Still Pluggin Along...

This year has been very busy with school work. Coming up towards the end with only two more classes left this fall after this week is finished.  I actually get a break from school for a little over a month the end of summer. It will be nice. Already planning activities with my 12 yr old son. Probably a waterpark with his friend, Valley Fair with just the two of us and other tasks from my to do list that I have been putting off. Including doctors appointments and such. I have not had much time for anything crafty or even looking at blogging on financial matters. Now I am in the process of investigating debt counseling as a career or maybe even just as a volunteer somewhere. For right now I am concentrating on staying focused finishing up my bachelor's degree. I will be glad when it is done but I am sure I will have some adjustment period of feeling like I should be studying! That has been my life for the last three years other than a short break after my associates degree trying to figure out my next step.

We have not done much of anything this summer yet as I had two classes which required much studying. Still have some studying to do tomorrow to finish up my finance class on Thursday evening. Just have to prepare my part of a presentation that so not too much stress. 

I am so close I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I will be finished the week before Thanksgiving and will be officially graduating in December just before Christmas. Yahoo!!!!!!

New direction in life....

Lately I have been considering changing direction in my blogging endeavors. I obviously have not been quilting for the last two years. With school and work I find I have no time for quilting. I also have no energy left for the creative process that is needed in quilting. My interest lately is in financial literacy or financial counseling. Actually I think this is an area that I have been refining for the last 5 years. It goes back to my banking days. They wanted me to encourage others to take out home equity loans and all I could think about is how that went against my views on debt. What I would rather do is teach others how to get and stay out of debt. Doing this locally would be great but talk about a scary endeavor!  

Another Year has flown by!

I can't believe a year has flown by!  I have been busy with work and school. Oh and ballroom dancing with my hubby!  We have been having fun with that since last summer. We don't look like those Dancing with the Stars folks but we are having fun. Gives us something to do together.  I have about a year left of school for my bachelor's degree. I am very glad I made the decision to pursue the Business Adminstration degree at Northwestern College. It looks like it was the best decision for me.

Well just wanted to post something really quickly. Maybe my New Years resolution should be to get back into blogging. Lately it has been on my mind that I would like to pursue Financial counseling. So maybe in my quest to continue learning more about making, saving and giving money I can share some of my tips with whoever wants to read about it! I have will to ponder on that some.

Laptop home already!

Well I got my laptop home already. They were quick! Had it one day and the repair was done that same day and sent back out Fedex that same day. It is nice not to have to sit in the office to surf the web anymore. Been studying taxes as I will be an AARP Tax Aide this tax season. Had to take a test and don't know yet if I have passed or not. Not too worried about it as I have been doing my own taxes for over 25 years now and am pretty comfortable with them at this point.

Well trying to decide if a nap would be good on this lazy Sunday afternoon or if I want to pick up some knitting and start another baby sweater. Such decisions!

Tuesday I head over to Northwestern College for orientation and to finish registering for the Spring 2010 semester. I am going to work on my Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and will be starting back up on March 15th. It is the last 2 years of my bachelor's degree and I will be done by December 2011.  Was debating the social work degree and this Business Administration degree and decided the BA degree works better for my family situation in the long run. I would like to utilize these skills within the non-profit sector but I will wait and see what happens in the future. Everything can change in such a short time I am keeping open to all possibilities.

Crafty at last.....

Well I have no motivation to get started quilting...yet. But I have been knitting instead. I have several pieces on various needles but these two sweaters were finished over the extra time off over the holidays. This first one, blue and pink is one that will be donated. Not positive which organization will end up getting it but it will go to a good cause at some point.


This second one was knitted with my new niece or nephew in mind. At the time I was not sure whether she was a girl or a boy but now that she was born on Jan. 1st we know she is a girl! This was actually the very first sweater that I have ever knitted. I have knitted many hats and prayer shawls but never a sweater before. I tend to knit tightly so it is probably smaller than it is suppose to be. I am knitting another colorful sweater and it may end up being larger as I used larger needles than the pattern called for (so far I think I should have gone even larger as it still looks pretty small). I don't even know where that sweater will be going, I am just enjoying the process immensly.

This weekend I will be starting my training for doing volunteer tax preparation so I may have to back off on the knitting for a bit to concentrate on that. Since school ended though I feel like I have tons of time to do not much of anything. It has been great!!!

My laptop computer needs some repairs and I have only about 12 days left on the warranty, so I am sending it in and will be without it for about 2-3 weeks. I realize how spoiled I have gotten being able to use the laptop in the living room instead of at a desk in an office chair. I do that all day at my job!

