Finally Here

Not everything got completed as I had hoped. And I'm ok with that. No matter what was checked off my list or not, I get to hop into a plane tomorrow morning and head to Vegas to spend time with the girls. My BFF will be there along with several who are near and dear to my heart plus a few I'm meeting for the first time.

I love spending this weekend every Oct. doing what I want to do, when I want to do it and having a wonderful laugh along the way. It fills my soul. It is something I do for me. Each year it gets bigger and better. I can hardly wait!

Photos will be uploaded throughout the weekend if I can remember how to do it! If not, I will post them next week.

Picture day

When the kids came home from school yesterday, I made sure we figured out what they would wear today for pictures. As it turned out, M had nothing to wear. The one thing that was the most appropriate she didn't want to wear. Everything else she has out grown. So she and I made a quick trip to Target to find something for her to wear. Easier said than done. The 80s are certainly making a come back and every single freakin' dress we could find had that scratchy netting around the skirt. She would die if she had to wear pants, of course, and she learned from taking ballet that the netting stuff is scratchy = she won't wear it. There were some slim pickings when it came to finding something for her to wear. We finally settled on a pleated black school girl-type skirt and a turquoise top. She also wore some black leggings under the skirt since both the school and I have a rule about wearing something under her skirts. One kid done, check.

O chose a striped top that I like on him and I figured he would just wear some khaki shorts with it. Second kid done, check.

O came down the stairs this morning in sweat pants and his Denver Broncos shirt. I had his laundry on the couch so I directed him to the shirt he had chosen. He whined. "I want to wear my Broncos shirt." "Try again," I said. It was an unexpected fight. "It is going to be 88 degrees today, O. Why do you need to wear sweat pants?" "Because I am not from Wyoming like you are. I am not used to the cold. I need to wear sweat pants!" "It is NOT cold, son! What are you talking about?! COLD?! I'll ship you off to Cheyenne or Rochester right now and you can see what cold is!" Finally, we both compromised. He changed his shirt and wore the sweat pants.

Things calmed down while breakfast was eaten and lunches were made. I had long since given up on getting them to the bus and knew I would be taking them to school. After breakfast, the hair styling began. He wanted his hair spikey which never stays that way. She chose pony tails. I dug out the hair wax and hair spray. His hair took more time than hers. We walked out the door 5 minutes before the tardy bell is scheduled to ring.

O had to put his jacket on too. Seriously? Am I raising a whuss? It was 65 degress when we walked out the door. The drama!

But, they looked cute. We'll see how the photos turn out.

Changed my twitter username from @maynardtrio to @wyogirltami for those who care.

I think I've figured out how to post photos from my phone now! YAY!

Test text from phone

5 Weeks, Brain Chemistry and the Big Trip

I am 5 weeks into Fall semester at school. So far so good. With the motivation of my annual girls weekend in Vegas, I've managed to complete (or will complete before next Weds) many of the papers, research projects and the assignments that I need to complete for my classes. I didn't want to head to Vegas and be unable to enjoy myself having to face a bunch of assignments upon my return. Now I can come back and focus on the last four weeks of studying for the Intern Entrance Exams.

I'm also really enjoying the semester, as busy as it is. I've reached a turning point in my education where I am being pushed to apply what I've learned and figure out how to work my way through a case. It makes all of the blood, sweat and tears of the 3 past years worth it. Now, if I can just pass those entrance exams in Nov.....

The kids are doing great with their school too. O complains a lot about school like an 8 year old should. Nothing other than he'd rather play video games and play with his friends all day every day instead of "learning stuff" as he puts it. Independence is a huge focus this year for 3rd graders and, while he has always done a lot on his own, he is feeling a bit more pressure to follow through on his responsibilities. He is doing a great job too.

M was beside herself with excitement the first day she brought home homework! While she knew many letters/sounds and numbers before Kindergarten, she now understands how huge it is to master these concepts in order to learn how to read. She is very motivated and is loving every minute of it. She had an incident Monday of this week where she had her first potty accident at school. I was fully prepared with a change of clothes in her backpack. We learned from going through it with O that the nurse (lucky her!) gets to take care of these situations. M took her clothes to change into in the nurse's office, the nurse put her wet clothes in a plastic grocery bag for her to put back into her backpack to bring home and sent her back to class. Well, somewhere along the way, M forgot that the bag had her clothes in them and not trash. She helps collect the house trash each week and equates plastic grocery bags with trash I guess. So, when she got back to her classroom, and with the confusion of the end of the day chaos where she needs to get her things together to go home for the day, she threw her clothes away. There is always a note from the nurse when she sees a child at school so C knew she had gone to the nurse and why. But he couldn't find her wet clothes in her backpack. When he asked her about it he said he could see the gears turning in her head while she pieced it all together and figured out what she had done. There was a huge meltdown, of course. But, no harm done. Just another story to tell about growing up!

I'm still doing amazingly well after the treatment with amino acids to help regulate my brain chemistry/neurotransmitters (I thought I had blogged about it but I must have just sent out a massive email. I'll catch you up if you are interested). Haven't taken any of the supplements for at least 4 weeks. If I start to get overwhelmed I can talk myself down and prioritize. It is good to feel like I'm in control and I can make choices. Also good not to feel so down and depressed. Saw the PA (Physician's Assistant) yesterday and she said I can use any of the supplements as needed. It is a great feeling. Of course, nothing is perfect and the true test will be during the depths of winter after the holidays. I'll keep you posted.

Next Thursday morning (Oct. 7th) I'm off to Vegas for my annual girls weekend. We have lots of fun stuff planned: lounging by the pool, hanging in the suite (our first year getting a suite), a decadent dinner, zip line in Boulder Canyon, time at the spa, a Saturday evening show and the traditional Sunday Champagne Brunch. I'm very much looking forward to it.

Since I got my new phone in April, I haven't figured out how to update my blog easily/conveniently/quickly. I will figure it out so I can update it more frequently.

Happy Fall everyone!