Wrapping up 2011

Christmas Light Show Extravaganza

     Here we are, on the precipice of 2012 with just a couple days left to 2011. Since it has been quite some time since I've updated my blog, I am going to do a year-end wrap up, and then jump right into the new year, all fresh and shiny! I have a small journal that I have used as an address book for at least 20 years now, and I occasionally make journal entries, usually right around this time of year. Unfortunately, I have just about run out of pages to write in and will have to transfer all the "good" addresses to a new journal soon. There is something about this time of year that makes me want to take stock and review the last year, writing it down for posterity, though I don't even know if anyone other than myself will ever read it. I know I am not alone in this, I know many other people write letters (my father-in-law), recount the year's happenings in a pretty and roomy Christmas card (my mom) or blog. However, I struggle with how much to write and where.
     In my journal, with pen or pencil, I write the highlights, hitting mostly the highs, just touching on the lows, careful not to write anything that might hurt one of my kids in the future, should they happen to read it. With this blog, I am also careful not to step on toes or write anything that I would not want everyone in the world to read, because you just never know who will end up reading your blog someday, really. So as I look back over the year, how important is it that I am totally open, in my journal or here? Do I want to look back at bad feelings or miserable situations in 10 years? I don't think so. Why don't I think so? Because when I think back on all those things that were such a big deal 20 years ago, things that hurt me or got my blood boiling with rage (yes, rage sometimes), I find that I am so over them and look at them as so insignificant and silly, I wish I had not wasted any emotional or mental time on them. Really wishing I had had the maturity to let so much of it just go and not affect my life so much at the time. But I suppose that is part of gaining wisdom, living long enough to reflect on days past and  being able to put things into perspective in a healthy way, letting go of anger and resentments that steal away our ability to focus and enjoy the good things in our lives. I think I am most grateful that I can now recognize similar situations when they arise and no longer let myself get lost in negative emotion, but have learned how to process what is really upsetting me and figure out what I need to do to let go or move on to a better place.
      Don't get me wrong, I am no saint, I still have to process difficult things, vent and explore why they are upsetting to me or why someone I care about did something that was hurtful, cruel, unkind or deceitful, but I don't have to think about it 24 hours a day, for days on end, which is incredibly freeing, believe me. I am also thoughtless, even cruel sometimes, and I can be very blunt, but if I catch myself or if someone else does, I try to apologize and make things right. But I am human, as we all are, and I cut myself slack the same way I cut others slack, because you just don't know what is going on. Like icebergs, we just see the tip above the water and have no idea how big it really is beneath the surface. And don't get me started on boundaries, I could write a book on setting personal boundaries. But, obviously, I have digressed...
     So I don't include a lot of details of personal or family turmoil. People and situations change, I've lived long enough to see it for myself. Instead, I choose to record those things that I will be happy to read about in 5, 10, 15 or more years, those things that will make me happy to remember and that will make my family happy if they ever read them. Besides, there is enough negative, shocking and crazy on TV these days with all the reality shows, I just couldn't compete with all that!
     Which brings me to my year in review, or at least the last several months. I have to start with my survival of this past semester of classes. Object Oriented Programming (OOP), SQL Database Management, JavaScript and Drawing I. Passed them all, hallelujah! SQL was my least favorite, though it was taught by one of my favorite instructors. Databases are so valuable, but I am happy to have an understanding of them and have already accepted that it is one area that I will always have to hire out, and that is OK. Drawing I was quite a surprise. I can actually draw, no really, I can! All my life I have believed that because I could not
"color inside the lines" as a kid, that I could never learn to draw well. If anyone reading this has ever dreamed of learning to draw, listen to me now and go register for a drawing class. It kept the right side of my brain active and very happy, so much so that I am taking Drawing II next semester. I may scan a couple of my drawings and upload them later, but no promises. I loved OOP and JavaScript, though both were extremely challenging. Overall, I had a very good semester and am further committed to becoming a web developer.
     Maybe you are wondering about my new grandson? Grandpa and I went to visit in August and fell in love, as I knew we would. He is the most adorable baby on the planet and I wish my son and his family lived so much closer! We saw him again in December when my daughter-in-law came for a visit, but it was too short of course. At least there is such a thing as Skype and my son sends me pictures and videos right to my phone. You have to love technology! He'll be 6 months in January, time is just flying by.
     We added a new lion head bunny, "PJ," to our family but lost our beloved pet bunny, "Stella," this year. So far, "PJ" is pretty well traveled. We have taken him on a couple of road trips this year and he has been a trooper. Luckily, he is only 3 1/2 lbs, so he is easy to take along for a few days. He has also become a house bunny, which sounds funny now that I write it. Apparently, if you want to move a rabbit to the outdoors, you have to start in the summer, so they have time to develop a winter coat by the time the colder months roll around. We started too late and the vet said "no." Which means we have a rabbit in our living room for the winter. We let him out often and love to watch him hop and leap around the room, he is very cute.
     I spent less time cooking than I would have liked, but the summer was so hot and humid, the kitchen was the second to last place I wanted to be (outside was the very last place I wanted to be). School was so busy, no time to cook this fall or winter either, except for a couple days when I had a couple extra free hours, but those were rare. But I had a lovely time putting on a high tea baby shower for my daughter-in-law in June, picking strawberries with my husband and making freezer jam and making my own Italian ragu meat sauce for the first time. I missed my kitchen, but it isn't going anywhere.
     There were some great new discoveries this year including:

