My son is in his junior year of high school; the time when teenagers are looking at colleges, taking SATs, and thinking about their future.  Teachers, parents, and grandparent expect that their kids will go to college, but let’s be honest…. college isn’t for everyone. Somehow that gets forgotten.  Don’t get me wrong…I value education. I am halfway through my Master of Science in Nursing program. I wish my son wanted to go to college, but he doesn’t….and that’s okay.

I have always stressed the value of an education to him, whether it be college or a trade school.  We spent time talking about how you have to have a marketable skill. How a job making minimum wage is not enough to support himself on.  Do I wish he had this overwhelming desire to be a doctor? Of course, but he doesn’t.

Unfortunately for him, his high school doesn’t seem ok with it.  He has to research colleges and write papers on them. Some classes are spent going to school sponsored college fairs.  It was stressing him out to the point that he was afraid to tell me that he didn’t want to go to college, and I am not okay with that.  I never want him to be afraid to tell me something. Continue reading »

As I have previously mentioned in past blog posts, I LOVE Groupon. My friend and I are always looking for fun, new things to do, and Groupon never disappoints. I am a big believer in that experiences, rather than material things, are a true gift. So, when it came time for my friend’s birthday I took to Groupon and found a glass blowing workshop. It sounded fun and was something we had never tried, so I bought it. There were options for a 1-hour workshop or a 3 hour; having never done it before, I got us the 1-hour workshop (I believe it was $85 for the 2 of us).

We booked our session for a Saturday afternoon in early December. There were other scheduled for our class, but they never showed, so it was essentially a one-on-one lesson for us. We had to choose our project first. We could choose from a pumpkin, an ornament, or a paperweight. We then had to choose or colors; each project could be 2-3 colors, and they had a big choice of colors.

Next came the glass blowing. Safety glasses are a must and we also had to wear sleeves to protect our arms from the heat. The furnace that the melted glass is kept in is well over 500 degrees (I can’t remember the exact temperature, but it was REALLY hot) and the furnace that you spin the glass in is around 400 degrees. Continue reading »

I recently made a big decision for my career; I decided to go back to school for my Master’s degree. A little background: I graduated from nursing school 21 years ago with my Associates degree. I had always maintained that I never had any intention of going back, and for years I didn’t. Then I interviewed for a job I REALLY wanted and I didn’t get it. I realized then that having my BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) would make me much more marketable and increase my chances of eventually getting the job I wanted. Within 3 months I was enrolled and I finished my BSN in June of 2016. On the last day of classes for me, I got offered the job I wanted (2 years after I applied the first time). Coincidence? Maybe, but I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. And now that the learning bug has bitten me, I can’t get enough.

Maybe you’ve thought about going back to school and are unsure. I’ve talked to many people about this over the last several years. Some tell me they are too old, others tell me they don’t have the time, and some tell me that just the thought itself overwhelms them. It IS a huge decision. Continue reading »

I am always on the go; even when I plan to relax, I don’t relax. The teenage son and two dogs ensure that I don’t. I kept reading and hearing all kinds of things about Himalayan salt caves, so I decided to do a bit more research and find out what all of the hype was about.

Salt therapy, also known as Halotherapy, has been around for centuries. It is a natural therapeutic treatment that is used to treat a variety of ailments. It’s said to help with respiratory conditions, acne, depression, allergies, eczema, stress, psoriasis, and anxiety. There are no side effects, and it is safe for all ages.

The benefits of salt therapy were noted in Eastern Europe back in the 12th century, and it has been used there since; it just never really caught on here in the US. It was first noticed that salt miners did not suffer from the same afflictions as the rest of the population. Once people realized this, they began going into the salt caves to reap the benefits of breathing in the salt vapors. Salt contains over 80 minerals that are essential to maintaining a healthy body. Salt is also said to help with migraines, detoxify, and help with insomnia and joint pain, as it is a natural anti-inflammatory as well as an anti-microbial and anti-bacterial. Continue reading »