After months of procrastination and fear of rejection I have finally put the letters to the vets/doggy daycares/pet stores in the mail.  It took my EPY class for me to figure out why I've been putting off printing them out and mailing them.  I've been fearing the rejection that I was certain was going to happen.  But I can't think like that anymore.  Now I KNOW that one of the letters will find SOMEONE who needs help in their animal business.  I can't afford for them not to.  I need work ASAP!  Before winter hits bigtime and skyrockets our power bill through the roof.

Pray, chant, sent vibes....or just send good thoughts.  I can use them all right now!

Of course I've always known that there were people out there like this...but I'd never actually ENCOUNTERED any of them first hand.  OK, that's not true...my exhusband is a major racist and homophobe...and I really hated that about him.  I mean, how embarrassing is THAT to live with???  Helloooo...EX-husband.  Anyway...I digress...

Today in my EPY class we talked about the GLBTQ community and how we can support them on campus.  Now, you're probably saying..."what's EPY?"  It's hard to explain, really.  Basically it's a college success class.  We use the book "On Course" but we also learn tolerance (ha!) and about the various things that the college offers us as students.  It's deeper than that but that's the most basic of definitions.  Anyhoo...back to today's class.  We had guest instructors today who announced that they were teaching the class.  They introduced themselves as gay and lesbian.  Immediately to my life is a woman who is around her mid-fifties, I want to say, and she immediately had a very cold feeling about her.  Normally she's a very happy woman with always something kind to say.  I didn't really think much of it because I'm not one to practice intolerance of anything but stupidity.  They began the class with a short little movie about a gay couple in a bar and how others reacted to them being there.  When it finished she had a massive scowl on her face and when I asked her if she was ok she said she was pissed.  I thought, great!  She's pissed at how this couple was treated in the bar.  No go.  She was pissed that we were covering this topic in class!  She was more than pissed.  She was livid!  They passed out blank pieces of paper to us and told us to write down any questions that we might have.  She passed hers on saying "I'm not doing this".  Then they passed out a paper with questions on it for our own viewing that basically gives you an idea of how tolerable or accepting you are.  She didn't even touch it...like it was poison or something.  They we began an activity where we all introduce ourselves and say that we're either lesbian or gay after our name.  It was just a role play but she up and left.  I understand that she may have been uncomfortable saying that she was a lesbian or whatever...but to honestly up and leave the class or behave the way she did was so uncool.  In this day and age...ESPECIALLY on college campuses you need to be tolerable of all kinds of people.  This woman is obviously not.  It irritated me to badly that after class I called my husband and vented to him about the small-mindedness of some people.  A true "sport" would have just said "hey, this is not my thing but I'll play along because it's only 1 hour and 15 minutes of my life".  It really angered me that she couldn't do that.  That she behaved as though she were in HS or even younger.  I had fun doing the role plays...and the rest of the class...even a few of the guys who were obviously uncomfortable...all played along and were great about it.  Why couldn't this one woman have been?

I know that not everyone has the same open mindedness that I do.  That more people should.  But it saddens me that she couldn't put aside her petty beliefs for one class.

*Sigh*

This ties in, also, to the civil rights chapter that we studied a few weeks ago in my poli-sci class.  There is nothing that makes my blood boil faster than people who get the short end of the stick...ESPECIALLY because of skin color.  OOOOOOOHHHHH!!!!!!!!  Don't get me going...I feel my blood pressure rising even now!  Seriously!

In the spirit of the 60's movement....make love not war.

I was just sitting here waiting for it to be time to leave for my class when I realized that for the first time in a long time...I'm happy.  Not the happiest I've ever been nor the happiest I'll ever be...but I am content.  I am happy.  I have a wonderful husband whom I love dearly and who loves me in return.  I have a family who loves me and for the most part offers support in my decisions.  I have a crew of critters that totally rock and help me with my anxiety and stress in ways that they'll never understand and that only I will totally appreciate.

I am happy.  And that is nice.

So I got my score back on my big poli-sci test the other day and surprisingly got a B on it.  He did say that the test scores will probably go up as he decides whether or not to grade on a curve and which questions he's going to throw out on account of a lot of people missing them.  So....I'm happy with a B!  I'm excited for the B!  I'm so glad it wasn't a C!  Yikes!  I have to maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher to be eligible for financial aid so if I get an A in my two other classes I will come out ahead in my required GPA.  So here's to keeping my grades up!

I know I keep saying this but I am TOTALLY enjoying being back in school again.  Who knew???  Learning new things...interacting with others my own age or thereabouts...it's just FUN!  I highly suggest it to those of you who have been out of the loop for years like me to get back in the game...it's amazing at how much better you can do when you go into it with a positive attitude!

I've been having a lot of fun with my rock history class, too.  It's fun to say that I HAVE to listen to certain music for my studies.  And it's not bad stuff.  Not that I've really heard any music that's bad...just different.  But so far we're studying older stuff.  Blues, folk, gospel, soul...now we're at psychedelic rock.  Pretty nifty.  And the instructor is excited about his subject which makes it all that much better, as well.

My EPY class is fascinating as well.  It's teaching college techniques like study habits and positive thinking.  Last Thursday we were in the library learning about all of the cool stuff that is available to us as students not just in the library but online.  I was shocked and very impressed.  Sadly I wasn't able to find any information on my thesis for my poli-sci class...but I have a feeling I'll be able to use it a lot for my next classes.

As for the weight thing...well, nothing to really report there.  I'm disappointed in myself that I haven't been able to lose any more weight.  It's like I lost those 10 pounds once I moved back home and then nothing.  I know I should make time on the treadmill...but, ok, I admit that I hate getting all sweaty.  Bleah!  I'm just looking for excuses...I know.  I know.

Did you know that studies have shown that men become sexually aroused nearly every time they dream.

I'm pretty sure that I won't be alive to see what it's like fifty years from now.  But I wonder what kind of surprises it has in store for future generations.  I can't even begin to imagine.  I don't even really know if the country will still be the same as it is now...or if we'll have had another revolution to clean things up a bit and set things right.  Do you wonder?

What are some of the things you hope the future will bring to the generations following us?