Wacky Weekend Stuff: It ISN’T all it’s cracked up to be!

Hello Blog land!

They say when you are a student that you live for the weekend. Perhaps that’s true, but this weekend was a bit more than I bargained for.  First off, we planned to take Craig the Cat in for a round of shots and to get him fixed. Sadly, the latter was not to be due to the ill decided feeding before visiting the doctor. Craig was given the reprieve to bond with his “man parts” until Monday morning when he would be left at the doctor’s office overnight.

Afternoon brought idle perusal of “How I Met your Mother” Season 2 on DVD. We were debating the evening’s enjoyments, and decided that Crystal Pistol was the venue of choice after a trip to River Spirit Casino. The casino was uneventful, taking all but $10 of our money we brought with us to play on. Upon leaving the casino, we were contacted by J, who asked what the plans were for the night. Relaying the information took but a moment and then we were on our way. The downtown area was jam packed with people, making parking a major issue. Lady luck was on our side here at least, because we found a spot with minimal fuss.  And so it was that we attended the Freaknik Friday Dance Party.

Saturday dawned and eventually I got my behind out of bed. (If you do not yet know, then you will understand that I LOVE TO SLEEP. I can sleep all day if allowed.) Once I was up and had talked to my mother, I saw I had a missed call from Dad aka “The Admiral”. It seems that Ally-son had gotten sick on Friday and they had taken her to the hospital. Appendicitis was the decree and surgery was had. All is well in this story; she is home now with orders to rest and NO driving until she is pain free. (Sadness) Over all, we are just thrilled that she is ok and they found the problem before her appendix ruptured. After visiting her at the hospital, we came back to the house where I encountered a FOUL substance in the air. My allergies are strange and well this one really gets me if I don’t watch myself carefully. After my chest quit hurting and I could breathe normally again, I found my left side achy and it was hard to move my arm over my head, etc. So I bundled up on the couch and we watched TV. My Eric was fantastic at taking care of me, letting me recoup at my own speed.

Sunday started out cold and icky. I had finally gotten all the pieces to my group essay we have been working on in Honors Composition class, and could put all the paragraphs together to make the actual essay. We watched more TV and snacked because I was not starving enough to eat a full meal. Almost before I knew it, it was time to go to bed. Monday would dawn early and we had to take a certain cutie kitty to the vet. J So now it is Monday and I wonder what the week will bring. We are told to expect foul weather this week. I hope that doesn’t mean dire weather conditions. Guess we shall see blog land? Until then, TTFN

~Nina

Student Commons Life: Algebra, Bluegrass, Chili, and Essays

Its Wednesday dear blog land and I have a horrid hour and a half delay between classes. I shouldn’t complain about it. This is my curse to deal with because I hesitated about going back to school and started to take a full time job on top of classes. I was working for a temp agency prior to classes starting and they got me thinking I should work instead of go to school. It was a terrifying moment of indecision. I decided to try and do both, so I switched all my courses to evening schedule. It would have been a tight fit, especially with Eric also in class during the evenings.  After all was said and done, I got sick over the holidays. It was the excuse my agency needed to cut me loose from a great contract, so I decided that they did not need me anymore. I switched my classes back to days as best I could and that resulted in this gap of time I am now using to tell you about life in general, school life in specifics.

Wednesday is an interesting day on the TCC campus. Its midweek, so students are perking up as they look towards the weekend. It seems that Wednesday is the celebration day here in the “Commons” and here soon there will be free Chili and some Bluegrass tunes being played. Bluegrass is not everyone’s favorite music, but I happen to really enjoy it. Thankfully my schedule will allow me to be here as the band starts to play. Shortly after the jam session gets going, I will have to head to class to work on a group essay. (Major Sad Face)

Let me tell you why I say (SAD FACE) to the idea of a group essay. This time around it’s not horribly bad. Most of the time, however, a group project will lead to the person or persons who work hard, doing all the work. This makes me sad because I tend to be the one who “volunteers” to be leader and will ultimately get the slap in the face when something falls apart. The upside to this group is I have Kristine working with me and she is fantastic! We have lots in common and she was my first friend I made here on campus. She is talented, funny, amazing and can be textually verbose! The rest of my five person group is guys, so it’s also nice to have another gal working with me. Now don’t misunderstand me, the guys are great! I believe Juan will go far just because he works so hard to overcome the obstacle of ESL (English as Second Language). Despite the rigorous workload of Honors Composition, I believe he will pull thru. James and Tony seem to know what they are doing well enough. I have no worries this time around about my group. The upside is for my English class, this is my ONLY group project!

Well I guess that about empties my brain for the moment, so I’ll sign off for now. Have a fantastic day Blog land!

~Nina

The Student Dynamic: A glimpse into the world of Community College

                If you look around me, you will see a well lit room with lots of seating. It’s the “commons” as most call it. The Student Union is a group that provides activities for the enrolled students to be involved on campus. Tropical party day was the first of many events we will see gracing the hall that is “hang out” central. Students gather in groups of 2 or more… some sit silently alone at their laptops typing away. There is a murmur of voices and people discuss and debate the professor’s offerings from last period. Homework is being done, essays written. Blogs posted even.  It seems most of the students are like me, the second or third chance student. Someone who has lived life out in the big bad world and come back to better themselves. But not all of them are coming to school again. In some of the groups, the age range is so young that you wonder if they graduated or got their GED and came to college early. There is an exuberance that comes from youth… it seems lost past the age of 25. Those of us out of our 20s long for the energy we once had, even as we press onward forcing ourselves to continue down our chosen path. The early classes make one moan in protest and desire to kick one’s own posterior

                Despite the moaning and groaning, I am truly joyful of my decision to come back to these hallowed halls of learning. This was a decision that needed making, a way of changing life for the better. Maturity will be the tool of my success. As a high school student, I was obsessed with the “most for the least” mentality.  I never took honors courses or challenged myself in my scholastic studies. Even in music classes, I went for the easiest ways to showcase ability and talent. I was a slacker!  But now I understand why hard work makes the reward more worthwhile. So now I take Honors courses. I plan my studies to make time to do the work. Even the bane of my existence, Algebra, is coming back to my brain in bits and pieces. I truly wish I knew back then what I understand now. If I could turn back the clock and redo my life, I would only impress upon my younger self the ideal of hard work. I would challenge myself to move beyond the bare minimum. The late start of academic challenge is the only thing I truly regret.

                So the moral of this soliloquy is? It is never too late to better ones self thru learning. Don’t let your days go by without taking in something new.  Every day is a new opportunity.

~Nina

Welcome to My Blog!

Greetings everybody in the vast space that is blog land. My name is Jeanine Crawford, but all my friends call me Nina.  I am 32 years old and I was married for almost 6 years.  We divorced in 2009 and I am blessed to have found love again.  This blog is about 2nd chances and the way life has come full circle for me.  I have started back to college with a focus I never had fresh out of high school.  I was a procrastinating overachiever, if you can believe such a thing exists.  I wanted all the honors for the least amount of work.  You now know a few things about me in present day, but to understand me, you had to know where I came from.

This is just a short intro to get things started here on my page. I hope to share many thoughts and ideas with you as the days go by.

Thanks for dropping in!

~Nina