This parenting gig…..hard stuff.

I hear people say how rewarding parenting can be.  And I have to wonder, is that before they have kids, or after the kids are grown and gone?  Heh.

Do I get to cash in my parenting rewards for a trip to Hawaii?  At this point, I’d cash them in for two more hours in every day.

Why?

Homework.

Four hours of it a night, and only in the sixth grade.  Wow.  No wonder my son hates school.

I have a theory about the homework.  Since schools spend all their time teaching “the test”, kids are required to use their home time to learn real things.  This makes me the teacher and the teacher a test facilitator.  I want benefits!

There is no panacea for homework, except maybe quitting school.

I am going back to college.  Gah, did I just write that?  Like I don’t have enough homework already?

I have a BA in Broadcast Journalism but, out of the industry for ten years.  I love reporting, but truthfully after I became a mom it all seemed so trivial, such a waste of time.  Add ten years to the face and well…it is TV after all.

I realize that part of my life is gone.  Adiós, bye bye, see ya.  Movin on.

So I am heading back for a Masters Degree.  I need a “fresher” degree since I haven’t been an official part of the work force in awhile.

THE problem. 

Wright State University offers several Master’s Programs.  But I only fit two.  Academically, meaning GPA from my BA, I can get into all of them.  But I know enough about life and working to understand going with natural talent and abilities is the key to success.

I can get an MBA.  The positives: versatility (no matter where we live I should be able to flex it into a job), some of the classes I’ve taken before…meaning I helped my husband with papers while he was doing his Masters, but his isn’t in business.

The drawback….the curriculum is so FREAKING boring.  Marketing, accounting, gag, snore.

The other option is an MPA; Masters of Public Administration.  The classes look interesting and the skills and talents needed are right down my alley.  I have no doubt I’d enjoy it.

The problem is I don’t want to pigeon hole myself with such a specific degree.  I can’t combine the two because they are so different, and I really don’t want to spend any more time in academia than necessary.  It’s expensive and for me a limbo state…a place I have to go through to get where I need to be.

If money were no object..I’d have a live in nanny, and go to law school.  Hahahaha.  But I wouldn’t do that to my kids at this point (though sixth grade homework could possibly push me to desertion…hahah).

I have some time to make up my mind.  The process is just getting started.  I probably won’t start until winter quarter, maybe Spring, depending upon more variables than I have time to list here.

My husband says with an MBA I could still do Public Administration jobs….but I don’t know, if I am going to do PA then why not DO it right?

Decisions.  Decisions.

I couldn’t sleep at all last night.  Finally at 3am I got up.  I cleaned windows, checked out JU, then cleaned my Whirlpool washing machine.  The fabric softener goes into the agitator and during the rinse cycle is released.  The reservoir gets so gross and sticky with softener.  I learned this morning  the cup snaps off the top of the agitator.  Wow.  I was able to clean down into the agitator and the entire softener cup.  I cleaned the lip, and the entire outside.  Now its all sparkly clean.

What?!  Don’t hate me because my life is so enticing.

CLR.  I think it stands for calcium, lime and rust.  Whatever it stands for the cleaning stuff rocks hard.  I use it on my glass shower doors because we have hard water, even with a water softener.  The doors can get all white looking…until I spray them down with CLR, let it sit for a few, then scrub and rinse.  Awesome stuff.  My doors are sparkling and oh no!  They’re see through!  Hahahahahaha  My husband’s poor eyes!

I scrubbed the toilets and mopped the floors.  Hey, another great use for the Magic eraser…grout!  The grout lines between my floor tiles can get dingy….but the Mr Clean Magic Eraser spiffs them right up.  (My grout is a brownish color and my husband says I am wasting my time because they look exactly the same when I am done.)   That may be so, but I know they’re clean….

I am redoing my laundry room.  Making it my room.  It is taking forever because the room is used so much.  I FINALLY finished painting the trim yesterday.  I am sewing valances now.  I hung some cabinets for my stuff.  Built a work station…I will probably post pictures.

One thing I hate about posting pictures of something I’ve done.  I see it and know it in “context.”  But someone who just looks at the photo may not be impressed (not that being impressed is a requirement).  For example, if I help a friend re-make her double wide trailer.  She may think it looks beautiful, and she posts pics of it.  But everyone looking at it is thinking, “Uh.  It’s a double wide.  How great can it be?”   Or one closer to home, I find a table in the trash and refinish it.  Someone looking at it is like, yeah its fine for a trash find…..heh.

I don’t think I said that very well.  It happens when I don’t get enough sleep.  My mind refuses to focus.

So I will do something mindless…..

 Shopping!

 I have to get some accessories for my “Oh its nice for a utility /laundry room” room.

Woo hoo.