of this world. Friends, family and food, what could be better?

We sat at the reception and caught up on the latest events with all of our family and friends. We sipped on cocktails, and enjoyed fabulous food. We also managed to squeeze in a few dances and some wedding cake. Candy Apple Martinis! I think that says it all, haha.

There is nothing better than a wedding to remind us of why we love our own spouses so much. They are so invigorating. Only problem is that I didn't have much time to work on homework, ugh. So here I go, off to finish my homework.

Burning Bright

I cannot believe it! Montag killed Beatty. I definitely did not expect that. In the last chapter of this book, Bradbury outdid himself. The action in this chapter only magnifies the extent of deterioration of human nature, and the lack of value that we feel regarding human life. The way that he illustrated the hunt for Montag and how it was televised and salivated for was ingenious. It just illustrates what happens when we stop thinking as individuals and start thinking as a collective. Montags ability to think freely saved him from the steely jaws of his potential executioner.

The contrast between the action in the city and the peacefulness in the country serves to illustrate Bradbury's point that the potential for free thought is always present. One must only free the mind of pointless noise.

I am a little disturbed by the fact that I felt no sadness at the thought of thousands of people being disintegrated. I know that this was Bradbury's intent, but because the potential for free thought is present in all humans I wish that I could feel a little sadness for them. I suppose that the mob mentality has just as much potential to surface in all of us as does free thought.

I just hope that we can all remember this book and learn a lesson from it. I am really touched by Granger's desciption of how we leave our mark on the world. I hope that by my being here I have the opportunity to effect change and leave a lasting mark on the people that I leave behind.

School Pictures

It's school picture time again. I can remember being a kid and being so exited for school pictures. You got to get out of class and they gave you a comb that you could keep. I know that I am dating myself, but when I was a kid they gave every kid a little cheap black comb so that we all had a chance to comb our hair before we got our pictures taken. It seems so silly now, but I was thrilled by the whole process. It helped that I was a little ham and loved to have my picture taken. Now that it is my children that are being photographed, it reminds me of that feeling of excitement. Getting all dressed up, having your picture taken and then waiting impatiently for the morning when you walk into class and see the pile of big envelopes on your teachers desk. Then when you take them home and your mom smiles so big when she sees your pictures. What a great time of year, Picture Time!

I need a GPS

I figured out a very important lesson today. I should have a GPS surgically implanted somewhere on my person. I travel alot with my kids sports and I thought I had a good handle on how to get everywhere I need to go. So how is it that I had to travel to some town in the middle of nowhere, Maryland today for a softball double-header? What the heck? Maybe if your kid is playing township ball, then perhaps the games should at least be held in the state in which you reside. Not a travel team folks. The worst part was that when I finally got there, I could see the field from 780 million different directions as I kept driving by it, but couldn't figure out how to get into the school, ugh! Maybe directionally challenged people should be issued GPS's with their drivers lisences. Yay!!!! That's a great idea.

Class Discussion

It was fun discussing the Sieve and the Sand in class today. I have to admit though that keeping the discussion flowing was a lot more difficult than it seems. I wish that our group could have finished because I know that Syneth had a lot to talk about regarding Denhams dentrifice. Hopefully we will get to it next week.

I loved hearing everyones opinions about the book. It is amazing how we can all read the same book and get something completely different out of it. It will be interesting to see what happens in the last chapter. All of the conspiracy theories were very interesting. I don't usually see the possibility of conspiracy until it is pointed out to me, haha. I guess that in some ways I can be a little naive.

Well I think I'm going to start reading the last chapter now. I can't wait any longer. Happy Reading!!!!

The Sieve and the Sand

Alright, so it's going to be a lot more difficult to stop reading this time. Bradbury really gives you a cliff hanger there, doesn't he? I'm guessing the neighbor ladies turned him in, but I guess that I will have to wait and find out.

I found this chapter a little more difficult to read because of the darkness and imagery, but I believe after we discuss it and I reread it a few times, it will become more clear.

I like how Faber is brought in at this point and serves as Guys guide on this journey. It is funny how with his invention, guy is able to hear whispering guidance. I also find the overwhelming amount of references to the bible and god very interesting. I started to notice the God references in the last chapter and with the introduction of the bible they became more prevelant. Faber almost becomes like a spiritual guide to him. As if he is leading him on this journey of understanding. It seems almost eerie in what seems to be a godless world.

I really hope that they don't find the books in the back yard. I want to turn the page, but I will contain myself .

Britt's first Homecoming

My daughter Brittani is a Freshman at York Suburban High school. She went to the homecoming dance last night and she looked so amazing. It seems like just yesterday that I was bringing her home from the hospital and now she is in high school. Wow! I guess my message is to enjoy and savor every second of life because it is fleeting.

What a Crazy Weekend

Well I thought i had control of my time management skills but apparently I was wrong. I did all of my homework on Thursday except a paper for sociology because I knew that it would take the rest of the weekend. I had a well layed out plan. Start my project Friday after Psychology and and take my laptop to my daughter's Volleyball tournament, so that I could finish it on Saturday. Yeah Right!!!!! I searched for info for my report all day Friday and thought that I had everything that I needed, but I was wrong, so starting the paper got pushed to Saturday. Well, my laptop wouldn't work at the tournament, so I started to panic. I continued my search for information and when I couldn't find enough I switched my topic. That's right, I completely restarted my paper Sunday morning and now it is 11:30 pm and I just finished it, ugh! What a horrible weekend. On the bright side, at least I didn't have to cook dinner all weekend.

