GPS Initiated

I'm a huge fan now of GPS, as if I couldn't love my Blackberry anymore, it never ceases to amaze me.

I actually hadn't thought about using it until I was in a situation where I was actually "lost" the other night.

The route I normally take to Elysse's house suddenly became unfamiliar to me. I knew they had worked on the 57 Frwy interchange at the 60 Frwy. For some odd reason I found myself in the carpool lane which had no outlet in sight for miles. I missed my freeway, no doubt and figured I better pull myself off at the next exit to navigate myself to familiar territory.

I remember my brother saying my phone had GPS and I half-chuckled it off saying, "I know," but didn't quite get what he meant by that. Well, I figured it out quickly.

I thought something on my Blackberry had to work in a situation like this. I basically wanted to know how far the 57 was from where we were. I panicked because the place we pulled over was dark and remote and really creepy. I had to think fast.

I whipped out my trusted BB and clicked on the downloaded app GOOGLE MAPS. I was amazed the very first screen that popped up showed a blinking dot in the middle of my screen and around it showed the 60 Frwy and the 57 Frwy, which was further back than at first I thought. Plus it looked complicated if I were to backtrack. So I looked further north and lo and behold, there was the 15 Frwy. I kept looking further and found the 210 Frwy and my exit was 20 minutes or so within reach. Wait, there's more, with each scroll of my trackball, I could see strips of yellow and green, which meant slow traffic and good flow of traffic, just like a signal light.

I turned the Durango around and immediately found my way onto the 60 east and well on my way. I even gave my BB to the twins and had them from the back seat keep me posted with what freeways were coming up next and what the flow of traffic was like. It made for a smooth drive the rest of the way and it gave them a sense of participation. I couldn't have done without them, right?

I was once again the twins' heroine with my sidekick (no pun intended) at my side, my BLACKBERRY. Mommy saved the day.

Midway Milestone

When I made up my mind to return to school and finish my degree, I had virtually no idea what I was getting myself into. The road to my degree certainly had it's obstacles, detours and road blocks. The tunnel was always dark with very little sign of hope on the other end. My family took the worst hit in the attention department. I was even accused of "neglecting" my family and their needs.

But despite the negative energy and painstakingly long nights of studying, crying (at times), and sleepless nights, not to mention missed baseball games and family gatherings, I finally have hit a midway milestone.

I received my Associate of Arts degree in General Studies today from Cypress College. I was thrilled. It even came delivered in a special cardboard envelope marked "DIPLOMA PLEASE DO NOT BEND." Christopher was the first to call me to tell me the news. It certainly made my day.

I am working on obtaining the transfer component for Cal State Fullerton which, after this semester will have earned me the Associate of Arts degree in Liberal Studies (the transfer equivalent to my AA degree in General Studies, the only difference is one class - Statistics).

I can breathe a sigh of relief...for now.

Just 2, 3 or so years to go before I achieve the biggest goal of my life: to obtain my Bachelor of Arts Degree.

This is, by far, one of the proudest moments of my life.

Sweet Homecoming

Today was the big day the twins would be coming home from 6th grade camp.

They were so eager to go to camp and could hardly contain themselves Monday. After feeling and seeing snow for their very first time, and experiencing life on their own for five days by Thursday they were ready to come home.

While everyday was jam-packed with activities and excursions (after all, it was still in essence SCHOOL) they were extremely exhausted.

I can breathe better now!