Graduation, Anniversary, and Party Planning

May 2015 UWM Graduation Nicki and Scott

Last Sunday, May 17th, I finally graduated college.  It was a long, convoluted road to get to graduation, but I did it, and I'm happier and better for it.  I don't think any major changes will happen in my life as I'm happy with what I'm doing for a living, and quite frankly the thought of starting a new job is too exhausting for me right now.  I just can't fathom going out there and starting all over again.  I've made peace with things I don't like about my job and have come to the realization that I'll have those no matter where I go.  You can run all you want to different jobs, but ultimately, you'll never outrun them.  It's a part of life.

On June 9th, Scott and I will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.  Yes, I was a wee tot when I got married...  Anyway, we decided to have a combined party for both big events because people aren't going to want to come to two parties in a short span of time.  Especially the out of towners.  So, we have a cross-section of folks coming and we'll have to have name tags for everyone.  Odd, but it should be interesting.  Planning a party is not so much fun, and I'm looking forward to the day.  It is going to be outside at Virmond Park on June 6th and hopefully, it will not rain.  We have a shelter, but if it rains hard, that might just spoil things.  Although, there's beer, food, and games, so maybe not.

Now that I'm done with school, I have had almost every person I tell that to ask me what I'm going to do in "all my free time?"  I'm never sure how to answer this, because as a non-traditional student, I have the same responsibilities and life commitments as they do.  Work, home, husband, family, bills, lawn work, car crap, and all the other things make life, life.  I had them before, during, and will have them after college, too.  Just like they did.  We are going to be building a house, so that's usually my answer to the question, but I still feel like they are expecting something more or different.  I didn't go to college to get a different job.  I went to correct a life mistake I could still correct, but when you tell people that, they get uncomfortable.  I don't know if they have issues they feel they should fix, or if they can't believe someone my age would go to college just to go.  I would say that education is never a waste of time or energy, but I get the feeling that some feel it is.  That I could have somehow done something "better" with that time and money.  I guess one could argue about the money issue, but when a life is examined, would it be better to "waste" money on college or something else entirely, like gambling, or cars, or clothes, or vacations, or even interior decorations.  It comes down to what you value in your life.  I value intelligence and knowledge.  I really don't care if I have an older car or clothing, or don't have the latest in home interior decorating.  I really don't need $50 throw pillows.  But our society has placed value on these things, so I still get judged by those qualities, or lack of them.

I do know that I will pick-up my hobbies I had to abandon when I went back.  I was an avid quilter, and I love scrap-booking, and, of course, chain maille.  I have completed several projects and am going back to a long-term project of making a shawl.  If it's good enough, I want to enter it into the Bead & Button Show's competition they have every year.  I have to complete the project first, and figure out how to seam the shoulders and neck onto the piece.  Tricky, tricky.

What am I going to do with all that "free" time?  Read.  Quilt.  Chain maille.  Scrap. Build a house.  Sell my current house.  See my friends and family.  Time with Scott.  Life. 

I am done!

2015 UWM Honors Convocation

Monday, May 11, 2015 was the Honors Convocation for UWM.  And, here I am!  The one promise I made to  myself when I made the commitment to go back to college was that not only would I finish, but I would excel, as well.  And I did.  This Sunday is Graduation, and I'm an very excited for that, too.

I have used this blog to complain, sometimes bitterly, over the past years about school.  It was an excellent way for me to vent without necessarily having to chew my friends, or Scott's ears off.  And, they always want to help, and sometimes, I just want to vent. This blog is a result from my Eng 102 class, and I'll never forget that.  I like blogging, even if no one reads these.  Or, at least leaves comments.

I am checking a big thing off my bucket list.  Now, on to the next chapter of my life, which involves more money than college cost, and lots of wood, nails, dry-wall, carpet, tile, and fixtures.  We are building a house.  That will definitely take some time, and I'm really glad we didn't try to do that while I had homework to do.  No, I will not miss homework in the least.  Not at all.  I really liked going to classes, but no one misses homework.  And tests, and giant papers.  I know I won't miss the tests.

So, this will be the last of the school entries.  I thank anyone who is still reading this, and have been reading it for the past seven years.  Now, onto the house-building chapter...

0% Happy

I took an online "fun" quiz yesterday and was shocked at the results.  This was a quiz that one of my facebook friends took and she shared her result.  She got 50% happy.  The name of this quiz was, "How Happy Are You?"  I figured if she got 50% happy, I'd get at least in the upper 90s because I have so  many things to be happy about.  I answered all the questions as truthfully as possible and I was stunned that mine came back at 0% happy.  0.  0%.  Zero.  WTH?  How is that even possible?

It's just a fun thing that isn't by any means to be taken seriously, but I was still shocked by that.  I thought for sure I'd get in the upper percentile.  My friend has had a terrible year with breaking up with a long-term serious boyfriend and an injury that side-lined her passion for running.  That's some serious unhappiness right there.  She is openly grieving her break-up on facebook, and yeah, she's unhappy.  But she still got 50%!  I'm celebrating two big events this month and next month, and I get 0??  I'm graduating college with Honors and have a wedding anniversary milestone of 25 years, both things that people are happy about, but apparently, I'm not.

This got me to thinking about happiness in general.  I've always thought I was a happy person.  We all deal with crap in our lives, and serious crap that makes us unhappy.  I've certainly had my share, but I've always felt that I've dealt with it and moved on.  But I wonder if I have?  Apparently, the quiz thinks I haven't and that makes me wonder.  I don't even know where to start making myself happy because I really didn't think I was that unhappy.  What makes a person happy?

Making chain maille makes me happy, and that was one of the questions.  It asked if I had hobbies.  Yes!  Of course I do.  So why didn't I get some points for that?  Maybe it knew that my elbows are giving me problems and with the crapload of homework from school, I haven't been able to make much of anything this semester. I haven't made a quilt since going back to school, and I really miss that.  Nor have I scrapbooked anything, not to mention putting our vacations on hold until I'm out of school.  Hmmm, maybe I wouldn't have scored as high as I thought.  But I know that I will return to these hobbies once I don't have the pressing doom of homework deadlines crashing in on me.  I'll just give myself some points for that.  Yeah, who needs the stuupie test to tell me that...

0% happy.  I need to find the how unhappy test out there and see what I score on that.  I hate failing tests.  That makes me unhappy. I still cringe inwardly when I think of my Spanish oral exam that I failed.  That was three years ago!  I hate failing things.  That makes me unhappy.  But, this week, on May 7th, I will have corrected a huge failing in my life and will complete my Bachelor's degree.  I really think that should count for something.  I am happy about that, no matter what the stupid online test tells me.