it's time for another update...

first and foremost -- Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!!...

i hope you all had a great holiday...my day was quiet and low key and held a few pleasant surprises....the best one was a last minute invitation to my brother's for dinner...my mom & i went down and helped him & his girlfriend eat their 20 pound turkey...

tomorrow is the "big day" with most of the family at my sister's...

...

yesterday i got a letter from the college...on the back of the letter was an intent to graduate form, which i must file in order to graduate with my associates in june...of course, i will fill taht out and mail it back in and things...

the thought of graduation is one that both excites and frightens me at the same time...i've never graduated from anything aside from kindergarden and the DARE program at school, so this is serious business...it's frightening because it means that i have finally "made something of myself" so to speak....and because it's the end of a chapter in my life...however, i will soon be writing a new chapter, as i plan on going for my bachelors in education after...

so, it's not really all THAT frightening, i guess...but, it's very overwhelming....

last night i was quite excited about it all (and it's still seven months away!!...) and had trouble falling asleep...

it certainly is an exciting thing...it's like "wow...this is REALLY happening..." ....

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also, a good freind of mine from illinois may come to my graduation, if the dates will be compatible with her summer plans....i should know more about that by this time next week...

i called plymouth state university this week and they are sending me a catalog so i can look things over and see what kind of programs they offer so i can think about what i want to do after i've got my associates...if granite state offers an education program (which i believe they might) i may just continue with them as long as i can, and then head to plymouth state afterwards....

i know it will be a lot of work, but anything worth doing in this life does take a lot of work....reaching goals isn't always easy...but the end result is worth all the work, all the time and energy...it's worth everything...

....

my brother ray seemed very proud of me when i told him today that i got my intent to graduate form...i think he's finally seeing me as an adult and he takes me a lot more seriously now...that in and of itself is a great feeling and is very rewarding...

*hmm* maybe, just maybe, i *AM* growing up....

who knew?....

....

anyhow...i'm off to bed...

tomorrow will be a busy day, and i want to be rested up for it...

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soon i hope to get back to posting once a week about birds that are around...at my feeder so far i have seen cardinals, blue jays, black capped chickadees, hairy woodpeckers, and downy woodpeckers...

also, i had a pieleated woodpecker in the yard a week ago yesterday...i watched it flying overhead and then saw it land and start tapping away on a tree...it was back again the next day, but i haven't seen it since....

also, there have been some mourning doves hanging out in one of the trees, and i think they're sticking around because they're being fed...

it's nice to see the birds around...it livens things up a bit...

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to be continued....

-ramona anne