Summer 2011

We've hit the half way mark for summer (based on CCISD school calendar!). I had hoped to do a lot more things with the kids (as usual) but (as usual) time gets away from me and not much happens. I think the kids have had a good vacation so far. Just being able to stay up later and sleep in is vacation enough for them! And me too for that matter!!

I feel less stressed this semester and see what life can and will be like once I finish school next August (2012)! My classes are easy and I barely have cracked a book plus clinic is going well and you learn based on what comes through the door. So, while I could be following up some more on certain patient situations and reviewing, I really have been taking advantage of my down time and doing NOTHING. It feels really good. I'm looking forward to life after 5 years of grad school.

I've nearly got my schedule set for the fall. I've done my part as far as requesting clinic days and so on but, with the big number of interns right now, we may have to have a lottery for the days everyone wants so I may get pushed to another day. We shall see how that all works out, hopefully this week. I like to have my schedule set well in advance. It makes me feel less stressed.

C and the kids take off next week on their train trip to NY. They are all excited about it. I can't get away for that long so I'm staying behind. Things finally came together this past weekend so I could make arrangements to fly up one weekend while they are there. I'm looking forward to having the house to myself and also being able to see the family too! The best of both worlds.

I'll post a few pics of the kids next. They both recently had their birthday parties and we spent a fun afternoon last week doing the museum/downtown Houston rounds.

Happy rest of the summer to all! Enjoy!

Spring Update

Can't believe it has been nearly 4 months since my last post. It is all a blur. I'll try to remember some key events to catch you up and I'll try not to drag it out so it is too long to read!

O: He has been super excited to get back to baseball for the spring season. His team has grown up together and really have honed their skills to play well as a team. I am so proud of all of them and it is amazing to watch them play. This season is bitter sweet as this is their last season of machine pitch. They are at a point where they are really "getting it" with their skills and next year will begin a new struggle as they move on to kid pitch and the new skills required. Some of them will pitch, others will not and the games, expectedly, will be much more slow paced and tedious for players and fans alike. Also, one of the star players of the team is the only girl. She has gotten to the age where she will be changing over to competitive soft ball and we will be so very sad to see her (and her wonderful family) go.

He continues to do well in school yet complains he "hates" school all at the same time. Mostly he hates getting up early as we are all night owls in our house. He seems to have lots of friends. When I go and have lunch with him there are tons of kids and staff alike who greet him constantly. However, he is easily upset when he is left out of an after school football game or not asked to play with people he considers his friends. I'm not sure if he is left out on purpose but it really upsets him. I'm trying to work with him on going to ask to participate, not taking it all so personally and being willing to play what the group is playing. He often thinks everyone should play what HE wants to play and gets his feelings hurt if people say no and play something else. It is hard to know how much to intervene and how much to make him figure out for himself.

He is an amazing kid with wonderful insights into life and continues to be a source of great pride to his dad and I.

M: She absolutely loves school. She is a social butterfly, which was expected! She has done well overall in school but went through a short period where she needed to review some basic skills she was ignoring. I think she just wanted to play and be with her friends so she didn't try very hard to show the teacher what she could do during testing. But, we continue to work with her and her brother helps out as well. No one has more influence on her than her brother right now. He pretends to hate her part-time and they are like two peas in a pod the rest of the time. He encourages her reading and asks all kids of questions from any subject, quizzing her all the time. It is fun to watch them interact.

She continues to adore dancing and, in my opinion, is quite good at it. Her skills are not beyond what she has learned but she naturally moves gracefully, picks steps/skills up quickly and practices every chance she gets. She is such a natural girly girl! She decided to play t-ball again this year and seems to enjoy it but says she doesn't want to play next year. She has mentioned trying soft ball since once of her girl friends plays. But, we will see next spring if she still has an interest. As many of you parents know, it is nearly a full time job to run the kids around to practices, games, recitals, classes, school.... It will continue to get more busy as they get older even though we limit them to one activity a season. She continues to make us very proud and we are constantly mesmerized by her charm and cuteness!

Character Awards: O received his second character award in Jan and M received her first in early April!! Each nine weeks, every teacher chooses a boy and a girl from their class who exhibits the character traits that they are focusing on for that period. Traits such as being honorable, fair, kind, trustworthy and so on. O received the award the first time in first grade when the school began the recognition. We are so very proud of both kids!

C: He is working hard as always. He recently attended the Flight Readiness Review (FRR) at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). This is a huge meeting with the upper management where each and every department must state what is going on with their specific widget, how that affects the crew/launch and if they are go for launch based on how their widget is involved. He always returns from work travel with wonderful stories of what he saw and who he met. He was happy to have our close friend, TR, also attending the meeting and they were able to have lunch after the meeting and do some shopping for the kids (she has a daughter who is almost joined at the hip with M!)

He continues to pick up the slack with the kids by getting them to practices, meetings, games etc while I'm busy with classes and work. While we don't always see eye-to-eye on handling our schedules, he is a wonderful partner and and amazing dad.

T: It was a tough semester of juggling too much, as usual. But, in the end, I managed to pull it off and will be starting my internship in the school clinic next week where we treat the public. As an Intern I, I will work closely for one month, two days a week, with my group of fellow Intern I students and our supervisor. We will work together to take patient health histories, diagnose, create patient treatment plans and perform acupuncture treatments as well as prescribe herbal treatments. After one month, we will work individually, still followed closely by our supervisor. In total, there are 4 levels of internship. I plan to follow what many students do and combine the last 3 into two semesters to finish and graduate. That simply means that in the fall and next spring I will work 3 shifts per week in the school clinic. While doing my internships, I will have 5 classes to complete and 5 board exams to pass. My goal is to be ready to treat patients in my own clinic a year from now.

