FINAL POST



Well, here we are at then end of the road.  I am done blogging and glad that I will not HAVE TO DO IT anymore.  I can blog if I want to and not blog if I don't.  I have enjoyed this class, much better than when I took ENG 101 ten years ago at St. Louis Community College - Florissant Valley Campus.  The papers were alot more interesting to write, the BLOGGING was something new and different and REAL WORLD writting, the way the class was taught was very nice. No more having to write English papers, no more blogging, no more, no more.The INSTRUCTOR, Mr. Nadjeiko, IS VERY COOL.  If I HAD TO TAKE ANOTHER ENGLISH CLASS, which I don't think I do, I WOULD DEFINATELY TAKE HIS CLASS. (No, I am not trying to get brownie points like you or he may think.)

NEXT SEMESTER is going to be a whole new world for me as well.  I am taking ONLINE CLASSES and going to be working probably 40+ hours per week every week.  It will be very difficult to stay on top of my "CLASS WORK" and work that many hours.  All I can think in my head though is, IF I DO IT NOW, I WON'T HAVE TO DO IT LATER.  THE SOONER I GET THIS DONE, THE SOONER I HAVE MY DEGREE, THE SOONER I GET A BETTER JOB, or should I say CAREER. 

So, to all...FAIRWELL. 

Have fun,

Enjoy life,

Live everyday as though it is your last, your never know, it may be.

LONG PAST DUE THANKSGIVING BLOG

   

     Well, it was another holiday.  Thanksgiving at my grandmother's house was going good, UNTIL DINNER.  They ran out of gravy at the BIG TABLE (which is for my grandmother and her kids and their spouses), so someone asked if anyone could go to the kitchen to get more gravy.  My aunt said that she would, so when she went to stand up she bumped or leaned on the table and my one uncle got VERY UPSET, because his wife's soda got spilled.  He stood up and was throwing a tantrum just like a child.  {IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, give me a break.}  He started to scream, yell, and curse.  I was trying to bite my tounge and not say anything, but my kids where there and did not need to hear all that.  So, I finally stood up and said something to him and asked him nicely to STOP THE CURSING AND YELLING, WE HAVE KIDS HERE.  He did not seem to care.  My other uncle decide to tell me that I needed to SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP, BECAUSE IT WAS "A CHILD".  Hardly, I am grown, married, and kids of my own now.  The rest of the night ended up just being a big argument.  I decided to leave.  This made me upset as well as my parents and grandmother.  I just proceede to tell them that I would see them on FRIDAY at our house for Thanksgiving dinner where there would not be any of this arguring, yelling, and cursing.  Then one of my aunts, who is my godmother, decided to stick her nose in where it didn't belong and proceed to tell me that it would probably be worse with the other side of my family (my wife's side).  I proceed to inform her how she had gotten on my nerves and been VERY RUDE all day to me and that IT WOULD NOT HAPPEN at dinner on Friday.  Of Course, IT DID NOT HAPPEN.  We had a VERY GOOD, PEACEFUL, AND ENJOYABLE DINNER on Friday night with my wife's family, my parents, and my grandmother.

WHO KNOWS WHAT CHRISTMAS WILL

HOLD AT MY GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE?????

ITS FINALS TIME

THIS SUCKS!  I AM SOOOOOO TIRED!  I CAN NOT STUDY ANYMORE!
IS IT OVER YET!?!?!?

Well, here it is the END OF THE SEMESTER and IT'S FINALS TIME!  Unfortunately, I have to come to class Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, AND Thursday of next week for FINALS.  I have 1 on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and TWO on Wednesday  :(  .  I am LUCK though that my PSYC FINAL is the only one that I have to have on Thursday.  I wish it was later in the day on Thursday though, it is at 9:30am.  My OFFICE SUITE FINAL is going to be an easy one though on Wednesday, I probably will only have to be in class for about 30mins or less.  The ENGLISH FINAL, well, we all know that it may not take long either, as long as I have everything together and in order, I can be out of there on Tuesday in a jiffy.  The BUSINESS FINAL, well it shouldn't take long, maybe 45mins or so, which is just like one of our normal tests for the class.  My ACCOUNTING FINAL, that will probably be just like the Business final, only about 45mins or so, again, just like one of our normal tests for the class.  THEN THAT'S ALL.  I will be done for the semester.

PSYC

Psychology is not one of my favorite subjects.  I had to do a presentation in class on December 1st.  My presentation was on SEXUAL PREDATORS and PERSONALITY DISORDERS.  The presentation went better than I expected and I ended up with a 72%.  I thought that I was only going to get a 65% or less and FAIL the presentation.  I was happy with my grade. The instructor on the other hand told me that they thought that I was going to do better than I did.  But that is OK.  I like my grade, and yeah, I probably could have done better.  If I wouldn't have forgotten a few little things to turn in and if I ddin't go over my allotted 10-11 mins, which I did 13mins (-2 pts.).  Well, it is done and over with now and I am so relieved that it is.  Now it is on to studing for they FINAL in the class which I think is on Tuesday, December 14th, I THINK.  Well, whenever it is, it is.  I hope that I can get at least a 70% on the FINAL so that I can maintain my "C" average in the class.