• Pinterest (a social networking site that lets you "pin" images from all over the web
• Google Chrome Developer Tools (OMG, love, love, love!!!)
• Polish Market downstate on Dequinder and 15 Mile Rd
• New Dim Sum restaurant "East Lake" in Rochester, MI
• Conte crayon and canson paper
• Google Chrome browser (can't live without it now!)
• Polish mushroom cream cheese (Bagel, cracker, butter knife)
• Words With Friends facebook word game
• Fennel (new favorite veggie, I think that was this year)
• Local pasty truck and local falafel cart
• Southern Sweet Tea!
• TV shows -- Bones, Torchwood and True Blood

I think it has been a healthy, productive, inspiring, exciting and overall excellent year...hope next year is just as great!

In the Thick of Things

     Oh I just hate it when I don't have time to update my blog! School has been absolutely insane lately. This semester, the classes are different, 3 are computer classes, and two of them are pretty intense. In particular the Intro to .NET Programming; learning the C# programming language with Visual Studio. Holy Moly, I don't have time to breathe some days. I still love it, but it is very serious learning, lots of homework and a team project to work on, something everyday. And nothing takes half an hour to complete or work on, oh no. Everything takes several hours or days to complete. It is like immersion, only with a computer language instead of a spoken one. I'm fortunate that the instructor is very knowledgeable and thorough, so I am getting my tuition money's worth!

This is a generic user interface (UI) created w/ Visio

     Of course, I believe that you get out of school what you put into it, so I am trying to do my very best, and that does add to the time it takes me to complete things. But I do love it, and that is still a surprise to me somedays. In college, the first time around, back in the mid 80's, I had no interest in computer programming. Of course, all I knew about it was the binary code I had learned a bit about in high school, which I thought was sooo boring. But I am so enamored of the web development and design field, that I want to know everything. I don't ever want a client to ask me a question that I cannot answer myself or know exactly where to go to get the answer. Maybe I am being unrealistic, but I don't want to be a hack, I want to be good, very good. I don't think I'm asking too much, especially since I am asking it of my own self.
     Of course, everything is not about me. My husband had knee surgery today. Had a torn meniscus and it was causing him pain when he ran, and he runs a lot! Came through with flying colors, thank goodness. He is already walking a bit without crutches. He is a very good patient too, I'm so lucky. I skipped two classes today so I could drive him to and fro and play nurse. I still have a ton of homework to complete this weekend, but I did enjoy a book while waiting. Michael Crichton's "State of Fear." What a great book! I have been absorbed with this while taking care of my patient. I really miss having time to read for pleasure. But it won't be like this forever. 
     There is one more thing I have to mention. While I was in Avon Lake, Ohio for the visual journal class with Teesha Moore, I met a woman who was staying in the same B&B. Her name is Sue and she is an amazing visual journal artist and photographer. She went to Egypt to fulfill a life long dream and ended up witnessing the beginning of the revolution. She made it back safe and sound, thank goodness. If you want to see the photos of her trip and read about her experience, you can check out her blog. It is on my list of Blogs I visit, Chez Madame. There are a lot of images, so don't forget to click on the "older" link to see them all. They are really amazing photos.

