In the groove.

Well, I'm finally back into the swing of this whole "school" thing. The only hard part about doing an online course (besides the whole part of it being "online" and WAY too easy to put on the back burner) is when you finally get yourself in a groove and start banging out assignments... you have to wait for it to come in the mail! I've gone through the three book packs I had here at the house.. now I'm staring at the next section on my computer monitor and the screen is bleakly telling me that the "shipment is processing".. ugh!! However, I COULD use this time productively and go through the book packs I just finished and highlight important information I will need in the future for exams... but I've never been that kind of a student. I'm a "sit down, git r dun" kinda gal.. I don't like to piddle around with silly details like study notes. LoL. In all seriousness though, I love school, but something about an online course takes the love out of it for me. I think I like the culture that goes with school. I like walking into the big stone buildings, the smell of the textbooks, the rustle of papers, the professor standing at the front of the classroom or lecture hall. I miss the intimidation of a huge project due at the end of the term coupled with the anticipation that by the end of term that project won't be intimidating because I'll have learned the steps to complete it by then. While I am doing this course, it is merely a means to an end. I want to generate an income, but I also want to stay home and raise my kids. This is how I decided to do that. I don't remember how I heard about ICS, but I researched and googled and made sure they were who they said they were. I made sure they weren't some sort of scam company that was going to bamboozle me out of my hard earned cash and run away without giving me anything but a bad taste in my mouth... I could find nothing negative about them. On the contrary, I found them listed on several legitimate provincial websites... for what, I forget now.. but they're legit.

So after all my research I figured I would wait and save up the money to pay for my course up front because, of course, everyone gouges you with "payment plans".. or do they? ICS actually only charges an extra $60 on their tuition cost if you choose to do a payment plan, or at least that's what it cost when I was looking into it. Payment plan here I come! I can certainly afford $69/month for the next two years.

Now I did take into account the negative feedback when it came to whether or not they were any good at providing tutors/supplemental help, etc. and there were quite a few people upset because it wasn't offered or was hard to come by... I took into account that ninety percent of the reviews that I read seemed to be written by individuals who's first language was NOT English and as I have a relatively firm grasp on English I'd be willing to take my chances. The true test will come when I try to get a job in the field, we'll see what kind of resources they offer in the realm of job placement.

Anyway, I hadn't touched my course in a few months, such is the danger of working online with ambiguous deadlines, but decided that if I ever want to starting bringing money in from home, then I needed to get my head on straight and start doing something practical about it. Yeah, I've done some mystery shopping and that brought in some cash when we needed it, but i'm just not cut out for mystery shopping. I'm not a shopper! ... so we're just over 1/3 done now... but the hard part is coming up soon.. the medical terminology... ohhhhh...

Anyway, just a quick little blurb.. I said I wanted to start working on my course again and I have.. yay me... I've found that if I don't expect myself to be perfect everyday, I have more success and I tend to be more content in those successes... so yesterday I did my hair and makeup, got up before nine, did devotions and cleaned my kitchen.. today I didn't do my hair or makeup, but I got up before nine and did a crap load of schoolwork (hence no hair or makeup, I was busy being a student..).. I'm learning to cut myself slack where slack is due, and kick myself in the butt when I need to... its all a process.. but that seems to be what this year is about.. processes.