I am SO not a morning person, but...

I am SO not a morning person, but we got a call saying that Shadow was getting an award and to come to Awards Day if we could (and also that the award was a surprise).  He brought home the choir trophy yesterday because his choir teacher wasn't going to be there for Awards Day so I knew there must be something else he was getting.

When he brought home the trophy I asked him about Awards Day and he said that he was pretty sure he wasn't getting anything because he was "just an average student."  Gotta tell y'all - that hurt my heart.  Shadow is plenty smart, but I can tell that he doesn't enjoy school like I do.  While a lot of parents expect for their children to be miniature versions of themselves, I do not.  I love and appreciate Shadow the way he is and I am so proud of him for all of his achievements.

So aside from the choir trophy he received this Certificate of Achievement in Algebra with Finance.  Gotta say - I was not expecting that.  Not because he's not smart, but I guess it was a class that he didn't complain about nor was it as exciting as choir so it was just never brought up.  I suppose that meant he was doing well!  🙂

In addition to that he was recognized for participating in Writer's Bowl back in October.  He was on the team that won first place.  He got a neat little medal for that, but I have no idea where it is stashed now so it's not in this picture.  😕

Anyway, I'm super proud of him and that was totally worth getting up early for.  😃❤❤❤

I find it gross when a married person...

Maybe it's just me, but I find it gross when a married person (outside of the context of speaking to someone who might not know who this person is to you) calls their spouse "my husband" or "my wife" almost exclusively instead of by their name.  This is something that has annoyed me for years both IRL and online, so it's directed at no one in particular.

But to y'all who do this:  Does marriage mean that you now posses that person and they are no longer worthy of having a name as an individual person?  Or are you just trying to make sure that everyone knows you got someone to marry you?  🤣🤣🤣  For real tho, it's like a little kid with a new toy.  We know, we see it, now please go and play with it somewhere else for a while.

It goes for other family members, too.  I don't walk around saying "my son" when referring to Shadow because generally speaking friends and coworkers know that he exists.  He is a person with a name, not something that I view as a belonging.  I don't even think I've legit said out loud to anyone that Shaun is "my fiancé" because he is still Shaun regardless of anything else.  If someone was unclear I would say that we are engaged, but if I am speaking to friends, family, or coworkers, then they probably already know and there would be no confusion when using his name.

Maybe I am just weird and I read too much into things.  I feel like words are powerful, though, and I'm always questioning things.  I mean, not using someone's name seems like a slight against their person-hood or individuality.  I never wanted to be called "Mom" but between family, daycare, and school, that is what happened.  I'm not mad about it, but I'm far more than "Mom" and I'm far more than "someone's fiancée" or "someone's daughter" or "someone's sister" or what have you.  I am definitely no one's possession.  Establish our relationship to your new audience once then proceed to call me by my name again.

I think with marriage it might be particularly upsetting to me because of how much of it throws back to a time when women were treated as objects.  I mean the traditions of being given away, of only the women being marked with engagement rings, etc.; that whole deal is just icky to me.  So repeated possessiveness in relationships really rubs me the wrong way.  And unfortunately, I don't view it as women taking it back to say "my husband" all the time... it's just the flip side of the issue to me and still no less an issue.

Ok, so that's a ramble.  I am home sick from work today.  I woke up and started barfing so I've been trying to take my mind off of how terrible I feel by thinking, I guess.  😂  There are far worse ways to pass the time, I suppose.  If you have differing opinions or different views I'm open to discussion.  I won't be on here constantly because I feel like crap, but I will definitely check in and respond.

Anyway, for all of you married folks that haven't forgotten your spouse's name, y'all the real MVP's.  ❤  I like how you do.  😃

Nail pic time! 😃😃😃

Nail pic time!  😃😃😃

I have been waiting all semester to do something fun with my nails.  Then I had to decompress enough to feel creative.  Blegh, finally!  LOL

I feel like over the last year or two I've become more of a polish hoarder / collector than someone who does nail art.  It's really sad.  But on the bright side there are some beautiful polishes out there that I am more than happy to have come and live with me, so I guess it's not all bad.  🙂

Since this is an indie polish I feel like I just need to say that Poetry Cowgirl Nail Polish did a great job on this one.  It's called "Faerie Wishes She Could Be Here."  It's an Indie Shop Limited Edition, so I'm not sure if it's still available, but if you like it go and find out.