Feeling a little overwhelmed...

Stress Visualization

    Well, I knew it was coming, but I was hoping it wouldn't hit me quite so early. Or maybe my iron is low. Working on multiple assignments and projects already, the pressure is on! I have to remember to focus on learning the concepts, the processes and terms, and not so much on trying to get an "A" in every class. This is so hard for me, even though I seem to go through this every semester. It is the overachiever in me, a first born Sagittarius with ADD. I do not have a scholarship riding on my grades or anything else for that matter. And if I do happen to really get lost in one of my classes, I will take it again, over and over until I get it. So why am I feeling this stress? Time to take some slow deep breaths and exhale even slower. Refocus on what is really important and expel the rest along with my exhaled breaths.


Important

• Read the assigned pages in each textbook.
• Take notes on the reading and on the classroom lectures.
• Work on the assigned exercises, tutorials and research.
• Understand the key concepts from each lesson.
• Apply the new concepts.
• Study for quizzes and tests.
• Understand the basics of the programs I have to use for each class.
• Ask questions if certain concepts or directions are not clear to me.
• Remember how much I love these classes!

Not so important

• Get 100% on every assignment.
• Turn in everything on time.
• Turn in everything.
• Know how to use all the programs inside and out for my classes.
• Complete every assignment.
• Get 100% on every quiz and test.

Reading over my lists...tweaking my lists...reading again...breathing in...exhaling...I feel better. I want to be a web designer. I love my classes. This is where I am meant to be right now.

WTF?

Anatomy of Type

     What The Font?  I'm talking about typography, type...fonts. You cannot believe the levels of detail, the amount of history and the importance of understanding typography in relation to web design. It is like peeling an onion, with so many layers, each one more fascinating and enlightening than the last. If you have seen the movie "Pleasantville," it is like seeing something in color for the first time. A new awareness is born in you and you can never look at anything in print the same way again. And considering how much of our everyday world has some type of lettering or numbering in it, there is no escaping it. It is an incredible aspect of life that most take for granted and never really notice, outside of the subliminal effects that take place, which in many cases, is the intention. Printed words are used to give us information and the font style of those words is selected to influence our perception of that information. If you understand typography though, you can see that extra subliminal message, like the character "Neo" in the "Matrix" movies, who finally sees through the computer bad guys and just sees their "code." Typography is a powerful tool, even a weapon in the

"The Matrix" bad guys in "code"

right context. The choice of font, or fonts, for a website, is one of the most important, if not thee most important detail. So making a good choice depends on how much you know about typography. And in order to understand typography, you also have to understand the basic principles of design.
     I had no idea. But I find myself loving this subject. I also find that I am guilty of having used some of the most reviled fonts in previous projects! It's a bit embarrassing, kind of like realizing that you spent the day walking around and talking to people you respect and all the while you had a big coffee stain on the middle of your shirt. Or going to the bathroom at a party and seeing a big piece of spinach stuck to one of your front teeth, and knowing that everyone you spoke with got a good look at it too. So how does a font come to be labeled as "bad?" I asked my typography instructor and I looked around online for the answer. There are two main criteria: overused and inappropriate. Comic Sans is at the top of the list. If you want to read more about it, check out this video and this website. I got an inkling of this last semester when my Web Animation instructor threatened to fail anyone who turned anything in that was created with the Comic Sans font. Her reaction to this font was visceral!

Comic Sans, the most "Unwanted" font

Can you imagine someone getting angry, really angry, about a type? My initial reaction was "who cares?" But then I realized that due to my total ignorance of the subject, I didn't understand. I just hate when I do not understand something. And here I want to be a web designer, someone who has to use type and select fonts, font weights, font sizes and font colors as part of the process. I knew then that although the college's Web Developer program does not include Typography I, there was no way I could become a good web designer without a thorough understanding of it.
     So here I am, descending down the rabbit hole, learning about typography, from the very beginning. What an eye opener! I swallowed the red pill and my view of the world will be forever altered. And you know what else? I like those red pills...

Web Design and Organization

One of Anne Taintor's fun pieces!