Part of my juggling too much this semester included working 4 days per week doing massage. That is twice the time I'm used to working. I loved the interaction with clients and really feeling like I was helping people. Many clients I had not worked with before because of my previously limited schedule. When you work with the same clients over and over again, it can feel like you aren't accomplishing as much. Although I know I make a difference to each of them in their daily lives, I don't see it as readily anymore since I see them so often. It was good to be reminded that my skills are still top notch. I look forward to having a similar satisfaction as an intern. Although I know I will have challenges trying to take my book learning and turn it into actual treatment of patients, I am looking forward to seeing the difference I can make with something else I love to do.

Well, that is our lives since Jan in a nutshell. Hope it wasn't too tedious of a read!

Love to all!

Train Trip

As many of you know, we took the train from Marshall, TX to Rochester, NY with a layover in Chicago for our holiday trip.

Overall, the trip was good. There are definite pros and cons when it comes to train travel vs plane travel. Plane travel is quicker for sure but also more restrictive. You have to go through security, pack a certain way (ie. no liquids in your carry-on) and then you are stuck in a tiny space, completely at the mercy of the flight crew. You have to wait for the flight attendants to bring you something to drink, you are lucky if you get anything at all to eat and can only use the bathroom at certain times during the flight. Plus, everyone starts to get suspicious if you just want to get up and stretch your legs a bit.

The train is better from this perspective because you can move around and you have more space, you can get something to eat pretty much anytime during your waking hours and you can get water any time you want it (at least in the sleeper car). Plus you can bring onto the train your own food and drinks (including alcohol) to consume at your convenience. You can use the bathroom whenever you want to even when the train is stopped at a station. All this and no security at all.

It took approx 43 hours from the time we left our house until the time we arrived in Rochester. Yep, it was a long trip and I had troubles getting a decent sleep but we got to have some much needed family time just to hang out together.

I posted pics on facebook as we went along so some of these photos may look familiar. There are more pics on my facebook page of the interior of the train and our sleeping accommodations.

Here is a quick synopsis of our trip:

The name of our train. This cool poster was hung in the dining car.

The kids in the lounge car. There were 6 tables at one end then the remainder of the car had seats that were turned towards the windows. Every spot was first come, first served. Roughly mid-car was a set of stairs that took you down to the cafe. It was open for the majority of the waking hours and sold various snacks, drinks, sandwiches, salads, etc. The dining car had limited seating hours and a limited menu but it was fine for us. Meals were included in the price of the sleeper car.
M listening to her iPod and watching the world go by. I love this pic of her.

We woke up the second day in St Louis. It was 15 degrees outside as O is demonstrating here. Our sleeping car windows are behind him.

C also taking the above pic of O.

The kids and I standing in the doorway of the train.
Pulling out of St Louis we saw almost 360 degrees of the Arch! It was pretty at night (on our return trip) but we couldn't take good pics of it then.
While on a 7 hour layover in Chicago, we walked the 1.5 blocks to Sear's Tower (now named Willis Tower). Those are my feet as I look through the glass floor down to the ground that is 103 stories below! Then the whole family standing in the glass box that extends off the side of the building. That excursion and having some Chicago deep dish pizza at a nice little restaurant another block further took up nearly all of our time in Chicago.
The second half of our trip was spent in coach class (not a sleeper car). Most of the trip was overnight and, while the sleeper was much more comfortable and private, this part of the trip wasn't horrible at all. We were in the same car with people getting off the train either in Buffalo or Rochester so there was not a lot of activity overnight while we were sleeping. The lights were kept low and we had planned ahead with blankets to remain a comfortable temperature.

The return trip for the same leg in coach class was not horrible but less pleasant. When we left Chicago, the train was clean and fresh and we got off roughly 1/3 of the way on its trip to NYCity/Boston. The return trip had us waiting for 90 minutes (train was late due to weather) at midnight and getting on a much less "fresh" train since it was already 2/3 of the way into its trip from NYCity to Chicago. Again, not horrible but not near as pleasant. The thing about coach is you can't control the lighting or the temperature and there are always people walking by going to the cafe/dining car, the bathroom and getting on and off the train looking for seats. I think I slept for about 2 hours total. UGH.

Our Chicago layover was shorter this time plus we arrived an hour late so we just ate at the food court for lunch and were back on the train in the sleeping car for our final leg of the trip. If you look at the pic of O above, you'll see that the sleeping car has an upper level. We had sleeping accommodations in the upper level on our return trip. The upper level sways more and seems like a rougher ride compared to the lower level. Something to note for future trips. Amtrack trains are not the smooth, sleek trains we've experienced in Europe with fast rails and on time arrivals/departures. These are passenger trains sharing the rails with freight trains which have priority. Numerous times we had to stop and allow a freight train to pass from the other direction. Not the end of the world but so much different than passenger trains in Europe.

The kids LOVED traveling by train and it allowed us some great family time. While I was a bit grouchy (ok, maybe a lot grouchy!) from lack of sleep, it was a fun way to travel. We now have another travel option!

