During April I received an invitation to audition to be the
student speaker at our commencement ceremony May 11. I was absolutely floored to
be included in this small group. I discovered that I was competing against some
20 other people for this honor. I turned in a written copy of my proposed
speech, and was not chosen as one of three finalists, which was disappointing
at the time, although I compared it to getting a rejection letter from a
publisher. They didn’t say my speech was bad, just that it “wasn’t what they
were looking for”.
Not being chosen to speak turned out to be a very good thing
for me personally, though, because my arthritis, which has been steadily
getting worse over the last year, gave off a huge burst of pain. In the past
when this happened, I just do a lot of resting for about a week, and I’m back
in usable condition, but it’s not possible to do that sort of resting when you
have homework, and research projects due, and classes five days a week.
This month, it’s my turn to disrupt the entire family, as I
have had to get my wonderful daughter to carry my books for me, and push me
around the campus in my wheelchair. My mom has had to take sack lunches to
work, since daughter and I have to use our one car to get me to and from
school. Dad has to be home without anyone to help him, which is a problem as he
is either in his own wheelchair or in bed.
I’m eagerly counting down the days (10, as I write this!) until graduation so I can rest, get rid of the bulk of this pain, and let the rest of the family get back to normal. Whatever normal is.
My resolutions for this year are to:
·
Graduate from college.· Write a new manuscript, something I haven't had time to do since I started college.
· Take a vacation someplace out of Arizona.
· Hug my daughter every day.
· Learn how to make book trailers and post them to YouTube.
How am I doing?
I graduate May 11. I will be graduating with highest honors, and get to wear a beautiful blue cord around my neck to show off my grades. It looks like I will be getting an A in each of my remaining classes, which would make my grades nearly perfect. In four semesters, I’ve only had one B. Not bad for a returning student. When I started this whole college thing, I was worried about keeping up with the younger students, both socially and academically. I strongly advocate to anyone of my age who is thinking about going back to school not to let this fear stop you. You’ll find that your life experiences far outweigh their recent and supposedly un-rusty math skills.
Writing the manuscript is still on hold until November's NaNoWriMo.
Savings continues for the gas and grocery money for our vacation, and a new swimming suit has been purchased for the dear daughter. Mine is still in good condition, because I don’t wear it as often.
I am hugging my daughter every day, especially after she pushes me up hills and over big bumps in the sidewalk that very few on campus realize are there.
The book trailers are on hold indefinitely. Several more urgent long-term projects have reared their ugly heads including a room full of filing that must be done, the cataloging of my library’s new arrivals, meaning all the books purchased in the last five years, the in-depth study and mastery of several new computer programs, and the healing and rebuilding of the last two years wear and tear on my body are of much higher priority. Perhaps next year I will learn book trailers and the production of audiobooks.
I'm still doing pretty good on my resolutions, especially with the changing circumstances which we all call “life”.
I finished weaving the belt, and it works well. I’m now knitting a pair of manually-striped socks. In April I read 25 pleasure books, for a combined total of 3608 pages.
~Marie
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