Grad School Complete!

I finished my last assignments of my grad school career a week ago today, and gave my final presentation (of library school) last Monday (December 1) in class. So hard to believe! I've spent much of the last week (beyond my full-time job) resting, catching up on errands and cleaning, and thinking about how I want to spend my newly re-found free time!

One of the things I want to do is cook more healthy foods at home. So recently, I picked out an easy, yummy looking chicken curry recipe, and went grocery shopping yesterday. A few minutes ago, I decided to go ahead and make the recipe for an early lunch, and learned that I have TWO bottles of expired olive oil (called for in the recipe) in the pantry! (On the flip side, I have three bottles of lemon juice in the refrigerator, all within the expiration date. Sigh.) I have a feeling I'll find a few more extras and expired items before it's all over, but I'm looking forward to giving our kitchen and pantry the reboot.


Graduation is next weekend! I'll post all about it later.

Clipart from Clipartheaven.com

Happy Spring!

2014 has been a busy one so far!

I'm so glad that Spring is finally here, since it's a season that makes me smile. It's not too hot yet, and I don't suffer from allergies to speak of. It's also a very busy time of year, though, both at work and in grad school, so I'm not enjoying the nice weather as much as I'd like.  The good news is that I plan to graduate from grad school in December, so I'm hopeful that I'll be able to enjoy next year's spring even more!


Clipart from Clipartheaven.com 

2013 Coming to a Close!

It's hard to believe that 2013 is almost over! While other blogs are taking up some of my limited free time, I decided it was time to update this blog a bit! Here are some highlights from the past year:

1) My dad has had two strokes in less than 6 months. Needless to say, this has added a lot of concern and stress to my family circle. My dad is still in rehab from the second stroke, which he had on Halloween, and he's getting better. My sister and I have had to consider several eldercare issues on an emergency basis, which has been challenging. It's made me want to take better care of myself and get more organized. Unfortunately, I haven't had as much time for either as I'd like.

2) I've completed three more courses toward a Masters in Library Science. One of them, Health Science Resources and Services, remains my all-time favorite, even though I had a mean case of poison ivy at the time. I hope to graduate this time next year.

3) I've finally taken up geocaching, thanks to the geocaching app I downloaded onto my iPhone. It's been a lot of fun, and I've met some nice people along the way.

4) My 2001 Honda Accord, with almost 180k  miles on it, has become a money syphon. I'm wondering if enough things have been replaced that it'll last a while longer, or if I should cut my losses and look for a newer car. I'm hoping to wait until after graduate school is over to decide.

5) This is the first year in several that I haven't done at least one 5K (or longer) race. I hope that will change in 2014. I miss running a lot.

6) Oh, I turned 50 this year (earlier this month)! I was so busy with school and my dad's stroke recovery that I didn't have too much time to worry about it! The birthday itself was a good one, as my coworkers helped me celebrate, with gifts, cards, and birthday cake, so sweet! My family (including my sister, both parents, a niece, and G.) went out to dinner with me at the Washington Duke Inn, which as a big treat! The next weekend, George and I went to Asheville to visit the Biltmore Estate, which was lovely!

Election Day 2012

Today is Election Day across the country. It's a relief to many (including me) that it's finally here. I cast my ballot at an early voting location a couple of weeks ago, so I'm not part of the voting excitement today. (Since I'm home from work sick today, I'm kinda glad.)

This Presidential campaign season has had a different feel to it, at least for me. Part of it, for sure, is that I'm a lot busier than I was four years ago. I've added graduate school to my schedule, so I watch a lot less TV, and have less time to read newspapers and magazines for fun, so I didn't keep up through the primaries and final push like I did four years ago. It feels strange being so uninformed! But, I voted anyway, and I'm glad I did. It'll be interesting to see who wins.

Happy 2012!

Happy New Year, everyone! I'm usually a bit nostalgic for the previous year on New Year's Day morning, but not so much this year. I bet it's because I have a lot to look forward to in 2012, and that's just the stuff I know about!

1) I'm in graduate school, working on a Masters of Library Science. Fall semester 2011 was my first, so I have several more classes planned for 2012 (and probably a couple of years after this one!).

2) I'm going to Anaheim in June for the American Library Association's Annual Conference. It'll be my first ALA conference, and my first time to Anaheim. (Where's Mickey Mouse?!)

3) I've signed up for two half marathons this spring, the Tobacco Road Half Marathon and the Flying Pirate Half Marathon. These races will be a stretch for me, mixing consistent training with graduate school and a full-time job. I'm kinda nervous, so wish me luck!

4) George and I will celebrate 10 years together in October!


With these things and more on my plate, I've decided not to set any "New Year's Resolutions" this year. I already have several goals and personal projects in progress, so this year, January 1 feels like just another day, but thankfully, it's a day for a little more R&R!

