Final blog

For me the biggest challenge was finding the time everyday to blog. In looking through other student’s blogs, it looks as though some might have struggled with the time factor as I did, if not more. One of the advantages of taking online courses is the freedom of scheduling; some days are better then others. There were several days I just had to work it in. Writing for ten minutes was not the difficult part, knowing what to write about was. The days that I put more thought into my writing ate up a lot more then ten minutes. I also feel that spending more time and thought on my writing allowed it to be more descriptive and cohesive. I wasn’t randomly typing what happened to pop into my head at the time; I put effort into it. I used the classroom resource writing prompts on a few occasions; that seemed to help on the off days when I was drawing a complete blank for a topic. I started writing a story that generated from on of the prompts, initially I had no intention of continuing the story, but found myself working through the details from blog to blog. The struggle with that was getting back into the same mind-set from the previous blog so they didn’t seem like two separate thoughts. I think the writing has a good foundation, looking back at what I have wrote I could see some areas that could improve to make the piece stronger. Writing in general this semester has provided me with the opportunity to see that intriguing writing gives very descriptive details, setting the stage so to speak and the mood; it helps to draw the reader into the text. I feel it was beneficial, but every days is really a struggle to make happen.

July 22

Home remodeling is great when it’s done. We recently put new bathroom faucets in out of necessity. The guest bathroom water shut-off under the sink was the only means of keeping a steady stream of water from running constantly. Yesterday we had new countertops installed. When the two men removed the old sink and plumbing they cut the water pipes rather then simply unscrewing them from the drain. Keep in mind that they only remove, they do not reinstall the sink, faucet, or the plumbing to make it all work. Once the counters were done we started tackling putting the new sink in. This is the point we realized that they cut the lines. I went to two stores in search of new pipe, just like what was removed. Nothing matched, so I purchased some that was similar along with some extra pipe just in case. I am not sure why men send woman after supplies that they know nothing about; of course what I bought wouldn’t work. After careful contemplation almost like working a puzzle, the light came on and the pieces started to fit together. With the counters, sink, and faucet done I started cleaning and putting my kitchen back together. It really looks nice now that it is done. I believe a fence in the back yard might be the next project, we’ll see.

July 21

Inspiration for me comes from a long-time friend from high school. I was on an emotional rollercoaster after the tornado swept through and took our home. Our home was newly built just eighteen months before the disaster. We sought shelter in a local basement during the storm, just a few minutes from our house. To return home took two hours of winding in and out of debris and devastation. The sun was barely shining over the horizon and I could see the silhouette of what was left of our home. Chaos surrounded us as we drove as far as we could before walking through everything to get a closer look. Natural gas was hissing out of the broken lines, smoke alarms were blaring, people were everywhere surveying the damage. It was chaos. Within minutes the authorities told everyone they had to leave the area; it wasn’t safe. About two-o-clock in the morning we were escorted on foot by police to our home, what was left. Chilling, stepping over power lines, trees, parts and pieces of what used to be something. It was too dangerous to enter it, so we had to leave. It took months to tear it down and rebuild it. Emotions ran through a full gamut during this time. At a lower emotional point I received a phone call from a friend, she wanted me to know that a friend of ours had been fighting cancer and her five-year-old daughter had passed away. The perspective that this brought to my own struggle was shattering. She did survive the cancer and is cancer free. To this day I remember her story and what really matters. Yes, we lost our home, but she lost something that can never be replaced or rebuilt.

July 20

List ten things I am passionate about. That is one of the many things we are to do for one of the research assignments. After contemplating this, I am not sure that I have ten things that I am passionate about. The word passionate means to adore, love, obsessive, fanatical, fervent and a few others. These are strong words to me. I am the mother of a teenager, with that being said, what I was passionate about before her birth is not what I am passionate about now. My focus changed. I am passionate about being a good mom, and taking parenting as a responsibility not just going through the motions. I love spending time with her, I always have. I have heard other parents that can’t wait for Christmas break to be over, or for school to start back up after summer; I am not one of them. I cherish the time I get to spend with her. I still have things that I am “interested” in, but she by far is at the top of the list, and the list is short. So I have a hurdle to jump before I begin our research assignment for a topic, making my list. I will be doing a lot of brainstorming to develop one.

