Everything is going according to plan.

For many years, I had a post-Master's degree plan.  I would take a year off to search for work and if nothing came, I would start a Ph.D.  Well, that is exactly what is happening.  I really thought I would find full-time employment.  There are just no jobs out there.  At least, nothing for which I am qualified or for which I would be willing to postpone a doctorate.  So, let's catch up.

After all the educational setbacks over the past year (detailed in earlier blogs), I finally got into a program that seems like it will work itself out without setbacks (I'm still holding my breath).  I was accepted into Florida State University to pursue a Ph.D. in History.  I still could not believe I was accepted.  Surreal.  Anyway, right now I am leaning towards a focus in African-American history because it is the one thing that just really strikes my fancy.  I also enjoy modern American history and southern history.  My principal interest is, of course, the Civil Rights Movement.  But for now, I'm accepted.

Not only was I accepted into FSU, they selected me for one of their assistantships!  To say I was shocked would be an understatement.  I was absolutely humbled by this.  My professors said they expected it, Joel wasn't surprised at all, but I really had written off the funding.  The funding is very important, not only because it pays your tuition and allows you to earn a stipend, but it shows people that your program has faith in you.  In other words, it makes you more hireable after graduation.  I was willing to go to school even without the funding.  I had already prepared myself by getting an out-of-state tuition waiver from the Academic Common Market.  I planned on paying for the in-state with a loan.  I was just going to drive to FSU on Mondays for class and have the rest of the week off.  However, this assistantship changed all that.  Now, I will be working as a 'Gordon-rule grader' so I have to attend a US History (to 1865) class on MWF and I will be grading 3000-word essays from up to 180 students.  Shoot me now.  If there is ONE thing I HATE about teaching, it is grading.  This one is a time soaker, too.  I can only imagine how long this will take.  I learned from my undergrad though, that if you make a rubric things will go faster, so that is the plan.  This semester is going to be the death of me, but I have never been one to let anything get the best of me.  Evidently, to have an assistantship, one must also take 12 hours.  That is three classes at the doctoral level.  I never took three classes during my M.A. so this is a big step for me.  Hopefully, Brayden will be getting easier and easier to deal with since he is getting older. All the other motherly duties will have to be delegated.  I just keep telling myself that I can do it.  I want to do it.  The good thing is, if I go at it three classes at a time it shouldn't take me too long to finish the coursework.  My advisor said four semesters, but I need to confirm that for myself.

Okay, enough about my Ph.D.   WE MOVED INTO OUR NEW HOUSE!!!! I can't even remember the status of our home purchase when last I blogged, but on February 7, 2012 we closed on the house.  This may seem silly, but it really changed our lives.  We were crammed into that tiny house for the last nine years.  It was okay when it was just me, Jake, and Bailey.  However, with five of us, it was cramped.  We moved into this house and immediately had about 700 more square feet of living space.  Jacob and Bailey finally have their own sizeable bedrooms.  Brayden sleeps with us so he doesn't necessarily need a bedroom, but all of his things are in Bailey's room so we call it theirs.  There is a second floor that is unfinished but will had about a thousand square feet of living space.  We plan to put in a bedroom for Jacob, a gameroom, a guest bedroom, and a full bath up there.  This is going to be a costly addition so we put it off for a little while.  Hopefully this year though.  Meanwhile, we have been getting things situated downstairs and outside.  We bought a new dining room table to fit the five of us and a new big comfy recliner, among other things.  Anyway, my point is we are just so much happier.  Living less than a quarter mile from my dad's house is also a plus.  The kids love hopping on their bicycles and being at his house in a minute or two.

Okay, I think that is all for now.

Thought Potpourri

I am just throwing together a random compilation of nothingness just so I can calm my OCD.  I have really not had much to blog about because all I have been doing for the last several weeks is cleaning, taking care of kids, cooking, and working on my lectures.  I guess there is no better time than the present to review every little phase of American history since Reconstruction.  I am doing so much work for these classes in the fall!  Hopefully it will allow me to have extra time for the classes I am taking too.

I go back to school in two weeks and the boys go back in one.  I am sort of going to miss being lazy with them in the mornings.  I have everything worked out where the house stays clean, laundry stays done, and dinner gets cooked.  We are running like a well-oiled machine and now we have to redo a completely new schedule.  Brayden is not going to like this very well...with his brothers at school and mommy at work.  He wakes up every morning and wants to go see his "nene" and bubba."  He has gotten used to daddy being at work when he wakes up.  He's going to be just fine at home with "ursh" though.

I like having Bailey in school because his disability is really hard to deal with.  I need respite care!  I am not ashamed to admit it!  It also puts him on a schedule and gives him something to do all day.  He loves getting up and riding the bus and going to school to play all day.  Jake is a different story.  I like having him home because he is a good help and fun to be around.  I am also so sad that he is growing up so fast.  He is going to 8th grade this year and in pre-AP classes again.  I'm glad he is in them but man, they are stressful.  He is definitely not the fastidious student that I was (am) as a kid (and adult).  He is, for lack of a better word - lazy!  Maybe, just maybe, he will turn it around this year.

