Three years ago I went back to school to “take a few classes” and 50-some credits later decided I might as well get a couple of letters after my name to prove I’d actually learned something. I now have an Associates Degree in Web Media to add to my 25 year old Bachelors in Parks and Recreation Resources. And it all ends with a plate of deviled eggs.

The final final (we’d already done final presentations and taken a final exam) for my intercultural communications course was to contribute some cultural food item to an intercultural feast. My other coursework was already finished so this really was the last hurrah for this recent adventure in school. Being a preacher’s kid of mid-western roots with laying hens and a ‘fridge full of eggs, I opted to take deviled eggs. It seemed appropriate and various websites talked about how easy it is to make them. (Did you know there are entire websites devoted to deviled eggs?!) I’ve eaten lots of them but never made them before. Thank goodness for Steve …

I didn’t take the above photo; it was snitched from a website called delicousdelicious.com. I haven’t had the energy or focus to take my own pictures lately. Too much energy was going into finishing with school. If you visit riverdaughter.com you’ll get a sampling of what I learned to do, and maybe a sense of what I hope to do more of in the future.

More energy went into worrying about the lawsuit. Thanks to a good attorney, we “won” and I was dismissed out of the suit but the reality is that nobody really wins a lawsuit except the attorneys. Ours earned her pay, and I am grateful, but dang, that’s a lot of money down the drain. And the larger suit drags on … it feels like it will never end. It is significant the damage that one evil man can do.

And yet more energy went into worrying but our jobs. I think the only real answer for this one is to leave them. Steve’s making progress on that, having given his retirement notice, officially for December 28 but we’re hoping he departs sooner than that. I’m going the opposite direction, at least in the short run, and will be back to working full-time in July. My job-share partner is making her escape, and though I’ve worked in the position for years now, trying to fill the void she leaves will be challenging. It’s going to be really interesting to see how my perceptions shift when my focus is back on work again.

And how long will it last? This is a big, big question. We are making many changes in life and even bigger ones are bound to be around the corner. Stay tuned and I promise to make space in life for taking pictures and telling stories as the tale unfolds.