briefly

I”m not really in the mood to write since I wrote a great deal yesterday for my class. But I wanted to share this. Af ew days ago Kendra was drawing an Avatar character and couldn’t get his right eye the way she wanted. So she asked me to do it, I laughed at her and said, Yes, I draw but not life stills, I”m a nature or architectural drawer, not people. She wouldnt’ give in and I ended up drawing one, she didn’t like that one for her picture but did say it was a nice eye, so I did the outline of a better eye and then made her finish it.

I’m happy thinking that perhaps she is starting to see a bit of value in me, or least that there are some things I can do.

So….

What does the non-traditional college student have in her bag? How does she keep track of her days and classes while homeschooling 4 young children and raising two teen girls?

Sorry, ladies I was out of chocolate so mentos is the next best thing.

If it is Tuesday or Thursday I’m at the main campus and taking Intro to Women’s studies.

If it is Monday or Wednesday,  it is statistic’s at the Medina campus. Starting Saturday, Feb. 27, I will be at the main campus for a special topic of Domestic Violence and women. Oh yes, I do have a TI 84 Silver Edition that is pink just haven’t taken a picture yet of it.

I drove anywhere from 52 to 72 miles a day M-Th. so I broke down and bought some new Christian CD’s to listen to……

Matthew West’s Something to Say

Tenth Avenue North Over and Underneath

Jeremy Camps Speaking Louder Than Before

I have lost my Newsboys  Go……somewhere and I really miss that cd. Music on my wish list is Jars of Clay, the new Newsboys, Toby Mac, Brandon Heath, and Jars of Clay’s Greatest Hits I really like Flood.

So there you have it…..a week in the life of a non-traditional student going to Univ. I really need to refill my chocolate stash.

The worst part of going to the Univ? Lack of parking for commuters. I have searched for over 10 minutes for a parking space and then squeezed my huge van into spots that I would hesitate to park a car. I can’t wait until I learn where things are on campus so that i have more choices for parking.




Make a Smilebox slideshow

2009….not in a nutshell

This was a difficult year for us. As I sit here and ponder it, I realize that much of it is a blur of court hearings, stress, schooling of children and my own. Let’s see if I can find some bright spots somewhere in the chaos.

I would love to say my girls and I have grown closer and I think they might have but there is still so much more to do with them yet before I become that optimistic. The rest of the family has for the most part acclimated to having them here all the time as have I. Although it is nice at times when they spend overnights at a friends house at the same time and it is just the husband, our 4 and myself. It gives us time to regroup, in order to be fresh for helping them adjust.

I still find it hard to believe that the ex can’t hurt me right now. Hopefully soon.

Kendra went to Washington DC in the spring with her 8th grade class. She moved onto High School, was confirmed and went to Camp Mowana again. She is still going to church and helping out not as much as I want but some and I’ll take what I can get for now.

Jasmine is in the 11th grade, doing ok, again not as well as I want for her but better than I expected her to do. She is thinking about going to college to become a foreign lang. interpreter.I need to start getting details on that for her. Amazingly, she will soon be an adult and a senior, only needing 2 classes next year for graduation.

The Ark is starting to mature where his schoolwork is concerned and he is developing good work habits. He had a great year on Swim Team, although he complains that it was over so quickly. He has a few friends and is getting a bit more freedom as he shows us ho responsible he can be. He enjoyed going to Boo at the Zoo in Oct. and would like to go again next year. He said he had one of the best Christmases ever this year and I even overheard him talking to  Ace about having a good time at his Godmother’s house on my birthday. He loves Russian Tea Cake cookies, legos and playmobil. I’m very proud of the young man he is becoming.

Ace is still one of my more difficult children, with his sensory perception disorder, life can be difficult for him. I do see light at the end of the tunnel though as he learns that schoolwork must be done and the faster he does it the more time he has for his interests. I was listening to Hold My Heart, by Tenth Avenue North and he heard it and said I love that song! Both boys have asked about the meaning of the song “Two Hands”, by Jars of Clay.

The Princess is still very much an artist and driving us insane, I’m hoping to get a bit organized and then have time to help her learn to focus that creativity. The husband often says that the Princess is who I would have been had my mother not abused me. I can see that so well in both of us. Her flightiness and my creativity that is buried deep.

The Peanut~ well he is definitely my most difficult child right now. He has two speeds sleep and 1,000 mph. He is very loving and determined still. He is better on the computer than my husband He is starting to want to learn things which is great but scary since I have so little time right now.

My personal highpoint? Continuing to get good grades and going to the Univ. of Akron in Jan. I’m a bit scared but so excited to realize that I’m that much closer to getting my bachelors degree, terrified about whether or not I will get into the grad program that I want. Many people have asked me over the last year how i stay sane in spite of my trials……it is because of my faith in God. and when that isn’t enough I depend on my friends to pray for me, then I spend lots of time singing, crying and praying. At the end of it I’m strong enough to face another day with grace and faith. We have now been in out house for just under 2 years and I’m still so grateful to the Lord for giving it to us. I love it here and for the first time since I was a child living with my grandmother have a home where I feel at home.My relationship with God is growing and changing but it is at times so elusive to try to put into words. I do know that I am becoming more of who the Lord wants me to be, which is throwing my husband into confusion since he is not at the same place in his faith.

