Hello everyone!

I hope you had a good summer.

I don't know how many of you have been following this blog for the past couple of years, so I will summarize. I'm a 43 year old mother of two who is attempting to complete this program in 3 years. I live in Rockville, just north of DC. My approach to the program of study has been a little unorthodox. The first year I took three courses a semester, loading up on the academic work. Half of these classes were in Baltimore and half were at Shady Grove. The second year I did my foundation placement at a correctional facility in Rockville and took all my courses at Shady Grove. I also took one summer course each year, in the intensive format. I find myself now in the third (and hopefully final!) year, with one course to take each semester plus my advanced placement. My course this semester is Cognitive-Behavior Therapies. My advanced placement is at a community mental health clinic in Wheaton.

We haven't started field so I don't have much to say about that yet, but the class has sure started off with a bang. There were complications already.....

My class meets in Baltimore on Fridays, 9-12. My kids have a 12:30 dismissal on Fridays and will go to the school aftercare program until I am able to pick them up. The complication on my first day was that the 8yo's Brownie Troop scheduled a picnic afterschool. Of course, she wanted to go. Remember, I live in Rockville. Initially I thought it was going to be ok for a couple of reasons. First, my husband insisted earlier in the week that he was going to take a vacation day. Great. Dad could pick up the kids and tolerate a few minutes at the "chickfest" known as Brownies. And I would relieve him at the picnic asap. But, unfortunately, we have been having phone and computer (DSL line) issues during the past month. Dear old dad was working on something Thursday evening and lost his document. Suddenly dad was no longer taking the planned vacation day. Write him out of the picture.

But, still, I do not panic. I reason that the odds of getting out of class substantially early on the first day are fairly high. This has been the case at least 90% of the time in the past. I explain this to my disappointed, tearful daughter at the breakfast table Friday morning, as I am racing around the kitchen making the lunches, fixing hair, checking uniforms, etc. I tell her I will probably make it to carpool and to relax.

However, I think you can probably guess things did not quite play out as I had hoped or suggested to my daughter. I made the necessary arrangements with the school for the kids to go to after care, not carpool, during the class break. I watched the clock during the last half of class, waiting. We were dismissed 15 minutes early. However, the syllabus we received in class called for ten "thought papers" which are based upon the readings. The first paper is due next week. Four of the six books for the readings are on reserve in the library in Baltimore.

So, yes, the image of my crying daughter pasted in my mind, I raced to the library and started furiously copying. In the moment, I was thinking about gas prices and time limitations; special trips to Baltimore for reserve reading seemed out of reach for me. I left the library at 12:30pm. The rest, until 1:15pm, is a blur of running through the streets of Baltimore and driving, quite recklessly and well in excess of the speed limit whenever possible, down through the garage, down 95, and across the top of the DC Beltway. My guardian angel must have been watching out for me. I arrived at the school to get the kids and they were not in their typical place. I literally ran a lap halfway around the building to locate them. At which point my 8yo -- the very child who had been so distraught about this #%&@* picnic at breakfast -- greeted me with a cheery "Hi, Mom!" and proceeded to SIT IN PLACE. I was happy to see that she was not crying because she was at aftercare, not the picnic, but she was NOT MOVING. I signed the girls out, trying to catch my breath, motioning, and telling them to get their gear together. And still, the 8yo just sat there.

At this point I was trying not to completely lose it but I had entered the zone you other mothers out there might also know something about. I had not eaten since 5:30am, but I was not hungry or thirsty. I was not aware that I was exhausted. The adrenaline was pumping. I was not capable of reasoning that I was going to way too much trouble for a picnic that no longer seemed to be so important to my daughter. I grabbed said child's backpack and started racing for the car, telling her "let's go, let's go, let's go." Her 10yo sister was lagging so, yes, I took her backpack and put in on the other shoulder. It is a wonder I did not have a heart attack.

We pulled up at the picnic at 1:24pm. I suddenly realized that I was soaked in sweat even though I had spent the better part of the last hour in an air conditioned car. The 8yo ran happily off to be with her pals. I noticed the 10yo was looking a bit peaked. She had mentioned in the car that she had trouble eating her lunch. I could see a migraine coming on. As we walked in, another mom greeted me and I was drawn into my other world -- the mommy world. I stood with several other mothers watching the kids play and shaking a little bit. I tried to focus on the conversation around me and inquire about how all the kids were adjusting to school, but I felt like I was under water. It was a little surreal. I signed up to help with the apple picking trip in a couple of weeks and to provide the snack for the April meeting. Baltimore and the reserve reading in the library seemed like another universe.....

Yes, we are back. We are definitely back. The race is on.