Settling In

Week two of classes has begun and the sheer hysteria and panic I felt has ebbed to managed sheer hysteria and panic. After reading five long chapters, outlining, reading and ordering books for the suggested reading, each day I wonder if I've taken on too much. I'll let you know after I've actually gotten a grade for something.

I started my second year with Americorps this week, as well. I'm working at a family literacy center. The primary lesson being taught to these mothers is that they are their children's' first teachers, and literacy should begin right after that trip down the birth canal. It's very inspiring to watch these young mothers struggling with adult education, some of them learning a new language. The children are on one side of the center with child care workers while their mothers are in class. Mid morning, they have what is called "PACT" time, parent and child time, where they sing and read. Now today this was mostly accomplished while two or three children were screaming so loudly they could have wakened dead vampires from almost any crypt in New Orleans. But somehow, I think they appreciated the reading of "Brown Bear, Brown Bear".

I'm reading, and reading, and reading......

I didn't know what to expect of course, but I knew the reading would be extensive and I was right. For the past year or so, my brother, who just retired from the Marines, has been pursuing a Masters in Business Management. His constant lament is about the amount of reading he has to do. Those first couple of days I was completely overwhelmed, asking myself what I had gotten myself into and how could I manage these courses, maintain at least a 'B' average, work and occasionally pay some attention to my family. Oh, did I forget to mention that my brother and I have been working in my bathroom this entire week? Once the bathroom is complete, that will be a big load off my mind and my work schedule. Maybe I've got a little OCD about a perfect surrounding before I can accomplish something else. I'm sure to find this out if I make it past the first semester.

The Second Day

I barely made it to my 4:30 class because I had to pick up my daughter at 3:45. I basically dropped her off, watched her walk into the house and drove off. (Of course I called her when I got to class to make sure she was all right.) Once again, our class was a little too large and was split into two.

This class is about cultural diversity in counseling and our professor warned us it would be a 'button pusher', as did the writers of the textbook. Amusingly, he observed that white men usually taught these courses and he couldn't figure out why. His syllabus was very interesting and gave us a variety of ways to earn points towards our grade, including blogging about movies and restaurants of other cultures.

The number of assignments does not particularly worry me, but the amount of reading and additional reading does. I'm going to have to schedule my time carefully to make sure I get it all done. At present, I have five chapters to read by next week's classes. Since I'm a visual and kinesthetic learner, this will probably mean meticulously outlining each chapter so that I get the most out of the reading, but I've read that listening to music while studying helps.

The first day, continued.....

Okay, of course I couldn't find the classroom on the first day, and when I did, it was packed! The school was obviously unprepared for how many moms were going back to school. Mostly, it felt like every first day of school you've ever had, except half the students already had kids and the other half had had hysterectomies.

Deciding the class was far too large for the personal attention we'd all been promised, we were promptly split up. It's a good thing I hadn't made friends yet. My professor looks like Santa Claus in the off season. He asked lots of probing questions, and initially learned that few of us were enterprising enough to have read the first three chapters of the textbook. (I had read up to the middle of the first chapter, but I didn't want to be a suck-up.)

Our first assignment was to write a 'reflective paper' on what we'd gleaned from the first class, no more than two pages, double spaced. Wouldn't it be great if it stayed that simple?

I'm exhausted from this day, but I'm too excited to sleep. Class two is tomorrow, as well as another orientation day for Americorps, and the possibility I'll get another $40 parking ticket because there's no where to park in New Orleans that isn't residential near the Loyola campus.

The First Day

Last night, I nervously looked at my schedule, making sure I was going to the right class on the right day in the right room. I put out my books and notebooks, pens and highlighters. The last forty-five minutes of waiting for the class to start was miserable, but my fellow Americorps members had wished me well earlier in the day with smiles and encouragement. I'll tell you what happens later.

Americorps

Tomorrow I start a week long orientation for Americorps. For those of you who are unaware of this organization, it is a nationwide volunteer organization that helps out with everything from building homes to literacy. I'll be working on the literacy end in a family program which promotes education to parents and children. Members receive a living stipend for a year of service, and an education award if you complete a specified amount of hours. This is actually my second year (you can only do two), but I'll receive an education award of $4700 dollars which will go a long way towards paying for my tuition. If you're interested, check out the site at www.americorps.gov.

It's getting closer, and I'm not talking about school

As you can see from this picture, I truly have the ugliest bathroom in New Orleans. Most of the nasty peach tile is gone. I'm not going to take up the tile on the floor, but tile over it with larger porcelain squares. I plan to extend the tile work on the wall, but for the tub surround I"ll have to go with what's call an 'easy up adhesive wall set'. This is the problem with older homes. Nothing in them is standard sized. I couldn't find one hard wall tub surround that would fit in my bath, so the 'easy up' set was my most economical option.

My brother is in town to help me put up new drywall as well as the surround. Once I tile the floor and wall, I can put the toilet back in place. At present, it's sitting in a corner of my bedroom covered by a pretty shower curtain, but it's still a little close for comfort.

This renovation has taken a little longer than I thought it would. It's been raining for the past few days, which makes it hard to use any kind of adhesives because of the humidity. Of course I wanted to have it finished by the 24th, but that's not going to happen and I have to be okay with that. Just rethink the plan and make a new one; that will have to me my new motto for the next three years.