Happy New Year!

Well only a few hours left of 2009 and then onto 2010. We are going to a friends house tonight to help ring in the new year.  I have been enjoying my time off school so far and find myself less motivated to get things done knowing that I have more time to get it done. Does that make sense? I seem to be more motivated knowing I have less time available. Well they do say that if you want to get something done quickly give it to someone who is busy! I have been busy knitting in the last week or so. I have made about three baby sweaters and plan to make many more. I will post pictures of what I have made so far this weekend sometime. I am enjoying looking up free knitting patterns on the web. These sweaters will be donated to various organizations for layettes for newborns. I am sure some will even make their way overseas at some point.

Hope everyone has a wonderful New Years! Stay Safe!

Done with the Semester!

Well I am officially done with the semester as of yesterday. Took my last final and now I can relax. I have decided to go for the Social Work bachelor's degree so have off school until September 2010. Maybe in a few weeks after I have unwound from the last 1 1/2 years of school and work I can start sewing again. Right now the most creative energy I have is to knit prayer shawls. Wow, that schooling really absorbs all that creative energy I use to have. I don't know maybe it is because I am getting older? I hope not.

I think I need to concentrate on getting all my affairs in order this winter in preparation for how busy I will be once I start school again. This could mean that I need to use up all that fabric that has been propagating in my fabric closet of my sewing room. It is bursting at the seams and if I open the door it will explode all over me. You may not be able to find me for days under the pile!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.....

I feel for kids that go straight to college after high school not knowing what they want to do when they grow up. Even as an adult I am currently struggling with this. Tomorrow night I am going to go to the school where the social work degree is for a preview night. I can sit in on one of the classes with the other social work students and see what it is they are learning. I guess they are going to have some special speakers in class, one a graduate from their program.

I was trying to fill out the admissions essay for the business administration degree and it just does not feel right. I can't seem to get excited about attending business classes. I guess I have changed so much that I would rather study about people than numbers!

Everyone keeps telling me to go with my heart and my head just seems to get in the way all the time. I am way to sensible and also have a husband who is the same. I have never been a risk taker and this is causing a great amount of stress for me right now. I need to take that leap of faith and for some reason I don't want to take my foot off the edge! Being sensible does have its advantages at times but in this case it is very frustrating!

Well three more tests away from my Associates Degree and then it looks like I will get a break from school. It will be good for my family as I have been going pretty strong for about a year and a half now. Well back to studying....I have been wasting my day off on the computer. Can't lose my momentum now...I am almost done.

Light at the end of the tunnel.....

Well if I look up from my homework I can start to see the light at the end of this semester's tunnel. I have three weeks left and only about 6 more tests/finals left to complete. I am studying like a mad woman and can't wait until this semester is over.

I have been having a slight breakdown in my future plans with schooling. I am not sure I want to pursue the Social Work degree anymore. I am looking at going to Northwestern College to their Evening degree program called Focus. I am really impressed with the school and lately have been leaning towards getting a business administration degree which was where I was headed before being derailed many years ago. This area seems to be where I am the strongest. My thoughts is that I can use this degree to work in the non-profit industry to further a cause of some sort. After my social work intro class I am not so sure I am up to working with people on a one-to-one ratio. I can not even seem to motivate my own children to do things I am having a hard time seeing myself as a motivator for others in need. I know I will always volunteer and do what I can to advocate for those less fortunate just doubting whether I want to make it my job. They say that when you do something you love and start to get paid for it that your enjoyment goes away. Kind of like making quilts for money for me. When I made a few that were for someone else for pay the enjoyment went away.

Well that is it for now. After this semester, depending on what I decide I will either have 3 months off (Busn. Admin degree, unless I start that speech class I still need) or have 8 months off (social work degree).

What a dilema!

School, School and more School

No time for anything these days except school. I have Statistics, Psychology and Intro to Social Work and it is keeping me busy 24/7 when I am not working or being with family. I did pick up my knitting needles just the other day and started knitting a scarf. Must be the snow we got in the last week. I am feeling like keeping warm! I will probably donate this scarf I am sure, if it ever gets done.

I started volunteering at a Day Center for Homeless and other needy people. We make referrals for all the services in our local area but mostly focus on housing issues. They have a social worker employed there from West CAP which is a non-profit group that helps with housing.

I am enjoying school despite the hectic schedule. This semester is just especially challenging with the fast paced statistics class. I must spend at least 20 hours a week just doing homework for that class.