The Hearth and the Salamander

I had to make myself put this book down. I knew that if I kept reading I wouldn't stop until I completed the entire thing. When I first started reading, I wasn't sure that I was going to like this book. It was full of so much imagery that I was on sensory overload. I had a hard time staying focused on the story itself, but after rereading a few passages I was able to see this futuristic world.

I immediately fell in love with Clarisse. In a very short time she pulled Guy back from the edge of the abys that he didn't even know he was teetering on. I was extremely sad when Mildred announced her death. I thought that she would help guy with this journey, but I guess I will have to wait and see who takes over that role.

Even though this futuristic world is supposed to be fun, the restriction of free thought has made people forget how to think and to feel.

I was also intrigued by captain Beatty's description of how the world came to be as it is now and how "Firemen" evolved in to the firestarters that they have become. His knowledge of history, even though noone else remembers is a little odd. It makes me wonder id he is reading as well. I guess we will find out.

I am going to fight the urge to finish the rest of this book this weekend so that I can discuss the first chapter without knowing what is coming. I will try my best.

The Fair

I took my youngest daughter Addison to the fair yesterday. It was so much fun! The fair was starting to become stale for me. I think it was because my kids were getting older and they just wanted to hang out with their friends, but I got to see the fair through the eyes of a five year old this year.

It's amazing what that change of perspective does for your outlook. She was so amazed by everything. She rode on all the kiddie rides and even made a friend there, who became her riding partner. It was so cute. She wanted french fries and funnel cakes and was amazed by Santa walking around with his geese. Yep, I said geese.

Then we got to walk through the toyota arena and see all of the animals. She asked me a million questions about them and I did my best to answer them, although I am no expert on goats, haha.

I hope that she stays this inquisitive for a long time. What a blast! I can't wait to go to the fair again.

I guess I could learn to like writing

Ok, so maybe writing isn't that bad. As I was writing my literacy narrative, I realized that writing may actually help me work through feelings.

I know that this isn't an original thought, but it is definitely a new thought for me. Writing has been my nemisis for many years. For as long as I can remember, I have dreaded writing, so the idea that it can actually be theraputic is sort of mind boggling. I am not completely converted to the school of thought that writing is great, but I think that I may be slowly inching in that direction.

Writing from the Darkness

I was sitting my sofa reading "Writing From the Darkness" and I was overcome by many emotions. I felt so sad for the author because of her tormented childhood and how she had to break through her own insecurities and doubts to become whole again. I was angry with her family for trying to bend her into what they wanted her to be, instead of embracing who she was.

As a parent I know that it isn't always easy to make the right decisions. We are human, however stifling a childs spirit can never help them grow. I was also moved by how in some ways, writing trapped her, as well as saving her and then eventually freeing her. The therapuetic effect that writing had on her life was mindblowing.

I have always struggled with writing, so looking at it through the author's eyes, as a means to self evaluation and self improvement is a perspective that I never really entertained.

I was also suprised that she didn't look at her poetry as a true reflection of herself. I always thought that poetry was a reflectin of the authors soul, so to hear that this was not how she felt was eye-opening.

I enjoyed this piece for it's descriptiveness and detail. Although I must admit, at times I was wondering if the artistic use of language and description, left me with an alternative understanding of what the author was trying to say.

Writing Thesis Statements

OK, so I wish that I could share the opinion of some of my classmates that writing thesis statements is fun, but I would be lying. I have never really been a strong writer and although I am looking forward to the opportunity to learn and become better, I am also very scared, because I need a good grade. Every time I think I have an idea, my brain just trips over itself. I keep telling myself that perhaps I am making this more difficult than it has to be. Boy, I sure hope so! I thought that maybe if I blogged for a little while then I would relax and just come up with some ideas. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can! Ha ha, just like the little engine that could, I am off to give it another shot.

I Loved Class Today!!!

WOW!

I was so intrigued by today's class discussion. I had forgotten how much I love to debate issues and to learn and grow from other peoples viewpoints. I learned so much. Sometimes as we become comfortable in our daily lives, we stop challenging ourselves and our ideas. It was just so refreshing today to have a chance to hear people discuss some tough topics and really share their knowledge and understanding with the class. Many times we cannot see a topic clearly until we see it through many different sets of eyes. I am so excited about being back in college after so many years. I hope that this semester will continue to bring many more opportunities for personal growth and challenging experiences.

What Should Colleges Teach

I found it very interesting that Stanley Fish chose to use findings from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) to support his argument that writing classes should only teach writing. The ACTA seems to be an organization who's ideas bear little, if no resemblence to those of Stanley Fish. It seems a bit unrealistic that he would find value in this organization. Even as it applies to a point that he is trying to prove valuable.

I found myself unable to buy into his argument that there is only one way to teach writing. Although I believe in strong fundamentals for good writing, I also believe that people's minds are incredibly complex and diverse. Therefore, I follow the school of thought that rejoices in the journey that can lead us in many different directions and invariably get us to the same destination.

What is Good Writing

Good writing is a focused and well structured way to convey your purpose to the intended audience. Good writing also grabs the attention of your audience with detailed imagery and provocative ideas. It then maintains that interest by employing proper mechanics as well as effortless flow.

What isn’t Good Writing

Good writing is not unorganized. It should not bore your audience with unfocused ideas and bland imagery. It shouldn’t confuse your audience with sloppy mechanics or inconsistent flow. Good writing will not leave your audience wondering about the purpose of the piece.