fredroad

At a recent professional association conference, a comment was made about distance education not being as serious as face to face classrooms, because students could also be doing laundry at the same time, so how much attention were they really paying to their studies? I took offense to that, as a distance ed student who also does the laundry while doing homework! So what if I usually do homework in my pajamas? Or write papers at 2 am? If the material is the same, what difference does it make where the assignments are done? By the way, doing the laundry ensures that I take breaks and get up from the computer at regular intervals.

Graduate school hasn't been nearly as challenging as I expected. The first semester was more a matter of acclimating to being back in school, with the hardest things being time management and remembering how to do citations. I hate that there are so many different citation styles! As long as it's cited, does it really matter what format is used? I'm still fighting with RefWorks and other online tools, but I'm getting better.

It's also getting easier to fit in time to get the readings done, post to discussion boards in a timely manner, and get assignments done on time. With so many other obligations to juggle, laundry is probably the easiest to shortchange. There's only so many times you can say no to the kiddos, or skip out on outings because of homework, so it's important to schedule schoolwork into a busy week. What I'm still working on is not staying up so late finishing things.

The second semester went by in a flash! A combination of a shorter, summer session and overlapping coursework made for an easy semester. The only part of the second semester I didn't like was the introduction of group work. It seemed I was the only one making an effort and I resented that the others received high marks with little participation. I'm hoping that was an isolated incidence, limited to the particular people I was trying to work with.

One thing I have missed so far, is the camaraderie with other students. I wish there were some sort of chat room, or other online gathering place, to talk informally with others in the program. It's just nice sometimes, to have someone to ask a question about the class, or get an opinion on something that was posted. I'm hoping this semester goes a bit better, as there are three co-workers in one of my classes.

This third semester looks to be a mixed bag of sorts. One class is on Reference, something I've been doing now for oh, ten years or so. It'll be interesting to see how my real world experience matches up with what the class teaches. I'm trying not to be too jaded about it. The other class is on Library Technology, and I'm still waiting for my text to come in. So far, it looks to be the more challenging class.

At the end of this semester, I'll be halfway through TWU's SLIS program. It's been enjoyable and I've managed to get A's in all my classes so far, we'll see if I can keep that up. 

Since I attended the first informational meeting for Team in Training back in May, I've thought about how I don't have a personal connection with leukemia or any of the blood cancers we're raising money for. Sure, each chapter has "honored teammates", cancer survivors who are training with you, practices are dedicated to family members and friends who have lost their battle, and there's even lots of survivors who train for these endurance events as a way to mark their recovery. Even realizing one of the people in my training group was my 7th grade Science teacher who is still receiving chemo treatments for lymphoma really didn't make it personal for me.

Well, that all changed last week, with a message on the answering machine. Anyone who's ever donated blood has probably been asked to join the National Marrow Donor Program. It's always emphasized that the chances of matching someone to whom you are not related are very small, but the bigger the pool, the better the chances, right? So you say, sure, I'll register for that. They take a little bit more blood for testing, add your info to the registry and you never hear from them again. Imagine my surprise to get a phone call from the local unit, asking if I was willing to follow thru on the commitment I made 14 years ago...

All I know about the patient is that he's a 39 year old male with leukemia. And I'm a preliminary match. I went in the next morning and had my cheeks swabbed, to determine if I'm enough of a match to go on to the next stage of confirmatory typing. I'm not nervous about it, yet, but it'll be a few weeks before I know anything.

The fundraising I'm doing now for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is making a real difference for people fighting blood cancers. LLS provides financial and emotional support, not just to patients, but their family as well. LLS has invested more than $550 million in blood cancer research, which affect more than 800, 000 Americans. In the time it took me to write this, 4 people have died. In the time it took you to read it, 2 more people have been diagnosed with blood cancer.

When I signed up with Team in Training, it was primarily for myself. Finishing the San Antonio Rock 'n Roll (Half) Marathon with a good and healthy finish has been my focus. That has changed with everything I've learned, and all the people I've met. Now, it really is a personal commitment to do my part to find a cure. Please consider a donation. You never know who you'll be helping.

http://pages.teamintraining.org/stx/rnrsa09/tybarra

Well, I've given up on couponing. It sounds so easy, doesn't it? Clip a few coupons, read a few ads, save lots of money! Sure, some people can do that with no problem, but it just really wasn't working for me. I could never decide on a way to organize my coupons, I'd end up with a stack of inserts to go thru, coupons for stuff I'd never use, expired coupons, stores who were out of the sale items...it was a lot of work with a very small return on investment for me. It doesn't help that we really don't eat at home much, either. I still love reading about the deals people get, and I do still take advantage of a coupon here and there, but I've given up on trying to keep up with all of them. Perhaps, in the future, I'll give it a shot again, but for now, I stick to reading the Sunday paper, sans scissors.

So, I made a big commitment and signed on with Team in Training, to prepare for the Rock 'n Roll San Antonio 2009 Half Marathon. I'm sticking with the half, because 26 miles is still outside of my comprehension! So far, we've had two weekday practices and one early morning Saturday run and I'm very happy that I am not bringing up the rear! As long as I'm in the first group out, I finish in the top half of walkers. We're training with intervals, four minutes walking followed by one jogging, repeat to end of course. Right now, I can only do the first 3 jogging minutes, but I do hope to improve that with practice outside of the group runs.

