Regrets? Of course!

While many of my classmates look forward to the coming weeks, commencement ceremonies and parties, I am not able to focus on those types of things. Its a trade off  when you get a degree at my age. You already have responsibilities, a job, children, life experience and the such. My classmates have an open slate before them. My slate has been written on and there is not very much space left. The bad thing about that slate is that you cannot erase any of it. It is permanent, forever, unchangeable. Therefore, I would like to say to my fellow classmates and friends alike “You can never change the past, so make sure your future is worth remembering!”

To say I wouldn’t change some things in my past would be telling tales. I hear people say they have no regrets but I am not one of them. Of course, I have regrets and I find it hard to believe anyone can get through their life without some. In fact, I could not list all of my regrets in this blog. However, since I realize that regrets don’t change a thing, I choose to move forward and I plan to make my remaining time on the Earth something I want to do and who I want to be. You should do the same!

Can Time be Stretched?

Hello again. It is a beautiful day in Orlando and I have a new charge in my life. My 9 year old grandson has come to live with me. He needed a change of scenery and I volunteered to help make that happen. The decision was made while I was visiting Texas during Spring Break. I knew there was a possibility that he would return to Florida with me but I was not 100% sure until I purchased his plane ticket on Saturday, the day before we left.

Before his arrival, I really did not feel I had any extra time. Between a full time job and a full time load of classes (5 courses) at UCF, I was already unable to find time for visiting with friends, reading, movies or anything extracurricular. Nose in the books at work and at school had me stumped for finding more time.  Well, by throwing a precocious, hyperactive, nine year old into that schedule, I now realize I had much more time than I imagined!

My grandson could be considered high maintenance and such a large life change has not been an easy one for him. How could it be? He is only nine and left behind everything he has really ever known. Although, family is only a phone call away, it is still a major transition for him and for me. We are working through it together. The week I went to Texas, he was on Spring Break, now Orlando schools are on Spring Break so we have had quite a bit of time together. I think we will both be glad when he returns to school and I return to less eventful week days.

Spring Break or Spring Broke?

Ahhh, I can feel and hear it in the air as I walk to my class on campus. The entire atmosphere of the campus is filled with something new or fresh. I can’t really put my finger on any one thing that feels differently but something does. Classmates are more energetic, their mood is more optimistic and that is when I first realize, oh yes, the break is here. Spring break is a big deal at any college but since UCF is my school, I feel it here.  I hear the others talking of mini-cruises, the beach, backpacking, a trip to DC and hope no one asks about my big plans. Why, you say? Because my spring break is more like spring broke.

Not only am I unable to fly or cruise off to some exotic destination because of finances (all my extra money goes straight back into my business for inventory), but I have a job that does not take a break, ever. Being a business owner has it perks but it has a few pitfalls too and this is one of them. I cannot close down for a week! My customers need products and they need them today so 3 days is my maximum for closing down the office/warehouse.

I also am working on an undergrad research paper that cannot be ignored during the 9 days of no school (including weekends). So my break will be a bit different than the 20 something crowd that I go to school with. I really don’t mind though. I have my eye on a prize, and for me, that alone is worth the non-vacation break. I will be taking 3 days to squinch off a visit with my grandchildren and my son in Houston. Short and sweet but better some than none, right?  Perhaps something exciting will happen by the time of my next blog which is due on Friday. I hope I can report something fantastic!  See you then.

Oopsa Daisy, Not Again

Okay, so I have told of my life in very simple terms. From reading my posts you can probably tell I wear different hats at different times. I am a parent, a student and a business woman and not in any particular order these days. Of course, my children come first, but they are all adults and really don’t need much from me these days so I guess the toss up is between student and business owner.  I would love to put business owner first since that is my passion, my creation and my bread and butter but these days, in my final semester at UCF, I think the student hat is winning.

