That’s It…

…summer is now officially over.  School starts bright and early tomorrow morning for my sons and me.  Well actually my classes start at 12am, but I’ll be going to bed so I can wake up on time to get my boys up to go to school.

My 11-year-old (son #1) will be going to middle school for the first time.  I think 7th grade is a bit scarier for me than it is for him!

My 8-year-old (son #2) is going into the 3rd grade and has a wonderful teacher!  I can’t wait to bring him to class tomorrow!

The unfortunate part is that there is such a time difference between the two schools even though they are right next door to each other.  The middle school starts at 7:30am and gets out at 2:15pm…the elementary school starts at 9:00am and gets out at 3:15pm.

There goes my day!  I’ll be dropping off and picking up all day!  Or at least it will feel that way!  When will I fit my nap in????

Also poor son #2 needs to get up super early just so we can drop off son #1 to school on time.  Though I’m not waking him up too early, just enough to get up, get dressed, and get in the car.  The rest can wait until we get back, then he can finish getting ready, have breakfast, etc. before it’s time to drop him off at school.

Another thing I’m dealing with now that school is starting is the huge amount of bread loaves we go through due to school lunches.  I’m tired of finding myself out of bread when it’s too late or inconvenient to go pick more up at the store!  So I decided to buy some of the frozen bread loaves to keep in the freezer and make my own whenever we run out.  Except they apparently don’t sell them anymore!  UGH!

I could make them myself by using my KitchenAid to mix up the dough, then bake them in the oven.  But with how busy we are going to be and the amount of bread I’ll probably have to make, I’ll probably forget to make it on purpose because it’s such a hassle!  So it seems I’ll have to buy a bread machine after all!  I’ll be buying bread until I find the one I want, then it’s fresh bread for the remainder of the school year!

I hope everyone has a great beginning of the school year…whether it’s elementary school, college, or something in between!

Changing Graduation!

I think I’ve finally made a decision to stretch out my graduation from December 2010 to April 2011.  There are plenty of pros and cons, but in the end it felt better to stretch it out!

Now instead of pushing myself to take three classes over the summer, I’ll only be taking the two 6-week courses: Victims and the Criminal Justice System, and Sociology of Law.  I did some research and Sociology of Law seems to be an intense course already without squeezing it into 6 weeks.  The 12-week course I was going to take, Abnormal Psychology, is now being moved to the Spring 2011 term.

This will actually give me a summer vacation this year!

Before I would have had two weeks at the most to relax before the Fall 2010 classes start.  With this change, I’ll have all of July and plus some of August!  This in itself makes it worthwhile to me!

Since I moved the other class to the Spring 2011 term, I’ll have to add another class to keep my financial aid, grants, and scholarships.  I’m going to add the class I originally wanted to take, Delinquency Control, which has since been renamed to Juvenile Justice System.  The Fall 2010 term will remain the same with The Corrections and Penology, and Crime and Place courses.

Overall I’m happy with this change.  Yes, it’s going to take me longer to graduate, but it’s going to be much more relaxed and less stressful during a time when I’ll be adjusting to having two boys in two different schools for the first time, plus it allows me to have more time to myself instead of being bogged down with school work.

I’ll be enrolling on March 24th at 2:00 PM for all of these classes, then I should be able to check my degree audits to ensure I’ve covered all the courses I need to graduate in April 2011.

I don’t know which I’m more excited about — graduating or having some free time between college terms!

Classwork Overload!

This week for my Women’s Mental Health class I have to read a book called Misconceptions: Truth, Lies, and the Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood by Naomi Wolf.  It has 294 pages (not including all the fluff in the back) and when I’m finished I have to write a review paper by answering five questions in paragraph form and include an introduction and conclusion.

I’m currently on page 37!  Oops!

It doesn’t seem to be a hard read.  It’s actually pretty interesting even though I agree and disagree with many points.  Though I am asked my opinion in a couple of the questions, I have to remember that most of them ask what the author meant or said about the subject.