Updates

For those of you who haven't heard yet, I passed 2 of the 3 exams I need to to become an intern. The herb exam kicked my ass. I will retake it on Dec. 17th. I believe I didn't pass because I didn't have a good study strategy. I would begin one route and one of my fellow classmates would say, 'that didn't work for me' so I would change plans and so on until I didn't retain any info! I will need to focus more to get through the next study period. I'll keep you posted on how it all goes.

In other news, the airport security fiasco has us hesitant to fly for Christmas. So, we are taking the train to Rochester! Should be a fun adventure full of blog material. All of you Rochester people, let us know when we might see you the week between Christmas and New Year holidays.

Ok, gotta hit the books.

Update on the attitude

The weekend I posted about O's attitude he was banned from Wii. But, I found him playing it Sunday morning. He said that he thought Saturday was the end of the week and Sunday was a new week. Therefore, his Wii grounding was up on Sunday at midnight. And he was kind about it. Saturday he was helpful and didn't argue at all. C and he had a long discussion about respect and participating in family life, doing chores, helping one another out and so on. He has been so much better ever since. Rarely does he roll his eyes or talk back. He happily says yes when asked to do something and he does it with joy.

I know it isn't the last we will see of the attitude but at least we made some headway on that early on. Let's just hope it sticks and also rubs off on his sister!

Happy New Year!

We've been lax at getting holiday cards out for the past 2 years. Just wanted to touch base with everyone to let you know we are still alive here! We LOVE getting your cards, photos and updates. Each of you is in our thoughts often. We wouldn't be who and where we are today without all of your influence in our lives so thank you!

O is enjoying 2nd grade this year. He plays baseball in the fall and spring and is at the machine pitch level now. He loves it, does a great job and is fun to watch. He also started Cub Scouts this year and is enjoying all of those activities. He loves watching most any sport on tv, anything Star Wars, playing with his friends and playing Wii.

M started pre-K this fall and seems to enjoy it. She is a girly-girl and always has to wear a dress. She is in her second year of dance classes where she is continuing to learn ballet and now tap. She is such an entertainer and is a joy to watch. She is going to try her hand at t-ball this spring. She loves drawing pictures, dancing, singing and playing Wii.

C is forever busy at work dealing with various aspects of the exercise equipment on the International Space Station. Some days are long and stressful with a schedule full of meetings with co-workers, managers and international partners. Somehow he manages to keep it together and does great work. He enjoys doing all kinds of activities with the family and playing Wii.

T is in her 3rd year of grad school studying Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Hopefully (fingers crossed!) she will have graduated, passed her board exams and started treating patients by Summer 2012. She spends much of her time just trying to keep her head above water between the house, family, school and work. She still has a thriving part-time massage practice and always has a full schedule. She enjoys relaxing with the family and playing Wii.

We hope 2010 brings much health, happiness and love to each of you!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Bathroom take 3

Just a reminder:  you can click on any photo to enlarge it.

Another view of the mirror used to reflect the light back towards the toilet area.

View from toilet.

This tapestry is from France.  It is "my" castle:  Chenonceau  I let the French Government think they own it but, secretly, it is mine.  I swear I lived there in another life I love it so much.  C had the tapestry framed for me years ago as a Christmas gift.

Sign from Bed Bath and Beyond.

I got this framed glass at Paris Las Vegas.  You can see through the glass so that is the wall color you see behind the Eiffel Tower.
The only thing missing is a lovely stone Fleur-de-lis that was given to me from my French family years ago.  It is packed away somewhere but when I find it, it will become a part of the France bathroom.

Bathroom take 2

Sign from Hobby Lobby.  Pillow from Paris Las Vegas.

View from toilet.  The toilet is set back under the stairs so it is dark under there.  C came up with the idea to hang a mirror on the wall opposite the light fixture so it would reflect light into the dark area of the room.  It works rather well.

Bathroom Complete

Many of you know the story.  But in case you missed it, in a nut shell, the toilet in our powder room under the stairs needed repaired and we decided to take the opportunity to decorate the room as part of having to remove the toilet tank.  We could paint behind the toilet and all would be well.

That was in October of 2007.  Since we have two other full baths in the house there was really no hurry to get the powder room finished.  Plus, C and I rarely keep the same waking hours let alone trying to decide on a decorating theme.  So, slowly (painfully so!) over the past nearly 2 years we've decided on decorations and paint colors.  C was able to work on it more over the past few months since it was really getting on my nerves that it was sitting there incomplete.

So, we now present, our France room.  I would love to have a bigger room to decorate in honor of my beloved 2nd country.  But, for now, this will do.

La Toilette sign above the door.  New light fixture over sink.

One side of the wall by the toilet.

This sign (found at Hobby Lobby) inspired the paint colors:  sunny bright yellow and plum.

Also from Hobby Lobby.

Back to the Grind

Classes begin again for me this evening.  I attended a 2 hour orientation for the clinic last night so I kind of feel like I've already started.  I've set up 4 tough classes plus my observation so I'm sure I will find this semester quite a challenge.

The thing that will help me the most this semester is M started pre-school this week.  She'll go MWF.  I'm hoping that will motivate me to get my time management under better control and take advantage of alone time to study so I'm not so stressed about all I need to do.  We'll see how that goes.  I don't think I completed a single thing on my list that I was hoping to do during break.  I'm hoping that the time I had to relax and spend with the family will be the motivation I need to get it into gear for this semester.

Otherwise, all is going well.  Will post more when I have something to report!  Love to all!

