Summer Classes

I confess. I am a class junkie. As badly as I wanted the spring semester to end, I cannot wait until summer classes start. Yes, there is something wrong with me. But I have two really exciting classes awaiting me, and I am anxious to get started (plus it is just getting me closer to the finish line for my undergraduate work and beginning law school.

Summer is broken into two four week sessions. The first session I am enrolled in Spanish 302, Developing Spanish Writing skills. Spanish is my minor, and it is funny because I am so bad at it. I first took Spanish in High School in North Carolina. My teacher was Sra. Causey, and she had the sweetest southern accent. Consequently I speak Spanish with a southern accent. This is interesting because I don't speak English with one. But when I speak Spanish I drag out my vowels, drawl terribly, and struggle to understand what the native speakers say. So I took Spanish in the mid 90's at the community college, and have taken it at UNM trying desperately to improve. First, I took Spanish Cinema, which was a lot of fun. It wasn't a Spanish class, but I picked up a lot of the language. I did my 15 page final paper on "The Films of Javier Bardem and What Alcoholic Beverage to Serve With Them." I received an A+ in the course :)

In the fall I took "Chicano and Mexicano Cinema" which WAS a Spanish course. The class was a conversation course with some writing. I worked so hard, and got a B+. But the professor was this incredible woman, Patricia Rosas-Lopategui. She is an authority on the women writers of Mexico, and has published books on the subject. Patricia is the warmest, kindest person, so open and engaging, that I enrolled in her "Mexican Women Writers" class this spring. When I went to my advisor to declare a minor we looked through my transcript and discovered that I had unwittingly wandered into Spanish as a minor as just a matter of it being the quickest path to graduation. So now I am committed. But that is ok, I have it all planned out. I have two required courses for my minor, the 302 and 307, which is a Spanish Lit class, which I am taking in the fall. I also have two other elective classes, one of which I am taking in the fall, as well...with my good friend Patricia, "The Mexican Revolution on Film," one day a week. Then just one more class in the Spring and I am done!

The second half of Summer I am enrolled in a class with another favorite professor, the marvelous Peter Kierst. The course is "Law in the Political Community," and as a bonus several of my friends from the Association of Non-Traditional Students are taking the course with me: Lisa, Matt, and Tiffany have all signed up, and we are working on getting others to join. Lisa and I are very liberal, Matt and Tiffany quite libertarian/conservative in their views, so this should be one great class.

The only thing I am missing for graduation now is math. I am going to take that at CNM for a few reasons. First, it is cheaper. Second, I have already begun the math path there, testing into math for mouthbreathers last year, I took the lowest pre-algebra you can take last spring. It was so bad my 5th grader said, "Mom, that's your homework???That's easy!" So in the fall I have to take Mouthbreathers II, then in the spring I have to take the real math for UNM's core requirement. Then I am done!

And after the fall, I will need just one more credit hour to graduate. Yay me!

Chillin with Willz

Another wonderful sleep in day, until 8:30, and Willy slept until 9:30. Heaven! We had Special K, and are now watching Sesame Street. It has been a long time since I had a sleep in day with Willy and watched Sesame Street! At lunch I am headed back to UNM to turn in a hard copy of my last paper, and then I don't know what I will do. The day holds so many lovely prospects. A walk in the park with my boy, or maybe working in the yard a little, planting some things. So many options!

So my sweet, weird boy, who is 1/4 Italian, I might add, hates spaghetti. He hates sauce. I don't get it. He is normally a pretty good eater. But we watched this on Sesame Street a few minutes ago and he was totally grossed out. Why is this?

I can't tell you how much fun I am having watching Sesame Street this morning!

Lazy Sunday

Last night a minor miracle occurred. You all may not have heard it, but I did, it was silence. All of the Compton kids spent the night somewhere else. Charles and I had the place all to ourselves. It was incredible! The most decadent thing we did (that I can tell YOU about) was sleep in. It was so great. I slept until 8:30, which was amazing. Then Charles and I got up and made a nice breakfast and coffee and watched my favorite contact sport, the Sunday morning pundit shows. Charles went to fix a friend's computer, and so far two of the kids came home...but just for a moment. They ran down the street to their friends Griffin and Margo's house and announced they would be staying for lunch. So I have been doing laundry...

