WTH

Just a few simple sentences....Congress should go without getting paid before our military does.  As someone who was a military wife for 7 years, I know that military members do not make enough for the work they do as it is.  And to expect them to go without pay is outrageous!  Many military families live paycheck to paycheck, and they need their full pay....not half their pay, and not a promise they will get back pay once everything is straightened out.  Our service members are the most important people in our country, and they should be treated as such!

Ridiculous!

I had an assignment due in one of my classes a week ago Tuesday at 11:59 pm ET since that is when our weeks end.  We are supposed to have our grades for that week by the following Sunday night.  I am STILL waiting on my grade for that paper! 

Now, the school did do an update on the website the weekend before it was due.  And because of that update, a lot of students were locked out of the system.  Due to that, most instructors did give an extension to those students without losing any points on their work.  However, there were many of us that were able to log in fine, and submit our work on time.  We should have gotten our grades on time.  The students that weren't able to get into the system should be treated like any other extension as far as the grading time table is concerned.  That is, there work should be graded when it gets turned in.  Those of us that were able to get it turned in on time should not have to wait until the late submissions are in before our work gets graded.  I did my part and did my work AND got it in ON TIME.  I should get my grade ON TIME.

I also want to add that I have e-mailed my instructor to ask when I should expect my grade, but apparently I'm going to have to wait forever on a reply back on that!

No More Brian

From my 4 year old:

"Mommy, if you chop me up and bake me in the oven for supper, then you won't have no more Brian."

So I asked, "Why would I chop you up and cook you for dinner?"

Him: "I don't know, but you wouldn't have no more Brian."

So I assured him I have no intention of cooking him for dinner, that the only food I will be cooking will be coming from the grocery store.  I wish I knew where he came up with this stuff at.

Hot Wings

I had the craving for some hot wings a couple days ago, so I decided I needed to make some.  With all the recipes out there, I didn't know which one to try.  So I decided to just "wing" it.  I wish I had gotten pictures.  I took:

About 4 lbs of chicken wingettes
about 1/2 cup melted butter
about 1-1/2 cups hot sauce

I threw the wings into hot grease and cooked them until they were golden on all sides, then drained.  The butter and hot sauce got mixed together in a bowl and the wings got dipped into it.  From there, they went into the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes. 

The results were pure perfection.  My dad and I loved them.  My cousin was visiting the next day and finished off what we didn't the night before.  He said they were great!

Crystal's Comforts

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Head on over to Crystal's Comforts to check out the great selection.  Please note, the page is currently being worked on, but there is still some great information on the products listed.

Somewhat Hard

This term in school is somewhat hard for me.  I am getting an A in my math class.  But my grade in Legal Ethics has slipped.  Thanks to getting a B on one test and a C on another, my grade is sitting right around a high B.  A lot of people think there is nothing wrong with that.  But the problem is that when it comes to school, I have to be perfect.  My grade point average right now is a 4.0 from the first 2 terms.  I don't want it to change.  During my first term, I was just shooting for making the Dean's List.  But with my 4.0, I made the President's List.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing my name on the President's List.  We are just getting ready to end week 4 of this term, which means Midterm week starts on Wednesday.  I am buckling down even more to study for my Legal Ethics Midterm.  Hopefully, with a little luck and a lot of studying, I will be able to use my Midterm Exam to pull my grade back up to an A.

I have also been helping my oldest study more in his subjects at school.  He hasn't started his third quarter off so well.  As a result, he is doing some extra studying at home in those subjects, and I am also helping him with some of that studying.

My daughter had her winter testing done that they are doing for Kindergarten this year.  All her scores are falling in the "Above Average" and "Well Above Average" scores.  The school year is more than half over, and she hasn't learned one thing yet this year in Kindergarten that she didn't learn either at home or in Pre-K.  I take that back.  She has learned how to do her alphabet in sign language.  That's it.  Everything else they are doing in Kindergarten, she already did at the beginning of Pre-K.  She ended Pre-K doing addition and subtraction, along with some beginning reading.  They haven't even made it that far in her Kindergarten class yet.

Things Kids Say

My 4 year old has informed me that I picked him out.  He said I went to the "kid store" and picked him out of a cage from all the other kids in the store.  He also said I had to pay $3 for him and that the reason I picked him was because he was the cheapest.    I just love the imagination of kids.

Goals for the New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  In the upcoming year I have decided to set some goals for myself.  Some of these include:
1. Eating better.  I have been trying, and doing good for the most part, but I need to lay off the chocolate.
2. Get more excercise.  I do get some now, but not enough.
3. Get more organized.  I am one of the most disorganized people there is, and I would like to try to fix this.  I plan on doing this in babysteps.