TAX SEASON TRAINING

Well, last Wednesday, December 1st, I had my last training class for the upcoming tax season.  We spent 8 weeks getting updated on all of the in's and out's of doing taxes.  The only thing that we will have left to do is ONE FINAL UPDATE CLASS in Janurary when the Federal goverment, the IRS, finallizes all of the rules and regulations on tax law for 2010.  It was very interesting, I even learned some new things this year, that I wasn't total up on last year.  These things included POAs (Power of Attorney), Small Business returns,  and a little about FARM returns.  I also got chosen to do the loans which will begin on Dec. 7th.  I will be working in our Columbia office for the month of December.  In January, I will be working at all three of our offices: Red Bud, Waterloo, & Columbia.  This is very nice to be able to get the additional trainning and refreshers that I needed to be able to better serve my clients and possibly gain some new clients because of the knowledge that I gained thru this training.

  

St. LouIS Holdiay Magic

This past weekend on Saturday, the family and I went to America's Center for the St. LouIS Holiday Magic show.  It was a good time.  We ended up getting a coupon from someone and it only cost us $20 for the whole family, so only paying for the two adults and the two kids were FREE.  The event had LOTS to do.  We did alot while we where there.  We had photos with Santa (which cost extra), watched some of the Purina Incredible Dog Team show, watched the Six Flags Entertainment (which was Christmas show, that was only 15 minutes long, just enough time that the kids didn't get to irritated or annoyed), ate lunch at "The Alpine Lodge" (which was a small eating area within the show that was set up like a ski lodge - and of course cost extra over addmission), rode on the rides (including the Apples, the Carousel, the Kiddie Coster {a Dragon}, went down the Super Slide, and rode on the Kiddie Train {on the track, not the trackless one}.  We also visited or at least seen all of the vendors, which were mainly for adults.  Overall we had a good time and would probably attend again next year if they have it.  We were there from about 10:30am - 2:30pm.  It was pretty reasonably price, or money spent, for a FAMILY DAY OUT. 

FORGOTTEN BLOGS

Here I am sitting writting a blog again.  I have totally forgotten about them.  But I am trying to do them now and catch up on them.  The semester is almost over and I feel like only missing one day of class (a M/W Class) this semester has put me soooooo far behind on everything.  The blogs are very cool things, but I just have totally forgotten them.  I hope I am able to catch up on them so that I have enough come the end of the semester.  This is only like my 6th post and I think we are supposed to have like 12-13 by now.  So.... I guess I will be writting a lot of blogs this next week to catch up on everything.  So here is blog one of six that I need to write, I think, to catch up.  Here I go.  Anyone else feel this way?

PumpkinFest



Pumpkin Mountain



This was a WONDERFUL weekend.  On Thurdsay night around 8:00pm my wife, two kids, and myself, packed up and left for St. Joseph, MO, were one of my best friends live.  It is about a six and one-half hour drive (one hour NORTH of Kansas City, MO).  We stopped in Columbia, MO and stayed at a hotel for the night, because the kids were getting very cranky from sitting and trying to sleep in the carseats.  On Friday morning, we got up got dressed and left for St. Jo.  We had to stop a couple of times because my daughter is potty training, so we had to stop for potty breaks.  We stopped again in Platte City, MO for lunch at Taco Bell/Pizza Hut

for lunch.  When we left there the kids took a nap again on the way to St. Jo.  When we got there we met my buddy at his apartment, unpacked everything.  We went to a park they have there that has Longhorns, to see them.  Then we went to dinner at a resturant called Cheddar's, it is kinda a mix between Lotawata Creek and Applebe's.  The food is excellent, the portions are big.  From there we went into downtown St. Jo to Pumpkinfest.  This is a big fall festival with rides, games, vendors (with food and things to buy), and lots to do for the kids.  The BIG thing on Friday night is the lighting of PUMPKIN MOUNTAIN.  This is a pretty cool thing.  When we got there, we watched the lighting ceremony and then my daughter rode on a couple of rides, and then we went home.  On Saturday morning, we got up ate breakfast, got dressed, and out the door we went for another FULL day.  First we went into downtown St. Jo for the Midwestern State University homecoming parade.  From there we went to PumpkinFest for the COSTUME PARADE for the kids.  My daughter was Tinker Bell and my son was Peter Pan, and then we had my friend (who is their godfather) dress up as Captin Hook.  After the COSTUME PARADE, we watched the award ceremony.  Then we ate lunch at the park.  Then we did some crafts and got facepainting done.  My daughter got a butterfly on her entire face and my son got a pumpkin on his arm.  After that we went back to my buddies apartment for a while.  Later we ate dinner and then went to play putt-putt golf at Cool Crest Garden Golf.  This was the cleanest and best looking mini golf place I have ever been to.  They have 3 courses to choose from.  We played Jan's Course.  After putt-putt we went back to Pumpkinfest, where we rode rides, played games, and looked at all the vendors.  After that we went back to his apartment for bed.  On Sunday morning we got up, ate breakfast, and then packed up to leave.  First we went to my friends church in Kansas City, MO for a pasta dinner for lunch.  Then we went to Hy-Vee (the grocery store up there) to help him with his TOOTISE ROLL DRIVE for the Knights of Columbus.  We stayed for about an hour helping.  While there my wife seen everyone walking out with LOTS of soda.  She got the sale bill and found that they had a 10-10-10 sale.  Soda was on sale 10 for $10.  So on the way home we stopped at about 4 different Wal-Marts for price matching.  Then we got home, put the kids in bed, and unpacked the van. Then went to bed.  THAT WAS MY FUN FILLED WEEKEND.

