New life for an old blog

I started this blog late last year as part of a project we were working on with library staff. Since the past year has been nothing short of a whirlwind for me, I haven't had a whole lot of time to keep up with it.

As I mentioned in my Facebook posting, though, I want to ease myself back into writing, so thanks to a suggestion from my friend Maureen, I decided to fire up the old blog again. I tried to erase all the boring work projects and leave the postings that somehow relate to my personal life.

I'm not posting this address on my Facebook, so the only folks who know about it are hand picked by me. Perhaps I've enjoyed a really great conversation with you in the past or else you left a comment on my note on Facebook, or maybe both. Either way, I respect you and have enjoyed your company. I'm hoping to create a place where I can post more personal thoughts than what I do on Facebook. So, there won't be a whole lot of mention about the food I'm eating or the sports I'm watching. Sorry to disappoint you. I know how interesting that can be. : ) And I think I'll only post when I have something good to say. It's up to you whether you want to read the posts or not. That's the beauty of a blog as opposed to e-mail.

I hope you enjoy the reading.

Sherrie

How things change in the matter of weeks

The reason I originally moved to San Antonio no longer exists so I'm dealing with a big decision right now. I won't get into specifics since they're not necessary, but in general, I'm deciding between staying here and moving back to Ohio.

I spent my first year in San Antonio hating everything about being here. It took me three months to find a job so the first months were really difficult, especially since I knew about two people in the entire city. Once I got this job at the library, life improved, but for some reason I was still determined not to like being here. As time has progressed, though, San Antonio is growing on me. I've met wonderful friends, I've found a really good church, and I feel like I'm growing as a person more than I ever have. I'm also finding more interesting challenges at work.

Last weekend, I visited home. Of course, it was really nice to see friends and family, but I realized that everyone has moved on in their lives without me. Some friends have gotten married, others have started having children, and others have moved away to other parts of the country and the world. So, no matter where I am, whether I stay here or move back to Ohio, I'll be starting all over again. It's both exciting and daunting. I always thought it would be a no-brainer. If my reason for being here disappeared, then I would move home immediately. But I'm finding that the reason has changed, not vanished.

Now the blog is mine

My first blog post post-23 things. Now I find myself with nothing to write about. ...

I'm going to Atlanta tomorrow. That should be fun. My friend moved there over the summer, and I will be her first visitor from home (Ohio), although I'm not exactly coming from Ohio. It will be nice to spend some time with a person I've known longer than 2 years. I usually only get to do that when I go home.

I'm looking forward to leaving town for a couple days too.

Going to a new class is confusing in any language

I was lucky enough to be one of the recipients of the city's scholarships for classes at la Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (San Antonio); that was only the beginning of my adventure. I went down there to take my placement test so they could determine which level of Spanish they would place me in. The oral test left something to be desired, but I thought I did pretty well on the multiple choice segment. As I was getting ready to leave, though, I was told that I had been placed in level 3. That meant I would need to change my work schedule since the classes were Tues and Thurs nights. No problem since my boss works hard to make sure everyone is able to do the things they want to do. He moved around everyone's schedules for my benefit. Voila, I was able to take the class.

So, I showed up downtown last Thursday, all ready to step into Level 3, even though I thought I should be in a bit higher level. My name wasn't on the class list when I arrived at the school. So, I asked, and I was informed that there had been a mistake with my test. I would be placed in Level 5 instead. That was all well and good, except that I went to the classroom and soon found out that the only students in the class were a native Spanish speaker and me. I had to concentrate very hard in order to catch everything that he and the instructor were saying to each other, and I thought to myself, "There is no possible way that I am at the same level as this gentleman."

Moments later, the thought didn't matter because we were informed that there are not enough people in our class to maintain the course for the semester so we would need to switch to level 4 or 6, which meet Monday and Wednesday. So, my work schedule will go back to normal (good), but I will need to decide between Level 4, which may be too easy, and Level 6, which is almost guaranteed to be too difficult. I will need to decide tonight whether I will be daring or play it safe. I'm thinking safe is the best bet since I could do with quite a bit of review.

Going home to the cold with a cold

I'm leaving for Ohio in a day and a half. While I can hardly wait to deboard the plane in Columbus, I have an unexpected, unwanted friend going with me. It started with the sniffles on Saturday. I was sitting at work, minding my own business, when all of a sudden my nose started running. Soon, the runny nose developed into a slightly sore, phlegmy throat. Now I fear that I will be in full-fledged sickness when I arrive at home.

The good news is that they're going to be having a heat wave while I'm in the Buckeye State. 30s and 40s all week. Sunny on Christmas day! It's a shame not to see any snow this winter, but I wasn't looking forward to slipping and sliding on ice anyway.

Crew Update!

So, the Columbus Crew took home the 2008 MLS Cup, and from what I hear, the news almost made the Buckeye state capital forget about those boys in scarlet and gray! Of course, I said almost. It's tough for anyone to compete for sports fans' attention in Columbus, especially during the fall, since the Bucks have such a history of end-of-season thrills and sometimes huge disappointments (like the last two years in the National Championship game). I'm pretty excited about the soccer championship, though, and I'm not even that into soccer.

Go Crew!

You might move away from a town, but your heart remains there. Although I live 1,300 miles away now, I still love Columbus, and I'm really excited that the Crew (Columbus' Major League Soccer team) blasted its way into the 2008 MLS Cup, their first final ever. Coming from a state whose professional sports teams rarely see the playoffs, let alone the finals or a championship trophy, it's really exciting when success finally happens. As a bungling Bengals and out of luck Reds fan (see almost 20 years of disappointment), I think it's about time that Ohio had a success story to rally around. So, I plan on watching the Crew win the MLS Cup on Nov. 23! I just need to find some yellow and black to wear.