Less than 10 Days!

In less than 10 days I will be DONE with school! I am so excited, I can't believe it is almost here! I finished my final project -- with a little stress of course! Now it's just postings, homework and some quizzes. In some ways this two years went by fast and in other ways it seems like a lifetime ago.

Elijah is doing well in swim class. He made some great strides in his last class. He also tested in karate and has officially earned his yellow belt. He is very excited about it. School for him seems to be going well. He said he likes wearing a uniform.

Not much else going on. I have some business trips in the near future. It's almost October, can you believe it?

Enjoy your weekend.

Another Crazy Week

It was another crazy week at work. The month is going way to fast. The last several months have gone too fast. What is with 2007?

The only good thing is that it gets me closer to being done with school. Yippee! This weekend I have to finish a big project. It seems odd that it is due at the end of week four (of six), but on the other hand, it will be done and just leave quizzes, homework and postings for the next two weeks.

Not much is going on. I found out that my car will be built the first week of October. I have no idea how long it will take to get it after that.

Elijah is enjoying school. So far so good! Enjoy your weekend!

Motivation

Tomorrow wraps up week three of my last class (aka half way done). Anyway, the only thing that stinks is the homework. This week I have to complete 58 problems, but only 30 are graded. WTF? During the entire six weeks, I have to do 160 problems, but only 86 count toward my grade. Why waste my time? Combine that with my almost-done-itis and I'm really lacking motivation to finish the work. UGH!

It's Getting Close

Graduation stuff came in the mail today! I can't believe it is almost here! I had to fill out the graduation application and order my cap and gown. I'm excited, but I'm also wondering what am I going to do when I'm done. Will I really have a lot more time? I guess I will see if a few weeks! Yahoo!

Happy Birthday Natalie!

Happy Birthday to my niece Natalie. I hope you had a great birthday!


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Bon Voyage Coco!

Gary's niece Coco has taken a job on a cruise ship in the Hawaiian Islands. She's leaving today for five months. Last night we got together to see her off. We'll miss you and wish you all the best!


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Never Forget

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Never forget those who lost their lives on this day six years ago, and those who gave their lives to fight for this country. Regardless of how you feel about the war, never forget those who are out there fighting.

For the last few weeks our office has been collecting items to send to the troops in Iraq. Today we mailed three boxes (the boxes that a case of paper comes in). Thank you to our office for picking up the postage. We wanted to let the troops know that we are thinking about them and appreciate all they do.

The First Week

Elijah finished his first week of school and seemed to really like it! We'll see how the next week goes -- the full week.

Still waiting on grades from the last class. Who knows when that will happen. I'm irritated, but over it at the same time.

Yesterday was a crazy day. It went so fast that I felt like I lost the day. Hopefully today won't be the same. Work is still crazy. I hope it becomes manageable soon. I don't know how much more I can take!

Enjoy what is left of the weekend!

A Couple of Birthdays

Happy birthday to Laura and Chelsea. Laura is my niece and Goddaughter and Chelsea is Kevin's daughter. Both were born on the same day, but different years. I hope both of you had a great day!


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The First Day

Well, the first day of school has come and gone. That was fast! Elijah woke up this morning excited, but a little nervous. He kept expressing concern about the "late bell" and wanted to make sure he was in class by that time. We got to school and lined up outside. He was doing pretty good until he realized I could not walk him inside, fortunately we had a few minutes, so he was able to relax about it.

I took the day off so I could pick him up. I got a little nervous because I saw kids coming out and I was thinking he would panic if he didn't see me, but I found him. He said it was good, but of course he couldn't remember anything they did. (he seems to have selective memory when it comes to 'what did you do at school today').

Tomorrow is a full day. We'll see how that goes!

Two Days

Two days until Elijah starts school. Part of me is excited and the other part of me is sad. I can't believe how fast the last several years have gone by.

I was finally able to finish my tax class. It feels good to be done. I can't believe I am now in my last class. It seems surreal. That is until I get a letter from the company that has my student loans. They didn't waste any time to let me know that I'll be paying back loans next April.

Thanks to all the rain we had not too long ago, the mosquitoes are running rapid. I don't know if it was a mosquito or a spider, but something bit me and my foot swelled up like a balloon. It's getting better, but not completely back to normal.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Tired

Well, so far I can get into the system for school. The bad news, all my previous work has been wiped out. So I'm hoping that the professor knows all the grades because my sanity could not handle redoing all those quizzes! He gave us until tomorrow to finish the course. There goes that break I was supposed to be on!

I took the day off today. Originally it was because Elijah's summer camp ended yesterday. Now I realize that I did it to keep me sane. Yesterday I worked 14 hours and still have work to do. I'm trying to figure out how I can squeeze in some time to go in today.

