Tis the season!

This semester will be over when Christmas arrives, but I want to wish all my instructors and classmates a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year while I have the chance. I will miss you. Endings can be sad. Endings can also be happy, however. I will be happy to get these finals out of the way. Especially algebra. I am anxious to get the ethnology paper finished, but not because I dread working on it. I want to see what it turns out like too! I have had a good time working on this paper. I have learned a lot about the life and times of the Nuernberger family and their farm. I have heard so many stories that have made me laugh. Some are serious, but mostly I have come to realize that this family is all about enjoying life and appreciating each other and their friends. They are all willing to help anyone anytime. I don't think I will ever run out of questions about this farm and family, even when my paper is finished. There is so much to learn and so much history. I am so glad I chose this subject. The hard part is eliminating certain things! I don't have time to write a whole novel right now! Maybe someday. Who knows? The worst part is that English class will be finished before I get to witness an actual butchering season or planting season. Oh well. Such is life. Seasons come and seasons go.

I need this short week of school!!!!

I am really glad we only have two days of school this week. I so need the break! I am going to work in the success center Monday and Tuesday and HOPEFULLY will get to have 5 days where I can rest, relax, and enjoy a few days of leisure time. I would like to go Christmas shopping one day, but this will NOT be Black Friday!!! I have a brother-in-law home from Florida I would like to visit one day. There is a dance in New Athens Wednesday night I would like to go to. I have to work Sunday. So my time off is pretty well planned. My English paper is coming along okay. Like I said, I want to work on it today and tomorrow and will probably do a couple more interviews at the farm this weekend, but I need some time to do the things I want. Even though I will miss some of my classmates and instructors, I am ready for this semester to be over. My plans are then to start the LPN program at The Beck Center in July. Too many pre-reqs for this girl to take to become a RN!!! I won't graduate til I'm seventy years old at this rate!!!! Happy Thanksgiving to all who read this!!!!

It's all coming together

Even though I haven't started my paper yet, I have been rehearsing in my mind how I'm going to put it together. I have interviewed every one but one lady. This lady is about eighty years old and is the one who has worked on the geneology of this particular Nuernberger family. Julie (Nuernberger) Main, Vic's oldest sister, and her husband, John, gave me a lot of interesting stories, too. When I interviewed Vic's brother, Dan, his wife kept interrupting him telling him he was wrong (this was Dan's own memories here!!!) and I found out that when I interview I should do this one on one. It was really hard to decipher my recording with Ms. Mouth contradicting Dan all the time. But I did get some good stories from Dan, too. This story has become very important to me. I was asked by Julie and John last night if they could have a copy of my paper to hand down to their grandchildren. What an honor! And to you, Kira, I have some more ghost stories coming!!!!! To the rest of you, I was worried at first that I wouldn't be able to get your interest writing about a farm, but I have discovered that with this particular farm and family, I can assure you this will be one good paper! Good luck to the rest of you! Can't wait to read your papers!

Down in the Dumps

I will be writing two blogs this week. Last week I was so down in the dumps I couldn't think straight. This week I am still tired from feeling so bad last week. I am glad algebra is finally getting easier for me and I'm glad that our group project in my speech class is over. But this poor old body was so stressed out that it's just going to take a while to get back to feeling better. I am excited about putting this ethnology paper together and am getting things organized for that. I hope all my classmates have utilized the success center. Without the help from Hannah, Annette, and Lydia, I wouldn't be where I am today. Sometimes I'm in here until 7 p.m. When my mind goes blank from being tired, one of these three wonderful people will encourage me to keep on going. I would advise anyone who is struggling to get your buns in here for help. Last week I thought about giving up on this college thing. After all, I'm not twenty anymore. One thing that kept me going was the fact that I've never been a quitter. The other thing that kept me going was the support of Mr. Nadziejko and the staff here in the support center. Also, the Nuernberger family has talked to me so much about this farm paper, I just couldn't tell them that I gave up on everything. No, I may have been down in the dumps, but I'm back and going strong. Never give up!

Time to get it together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am getting excited about putting this ethnology paper together. I don't know how much I will end up with, but I hope to keep it interesting to all who have to read this fifteen-plus page paper. There are so many things I have found that I would like to share with everyone! Last week I was shown a collection of antique auto license plates dating back to 1911!!! This week I was shown a collection of beer cans that I have never heard of and a couple were made even before I was born! That's less than 1/2 of a hundred years ago! Or whatever. I guess you wonder why I would even consider putting something like these two artifacts in with my paper on the farm, but these farmers have always had cars and/or trucks to drive and they do love their beer and have for quite some time, it seems. Yesterday a hog died on the farm, but Vic wouldn't let me see that. I guess he thought I'd run away screaming, but I told him that I HAVE ALREADY BEEN in the nursing field and I have seen some things that could probably make him pass out! I didn't see the hog, though. Why would I want to write about a dead hog anyway? So I am interviewing, researching, writing, and editing my paper. Wish I could just concentrate on this and not have to do algebra!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Old Farmer's Hall at RBHS

My two oldest daughters attended Red Bud High School. The eldest graduated in 1991 and the second eldest in 1995, so I am familiar with the old "Farmer's Hall" at RBHS. My eldest grandson is now a sophomore at RBHS and tells me this hall no longer exists. I thought about asking Colin if they had replaced this hall with "Gothic Hall" or something, but I haven't seen a lot of gothic people hanging around in Red Bud, so I thought I'd leave that comment alone. Thank God my Colin is a "jock" or are they called "athlete" today? However, back in the day, the school had one certain hall where the local farm boys and their "red neck" friends would congregate. That tells me that farmers and red-necks were basically in the same catagory at the old RBHS. My second daughter and her group of friends liked hanging out in Farmer's Hall, too! Amy ended up marrying one of those boys. Tim is from Rocher and is an awesome man, son-in-law, a wonderful husband, and fabulous father. I have liked ole' Tim-Bob, though, since the day Amy brought him home to meet her parents. Doing my research on the Nuernberger Farm, I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of farmers lately and in my personal experience, I have found them to be very kind and giving people. Oh, some like to complain and some seem to always find the "glass half empty", but when push comes to shove, they have a heart of gold and a helping hand to always lend. The old Farmer's Hall at RBHS may have fresh paint and new faces today, but for a lot of RBHS alumni, I would love to hear some of the stories told in that hallway back in the day.

Changing my course

I am taking a pre-entrance exam at Beck Center on November 1st for their LPN program. After talking to a few RN friends I have, they have told me that I would be just as well off to go to Beck for my LPN degree. Today's RN is mostly stuck charting, unless I want to go further in college and get a higher degree. And I don't. I'm already tired. I am not signing up for any spring classes at SWIC. Not yet anyway. I will not get into Beck's LPN program until at least July of 2011, so I am just gonna take a break from school until that time. But until December, I have to strive to do my best here at SWIC with what I've started. I have to try to get those A's in algebra, english, and my speech class. Apparently, the more pre-reqs you have from college courses, the better. Even for the LPN program. I am proud of the way algebra has clicked for me. Too bad I will forget it as soon as this semester is over. I know I will. But as for english, I have learned a lot about expressing myself in writing and am enjoying doing this paper on the Nuernberger farm. I have so much to write about I don't know what to omit!! I will miss this class when it's over. I will!