Leaves Are Not as Messy...

As sand and pea-gravel, but Kayleigh seems to prefer them over leaves. Maybe she just needed someone to share the experience with her. Here you can see Kayleigh smiling after I sat in the pile of leaves and proceeded to tickle her with a leaf.

Friday and Saturday mornings are our time with Kayleigh. We love the overnight visit and Saturday morning tradition of pancakes, or waffles, or french toast, it does not make much difference to Kayleigh, she just loves to eat a big breakfast. Mike and I usually bike her home in what is referred to as her princess carriage (bike trailer for two). This has been the routine since the beginning of summer and we all love it.

Leaves are Falling

This past Saturday was a great “let’s make a memory” photo opportunity with a big pile of freshly fallen leaves and our granddaughter, Kayleigh. However, as you can see the “this is yucky” look on her face, Kayleigh did not think too much about sitting in the leaves. No matter, I managed to capture a fall scene that keeps my cell phone’s wallpaper updated as the seasons change.

Getting Closer to my Goal

I signed up for my spring classes today and will be taking my last History course, American Literature, and the first class of Spanish, plus the lab that goes with it (a total of 10 hours). After the spring semester, I will only need two science courses to be core complete before I transfer to the university. I could transfer next fall, but I decided to stay at the community college for one more semester. This will allow me to take the second level of Spanish and another Literature class, which will transfer toward my major.

My friend Monica and I plan to take the two sciences courses together during the summer semesters (both are five weeks long). She is originally from Costa Rica and the plan for the summer will be taking turns driving to school, studying together, being lab partners, and working on my Spanish while I teach her sign language. Monica wants to be a bi-lingual teacher for elementary aged children. I hope that she will be transferring to the same university as I am. While I will be getting my degree for 8-12 grades, we could have some of the same education classes. It would be great if we had the same schedule that would allow us to car-pool together. I enjoy the younger students, but it is nice to have other non-traditional students around to share ideas with and most importantly, be a support system for one another.

Having a degree plan has helped me pick the specific classes I need to take without taking classes that only count as electives. Once I finally decided to major in English and minor in education, my path became clearer. I have to take 12 hours in a foreign language, so if I take six more hours I can get a second minor in Spanish. This will make me more marketable after I graduate. I am also planning to be certified in English as a second language (ESL).

Having years of life experiences, as the non-traditional student I am, has greatly contributed toward my identity and the direction I am choosing for my career. However, I did not have the specific details until the second week of this semester (20 months into college).I do not know how an eighteen year old can possibly declare their major before spending at least two years in college. There is so much to learn in college and while I have progressed toward my goal, I have a way to go.

On a side note: I had an algebra test yesterday and what normally would take the whole 50 minutes to finish it in, I completed in 30 minutes. When I got to the fifth problem, I was thinking to myself that this test was just too easy, something must be wrong, am I overlooking something or maybe, just maybe I was getting it. I will report back after I get my grade and hope that my grade reflects the hours of work I have to put into it just to get it.