Time Off

I'm way over due for a blog update.  I finished my last final last Tuesday evening (18th).  Wednesday I felt like I just needed to sleep for about a week or so.  Thursday I had wanted to do something fun with the kids, kind of a last hurrah sort of thing.  However, the upstairs AC unit stopped working and I spent the day waiting for the repair guys.  Luckily they got here early afternoon and fixed several relatively small problems so that didn't end up being a nightmare.  Friday I worked all afternoon and into the evening.

This week has been more of the same.  I am relaxing now that I don't have to worry about getting school work/studying done.  However, the house is in need of some TLC.  If I'm at home, I can't find the motivation to really do much more than unload and re-load the dishwasher and maybe some laundry.  If I'm not at home I'm motivated to get home and do some cleaning/sorting/organizing.  But, so far it hasn't happened.  I know I would feel so much better if I could just sort a few closets.  I don't think it would take that long either.  It is just the getting started part that slows me down!  I'll get to it eventually.  

O started 2nd grade on Tuesday and has had a couple of good days at school.  I think he really enjoyed seeing his friends again, riding the bus again and he likes his teacher so all is well for him.  

M has been missing him I think.  Especially today since we were home all day.  Yesterday she was distracted by dance class followed by lunch with 2 of her classmates and their moms then we each got pedicures!  Well, I got a pedicure while she stood in the water for a few minutes then had her toes painted the same berry color as mine!  She is scheduled to begin her 3 day per week (M,W,F) pre-school next week.  I had plans to go in on Friday to have her meet her teacher etc. and was writing the check for next week when I realized that I had set her up to begin on Wednesday (2nd) when my classes start.  But we are paying for the entire week since no credit or price break is given for absences or holidays.  So, I called to ask if she can start on Monday and they agreed.  So Friday morning we will go in and meet her teacher, see her class and so on.  I'll bring in the last of the paperwork I owe them (shot records and such) and she will be set to start on Monday!  They have secure internet cameras where they give you a password that authorizes the user to watch just the classroom that your child is in.  I love that I can check in and see her playing with her friends during the day.  I think she will really love it once she starts but I suspect the first week or so may be a bit bumpy for her emotionally.  She has been crying and hanging on me for the past several months when I drop her off at GAB on my way to school.  But, once she gets to know her teacher and classmates I suspect she will be fine.  She'll probably hate being dropped off at GAB more once she sees what life is like at her new school!  But, even though they would prefer to spend the time with mom and dad, they do just fine at GAB.

Like I mentioned, my classes begin next Weds (2nd).  I also have to head up to school for an orientation for the clinic Tuesday evening.  I am doing my first of 2 observations this semester and I am really looking forward to it.  I think it will help solidify all that I have learned so far and give me a good foundation to build on over the next few years as I complete my studies.  I will be doing that on Fridays this semester.  Class nights are on Mon, Weds and Thursdays each week.  Tuesday evenings I will have off.  I will only do massages at Valeo PT on Saturdays this semester.  Lucky for me I have awesome and consistent clients so many of my Saturday sessions are already booked through Dec. 

I also have been trading massages for services done by my old friends at Lavish where I worked before O was born.  I trade massages for my hair cuts/color, the kids' haircuts, my waxing (eyebrows and face only as I can't stand the other stuff!  It hurts!!), and pedicures.  I have really been enjoying it and have realized how much I miss getting pampered!

So, with my schedule this semester I am hoping to have lots of time to study on Mondays and Wednesdays while both kids are at school.  It is more time than I've ever actually set aside before and I'm going to need it.  I'm taking 2 tough TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) classes, one of them being the first herbal prescription class, and 2 western medicine classes (pathology and microbiology).  Good lord it scares me just to write those words!  I'm excited and very anxious about all of it:  classes, kids, kids' schools, child care, keeping up with homework, studying, housework...... and the list goes on and on it seems!

So, next week I will hopefully have some time to get a few things done around the house.  I will need to do a little shopping too.  I need some "professional" clothes and shoes to wear in the clinic.

C continues to be very supportive despite the fact that he works like crazy.  He is so good at spending time with the kids while I'm working or at school.  We enjoyed some great family time over the past weekend as well.

I guess that is about it from here.  Good luck to everyone as you settle into the new fall schedules.  Take care.  Hugs all around.   

Updates?

Nothing new really to update.  Since I've been able to text little snippets of my day from my phone I feel like I've been keeping everyone up to date over the big stuff anyway.  

I've felt kind of lost the past few days.  After a week and a half of all consuming studying and worrying about midterms I don't really have anything pressing going on.  Yes, I have a ton of things I COULD be doing but, alas, I have not found the motivation.  The FLY Lady sits on my shoulder and reminds me that I could take 15 minutes and clean out the bathroom closet of all my no longer used/needed stuff.  But, it seems too overwhelming so I ignore her.  Maybe another day.

My niece, KH, is arriving today from Wyoming.  At the ripe old age of 12 she is flying alone to come and spend 6 weeks with us.  It will be a mutually beneficial 6 weeks as I could use a "mother's helper" with the kids and she could use some time away to find new adventures that just aren't abundant in Wyoming.  She will be going with us to Rochester later in the month to visit C's family.  She has never been to NY so it will be a treat for her.

O is here and he wants to type a message:

I have a XbOX. 

I guess that is all he has to say this morning!