     I am not very tidy. I never have been, and it is one of those things that has caused me great embarrassment on more than one occasion. I am better now than I was a few years ago, but I still don't have a good handle on home keeping and organization. Don't get me wrong though, I appreciate organization and tidiness. I love coming home to a tidy house and working in a tidy studio. Cooking in an organized kitchen is heaven. But the time it takes to get it all organized and sorted, well, that is just something I have a hard time putting on top of my priority list. I was very hard on myself about all this a few years ago, but I finally accepted myself and my organizational shortcomings. I bring other gifts to the party. My true friends don't judge me based on the tidiness of my home, thank goodness. And my family loves me and accepts me too. But what does this mean in terms of Web Design you ask? Read on...
     Organization is incredibly important in Web Design. Crucial. Programs like Dreamweaver and C# rely on good file organization. Things have to be saved in the same folder within the same file hierarchy every time. You cannot just rearrange documents, folders and files when you have the time. It breaks the paths these programs have created and it causes them to complain and throw out messages letting you know things are "missing," links are "broken" and nothing will work quite right until things are rectified. It is a big drag to say the least. But if you planned ahead, created that first folder in the appropriate place, you would be ahead of the game.
     In order to succeed in Web Design and Web Development, I have to be organized. It has to be a top priority. As I create file hierarchies for my classes, I have to plan ahead, anticipating future files that may need folders. The structure of the folder hierarchies has to make sense now and in the future. No more just saving things on the desktop and then relocating them to a more appropriate location at a later date. Tidiness counts in Web Design. I am adapting to it, soaking it up and trying to apply good organization to all my computer files. My brain is being rewired and I wonder if this will affect other aspects of my life? Can organization and disorganization coexist in the same person's head? It would be nice, but I'm not counting on it. Only time will tell...but if I am blogging about my super tidy studio or house a few years from now, you'll know where it started.

Redesigning my blog...again.

What do YOU love?

     You would think, that with four college classes, three kids at home, a husband and a home to take care of, that I would not have time to mess around with the design of my blog. Well, you would be right and I would just ignore all that stuff and just play to my heart's content. My blog is a work in progress. I like to update it with current details of my life and life around me. But I also update the appearance based on my current interests, skills and the latest technology. I get lazy sometimes and just pick something from the Blogger template designer, like my newest "Valentine" background, with all these hearts. But I also like to adjust the size and layout sometimes, or add new features. From my latest schooling, I know enough to be dangerous, but not enough to really go in there and shake things up, redesign from scratch and create new interactive elements, but soon, soon.
     I think that I will go and play around with my visual journal supplies and create an original Valentine's background to upload. The Valentine bug has bitten me and I won't be happy without hearts all over the place for a few weeks, most of them chocolate. And what's wrong with that? Hearts represent love. All kinds of love. I love myself, the hubby, our children, my parents, my friends, my classes, my church, my reading parlour, my shoes, my cookbooks, my spice cupboard, 80's music, dancing, pansies, old dishes, high tea, white, turquoise blue, our bunny Stella, Downton Abbey (part IV is on this Sunday!), fresh veggies, beach glass, hunting for morels, tools, jewelry, melting glass, grilled cheese sandwiches, the scent of lavender, "The Fencing Master," old mirrors, upcycling, Fustini's balsamics and olive oils, Peruvian blue opal, singing, Texas BBQ, the northern lights, warm socks, flannel pajamas, word games, fresh raspberries and oh, the list goes on...and on...and on...well,  you get the idea. Do you ever make a list of all those things you love? Or things that bring you joy? It feels wonderful to make a list of so many good things. One more thing I love...

College Day 2!

