Back To School Month

For the majority of students, August is the month for returning to class. I happen to live in a town that utilizes the balanced calendar. School starts the end of July. Yes, your heard it right. End. Of. July. That’s too early, you say. Here’s the basic schedule: School stars in late July. After nine weeks, they get a two week fall break in October. They return until Thanksgiving, when they get a two day break. They go back unitl mid-December when they get another two week break. The January holidays are New Year’s Day and Martin Luther King Day. If snow days missed are at a minimum, February hails the President’s Day holiday. Around the second or third week of March they get another two weeks off. Then return until the end of school, usually the last week of May. If Good Friday happens to fall during April, they get that day and sometimes and additional off as well. Summer break is usually eight weeks long. My children where still in school when they began this calendar and I absolutely loved it. Especially the two week fall break. Many folks thought it was a bad idea. Kids would just get into a routine, then they would get a holiday. I can see both sides but really enjoyed the breaks with my kiddos. Well, August is about gone. DHs surgery went well in July. His recovery skills are amazing. He is back at work and seems to be doing ok. I thought things were settling down a bit at work, but I just found out today one of our NSF proposals was funded. With the four that were funded in mid-August, that is the most we have had funded in any given year. Job security. Still getting some produce from the garden. Everything has slowed down due to the lack of rain. But, we had a good run this year. Our loaded freezer is proof. Well, I hope all who have returned, are returning now, and will be returning to school have a wonderful year.

July Doings

I thought I would make a post before I let another month slip by. I cannot believe July is half gone. Things have settled down a bit at work. I am not completely caught up with everything, but I am getting there. Right now our family is preparing for DHs surgery at the end of the month. Praying all things go well and he will be able to return to work soon. It is my plan to start taking classes again. I want to earn an Associate’s degree initially, then, if I am still employed at the university, work towards a Bachelor’s degree. Now that I am not working so much overtime, I can take one class per semester. For a “I want it now” person, it’s going to be hard to not just dive into this matriculation pursuit and take several classes per semester so as to reach my goal sooner. One thing I have learned with age is that faster is not always better. I also want to get started on some outside projects, but will probably postpone those activities when the outside temps cool down a bit. What about this heat? I do not recall temps being this hot for this long. Thankfully we have had some rain to provide a little relief.

6 Months down, 6 more to Go

I cannot believe it is July already. I was hoping things would settle down a little at work, but I do not think that is going to happen. Found out DH may be facing surgery later on. Hopefully they will schedule it soon and we can get it over with. Heard a rumor that the State of Tennessee and Tennessee Board of Regents has granted a raise, 3%. At my level of pay, it is not much, but it will help. Going to Nashville tomorrow. I will be driving there and back to get a little practice for when I have to bring Randy home from surgery. I do not look forward to driving in Nashville, but I need to do it and I will not be beat.

Has It Been So Long?

As you can tell from when I posted last, blogging is not high on my priority list.Do you blog/Facebook/Twitter/My Space?  I  use Facebook frequently. I have family in other counties of Tennessee as well as out of state, so Facebook has been nice for keeping in touch. Several of my church family are on Facebook; I enjoy reading their posts.  I have a  My Space account, but rarely go there.  I just don’t get Twitter. Which brings me back to blogging. Blogging is supposed to be therapeutic, but the jury is still out on that one. I think blogging is a good exercise for potential writers. Many new authors and some old timers, use blogs and forums to connect with their fans. This could be could and it could be really bad, depending on the situation. I started this blog  because my daughter had one and I thought it might be fun. So, let the fun begin! I will try to post, at least twice a week. My blogs may be funny, serious, whiny (well, maybe not). We’ll see how it goes.

What Goes Around

I have fought it, but I think I have caught one of the many viruses that is going around. The big “IT” has settled in my chest. I have been coughing since lunch, my joints ache more than usual, and my I have a splitting headache. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

I’m baaaaaack!

Has it been almost two years since my last post? I hope to correct that this year. A lot has happened during my Word Press absence: my Mother passed away; my department at work underwent a major overhaul, i.e. supervisor retired, new supervisor came on board, hired some temporary workers, moved to a new building; I passed the Certified Professional Secretary Exam and got a 9% raise; we adopted a beautiful calico cat or I should say she adopted us.  So, I guess I had an excuse for neglecting my blog. Hopefully, I can get back into the swing of things and post on a regular basis. My posts will range from extremely serious to extremely silly and everything in between. I will sign off for now, but not forever.

Eating Out or Eating In

How often do you eat out? When you do, is it fast food or a sit-down restaurant? How many restaurants are in your town? Since I started working full-time and work overtime, we eat out more and usually eat at a sit-down restaurant. I did not realize how similar these restaurants are until I started eating out. A fried chicken salad at one place pretty much tastes like one at another. I ate at a Logans for the first time today. I had heard about the peanut shells on the floor. Maybe it was because it was soo early in the day, but there wasn’t that many peanut hulls in the floor. I guess I was expecting to wade through a pile of hulls, so it was a nice surprise to find I could actually see the floor. The food was ok.  The server was extremely attentive, which got a little nerve racking after a while. Don’t get me wrong, I like when the server brings refills on drinks without being told, but I do not want the server camping out at my table. Right now my husband and I are resting from our big lunch before we go out to mow the yard. I have several things to do today and hope to get them all done.

Graduation for My Youngest

This Saturday, my youngest daughter will be graduating from high school. Actually, she finished high school last December and will walk across “the stage” to get her diploma. She has already finished her first semester of college. Many people are sad when their children leave the nest. Many are happy. I have mixed emotions about it. First off, my children have not left the nest yet. The attend college locally and still live at home. They both take a full load of classes, 15 – 17 credit hours each. They are involved with church activities. They are busy. We give them an allowance in which they are to be good stewards of. They do their own laundry. They help out with chores around the house. It is a comfortable relationship in that I see them, but we are not in each other’s faces all the time. I know they day will come when they will leave. Permanently. And I will be sad, but life goes on. Is their any thing in your life that you have mixed emotions about?

What’s Your Thang?

Do you have  hobby? Are you really talented at something? If you are, is it a talent for the greater good, such as medical research or some other scientific endeavor? Or are you good at something that just brings your satisfaction. Me? I like spider solitaire. When I was pregnant with my oldest child, I got addicted to solitaire. This was before home PCs, so I had to use actual cards! Go figure. My laptop and desktop computers both have solitaire on them. I also have Antics Solitaire on both computers. I like to keep my win percentages above 75%, which can be a challenge. I also like crossword puzzles. I am  not so good at these, but with my DHs help, I can usually get one solved. What do you like to do? Are you really good at it? Do you strive to improve or do you give up at the slightest challenge?

Big Cat?

What size does a kitten/cat have to be to be considered “big”? We have this ongoing argument with our daughter about our new addition, Mrs. Quigley. Two in the family thinks she is fat, one thinks she is not, and one says she is not fat now. That statement implies that she is on her way to fatness. Now, I do not condone obesity in animals. It is not healthy and really is not that cute. But our little kitten is very cute with her pudginess. She is not as active as she was when we first got her, but she is still playful. She is taking a nap with the Head Mister of the house right now. So, how big is big?