Update and Feeling Smart

Update:

Well, exams are now over. I know according to the points posted that I earned that I have earned an A in one of my classes. The other class I took I am suspecting that I earned an A in it, too (due to being graded nothing less than a 99 in my writings and mid-term exam and making a B+ on my term paper before revision...also think I did well on the final exam). I have completed most of my Yule and Christmas shopping, but need to send off a couple packages to family. They will get them by New Year's. I have joined a new group and am making new friends of like minds; responsible, working adults that don't whine about things without having tried to remedy the situation themselves. One offered me a trial of supplements that I have tried and am disappointed at how my body seems to react to. They cause an adverse reaction and I end up having a flair up of my chronic fatigue syndrome, which is why I began taking the darn things in the first place. I looked up the ingredients and there is nothing in them that should cause the reaction, but my body is being freakish.

We are not happy with our church either. I have a difficult time going after having talked with my minister about a few things of importance to me. I was told I am a Diest and that Gnosticism has dangers, those being that the belief that Christ and God reside inside the soul means that you start believing that you are becoming a god. Hmm...Nope, don't think I am a god or goddess. But I do believe that Christ, God and the divine force lives within my heart and my soul and that it is not an external force guiding me. If I don't feel the divine within I have a hard time believing in it and will break it down until it either no longer is valid or I find the force behind the belief and understand it. Topping it off is that I was told that the Saints and the Virgin Mary are not fundamental beliefs in the doctrine of the Episcopal Church, but the following Sunday a prayer in the Book of Common Prayer all but invoked Mary and the Saints. Contradiction? I think we are going to try the Unitarian Church here in Charlotte in hopes we have a more pleasant experience with them here.

Feeling Smart:

Last night my loving husband came up to me and said, "I am Enkidu to your Shamhet." He took me off guard and I asked him who Shamhet was since something about it just didn't sound right. He was referencing The Epic of Gilgamesh, which is very sweet of him since I am an English Literature Major at Winthrop University and just finished a class in World Literature. I thought that my brain was just not remembering effeciently since that was a reading from the very beginning of the semester. My hubby said Shamhet was the temple prostitute that tamed the wild forest man Enkidu, and then I knew why his statement to me didn't click. The translation we read never named the temple prostitute and only called her the Harlot and referenced her as being from the Temple of Ishtar. I asked him where he saw that Shamhet was referenced as the name of the Harlot and he showed me the article on Wikipeadia. I read it and then went and got my copy of The Epic of Gilgamesh, since they were translating the menaing behind the name Shamhet as being the "glorious one.". I saw that there was a sun god by the name of Shamesh in the epic and that he was referenced as the "glorious sun." So, all my studies on ancient religions began clicking and I dared to comment and suggest that there was a mistranslation by the original poster.

My instinct led me down the thoughts that a temple prostitute traditionally took on a portion of the name of the goddess/god that the temple is dedicated to. For the Harlot to have a literary force behind her characterization her actual name would have had a connection to Ishtar, not Shamesh, since she was dedicated in the Temple of Ishtar. The name Shamhet suggests a connection to the god Shamesh, not to the actual connection to the goddess Ishtar. Plus, a temple prostitute rarely would take on a masculine force in her association via her temple name. That would suggest a position that would not involve civilizing a man through the sexuality of a woman, as the Harlot civilized Enkidu with exposing her naked breasts and laying with him in the forest. Women were also not associated in Akkadian culture with the sun, but were associated with lunar cycles and dark mysteries like the goddess Ishtar is of the night and darker mysteries of women...menstration, fertility, birthing and death. I have a study in this topic since I am dedicated to Ishtar's Egyptian counterpart...the goddess Sekhmet.

A night of Politics and History

I was sitting watching the results of the Presidential election last night, as probably most of America was. At the same time I was working on a paper for class about economic liberty. It was strange to be watching history change as I was pulling writings and publications from our nation's forefathers. While I was writing about free trade and state unification issues, the news was reporting the unification of the nation's voters. While I was delving into why Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, our President Elect was changing the face of our nation and proving it is still a "living document". While I was quoting Franklin on wealth through labor, I watched a man receive his wages from the labor he inputted over the years.

There is something about a Presidential Election that touches the soul. This one created a closure for all the Civil Rights movements and the freedom that minorities have fought for since the beginning of our nation. The nation has spoken and declared that it is truly free and equal. I may not have agreed with this candidate's policies and I didn't vote for him for various reasons (main one since I am a woman and wanted to support the political growth of a woman), but he is our President Elect and I am a patriot. He now represents me in the world and I can only provide support and hope for the best in the future.

Looking forward to this weekend

It is Wednesday and only two days away from my road trip to FL to spend a couple nights with friends. I get to celebrate Halloween with them and then the next day I get to go and do my Freemasonic duties. I am looking forward to all the joys of reuniting with Brothers in South Florida and talking about higher body subjects that I have no one to talk with about up here. I look forward to all the warm hugs I'll get to give and receive back. We get to catch up with all that has gone on in our lives and I get to eat Cuban Food! YUM!!! So, I need to wash clothes tonight after I come home from Choir practice. Then tomorrow I go to my knitting night and come home to pack for my travels. I need to make sure I spend precious time with my boys tonight and tomorrow night, so I can take little hugs and kisses along with me.