Typography

     I had my first Typography I class this morning, bright and early at 8 a.m. If you know me at all, you know this was very difficult for me, since I am not a morning person, I'm barely an afternoon person for that matter. But I am trying to retrain my brain and hopefully one day, I will be an early bird. I have read about body clocks and about being born wired a certain way, but I refuse to accept it. I am so much more productive on those days when I am up early, for whatever reason, and I love that feeling of accomplishment, especially when it isn't even noon and I've already completed several projects or chores. But I digress. 
     I LOVE this class! The instructor is very passionate about type, it's history and all the design possibilities connected to type, both print and digital. I thought this class would be all book learning, but we will be working on projects and presentations throughout the semester, I am sooo geeked! As a passionate wannabe web designer/developer, I think understanding type is so important. It can relay information AND design at the same time, how cool is that? But, for those who don't already know, what makes type more readable in print does not pertain to screens. Serif fonts, like "Times" and "Georgia," are great for print media. However, sans serif fonts, like "Verdana" and "Arial" are much more readable on a screen. Conversely, when you are creating a bold headline it is the opposite for both. How bizarre is that? And, the leading, which is the space between the letters of a word, has to be increased for screen print. And there's more, so much more, but I am just learning myself and don't want to get carried away here when I still have so much to learn. But I think it is easy to see why a good understanding of type and fonts is crucial to the creation of any good web design that incorporates any kind of type.
     I feel so lucky to be on this road to web design. My husband has been so supportive along with my parents and my friends. Sometimes I feel like I could just burst apart at the seams, I am so full of joyfulness and thanks. Oh, it is so good to be alive!

 


This is our textbook for the class, but anyone interested in typography would enjoy this and should have it as a reference tool. 

Last Day of Winter Break

     Well, it has been basically a month since the fall semester ended, the spring semester starts up tomorrow. I enjoyed my break immensely. There was lots of quality family time, visiting and catching up with friends, "doing" the Christmas and New Year's holidays, creating art, cooking, reading, organizing, cleaning and keeping my blog updated often. I felt all the tension leave my shoulders and upper back shortly after Christmas, when I really had no serious commitments left or due dates looming. But as I sit here typing, taking a break from one last home project that must be finished today, I feel those butterflies returning to my stomach. I don't carry them around all the time, just in the beginning, before I've gotten the syllabuses and heard what the instructors will be requiring for my new classes.
     I actually did very well last semester, grade-wise, I got a 4.0, and made the part time Dean's list for a third semester, though I can say I've never gotten a 4.0 before, at least not since high school. Even my college career at CMU never included a 4.0 semester. But I worked very hard for those grades, made a lot of sacrifices because I wanted to understand the materials, programs and concepts well enough to show someone else, which I have always believed to be the true measure of "learning," the ability to teach it to someone else. Dreamweaver is the only problem. I got a 4.0, but learned hardly anything that I did not teach myself in that "Web Design I" class. What a mess it was, I'm still lamenting over the money and time I wasted by taking that class. I did complain, but there was nothing that could be done. I bought a Dreamweaver CS4, "Classroom in a Book," publication and had planned to go through it over the break and teach myself. However, I found that I needed  serious down time. I needed to recharge and reconnect with family and friends more than anything else. So now I will take my Dreamweaver book with me to class, and in between classes, I will go chapter by chapter and teach myself Dreamweaver this semester, bit by bit.
     I believe that if you want something badly enough, you have to just go get it and not let a bad experience keep you from achieving your goals. In the past, I would have felt like I was the problem, incapable of learning the complexities of the program, but luckily, with the passing of the years, has come real wisdom and insight. I can actually see where the real problem is, assess my own abilities and limitations and rework my plan to get what I need. Sadly, I watched many of my classmates, most of them just out of high school, struggle and eventually give up on that class. I showed anyone who asked or who I sat near, whatever I could to help them, but there was so much we didn't learn, it was frustrating for everyone. But as I've said before, I'm on a mission. I want this more than I've wanted anything for a very long time. I want to work as a web developer, comfortable with the coding side and design side, for the rest of my life, as a career, as a way to make a living. So I'm dedicated to this mission, extremely focused and will not be deterred by any obstacles, whether they are external or of my own making. I have to add that I am so passionate about this area, I have loved everything I have learned to date and cannot wait to learn the rest! Bring it, BRING IT!!!!

2D Design Portfolio, part II

Figure ground exercise

     This was one of my favorite exercises, I loved playing with the figure ground concept. Creating an image that can be seen one of two ways, depending on whether you focus on the black or white components. Of course, that is not the technical definition, lol, but that is how I interpreted it. We spent several weeks on figure ground exercises, so I think my instructor likes them too. Within the next day or two, I will post some of the color pieces. Again, I just loved this class and learned so much!
This first image is my first "text" figure ground image. I was focusing on web design and just played around with lettering until I was happy. I hope to use this piece on my website someday, maybe as part of my online portfolio.