I love muted colors, so this was a win by being grayish / lavender to begin with, but then it has these things (what I tend to call "opals" because they are not quite the same as glitter) that flash red.  THEN, ON TOP OF THAT AWESOMENESS it also has this crazy shimmer.  You can see the teal on my pinky and the lavender on my pointer finger.  It's SO PRETTY.

Anyway, I stamped with holographic polish because WHY NOT?  Then, I picked up a unicorn on my stamper and filled him in with a tiny paintbrush because that was obviously what needed to happen here.  😁🦄🦄🦄  I thought about adding stones and doing more stuff, but then I didn't.  The week began and I'm working and blegh.  Life force officially zapped.

So... I feel happy with this as a comeback.  I was planning to do something quite a bit easier, but then I went all out.  What do y'all think?

Yesterday I got an email...

Yesterday I got an email that my degree posted.  Apparently, I graduated Cum Laude.  I had no idea.  😆  Oh well.  😜  Diplomas mail out in June so it'll be a while before I get that, but it's ok.

In other news I am sending back my Programming book today and I extended my Cal book rental through summer... so that's a thing that is done.  I know it's probably so lame how excited I get over every little thing I do for school, but they are all steps forward no matter how small they are.

I made an appointment today for next week at Quality of Life.  I'm going to see if there is any way they can help me get on a Biologic medication for my PsA.  My skin is getting crazy and my bones are having some pretty rough days off and on.  I just can't handle methotrexate anymore and it's not that effective after all of this time so I feel like it's time to move on.  I desperately want to preserve my joints.  ☹️

Also, I did my nails the other day.  I hope I get to post them later today.  I'm so picky about the nail pics I post.  These have a shimmer that is so pretty, but so hard to catch.  It's primarily pink and teal, but I've seen it go red and orange at extremes.  Also, there is a unicorn.  🦄😁😁😁

Anyway.  Happy Tuesday, friends!  💙

When you want to do your nails, but you have nothing to wear...

When you want to do your nails, but you have nothing to wear...

It feels weird, but...

It feels weird, but I've got my whole school schedule through the rest of the year planned out.  😀  Registration for Fall at JSU began in March, but I had to finish Cal II and Intro to Programming to be able to register for 3 of my classes and unfortunately they were already full.  But the awesome ladies in the MCIS building over-rode something in the system and let me register today, so I'm VERY excited.  😃

Summer at GSCC:

Calculus III

American Literature II

Fall at JSU:

Computer Programming I

Linear Algebra

Discrete Computational Structures

Applied Probability and Statistics

Those classes at JSU sound a little scary, but hopefully I will be ok.  Also, that will be the first time I've attended school full-time since I began so I'm really hoping that I won't be overwhelmed.

I haven't dropped this bomb publicly before now (I don't think), but I'll be leaving SCM in August and free-lancing office skills, web-design, and tutoring around my school schedule.  I have a page that I will publish soon and I'm really hoping that my friends and family will promote me a little bit so that I'm not flat broke.  😂  So keep an eye out for that in (hopefully) the next week or so.  Here's to getting started on the second part of my college journey!  🙂

Final grades have posted!

Final grades have posted!  The only news I have (since I posted previously about my Cal II and Programming grades) is that I made a B in Physics.  I had (have?) mixed feelings about it because I'm pretty sure I was one of the top students in the class (it had dwindled down to about 6 people by the time the drop date came around), but that doesn't seem to be saying much, unfortunately.

The professor told me that a lot of people were struggling this semester.  He re-opened homework over spring break because basically no one was doing it besides me.  He also re-opened it up at the end for one other student that I know of.  This person went from an F to a C (somehow) right at the end of the semester so I'm not sure how that happened.  My thought is that if he scaled everyone the same my B should have turned into an A.

So on the one hand I feel like I should have gotten an A for effort (and also the reason above) because I consistently tried my best all semester.  But on the other hand I messaged him after he updated Blackboard and I had a B and he told me that was before any scaling and that I definitely earned it so I do feel accomplished.

Though I have some friends and family who are annoyed that I didn't come out with an A I feel like I'm just going to mind my business and take what I earned.  Also, I have given enough time and energy to spring semester so I'm not trying to fight about it.  😂  Physics is hard and I did a good job.  I may not have had the best test scores, but consistent, on-time hard work does count for something, apparently.

Also, I did better on the Thermodynamics test than I did on any other.  Heat engines and all that?  Really interesting stuff.  Who knew?  🙂  All in all, this was one of the most interesting and challenging classes I've ever taken.  I feel like there was so much to learn that I might like to take it again one day, but I can't focus on that right now.  Onward!  😃