Is it the elevation that makes me feel hungry all the time?!

LOL! Frozen gas pumps.

We don't need windshield washer fluid with anti-freeze in Houston. It is required here on the front range.

Yay! Mom and Pop come to the rescue! On the road to WY!

Wahoooo! Little bit of ice and snow on the runways at DIA! Took us a bit to slow down. At least the kids thought it was fun!

Also mom and dad may be snowed in in Cheyenne. We may just be hanging out at DIA today.

Challenging travel morning. Had to change air craft after everyone was boarded. Makes getting up at 415am even worse. Waiting for our new plane.

Whew! He only made it to Brazil before they caved and fell asleep.

Telling our night owl children, " OMG, Santa is in Nova Scotia! We'd better hurry!"

Watching A Christmas Story with the kids. This is the first year they understand it and they seem to be enjoying it.

Tracking Santa

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html

Just got my grades...I passed everything! Even the 2 Western Medicine classes! Onward to next semester. Happy Holidays everyone!

Giving

I heard about this charity years ago and thought it was the greatest idea: people request financial help for things they need (eyeglasses, rent money, doctor bills etc.) and other people contribute what they can to help pay for those things. When tracking those who had received from the charity, it was discovered that at least 68% of those who had received donation grants turned around and donated back to the charity.

Anyway, check out the story about them on cnn.com.

Lazy evening as everyone napped until nearly 7, ate dinner then have been playing Wii. New to our family. Early Xmas gift. Santa will bring more games Fri.

T-38s going nuts today at Ellington.

Whoa! What is that bright light in the sky?! Well hello Mr. Sun! Where have you been?

The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is one of the most amazing things ever invented. I'm just sayin'

28 degrees at my house this morning. Feels just like home!

Snow Day!

This strange white stuff showed up at our house this morning!

Our house 11 am Friday, Dec. 4, 2009 34 degrees and snowing!

snow on the grass
back yard
pretty winter berries and snow!

So much to do today it is non-stop. But I had to stop for several minutes outside of Kroger to smell the Xmas trees. Ahhhhhh....

People who haven't had turned 40 yet are hysterical with the fear of turning 40.

At my hubby's 20th reunion. It is so much more fun going to someone else's reunion! No pressure to remember names or live up to anything.

Tired of Pathology. Who really cares what the definition of Zygosity is???

In the herbal pharmacy for the remainder of my observation this semester. Will hanging out with the herbs for 20+ hours help me remember any of them??!

Sitting in the rain in my new Ren Fest garb, snacking on a fruit and cheese plate, sipping sangria waiting for the fireworks. Love it!

Ahhhhh... Men in kilts at Ren Fest for the Highland Fling weekend. Bagpipes too. Love it!

My son showed up at my bedside just before 630 this morning and puked on me. I LOVE starting my day that way.

Ahhhhh... Friday night dinner @ Zio's with the family. Have a great weekend everyone!

A little late but....

Here is the alternative to the flu shots that we do in our house. Every year I've gotten the flu shot I've gotten sick. I don't do them any more and I don't have my kids get them. Instead, we try to eat well (including green smoothies), get plenty of rest, cover coughs and wash hands.

Here is my alternative to flu shots that I've learned from several different sources. So far it seems to work to deflect or lessen the virus' symptoms in our house.

I use two homeopathic medicines: oscillococcinum--available at most any drug/grocery store as well as health food stores in a white, yellow and orange box-- and influenzinum--available at most health food stores in a small blue vial. Both medications are made in France by Boiron. Homeopathic medicines are safe, have no side effects nor any drug interactions.

The oscillococcinum comes in pre-dosed vials. The instructions on the box are for flu-like symptoms so follow those if you have the flu. For a preventative, take one dose once a week during flu season. I also take a dose when I feel run down.

The influenzinum also has dosing instructions for flu-like symptoms. For a preventative, take 10 pellets once a week for 3 weeks, skip a week and take 10 pellets on the 5th week. For example, if you take your first dose on Sunday, take the next dose the following Sunday and another dose the Sunday after that. Skip the 4th Sunday and take another dose (10 pellets) on the 5th Sunday. You may then choose to stop and save the remaining pellets for symptoms should they develop. Or you may choose to take two more weekly doses (6th and 7th Sundays) until the vial is empty.