Even if I don’t agree!

I also have to take three quizzes for two other classes (one for Sex Offenders and the Criminal Justice System and two for Forensic Psychology), and answer some homework questions for the Forensic Psychology class.

I’m sure I can get it all done, but I’m also going to be busy Thursday and Friday volunteering for a FPS (Future Problem Solvers) competition that Project #2 is involved in!

I see the rest of the week going by quickly!  That’s not necessarily a good thing because I have two more papers to do in the next two weeks along with the regular work assigned!

Picking Classes Sucks Sometimes!

Well it’s about that time again to select classes for the next few terms.

And this is going to be my last year!

It wasn’t easy, but it seems I should be able to graduate at the end of December 2010!

My original plan was to take one class during the Summer 2010 term (preferably the Summer C term, which is 12 weeks long), and then take four classes during the Fall 2010 term.  There was no reason to think I would not be able to do this because I specifically left these classes for last because they seemed to be constantly available during the other terms I was enrolled.

Unfortunately that plan did not pan out as expected!

Unless the schedule changes prior to my enrollment date (I should find out when that will be tomorrow), I’ll have to take:

• three classes during the Summer 2010 term — two classes during Summer A, which is 6 weeks, and one class during Summer C, which is 12 weeks.
• two classes during the Fall 2010 term

I also had to change a class I wanted to take called Delinquency Control because the only time it is available is during the Spring 2011 term.  I’m still crossing fingers that the schedule changes and this class becomes available when I need it.

It just really sucks that I have to take three classes over the summer…I was looking forward to having a relaxing summer with only one class this time!  Oh well!  I get to graduate soon! And that’s what is really important!

These are the last classes I’ll be enrolling in:

1. Victims and the Criminal Justice System — to be taken during the Summer A 2010 term from May 17, 2010 to June 25, 2010 — this class is required for my Victim Advocacy certificate and also gives me credits towards my Criminal Justice major.
2. Sociology of Law — to be taken during the Summer A 2010 term from May 17, 2010 to June 25, 2010 — this class is required for my Behavioral Forensics certificate and also gives me credits towards my Sociology minor.
3. Abnormal Psychology — to be taken during the Summer C 2010 term from May 17, 2010 to August 6, 2010 — this class is required for both my Behavioral Forensics certificate and Criminal Profiling certificate.
4. The Corrections and Penology — to be taken during the Fall 2010 term from August 23, 2010 to December 6, 2010 — this class is required for my Criminal Justice certificate.
5. Crime and Place — to be taken during the Fall 2010 term from August 23, 2010 to December 6, 2010 — this class was switched from the Delinquency Control class due to class availability and is counted as an elective towards my Criminal Justice major.

I am so looking forward to finishing up my degree!  It’s been a really long time of constantly going to school (since January 2006!) and I’m totally burned out right now!

Women Arrested for Knowing the Wrong People

Right now in my Women and Crime class we have been discussing how women that are barely involved in drug crimes where family members, spouse, or significant other are deeply involved, they can be charged with conspiracy and given a life sentence.

Even if they do not know anything about what the others are doing.

Even if they do not have a criminal record.

It’s not because the judge wants to sentence them to a long sentence for something they were not involved in or had little awareness of, but because he is bound by drug laws that require him to sentence her for a certain amount of time.

No matter what the circumstances are…it doesn’t matter!

So basically you could know someone in your family deals drugs, but have no part in it.  You don’t help, you don’t know anything about why, what, or who.  But you can still be charged and sometimes just as harshly than those actually dealing drugs.

What a shame!

Here is a video we were required to watch for the class.  It tells of a woman that isn’t totally innocent, but she wasn’t really a criminal either.  She was given a life sentence that was eventually reduced, though not by much.  Now her children have grown up without her because she wanted to get away from an abusive relationship and got into a family situation where those around her were dealing drugs.