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This post is for my brother, who says he is tired of looking at the horny cowboy pic from the previous post. :)


Today was the long-awaited first day of school for The Girl at her preschool, and for me at community college. As I gave little bit a kiss and handed her off to the teacher, I could not believe that she is going to be in her PreK 4 year old program from 9-2, almost as long as a Kindergarten child. I hope it is not too much and that she has fun this year. She seemed a little shy with her new teacher, but she'll be fine.

I pulled into the college parking lot and noted that when you arrive at 9:15, the only parking spots are in the middle of nowhere. I hopped out of the car, limped to class, and cursed the plantar fasciitishttp://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/plantar-fasciitis-topic-overview problem in my left foot.

I found a seat where I could see the screen at the front of the room and waited for the professor. I purposely chose the one I used do some work for in the Math and Science department when I had a work/study job back in 1990-91. Professor J was always fairly pleasant, and his class had a reputation for being hard. I decided it would be best to at least know what I was getting into as far as instructors go.

A quick glance around the room confirmed what I already felt would happen. I am the oldest person in class. There is a male student who is probably close to my age. If he shows up in lab I am going to snag him as my lab partner because, well, he doesn't look like a TEENAGER like everyone else!

Professor J handed out the syllabus and asked if anyone was nervous about taking the class. Several people raised their hands and he replied, "Good. A little nervousness is good because it makes your brain work better."

Large signs at the front of the room reminded us to turn off cell phones. I did not, as I am the only person my children's schools can call if something turns up. I furtively turned my phone to silent and looked for missed calls occasionally. Nothing came up.

One interesting thing about being a non-traditional (older) student is how technology plays a role in learning. Instead of marker board there is Powerpoint and a screen. We are encouraged to use some resources on the Internet, instead of the professor's former favorite reference book. If we miss a lecture he has a video of it on his website.

He began with discussing the syllabus, absentee policy, and how taking A&P is the first step to a career in health care. Then he dived into the semester's first lecture, about homeostasis. He first asked us to list the body's eleven different systems on our paper, just what we could come up with. I got stuck at eight. The young girl, ahem, woman next to me had zero. Professor J commented that he saw papers with none, and some with 8 or 10 systems listed. That gave me some hope that maybe my previous (and comparatively superficial) knowledge of human anatomy from LVN school will resurface.

I was absorbed in what Professor J was saying and taking notes for the rest of class. The tension from being cooped up with my kids for three months while my husband worked lots of overtime, managed his parents' business affairs, rehabbed our trashed rent house, and took care of his elderly grandparents faded. I was no longer worried about my son, who again had a stomach ache before school and was tardy because he was in the bathroom.

It is more clear than ever that I need to be something more than wife, mother, dog poop cleaner, and kid shuffler.

Class ended. I rose from my seat, and my left hip painfully popped, a reminder that there will probably be an MRI in my near future. I hobbled again out to my car with a smile on my face.