Figure Ground Personal Image

This second image is also an exercise in figure ground, but we had to create a personal image. I wanted something that represented web design and could be used on a business card or as a logo on my website. After numerous attempts using a "web," computer screen, spider and text, I finally came up with this one, which I am still very happy with and intend to use in the future as well.
     This final black and white piece was an exercise using texture. We had to go around the class room, building, inside and out, and create rubbings with graphite sticks. After we had collected a variety of rubbings, we had to create a still life by cutting them out in several assigned shapes and within a measured format. I am not good at drawing, so this was so much fun for me, more of a montage with the layering of texture and shapes. After we had the shapes rubber cemented down, we had to shade and highlight the whole thing. In case you can't tell, my still life is composed of two bottles, a pumpkin, a pear, an egg, a square block and a mushroom. I would love to do this again someday, collect some great rubbings from around town and then create a still life that represents this area. We'll see, I always want to do everything, but of course, there are not enough hours and days in my lifetime to do everything, sigh.

Texture Rubbing Still Life

At last...

So things have been insane for me since I started back to school for my second semester in September, which is evident by my lack of time or energy to post on my blog.But yesterday, I turned a corner. Why? How? Well I'll explain. My web developer classes have been kicking my booty all semester, very challenging and time consuming to say the least. On top of that, I was worried that, although I have dreamed about becoming a web designer for ten years, once I took the classes I would find that either 1.) I am not intelligent enough to understand the material, or 2.) I would get the material but find that I didn't "like" it after all. Until yesterday, those two fears were still lingering in the back of my mind.
    The day started off normally enough. My first class at 8 a.m.(I am not a morning person for those of you who do not know me personally, so this is a rough start to any day for me!) is Web Design I, where I am learning how to use Adobe's Dreamweaver CS5 program to create and publish web sites. Up till now, I have been very disappointed with this class. The instructor is not familiar enough with the current version of this program and we have not had enough hands on time to really get immersed and get comfortable with it. However, yesterday, she shifted gears and gave us our final project (actually, our only project), which was to come up with ideas for a web site and to create a simple sketch of each idea. Then, as I thought about what I would like to do and then sketched my four different ideas, I went back over them to figure out what my limitations would be in executing each idea. And as I visualized what it would take to turn my sketches into web pages, I realized that I could execute all of them, that I knew enough to actually bring those designs to life in the way I imagined them! I actually know enough now to be quite dangerous!!! It was a wonderful  epiphany. But it gets better...
     My next class is right after at 10:15 a.m., Introduction to Computer Programming Logic and Design. In this class, we are learning about programming logic and design using a program called Alice, which eliminates the syntax issues involved in actual programming, to help us learn the basics of writing good code. As the instructor was going over the solution to the homework we turned in, I realized that the solution he was showing had many more lines of code in it than what I had turned in, even though my program worked just fine. Then he said there was another solution to the problem and showed us that piece of code, but again, this one had several more lines of code than my solution, which had only one line of code. I was really feeling bummed out that I had not "gotten" this solution. But then, he said there was one more way to write the code to solve the problem, "probably the best way," is a direct quote, and then he wrote out what I had come up with on my homework!!! I could have flown to the moon and back! I'm getting it, I'm getting it, I'M GETTING IT!!!! That is all that kept running through my head, lol, and this feeling of relief and joy. Relief because I am getting it, and joy because I love it! Champagne all around...but wait, there's more...
     My last class of the day is at 5:30 p.m. and honestly, it is the most difficult. It is Interactive Animation, where we have been learning to use Flash CS5, Fireworks CS5, Soundcut Pro and lately, a little bit of Java with the action scripting 2.0 portion of Flash. There is soooo much homework in this class, a quiz every week that requires a re-creation of some sort of animation, exercises thrown in here and there, that also require creation of some animation, and then we have a big project always looming, since the beginning, each of which takes hours upon hours to complete. The instructor lectures almost from start to finish for two straight hours and crams so much information into that two hours, that I always feel like my brain has been used for "kick the can" by the end of the night. Sometimes, after this class, I go visit my friend Julie to unwind, and she can verify that I have been basically incoherent after class at times. But I digress. During last night's class, the instructor was showing us how to add action scripting to buttons to make them do certain things. At one point however, she ran into a problem and had to come up with a solution on the fly. Her solution involved creating a second button layer in the timeline, which is really not something you want to do. In my head, I thought I had a better idea and while she gave us a break so she could create a solution, I created my own solution and not only did it work, but I did not have to create a second button layer. Talk about icing on the cake, with sprinkles and even a cherry on top. My brain is connecting the dots. I understand most of what my instructors are talking about and if not, know I can figure it out between my textbooks and online resources. My questions are about things two steps ahead and based on combining what I have learned in all three of these classes. And I love, love, love it all! What a day...I'll be riding this wave for a very, very long time. Christmas? Nothing for me Santa, I'm good!