Health food stores that sell the blue vials also have many meds for many issues including cough, congestion, body aches, insect bites, insomnia..... They work well but are often short acting so you may need to take them more frequently than other over-the-counter meds. Since there is no drug interaction, you may take them with over-the-counter meds or in combination with other homeopathic meds. I give them to my kids too--full dose unless the instructions say otherwise.

Hope this info helps even if it is late into the flu season. There is plenty of info on homeopathic meds out there. Some of it talks about how there is no proof that it works. Countries like Germany, France and India use it as often as pharmaceutical meds and Germany is doing the most research on it that I know of. I like that there are no side effects from them. I trust them so much more than over-the-counter meds. They have been used a lot longer. Granted, herbs and homeopathic medicines don't always work as quickly or as drastically as pharmaceutical meds. The idea behind them is to strengthen your body to fight by itself. Most pharmaceutical meds mask symptoms and prolong illness in my humble opinion. Not to mention cause dangerous side effects. Where herbal and homeopathic meds gently coax the body into balance and health.

However, if you are weak or have a poor immune system then you should go for the pharmaceutical meds as they will save your life when your body is too weak to help itself. I don't think that pure scientific Western medicine is horrible. I just think it leaves out the tried and true. They need to incorporate/accept different healing methods. As with most everything in life, there is not one right answer. It is some combination of answers that may change the next time the same question is asked. We shouldn't get stuck in a rut thinking one is better than the other.

Pics

M as Princess Rose (character from some Barbie dancing movie) for Halloween

Halloween
O as the Evil Emperor for Halloween. Funny that the bat on the door looks like part of his costume!

O on his Cub Scout Den's push cart

M on an antique fire truck

The Blue Angels perform
Blue Angels
Mom and Dad get to go into the Apollo Mission Control room. All of those tourists behind them in the viewing room are from Space Center Houston.

Quick Recap

Once I returned from Vegas I hit the ground running as midterm time was fast approaching. So far so good, I have 3 of the 4 midterms down. One yet to go next week. I'm wondering if I shouldn't ask the girls to change next year's Vegas trip to Nov--around Veteran's day-- when I know I'll be done with midterms. But then again, if I take a trip between midterms and finals, will there be anything to motivate me to study for finals in time?! Hmmmm..... Something to ponder.

Mom and dad came down for their first Ballunar Fest the weekend of Oct. 23rd. We had a blast! The weather was amazing and we got to do all sorts of things. Besides enjoying the balloon activities, they got to see O play baseball and they got to visit the Historic Apollo Mission Control room at JSC. It was a busy weekend full of activities and good times.

I've been so focused on midterms and just getting through each day trying to always optimize my time that Halloween nearly passed me by. With all of the studying I've been doing, all of the poor food choices I've been making and with all of the crud going around, I've felt run down. Not really coming down with any symptoms per se, but just needing to sleep more and take it easy. Halloween day the fatigue seemed to hit me like a ton of bricks. I worked from 8-3 then came home to grab a nap before we went out trick-or-treating. I slept until after 6. C had taken off to go to the store to get some candy since I hadn't done that yet. I woke up so disoriented and so out of it so it was hard to get the kids ready in their costumes. Some how we managed to get out the door shortly after 6:30, met up with several different friends from the neighborhood and enjoyed the evening walking around in the gorgeous weather.

The extra hour of sleep that night was wonderful. Sunday was a full day with studying, O's last b-ball game and picnic. Plus Wings Over Houston airshow nearby meant lots of traffic, noise and crowds in the area. I had made plans awhile back to go see Mary Poppins at the Hobby Center with some friends so C was left with the chaos. I love that he doesn't complain when I leave him with all of that! What a guy!

Anyway, Mary Poppins was fabulous. The evening was great. I only wish I could have spent it with my hubby too. I managed to get through the midterm on Monday. Needed to sleep a lot on Tuesday and had to deal with a sick M Tuesday evening.

