Looking Back

As I say goodbye to 2010, I cannot help but look back with fondness.  This year has been amazing, a quite honestly, life changing for me and my family.  I would like to list the positives that have accompanied this year in my life.....

• I graduated from UT with a BA in Mid East Studies, Asian Studies (East Asian Specialization), Arabic, and a minor in Japanese
• I got a job that runs two years, and I will be a National Teaching Fellow, further living the drea,
• I was accepted into grad school and will be working toward my Master's in Education, starting next year.
• My honey and I bought our first home

These are the more tangible events of 2010.  Now I want to look back on some of the "me" stuff I have been working on.....

• To be a better mother.  - This goal is a daily challenge that I face.  I have learned so much, but I still have a long way to go.  This is a goal that one never stops working on.  I succeeded in working more closely with my children and their schools, but my patience could still use some work....
• To be a better lover. - Sometimes I get so caught up in my work and all the "need-to-be-done" tasks, that I forget to work on the romance of my relationship.  Having graduated and having less responsibility looming over my head has really contributed to taking stress off our relationship.  Although, the boy has begun working nights, so that makes our time together significantly less.....
• To take better care of my body. - Here is an area where I have completely failed.  I have been eating better, true, but I have been so wrapped up in those dam "need-to-be-done" tasks, that I neglect my daily yoga plans. Aargh.. *sigh*
• To nurture my spiritual life. -  The very nature of academic life is that one works to nurture their mind, but the spiritual is less emphasized.  This is true of me.  I have been doing better, especially the latter part of this year. Again, this probably has everything to do with having graduated and having less assignments....

In the New Year, I plan to work more on all of these goals, as they are not simply one year goals, but lifelong pursuits.  I am so optimistic about the coming year, as it already holds so many promises and possibilities.  I love the path I am on, and look forward to walking it.....

Marked

   I just finished reading this joint effort by P.C Cast and her daughter Kristen Cast. Together they wrote a vampire novel. Actually, it is more than that.  This book is the first in a series of vampire novels.  Now, I am just as into vampires as the next guy, but I am from a different school than the current craze.  My school is comprised of Anne Rice's characters, as well as Joss Whedon's Spike and Angel.  However, I am still up for any new offering of undead lore, so I gave this novel a go....

     The story begins when our heroine, Zoey, becomes marked.  This means that she will become a vampire in a few years. As those who are marked undergo "the Change," they attend a Vampire Academy of sorts.  The rest of the book follows Zoey as she tries to fit into her new "life."

     The story has a very interesting,albeit not too original, plot line.  It is well thought out and is definitely entertaining, yet the writing is distracting.  A good writer can tell a story, including the main character's struggles and inner conflicts, and never draw the reader away from the actual tale.  However, in this story, the main character's inner monologue can be so out of place and, if you will, "wonky" that the reader has to purposely pass over it.  (Not to mention a vagrant overuse of parenthetical statetments.)....

     I do believe that I may pick up the second novel... if I can get it for free on bookmooch

Life, as yet, Unplanned

I just attended the commencement ceremonies for my Bachelor's degree.  It was last night at 6pm.  Three degrees, three kids, and seven years later, I feel I have accomplished much!  It felt so good to walk across the stage and shake the Dean's hand, knowing that I was crossing the threshold into a new chapter of my life.

During the ceremony, there was a faculty speaker, Dr. Robert King.  He gave a short, simple, and sweet speech.  Contained within his speech were five "suggestions" for how to live the rest of our lives.  I found the advice to be very sound, so I thought that I should chronicle them here, lest I forget them:

1.     Be flexible.  Having graduated with a Liberal Arts Degree, flexibility is key to success in one's future....

2.     Read one book each month.  It does not matter what it is, just that you read something that does not come off of a computer screen...

3.     Do not depend on your gadgets.  One day each month, turn off all gadgets, and live!  This means cell phones, tvs, laptops, etc.

4.     Know thyself, and practice the Golden Rule.

5.     Love really is essential for living a full, fulfilled life.

Happy Tofurkey Day!!

So, another day of giving thanks is here.  Another year that my family has shared and grown. 

This year I am thankful for:

....the house that we were able to buy and make our home.  A space for our children to run and grow and play.

...the dog that fell into our laps, that has brought us joy and hours of fun!

...that I will be graduating in about two weeks.

....that new paths are opening up to me, and I am able to grow and learn as I experience each day.

... that we have three healthy pecan trees in the yard that I used to fill these two sweet potato pecan pies to savor this holiday......

....and so very much more!!

Another Way In Which I Still Need to Grow.....

Turns out things are not going as planned.... Not that they ever do, but I am so very good at planning.  I can visualize the many steps necessary to make a thing happen, and happen successfully, but the execution never seems to happen quick enough.....

It had been my deepest desire, as of late, to be fully moved into the new house so that I could do Halloween up right!  I love to decorate, play creepy Halloweenie music, scare the kiddies, etc.  These are things that I relish in all year long, but Halloween is such a magickal time of year for such trickery.

Herein lies my discomfort..... We have yet to even partially move in.  I have set up much of the kitchen, and hung most of my clothes in the closet, but such things as beds and computers have not yet made it to the new space.  It seems almost unlikely that they will before mid weekend.... As a result, I am terribly saddened, and the holiday is not engulfing me as it has done is years past.... 

'Tis my goal for the week to reapply the cobwebs, get my cackle in order, and set about Haunting!!

Discussion of my Absence....

I am, by nature, an avid writer. I love to create using words.  That is the purpose of this blog.  However, lately I have been feeling far to exhausted to undertake any addition creative endeavors other than the ones that are already expected of me.  Let me give you a breakdown of the my life, as of late.....

I posted about the search for our first home purchase.  In fact, I believe I spoke of my "wish list."  Turns out, we found a house that is just about perfect, and on 4/10 an acre!   All paperwork was signed and recorded on the 4th of this month.  The house is now our home.... though we are still trying to finish the moving part.

Moving is a ridiculously difficult undertaking.  I am quite tired of it, frankly, but now that Christopher has begun working nights, his body has yet to adjust to this dramatic change.  He has been too tired to assist me in the packing.  Which is fine, but it is all beginning to feel a bit overwhelming.

In addition to my many responsibilities, I am nearing the middle of my final semester as an undergraduate.  I am preparing final projects, writing papers, taking tests, applying for jobs, etc.  I have a huge, looming fear that I will graduate and be unable to find suitable work.  Yes, I will have three majors and one minor under my belt, but what is the usefulness and marketability of this degree?  I fret.....

These tasks and responsibilities that lie before me, along with my duties to my three wee ones, have put me in a state of exhausted frenzy, hence the lack of posts.  I don't know how long I will be in absence, but every spare moment, I daydream of the little plot of land, my easel and/or yoga mat, and hot tea.  After all of this is completed, I may revel in these daydreams a bit before posting regularly again....

*** Want to get further into the depths of my mind?  I started a tumblr account as a place to keep my favorite images http://spidergoddess.tumblr.com/ ***

Note to All Professors:

Please respect the 'bell.'  I respect you and your work enough to show up before the class begins.  At the same time, I expect that you will respect my work and time.  I need the 10 or so minutes to walk across campus and be on time for my next class.  If you keep me past the bell, I will likely be late for my next meeting, putting into motion a string of disrespectful events:

• My teacher might feel that I disrespected him in showing up for class late.
• My fellow classmates will be disrupted/distracted by my showing up late for class.
• My grade will suffer, as tardiness compounds and lowers one's grade as would an absence.
• etc.....