I have been so derelict in my duties lately in updating my blog! I've been derelict in my other duties as well, but I'm getting caught up! It is the 23rd of January and last night if finally took down the Christmas tree. What was up with that? I liked looking at it...the simple truth! I'm always sad to see it go. We only take the ornaments off the tree and then we tie it up with rope and haul it and its accoutrements in big plastic boxes to the warehouse where it sits lonely and abandoned until next Christmas!
School began on the 11th of January and I have jumped back in with both feet. At Georgia Highlands I am taking Anatomy II and Microbiology with their accompanying labs against the advisor's advice. I also am a staff writer with the school newspaper, The Six Mile Post. This is the most fun thing I get to do as an "old" college student. My first post was put in the online edition. I did an investigative report on the heating and air conditioning systems on the various campuses and it was entered in the Georgia College Press Association's annual competition. I won an award! I don't know where I placed yet, we will find out at the meeting, February 5th and 6th at the GCPA Press Institute in Athens. I am excited to get to go, and looking forward to it. I got to write articles for every edition this past semester and started a column because the editors were intrigued by my blog's title: Living Life. I wrote one about Living Life and going back to school, the second was about Living Life and my love of reading and teaching my daughter to read, I have another one in this month's paper and haven't decided what to write about yet, maybe it should be about being organized in life and in your study habits!
My daughter decided to clean her room about three weeks ago. This involved washing about 20 loads of clothes and giving away the whole back of my car full of clothes! I will finish the last of them today. I am determined. I also went through all my drawers and contributed to the donations. We gave 13 bags of clothes and things to the Goodwill. I have two more bags that I am in the process of filling. They will go to the Hospitality House's Thrift Store. I like to spread the "goodwill" around. We used to give a lot of money to various organizations, but we don't have very much extra cash since I have been in school and paying tuition, so this is one way we can "give back."
I went paddling with the CRBI on their annual Polar Bear Paddle, Saturday the 16th. I have done this stretch of the river many times. I've done it only when Altoona Dam was releasing or at flood stage I suppose because I'd never seen it this low! Another young father with his son and another couple in a canoe led the paddle the whole way. There were a couple of shoals and fish weirs that I had never been able to see before and as I was telling the second canoe how to go through the first shoal at the very beginning of the paddle, I hit a little bit of rock sticking out of the water and fell out of my boat! Thank goodness it was only two feet deep and I hopped back in my kayak and finished the paddle. In any other season this would not be much of a problem, when it is 38 degrees, it sort of was. I got wet to my waist after the water wicked up my underlayers. My feet never did warm up even though I had on socks and my neoprene dive boots! However, the quick dry underwear saved the day and I made it. Two people in a canoe were not as fortunate and had to be rescued and taken to shore where they were warmed up and had to go home. Jonathan Cook and his son, Zach, finished the paddle first and I was right behind them. The Rome News-Tribune said we finished in an hour and 45 minutes but the rescue people on shore said that we did it in 1:20. When I fell out of my kayak I called Freddy and asked him and Nicole to bring the truck to Heritage Park so I could get into my dry shoes and socks as soon as I landed. They did. That was the best thing I saw all day! I didn't really feel too cold until I stopped paddling and got on shore. Those dry shoes and warm truck were heavenly along with the hot chocolate that was provided by CRBI and I was warmed up lickety split. It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday in January and the conditions of the water and weather and my little spill made for an adventure.
On the homefront, at school, and on the river, that's where you'll find me...Living Life!