Anyway, we are all anxiously awaiting her arrival today.  O couldn't sleep last night he was so excited to see her.  M danced around the house singing a made up song about her coming to stay with us.  KH, you have excited people here waitin' for ya!

C spent a busy long weekend working on odd jobs that have been on his list of things to do but he has not had time to do them.  He repaired a hole in our closet that was cut to access a spigot that needed repaired on the outside of the house.  He repaired the leaky shower head in our bathroom.  He took on the repair/remodel/renovation of our powder room.  He has been a busy little beaver plus he had dealt with my extreme stress induced mood swings and dealt with the kids demanding his time because he is home.  Today was his first day back at work since last Thursday.  I hope it is not a long, miserable day for him.  

We finally got the kids' party planned.  It was a tough battle to get through.  We didn't want to spend lots of money on something big for either of them as we don't want to make that a habit/expectation every year.  I wanted to combine their parties out of sheer practicality for planning and executing purposes.  C was very much against a shared party as he wanted them each to have their own.  At this stage, I really don't think it matters much.  Each of them wanted a big party at Fun Max Jump-In which is one of the local bouncy places that the kids can't get enough of.  But those parties are not cheap.  To make a long story short (too late!!), we decided to do a Fun Max party for the two of them together.  Get it all over and done with in one 2 hour period and the two of them will be happy.  We invited way too many people (O knows more people than C and I combined!) so, hopefully, all of the 40 some kids that were invited won't come.  If 15-20 come then I think it will be a success for everyone involved.  Now I have to spend the next couple of weeks discussing/deciding/ordering cakes (although I'm leaning towards cookies myself!) and figuring out what to put in the goodie bags.  

By the way, who in the heck decided that it was a good idea to spend big bucks on a party for 20 kids, provide the food, cake, entertainment AND have to dole out goodie bags of cheap crap after the fact?  Was the party not enough?  Seriously.  Maybe I should just not mention it.  But this routine has gotten so ingrained in their expectations.  I guess I AM the mom who hands out string cheese, organic fruit roll ups and honest kids drinks for O's snack day.  Why can't I be the mom who refuses to provide goodie bags?  Or maybe I can think of a way to break out of the routine without alienating everyone.  Packets of wildflower seeds?  Not so kid friendly.  $5 gift cards to Chick-Fil-A?  Maybe, but so much more expensive than the cheap crap you can buy by the dozen from Oriental Trading Company or your local party store.

C was advocating having a gathering here at the house.  I almost choked him.  20 + kids running around the house?!  It would cost us just as much to get some sort of entertainment/activity plus the food PLUS I would have to prepare it all, clean before and after.......Is he nuts??  No wonder these party places rake in the dough.  You'd end up spending the same amount plus having to do all of the work yourself! 

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on the party front.  Both kids are excited that cousin KH will be there to help celebrate.

As usual, I know there is more I was going to mention.  I didn't make a list so my mind is blank.  Happy July 1st to everyone.  OH!  And I'm past due for May and June b-day celebrations!  I'll get to that ASAP!  

Time Off

Yeah, I know.  I'm way behind in blogging.  I periodically update my status on Facebook and feel like I've done my part to reach out to the world.  I forget that not all of you are on Facebook to see these status updates.  So, I should get you updated.

I'm sure there was a lot going on at one time in the past 2+ weeks since my last post.  But, I'll just hit the highlights.  Maybe once I get going I'll remember more.

I got through my finals and feel pretty good about the whole thing.  My student loan came through and the paperwork is all in order.  I've registered for classes and have a week left to relax a bit before I hit the books again.

O is doing so well with the herbs and acupuncture for his bedwetting that last night was his last treatment.  We have enough herbs to get us through the week and then we are done with those.  I'll just take him periodically to have "maintenance" treatments.  He started out being wet at least 3-5 nights/week and ended up being wet only 1 time this past week.  He is really proud and everyone goes on and on about how brave he is to get acupuncture.

M Is doing well in dace class.  They have been working on their dance for the recital at the end of May.  The girls are too cute.  It will be fun to watch them and see how they react to their debut in front of a live audience.

C is going a little nuts at work which is becoming the norm.  There are so many things about it that he loves and so many things he hates.  I guess that is the way most people feel about their job.

We've had tons of rain over the past couple of weeks.  C's car sunroof leaked so now his car is in the garage and mine is in the driveway.  It should be repaired before the end of the week.  We just spend each morning checking the weather to see if it is safe to have his car out of the garage or not.  Otherwise we are splitting time with my car.  It is working fine this week since I am on a school break.  

We are looking forward to a quick getaway this coming weekend.  We are taking off Saturday afternoon to head to Rusk, TX to take a train ride on Sunday.  I think we are looking forward to it almost as much as the kids are!  I've been trying to book a night at a nearby B&B.  I've heard back from them once to learn that the room we want to book is available but I can't get them to call back to let us know if we can reserve it or not!  I may have to look at some other places.

Anyway, that is what is going on here in a nutshell.  We did our April b-day celebration over the weekend so I'll upload those couple of photos and post that some day soon.     

Another marathon post

Yes people, it is another marathon blog post because I can't seem to do it in short posts.  So, take a potty break, grab a snack and the beverage of your choice then come back and read all of the incredibly fascinating details of my thoughts...