July 19

I felt like an inchworm climbing up the mountain. It was the first part of June, the flowers, trees, and bushes were in full bloom. The air was a bit cool, a jacket felt good. It was trying to rain as we waited for the cog to return at the depot. When it did the passengers stepped off wearing hats, gloves, and coats. I asked one of them if it was cold up on the peak. They said it was 20° and snowing up there. My daughter decided to make a hurried trip to the van to grab her coat. We boarded the cog soon after she returned. I am not a huge fan of heights; I had mixed emotions about the climb. My daughter had flat out refused to go the day before, but felt better about it once she saw the cog. The cog is very similar to being on a bus with the exception of the windows. The cog windows are very big and can either be up or down. The scenery was beautiful as we wound our way through the mountainside. The cog operator gave us information about the trees and animals that we saw or would hope to see along the way. I remember being a little over half way up and saw the summit, I panicked inside at the thought of going all the way up to the top. It seemed so high. As we continued to climb the air started to get chilly and then it turned cold. All the windows at this point had been closed. Then we started seeing snow, it was strange to see it in June. I felt like an inchworm climbing up the mountain. When we reached the summit, the air was freezing and it was snowing. Just outside the cog door was a red fox, he looked skinny and dirty. He wasn’t afraid of people; I managed to get within about three to four feet of him for a picture. It was warm inside the gift shop, and the fudge was unbelievable. The 14,110 ft altitude made my daughter queasy; she had to sit down most of the time we were there. We were above the clouds and Colorado Springs looked like a dot down below. We all loaded back into the cog and slowly made our way back down the mountain. I overcame my fear of riding the cog that day and wouldn’t mind riding it again someday.

July 18

We made yesterday evening to see our friends from out of state. I have been best friends with her for thirty-three years now, crazy. She and her son are staying with her brother, sister-in-law and niece. We talked and laughed until a little after ten last night. She was telling us stories about her recent trip to Utah. Her mother-in-law is eighty-ish years old and she took her to visit her ninety-three year old sister. We reminisced about good ole times from high school and running around. Some of those memories included her green Gremlin, her first car. That car didn’t have a heater; we kept blankets to cover up with in the winter in it. The horn if you listened really close sounded like to wires trying to make a connection. If you sat in the backseat you had to straddle the holes in the floorboard, kind of like a Fred Flintstone car. Those were good times, remembering them had us laughing and our kids looking at us like we were crazy. We talked about the struggles of school and balancing it with life. I wish she didn’t live so far away. We have always talked about going into business together someday, at this point in our lives I seriously doubt that will happen. Who knows, if I ever do make it to Colorado to live I will only be about twelve to thirteen hours from her.

July 17

Life sometimes feels like a balancing act. It seems to come in waves, hectic and normal. What really is normal? Family friends flew in today from out of state so life has once again switched gears, to a faster one. I have had a roller coaster of emotions today, excited to see them and so glad that they are here, to how will I fit anything else into the next couple of weeks. This visit was a surprise about three weeks ago. We typically try in the spring to get everyone’s schedule for summer so they aren’t so chaotic. I realized that this visit was going to be making it work the best we could. I opened up the Lesson seven folder this afternoon and read through it holding my breath. I let the breath out and took another when I read through the due dates. I think I am still holding it. It is after seven this evening and we are getting ready to go see them. Their plane landed today at 1:40; after leaving the airport they headed to a family members house in another town. I feel it will be a day-to-day schedule, I am trying not to stress about getting all my class assignments done and turned in. I believe I failed to mention my daughter has volleyball camp three days this week, we are having counter tops put in this week, and starting next week I have meetings that I can not miss; no stress. I am going to do a lot of deep breathing, self-talks, and prayer to keep my sanity.