Speaking of the husband, he is great. He loves me so much and tolerates a great deal of my intensity with a lot of patience. He is only working two jobs at the moment and that is hard on us financially but it is nice to have him home more and helping out. It also made it easier for me to schedule my classes for spring semester since he is home more.

I think I can sum up my year in songs:

Free to be me by Francesca Battistelli

Hold My Heart by Tenth avenue North

Give me Your Eyes by Brandon Heath

City on it’s Knees by Toby Mac

Two Hands by Jars of Clay

The Mission by Newsboys

and my current favorite: The Motions by Matthew West.

Check them out if you are so inclined, they have made the difference of being faithful and happy or sinking in my own self pity.

So this wasn’t really a recap of my year but random thoughts that have been running around my head.

An update of sorts

Merry Christmas

Life is good if a bit hectic. My classes are over as I’m sure many of you have heard. My GPA is now sitting at 3.22 which is still not where I want it but so much better than when I returned to college. Fortunately, Akron doesn’t keep my GPA they only look at it to decide on acceptance into programs and mine is high enough that I got into the psychology dept. with no problems. They just want my final transcripts from this semester.

The ex’ was sentenced to 10 years. It was a bit hard to watch him taken away, but the surprise was when I got down to the parking garage and burst into tears when I realized that for the first time I didn’t have to be afraid that he was waiting for me down there to hurt me. He is still causing trouble by sending his letters to Kendra to my daughter Renee’ house. but his influence is much less.

Back in Oct. the husband’s magazine merchandizing job ended as they lost their contract, so money has definitely been tight but we are surviving with the Lord’s help. At least he is home a bit more and that is nice for him.

The little ones are doing ok, we’ve been dealing with the stomach flu for going on 3 weeks now. It is getting annoying. The Princess and The Peanut are singing in the Children’s Christmas Choir, I will try to get pictures for you. The Peanut is really into coloring and doing crafts at the moment. I think I’m going to be printing out lots of coloring pages for him in the future. The boys and I have been having interesting conversations regarding moral issues ie: violence, purity, sex, how to treat your future wife. I’m not quite ready for those just yet.

Today is the husband and my 13th anniversary. We are not doing anything special as I’m not feeling well and he has to work tonight so he will be in bed by 5pm. Such is life in retail. We knew this when we got married, so it is ok. My favorite season is Christmas and I wouldn’t change our wedding date for all the money in the world.

My fibromyalgia is acting up lately making life just a bit more difficult. Hopefully soon it will abate and I can get on with doing the things that need to be done without so much pain.

We did do a bit of baking this year, I still need to make pumpkin pies, rolls, sauerkraut balls, and a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. I found a great recipe for Russian Tea Cakes and they are just like the ones I had as a teen. I am very excited, as they are one of my favorite cookies.

I would love to regale you with some wit, but I’m sadly lacking today and will close this now before it gets so boring as to make you want to cry.

Prayers for all of you to have a Blessed Holiday Season.

Autumn

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

The Ark

while reading my friends blogs……I was listening to my son The Ark as he found his sister’s polly pocket and had it climbing the window…..it is subdivided by panes of wood. So the polly was holding onto the wood frame screaming out that she couldn’t hold on anymore because her pant pockets were filled with gold, and she was going to fall. She eventually ditched the pants to survive, good thing she had on her bathing suit underneath. “Ahhhh, that feels much better,” She said as she climbed to safety.

I have very strange kids sometimes.

Just a bit

So I finally filled out the application for Univ. of Akron, paid the fee. Then I had to change my pin # for the FAFSA, filled out the FAFSA and submitted it today since it had to be done by Oct. 01 for the spring semester. I hate filling out all that stuff. I also scheduled a visitor day for transfer/adults on Nov. 07. I didn’t want to go with a bunch of teens..some teens think that adult’s don’t belong in college as if there is a cut off for learning…….drives me crazy to think they are going to be running our country in a few years. Ok, enough of my rant, have to get some stuff done.

Brief Dots

• Life is busy as usual

• The Princess starts 9 weeks of swim next monday night for her scoliosis, which is looking much better than a year ago.

• I’m doing a Monday night bible study

• College classes are tough but I like themThe husband’s mag job is ending but he can go back to picket duty and is hoping to find another merchandising jobWe took the kids to the zoo last week will post photos soon/Tomorrow I have a meeting in the morning and going out to a play in the evening.Sunday is our presentation for the summer reading clubHomeschooling is going ok, not where I want us but we are moving along slowly. Although we are behind, we are learning better if that makes sense.

• The teens are doing ok, Jasmine got a new job and has left McDonald’s and that please me. She seems to like it. Kendra is behaving a bit better and I’m making her do Sunday school this year and some youth activities.

• Working on getting our 3-6th grade youth group back up and running this year.

• Am pretty happy with my life right now just wish I had a few moments to really enjoy it.

ok, I’m out of here, studying beckons!!!