Politics

I am nervous about the state of the nation. Birds have been whispering ill omens to me of what is to come. what is happening now is similar to stories I've heard from friends' about the circumstances for years in Cuba. If a reporter is not allowed to ask questions for fear of the station being black-balled from any future political interviews then our freedom of speech will soon be held in a political vice-grip. If we, as a democratic nation, are not allowed to be aware of fundamental requirements of our political candidates stated in our Constitution, then why should that candidate be allowed to run for office. Is the skeleton that bad? Is our expectation of at least meeting the requirements to run for office no longer count as a grounds for dismissal if one of the requirements isn't met? Why should our government bail out companies that have authorized too much credit or have made products below the standard of what Americans need? The government never bailed me out of my mistakes or my debt, instead I am rewarded with a bad credit rating and higher interest rates that are variable on my student loans. Hiring at my university has been locked, so the departments who need more professors to meet educational requirements for students to get a liberal arts education are unable to hire instructors to teach me. To add to this state of affairs some professors are being layed off or have classes taken from them, which creates less opportunities for students to complete their degrees in a timely manner. How many years will it take for a student to complete all their requirements necessary for their degree now? 10 years? Also, I have found out that my professors have not received a raise in at least three years. How does that promote a person to strive to do their job to the best of their ability? What reward is that for a university to at least not give a raise based on rising inflation? In essence, the people teaching are now getting payed less now than they were 5 years ago as the cost of living has risen. Is it good for the generations of students to come to be in the position of learning less than those before them due to the debt of a nation? I truly wonder where we are headed and it makes me not only nervous but depressed.

latter Oct events and future Nov events

There are a number of things to bring up. The first is just how difficult this past weekend has been. Michael spiked a fever of 104.7 which worried me greatly since the rest of us were not getting sick. He is better now but I ended up doing a vigil until 3am that night taking his temperature until it was down. I am now tired. Part of my exhaustion is also because I had surgery, an endometrial ablation, on Oct 17th to help with issues with endometriosis and a tubal ligation to make sure we do not conceive another child (which would be a high risk pregnancy after the ablation). I am still recovering and am in need of a long nap each day after going to school. This frustrates me since I like to have energy and help out with the boys when I get home. I am missing out on time with them to do fun things. It also forces me to do my homework and reading assignments at a later time in the evening. So, my sleep schedule is now off and I can't seem to get back on track with it.

My second issue is my schedule conflictign with everything else that I see as important. Sometimes I feel torn and pulled like a rope between things and people. Joe is wonderfule and tries his hardest not to make a huge impact on my school schedule, but issues and events with my friends seem to overlap with my school, Co-Freemasonic Lodge, and time with family. For instance, we have a huge event that could possibly occur on November 22nd. That is also the chosen day for my friend's baby shower that I need to go to because I will be her son's Godmother. The baby shower also brings in my mom and her boyfriend for the weekend and the event brings in a bunch of Masonic Brothers, so our house will be jammed with people on a crucial weekends for me. I have my huge paper for my English class also due on November 25th and I had planned on using this weekend to make the finishing touches on it and stress over it. I am just a bit freaked out over the upcoming schedule. To add to it all, I have to drive to South Florida this Friday for Masonis business, which I am looking forward to since it'll be a little break, but I have to take my work with me to do whatever research I may be able to complete so I can start writing this paper. I also have another paper for my other class due on November 17th which will require multitasking in my head. Yikes!

My third issue is missing my dad. Today I carved a pumpkin and almost started crying because it was a ritual for us to create a design together and carve an extravagant pumpkin when I was in school. So, I carved an extravagant pumpkin based on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with the Quidditch rings in the forefront. I hope he is looking down and is proud of the work I did. I am having a Samhain gathering with friends on the November 8th to help us all mourn the passing of family members. A lot of us have lost close family this year and we are all under the stress of missing them with the holidays approaching so quickly. I am just wondering how the year went by so fast.

Back to School

I am officially a student. Yesterday, I went for Orientation at Winthrop University. It was a much better experience than when I was there before. I think the difference is that I am an English major with the English Dept advising me, instead of an Art Major with the Art Dept. advising me. It is amazing how the advisers are more helpful and willing to talk with you about your classes and how to get you to graduation. I am somewhere between a Junior and Senior according to my hours, but I have to take the lower level English classes that I ended up not taking first when I was in school before. They told me I did things backwards and that I was one of the most complicated situations they had seen. I knew they were relived when I said I was only taking 6hrs since I had little ones at home still. I could see their stress over my situation melt away and they said that I had just made it an easier situation. They actually wanted to get to know me instead of trying to push me out the door like the Art Dept. did when I was there before.

It felt wonderful to be back to school and back in the English Dept. I told them that, too, and they were glad to hear that since some students don't feel so happy about being back. I think it makes a difference how I have changed over the past 10 years and have matured. Living life with a positive attitude makes such a difference. Getting to the step of completing something I started feels wonderful. I hate leaving things in life uncompleted. I hate open ends and lack of closure. I also think I was happiest when I was studying and wish I had realized it years ago. I love writing and think that maybe becoming a teacher and a writer is where I belong. Sigh...I am so happy.

Knitting Olympics and the Cape

Well, i went and joined Ravelry's Knitting Olympics. I won two gold medals for my WIPs (work in progress). Yay! Finishing those projects has inspired me to continue knitting larger pieces, so I have started a mock turtleneck sweater and a knee-length cape. Yikes! the yarn they take costs a fortune. I can say that I am making slow and steady progress on this cape thing. I had hopes that I could wear it at the next Ren Faire...hmm...NOT! It won't take me too long to knit it, but I start classes on the 26th and most of my funds will now go towards school. Boo! I will buy one little skein of yarn at a time and read for my Literature classes most of the time.
Night!