...about my "report card"....
Just an update about my grades--since my dad died two years and one month ago, I haven't had anyone to brag to about my progress in school. He was very disappointed in me for many years because I did not complete college. I took college classes here and there over the years, but the courses were unrelated, and none lead to a degree. When Mallory began college in 2003, I also decided to begin taking classes at our local community college, expecting that I would end up eventually with a degree in something. I figured it would take me eight years going part-time. I started sending my grades to my dad and he posted them on his refrigerator out in Arizona. When he became too infirm to care for himself, and ended up in a nursing home in Illinois, I still sent him my grades, even though he didn't have a refrigerator to post them on.
My dad would be proud to know that I now have 93 credit hours, with As in all classes but one (that was a B, in "Introduction to Psychology," in the fall of 2005. I am not making excuses for the "B," but rather simply offering an explanation. We were tested each week on each chapter. One hundred questions, one hundred minutes. There was no study guide--each chapter had to be memorized word-for-word in order to get an "A" on the test. It was impossible to be able to think about an answer--if you did not know it, you had to leave it blank. It was nearly impossible to be able to go on and complete the rest of a test and then come back to go over questions that you were unsure of, because of the time. I was very disappointed in that grade, and it brought my GPA down from 4.0 to something miserable. My GPA, in spite of all of the rest of my As, is still only 3.968. That sucks. Just because of one lousy B.
My kids think I am over-reacting, and too focused on getting all As. I am overcoming my miserable performance in high school, and trying to redeem myself even though my parents are not here to witness that I am not the dumb f...-up they no doubt thought I was. But this is taking much longer than I anticipated. I found out last December that I had taken the wrong classes for the degree I am working toward. I went out to my car after leaving the guidance office, and had a good cry, and then signed up for some of the right classes.
A few months ago, I received a letter saying that I was no longer eligible for financial aid because I apparently was "milking" the system...taking more classes than I needed to, without graduating. I have been so busy with Butterbean that it has been nearly impossible to think about what I need to do to regain my aid.
We were late in filing our taxes this year, and consequently, I am late in applying for financial aid for the fall semester. I was preoccupied about my son's continuing dramas, my daughter's impending graduation and the trip to Europe that we promised her when we were in better financial standing (and when I was working...the company I worked for for the past 12 years folded, and the owner still hasn't bothered to contact us...our work just dried up). I haven't been able to consider working, since my little Schmoopie's parents haven't yet stepped up to the plate to care for him full-time. I enjoy every second of time I spend with the baby, but enjoying my time with him has come at the price of not being able to do those things I'd been accustomed to doing.
Meeghan and the girls will be arriving here this coming Saturday for the rest of the summer. On Tuesday, I will have all three granddaughters, plus my little Butterbean, of course, for a week or so, while Meeghan flies down to Peru to meet her husband's ship as it pulls into port. I am very excited for her, but nervous at the same time...especially after hearing about a plane crash this morning off the coast of Brazil.
Meeghan and Mallory were planning a two-week-long trip to London, Paris, and Rome, but sadly, due to our financial situation, have scaled the trip way back to Paris only.
I am catering an "event" this coming Friday, and have yet to begin preparing pastries, however, all seven of the floral arrangements are done and sitting on the dining room table, buffet, and lowboy, along with the serving pieces, and some of the paper goods. I will take pictures and see if I can download them here next week.
Well, Butterbean is waking up from his nap, so it is time for me to go.
CNN breaking news: All 228 passengers/crew on the Air France flight are presumed dead...the Brazilian air force is now out doing a search. How sad for these families.
My dad would be proud to know that I now have 93 credit hours, with As in all classes but one (that was a B, in "Introduction to Psychology," in the fall of 2005. I am not making excuses for the "B," but rather simply offering an explanation. We were tested each week on each chapter. One hundred questions, one hundred minutes. There was no study guide--each chapter had to be memorized word-for-word in order to get an "A" on the test. It was impossible to be able to think about an answer--if you did not know it, you had to leave it blank. It was nearly impossible to be able to go on and complete the rest of a test and then come back to go over questions that you were unsure of, because of the time. I was very disappointed in that grade, and it brought my GPA down from 4.0 to something miserable. My GPA, in spite of all of the rest of my As, is still only 3.968. That sucks. Just because of one lousy B.
My kids think I am over-reacting, and too focused on getting all As. I am overcoming my miserable performance in high school, and trying to redeem myself even though my parents are not here to witness that I am not the dumb f...-up they no doubt thought I was. But this is taking much longer than I anticipated. I found out last December that I had taken the wrong classes for the degree I am working toward. I went out to my car after leaving the guidance office, and had a good cry, and then signed up for some of the right classes.
A few months ago, I received a letter saying that I was no longer eligible for financial aid because I apparently was "milking" the system...taking more classes than I needed to, without graduating. I have been so busy with Butterbean that it has been nearly impossible to think about what I need to do to regain my aid.
We were late in filing our taxes this year, and consequently, I am late in applying for financial aid for the fall semester. I was preoccupied about my son's continuing dramas, my daughter's impending graduation and the trip to Europe that we promised her when we were in better financial standing (and when I was working...the company I worked for for the past 12 years folded, and the owner still hasn't bothered to contact us...our work just dried up). I haven't been able to consider working, since my little Schmoopie's parents haven't yet stepped up to the plate to care for him full-time. I enjoy every second of time I spend with the baby, but enjoying my time with him has come at the price of not being able to do those things I'd been accustomed to doing.
Meeghan and the girls will be arriving here this coming Saturday for the rest of the summer. On Tuesday, I will have all three granddaughters, plus my little Butterbean, of course, for a week or so, while Meeghan flies down to Peru to meet her husband's ship as it pulls into port. I am very excited for her, but nervous at the same time...especially after hearing about a plane crash this morning off the coast of Brazil.
Meeghan and Mallory were planning a two-week-long trip to London, Paris, and Rome, but sadly, due to our financial situation, have scaled the trip way back to Paris only.
I am catering an "event" this coming Friday, and have yet to begin preparing pastries, however, all seven of the floral arrangements are done and sitting on the dining room table, buffet, and lowboy, along with the serving pieces, and some of the paper goods. I will take pictures and see if I can download them here next week.
Well, Butterbean is waking up from his nap, so it is time for me to go.
CNN breaking news: All 228 passengers/crew on the Air France flight are presumed dead...the Brazilian air force is now out doing a search. How sad for these families.
posted by Cinnabitch | 9:23 AM
1 Comments:
I think you're being too hard on yourself.
I also think you expect too much of yourself.
You aren't gonna listen to me, anyhow, but give yourself a break.
And, I don't feel bad that your girls can only go to Paris. In order to get out of the country, I had to go to Vietnam; I could never afford a nice overseas trip... any other way.
Be happy with what you've got... and that you weren't on that French plane, nor any of your family.
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