It began with vomiting. She had eaten some candy that turned out to be gum and I thought that it just upset her stomach. Weds morning she vomited a 3rd time so she stayed home from preschool and went with me to my hair appointment. As we sat there (her in my lap) waiting for my color to do its thing, I noticed that she had a fever. It just seemed to get higher as time went by but I had no way to measure it. I decided to see if I could get her in to the school clinic since my teacher who specializes in pediatrics was supervisor that day. I got her an appointment so we quick got the color washed out of my hair and took off for the clinic.

She was afraid she would get needles and I assured her that they could do other things without needles. Dr. Z and K, the intern, were so good with her. They took her temp which felt much lower to me by then and it was 100.5. Dr. Z checked her throat and listened to her lungs then chose 8 herbs for her to take deciding that she has the flu. K did some pediatric Tui Na to help lower her temperature and keep her from vomiting more. No needles or pharmaceutical drugs involved and 24 hours later she is her old self. She and I both slept a lot yesterday. I skipped class last night and along with O, we three were dead asleep on the couch by 8:45. I woke up a little over an hour later long enough to get everyone into bed and I was out again. C had chaos going on at work so he missed all of the drama for Tues and Weds evenings.

M is doing great. It took a bit to get her to eat something and take her herbs (tea decoction that I mixed with grape juice) but she has much more energy now and has been playing some. She even managed a good bm which had not happened for a few days so I think that will help her a lot. Now we are going to nap some more before O comes home. Then I have to hope I can make it through 4 hours of herb class tonight! Luckily the teacher is the same one that treated M yesterday. If I can't make it through the entire class he will understand.

That's what we have been doing for the past few weeks. We have many options of things to do over the next several weekends. This weekend I'll be studying as much as I can but the two after that are fair game. We have free tickets to the circus that a neighbor gave us and I would also like to get up to the Ren Fest. Or, maybe we'll just sleep! Thanksgiving week takes us to Rocheser for family fun with the Ms and also C's 20th high school reunion. Isn't he old?!!!

That is about it here. Take care all! Hugs and kisses all around.

I lost the text numbers for facebook, twitter and blogger in my phone. They are back in there now and saved this time. This text is a test for each...

More Vegas photos

DF and her midget Elvis. The chest hair was real (as he is showing) but the side burns were press-on. Same difference, right?!

Loving my red wine at Nora's

I have many other photos posted on Facebook. Go there to see the cactus garden, the Bellagio/Venetian deorations and pictures of the other gals.

The girls in Vegas

TR and I

KS, ER and I

JJ, KS and I at Pure

DF and RG at Pure

Minus 5: DH, DF, KS, me, RG, TR and AO

Vegas photos

Day time and night time view out our hotel window.

Vegas trip 2009

Some of you have asked what we do in Vegas. I wanted to tell you and also just get it down for future reference.

I arrived first on Thursday afternoon. I was kind of put off by the high energy and chaos that I felt at the airport. Instead of letting it get to me right away, I took my time and chose to take the shuttle from the airport for $6 one way. A taxi from the airport is twice that but a quicker ride. The shuttle goes to several properties so you have to ride around with 15-20 of your new best friends. My shuttle first went to the Rio which is off the strip. I had never been out that direction before so it was kind of fun to take that ride. My stop at Paris was next so I didn't have to ride the shuttle for too long. The driver kept saying Paris with a P and I couldn't figure out why. Later in the week someone pointed out that it sounds like Harrah's.

I arrived at Paris and again felt overwhelmed. The noise and the chaos of the casino gets to me. I went to check in and found things weren't quite as I had requested. But, it ended up not being a real big deal. The desk agent and I worked out a few issues and I was all set to go up to the two rooms I had reserved for the 8 of us gals.

When I walked in to the room, it was fine. Nothing fancy really. Then I walked over and opened the curtain sheers and caught my breath. The view was amazing! We were on the 16th floor with a fabulous view of the Eiffel Tower and the lovely pool area. I could even see the Bellagio and those fountains across the street. I was pretty happy and excited to get settled in.

