New Year Resolutions

He looks a little sad, doesn't he?

He used to have three balloons, tiny Christmas ornaments on wires.

I'll have to get busy when I get home and make him some new balloons. Maybe that will cheer him up.

I'm not a big fan of clowns, and white faced sad clowns just make me feel guilty.


Like I need to do something to cheer them up.
Who needs guilt from a clown?

I do like big feet on clowns. That's my favorite part, and Clown Mouse has huge feet!
My only real fur mouse. It always amazes me that our cats have never chowed down on this mouse.

I do paint and draw, so of course I received Artist Mouse one year.

Nice beret!
I can't remember if this mouse was for my BS degree or my Masters.

Either way, I am happy that that rigmarole is over with.

It's funny though.

Sometimes there will be a commercial about getting your degree in truck driving or medical transcriptions or something like that, and my ears will prick up.

Or a conversation will be going on around me about "going back and getting my degree" and my mind will start rummaging around, thinking about if I should go back to school and get my degree. Then I remember...oh yeah, I already have a degree.

I also find myself listening to stories about how to pay for your kids college, then I go "Oh yeah, that's right, they're already through college, and its all paid for, we're done!"

I guess that just shows how compelling some commercials are. I actually feel stress building while I listen to them.

By the by...Re: paying for kid's college. We put ours in Community College first. Cuts the cost of a four year degree by about a third. Then they went to state schools. We didn't put aside a dime for the kid's college fees, as I was a stay at home mom with very part time jobs, there wasn't an extra dime to set aside!
Once the kids started college, (a year apart, oy!) I went to work full time and helped pay the tuition with my income for a couple of years. The student loans were paid off in five years, which included my Master's degree in the mix.

I say this to encourage those who worry about such things.

If I were to go back to college it would be to get a Phd in Storytelling.

No kidding.

There is a college in Tennessee that offers that degree. It is a fascinating field, not just "once upon a time..." stuff, but instead it looks at how people and groups tell their stories. Firemen, soldiers, nurses, librarians, teachers etc etc all have "stories".

Anyway, I'm not in any hurry to get on with getting a Phd in Storytelling.

It's just nice to know there is something I might like to do someday.

I've noticed the older I get the less I want to do. My "wanna" drive seems to be stuck in neutral.
Doing stuff is a lot of work!

Which brings me to New Year Resolution Making.

1. I will not study to be clown.
2. I will not do any painting that involves using a palette on my thumb (ouch!)
3. I will not enroll in any course work that involves semesters.

See how easy it is to make resolutions that you will keep?

I'm writing this in my pajamas at 12:30 pm local time, with snow flakes drifting outside, and my big fluffy grandkitty curled up asleep on the couch.

The DH and DS are off for day two of skiing; I am heading for curling up with a Christmas romance novel.

A cup of tea, maybe even raspberry hot cocoa, an cozy blanket, a book and NO ONE here ask me to do anything.

Bliss!