Common Courtesy

A courteous, respectful, or considerate act or expression.  This is the definition of the phrase “common courtesy.”  In today’s world it seems too many people have forgotten all about common courtesy, if they ever knew about it at all.  There are many instances when common courtesy could be used.  It’s also better to err on the side of caution and use common courtesy.  One example when to use common courtesy is when you are invited to someone’s house for a holiday dinner.  If you have said you will be there, the person is expecting you and plans to cook food for you (and your family if applicable).  If you say no, then the host(ess) knows they don’t have to cook extra good.  But the host(ess) always needs to know how many people will be there so they know how much food to cook.  So if something comes up when you are going to be hours late for said dinner, you should extend common courtesy and let the host(ess) know you will be late.  You would also do the same if you are unable to make it at all to the dinner.  Otherwise your host(ess) goes through the extra time and expensive of cooking extra food meant for you, and you don’t even have the courtesy to make a call or send a text saying “Hey, I can’t come.”  It’s not hard and only takes a couple of seconds. 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone!  We had a pretty good Christmas here.  While the kids didn't get everything on their lists, they told me this was the best Christmas ever! 

Legal Technology Grade

One of the hardest things for me on an assignment is waiting on the grade after I turn it in.  I did finally get my grade on my final project for my Introduction to Legal Technology class.  The project got a 100%.  I ended up with a 99% for the course!  I am still waiting on my final grade in my composition class, and this wait is killing me.

Paralegal Professional

The second course I took during my first term was The Paralegal Professional.  This course, to me, was more or less an overview of the legal system as a whole, along with some basics on professional ethics.  This course was a little difficult for me.  One of the assignments was a PowerPoint Presentation on the U.S. court systems.  Finding the information I needed for the assignment was no problem.  But I freaked out a little because I had never done a PowerPoint before.  I didn’t know how to do it.  I had looked at some tutorials online, but I think I was overthinking it and just stressing too much about it.  I ended up going to my local library and checking out a copy of PowerPoint 2010 for Dummies.   The book obviously taught me something because I got an A on the assignment.  In fact, I made an A as the final grade in the course, and ended up with a 4.0 GPA and made the President’s List!

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2 Day Week = Bored Kids

This was such a short week for the kids at school.  School got canceled Monday because the roads weren't clear from the snow the day before.  They went Tuesday and Wednesday, but Wednesday night we had a nice freezing rain.  So school was closed for the rest of the week.   The kids have been going completely nuts being cooped up in the house.  They want to go out,  but there is a sheet of ice on top of everything.  We have been playing games, doing crafts, and watching some tv together, but they are getting bored with all of it.  My kids are the type that want to be outside no matter what, and it’s killing them to have to stay inside because of all the ice.

8 Effective Skills

Part of my plan with this blog is to share my educational journey.  However, seeing as I am at the end of my 2^nd term, I will start out with giving some recaps of the classes I took during my 1^st & 2^nd terms.

During my 1^st term, one of the courses I was required to take was called Eight Effective Skills of the Legal Studies Student.  This was a course that covered material such as how to study effectively, how to find a style of studying to suit you, how to find your style of learning.  Things like that.  It was sort of boring, but some parts of it were interesting.  The hardest part of the course was the final.  For our final we had to interview a person in our chosen field, then write up a summary on that interview. 

I thought the hardest part would be to find an attorney willing to let me interview him/her.  It turned out I was right.  I had actually found an attorney, through a family member, who said I could interview him, to just call his office to set up an appointment.  However, when I would call his office, his secretary would tell me she had to speak with him before setting the appointment and would have him call me.  I ended up calling just about every attorney in my town and explained to them that I was a paralegal studies student and explained the assignment.  A few wouldn’t even give me the time to explain the assignment, they would hear “Paralegal Studies Student” and immediately tell me they weren’t looking to employ a new paralegal.  I did finally find an attorney that was willing to grant me the interview.  At first he was hesitant, but when I mentioned that I got his name from my dad, he said for the daughter of my dad, he was more than willing to do what he could to help. 

I must have done something right with the assignment because my final grade for the course was an A!

The Start of My Educational Journey

When I was 19 I dropped out of college to raise my oldest son.  I kept saying once he was in school full-time I was going to go back.  Then it went to when my daughter started school I was going back.  Then onto when my youngest son started school I would go back.  This past summer I finally decided enough was enough.  I am 30 years old, with 3 children, and no college education.  With all the options of online or campus based classes, there really was no need for me to wait until all 3 children were in school full-time.  So I started looking into schools I could attend online.  I finally decided on Kaplan University.  Part of my choice was because it is an actual university, not just a career school.  They also have a paralegal program, which is what I wanted to start with.  I can start out with my associates, then continue on through the same school if I choose to get higher degrees.

With Kaplan, I am taking 2 courses each term.  Each term is 10 weeks long.  The first 9 weeks are spent learning the material, with the final being due at the end of week 9.  The 10^th week is spent reflecting on what we have learned in the course.  I am currently at the end of my 2^nd term.  I have decided to blog about my journey through getting my associates degree, then onto my bachelor’s degree, and who knows after that.