FINAL POST :)

Ahhh so here we are at the end of a summer semester that seemed to have flew by! When I first began this journey of college as a mother I took English 101 and you were my professor. At that time you had me complete a reflection essay and I remember what I wrote about.

I was struggling with finding a balance between the chaos of my life and school. How do I fit it all in. I remember you had a baby and I thought to myself that I don't know how I could do it with an infant. So reflecting I was amazed at how you could manage being a college professor and a mother of an infant not to mention a wife with all of our "duties" to keep the family going.

Here we are a few years later and I find my life even more chaotic than it was back then. Finding the balance is still difficult but the sacrafice that I am making now is showing. My kids see me working on homework late at night, taking homework with me on business trips, and getting it all done in between everything else that their Mom does.

Even though I didn't know how you did it a few years ago I reflect and don't know how I have done it thus far. I guess as women we just find a way to get it all done because that is what we have to do.

I have become a shining example to my kids that if you put your mind to it then you can accomplish anything. Years later I believe that your kids see the same thing. This is something that we should be proud of as it will impact our kids and their educational drive in the future. Thanks for opening my eyes a few years ago. If you went into teaching to impact lives, mission accomplished!

Thank you for everything.

~Monika Kelly

Semester coming to a close

Where did the semester go? I think I have been so busy with work, school, and summer activities that the semester just flew by. I guess I should be excited but I am somewhat discouraged. I thought I was closer to my AA degree than I really am. Changing my major seems to be the culprit and now has put me back a few steps. I am now at the point where I think I should move on with my bachelor's degree and forget about the AA just to save time.

The reality of the situation is that not all of my classes will transfer so why waste the time and money and little patience that I have left? I mean it really doesn't make sense. My original plan was to just go for the bachelor's and I should have stuck with that. Getting frusterated I thought I should get the AA.

It's like when you are reading a HUGE book and with each chapter you finish you feel as though you have accomplished a little more on the journey to your goal of finishing the book. That accomplishment keeps you going but I am realizing that it might not make sense to finish this accomplishment then move forward. I think I need to move forward....

What does this mean? Spring Semester 2010-2011 I just might be a Metro Road Runner. Changing from Health Care Administration to Actuarial Science was a HUGE change but it will pay off! I won't quit and I will draw off of the encouragement from my friends and family.

Colorado Dragon Boat Festival

The tenth annual dragon boat festival came to a very late close this evening. After two days of Racing the PASCO Flying dragons took home the silver. The PASCO Pinoy dragons took home bronze. 48 teams competed three were left standing.

This was a very proud year for me as my son rowed for the Pinoy dragons for the fourth year. He has been a lead each year he has rowed. This year he was elected team Captain and he did a great job! This was a bitter sweet moment as they had to call the races before they could race for the Gold and this was his last year on this team.

All in all it was an eventful weekend that I got to spend with my family and my new team that is a second family. Many memories were made.

Colorado Dragon Boat Festival

I have the opportunity this year to row with the Fighting Dragons in the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival. My son has rowed for the Pinoy Dragons for the past 4 years. In this time he has been the team lead each year. I have been so proud of him so I decided to row with the same organization.

We row and are sponsored by PASCO which is a Filipino non-profit organization. We row and participate in the Dragon Boat Festival because we are Hawaiian, Filipino, and Chinese. This festival is one of the cultural festivals that we participate in. We are proud of our culture and happy to share it. The Colorado Dragon Boat Festival gives us an opportunity to do so.

We train for months for two days of racing. It is a huge time committment but we are happy to be a part of it. Saturday we were waiting for everyone to show up to practice and I had a chance to check out some sports news on my phone. It was HOT and I had not eaten so I was a smidge crabby. That is where I read about Manny Pacquio and Floyd Mayweather. This is where my rant began.

Both Mayweather and Pacquio are exceptional and accomplished boxers. Pacquio is the favorite in my household as he is from the Phillipines. Mayweather and Pacquio fans alike have been waiting for a fight between both boxers for months. Manny Pacquio has always been up to fight Mayweather but Mayweather has stalled and asked for drug testing that was more strenuous that what is required by the boxing association.

Fans have been rumbling to see the two meet and it wasn't until last week that a contract was sent to Mayweathers camp by Pacquio reps. The terms of the contract were simple, all requested drug tests Mayweather was demanding, Pacquio agreed to. Dates were to be set by Mayweathers camp and essentially what ever Mayweather wanted to make the fight happen Pacquio agreed to. Pacquio is internationally recognized and always makes more money for any fight he has for that reason. In this contract Pacquio stated the "purse" for the fight would be split 50/50 between he and Mayweather.