I am still majorly stressing over Brayden's little teeth and having to get them pulled.  Everything about him is perfect, and it really saddens me that his teeth aren't.  I know I should feel fortunate that this is the only thing that is the matter, but I can't help that wish he had healthy teeth.

Anyway, maybe I will have more things to say as life gets more varied after school starts back.  Right now doing the same thing day in and day out makes for a pretty mundane existence.  I have a lot of stuff to say politically on Facebook, but for some reason, I don't have much to say to myself.  I should though, because I'm sure I will be glad that I said it when I am old and gray...assuming I will remember how to log in and read this thing...

Okay, I'm rambling.

Will Work for Tuition

Hip! Hip! Hooray!

I got a graduate assistantship today for Fall and Spring!  I will be back in Distance Learning again but this time I will receive a stipend that is over twice what I received in either of my last GAs.  I worked in Distance Learning for a year in 09-10 and I am so glad that they were willing to take me back for another year.

This master's that I am doing now is different than my last one because it is all online.  As such, the tuition is much higher but the fees are much lower.  The GA will pay ALL of my tuition except $38.  I will still have to pay the fees.  With my MA, the fees were ridiculous and I had to pay them AND earn a much lower stipend.

Working in Distance Learning will marry well with my new degree in Instructional Technology.  It will give me a chance to put into practice what I learned and should be mutually beneficial.  I'm excited!

It looks like I have everything figured out.  I will work at my GA and teach two history sections while I take classes.  The only thing I have left to figure out is how many classes to take.  I really want to finish quickly but I don't want my grades to suffer.  Right now, I'm thinking that I should register for several classes and if I can't handle it, withdraw from them.  I still have a little while to think about it...

Just a quick post to express my joy and concomitant anxiety.

College in Perpetuity

I really think I am addicted to college.  Maybe it has something to do with me quitting high school.  Maybe I am here to prove that being a teen mom (times two) wouldn't stop me.  Maybe I want my kids to have a mom they can be proud of.  Maybe I want to make sure that I can afford to travel the world in my RV when I'm older.  (I have A LOT of places on my bucket list.)

Regarless of the reason, I have decided to pursue a SECOND Master's degree.  The first go 'round, I decided to get what I consider a real Master's...you know, the kind with a thesis and 25 page papers in every class.  Where paying tuition and showing up everyday doesn't guarantee you a Master's degree in a couple years. 

Since I went for the rigor on the first one, this time I am doing one that is a little more laid back...I hope.  I found out two days ago that I was accepted into VSU's Master of Education in Instructional Technology (Technology Applications) program.  Whew.  That's a long one!

I really would rather be starting a higher degree (a doctorate!) but I missed the deadline.  Additionally, I haven't decided which doctorate I want yet...whether it's the [easy] route with an Ed.D. or a [real] one - the Ph.D.  So I am giving myself until near to the application deadline to make that decision.  I will start that adventure in Fall 2012.

So here's to my new pursuit - a second Master's degree that will be completely unlike the last one - a sprint instead of a marathon.  I'm kind of hoping that I can knock it out in a year, which is completely and utterly crazy, but I can't stay out of school for a whole year.  I would go insane.  Then again, I will go insane trying to do this degree in a year... Okay I'm rambling.

Male Dominated Field? Scoff.

So during my last semester of graduate school, I was presented with an opportunity to attend a conference with Phi Alpha Theta (an honor society) where I could share my research with the world (and by world I mean the ten or fifteen people in the room with me when I presented).

Four of my fellow students from Valdosta State University presented at the conference as well, which was held at Mercer University in Macon, GA.  Here are three of us...and a bear.  Yes, that is me on the right dressed less like an historian and more like a stripper.  Several months later and my feet STILL have not forgiven me for wearing those boots.

I chose to talk about my favorite episode from my Master's thesis (this will be the subject of another blog I'm sure) which was a boycott that stemmed from the Southwest Georgia Project, which stemmed from the Albany Movement, which stemmed from the Civil Rights Movement.  Anyway, I won't bore you with the details...

I mean really, where would we be without Brown v. Board??

Mercer is a private university.  Beautiful campus, fancy accoutrements, entitled children...  The demographic of this conference looked like something straight out of the antebellum era.  Every one of the 100ish people at this event was white and the entire wait staff who served us lunch was black.  Here is a snapshot of me, a classmate, and a Mercer employee that reminds me of how small I felt when I realized all us fancy white folks were being waited on by a black domestic staff.

Here is the whole VSU contingency.  Notice, I am the only member of the female persuasion.  Story of my life.

So, the moral of the story is (all digression aside), that even though I was outnumbered easily 5:1, the girl came out on top.  I won the award for best presentation at the conference based on originality, depth of research in primary sources, and delivery of presentation.

My handsome reward was a book that fit my interests (in hardback!).