I'm working on unit 8 and unit 6b helped a great deal in understanding the paramedic method of revision, a process I've never used. I'm looking forward to finishing my paper and editing to hopefully make it a great paper!

So, is everyone ready for New Year's? I am not sure what I'll be doing in the way of celebrating but it's a new year and of course, new resolutions! I'm making a resolution I will keep, organizing my life! I feel I need to be more organized and what better time to start than in a new year!

I wish everyone a Very Happy New Year!

Joanne

well, it's Saturday and Christmas is over! Wow, all that shopping and it's over. Moving onto a New Year and I'd like to wish everyone a very Happy, Healthy and prosperous new year. 2009 was a difficult one for my family and I'm praying 2010 is a much better year or at least not as bad. My brother passed away in June 2009 and that took it's toll on my parents. I'm hoping the upcoming year they will be feeling much better.

Did everyone get what they wanted for Christmas? I ate too much, as usual, and I tomorrow it's back to my healthy diet and no more cake and sugar.

It's rained all day and the snow is melting but it was very nice having a white Christmas it's been long overdue.

Keeping up with class work during the holidays is moving right along only wish we had the time to just relax and not do any work but that's a dream lol.

I wish everyone a happy new year and good luck on your project papers.

Let it snow!

Friday, here in Maryland, we had a blizzard and 30 inches of snow! Needless to say,I spent a lot of time outdoors shoveling snow. In between I worked on my projects for Anatomy & Physiology II, Communications II and my software class projects. In between all that I made a pot of homemade chicken soup and baked a ham. I get into a cooking mode when it snows or rains sort of like a comfort thing for me lol.

Today is a beautiful day in Maryland and the snow is everywhere and it's back to classwork for me I need to finish my project outlines.

Good luck to everyone on your projects and outlines.

Joanne

I found that the prewriting strategies that I like are freewriting and informal outline. I find free writing allows me to just start writing and keep on adding what comes to mind and with that I set up my informal outline which is much more structured and organized.

Freewriting is fun, I just write and when I go back to read it sometimes I think "what am I trying to say here" lol. It allows me to rethink what I am saying.

Informal outline is much more structured and keeps me organized as to what I want to write about in my final paper.

I enjoy the communications II class as much as I enjoyed Communications I, I have learned a lot about writing and hope to learn a great deal more before the semester ends. I will take what I learned with me and utilize it on a daily basis no matter where I am and what I'm writing.

Have a great day everyone and good luck on your projects!

Hi everyone!

Well it's two weeks before Christmas and the retail industry is booming but not like former years. It has been hectic, exhausting but fun. I am working in Macy's for the season and I am enjoying being a manager. I am now going to be working 7 p.m. - 11p.m. tuesdays through friday and 11 - 8:00 p.m. saturday and by sunday well, my feet are taking a stand and they are refusing to go any further than the computer lol.

I'm doing much better with citation and plaigerism, when you think about it, is a scary scene and I would never want to suffer the consequences of purposely copying someone else's paper or project. Besides, I get more satisfaction out of doing my own work. I enjoy writing and I would love to write a book! I don't have enough confidence in myself to do it but I'm gaining it more and more as school progresses and perhaps when I am finished with school I will write that book I've always wanted to write. Just need a topic to write about lol.

Everyone have a great day and I will see you in class. Joanne

Another Week, Another Chapter!

Hi everyone! Another week has gone by and I cannot believe how fast the months are going, and I won't even touch the topic of how fast the years are going by!

I think citing resources is good because it shows that we, as students, have done our research and it forces us to write our projects/papers in our own words rather than copy them from the research articles we have read.

Real World plagiarism hmmm I'm not sure how this should be handled, but I do feel that if someone copies word for word they should not be entitled to a good grade. That's just my opinion!

Sites such as YouTube and Wikipedia are a waste of time. I think some of the things on You Tube are on there because those people have too much time on their hands and have nothing better to do or shall I say don't find anything better to do. I frown upon my children surfing the YouTube website. Again, that's my opinion!

So did everyone have a nice Thanksgiving? Ours was quiet, spent the time with my parents in New Jersey. My parents are going to be 85, mom in December, Dad in January. Of course he tells her she's older because he was born in the year after her lol. They have been together since they were 14 years old 71 years and wouldn't be without one another. They had their ups and downs but they stuck it out! God bless mom and dad!

Christmas is on it's way and retail is moving right along but it's not booming. People are shopping but mostly looking for sales. Taking classes, working and keeping a household together takes a lot of energy lol. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Spent the day with my son, he's in school in Salisbury, Maryland and he was happy to spend the time with his sister and I. We had a nice lunch and took him shopping for clothes, of course that was the best part for him lol.

Off to do my Unit 4 work and onto the work for my other two classes.