I had brought along a lot of food/drink stuff so I proceeded to unpack and set up the room so it would be ready when the other gals arrived. DF joined me next and it was nice to have some time alone with her. We started these annual trips to Vegas 8 years ago or so. It is our trip. We LOVE having other friends join us but it is ultimately our trip. It is our time to connect and do something fun together.

ER came along just in time for dinner. We had a yummy dinner at the French Restaurant downstairs, drank wine, enjoyed the fountains and had fun anticipating our weekend plans. KS and JJ joined us before bed time. I think traveling took its toll on all of us and we called it an early evening. We slept in some on Friday then found our way down to the buffet. We pigged out then wandered off to the pool to relax. DH and RG joined us mid-day and TR was the last of the group to arrive a few hours later.

All of us were ready to shop then. TR and I were looking for new clothes so we headed to the Miracle Mile shops next to Paris and ended up having a great time trying on clothes at Ann Taylor Loft. Everyone helped out and I think the retail staff enjoyed our happy group. We finished up just in time to head to dinner.

Dinner was at an Asian restaurant also located at Paris. We wore our new clothes and had a blast. JJ managed (as usual) to get us free VIP passes to go to Pure Night Club at Caesar's Palace. We had to wait for a bit and once we got in we stayed for about an hour. It just wasn't all that. Plus we couldn't sit down. Seats/tables are reserved for those buying bottles of booze. We weren't up for that so we headed back to hotel room. We were played out anyway from all of that relaxing and shopping!

Saturday was crepe day! How I love those French crepes! TR had an appointment with psychic, Kileen after that. TR has seen her several times and it was hard to decide if I wanted to join her or not. ER, JJ and KS joined her but I decided that I wasn't in the right mood right then. RG went to the spa. DF, DH and I walked around for a bit then ended up at Margaritaville to pass the time until the gals finished their session. When we met up with them they sounded like they had had an amazing time. It was then that I wished I had gone with them. Maybe next year.

We then headed out to rent a limo to take us to Ethel M's Chocolate Factory. We were surprised to find out that after waiting for quite a long time it was homecoming weekend and all of the bigger limos that seat more than 6 people were booked! Finally we decided to take 2 taxi cabs to the chocolate factory. That was an adventure! Our driver wasn't sure where he was going. It was a $30 trip. The factory is open on weekends but no one is making the chocolate so we didn't really get to see anything but the equipment. Everyone got their chocolate fix though. There is also a gorgeous cactus garden there which I enjoyed walking through.

A couple of the girls managed to get us seats on a tourist bus to get us back to the strip--YAY! Free ride! We only had to tip the driver. Much cheaper and better than the taxi ride over! Then we split up a bit for dinner. Several of us headed to Nora's Wine Bar for yummy Italian food and wine (of course!). Another interesting taxi ride for $50. Again, the driver didn't know where he was going. But we got there and fun was had by all. RG's friend who lives there drove us back to the strip. So we didn't have to pay that taxi fee again! Saved again! YAY! I think we were all tired after that. A couple of the gals headed down to the Stratosphere to ride the rides. The rest of us crashed.

Sunday morning we were up and out the door early--8:45 or so. We wanted to hit the Champagne Brunch at the Wynn before several of the gals spent the afternoon at the spa. Unfortunately, JJ had to head out that morning so we missed her company. The brunch was amazing and we had so much fun. Our waitress was a hoot and she made sure our mimosa glasses were never empty plus she gave us full to-go cups! The spa girls broke off from there and the rest of us meandered our way back to the hotel by wandering through the Venetian, drinking and shopping along the way. DF had one goal for the weekend: to see a midget Elvis impersonator with press-on chest hair! We found him that afternoon at the Flamingo! What a riot! Back at the hotel ER had to start packing to catch the red eye later that night. DF and I snoozed and snacked while we waited for the other girls to return from the spa. Once they returned we headed over to the Bellagio Conservatory to see the awesome decorations. Back at the room we snacked and talked until it was time to say our sad goodbyes to ER.