As a Pacquio fan I was thrilled at this contract. I felt I was going to see the fight I had been waiting for. Mayweather has talked so much crap for so many months, now we would have him put his money where his mouth is. Time had elapsed on the contract and no word AT ALL from Mayweather's camp.

Mayweather got everything he wanted and MORE. Sports networks keep asking "Where are you Mayweather" with no response. My thoughts on this are simple, if Mayweather wants to run his mouth about the lack luster skills of Manny Pacquio then he should be ready to prove that he is the better fighter. He has hidden behind rediculous demands thinking they would not be accepted but now he is scrambling.

So the weekend before the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival where we will proudly show our filipino culture I say this to Mayweather. Admit Pacquio is the better fighter since you never intend to get into the ring with him. That way us Pacquio fans will not hold our breath waiting to see Pacquio school you!

I speak passionately about this fight but believe it or not I'm worse in football season as that is my first love. Scary huh. Here is to another hectic week. Good luck to my sister teams we row with, Fighting Dragons, Flying Dragons, and the Pinoy Dragons. As we chant "PASCO where you at? YOU KNOW!"

Fried :(

So I'm sure it is apparent that I occasionally bite off a little more than I can chew. At times I try to play the role of super mom, super wife, and employee extrodinare. I had run myself into the ground before vacation and managed to relax for a week with my family. Since that time is over I have wasted no time becoming one with the ground again.

First week back to work and I was able to make it. I have a co-worker who appeared to be upset with me prior to my vacation. I had asked her before I left if she wanted to talk about it and she said that she was not mad rather busy and distracted. I had to accept this answer as I had nothing else to go on. When I return from vacation I have not been talked to at all from her. Needless to say I walked into drama and I am simply ignoring it because I do not have the desire to deal with it.

Then I began back into my normal routine and a big part of that is church. I went back to church to find out that our Choir Director is leaving and I was being asked to assist with this ministry. This is a huge honor for me and I will do what is being asked of me but again I have to wonder if I am biting off more than I can chew with another large item to be responsible for.

Lastly Dragon Boat practice has been going strong for a few months and it is increasing in these last few weeks. This will impact exercise schedule and the time that I am available for church but I have committed myself to the Dragon Boat and I will remain committed until the last weekend in July. At that point maybe I will be able to catch up a little.

Then there is school, slowly but surely completing the assignments and I am trying to focus moreso on the detail of each assignment rather than just getting them done. A fine balance for anyone yet I feel my tight rope has become the width of dental floss with all the things I have going on. When will I ever learn?

Rested and ready to go!

Road trips have really never been my thing. Anything over an hour makes me feel unproductive and uneasy. So our road trip from Colorado to South Padre Island Texas could have been vetted out a bit more before jumping in the car with 7 people on a 24 hour car ride. Since I wanted to make the most of this family vacation I stayed calm and prayed a lot when I got aggrivated. This helped so much.

First stop South Padre Island. We arrived 6 hours too soon to check in, nice after such a long car ride. So we decided to go see the sunrise at the beach. No sooner than we got there the Sea Turtle patrol hit the beach. Apparently some eggs hatched the day before and the baby turtles were rescued. Today would be the day they were released. To see this was so amazing! We then walked on the beach while the sun rose and played as a family. Then it was off to breakfast and check in.

Shower was the first stop for me! After we got ready we took a little nap then went walking around the town. While we were there we rode a banana boat where we saw sting rays, sea turtles, and dolphins playing right next to us. ATV's in the sand dunes and parasailing. WOW! Last stop in South Padre was an unplanned stop at the tattoo shop, ugh! Then off to Dallas to spend time with my nephews!

The time spent with family was more valued than that hanious car ride in both directions! For the record, what is up with Kansas. Really there is nothing there. I guess this experience made me realize how beautiful Colorado is and how much I love it here and the time spent with my family was long overdue.

Now it is back to the chaos of our lives. At least I got some sleep so I can be somewhat awake when I tackle my daily tasks! :)

Until next time......

Here I sit on a Thursday afternoon at work ready to leave. I have so very much to get done. All school work is done and this evening we hit the open road to do a family vacation. We are heading out late tonight to begin the journey to South Padre Island Texas.

On the way back we will be picking up two of my nephews in Dallas so they can come and spend some of their summer vacation in beautiful Colorado. The next few days will be a different kind of chaos. It will be road trip, fun in the sun and water, then time well spent with immediate and extended family.

All of this is possible because I got all of my homework done, all of my work done, and now it is time to play. This week showed that with proper planning and dedication you can accomplish anything. Cheers to a good week!