Drinking iced coffee (YAY!!!)
And falling in love. Yes, I am in love with another man. Sorry Charles. You gotta go. It's time to make room for my new love...Big Daddy.

Oh. YES.
I just watched this beautiful man make some mussels and sweet potato turnovers. Fantastic. Friends, if you aren't watching Big Daddy's House on Food Network, you are missing out on one hot hot hot man.

In short, it has been a decadent, lazy Sunday. I don't get many of these, and I am so happy!!!!

Fabulous, Fancy Dinner Party Tonight

Tonight at Chez Compton we enjoyed the company of several young guests, Julie and her four kids, Tom and Nico from down the street, Anna, Rafael, and our four kids, and we feasted on a fabulous pile of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bananas. We opened a delightful bottle of 2%, expiration date June 1, and Tom and Nico treated us to Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches, and Rafael to a tray of home made brownies, and we all settled down to watch "Bolt!" Fifteen minutes later the kids had all dispersed on scooters, bikes and foot, and the adults were sitting in front of the tv wondering what happened.

It was a great first night of break!

In the beginning

I will begin by saying this is not my first blog. I have been a lazy blogger for a while, and my other blogs are "Why My Husband Hates Me" and "Liberaltruthsayer." I am writing this blog so that I can document my journey through my undergraduate degree, and eventually law school.

Eventually isn't really that far away. I am a Senior at the University of New Mexico, and plan to graduate in one year.

I am writing because I have had the best and worst semesters of my life, and recognize that I need an outlet to vent my frustrations and hopefully find some other moms out there who decided to tackle the education trip, too. Maybe we can support one another.

So, let me tell you a bit about me (ah the narcissism of blogging). I am Cara. I am 42 years old. I have four young, wonderful kids, and am the birth mother of a fabulous, brilliant young man in New York. I am very proud of my beautiful kids. I am married to the most patient and kind man in the world, Charles. We have been together for over 15 years now, and life is great. I frequently say that I am the happiest person in the world.

Having been orphaned by the 2008 election (I have worked most of my adult life in political campaigns) and knowing that the economy and job market sucked I decided I would do what I have always wanted to do, and that is finish my undergrad work and get my law degree. I enrolled in the University of New Mexico in the Spring of 2009. My first day of school was January 20th, which was both my daughter Amanda's 11th birthday and President Obama's inauguration day. To celebrate I made cupcakes and sent them with her to celebrate both events with her class...

It was a little daunting entering university life at 40. First of all, I could be nearly everyone else's mom, and I am already pretty maternal by nature. Some of the kids in my class are so cute I end up just telling them, "you are too much. I have to hug you." Most of them like it. Thank goodness, I don't want to be accused of going to Cougarville. But it is also really challenging to take a full load of college courses, study, cook, clean and make sure that not only my own homework gets done, but that three other people are doing their own homework. (The youngest isn't quite in school yet...) It has been tough. But, it has also been very rewarding.

Last fall, at the end of my second term, I was contacted by email by the National and International Scholarship and Fellowship office at UNM. They said I had been identified as a top student and asked me if I would be interested in competing for the Truman Scholarship. I competed, and won. The Truman is one of the most prestigious scholarships available, offering up to $30,000 for graduate schools for students interested in pursuing a career in public service. This effectively means that my law school is paid for. All I have to do now is get accepted. I was also notified this week that I was awarded the Dorothy Cline Memorial Undergraduate Fellowship, which will help me with my senior year tuition. So, as I have said, it has been rewarding indeed.

But it has also been very challenging. I just had the worst semester of my academic life, where I struggled every day to keep my head over water, and just trudged to the end. My grades were not what I wanted. I was sick all semester. I badly injured my left hand mid-term, and it still is in a lot of pain. Excuses notwithstanding, I fought hard for every good, mediocre and lousy grade I got this term, and boy howdy did I get some doozies. And though I turned in my last paper today, I cannot wait until summer classes start and I can begin to redeem myself.

So this is my new blog. I hope you like it. I will post as often as I can. Sometimes the posts may be snarky, bitchy, or profane. Hold onto your hats.