Tuesday is the big day: Boy starts school. I'm starting to freak out a little. This is going to be tougher than I thought -- I figured since he's been in daycare since he was 3 months old that this would not be much different. It is.

If you pray, say one for me please. I need strength to keep putting up with the massive volume at work. I need strength to finish this class and my last class, and I need some strength to send my sunshine to school on Tuesdays. Thank you.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to two of my cousins: Pam & Brooke. I hope both of you have a fabulous birthday and I wish you all the best!

What happend to August?

Can someone please tell me what happened to August. I'm still trying to figure out what happened to June and July and here I am thinking the end of August already? I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

They restored the old version of the system we use as school. I came up at 5 p.m. today, however I still cannot get in. I guess the passwords were reset and the one they told me should work doesn't. I'm about over it.

Elijah had orientation at school today. I think that is putting me into midlife crisis mode. We were sent home with a nice big manila envelope with policies, procedures and a list of things I have to volunteer for. I'm already signed up to work a lunch - thank goodness I had already requested the day off.

Not much else is going on. Work is still psycho busy. I've almost reached my saturation point.

Just in case you were wondering . . .

They still don't have the system up yet for school. WTF. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Work is psycho again. I don't know how much more I can take. I'm actually debating going back to caffeine. Let me remind you that it is has been 11 years since I have had caffeine. The last time I was this desperate was when Elijah was born and he had his days and nights mixed up.

If you pray, say one for me. I need some strength. Thank you.

Grand Rapids -- WOW!

It's been about 10 years since I've been to Grand Rapids. The last time was with Gary for a mountain bike race. I remember that we spent most of the time in a suburb and only went downtown to go to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. I highly recommend going to the museum by the way -- regardless of your political affiliation, it is a great experience for all.

On Friday, myself and seven others from work embarked on a journey to the great town of Grand Rapids. The occasion was the near opening of the first J.W. Marriott in the Midwest. The hotel officially opens in about three weeks, but we got a preview! Let me tell you that in my 13+ years in the hotel business in addition to all my other years of travel, I never seen a more amazing hotel. This is a one of a kind work of art. If you ever go to Grand Rapids, you have to go to this hotel and check it out. There isn't one room with an amazing view. The entire building is glass so you see everything. Wow - that's all I can say.

BTW, the nightlife has picked up a bit as well, so if that is your kind of fun, this is your kind of town!

Twelve Days Later

It's been twelve days since the university took down our online platform and it is still not up. A note posted at 11 p.m. on Friday said that they decided to go back to the old platform. Two days later the old platform is still not up. They are offering us the option to finish the class with the new deadlines that the instructors will notify us of after the system is back up, or drop the class and retake it at no additional charges. Since I was on the last week of class, I don't think I am going to drop it.

This experience has taught me that they were not adequately prepared for this, and did not seem to have a good plan to handle the situation. That is disappointing, but I hope they learn from it and will be better prepared next time. The fact of the matter is, you should never assume that an upgrade will run smoothly. I don't think anyone expected it to be this bad, but just simple planning of doing this while we were on break, could have cut this inconvenience down from 12 days to 5 days.

I just keep telling myself that I'm almost done.

It's almost humorous now

If you can believe it, the system is still down. Who know when I will get to finish this class and actually start my next class. Do you think it is divine that it worked out this way? I'm beginning to wonder if I am meant to finish this degree.

Work still sucks. The volume does not appear to be slowing down at all. I worked another 12+ hour day and will need to be there bright and early tomorrow morning.

Elijah received his teach assignment in the mail. We get to go meet her next week. I can't believe he starts school in less than two weeks. Where did summer go? Where did 2007 go?

Happy Birthday Janinne!

Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law Janinne. I hope you had a great day. I wish you a year of happiness!


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Time Warp or Twilight Zone

So I finally got an email from my instructor last night saying that he will accept assignments until Sunday night (instead of last night since the lovely system has been down). Sounds good except what about the class that starts today? Well, he sent an email that the system should be up at 6 p.m. today, if not, he'll let us know where to go from here.

I emailed my academic advisor last night to ask her if she knew if they were setting up new dates, or was it up to the instructors. She emails me this morning what was posted on the website (gee thanks, I would have never found that). So I respond that I need to know if I'm juggling two classes this week, or is everything getting pushed. No response yet. Thanks for the help.

Surprise, surprise . . . the system was not up at 6 p.m. and still is not up. My head hurts. This has been a nightmare. A bit of advice . . . if you are going to school online and they say they are going to do an upgrade and the system will only be down for a few days -- do not pass go, do not collect $200, run now and avoid the Christmas rush.