Hunting Camp

One of the things I love to do is to set out with my husband and the horses trying to find the elk. One memorable trip we took had us listening and looking all night. We arrived at our camp spot, set up, and started eating dinner when the woods and mountains cut loose with elk calling each other. They kept at it all night and stopped in the early morning just before dawn. It was as if they knew we were up and getting dressed to come and find them, to follow their calls. Some of the elk had been so close when they cut loose bellowing I could swear they were right behind our tent. But as we set out to go take a look they disappeared as fast as the sun sets after it hits the horizon. We never got a glimpse of the magnificent animals but we were treated to the serenade of a lifetime. 

Essay contest

I am entering an essay contest and need help getting my word count down to 500, this is what Ihave so far. I am kind of being a smart-#$@ so any suggestions or corrections would be great. One discalimer I want to add is that I am not trying to knock teh college bookstore or bad mouth it, I just choose not to purchase books there unless I have to or they are cheaper. I hope that part is not offensive.

“What I Wish I Knew My First Semester”

There is so much I can tell you now that I am a senior that will help you survive your first semester. I only wish I had know all this when I started. First, always get a planner for each new semester and actually fill it out. They are extremely helpful when you panic about what is due and when. TRiO Academic Services actually hands these out free, the bummer is they won’t fill them out for you. When you get your class syllabus and are told you have a large project or research paper due at the end of the semester, actually do the research at least a month before hand. Waiting until the night before it is due will have disastrous results to your grade and GPA not to mention you psyche.  Make sure you mark in your planner when that 10,000.00 scholarship application is due; it really sucks to find out the day after it was supposed to be submitted that all the work you put into it was for free, done that.

One good idea I had after my first day was maybe I should have printed out my class schedule with the location on it and found each classroom before school started. It is really weird to poke your head in three different math classes asking if the class you interrupted is math 25 or not. 

Always go to your first day of class if you can, it usually is a gimme day where you get to leave early after getting the syllabus and the professor takes role to see how many actually showed up. Sometimes you get extra points for getting out of bed and coming. Sweats and slippers or OK for the first go around. Any professors who offer extra credit are giving you a heads up that you might need it for their class. Take advantage of the annoying thing you may have to do to get the extra ten points; you might actually learn something from the experience.

When you don’t know what to do, confused about an assignment and don’t want to look stupid in front of your class, go see your professor. You can email, call, or talk after class. Do not be afraid to approach them. I have avoided many problems by simply being unafraid to ask the stupid question. Remember the only stupid question is the one you don’t ask!

One last thing I want to discuss, books. When you get your schedule set, go online and find out what books are required for your classes. Print a list and then go online to any textbook sales.com websites and search for the cheapest place to get them. Some offer free shipping, free t-shirts, and free financing until your residual check comes in. I saved an average of $200.00 per semester by buying my books somewhere other than the college bookstore. This has allowed me to keep the textbooks I want and either donate the rest to the TRiO Academic Services for other students use or share with classmates that haven’t taken the classes yet.

Oh yea, there is one other thing I want to share. If you go and buy a creamer and put it in the TRiO lab fridge, they always have coffee you can drink. It will save you four to five dollars a day if you are a coffee-holic like me.

Time, where does it go?

I am always amazed at how fast time slips past us. We get up early to get more done in the day and before you know it it is afternoon and everything you had planned to get done is not finished yet. I catch myself working away on the computor and I look up and it is dark. What hapened? When I sat down it was light. Where did my time go I wonder. I replay the day and try to figure out how it all slipped away and I cannot see where it went.

People of all ages have great aspirations of getting something accomplished in a set amount of time and when it doesn't transpire it is frustrating and aggrivating. Before you know it you have gone from 18 to 22 and you think, OK I still have time I am young. Next thing you know your 30 and you wonder what did I do, what have I accomplished. Pretty soon your 43, watching your kids reach their benchmarks reaching for more goals of growth and learning. You think to yourself, wow I really wanted to have this done by now where did my time go. And it doesn't matter what that thing was you wanted to have done you just know it isn't. Time, flying past my eyes with wings of fury flying so fast I can hardly see. I know that pretty soon time will be over for me and time will continue to march for my kids as tehy chase their own time machine.

Step Parenting

Wow, what an undertaking! I am a step parent to a almost 18 year old daughter. I am finally seeing some love and respect coming my way. For any of you out there that have ever wondered if it would ever happen, let me tell you it will eventually. I guess there are times that it won't, I didn't think it ever would, but after much perserverance, love, and some headbutting, my work has paid off and it feels great. Honestly, you have feelings at times that are not so nice but you have to take those into persective and realize that there are other factors involved and not take everything that comes out of a teenagers mouth personally.  They really can be horrible, I think this applies to all kids though. Adulthood is showing my step daughter some realizations and I think she finnaly sees me as the one who is here at all times no matter what to be her rock and support structure. That has got to sting a little when her own "real" parent is not stepping up to do what is needed and expected in the eyes of a young girl coming into her own. Happy to have spent the last ten years waging the uphill battle, with more battles to come I am sure.

Dust Bunnies

Dust Bunnies, does anyone know where they come from, I mean who showed up when I wasn't home and dropped them off. I didn't order any from anywhere online that I know of. Maybe it was a neighbor that is mad because I didn't mow my lawn properly last summer, or my sister-in-law because I didn't watch her son or something. I don't know who did it but I want you to come back and get the mommie and daddy dust bunny and all their children too. They are multiplying like crazy around here and I cannot keep up with them. They are under the couch, my bed, dressers, in the bathroom hiding under the toilet, in the living room under my end tables, and they especially like the laundry room behind the washer and dryer. It must be because it is warmer there. I even found them in my car. I don't know if anyone else has had this unfortunate circumstance happen to you but if it does I have found the best way to get ride of them is to exterminate them all. My weapon of choice is a Kirby heritage. I have had it for about 20 years or so and I find it works wonders if you use the hose attachment because some of those little suckers have managed to figure out how to climb up on the tops of my curtains and drapes. Some actually climb the walls especially if you have a fan placed in a room for air circulation, they must like the constant air movement. I waged dust bunny war this weekend and thought I had won, but the very next day there was another one all alone sad and small hiding under my kitchen table.

