I have two goals this Labor Day: do my nails and get comfortable with chemistry.  I’m already well on my way to accomplishing both; my toenails are done and I’m halfway through my end-of-chapter practice problems.  Hurray!

While everyone else is diving into fall with the emergence of pumpkin-EVERYTHING, I’m resisting the urge and hanging onto summer for at least one more month by sporting teal and coral nail polish before bringing out my arsenal of “fall” colors.  You can read more on my “seasonal” categories of nail polish here and here.  I just got Essie’s “Carry On,” a really deep yet vibrant purple, which I can’t wait to try for fall.  I was going to use it today, but I just couldn’t bear the thought of leaving summer behind in the beginning of September…

Anyway, back to school…

I love school.  I loved it the first time around (for the most part) and have really embraced the thought of being a student for the next few years.  It’s a little weird being older than everyone else, but I’m still in the “relatively young” category.  Us “older folks” in my classes have kind of gravitated toward each other, which is nice.  This time around, however, I sit in the front row, have to resist the urge to “ssshh” my teeny-bopper classmates and take notes feverishly.

I’ve been mostly impressed so far with ECC’s classes and teachers.  I have a mix of teachers, ranging from a young-ish guy who must have his masters’ to a very old Indian man with his Ph.D.  All of them seem genuinely interested in their students’ success and there is a little more ‘hand-holding’ than I was used to at Penn State.  The classes are even small enough to take attendance!

I am definitely anxious about some of the math aspects of my chemistry and anatomy classes.  It’s seriously SIMPLE stuff, and I vaguely remember it from high school, but I’m really having a hard time!  I’m hoping it’s only because I’ve been away from it all for so long (10 years!), and that it will start coming back with practice.  I rocked high school chemistry–seriously, I did.  This self-proclaimed math- and science-phobe scored the highest GPA in chemistry way back when, to include all the bona fide  science nerds.  I’m still not quite sure how I did it, except that I studied a lot, wanted to impress my teacher and I actually did “get” the chemistry to some degree.  So, there is hope I’ll “get it” again, and soon!  Definitely going to have to hit-up Andrew for some chemistry-equation tutoring…

Speaking of Andrew…  He’s been off mountain biking all morning with some guys from work.  Jealous!  Well, a little.  I’m all for mountain biking on a much tamer level than he is.  I’m excited to get a bike; I haven’t had one in years!  If we buy a house in the village, I can’t wait to get one on which I can toodle around town and to which I can attach a basket.  I mean, can’t you just see me riding over to the bakery to pick up a loaf of bread?  Ha!  I can’t wait!  And I need to have some sort of mountain bike…  I can’t let Andrew have all the fun alone!

OK, lunch- and blog-break over!  Back to chemistry!