Insomniac's blog

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted. Where to start with updating my few readers? Hmmmm, let me think... Classes are done for now. I believe I did okay in my English capstone (final undergrad English literature course). Grades don't come in till next week, but I got a 100% on my midterm and a 96% on my first paper, if that is any indicator on my final grade. My indy study went fine. I was a little lax in my responsibilities for it but I will be fine, I think. Ummm, other than the grades, school has taken a dramatic turn for me. I dropped out of the teacher prep courses at GVSU. Now, before the Amazing Raye, Beck, Jon, and the assorted others freak the hell out, let me explain why.

I dropped the teacher ed program because I am going to apply for graduate schools this December. Yep, Darling Husband has decided to financially support me for another seven years of schooling. He is wonderful. I am going to pursue a PhD in U.S. history with a focus on labor and industrial history, U.S. immigration history, and the 20th century. Since I cannot pack up the family and go to grad school anywhere, I have decided to apply at Michigan State University and Western Michigan University. My preference is MSU, but we will see if I get in and if I get funding. Funding is the most significant right now since I am just a poor undergrad with all those little mouths to feed and feet to shod. Hee hee. But seriously, if I did the teacher ed program at GVSU then I would have one hell of a busy final year at GVSU and it would make getting my two articles finished and published extremely difficult. Not only that but I would like to have one semester to spend with my kids before the hectic pace of grad school starts. I will still get a BA in English with secondary ed emphasis and a BA in history with secondary ed emphasis, but I just wouldn't be certified in Michigan to teach. To tell you the truth, I really didn't want to teach high school anyway. The teacher ed program was just a fallback in case I couldn't cut it in grad school. And, if things do not work out in grad school, I do have the option of coming back to GVSU and taking two courses, my student assisting and student teaching and then receiving my Masters in Ed. So, I will graduate GVSU in December. I have just my History Capstone left and then I am officially done. Wow. In a way it is kinda scary. I will miss GVSU and all the fine people I have met and my friends. Grad school is unchartered territory where I will have to compete with people who are very intelligent and very committed to doing their best. Of course, now that I think about it, pursuing an undergrad degree was unchartered territory for me also. I am the first person in my family and in Darling Husband's family to get a Bachelor's Degree. I'm a little cautious as of now on everything but I am certain I will make it and will get that PhD.

Okay, enough about the pursuit of the PhD. My summer research got bogged down when my classes started demanding more of my attention so for the next two weeks I am in a mad dash to finish my research and write a 25-40 page paper on it all. I am definitely not complaining about the upcoming deadline of September 1st for my draft of the research paper. God, I love deadlines and the craziness that they inspire! Without a deadline I would never get my ass moving on things. Oh, and I am also presenting this research at GVSU's Great Lakes History Conference in October. Very nice, very nice indeed. So, in October I have the scholarship luncheon, a labor conference I am presenting at on the other side of the state, and the Great Lakes History Conference. Myah's birthday is in October also and I have a museum tour to schedule and my monthly special committee meeting and historical movie night to arrange for GVSU's history department. I love it all. I love the pace and the busy-ness of doing so many things.

The progeny is doing very well. Myah is getting ready for high school (yes, please make that scared, apprehensive face for me!). Princess is preparing herself for kidnergarten (see what happens when you have your kids over eight years apart?). The Boy is just his usual self. Actually, he has made friends with the new neighbor boys who live behind us. The one boy is the same age as my boy so they play together quite often. I am relieved that he has other boys to play with since I was getting a little worried about him. He likes to play like he's a girl. Now, I am not gender-biasing but I do know that if he continues to prefer Barbie Dolls over trucks then he will be teased quite badly in school and I want him to fit in since being an outcast is so very difficult. Wow, that was a run-on sentence! Anyhow, he is becoming more boyish and seems to actually have a good time being a boy. Darling Husband is busy with work. He is starting school soon too! Yep, he is going to get an associate's degree in some sort of computer security thing-a-ma-gig. I am still a techno-peasant. He tried to explain it all to me but the words just do not make sense when they include things like "firewall" and "ISP" and "broadband". I just sit there with that blank, stupid look on my face. All I want to know about computers is that if I turn it on, can I actually type on it and get on the intranets?

So, anyhow, I think that is about it. Grad school is on the horizon, kids doing well, almost done at GVSU, husband in his technospeak fun. All is well in Nitaville.