Puppy Love & The Dating Game

So my mom posted on her blog about guys she had dated and whether it was a win or lose situation.

Of course, that got me thinking about my love life.

I remember having a crush on this kid Joel in Kindergarten. I also remember this kid Jamal having a crush on me, that one recess he ran up to me, kissed my cheek and ran away.

In second grade it was DeWayne that I loved. We would sit together on the bus. Then my family moved.

From age 8 to 14 I had a crush on JG. His family moved away (heartbreak) but they would come back and visit every so often, so I would get to see him and it would
re-ignite my crush.

We (my sisters and I) were not able to date until age 16. But unbeknownst to Mom(at least I think it was unbeknownst to Mom) I did have boyfriends. We were 'going' together. There was Chris, Jason, and Wayne.

Fast forward to dating age. My first official date actually turned out to be JG. I guess love won for a crush to become an actual date.

Then I dated Wayne. I loved his southern drawl. He really treated me like a lady. He even called my mother "Mom". I loved that my family just welcomed him. But, he ended up moving back to Tennessee, so, love lost.

Then I met Fredric. My sister and his brother got us together. When we were first talking, finding out about each other, we were outside. He did the classic move of sizing up our hands to see how much bigger his were than mine. He commented that my hands were cold, so I said, "So, why don't you warm them up?" So smooth. He ended up going on a mission, then Dear Jane-ing me while on his mission. So, love lost.

I dated a few guys in college; Dow, Rene, Ken and Tom. I would consider them breaking even.

Then I went to Wyoming to spend Thanksgiving with my cousin, who arranged for a guy to drive me. I thought the guy was cute and the rest is history. 15 years and 4 kids later, we are still going strong. So, love won.

Hype, Fads and Crazes

I find it interesting that I will choose to do or not do something just because other people are doing it.

Take for example, the Harry Potter Books and movies. Usually everyone I meet has strong feelings about this. Most people like the books, and have been on waiting lists to receive them. They've eagerly waited and anticipated the next edition. Then there are those who are totally against it because it teaches black magic, witchcraft, etc. I simply haven't read it because I'm not interested and because of all the hype surrounding it.

On the other hand, the Twilight book series or saga. All the girls in my ward, and many adults are completely ga-ga over these books. They check out the website, they have read each book multiple times in anticipation of the next edition in the series. These people can't wait for the movie to come out in December. Now, I have read these books. I haven't read the fourth book (I'm waiting for the fervor to die down so I can check it out at the library). I have read Twilight and New Moon twice (I own these two). I've read Eclipse. I've checked out Midnight Sun on www.stepheniemeyer.com. I have checked out the trailer on imdb.com and am anticipating the movies. But I'm not crazed over it. I've tried to ignore the hype so I can enjoy the series. I am a fan, and would recommend it to my friends and family, but I don't think I am ga-ga over it.

What is it about books, movies, actors, rockstars that make people lose control, lose their minds. I am not one to stand in line for 3 days just to get a ticket for something. Is it patience I possess? Or is it just a lack of determination. Maybe I'm just lazy and don't want to put forth the effort into being a superfan of something. I guess my motto is "all in good time"

I remember seeing footage for a crowd of people waiting to catch a glimpse at the Beatles, or Elvis. The women and girls are screaming, shouting, crying, and crying so hard they make themselves sick. I've seen the same thing on American Idol. They scan the audience, you see one girl in tears (the song is not even a heart-breaking, sad song) and she is about to pass out or something.

Whatever.

So, I need to think, is there anything that is a fad or craze, or something so hyped up that I just gotta have, see, hear, touch, etc.? How's about you?

Academics

So, I've gone back to school. I am a student at BYU. For the past year, I've been taking the classes I wanted to take. I would take my religion classes online, coordinating them with what book of scripture we were studying in Sunday School Gospel Doctrine class.

People ask me how I like college. I say, "Great!" "I'm learning a lot." "I'm having fun in my ASL classes."

Kyle says, "Sure, college is fun now, wait til you have to take the classes you don't like."

He's right. This summer I started two classes online. HEPE 129 (Health Ed. & Phys. Ed) and American Heritage 100. I've been lagging on the HEPE because you have to do a 12 week exercise program to show progress and I've been having a hard time getting my fat, lazy ass out of bed to exercise. (Yes I said ass, because butt just doesn't do it justice). I'm a member of Curves and it has been hard getting there this summer. But now that school/work has started and I'm in more of a routine, it should be easier.

Also, I've been lagging on the American Heritage class. Now, when I went to BYU the first time 1991-1992, I failed American Heritage. So this time I thought, "Hey, I'll take it online, so I can go at my own pace and I have a whole year to finish it, not just a semester." Now, I'm not a very political person. If this class were just historical events and dates I would be fine. But no. It is about policies and politics. Defining arete, and what the difference between Classical Republicanism, Liberal Republicanism and Democratic Republicanism is. The readings are long and I just get tired and sleepy. I bought this class in May 2008 so I have until May 2009 to finish. So far I have completed 7 of 28 lessons. I need to buckle down!

For this Fall semester I am taking Humanities 201 and Engish 150. So far for Humanities we've studied Genesis and Mesopotamia, and are now into the Iliad. For English we've discussed Writing and Rhetoric. I've learned that writing is meant to be read. Sometimes we write for ourselves like with poetry and journals because it helps us process thoughts and feelings. But don't we intend that future generations might read it? So we write for others to read. I think letter writing is a lost art. Now-a-days we just send quick emails, texts and ims. Grammar and spelling are sometimes thrown out the window in these venues. I think blogging is bringing back the art of writing.

Going back to college, it has been a trial to balance work, school, church and family. I am out of the home a lot fulfilling the diffent needs each of these require. When I decided I wanted to go back to college and get a degree, Kyle asked, "Yeah, how come we never had you go back and finish you degree?" (He finished his when we were first married) I answered, "I don't know, because we were poor, I worked full-time and we had small children." Then I said, "Wait a minute, we are still poor, I work pretty much full-time and we still have small children." I know that the timing is right to get my degree now.

So, what I have learned is that college is not only fun, but it is HARD.