VEGAS

I've already made hotel reservations for our annual Vegas trip which is still 6 months away.  I just love having something to look forward to!  Here's a call out to all the gals--let me know if you'd like to join us.  Anyway, this year, DF and I decided to book our stay at Paris instead of our usual Bally's.  We often spend a lot of time in Paris eating and shopping so we figured, why not just stay there?!  The event is scheduled for the weekend of Oct 8-12.  We plan to arrive on Thurs the 8th and leave on Monday the 12th.  Please join us if you can!

SCHOOL

Today marks the last week of classes for my 5th semester.  Finals begin next Weds and finish the following Tues (21st).  That will put me 1/3 of the way through the program.  I planned on taking at least 15 semesters total to complete the program.  It seems like such a long haul but, looking back on the past 5 semesters, it has gone quickly.  

I've done very well paying my tuition etc as I go along but I've opted to take out a student loan starting with the summer semester.  Things are tight now and I know when the tuition goes up and when I get into the clinic where the tuition is a lot higher, it will be too difficult to keep up.  I know that C is not very comfortable with the loan idea but I feel that it will help us out in the long run.  Right now, all the money I make goes straight to school and I can't get ahead on my credit card.  With the student loan I can pay off my credit card and free up some money to help us do some things we want to do:  like travel, house projects, and to just build up our savings.  I feel like it will take a lot of pressure off and I'm confident that I will be able to pay the loan off within 5-7 years of my graduation.  To have the extra funds available now to live and then to be able to pay off the loan fairly quickly after I graduate is a win-win situation to me.  Plus, it might allow me to complete the program a little more quickly if I can take an extra class here and there without worrying how to pay for it.  

Right now I'm taking between 10 and 12 credit hours partly because of the class load but mostly because that is about all I can afford to take each semester.  If I could bump that up to 13-14 credit hours without having to work more to pay for it, then I may save myself a semester or two.  It is a delicate balance right now to take the classes I want to take but also keep up with the prerequisites.  They don't offer ALL of the classes every semester and you have to take them in a certain order to keep up.  If you skip one during the semester that it is offered, you may not be able to take the next level class when it is offered.  You may end up taking fewer hours one semester because you don't have all of your prerequisite classes completed.  It hasn't been too bad to juggle so far but as we get further into the program, more students fall behind or drop out so the higher level classes aren't offered as often.  They watch where the students are in the program and offer what the majority of the students need in a given semester.  It can get tricky to plan.  

For example, next semester they are offering Neuroanatomy on Mondays from 810-1010pm.  While I need Neuroanatomy to graduate, it isn't a prerequisite for any other class.  I'm thinking that I don't want to commute for 90 minutes round trip for a 2 hour class that isn't a prerequisite.  However, it is nagging at me that if I don't take it now, when it is offered again it may conflict with another class that IS a prerequisite and I'll be forced to choose between the two.  Neuro isn't offered every semester so I should take it now while I can.  If I add it to my proposed schedule for next semester, it will bump me up to 13 hours for the semester and 4 days of classes each week.  But, I don't think it will be an easy class and I will be taking my 3rd Herb class next semester.  The classes just get more difficult and I want to keep my work load outside of class manageable so I can have some family time.  Especially since it will be summer and all the fun that goes with that!  On the other hand, if I get it all in now, the sooner I will be finished and we won't have to deal with this huge scheduling conflict in our family.  Maybe I can plan some time to be at school for a few hours each week before classes to study without the usual distractions at home?  All of these thoughts racing through my head.  

You can see how complicated it gets.  Plus, all of these thoughts are jumbled in my head as I try to study for finals to complete the semester I am currently in!  Anyway, people ask me a lot about what is going on with school so there it is.  I hope you could follow me on all of that complicated explanation!  

WORK

Work is going well and I'm pleased to say that the current economic state has not affected my income.  However, I started worrying about paying for the upcoming semester (before I pursued the student loan) about 2 1/2 weeks ago so I crammed 5 clients into my work day.  One of those clients was a new client that I hadn't worked with before.  As it turned out, she is very obese and very difficult to work on.  She was as nice as can be and has been dealing with Fibromyalgia symptoms for about 6 years so I really wanted to help her.  Fibromyalgia is a diagnosis where the patient has severe, debilitating pain and a root cause cannot be identified.  She has had every test in the book and even had neck and shoulder surgery with no relief.  She recently was able to get some relief from antidepressants and other medication and has found massage to be helpful as well.  However, massage helps for a very short time and she hadn't had a massage for over 5 months.  It was a tough session for me and I wasn't yet finished for the day!  I was so sore and I felt the muscle ache creeping back during my work week last Saturday as well.  

Since my massage buddy, DD, moved in December, I've tried to work trades with the other massage therapist at work.  But between our two schedules we haven't had much luck scheduling anything.  I'm dying here!  My body needs some TLC too so I can keep working effectively.  So, since I helped myself with the money end of it by getting a student loan, I've scheduled a massage for myself with another therapist and I'm going to pay for the session.  I haven't decided yet if I will tell her that I am also a therapist.  I may just explain that I'm new because my regular therapist moved recently and I'm used to getting a lot of massage then leave it at that.  While I absolutely cherish the friendship that emerged from my weekly sessions with DD, I am so busy right now that it may be better to get massage sessions for myself that stay on the professional level.  I can schedule at my convenience, pay her and not have any other obligation to her.  But, I am such a bad, bad liar (even if it is lying by omission) and if I end up going to her every other week like I plan on doing, I should tell her what I do for a living so she can work on me the way I need to be worked on.  But then that will bring up all of the questions and conversation about work and I just don't want to do that.  I will probably tell her and just let her know up front that this is my time to escape and I don't want to chat at all--especially about work.  She should understand that.  I'll keep you posted.