We then headed down to Mandalay Bay to go to the Minus 5 Lounge. Again, we had so much fun! They give you parkas and gloves and supply you with one vodka drink as part of the entry fee. Everything but the floor and ceiling were made out of ice: tables, chairs, walls, decorations, glasses... it was awesome. We probably would have spent more time in there but we had skipped dinner and were hungry. After buying souvenirs we headed off to House of Blues for dinner. By that time we were all exhausted. Except for KS who had had several energy drinks at Minus 5! She was like a puppy running around us on our walk back down the strip!

Once back in the room we all prepared to head home the next morning. Everyone slowly trickled out on Monday with the last of us flying out by 1 pm. The weekend was, as always, full of jokes and laughter, lots of fun and planning for next year. By the way, all the gals can join us next year: October 7-11, 2010.

And THAT is what happens in Vegas. I know. We are totally out of control. Pictures to follow.

Finally made it to Minus 5 lounge. It was way cool. No pun intended! Just like being back in Wyoming but without the wind!

Mixing drinks at this point. But don't be scared. I'm a pretty tough chick.

Mimosas and prime rib aren't the best combo. But I'm working with it.

Good morning sunshine! Buffet at the Wynn.

Family style meals are perfect. It is like eating a buffet without having to stand up.

Everyone is sighing heavily in an effort to make more room in their tummies.

Nora's Wine Bar --food and wine coma hitting shortly.

Nora's Wine Bar --food and wine coma hitting shortly.

The Wyoming gals are missing 10 inches of snow. It is good to vacation in the dessert. Weather is gorgeous here.

Back to the room before midnight. No pumpkins here :)

Reminded that I am too old to go clubbing. I don't get it at this point in my life. I'd rather sleep :)

Having fun shopping with my girls!

I'm sorry. My bad. Pinot Noir. There is a big difference. One is white and one is red. I prefer the red.

Escargo at Mon Amie Gabi with Hob Nob Pinot Grigio. YUM.

When to Buy Organic

Info on when to buy organic vs conventional foods.

No frogs were harmed during the composing of the previous text.

A.M. walk--feel like I'm in a Frogger game! So many frogs to dodge on this hot, humid morning!

Cat Update

Kitty is a girl and she is apparently healthy.

C is going to flip when he sees the bill. Granted $100 of that bill is the Revolution (heart worm/flea/etc) treatment I needed to buy anyway for both cats. I thought I was doing myself a favor by getting it from the Doc. My Pet Meds charges $15 less in general AND they had it on sale for half of what I paid at the doc's office. Live and learn I guess. Next time I'll know better.

Kitty also has to go back in 4 weeks for booster shots. It should be a whole lot less then. But, to get her spayed is another story. UGH. Sorry C! You don't even like the pets that much and you have to fork out the dough for them. Hopefully, our cat cost for this coming year will be a lot less without Rusty and his ailments. Anyway......

Now that it is confirmed she is a girl, approx 5 months old, and 5.4 pounds, I'm going to work on the kids to call her Star instead of Straw. It is so close in sound especially when said by a 4 year old. Do you think they will go for it?

I just went through it again and I didn't get screwed on the Revolution. The doc's office gave me 7 doses making each dose around $14.25 each. The price on mypetmeds.com puts it around $12.75 each and I would have only gotten 6 of them. I still would have done better online but it wasn't as huge of a difference as I first thought. Whew!

Kitty has been snoozing all day which is to be expected after such an ordeal but she seems fine. No adverse affects from the meds.

Kiddos and the week ahead

Here are the photos of M's hair as I promised.

C is excited to get O involved in Boy Scouts. Here he is in his uniform. Cute, eh?
On top of the other things that happened last week, M flooded the bathroom by plugging up the toilet. That was a fun time cleaning that up. Now she is terrified of flushing the toilet! Funny but annoying at the same time.

Today will be spent cramming for my first Herbal Formula quiz tonight. The quiz is only worth 5% of our grade but I know from experience that if I do poorly, it psychs me out for the midterm. I need to get a handle on this stuff so that I don't feel overwhelmed come midterm time.

