Grades

When it comes to grades in my classes I have found that I am a little obsessive about them.  There are several reasons for this in my mind.  1.  I am paying for my education with little in the form of grants but lots in the form of loans.  2.  I feel the need to prove myself.  Not only to myself but to my husband, parents, and siblings.  This is not because of pressure they put on me but rather a redemption of sorts.  I want to prove to them that I can handle it all and succeed.  I want to prove that my past failures do not determine my future success.  3.  Self-satisfaction.  4.  The need to improve my GPA from first college attempt so that I can transfer to a different institution that offers the program that (I think) I would like to pursue. 

So here we are nearing the end of sprng semester.  Total points are starting to be calculated.  (Actually I have only one class left to finish up next week.)  I keep track of every single point that I get in all of my classes.  When there is a test or quiz I review them all to learn from my mistakes and to ensure that I recieved credit for correct anwers.  This semester I have found numerous times that a question was graded as incorrect when in fact my answer was correct.  I notify the professors and cite what page number in the text the correct answer is found.  If I miss points on assignments or quizes I seek out extra credit opportunities to earn those points back or correct them for points (as is the case in one of my classes). 

All of this leads me to the obsession.

In my psych class I am 3 points shy of having all available points for the semester.  That’s pretty good right?  The problem is that I was supposed to recieve 10 extra credit points but she forgot to add them to the grade book.  The points aren’t going to change the grade that I receive.  An A is an A BUT I want the satisfaction of knowing that I recieved all the points possible, making up those that I didn’t earn with extra credit. I keep telling myself it’s not a big deal however it is eating at me.  There really isn’t a point (that I know of, at least) as to why it should bug me.  On my transcript it will appear the same whether I recieve the points or not.  I don’t want to bother the professor with such trival matter.  If these points would change my grade in any way then I most definetly would contact her but that isn’t the case.

Maybe it will help if I just get it off my chest here.  Hopefully?!?  

Ramblings…

Today is Day 3 of being smoke free.  I am especially proud of this accomplishment for a couple different reasons.  First the last time I went three days without smoking was a year ago and that wasn’t really a choice, I was in the hospital.  Secondly I had more dental work done today (one of my biggest stressors) and didn’t smoke.  YEAH FOR ME! 

 Classes start on Monday.  Today I went and bought my textbooks which must have gold hidden inside because two of them cost me over $300.  Craziness I tell you. 

I don’t even know if the classes I am taking are the right choices for me this semester but good luck getting in touch with an academic counselor right now.  I left a message yesterday and today but here I am still waiting for a return call.  I have to get my GPA raised or I will lose my financial aid.  I think this stinks because there are special circumstances…. such as mine.  When I plummeted my GPA years ago I was not receiving financial aid.  It was all coming straight out of my parent’s pockets.  Now, since I’ve burnt that bridge, I am receiving financial aid.  My GPA since getting on aid is a 3.64 (or something real close to that I can’t remember exactly and am too lazy to go look right now).  However my cumulative is much, MUCH lower and if I don’t get it brought up this semester I will no longer be eligible for my financial aid.  Anyway… both classes that I am signed up for this semester are re-takes for me so my GPA should come up considerably.  However sometime since I left college and now… they have changed their numbering system for some of the classes and I am not sure if my re-take will be considered a re-take with the new numbers.  I hope so or at least that someone would call me back to fill me in on this issue so that I can get this problem solved.

Did I mention I went to the dentist today?  It was horrible.  Okay maybe not horrible but it was not something I would mark down as fun.  I survived and my mouth is sore but I know it is worth it.  I had the same thing done today that I had done the end of last year to help with gum issues and I can see a lot of improvement where it had already been done.  So…. I lived through that.

 The kids and I ventured out tonight to the Iowa Caucuses. I love the political process- thanks in no small part to my high school government teacher who encouraged us to get involved by offering extra credit for attending this type of thing.  So I was a bit unsure about taking the boys with me but since I didn’t have a babysitter and DH is working his crazy hours I decided to try it.  What’s the worse that could happen?  I could get there and they could’ve turned me away… but they didn’t and I got to participate.  It was a learning adventure for Moo Moo although I’m sure most (probably all) will soon be forgotten but hey… I guess it got us out of the house.  Wrinkles thought it was funny to see all the people who showed up and was totally into all the commotion going on around us.  I am glad that I went.  I do think that Iowa is in danger of losing our “first in the nation” status so I may have just done something that will never be done here again. 

 Enough rambling for one night.  I must go to bed.

Coming very soon to my house….

HIGH SPEED INTERNET!!  That’s right, I’m coming out of the dark ages and entering the new world of high speed.  This of course is coming to me via satellite due to living out in the middle of no-where.  The phone company hasn’t seen the need to replace the old copper lines with the new fiber optic lines so this is the only way for us to get high speed internet.  I’m told that satellite is not as fast as a regular (?) broadband connection but hey, anything has to be better than connecting at the lightening fast speed of……

are you ready…..

don’t laugh…… 

24 Kbps.  Yep that right folks.  That is the fastest we can connect- another aspect of country living is being far away from the nearest telephone sub station to even dial up at a decent speed. 

