Pragmatist
Pragmatist

El Paso - coming to the end
Thu May 01 2003

Husband is taking summer classes with already certified teachers who take classes to keep their certification current. He comes home and complains about the stupid questions these people ask and their ignorance in their own teaching fields.

Life goes on. Stan goes to school in the daytime, works parttime at night. I keep house, visit with neighbors from time to time, although MJ with the many children is my favorite neighbor.

Somewhere along the line we've acquired a dog. Campus rules are that animals are to be kept within their own yards. So Stan put up a fence to keep the dog at home. Apparently Dog doesn't realize what the fence is for, so he goes over and out. Stan reinforces the fence so Dog can't easily jump over. Dog is one smart cookie. He goes to the far end of the yard, gets a good running start, and over the fence he goes. He's a medium size animal and gets acquainted with other animals in the neighborhood--dogs much larger than himself.

One day a very irate neighbor comes to me and says that my mutt has impregnated her purbred dog, and what was I going to do about it. I told her my dog would have had to be on a stepladder to even reach "that" part of her precious animal. And that was the end of that! However, we did manage finally to build the fence high enough and strong enough that Dog couldn't get out of the yard.

There's not a whole lot more to tell about El Paso. After two years, Stan is graduating with honors and is inducted into three honor societies: Phi Alpha Theta, Alpha Chi, and Kappa Delta Pi (I still have his keys). Stephen is thriving. All visits to the well baby clinic were exceptionally fine.

So now we're looking at two more years of schooling. It's almost impossible to get a teaching job with only a BA, so we'll be going to Austin to the University of Texas for graduate work.

Eastward, Ho!

PS: Just dawned on me that you might want to know what the Honor Societies are.
Alpha Chi is for Academic Excellence, and admits from all disciplines. Kappa Delta Pi is the Education Honor Society. Phi Alph Theta is the History Honor Society (hs major study).

5 Comments
  • From:
    Sezrah (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu May 01 2003
    how neat that the dog adopted you :)
    although i feel a little sorry for it that it ended up being housed in the yard as it was obviously used to wandering at will
    i hope your yard was spacious

    sez
  • From:
    Sezrah (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu May 01 2003
    hmmm, i've no idea how i came to the understanding that the dog just turned up when it very obviously didn't!
  • From:
    Ozone (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu May 01 2003
    I love watching dogs getting aquainted with each other.
  • From:
    Ozone (Legacy)
    On:
    Thu May 01 2003
    RYN: No...not a lavalava, it is one of my aloha shirts buttoned only at the neck.
  • From:
    CovertOps (Legacy)
    On:
    Fri May 02 2003
    Oh, I loved this entry! I like your stories of your family and friends and pets! What a clever dog you have! I've always believed that mongrels are genetically and intellectually superior to pedigrees. My dog Murphy is one brilliant mutt.
    Campus life sounds fun and not as regimented as it is made out to be. My parents and Big Bro have all experienced campus life before. I haven't as I did my degree and postgrad studies in a private college and commuted daily.
    I can't wait to read the next instalment of your story.
    FYI, I'm from Malaysia and I'm 24 going on 25.
    Nice to meet you!
    Love,
    E.L.