Back to School

Wild Woman Sketch

     Classes started on Monday. Got my books, schedule and supplies ahead of time, for the most part, and headed back to school. I'm in the Web Developer program at the local community college, trying to juggle classes, homework, parenthood and marriage without breaking anything. I love school, I always have. I never tire of learning new things and you know what is really wonderful about being in my mid forties and being in school? I have discipline now. The ability to get to an 8 a.m. class on time and prepared. The motivation to make time to do my homework, all of it, and turn it in on time. Even the parts of the courses I don't love, I'm putting my all into them. I wish I had felt this way when I did college the first time around. But being 18, 19, 20 and 21, I wanted to have fun and get my college degree. The classes I didn't like so much, I blew off or dropped. But I was also full of indecision. I was overwhelmed by all the choices, like one of those buffets I've heard about on cruise ships. I changed my major at least four times before I finally decided on IPC, Interpersonal and Public Communications. And regretably, I have to say that IPC is a fabulous minor but not such a good choice for a major. But I'm not going to go there right now, let's just let sleeping dogs lie, eh?
     Let's talk about my classes, I love them! I have 2-D art, Web Animation, Web Design I and Programming and Logic. When I pack up my books for my long day on campus, it must weigh twenty pounds! Well, after you add the weight of my laptop and purse, it must be close to that. All I know is that I am getting a workout hauling my crapola around campus. Hope I don't pull anything just shoving it all into the car. I wish I had a locker there somewhere, it would make my life a lot easier. I'm thinking I need to downsize on the purse part, I could probably knock off three pounds just by purging that baby alone. I don't really need anything except my license, CC and lipstick, right? Yup, that is my next move. Of course, I could also start going to the gym again, lift weights and build some muscle, that would really be the smart thing to do...

More Recovery and School

     On Monday I had stomach polyps removed and took a couple days for me to feel like myself again. Today is that day actually. Something about anesthesia, it wipes me out for a couple days instead of just one. My daughters' graduation party was on Saturday and we had perfect weather. It was an 80's themed dance party. All the kids dressed up and she gave out prizes for biggest hair and best costume. My wonderful parents made tamales, beans, rice, tostada and taco shells for the buffet. I helped with the meat for the tacos and made some fruit pizzas for dessert. We had a great time visiting with friends and family and the next day several of my daughter's friends helped to clean up and take down the decorations. I should mention that she had some friends help to decorate before the party as well. Now we are sort of back to normal, although in the summer, we don't really have a "normal." We come and go as we please, no real bedtimes or wake times. I'd love to get out and pick some blueberries this week, maybe on Friday, we'll see if the weather cooperates.
     I've registered for all my web design classes at the college and paid up on my tuition, ouch. But I'm fortunate to be paying in state tuition at a community college, otherwise, I could only afford to take one or two classes a semester and it would take me forever to get where I want to be. I have four classes this semester. Intro to web design, which focuses on using Dreamweaver as far as I can tell. I also have an animation class which I assume will focus on using Flash and Fireworks programs. Then there is 2-D design, an art class, which I am excited to be taking and hope I can grasp. Pray for me and the right side of my brain please. Finally, I have Programming and Logic, an introduction to computer programming, another class where I could use some prayers. All in all, it is eleven credits, two more than last semester. I was swamped then, but I worked hard to get the most out of  each class and really tried to absorb as much as possible. I want to "own" these new skills and be able to use them when I need them. I wish I'd felt this way when I was in college the first time. Why does it take so long for some of us to mature? I wish I knew. But I'm here now and ready to work my booty off...