Taxes, taxes, and more taxes

I wonder what we would really think if we knew exactly where every cent of our tax money went and what it was used for. As I sit here trying to put the piles and piles of paerwork into some sembalence of order for the tax preparer I cannot help thinking that enough is enough. Taxes on fuel, food, cigarettes, wine, candy, house, car, roads, income, utilities & phone, state to state purchases, etc... You get the idea. When I waited tables and bartended I had to claim my tips on my paycheck for a few places I worked and those got taxed so much that one time I recieved a check with *************for the amount due me. I thought it was a joke at first, but it took my regular hourly wage to pay the taxes on what I had made.
Now I sit here trying to assemble papaerwork to try to come up with enough deductions so that I can get some of those taxes back so I can afford to go to school. Crazy. I really would like to follow my money from a purchase to see where it really goes, again I think we would all be a little surprised. How many taxes should we pay and for what? I know we need some of them to help pay for roads, schools, sanitation facilities, prisons, what I help pay to keep people in jail. Maybe they should be out working for free and saving us some money on taxes. I don't know how it all works but I seriously get worked up when it is tax time. Thanks for the room to rant.

Technology

Well today has been full of technological enlightenment. We started building a website in educational Technology class today. I actually am making my own webpage, I can blog, and facebook, whats next twitter? I am not a big time technology user. I have a cell phone, however, I rarely carry it with me and you will rarely see it pasted to the side of my head. I don't text, I know this is becoming a foriegn concept (that people don't text) but I just don't get why you wouldn't want to talk to someone. I have a 17 year old that walks around like her thumbs are driving her through the house, but ask her to answer her phone and she will be lik,e I didn't know I had a call I must have been texting.
I am pretty proficient with my laptop and have been getting more comfortable building little things with it but now I have been given a Mac. Wow what a difference and adjustment period that has been. I like it don't get me wrong, new things are fun to play with and learn about. I really am enjoying learning about bolgging as well it is a whole new outlet besides email. Love it.

Daily blogging

Well I have already failed at daily blogging or journaling, it has been two days since my last post. This feels like confession. : ) Today I was able to go into a Kindergarten class and perform one of my assignments from another Lit. class. The kids were great and listened very intently and I was surprised at how well they worked together in their pod groups as teams. Like Jen I ran around to the libraries in my area to collect books for my other lit. class and have the middle school to go to for the rest of my books yet. The librarians are very helpful and knowledgable, I love getting them involved in assignments as they usually have great insight as to the types of books to use for certain activities I try to plan for.

To make up for yesterdays missed post I will tell you about an adventure I went on after Technology class. As I mentioned in my first post my husband is a logger so he camps out near his job site and tries to come home one day during teh week and on the weekends. He forgot his work coat Monday morning and needed a new set of suspenders so after class I drove from Lewiston back to Kamiah where I live and packed up some dinner goodies and his clothes and set out after making arraingments for my kids and headed out to his camp. He camps out past Pierce, Idaho, I don't know if anyone knows where this is but it takes me an hour and a half to get there under normal driving conditions. Little did I know when I set out after 3:00 that there was a winter storm warning in effect for last night...I made it to his camper and it had started snowing, lovely I thought. I got the camper cleaned up a little and set out to make dinner, my husband wasn't back form work yet so it gave me some time to get it all together. By the way, he had no idea I was going to be there so it was a nice surprise for him when he showed up that he didn't have to cook and that he would be warm the next day at work. We ate and visited and I had to head back. I needed to pick up my youngest by 8. I didn't get 2 miles when the rear end of my Ford Explorer started sliding and fishtailing. Had myself a mini coronary and tried to get thecar to correct, instead I did a full turn in the middle of the road and left a nice imprint of the grill, headlights and hood in the snowbank. Thank goodness the snow was so piled up it covered teh gaurdrail and it was so tall I just hit it and bounced, I put it in 4 wheel low and backed right out as another car came towards me. The rest of the drive was at 25 mph until I made it under the snow line. When I reached teh snowline it turned to spli pea fog and I drove so slow it didn't register on the speedometer so that I could lean out the window to see the strips on the road. This was the worst idea I had ever had I decided. No more surprises from me until I get new rear tires. That was my winter fun for the day.

New Blog

Hello, I am not sure what to write here and it feels very wierd. It took forever to get into here and I had to set it up again today because I couldn't remember what I used to set it up with last week. Funny huh! Well I guess I can write about my day today. I got up at 3:00 AM to help my husband get off to work. He is a logger. He is an operator and runs a Yarder machine. That is the thing that hauls the logs up the hill or mountain and piles them up in a big log deck and then teh loader operator loads them on log trucks. If any of you have watched any of the logging shows on Discovery Channel you will know what he does. Anyway, I usually do homework after that until the kids get up or I get them up for school. Unfortunately I forgot they had no school today. So my homework has been interupted all day. Oh well they are the best part of my day. So I have organized my binders for my classes, printed out book lists, and read through a few chapters for some assignments. Now I need to get out my Mac to check it out for technology class tomorrow morning and do homework for that class. So this has been my day and my very first blog. I hope it worked and that I can see what you have all been writing about.
Cheryl