KIDS

O & M are doing well.  They get more and more mature every day.  M doesn't look like a baby any longer.  I am really enjoying them as they get older.

O has been getting regular acupuncture treatments and taking herbs to help with his bedwetting issue.  He is such a trooper.  Even though he complains about the needles, he takes them just fine and does well.  He is really good at taking his herbs too.  I think it is helping.  He was wetting the bed probably 4-5 times each week on average.  Now he is down to 2-3 times each week after 4 sessions.  He has issues when he is awake where he waits until the last minute to go to the bathroom and it seems to be helping with that too.  

I chose to take him for acupuncture because I know it will treat the root cause which we have determined is a kidney deficiency--- a Chinese medicine diagnosis (his kidneys function fine as far as Western medicine is concerned).  So, the interns are working on tonifying his kidney essence and kidney qi which will help make his kidneys stronger so that he can better control his urination.  In Chinese medicine, the kidney also controls your growth and development.  This is why children often have an issue with bedwetting because they are depleting so much kidney qi to grow.  Older adults have this problem because, as we age, your kidney qi is also depleted through sexual activity as well as wear and tear on your body which your kidney essence tries hard to repair.  

Just a side note here, this is the idea behind tantric sex.  Everyone is born with a certain amount of kidney essence and you can keep it strong by eating well, exercising and taking care of yourself.  But once your kidney essence is lost, it cannot be replaced.  When men ejaculate, it is believed that they lose some of their kidney essence.  The practice of tantric sex helps men achieve orgasm without ejaculating so that they don't lose their kidney essence.  It is much more complicated than that and I'm not sure why I felt the need to mention this!  I just thought you might find it interesting.  Don't bother asking me any questions about it because that is all I know right now!!   

I also chose to use acupuncture to treat O because western medicine doesn't recognize bedwetting as an issue until the child is at least 9 years of age.  Then they treat the symptom but not the root cause.  Plus, I needed to try to determine if he really can control his bladder issues and he is just being lazy.  I figured his issues would improve very quickly and drastically if he is just being lazy about it.  But, since he is well aware why he is getting acupuncture treatments and what the outcome goal is for those treatments then he would probably be able to control it if he actually could.  Anyway, I'll keep you posted as to how he is doing as we go along.

M just received her costume yesterday for her dance recital in May.  She looks like a big, fluffy yellow puff.  She LOVES it.  Plus we found out that there will be a professional videographer there to videotape her recital.  They will not allow any personal photos or video to be taken on the day of the recital.  They said that they do that for the safety and privacy protection of all of the students.  I can kind of understand that I guess.  The professional will offer videos for sale after the show.  I will post the video for you all to see.  Thus the reason they won't allow personal video to be shot!!

Anyhow, are you all bored to tears yet?!  There are a few other minor things I was going to mention but they are not important.  I need to get ready to head to class so I'll stop for now.  Thanks for listening everyone! 

Family Fun

Just a quick note to let you all know that we've been having a lot of fun with Grandma and Grandpa here.  

It was rainy and cold when they arrived on Thurs of last week.  Friday, Saturday and Sunday weren't much better.  But we compensated by eating out a lot!  Oh, and playing indoor games.  On Sunday everyone but me headed over to Space Center Houston for several hours.  I stayed behind to get some homework done.  They all got to watch the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery at SCH.  I watched it on the computer.  Still impressive.  

Yesterday (Monday) was the first sunny day we've had since their arrival.  It was a beautiful day.  O wanted to go to McDonald's  to eat and play in their huge play area.  We hung out there for a couple of hours then headed back home where the adults napped and the kids watched Noggin.  The evening ended with a great dinner shared with TR, PC, AMR and LW.  What a lovely day.  I'm happy and relaxed and ready to head to class this evening.  

Today looks grey and overcast again but the weatherman says it will break up and be sunny within the next few hours.  I should get out and walk the dog before the sun breaks through and bakes us!  

We'll see what fun we can cook up for St. Patty's day.

What's going on here?

I had intended to be better at keeping up with our daily happenings.  Somehow the days just fly by and I never quite get to it!  Let's see if I can update you all on the goings on and my thoughts of the past 2 weeks....

Still no Rusty.  I'm so sad to lose him.  If he died, I hope it was quick.  If he lost his collar and someone else found him/took him into their home then I hope they get him to a vet for his flea allergies and all the complications from that.  Poor little bugger.  This morning for the first time I saw a squirrel in our back yard that had a short tail--just like Rusty's.  He was running around with another squirrel that had a normal length tail.  Weird.

O is home from school today.  He has been struggling with a bad cough for the past several days.  He started in as soon as he got up this morning.  That combined with the time change prompted me to keep him home for a couch day.  I keep having him drink tons of water and he is peeing like crazy!  I just want to get that bug out of him!  I just wish I could do more with my Oriental Medicine training.  I recognize that he really coughs hard certain times of the day and not so much during other times.  I can't wait until I can do more.  M loves having him home.  They are watching Noggin together and laughing.  

