Oh my GOD, it's December. While I will be overjoyed to wave good-bye to 2005 (For insight into some of the reasons, check out the Great Brain Drain Train blog. It's been a heckuva year.), I can't believe that in a mere 4 weeks it will all be over.
At any rate, we are home at last. As my mother was fond of saying whenever we traveled while I was young, “It’s always good to leave. But it’s great to come back home.”
We got home yesterday without incident. After my 70 year old father evidenced lightning-quick reflexes at 6:30 a.m. on the highway leading to the Tampa International Airport and narrowly missed a multi-car pile up, we all reveled in the adrenaline rush and continued on our way. The rest of the trip (thank God!) was uneventful.
I cannot go on a trip without hearing my mother’s “It’s good to go…” adage echoing in my mind. It’s not the only pet saying of hers that continues to color my life. Others include:
“If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.”
“Cleanliness is next to godliness” (although anyone who knows us knows that I am clearly far less godly than my mom).
“If you don’t clean up your plate, you can’t have dessert.”
And, my personal favorite, “No education is ever wasted.”
I heard the “education” one often throughout my overpriced university years. I also heard it regularly when job openings for someone with my newly awarded diploma were woefully difficult to find.
For several years I earned more from giving riding lessons and training horses than I did from my English and Education degrees. This, of course, only served to prove my mom’s mantra right. All those years I spent soaking up information at the riding and breeding facility I worked at served a purpose much more far-reaching than just feeding an adolescent obsession.
I’ve recently embarked on a new educational journey. I’ve signed up for a rather extensive course on a marketing subject that I find intriguing, but know very little about. It’s an expensive course that I had to float a loan in order to take. So, of course, I’m hoping that in this, as in so many other things, my mother’s words of wisdom ring true.
When we arrived home, I discovered the materials for the course were waiting for me in an enormous, moderately intimidating box. I've only begun to look through them, but I can tell that there is an astounding amount of material that I will be trying to digest in the coming weeks.
“No education is ever wasted.” Stay tuned as the adventure in adages unfolds…
