Leo Goes to School

Today was one of those days that I knew would happen.  It was a milestone day for Leo.  He went to his first day of "playschool."  It's a co-op with other moms.  We trade hosting at each of our homes and on the other weeks, drop the kids off to do art projects, read stories, do circle time and to play.

Leo ready and so excited for school

He bravely went inside and sat in his place for circle time.  He is growing up, in just a few months he'll be 3.   He is our independent and joyful guy. 

Showing off his new Lightning McQueen backpack

 I went off for two whole hours to myself (oh, and to hang out with Amy, but still.).  I don't think I have ever had 2 hours to myself (without Heber watching Leo) in about 3 years.  This was a momentus (and much needed) occasion.  Should I be this excited about it?  It's been a long few months.

What did I do with this new freedom?  Nordstrom Rack, of course.  I live about 10 minutes away from a huge outlet mall and I basked in the few minutes to shop.  

When did he get this big?  I just love him so much.  He was the cutest and most wonderful little one there.

Reminisce

I went to institute today.  There was a class for moms and their kids.  There wasn't a teacher, which was slightly disappointing (I'm a student who likes structure.  Constructivism never really was for me), but we did discuss a talk.  Most of the girls had husbands in medical school or law school.  It got me thinking about grad school.  

They all talked about how hard it is to have your husband in school all the time.  What a difficult time it is for them.  When I think back on our grad school years, I feel so happy.  It was a time of real growth and learning.  Granted, Heb and I were both in school together, we didn't have any children and we'd lived in the same place for some time so we had formed some roots.  

For me, grad school was one of the best times of my life.  You probably wonder how I can say that, with all the stress and homework but I loved it.  It was one of those times when I knew that I was in the right place at the right time.

After graduating with my undergrad, I had a rough couple of years.  I worked at several places and tried to find a job or a place that really fit me.  I didn't have such good luck.  After being laid off, I took some time to think about who I wanted to be.  It was then that I realized that I wanted to go back to school and that I wanted to study Instructional Technology and Design.  When I made that choice and applied for the program, it's like everything fell easily into place in a way that it hadn't before.  Within a couple of weeks, I had two part time jobs that I liked and I was ready for school. 

The years that followed were filled with learning theory, learning flash and web design.  Reading books like Human Performance Systems and the Systematic Design of Instruction.  I created things that I never had the capacity to do before. 

My culminating project was for the Utah State Library.  I surveyed librarians across the state and analyzed the data to present to their board.  In grad school, I watched myself grow.

On my first day of grad school. 

Presenting my project at the State Library.

Now that I am a mother, I don't have as many opportunities to use the skills that I developed but I am so happy that I had that opportunity to pursue my degree.  I always carry the things that I learned, not just about the subjects but about myself. 

How are you pushing your boundaries?  Do you have an experience that really impacted the way you look at the world?

The Last First Day

Heb and I had our last first day of school today. I don't actually have class until Wednesday night but I'm calling it. It seems strange to be at the end. I feel like I have been going to school my whole life and now I will be completely done. I'm looking forward to being done. I'm ready. There is no way in heck that I am going back for a PhD.

To make it through the next 16 weeks (the length of the term), Heb and I have come up with a fun activities to mark each week. It's a good way to try to enjoy the last bit of work. Maybe you'll see some of them here on the blog. It just seems like we need to mark the weeks.

School has been such a big part of our lives. It's exciting at times, all consuming but definitely difficult. Here's to making it through the next 16 weeks. I'm going to make it, right?

Is there something that has been a big part of your life that comes to an end? How did you mark it?

Be sure to read the previous catch up post.

New Notebook

I just bought a new notebook.

Do you know what this means? Well, a new big project is underway and I am so excited about it. When I start something new, I always buy a new notebook. Something about having a place to keep all my thoughts together on the project.

It's for my creative project for my program. I'm going to do it with the Utah State Library, which couldn't be more perfect because I love libraries. Not just kind of like, but love them. It brings me back to running to the library across the street from my elementary school to read books with Grandma Barbara. I can still smell the book smell as I write this. I used to sit on the little step stool between the shelves and just read. I'd take my ten penny candies from the Bluebird and spend happy afternoons. I think this is why reading is such an important thing in my life, oh and penny candy.