Tomorrow, observation in the clinic. Saturday work. Sunday I signed up for a CPR class to renew my certification but I may skip it as I have another quiz coming up on Monday plus a paper due Weds. Also, O has a b-day party to attend Sun followed by a game and it is our turn to bring snacks. Busy day. After all of that, I take off one week from today for Vegas. I feel that it is a well deserved trip and am very much looking forward to the break, a change of scenery and time with friends.

Have a great weekend everyone. Love to all.

Nice

These pictures don't do it justice but C worked hard this weekend power washing the driveway. Here are before and after shots. He got super dirty and is now pretty much crippled from the work! Poor guy. But it looks so great and is appreciated. He has done a lot of much needed work around the yard and I am thankful for all of it. Now we just need to replace that awful fence between the house and garage with wrought iron. It will look great!

Cat

Thanks to Spacemama's find this past Saturday morning, we have a new critter. We are supposed to be "test driving" s/he but I think s/he will probably stay. Looks like s/he and his/her siblings were well taken care of but dumped on the sidewalk near a major 4 way stop intersection in our neighborhood. With the way animals have been running rampant since last year's hurricane plus the recent economy, I guess the former owners felt the kitties had a better chance leaving them on the sidewalk than taking them to a shelter? I'd like to think that is their reasoning. Lucky for them (or is it us?!), they found the right people to adopt them.

We aren't sure of the gender yet. There is no visible male genitalia but I don't know how old they are or really anything about cat genitalia so who knows for sure. I've been calling her "she" for now. O wants to name her "Straw" because her stripes remind him of the stripes on a drinking straw. I honestly cannot get used to the idea of a cat named Straw. Once we go to the vet and know what gender we are dealing with then maybe we can think of a better cat name.

Here she is getting nose-to-nose with Brody. He is really good with her. He just wants to play and doesn't understand that when he chases her it scares her. She stands up for herself though and isn't afraid to approach him when he is not chasing her. Jetta, the other cat, has always been quite antisocial. She is not happy to see this critter in her territory. She hisses, arches her back and carries on beyond what is necessary. Little cat gives it to her right back and isn't intimidated. I think they will work out a truce eventually.

S/he is so pretty and has such a lovely personality. I just love cats and I'm happy to have 2 in the house again.

Much cooler and much less humid this morning. Would be perfect except the mosquitoes are eating us alive!

Looking at Target's fall fashions. Why are all the tops paper thin? I mean how many layers does one need to wear for double the price and half the fabric?

I'm hungry and I have an entire mall food court available to me. Nothing sounds good to me. So I just wander around until something smells or looks good I guess

It has been a week

No, nothing bad happened. Everything just seemed challenging no matter which direction I turned. Maybe it is the PMS? Who knows. It was dark and dreary for much of the week which always just kicks me in the teeth. I don't mind a day here and there and even enjoy the rain. But this seemed like it was non-stop dreariness. UGH.

O was home from school sick on Mon and Tues and his teacher kindly sent me his homework page by email so that we could make sure he was up to date when he returned on Weds. Well, it seems he has a dinosaur project due this coming Monday. They gave the kids a week to do it. It involves art skills that I really dislike and don't actually have so I've never cultivated them in the kids. M loves to draw and do more artsy things and I'm not sure where she gets it. Probably from C's sister, CF. Too bad she lives too far away to encourage that skill.

Anyway, the students were given a week to do a diorama or a detailed drawing of their chosen dinosaur. I can barely keep up with my homework and my responsibilities and by Sunday I'm just a blubbering idiot. So I'm in a panic thinking that I am going to have to spend every waking moment tomorrow sitting with O to get him to complete this project. Not looking forward to it. To his credit though he did rough out a sketch and make notes about his project today so maybe it won't be so bad. Some days I can barely take care of myself and now I have to help a 7 year old create a diorama???? Help! Too bad I'm not more like my friends Annie & John who actually care about and follow through on their kids' education.

