I am so happy the stress of the paper is over! If I could give advice to a student taking this class next term, I would say "Plan!" I procrastinate and I know this about myself. But when I look at the big picture, we had a whole term to write ONE paper! That's all. You could write a page a week and easily be ready to turn it in at the end. And don't freak out over the thesis statement. It is a simple formula. You plug in your three points and tack on the beginning of the sentence and you are golden. The areas I was weak in became the easiest part of the paper. I had no idea how easy it was to write a thesis statement (yes, I keep coming back to that). I loved writing my paper. I was rusty on a lot of points, but the whole process came slowly back to me. I can't believe I haven't taken an English class for about eight years. My final thoughts are: I hope everyone is successful in their college careers. It has taken me a long time to be serious about my education and I am glad I am doing it now. I guess the fourth college is the charm! It is so hard to get anywhere without an education. I wish I had realized that a long time ago. Best of luck to all my classmates. Thank you, Barb, for making this such a wonderful class! Take care!

The End is Here

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the end of the term is here. I have not finished my paper yet, but it will be done by this weekend. I am nervous to see what the grade will be on it. I hope I will do well. I loved how we did a little bit every week. That made it much less stressful. I was really suprised that we only did one paper during the whole class. Other english classes I have taken had three or four papers to write. I was not happy at first because I had to take another english class, but now I am glad I took it. The best part was reading other people's papers. I loved seeing the diverse topics within the class. Writing about childhood obesity was a boring topic compared to some of them. But I have to say, I cannot wait to write about something like this again. I love doing the research about obesity. It is completely fascinating to me. Reading about the childhood obesity epidemic makes me hypervigilant about what I feed my kids. Don't get me wrong, they still get junk every once in a while, but for the most part they are healthy little eaters. I was watching a show called "Big Kids". I think it was on Discovery Health. It followed a couple of different kids who were overweight. The one child was sent to what was basically a fat camp. It made me cry when I saw what that poor kids was going through. No child should have to feel that way about themselves. It's hard enough to feel that way about yourself when you are an adult. No child should be fat. It just shouldn't happen. I hope that boy's parents are going to take the responsibility of feeding him right and making him get outside instead of sitting at the computer or playing video games. Thanks for reading!

To Blog or Not to Blog (cliche, I know)

I don't know if I will continue to blog. I'm not sure if anyone is really reading what I write (beside the professor, of course). I don't have that intersting of a life to begin with, so I know my writing doesn't invoke heated discussions. And that's ok. I have never been a person to share my feelings with a lot of people so it was a little weird at first having to write. I guess I've always been a private person. I love sitting and listening to other people talk and share their problems, but I don't share mine as readily. If more people read and commented on my posts, I think I would be more apt to blog after class. I know a girl from high school who has five kids and works full time that blogs all the time. I have no earthly clue where she finds the time. I have decided to learn how to sew so much of my extra time is taken up by this. Ooh, a light bulb just went on over my head! I could blog about the learning process. I have already made two purses and a third one is in the works. Well, I'm off to my anatomy discussion board. Thanks for reading!

Hello, everyone! I have to say I am enjoying the writing process. It is so nice to write about something I'm so passionate about. This does not mean I practice what I am preaching, but it is nice to have the statistics in my face so I think about what I am doing while I polish off half a pizza. I have learned so much while at Kaplan already and I can't wait to learn more. But I am having a taste of what it will be like to actually work with a patient or client. I am living with a relative while my husband is deployed. This person is overweight with high cholesterol, blood pressure, triglycerides, etc., etc. I don't know what the point of no return will be. This person has every diet book known to man. They are good diet books, too, not South Beach or Atkins. Today another diet book was ordered in the hopes of losing weight and getting off the medications. I get tired of listening to the excuses of why it's so hard to eat healthy and plan meals ahead of time. I work really hard to make healthy food not only for my kids, but for myself. As I said, I am overweight because I overeat the foods I love like pizza and chips. But I know that other times I need to fill myself up with fruits and veggies. I love looking through all of the recipe and diet books for new stuff to try. As much as I hate to cook, this is actually fun. At what point does a person say they are tired of taking medications for things that are within their control? Even a 10% weight loss will lower cholesterol. A brand new treadmill was bought a couple of months ago and sits unused. Sigh. I just hope something will click because we would like to keep this person around for a long time. The way it is going, that might not be an option. Thanks for listening and reading.

Happy Labor Day! I spent the afternoon with family at a BBQ. It was a lot of fun. It has been a much more enjoyable time for me since I have decided to cut back on school in the future. I couldn't handle a full load when I did college the other times, I don't know why I thought I could handle it now. So I am hoping to come through my two classes with another trip to the E.R. and hopefully some quality time spent with my kids. It's pretty cool that my husband will be home on the last day of next term! That gives me something to look forward to. I have actually been enjoying getting my draft together. I love to write, even though I tend to be long winded. I also have the trouble of writing things that I have heard, but I cannot cite. I have been very careful with that this time. I read so much about obesity (pretty much anything I can get my hands on) so I know a lot of information, but I know I have to back it up with research. It has been a long two days for me. Last night I put my kids to bed and my son woke up screaming and crying. He had fallen asleep, but my daughter was still up. She got out of bed and bit him on the back and scratched his face. I was so mad and I started crying while I was trying to comfort my son. It was awful. Then she did the same thing this morning. I know it's a phase and I have to nip it in the bud, but it is still awful. She has such a temper. Well, thanks for reading!

Down day

Having kind of a down day. It's weird because I made nachos last night. I love nachos! But I think all the salt and fat that are in the cheese and chips made me feel really down today. I know when I eat a ton of fruit and veggies, low fat dairy and meat, and whole wheat products, I have tons of energy and feel great about myself. This morning, I looked in the mirror and felt awful. Bad haircut, need to lose weight, etc., etc., etc. I've been loading up on good stuff today, but the pull of wanting junk is hard to resist. When I eat junky, I crave junky. Hopefully today will get better. Missing my husband adds to all the down feelings. I know he really wants to come home. I want him to come home so I can get some peace and quiet. On the upside, my mom got me this great book on making purses. So hopefully the creative outlet will boost my spirits a little bit. Sometimes I wonder if doing nutrition was the right field. I love to create. If I was independently wealthy, I would have gotten some sort of an Arts degree. But I also realize I need to finish what I have started. I have never finished anything that I have started (this is my fourth college). I only have a year and a half left, but sometimes that seems so far away.

The great outdoors

After my awful weekend with the trip to the emergency room, I worked out a schedule with my mom so I could exercise every day. I know how all the workout magazines and other people say how good exercise is for stress and your health, but I'm always amazed at how awesome I feel afterward. Plus the weather has finally broken and I can walk without getting super overheated. It's nice to get out and have that positive attitude feeling when I am done. Of course I wish I could just come home and relax after the walk, but supper and children beckon. While I walk, I think about how badly I want to plant a garden when I finally have a house. Now, I have what I call a "black" thumb. My husband has a bright green thumb. I kill anything I try to nurture in the garden. He can bring it back. So I know I have a lot to learn. I have these wonderful visions of planting this huge garden that will provide fruits and vegetables for my family, my cousin's family, my mom, and my aunt and uncle. I even read about this one woman who has such a great garden she gives fresh produce to the food pantry. How cool is that? I bought some cucumber at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago. Granted, they last forever, but that gummy stuff on the outside is disgusting. I can't wait to walk outside and get a fresh cucumber whenever I want. Well, I hope you have enjoyed reading! Thanks!