P.S. Thank you everyone for your prayers for Henry, my ex-father In law he's doing much better and it's a miracle he's alive.

Until next blog ciao'

Black Friday!

Black Friday was a fun but hectic day at Macy's today! I worked 10 hours today non-stop and my feet are killing me lol.

Thanksgiving day was a nice day spent with my two children and my parents who are 84 years old.

My children's grandfather has made it through a most crucial time since his surgery. He has come through all the set backs and is on the mend.

This semester I have decided to take three courses and it's hard to keep up since I had to address the family issues and drive back and forth to New Jersey which took time away from my classwork. I now have a lot of work to make up. I find this to be a true test of my ability to remain an honor student but I'm determined to keep up with it.

It's a blustery night, very windy and it's cold. Tomorrow I work 11:00 - 8:00 p.m., therefore I'm going to cut this blog short as I am tired from a long day.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

This past weekend!

On Friday evening I drove my daughter to New Jersey to visit her grandfather in the hospital. He is my ex-father in law but I still treat them like my in-laws and we are very close. My children's grandfather, his name is Henry, had open heart surgery two weeks ago to repair his aorta and another valve as well as a double bypass. The surgery was a success however, on thursday, he went into congenital heart failure and thank God he was still in ICU waiting for the nurse to move him to another room since he was doing so well after surgery (2 wks later). However, he is still in ICU and his kidneys are not working to their full capacity and his body is retaining fluids as well as his lungs due to pneumonia. He is being treated for the pneumonia but is still retaining fluids and is very very swollen. I ask that everyone say a prayer that he makes it through this terrible time.

We were in New Jersey friday through sunday evening and will be returning tuesday as my son comes home from college and he wants to see him and we will then spend the holiday with my parents and return home Thanksgiving night as I have to work friday.

I was nice seeing my parents but sad to see Henry so sick. He is the nicest man and he is the one person in life other than my parents that I would not want to see go through such a terrible time. The cardiologist said he will make it through all of this but they have to clear up the pneumonia and the kidneys.

Thanks for reading everyone!

Wednesday, the middle of the week otherwise known as hump day in the world of employment. I have been laid off since March 2009 and besides looking for employment, I am working part time at Macy's Dept. store. Working in retail has been quite an experience, I now have a lot more respect for the sales associates and what they deal with on a daily basis. I have come to realize that people can sometimes be very rude and inconsiderate, they abuse the sales associates, throw clothing on the floor, open packaging, take clothing off racks and pretend they purchased it and lost the receipt....did you ever? The list is endless on this subject. However, this job has allowed me to experience yet another form of customer service. I must say "the customer is not always right."

I have been enjoying being home when my daughter returns from school, my dog misses me when I'm gone (now that's unconditional love lol), and working part time allows me to see what it would be like when I retire, work part time as a medical transcriptionist and stay home. I love it! Of course taking classes takes up a lot of my time and I also am enjoying this stage of my life. I am 55 and deciding on a career change was a big step in a positive direction, one that I put off for years and I'm glad I was laid off because I would not have done this otherwise. Everything works out for the best.

I have met a lot of nice people in my classes and that is always a good thing and everyone is very helpful.

Thank you God for pushing me toward my goals.

Sunday on the Eastern Shore

Today was a beautiful, sunny and 70 degree day here in Pasadena, Maryland. I took a trip over to the Eastern Shore of Maryland to meet one of my dearest friends who I lost touch with and haven't seen in 30 years. The reason we lost touch was due to her husband's jealousy over the fact that we were best friends. She has divorced him and has been trying to catch up with me which has been hard, because I was born and raised in New Jersey and relocated to Maryland in 1997 therefore, I lost contact with a lot of my dear friends.

The past week has been a fun week in some ways because I have had several close friends, whom I haven't seen in 30 years or so, contact me on Facebook. Had this technology been around 30 years ago we probably wouldn't have lost 30 years of a great friendship but we've reconnected and are going to make sure we never lose contact again. It was a happy day filled with tears of joy!

second post 11/14/09

I have started my Communications II class and look forward to becoming a much better writer. I have developed a lot of confidence in myself when it comes to writing project papers and I find the research informative and fun.

I feel that writing will be a major part of my future career as a medical transcriptionist as I am planning on working for a company that has home based positions and eventually starting a home based medical transcription business. My goal is to retire in 10 years and have an established business. Writing will be a large part of this plan, as advertising and correspondence will be a necessity and proper writing skills will show my prospective clients that I am a dependable business.

Unit I - Entry #1

I've just created my very first blog, it was fun and I look forward to writing in my blog throughout the 10 week course of the Communications II class.

I hope to become a better writer as I learned a great deal in Communications I and Communications II will only add to what I've learned and I will then be able to apply what I've learned to my writing.

11/12/09