M decided to cut her own hair by herself on Thursday. Luckily she pulled her hair straight out in front of her to cut so she could watch it. That put it right about chin length. You should have seen the drama and the tears while I evened it out. She kept saying, "I don't want to cut my hair!" And I would respond, "But you already did! I'm just trying to make it all the same length!" Even though we cut off a good 4-5 inches it turned out super cute and she loves it. I'll try to post pictures soon.

We went off to the Astros game last night but the tickets we wanted to purchase (free kid ticket for every adult ticket purchased) were sold out. So, we bought tickets for tonight's game and hung out downtown for dinner. It was nice to be out with the family doing normal family things. The game tonight was fun. The Astros lost but I don't really go to watch the games so much as to watch the people. Tomorrow is their last scheduled home game this season. Hard to believe it is coming to a close.

In clinic yesterday the intern I'm following was swamped with three patients very close together with their appointments so he quickly handed me their folders and had me do the intakes. Now I do these sorts of things a lot as a massage therapist so I didn't mind giving it a try. Some of the questions are similar and some are quite different. I left the tongue and pulse diagnosis for him to do because I don't trust my skills in that department yet and I didn't want the patient to have to do it twice. I think it went well and that I helped a lot. We saw patients who were dealing with anxiety and depression, wanting relief from symptoms of the common cold, needing treatment for knee pain, wanting help to stop smoking and a patient who gets relief with acupuncture for this sinusitis condition she has had since 1985! She has been congested for 24 years and finds that acupuncture every other week is the most effective treatment for her. It is incredibly interesting work and I'm starting to see myself actually doing this job in the future. I hope my patients have just as diverse issues to treat once I become a licensed practitioner like those that I see in the school clinic.

So, there you have it. The week in a nutshell. My first quizzes begin next week so I'll be spending tomorrow studying. I'm glad the first quizzes will be done before I head to Vegas in two weeks! I can't wait for the time away. I really look forward to going and hanging out with friends every year at this time. All you gals out there are always welcome to join us so let me know and I'll keep you posted as to our plans. If anyone else can join us at the last minute this year then please do! The more the merrier.

C had a rough week at work for numerous reasons. Some I can't go in to but suffice it to say that he is dealing with some annoying opposition, some wonderful support and he is really getting tired of this position. I hope that it improves for him soon.

I'm fading fast so I think I'll go crash for the evening. Love to you all.

Funny M

This photo makes me think that M is doing her impersonation of a hungover celebrity caught by the paparazzi. Makes me laugh! So funny!

Spicy Black Bean Burgers

I've had this recipe for about 6 months. I stole it from this blog. It is the Thursday recipe on that post. Anyway, I finally made them for lunch today and they were sooooooo yummy. Just a little dollop of sour cream....perfection. So, I thought I'd share for those who are interested.

Enjoy!

SPICY BLACK BEAN BURGERS
1/2 cup flour
1 small onion diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 small hot pepper minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium red pepper diced
2 cups cooked or canned black beans, mashed
1/2 cup corn niblets
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp chili powder
2 tbsp fresh parsley

Set flour aside for coating. Saute onion, garlic, oregano and hot pepper in oil until onions are translucent. Add peppers and saute for another 2 minutes, until pepper is tender. In a large bowl mash the beans with a fork. Stir in all the vegetables, corn, bread crumbs, cumin, salt, chili powder and parsley. Mix well. Divide and shape into patties. Coat in flour. Cook on a lightly oiled frying pan on medium high for about 5-10 minutes, or until brown.

Sick Day

O is home from school today. He had an impressive fever most of the weekend. This morning he is still fighting it. As with any fever, it goes in cycles: he seems run down, tired, not interested in doing anything then his fever breaks and he is ready to run around the house. It is hard to hold him down!

I've had a headache for the past couple of days which is how his seems to have started. I may just head back to bed. He is all set up on the couch and doesn't need anything right now. C took M to preschool this morning. So, I'm all set for a snooze.

m self portraits take 3

One with daddy. Again, she took them all herself.

m self portraits take 2

M self portraits

She took all of these herself.