Cards Game

Well, yesterday was the Cardinals game versus Pittsburg. My wife decided to get tickets for the game for a couple of different reasons. The first was so that my son, who is 15 months old, was able to go to his first baseball game. The second reason was because my birthday today. We were able to get tickets in BIG MAC LAND, which is kind of cool, because this is where we sat for my daughter’s first baseball game. We were even in the same row, just a couple of seats down. This time was a little more hectic than the two times before because my daughter is FINALLY getting it with the potty training. About once an inning she would say “Daddy, I gotta potty”, so I would get up and go all the way up the stairs with her and run to the bathroom. We did this about 6 times throughout the game. My son started to get cranky around the bottom of the 6th, so my wife took him and put him in the stroller and walked to the Build-A-Bear shop in the stadium to get him a Cardinals t-shirt for his Build-A-Bear monkey he has at home. This is another tradition my wife and I started, anytime we go to a new place, that has a Build-A-Bear, we get the kids a t-shirt or something with the place’s name on it for their Build-A-Bear, if they don’t have one, we try to get them something with the places name on it for them to remember their first trip there. Back to the game, so at the bottom of the 7th or top of the 8th (around 10:00pm), my daughter had to potty again, so again, I took her and then we decided to leave, so that we didn’t have to fight as large of a crowd getting on MetroLink to come back home. When we got in the van, we put everything in, and before we left the parking lot, or shortly after, both kids where DOWN FOR THE COUNT. By the way, we ended up winning the game 6-4. GO CARDS!

Busy Times

Well, this weekend was very busy and this week is going to be VERY busy. On Saturday, my wife had a Wedding Shower for her cousin who is getting married in November and my daughter had a Birthday party for a child from her daycare. Both of them at the same time, one in Ruma and one in Red Bud. After those both ended we went to South County to go shopping for material for my wife to make my kids Halloween costumes. Then to dinner and then to see my grandmother who is in a skilled nursing facility. She absolutely hates being there. The only reason she is there is because she had a hip repairment surgery on September 2nd. The surgery was more complicated and took longer than expected because not only did they have to repair her hip, they ended up having to reconstruct her entire femar bone because it was so messed up from the hip replacement surgery she had in 1994. On Sunday we went to church and then to lunch with my parents and then came home. I then found out that my cousin-in-law died on Sunday afternoon around 3:00p.m.This week is a hectic week as well and too much to do to even mention. Talk to all next week.

2 weeks in school

Well, It’s been two weeks now. Thankfully we have a holiday and have a LONG weekend. I can spend some time with my kids and get some homework done. I can start to think more about my interview paper for English. I can get some ACCOUNTING, BUSINESS, OFFICE SUITE, and PSCHYCOLOGY all done, as well. I am a little overwhelmed still with all my classes, but hopefully it will get easier as time goes on and I get used to being in school again. I am starting to get used to the whole idea of being in school. I am also thankful that I have been called back to work, well not until January, but have been contacted and asked back by H&R BLOCK for the upcoming tax season, I can’t wait. I loved that job. So, here I am only two weeks into school and already thinking about next semester and how to balance work, school, and home life all together. Well, that is still along way off, so for now, it is time to think about THIS SEMEMSTER only. This seems to be very difficult to come up with thing to write about. I am NOT a writer and don’t really enjoy it.

Back to School

Well here I am, back in school FULL TIME after 10 years. I have been in school since then, however not FULL TIME. This is like starting all over for me, from the beginning. The last time I was in school it was an ACCELERATED (13mos) program paid for by my employer at the time. The program was for electronics. This time however, after working for H&R Block this past tax season, I have decided to go into ACCOUNTING. I find that I like working with numbers and people more than I did with electronics. Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the electronics, but this I hope with give me more opportunities to work with people.

I have found that since being in school last, lots have changed, like using BLACKBOARD. When I was in school I did not have BLACKBOARD or WebCT. I submitted all my work directly to the instructor the old fashioned way, pen/pencil and paper. The work was graded and handed back to us.

This time I am also dealing with lots of other issues as well. Since the last time I was in school, I am now HAPPILY married with two (2) wonderful children (a 3½ yr old girl & a 14mo old boy). This can be a struggle to balance everything, especially since I am taking 15 credit hours, A FULL LOAD!  What was I thinking when I signed up for all these classes?

Is there anyone else like this? Any suggestions on how to balance it all?