Clipart from Clipartheaven.com

Show Me the Money

One of the benefits of being a grad student is that it's prompted me to take care of some things in my personal life that needed attention. I'm discovering that crossing things off of the To Do List helps me concentrate more on school!

With all the talk about banking fees, including the disappearance of free checking accounts and some banks starting to a monthly fee for using debit cards, I decided to work on getting my financial ducks in a row. Turns out I had FIVE "free" checking accounts floating out there! Yikes! I did a little homework to catch up on bank fees of the financial institutions I was dealing with (in varying degrees of infrequency!), and learned that two of those checking accounts had recently started having monthly fees taken out, and another would have fees starting in November. One of those checking accounts with new monthly fees was actually at a credit union, so be careful even with credit unions! So, I closed all three of those checking accounts out, which netted me about $50 total. Small potatoes, so I'm not worrying about fees or keeping track of those miscellaneous accounts anymore.

I was intrigued by the varied reactions of the different banks/credit unions, especially since I did all of this late on a Friday afternoon. The banker at SunTrust asked nicely why I was closing my account, shook my hand after completing the transaction, and invited me to consider bring my banking business back in the future. (He even gave me a brochure about their Student Banking accounts, since I'm a grad student.) The banker at the credit union pulled out the fee schedule and went over it with me to make sure I understood it. Part of that, I think, was because I still have a savings account at that credit union, which is affiliated with my workplace. That credit union seems to be geared more to financial education opportunities than regular banks around here; they even offer seminars/workshop on a regular basis for various financial decisions/activities, like purchasing a first home or planning for retirement. My last stop, Bank of America, where my account was $1.66 in the red, had me in and out as fast as possible. That was the bank I was most relieved to free of, so I didn't mind. Their reputation for nickle-and-diming their customers is pretty bad in these parts.

What have I learned?

1) There ain't no such thing as a free lunch, and free checking accounts are becoming a thing of the past (unless you have direct deposit or a minimum balance).

2) It pays to take care of the nagging little things. They take up vital brain space in the remembering or the tracking. And much like letting your car go too long without a simple oil change, little things can turn into big things.

3) Taking care of one little thing can give you momentum to take care of other little things, the snowball effect.

Clipart from Clipartheaven.com

Heading Back to School

Now I can say that I'm going back to school NEXT WEEK! Yikes! My first class in the Master of Library Science program at North Carolina Central University is on August 23, a week from Tuesday. As expected, I'm both excited and nervous, but mostly excited!

For the past few weeks, I've been taking care of some things on my larger to-do list, things that I've been putting off for a while. Having the start of grad school looming large has been a nice deadline, really. Mostly, I've been getting doctor's visits in, ones I've been neglecting, like getting my teeth cleaned and a mammogram (but not at the same time, thank goodness!). It feels satisfying to be on the other end of appointments like that, peace of mind that will help me focus on my studies a little better, I hope!

Meanwhile, I'm staying busy at work at the library, which will continue as I take classes. Also, I've signed up for the City of Oaks Half Marathon on November 6. I just finished Week #4 of my current training schedule, and so far it's going well, which means I haven't gotten injured! :-)

George and I continue to shop around for a new church home, so we visited a new-to-us church in Raleigh this morning. The funny thing about it was that we heard the today's minister last weekend at a different church, where he was the guest preacher. Today he was back at his home church, and we heard the SAME SERMON today that we heard last Sunday!

Knowing When to Throw in the Towel

Well, I decided not to finish my NaNoWriMo 2010 attempt, and I'm feeling okay with that. I stoppped writing my NaNo novel for a day to see if I missed it enough to forge ahead, but I was actually relieved to be able to spend the time on other things. It is a busy stretch, as I'm getting ready for a birthday bash at our apartment, plus there are other writing projects in the works, like my grad school application essay and catching up on posts for my North Carolina Odyssey Project blog. (I haven't finished either, but have made progress.)

I'm not sure when I'll have another opportunity to do NaNoWriMo, since I hope to be in grad school (on top of working) this time next year. Maybe I needed the practice in "letting go," and setting priorities--for other things I needed (and wanted) to do this time. There will be other years for NaNoWriMo, though. I'll be back!

Grad school

It's time to start getting serious about grad school, I think! I'm not getting any younger, and would love to graduate in time for the degree to help my professional future!

I'm thinking about a masters in library science from either North Carolina Central or the University of North Carolina. UNC has the better reputation, but NC Central's program caters more to working folks, offering many classes at night or on the weekend. Both programs are accredited, and that's really important!

I need to get back to studying for the GRE, and quick like! I have a study guide at home, perhaps a project to begin this weekend.