2016 Will Be Brought To You By......

......the word serenity. Let me explain. Instead of New Years Resolutions I pick a word to focus on for the year. For the past couple of years I have picked consistency, and while it is something I can always improve on, it was time to broaden my horizons with a new word. I decided on serenity because it is something I need in my life. My life is chaotic....I have alot of things on my plate, but instead of being the spaz I tend to be I would love to be more serene. The definition I am basing this year on is "the state of being calm, peaceful and untroubled". I long to be seen as an oasis in the middle of the craziness of life. This week, and yes I realize it is only Tuesday has been a test for me. Yesterday I had a busy day. I led my No Excuse Mom Group in the morning, after that I was heading to our community college to take a placement test, because after a 19 year "break" I am going back to school and finally I was holding our PTA meeting, did I forget to mention that I am a PTA president? The workout went awesome so I headed to the college. I was being tested in Math, Reading Comp and Writing. I am not a Math person, so I wasn't expecting a high score but I really thought the two English sections would be a piece of cake. I took the tests got my scores and headed down to advising to register for a class, I am starting out slow and only taking one class this semester. I had a surprise when it turns out my Writing score was 2 points shy of what it needed to be to take the first English college level course. She suggested I try again the next day and see if I could pass. I left the office distraught. Its a blow to your pride when you are not as good as you think you are! I will admit I was not feeling serene at all.

By the time I got home I was actually feeling more serene about the whole thing. Only 2 points away after a 19 year break....not bad! Besides I was going back the next day and that was that. The PTA meeting went better than expected so by this time serene is my middle name. Then I go back today. I had an action plan on how I was going to do better. I felt confident, I was ready. However, I got a point lower than I did yesterday! My first reaction wasn't serene or anything close to it, but I stopped and took a breath. The fact that I am taking a "remedial" English class isn't a bad thing. By taking this course and filling in the few gaps I might be able to CLEP out of some of the first level English classes. I love to write, and improving it will only make writing papers during my college career better. So while serenity is not my first reaction yet, it is only January!