I won’t have to worry about it after Friday though.  Instead I will sit here patiently and wait for them to come and install my satellite sometime between 1 and 5 p.m.  Thanks for the exact time.  Err.  Oh well… I can deal with that in order to enjoy some of the things that have been impossible for me to even play with like YouTube, music downloads, online games, and even some of the funny emails people send me would take literally days for me to be able to read. 

I’m SO excited!!!

The reason we finally decided to do it is because with me going back to college the slow internet has really been driving me crazy!  DH works crazy hours in the winter time and so going to a real, in person class will be almost impossible so I will be taking all my classes this coming semester online.  The only way I can do that is if we bite the bullet and pay a little extra for our internet.

Thankful Thursday- Caught up on assignments

Today I am thankful that I am finally all caught up to date on all my assignments for the end of the semester.  I only have two assignments left for both of my classes- one assignment for each class.  While both of the assignments are pretty major for my final grade, I am feeling confident that I will do well this semester in both classes.  My Composition class I expect to do pretty well in I haven’t missed any assignments, classes, or anything so I think that should be a good grade.  My Business class is a little different story.  I have missed one assignment, I  struggled with the content of the class and that showed especially I the first couple of tests, and I clashed with the professor on a couple of different things.  So while I am expecting to do decent in the class I am not expecting to do real well.  I am so glad that there is a break coming up and that the business class is finally over.   I am thankful for a semester almost completed (a first for me) and that I am prepared for the end.

The Sick House

Well…. this is the first time I’ve had a minute to post for a few days.  We have become the sick house around here.  It started Friday when Wrinkles was running a temperature and was acting really funny.  I gave him some Tylenol, his temp. dropped, and he went back to his normal self.  Saturday night we had planned “date night” for the first time since our anniversary in April.  Wrinkles hadn’t required any Tylenol and seemed okay so we preceeded with our plans.  He was fussy for my sister-in-law who watched him but not so fussy that she felt the need to call me and let me know, instead they spent most of the time we were gone riding around in the car to keep him happy.  Ugh!  Why didn’t she just call me?  Oh well we weren’t gone very long anyway.  We had a good time and some great food.  Fast forward to Sunday night when I woke up to a burning hot Wrinkles.  Did he know mommy and daddy wanted and needed to go out with out the children so he miraclously wasn’t sick on Sat.?  I think to myself that he can’t really be sick, he must be working on his first tooth.  Monday was fuss-ville around here.  Wrinkles had to be held all day and every 4 hours needed Tylenol to bring his fever down a bit.  No sleep Monday night!  He was up every hour, the Tylenol wasn’t breaking his fever any longer, it was a long night.  Yesterday I decide to bring him in the ped. as he is no longer eating or nursing.  I don’t think my supply will do well with a nursing strike.  He really is sick.  He has croup and strep throat.  Ohhh… now I feel like the bad mommy who made her child suffer because I didn’t think he was really “sick”.  We started him on some antibiotics for the strep and just traditional steam showers and cold air at night and humidifiers in the house for the croup. 

Then last night as I was heading off to bed I heard Moo Moo crying in his room.  I go to check what the problem is and he is vomiting.  You’ve got to be kidding me!!  Moo Moo vomits often so I don’t know at this point if he is actually sick or just having one of his classic moments.  I decide to camp out in the living room with both the boys as sleeping in our queen bed with all four of us just doesn’t work for me anymore.  I spread out blankets and we all get comfy.  Next thing I know Moo Moo is getting sick again, luckily in his bucket this time.  He must have the flu.  Yuck!!

Wrinkles is still very grumpy but he is no longer running a temp.  He isn’t eating his solids yet but he is nursing again!  Thank goodness!  Moo Moo is still acting sluggish but hasn’t gotten sick for a couple of hours now. 

I have class tonight and I am really torn about whether to go or not.  I think the kids will be fine with my mom but they’re sick and I really feel like, as their mother, I should be with them but we are doing peer review tonight and I think I need to do this.  What to do?!?! 

Wrinkles is up again now and I must work on my paper for class tonight at his next nap. 

Back to College

At the end of summer I made a decision to better my education, again.  I decided to go back to college at DMACC.  Right out of high school I was pushed into college by my parents.  I didn’t want to go and my grades showed it.  The only reason I continued to enroll in classes was for insurance reasons (I know, bad decision!).  At first I was only going to take one online class but after meeting with an academic counselor and finding out there is a way to raise my GPA without taking a bunch of new classes I decided to take two classes, one online and one regular class meeting one night per week. 

I’m still not 100% sure about this decision and we are well into the semester.  I feel pretty good about my regular class that I go to and am confident that I will do considerably better in this repeat course than I did the first time.  I enjoy the class, the instructor, and the few people that I’ve actually managed to talk to.  It also offers me an added bonus that I get a little bit of time away from the kids and just a bit of sanity. 

My online class is a different story.  I am not sure about this class and it is, at times, difficult for me to find the time and motivation to complete the required readings that are essential to it.  My original thoughts and intentions on taking this class was that I am always up late online anyway so I might as well be doing something productive with this time.  I didn’t consider that while I am awake and for the most part functioning at the wee hours of the night, I am unable to comprehend and retain the information that is presented to me.  This weekend, after a disappointing test score, I spoke with my family about the situation and we are all going to work together to make sure I find the time to study and work on this course. 

Wish me some luck… because I have a feeling I’m going to need it.