Legal, moral, ethical.

I am a knowledge junkie. My friends will attest to this because I am the one flooding their email boxes with links to interesting articles that I've read. But I think you should constantly be learning something. I used to make a habit of taking at least one CEU course each semester because it kept me from getting into a rut, mentally. Over the years I've taken oil painting, tai chi, ballroom dancing, and writing classes. The last class I took, I was pregnant with Spawn. I haven't had the time or the money to take anything in six years.

Six years!

Now, I'm going to admit something to you that's probably pretty obvious by now. I am, at the midpoint of my 39th year, having a really hard time with the concept of turning 40. Every ten years or so, I go through this assessment period and I start to wonder what the hell I've gotten accomplished in the past decade.

And right now, the answer is something akin to Not A Whole Lot.

I mean, sure, I've managed to go and procreate, but in six years I think that's just about all I've done.

And there's so much I still want to learn.

Seven years ago, I took a short story class. And y'all, the professor teaching this class was CUTE. Turns out, I am not too old to be crushing on the teacher, especially since he's what I'd consider my "type" -- meaning he's well-read, articulate, intelligent, and has a nice smile. And I like a man with a nice smile. Especially if I'm going to be discussing story theme and analyzing meaning with him and he's truly a nice, nice guy.

I'll admit, I was interested. And I can't say for sure but I think it was reciprocated. You know, the warm tinglies were flying between us. That sort of thing.

And I'm still sort of crushing on this guy because his kid goes to the same school as my kid and I see him pretty often. I find myself fanning my face after I talk with him sometimes. This is not good. This is dangerous. This is a case where out-of-sight-out-of-mind is good, in-my-face is not.

I can see real potential for me to get into trouble here. I've always been a stereotypical "good girl" whose only infractions have been misdemeanors. I mean, I didn't even have a fake ID in college.

So in search of something to get me out of my rut that is legal, moral, and ethical, I've decided to learn Italian.

Sicurezza preventiva.




-- Mox