Eeyore is my mascot.

I have been unable to shake off the little rain cloud above my head lately. The theory we are learning is becoming more complex and I have had little time to practice. Actually, if I am honest, I have had time to practice, but have chosen to do other things instead. Like, sleep.
As we were learning to write out numbers one through twenty, I was all for writing them out phonetically. However, we have just learned to write twenty-one through ninety-nine. These, I do not enjoy writing out. Today, I tried using the number bar and found that I was able to keep up with the dictation much easier.
Things in LIFE just seem to be getting more complicated as if to coincide with the growing difficulty in learning a new skill.
I had thought that I had successfully avoided the "drama" that often comes with working in a retail environment. However, I seem to have been sucked in unwillingly, and unwittingly. I was simply trying to explain that a recommendation of mine was not bad and that there were other circumstances for my recommendation not being what others had wanted. Having said that, I seem to have revealed information that has people at work, once again, gossiping. UGH!!!
I dislike gossip about as much as I dislike dog crap on my shoe. Not to say that I am perfect. Obviously, I have gossiped before and may possibly do it again. However, I have learned, as I have grown older, that it should be avoided at all costs.
I like to go to work, do my job, get along nicely with those I work with, and go home. Simple. No extra baggage.
So, with school becoming more of a challenge, work becoming more of a soap opera, and bills becoming more of source of stress, I find myself asking questions. Questions like, should I stay in school? My pitiful income can barely feed my family and with my school schedule, I cannot pick up more hours at work without never seeing the family I am trying to feed. Is it really worth it? Will I really be able to get a job right out of school? Or will employers want someone with experience, so that I have to sit in with other court reporters not making a dime until said experience is gained?
I really want to finish school. I will finish school. It will be the first thing I will have actually finished in my (almost) 28 years.

Playing Hookey

Today I am not in school. Why? Several reasons, I have to try to figure out how we are going to pay an increasing amount in back bills as well as our up and coming bills. Something, that when you are out of school at 2 p.m., is just not easily done in the remaining business hours of the day. Why is it that when you are struggling to make life better for yourself and your family, that everything else seems to get harder? I know, the Universe wants to see if I really want to work towards my goals. I really wish the Universe would cut us a little slack.
My fellow students are sitting in class right now, learning how to write the capital alphabet for acronyms like, FBI, CIA, etc. And they are working on a lot of dictation I suppose as that was the only new thing we were to learn today. I used our independent study hour yesterday to go over what was going to be covered today, so I am confident that I will not fall behind.
I really dislike independent study hour. It is usually the last hour of the day, and we work on whatever we want. Most people do the online dictation or work on reading the steno notes. Having kids and a husband I hardly ever see, I would much rather come home an hour earlier. However, having the extra hour of uninterrupted study time is good too.
Well, I have to get some productive "grown-up" things accomplished today. Even though all I want to do is go to Cinebarre and watch a movie and have a beer.

Sound it out. Write it how?

Okay, so not everything makes sense in the Steno language. One more thing was added to that list of things that make you go, "huh". The NJ sound like in the word "range" is written; -FPG. This makes no sense because one would expect it to be written with some sort of N, somewhere in there. Guess it goes along with writing words that start with KN, they are written KPW. Go figure.

While on the subject of things that don't really make sense, here are couple things that also do not make sense:
Braile on a drive up ATM
Expiration dates on sourcream

I LUV you ENGRISH.COM!!!!

Good Job! Have a cookie.

That's right PWEUFP/Z! 98%! Yes, ninety-eight percent on my first quiz! Can you say court reporting rock star? Well, actually, it was pretty easy. However, I am still proud that I did so well. I have always loved school, and I really enjoy learning to write on the Steno machine. I can't wait to start speed testing. I am getting a bit ahead of myself, as I have to complete another twelve weeks of Theory before I can start testing out of speeds. The first twelve weeks are half way finished, it is going by so quickly.

The turtle or the hare?

Being a court reporter is about speed and accuracy. Start out slow and accurate and maintain that accuracy at a faster speed. Today was filled with lovely speed drills. Writing at 60 wpm the last hour of class on the last day of class for the week, HELL. Let's say my accuracy was suffering severely. Looking at my transcript was like reading some foreign language sten-glish, engeno?

Slave Labor? Oh, you mean more PRACTICE

The Pyramids were not built in a day. Well, maybe they were, and dropped off by aliens. However, Steno pyramids are built in a day, a very boring day.

Gene
Gene had
Gene had a
Gene had a pair
Gene had a pair of
Gene had a pair of jeans.

Exciting right? The concept is to take a word you are having trouble writing, put it in a sentence, and write it pyramid style without mistakes. Make a mistake, start again. That just makes me want to go right home and start building those pyramids. Where are my sandals?

George, Paul, Barb, all you feisty Proper Nouns!

That's right, I am naming names. Nothing slows down the beginning court reporter like having to spell out and add an asterisk to a proper name and include it in a sentence. UGH! That may have been the most grueling hour and a half thus far in my school career.

I am looking for new and interesting ways to practice. So, if anyone has any ideas please share them by commenting back! And yes, I did go home and write One fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, by Dr. Seuss. That is how I learned to write the words 'blue' and 'little' before having covered them in class.