Second Semester

It is the official start of the second semester - week one in Sharpie's Grand Plan to Kill Herself Softly with Online Classes.

I am very eager to complete my Master's Degree - if only to never have to take another class again. Seriously. I shit you not.

This is probably not the best attitude considering I have roughly 10 - 12 more semesters of school. Yeah. Holy Crap.

You may remember that I took two classes last semester and did well in them. That was the upside. The downside was that I completely shirked my responsibilities as a mom, wife, and friend. I fed my family crap and left my house in disarray. My poor family paid the price. I knew just how bad it was when both kids jumped for joy and circled me chanting "she's all done with schoooooooool. She's on vaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacatiooooooooooooon." This schooling needs to FIT into the schedule not crush it like a grape.

And as much as I am not a quitter - I need to drop back to less than part time. Two classes is officially part time. This really doesn't hurt me in any way (other than my pride) as I am paying this crazy tuition out of pocket - and not on school loans. If I had taken a loan - well I would be hanging from the rafters in the garage right now.

So, I have one class - Typography. Seems like such a benign word, no?

It is Satan's Lair. Each week we are to complete 5 assignments. Five per week. On top of work, teaching two classes, the kids schedule, meals, and the list goes on. BEST PART????? The final project is to CREATE by HAND (technically using a vector drawing program like Adobe Illustrator) an entire FONT to symbolize a book you were to pick on Week One.

Christ on a Stick.

The book I picked is The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn



This is my favorite children's book. The story is about Chester Raccoon and his deep fear of leaving his mother, his familiar surroundings, and toys to go to school. His mother, Mrs. Raccoon explains that we all must do things that are unfamiliar and scary to us at first. She explains all of the fun and new things he will encounter. She tells him she has a secret to help him cope through the days at school. The secret is the "“Kissing Hand". The “Kissing Hand” is a special kiss Mrs. Raccoon puts on Chester'’s hand and tells him to that whenever he feels lonely and needs love from home, he needs only to press his hand to his cheek and know that his mommy loves him. She then explains that the Kissing Hand can never be washed off or lost. Chester loved his Kissing Hand. He knew with it, he could do anything -– even go to school. That night he gives his mother her own Kissing Hand so that she would not miss him when he went to school. With his mother’s love with him, he learned he could do anything.

I read this book to both of my kids and we did Kissing Hands FOREVER until they no longer needed them. In Lil Man's Kindergarten class - they read it too, and made kissing hands for the Moms - so as not to miss their kids too much. *sigh* I kinda miss those days. Every once and aawile I still get one. I hope today is one of those days.