Oh... it's been a while.

There just hasn't been much to write. I start this Thursday, so I expect I will have alot to say once I'm in the trenches.
And, honestly, this blog is mainly just an exercise for myself. An exercise I'm not excelling at, it seems.

As for today, I'm just trying to stay dry. 'Nuff said.

No more day counts!

Well, I had planned on taking my assessment test yesterday. "Had planned". I ended up working instead and will be going tonight at 5:00 to finally sit down and get... assessed. I find that I'm so worried about falling into old habits & patterns. Habits like procrastination. Or my bad record of following through. So I was feeling pretty crappy about not making it on my planned date.
But after really thinking about it, I've decided to cut myself some slack. By putting it off for one measly day I managed to increase my bank account and I most likely have not affected my ability to attend the classes I have chosen. (most likely!).

And because the orientation/assessment is in the evening I now have time to make some delicious apple cinnamon rolls. See, I can choose to look on the brightside!

Now, for my 4 followers (one of which is my Mother.... hi Mom!) I do have a question or two. What should I bring to my first day of class? Will they answer this question tonight at orientation? Am I being a silly first time student? I'm wondering if I should bring my laptop? Or just a simple notebook and pen?

Ahhhh, coffee and cinnamon rolls are calling me. Maybe I will start chapter two of A Peoples History while I'm waiting for my dough to rise.....

Day Two

Well, despite my new found college student status, I find myself still in bed at 10:28 AM. Yikes. I'm on my second cup of coffee and first cigarette. I got sucked into a pretty epic gmail chat session, but it was at least slightly informative. I was instant messaging with two of my friends who are also going back to school, and one of them will be on my campus. She thinks we should plan to start some food fights in the lunch room. I think that's a wicked fresh idea. Well, maybe not wicked fresh. Perhaps it's just fresh? At any rate, it's nice to be reminded that I'm not alone in this.

I am anxious about the assessment test on Monday. I want to get my schedule all sorted out, but I'm basically on hold until I find out which English class I am to take. I'm working on my instant gratification expectations. I realize they will only frustrate me in the coming days (months, years, decades). So I will stop trying to predict the future, as I've proven again and again that my ability to see the unforeseeable is, well, just not there. Despite my gypsy blood, my psychic eye is blind.

*snack note: Mmmmmnn. Whole foods "duplex" "creme" filled cookies are not only vegan, they also make a delicious breakfast treat. I am the picture of health.

I didn't mention this in my first post, but I think this blog may also end up tracking my effort to read "A peoples history" by Howard Zinn. I mean read it cover to cover, in order. Every word. Because, look.... I've read parts of the book. Lots of parts. And even then I had a tendency to sort of... oh, skim over parts that I thought I already knew enough about. This time I'm taking a different approach. I'm going slow, forcing my eye to stay on task and not slip down to the next paragraph. And yes, I'm doing this for recreation, because I love to party!!! Obviously I'm not nerdy at all.

That having been said, I'm just today starting chapter two. It took me a week to read the first chapter. A week! I am the sorta gal who normally reads a novel in a day. 8 hours, done! Give me the next! So this is a considerable change in reading habit.

Crap. I'm out of coffee. Must leave house now in search of more caffeine.

Day One

As of 10 minutes ago I am a registered college student. For the first time in my 31 years on this planet.

I'm writing this blog so I can document the process. I figure I will have many hoops to jump through and even more hurdles to jump over, and perhaps someone will find these moments funny, sad, inspiring, or pathetic. So I'm gonna lay it all out on the table. My confusion, my struggles, my joy, my successes (hopefully!).

I'm grinning as I write this. Who'd have thunk I would ever be so elated about enrolling in community college? Certainly not I. Picturing myself as a college student was an image I could never fully conjure up. It was for other people, not me. I dropped out of high school without completing 9th grade! What college would even take me? And I had to work! Work work work work work. So I did. I worked for 16 years, creating a pretty diverse resume along the way. And I've finally reached a point where it seems like it's a perfect storm. I've got the time, the money, & the interest to pursue a higher education.

I put the word out last week that I was in dire need of a "life coach". Amongst the hilarious responses was one sincere offer.
A wonderful friend took it upon himself to help steer me in the right direction. He sent me a list of questions and then we went
through them together. He really managed to tie together all my interests and my strengths and weaknesses. And so with his support I woke up today and enrolled in Merritt College for Spring 2010. Journalism major... with a touch of Poli Sci.

I can only hope that the quality of this blog increases with my schooling! For now I will continue to abuse ellipses & ampersands & exclamation points. I will write run on sentences & my asides will probably threaten the continuity of any major theme I had been shooting for.

I will also end up documenting my breakfast choices & tracking my coffee consumption. Sort of like this:

1/7/10

Woke up, black coffee, cigarette. Read "This is Water" by David Foster Wallace. Walked dog. Ate mixed veggie masala lunch special. More black coffee. Enrolled for college. Started blog.

Alright. I suppose that's all for now.