There She Goes...Again

Well, this year is of full of changes and this week marked another "new" for us. My classes at Blinn began this week and I am officially "on the road again" to complete my degree in K-4 Interdisciplinary Studies (fancy speak for teaching degree).

My college career has been a little rocky to say the least, as far as being able to stay in consistently. My grades have always been good, it was always just a matter of trying to fight off a flare up without having to drop the semester. But after my last bout with colitis and the surgeries that followed I made a promise to myself that when the twins started kindergarten I was going to get in and get done! Little did I know that I would have Mr. Philip to work around, but all of that has fallen into place. I am taking one class on campus and three online (12 hours - whew!). My next move is to try and get into A&M's Education Dept ASAP because I am just about out of classes I can take at Blinn that will transfer for my degree.

I think that I can safely say that my first day of classes was probably not like that of your typical college student. Theirs probably goes something like this: roll out of bed in just enought time to get yourself dressed, grab yourself some breakfast (with mom and dad's $), drive yourself to school, go to class and go home for a nap before your next class. I know this is an exaggeration but it's what I'm going with!

And this is how a 31 year old, mother of four's first day back to school went:
Up at 6:15 (after just getting back to sleep from Philip's 5:30 nursing) and got the kids clothes ready (had to make sure that the twins both have yellow shirts because it's Yellow Day). Got the three big kids up, dressed and fed (imagine LOTS of whining here). Gave Philip a bottle, Matthew has been handling this part but Philip was really fussy today. Checked backpacks to make sure I signed all calendars. Made sure Matthew is up and moving. Took big kids to school and then me and Philip ran by the store for pasta salad I had to take to a luncheon, and dropped by the bank in the store to make a deposit. Got home and got the pasta salad started and fed Philip two jars of baby food and some cereal (he's a piggy), while chatting with Matthew as he got dressed for work. After Matt left I checked my emails and started a load of laundry and goy my school bag and Philip's bags ready. I realized I forgot Mayo for the pasta salad, so I loaded up Philip and the pasta salad (all ready except for the mayo) and stopped by the store again. I went to Scott and White (met Kathy there to give her Philip - Emily had an appt at 9:40) and finished mixing up my pasta salad in the van while I was waiting. When Kathy was done, I passed Philip (and the pasta salad!) over to her. I headed to school, but at a stop light I noticed just HOW many gray hairs I am getting and attempted to pull at least a few of the most obvious so they don't shine like a beacon in class. I was very lucky and found a good parking spot to pull my big mommmy minivan full of carseats into. Class went very well. I only felt old once - my professor was explaining that she moved from England to the US in 1981 "well before any of you were born". Not quite, lady. After leaving class I met Kathy at the church building for the luncheon (Philip and the pasta salad had made it safely there!), and then headed home to pick up the house, check my online courses and then pick the kids up from school. Gotta love the good ol' college days!

And I do realize that all of those super organized people will say that it would have been much easier if I would have done most of the preparation the night before. Yeah right, that's just not gonna happen most of the time!