Like Christmas in August

When I was a little kid, the best day of the year was the day that the Sears Christmas toy catalogue arrived (probably in October or so).  It was a day even better than Christmas itself, because the toy catalogue was full of possibilities.  So many new toys, so much to dream about, so much to anticipate!  As an adult, I no longer think about toy catalogues (and I don’t know if Sears even still publishes one), but I have the same excited reaction when the local college’s “Non-Credit Class Schedule” catalogue arrives.  Fall 2006 arrived today!  Woo hoo!

To be completely honest, I haven’t taken any college classes, non-credit or otherwise, since we moved to Nevada.  So, my excitement is really just about the potential for new experiences.  I see classes I’d love to take every time we receive a catalogue, but we live on the far end of Las Vegas with no nearby campus.  That will be rectified within the next couple of years (a new CCSN satellite campus will be built about a mile from our house), so for now, I mostly read the catalogue and dream.

This year, the following classes have caught my eye:  Beginning Fencing (no, really!), Beginning Furniture Making, Sushi 101, Introduction to Professional Stocktrading, Introduction to Mortgage Lending, How to Become a Part-time Substitute Teacher, Introduction to Medical Transcription, Import Export Now, and Forklift Safety.  Just kidding on the last one… just seeing if you were paying attention ;-)

I’m obviously always looking for new skills to be able to work from home, so if I was going to take a class, I think it would be an “introduction to a new career” kind of thing.  Of course, perhaps the sushi class would finally help us solve the mystery of where we can buy sushi-grade fish!

———————————————

Edited to add:I’m still diligently slogging away at the Veterinary Assistant correspondence course I signed up for last December.  It’s taken me far longer to complete than I anticipated, mostly because life and kittens keep getting in the way.  It’s not the path to a great career, but it’s been useful for me as a pet owner.  I was amused because when I got to the “Emergency Care” section of the course, I was able to answer all the questions without reading the text at all.  All those hours of watching “Emergency Vets” really did make a difference!

On a related note, I’ll be taking the Pet Food Fundamentals course offered by VSPN.org later this month.  I’ve got the recommended texts already, and have registered, so I hope I’ll learn something I can share!

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 08/13 at 08:50 PM

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

  1. I dunno, Forklift Safety could be useful!
    That animated kitty site is hilarious, I am saving that one. Tell your bro thanks. :D

    Posted by Carina  on  08/14  at  02:17 AM

  2. I *am* a medical transcriptionist. It was the only thing I could think of to do from home too. Feel free to email me if you want to talk about it.

    The word to submit for this comment is the oposite of heaven. This amuses me greatly.

    Posted by Georg  on  08/14  at  02:53 AM

  3. Those animated kitties originally were sent around as an email, but I found the website where they originated.  The website has many more cats than were featured in the email—I only wish the clips had music!

    Georg!  Yes, I will send you a note about medical transcription tomorrow, as I have some questions.  I’m just on my way to bed now… if you’re just getting up, that’s definitely a sign I need to be more disciplined about my day.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  08/14  at  03:19 AM

  4. I have been a nurse for over 30 years and hope to retire in 3 more.  One of my retirement dreams is to work part time for a vet.  I have even considered taking the veterinary assistants program offered here at our community college.  But I kind of doubt that will happen (the going back to school thing) I wonder if taking it through correspondence is an option for me.

    Posted by Simply Coll  on  08/14  at  06:53 AM

  5. The Sears Christmas catalogue…memories of Fall back in Canada. I spent hours choosing what I wanted Santa to bring me.

    Let me know how the Pet Food Fundamentals goes, sounds interesting, since I always fear that I am not providing all the needed vitamins/minerals in my home-cooked and supplemented meals.

    Posted by Cheryl  on  08/14  at  03:11 PM

  6. Cheryl, I can mention the Eaton’s catalogue and REALLY bring back memories for you!  The funny thing about the catalogues is that we didn’t have a lot of money, so I didn’t really get much in the way of junky toys for Christmas.  I always got lots of stuff, but never the pages and pages of things I was sure I HAD TO HAVE from the catalogues.  I never noticed, though—the catalogue was fun all by itself.

    I’ll post more about the Pet Food Fundamentals class when it happens.  Thanks again for those fish oil caps, btw.. the dogs say, “mmm, pills with cheese wrapped around them!”

    Colleen, I don’t know if you’d learn much from the vet assistant correspondence classes.  As you’re already a nurse, you understand the basic physiology stuff that you can glean from “book learnin’”.  If you have a chance to take an “in person” class, it would probably be more beneficial, as you’d probably have actual animals and models to look at and touch.  I just took the correspondence course out of desperation, as I wanted to take something, and there was no class I could take locally.  It’s hard to learn things like “restraint techniques” when you’re reading a book, though.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  08/14  at  04:55 PM

  7. There were three of us and then a huge extended family to buy for at Christmas. I usually got a Barbie, whose hair I would eventually cut off and some pajamas. But the Santa gift was always something we asked for. One year I got one of those hockey table games.

    You are right, it was just fun looking through the catalogues at all of the stuff.

    Mmmm…cheese wrapped pills :)

    Posted by Cheryl  on  08/15  at  07:39 AM

  8. I was never saddled with a Barbie, although I know I had a “Julia” nurse doll when I was very young (from the TV show of the same name).  I often got “Best of the West” figures as gifts—posable cowboys, horses, etc.  I always wanted a tabletop hockey game but had to get by playing the one which belonged to my cousins.  I would be the Canadiens and my opponent would be the Leafs!

    One of my favourite gifts, (which I used for years and years), was a microscope.  I originally was given a fairly cheap one, but there was something wrong with it and it had to be returned.  They had no more in stock to replace it with, so I was given a better model as a replacement.  It was lots of fun, and I think I still have my old set of slides.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  08/15  at  04:38 PM
    9. Page 1 of 1 pages

Name:

Email:

Location:

URL:

Smileys

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

Next entry: Here's to a Lon Life

Previous entry: On being a "victim"

<< Back to main