Graduation and Flowers

Today was my last day of my Bachelors of Science in Communications Degree. That's right, at age 41, I am finally completing my degree.

 I find it ridiculous to think that I had a 14 years as a stay at home mom with time to actually go to school and never did. It took a divorce, single parenthood, a new, full time job and the prospect of a disaster looming on the horizon to add full time student to my title. At a time when I had NO TIME, I chose to add 15-20 hours a week to my schedule in homework, reading and paper writing. I have sat at ball games, highlighting communications theories between batters, used the light of my cell phone to read chapters of mythology and religion while waiting for a movie to start, turned down offers of fun to write a paper on ancient Greece and procrastinated until the last possible second to complete an assignment under the guise of me 'working better under pressure'.

In my work, I talk people who were just like me and afraid of being unsuccessful in school or adding another chore to their already busy lives. Today, one of those students, an outstanding woman named Angie, recognized my achievement by sending me this gorgeous flower arrangement and a box of chocolates to work. The card was simple and congratulated me on reaching my goal. When I called to thank her, she told me that it was important to mark the day and celebrate my degree.

Thanks you Angie, for recognizing my hard work. Thank you for bringing me to tears and making me feel like I had done something worthwhile and worth recognizing me. I appreciate you and hope you will be around to talk me through my Masters of Science in Psychology as well. I am going to need it.

PS~ Graduation is April 30. Pictures will follow. YAY ME!!!!

Bullies

I may not be religious any more, having chosen to let go of the faith in which I was raised. (That is a whole 'nother story that brings up a conversation about POSERS and very "righteous, influential people" throwing rocks from their own glass living rooms, but alas, that is for a different day.) Bullies are people who feel happy when other people feel bad. They may have had some sort of traumatic incident in their childhood precipitating these episodes of anti-social behavior, but let's get out my childhood and compare notes, shall we? I may not always be the best behaved girl in the world...I am loud, opinionated (but less so as I get older), and oblivious sometimes, but I mean well. Mostly. At work, we have to participate in trainings about sexual harrassment and corporate compliance with the bottom line being INTENT DOES NOT MATTER. You may not intend to offend someone with a comment, but if they are offended, your perplexed butt will be hauled in to HR so fast it will make your head spin. "Do not gather your things dear, we will do it for you. Now about what you said to so and so......." But..I digress. I have been being bullied for years. You would think that with the mouth and the opinions, I would handle this sort of thing well, but nope. I do not like confrontation. I don't like to hurt people's feelings and I don't like them to hurt mine. I just want everyone to share their toys and go home from the playground tired and happy. There is always one kid in the box that likes to throw sand that messes it up for everyone. I am about to being backed into a corner of the sandbox and am having to make a choice I don't want to make. I want people to get along. I want people to do what is best for others sometimes and not themselves, I want people to wake up, look around them and see that their actions are hurting people around them who can only stand, gobsmacked, and watch as thier favorite tos are kicked and smashed to smithereens. The intent, I have hoped for some time, is that the bully is stupid. Now I think not. Now I think the bully is worse than stupid, the bully is sinister. The bully has intentions of which I know nothing if I am being truthful but you know what bully? INTENT DOES NOT MATTER. You watched the compliance videos too. Yeah, today pretty much sucked.