Another positive benefit is that I've actually made some friends! Ok, ok, not *best* friends or anything like that, and, well, there's some competition involved, too. There's these two women who I try to keep up with and enjoy the encouragement from, then there's the other lady. She's doing strictly walking and, maybe it's just my imagination, but I think she smiles as she passes me because she thinks she's better than me. So it's always my goal to not let her pass me, or if she does, to get in another minute or two of jogging, to pass her back...hey, whatever keeps me going, right? :)

So, my five year old daughter has become fascinated with tornadoes. It all started a couple of weeks ago, when the news came on the radio as I was driving them to school. The announcer was talking about the tornadoes in Oklahoma, and as soon as he said death toll, I switched to a different station. That's when the questions from the back seat started: Mom, what's a tornado? No, that's a "twister." What do they do? Where are they? Do they take you places?

We spent some time talking about the difference between tornadoes in the cartoons and tornadoes in real life, what destruction is, and how to be safe if one should strike. I don't think there's ever been a tornado in this part of Texas, but I thought it best to tell her ways to stay safe, since we were talking about how dangerous they are.

She kept asking about tornadoes, for days after the news story. We'd be driving home and she'd ask from the back seat, "Mom, what else can tornadoes do?" Once I ran out of facts to tell her about tornadoes, we checked out some books from the library. I thought if we could tell her everything about how they form, how they dissipate, and everything in between, she'd be satisfied. It didn't quite work out that way. When my husband mentioned that his father had been through a tornado, she insisted that we go over, right now, to hear Grampo's story.

Soon after, she was back to asking about tornadoes. I thought that maybe if I introduced her to The Wizard of Oz story, she'd get caught up with the Tin Man and the Lion and forget all about the tornado. What happened was, she fell asleep after the tornado. So we borrowed Twister, and she was just fascinated. We didn't get through the whole movie, and I'm not entirely convinced that she won't wake up with nightmares tonight. I'm not sure that I want to be fostering a future storm chaser, but I think it's great how voracious she's become about something, wanting more and more information until she fully understands. I hope she's able to hold on to that curiosity and that she'll apply the same focus to more topics in the future.

So, a friend of mine introduced me to a MySpace app that is really addictive! It's Mafia Wars, and I can play for hours. I didn't think I'd play much, since I don't have many "friends" on MySpace, but then I discovered the forums for the game, and how to advertise for mafia members. Oh, wow, you don't get robbed much when you have a larger mafia than others in your level!

Once you've bought some properties, you earn an hourly income, which mostly goes to pay the upkeep on the weapons and vehicles you've bought. When you don't play for a while, the money starts to add up and you become a prime target for robberies. I should know, you're exactly the player I'm looking for and have made most of my money off of! To protect myself, I've taken to logging in to the game in the morning, and during lunch, to at least move my earnings into the bank. That wasn't stopping the attacks, and I found I was losing lots of money during the day. So, I sometimes check in while I'm at work, just to move the money and do a job or two.

That's what I was doing, discreetly, I thought, this afternoon. I was on the quieter side of the floor, and figured I might as well take out another gangster or two while I had the chance. As soon as I heard someone behind me, I flipped over to the catalog, only to have the young man lean in and ask me: "Hey, miss, what level are you on on Mafia Wars?" Busted!

Looking over my reading list for 2008, I wasn't really shocked to see that I didn't read a single book between August and December. I remember being bored with most books I picked up and not being able to find anything to hold my interest. Surprisingly, what got me back to reading was a suggestion from a teen regular at work to read Lord of the Flies. From there I picked up a new book by Julia Glass, I See You Everywhere, which was a really good read. I've started 2009 with two books, but I haven't finished either one: Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and a new book from Stephanie Kallos called Sing Them Home: A Novel.

In the hope of not losing interest in reading this year, I'm going to try Library Thing's 999 Challenge. It's nine books in nine different categories in 2009. I haven't completely decided on my categories, or a reading plan, but either way, 81 books is a lot more than I've read in each of the last three years. Definitely a challenge!

See her there on the left sidebar? If I can get myself to bed at a decent hour, and up tomorrow morning on time, I hope to get in at least 30 minutes at the gym. Or maybe a 20 minute jog. As long as I remember my iPod, she'll get a new workout to comment on.

A co-worked swears that she's found this site, somehow linked from my work blog. Although there is a way that could have happened, she would have had to go back almost a month's worth of several blogs in my public Reader feed. So, I have my doubts. Either way, there's isn't much about work here, at least not specifically, but since I do work with her, it would be very easy for her to figure out who I'm talking about when I do complain about work.

I suppose there's no reason to not go for full disclosure, but do I really want work people I hardly know reading about my personal triumphs and struggles? I know, I know, lots of people do it. If/when I start library school, I'd like to record that journey in an online blog, so I'd probably use my whole name for that. Not that I'm expecting a huge audience for that, but I kind of like it that no one reads my blog. That way, it's an exercise in writing for me alone. Lots to think about, no?

Anyway, here's my challenge to my work friend: Leave a comment. On this post, any post, leave a comment to prove you did indeed find my personal blog. In return, I vow to write more interesting posts to keep you coming back!

Since I have so much to share that I cannot contain it on this one blog, I started another! It's for the Learning 2.0 project at work (yes, I realize we're about 4-5 years behind) and you can find it here.

And I'm on Twitter, too. You can follow me here. I don't update much, but, if I do find a G1 under my Christmas tree, there will be all kinds of updates ALL DAY LONG!