I won't bore with too many more details. Just a month ago, I was with friends talking about something with school and got the complete glazed look. You know, the one where you have completely lost them. No fun folks. I used to tease Heber about this when he'd talk about school and now it's me doing it. Kind of sad. I'm going to try to avoid that so I'll just say this, It's going to be great, just what I was looking for. Finally a project that could make a big difference.

A Year Ago

I can't remember if I've written about this before, but I have a funny habit of thinking back to what I was doing exactly a year ago. I like to see where I was and how far I've come.

One year ago I was starting grad school. I came from a series of terrible job experiences and a realization that what I graduated in before was NOT what I wanted to do for a career. I had been accepted into my program and was proud of myself for realizing what I wanted to do with my life (I hoped, anyway).

Today is the first day of school. Fall semester has come again. There's so much that I love about this time of year - the new freshman on campus with the "deer in the headlights" look (I so remember feeling like that my first few days of school), new possibilities and friends to make.

I think this may be my last fall semester ever. This past year has been so good for me. I feel like my confidence has grown, I feel stronger and more sure about what I'm doing and who I want to be. Most of all, I've found things to be excited about. Like, who knew that I really liked HTML and web design? I took the class this summer and was excited to learn and had a desire to learn more (does that rarely happen to other people as well?).

With the new year starting and fun classes at last, I'm just excited.

Thoughts

It's been several weeks since my last post. It's not that my life is overly busy (it was spring break last week, yay!) or that I have nothing to write about - there is stuff going on but I just haven't gotten it up on the computer.

It's getting closer to the end of the semester and everywhere I turn people are talking about resumes, internships and their future career. With all of this around me, it has obviously crossed my mind too. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about what I want to do with my life and who I want to be down the road. I think everyone comes to that point and has to make a decision.

How did you know what you wanted to do with you life?

Color Choices

So I need some help. I'm taking a class where we are designing business cards, our portfolio, basically everything that I would present to a potential employer and I've run into a bit of a wall.

What colors do I use?

I've run through the gammut of colors and just can't settle on anything. Ask me what color to do for my sisters, mom, friends, no problem. Ask me what I am, little bit of a problem.

I've thought and thought about what color describes me as a person but I'd love your feedback. What do you think?

School.

If it seems like I've dropped off the face of the earth,

I have.

Look for me in the library, it is now my permanent address (or seriously feels like it).

I'm going to need some real fun next week to make up.

Early Excitement

I almost had a heart attack today. It was one of those moments that gets your heart pounding and that you know will lead to lots of trouble. It's good to liven up your day with sheer terror, right?

I nearly lost my thumb drive, yes, the newly acquired four gigabite drive that has already saved me once before. I keep most of my work files backed up on it so that I can work wherever and whenever the mood strikes, very handy. When my work computer's hard drive crashed, I thanked my lucky stars that the thumb drive was there for me and had all the information that would have been lost forever.

This morning, I ventured over to the library as a grad student adjusting to the growing work load. I plugged it in and saved the document I was working on. With reading coming out of my ears, I left the computer to immerse myself in Gange's learning theory and other equally engrossing topics. What I didn't realize was that the drive was still there, poking out the side of the screen for anyone to take. I mean, who wouldn't want a perfectly good 4 GB drive?

I remember back in the day when 512 MB was huge. I transitioned over after my zip disk nearly failed on me. I felt like one of the first, and paid a large sum to have the security. Now with memory so cheap, 4 GB was less than 1/4 of the cost of the old "kingston" drive.

Heading over to work, I was chatting happily on the phone with Mom L. I ran some paperwork around and checked my email before settling in to work on the assignments. I reached for the disk, not there. I check the backpack again. Nope. I checked all the other possible places and realized that it was gone and to my horror, probably still at the library or worse.

Running over, my heart was pounding at the prospect that could be before me. "Have you seen a thumb drive here?" I say to the unsuspecting student that I reached around in hope of finding the drive. Nothing. Moving to the help desk, my last hope, I ask for an lost drives. And there is was. Safe and sound.

I promise to never leave you in a computer, ever again. Let's hope for a long and data filled partnership.

Our First Week

Our first week of school is almost over. Here's a little shot of us on the first day.

Is it over yet?

It's been a rough week.

Work, homework, fast food, sleep. That's all I've done.

Please let it be over soon. Just three more days.

I think I need to go to the gym and sleep, yes, sleep.


New post soon.