Last Friday O had to go to the school nurse twice within an hour!  We get a copy of the report whenever he sees the school nurse so we can follow up if need be.  The first incident had him getting ice and bactine for an abrasion on his shin.  He has quite the bump and bruise and I'm still not clear what happened.  The second incident roughly 30 mins later had him there for getting poked in the eye by one of his classmates.  He is fine on both counts and the little girl who accidentally poked him in they eye wrote him a note of apology.  He also had a negative report for the very first time from his teacher on Thursday.  She wrote that he did not do his best work that day.  He said that his group was messing around and one boy was sent to the office to do his work.  O was sent out to the hallway to do his work and there may have been one more person involved but I don't remember.  He told me about it the second he got off of the bus.  "I got in trouble today"  he said.  I was grateful that he fessed up before I read about it in his folder.  He also volunteered the information to his dad when he got home.  I'm going to have him write a note of apology to his teacher.

O's schedule has also been busy since he began baseball practice a few weeks ago.  They are practicing twice a week.  The whole team is doing well and many of them are the same kids he has played with for 3 years now.  It is so much fun to watch how each of them develop their skills.  Plus many of them have younger siblings so it has been fun to watch them grow up too!  He has also managed at least one play date a week for the past several weeks.  He so loves to hang out with his friends just like his mom loves hanging out with her friends!

Grandma and Grandpa will be arriving this Thursday for a spring break visit.  We are all very excited to have them here!  We have a list of things to do but nothing set in stone yet.  We aren't planning any trips out of the area or anything like that.  We always have a fun time when they are here and I'm sure this visit will be no different.  They will be here just short of 2 weeks (approx. 12 days) as we wanted them to see O at baseball practice and possible one game (we still haven't gotten a schedule but the pre-season games are scheduled for the 21st) plus M wanted them to come to her dance class.  She is excited that they will get to come watch her dance.  Both baseball and dance class are on hiatus during spring break so we are lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa come before and leave after so they can see a couple of the kids' activities.

C and I worked all afternoon yesterday on the yard.  He weeded and pruned while I cut back/pruned all of our crepe murdles.  Those trees just get out of control if you don't stay on top of them.  We hadn't cut them back since we moved in over 2 1/2 years ago so they really needed it.  We have flowers booming and buds on the trees--spring has sprung here in Houston!

I've had a crazy couple of weeks.  First off I decided to do the Master Cleanse that I did last fall.  Unfortunately I planned it around midterms thinking it would help to not have to worry about food.  Plus I tend to stress eat anyway.  But, I didn't think to plan it around my cycle.  Last time I waited until about a week after my cycle.  This time I started the cleanse about 3 days before my cycle.  It didn't work out as well!  When your body is already purging it isn't good to add to that!  I made it almost to the end of my 6th day (out of 10 intended days) and I couldn't do it any more!  I still lost 6 pounds and felt more clear headed but the rest of my body wasn't near as happy.  I'll for sure remember that small detail for next time:  schedule around my cycle!!

I signed up for Facebook after the holidays because I wanted to see what all of the buzz was about.  I cannot believe the number of people I've reconnected with that I knew 20+ years ago!  It is kind of strange to see how these folks turned out and to keep up with them now.  I tend to only think of them where they were and who they were all of those years ago.  Heck, sometimes in my mind I am still the person I was 20+ years ago!  It has helped me put a few things in perspective and see how far I've come.  It has cause me to be more introspective and think about what my plans were back then, how many of those goals have I achieved, what was important to me then?  I think it has been helpful for my own personal growth in a weird way.  I don't feel like I am addicted to it as some people have proclaimed about it themselves.  If I wasn't so busy I'd find time to do more on it.  But right now I'm just enjoying the glimpses I get into the lives of those old friends.

I've also read more about the FlyLady.  My sister, TV, told me about her a few years ago and I just never got into it.  Basically she helps you get motivated to get organized and clean without feeling overwhelmed.  I've started implementing her strategies into my life and have had some success.  I tend to be an "all or nothing" person with many aspects of my life.  If I'm going to plan an exercise program I plan cardio for 45 mins a day and strength training 3-4 days a week.  When I realize that I can't make that change so abruptly and I can't keep up with that then I just give up.  If I plan to clean the house then I have to clean everything top to bottom.  If I run out of steam then I have parts of the house I didn't get to that seem to mock me which depresses me.  You see where I'm going with this I'm sure.  The FlyLady advocates BABYSTEPS.  She stresses that you won't be successful if you try to do it all at once.  I know I've heard it before and it makes sense but somehow this is the first time I've actually tried it.  So, on her advice, I've slowly tried to make changes in my habits, I've broken down daily/weekly cleaning and maintenance to make it more realistic to keep up with it AND to get control of it.  She also goes beyond the housework aspect of it and has it spill over into every aspect of your life.  So, I've done better for the past few weeks.  I've been so much better at not beating up on myself when I don't get something done.  Plus I've learned to appreciate it when even the smallest task gets completed.  As with everything in life:  Everything in moderation.  I need to learn that lesson over and over again!

So, I got a bit too cocky about my Histology class.  I did well on the first quiz and all the lectures seemed to review so much of what I learned last semester in Physiology.  As a result, I barely studied for the midterm.  I got a D.  Oops.  At least it is the midterm and I have another quiz and the final to pull out of it.  I'm not worried--maybe I should be?!  But, as I mentioned above with the FlyLady, I am taking babysteps to improve my study habits and focus on school work.  I'll keep you posted.

I suppose that is just about everything in a nutshell.  Thanks for listening.  I'll try really hard to update more frequently so I don't forget anything and also so the posts aren't so long!  You should be able to read them in one sitting for crying out loud!! HA!