I have a calendar loaded with seemingly never ending assignments. Some reading, some written, some action, some just plain old busy work (no offense to those Professors but that is what it is). Once again, I find myself backed up with assignments due by March 1 and so again, I have to devote my entire weekend to doing this work. It does not matter that my daughter is in town, visiting from Washington DC, that I have been invited to get together with old friends for drinks and dinner or that my favorite author is releasing a new book this weekend.  All of that has to be put on the back burner for school work. I guess I could just do a mediocre job on the assignments and accept mediocre grades, but that is not who I am. When I do something, I want to do it right and to the best of my ability. So I say “oopsa daisy, not again” because if I had not watched that movie mid-week or gone shopping the other day, I might not be so backed up with school work for the weekend. The end is in sight and if I keep my eye on that goal, the weekend doesn’t seem quite so appealing.

Up, Up and Away

Today I have been thinking about how far I have come in my life. Being born and raised in rural Pennsylvania did not provide much social or cultural exposure. Of course, when I was young, I accepted my life for what it was and didn’t realize there were other cultures, places or people outside the small circle I lived in. I was aware of these things but they had nothing to do with me.

As I got older, I realized there was so much world out there that I would never be able to see or experience it all. That is a sad prospect but looking at the “cup half full” view, that means I should not have any trouble seeing and experiencing new things until the day I die. I did what I had set out to do as a young woman and that was to raise my children to the best of my ability and make sure they all received a college degree of some sort or the other.

When that was done, I was a bit lost in life. If you had asked me five years ago, “what do you want to do with the rest of your life?” I would not have had an answer other than “I don’t know”.  I am happy to say that today, I can answer that question. I want to keep learning, seeing, and experiencing everything I can, while I can and as soon as I can!  College has given me the confidence to take charge and get my life in order. I feel like I am living in an upward trajectory as I get ready to graduate and on the final day when I cross the stage to receive my diploma, I will be well on my way to not only a new life, but a better one. So, I am going up, up and away!

Playing the Catch Up Game Every Day

Being a student and a full time business owner has its good points and its bad ones. Four of my five classes are online so I only go to the campus about 1-2 times per week.  I am an online business owner, so I can work from home most days. In fact, sometimes I do not leave my home for a week. I don’t mind this seclusion and really don’t have time to think much about it. School and work keep me so busy that I play catch up most days and never really do meet that goal. If I do my schoolwork early, I have a great feeling of accomplishment but it is so short lived that it almost seems pointless to try so I don’t get all the work done when I can and mix up business with school time.

Work is another endless project. I really do need to hire more help to assist in the business aspect of my life but with my studies taking up much of my “free” time; I have no time left to train anyone so my current employees are bogged down almost as much as I am. I am stuck in a sad cycle of too much work, not enough time or help, playing the CATCH-UP Game every day. One good thing that comes out of having so many projects is that I save the least liked ones for last and somehow end up have productive procrastination. There’s a tune from my childhood from Schoolhouse Rocks, an after school program on PBS. The song was called “Cooperation Makes it Happen”… but I have changed the words to the tune into “procrastination makes it happen”, since in my life this is true. 

Welcome to My Life – Lynne Bollhoefer

Blogging? Me, Lynne Bollhoefer, the non writer? I really never thought about or attempted to blog before but as time passes by, the digital age has hit me square in the face. My marketing minor encourages digital everything and blogging is just a small part of that world. Attending UCF has widened my horizons, jump started my brain and gave me so much to look forward to and to think about. So this blog will be about my everyday life in Orlando as a business owner, older college student, parent and grandparent.

Being a student on and off for the last 35 years (not quite as bad as it may seem) has been a truly high spot in life. I love learning and I love learning new things. I will never stop educating myself and it seems the older I become, the more voracious my appetite for learning becomes.  Taking five classes in my final semester has been hard. My eclectic mix of subjects has kept me hopping. I learn about  vampires and zombies in my Anthropology class, content marketing in my digital marketing class, World War I and II in my two early 20^th Century History classes and  wrapping up all I’ve learned and writing about it in my Capstone class for interdisciplinarians. Enjoy the posts and I’ll enjoy your comments.

Happy Day