college bound...The Full Story

Stamen Polypods

I knew when I was typing this post that something was very wrong...

and it was...and I lost the entire post which I just so carefully wrote...

Do I want to do it again?  heck no!  

So I will give an abridged version of my long tale and tell you that I am returning to college to take a metal smithing class.

I will be going to the local junior college and I am just so excited I got into the class,

which after a difficult time even trying to get registered, I finally got in by the skin of my teeth.

So I'm going to be a bit busier than usual and my Etsy shop will show it...

but I'm off to learn how to finally use big girl tools and play with fire...

Thanks Penny for sending me the orignal blog....

here it is in it's entirety....

When I graduated from high school way back when, there was no question in my mind that I would go to college.
It was never really brought up, encouraged or even asked about...What was I going to do? No one asked...no one cared.
I personally hated school, high school in particular, and the idea of going to school another four years just was out of the question...but I remember graduating and thinking" now what?" It was assumed I would work in a factory or get married even though I never had boyfriends, so it's not like marriage was looming on the horizon.
So what did I do? I worked in a factory for a week, where I cried every lunch hour. I got a ride to the job with a neighbor lady who had been working there for 20 years....the thought of this kind of a life...endless repetitive boredom was not for me...but I was lost and didn't know what to do....

I did meet a boy and fell in love and after being with him for about 6 months he told me he was going to California and did I want to go with him...Well my bags got packed that night and to the shock and dismay of my poor parents, i hitch hiked the 2,500 miles in the middle of a March snowstorm to Venice, California.

I never really did figure out what I was going to do with my life...I dabbled in just about everything...you name it ...I have probably done it...acting, singing, dancing, boat washer, waitress, photographer, camp cook, seamstress, curtain maker, upholster , craft services, production assistant, stage manager, antique dealer...have I forgotten anything? probably.

Cut to today...my main job has been wife, "home-maker" and I had my own antique business for 9 years in a brick and mortar store at Wertz Brothers Antique Mall in Santa Monica  and I have been making my own jewelry and running my Etsy store....I have known all along that I need to be my own boss, that I have a hard time focusing on getting a task done  and of course I am bone lazy and love to do as I please....and although I did finally go to college at the tender age of 30 and got two AA degrees, one in liberal arts and one in theatre, the time has come for this old gal to go back to school.

Long Beach City College...one of the orignial buildings from the 20's

Now I'm doing anything as crazy as trying to get my bachelor's degree...I got into a silversmithing class at the local junior college...It meets two days a week for both lecture and lab...I am excited and scared.  The college has had a major overhaul...It is beautiful..It retains it's old California Spanish charm but with luxury upgrades, beautiful xersicopse landscaping, and fabulous rose gardens...There use to be bunnies running all over the campus...I guess people dumped their pet rabbits and it turned into a major "Bunny U"...but they captured them all before the re-model and they are not there anymore...I loved those bunnies, but now the clean, wide open spaces are just so beautiful that the bunnies are now just a lovely memory.

where the bunnies ran free

I will probably not be making as much jewelry for the shop as I would like but this new challenge is going to expand on what I am doing already.

xxbh