New hurdle to accomplish

Most people would consider college a major hurdle to accomplish in life. Check, done that several times now. How about a real job, check, done that too. Marriage, house, dog, cat, check, check, check and check. The next accomplishment is a family.

I was asked about the timing of a family only a couple times after I got married but only by outsiders. People that knew me I had goals to accomplish before I was ready to start a family. I am afraid to say I am running out of obstacles, hurdles, and goals to accomplish before we start a family. Plus I am getting older and biology can only be so nice to a person.

The last month or so had me seriously thinking about this baby thing. Some of my high school girlfriends have had kids but they live thousands of miles away. Now the "inner circle" of friends that I see on a weekly if not daily basis have entered the realm of parenthood.

This week I have made two "baby steps" forward. One, I visited and held Kyle at the hospital when he was less than 24 hours old. Today, I stopped by and held him for about an hour. Much less scary at his parents house than that darn hospital. He is still small and freaks me out but he is adorable and less alien like than I had originally thought. For those of you that don't know me or my friends that closely, we all think babies look like aliens. It isn't a bad thing, just a fact.

I know this is even a sillier thing to mention in a blog but I am their emergency contact in Florida! At first I didn't think much of it. I am the emergency contact for their alarm system and their dogs but now a baby! Yikes! Obviously they have no thoughts about anything bad happening or they really trust me with Kyle! Well, don't worry. I used to babysit a lot and in general think I will be an awesome but neurotic mom. Knowing Kyle's parents are very laid back and will help me through my craziness is a good thing. Maybe the next baby update will be about my own. Or changing diapers but that isn't a very big deal.

Until further notice, still no babies but maybe I am getting closer to it. Ryan better watch out!

Halloween Party

We went to a Halloween party last night. Every year, Ryan gets an idea to "create" a character or costume from scratch. He's been "super white trash man," "skull face," and "scary clown." This year he outdid himself and went as Ric Flair (the wrestler). He has been planning and working for months on this idea. He made a wrestling championship belt, boots, and a robe with feathers. He also cut a wig to look like this guy. The funniest part is that he had to wear little biker shorts and SHAVE his chest, back, and arm pits! He was pretty naked but had a show to deliver to the masses. He had intro music and lines scripted. Ah...such craziness. Myself, after being creative last year and making myself a spider, I cheaped out and bought a bar wench outfit.

Everyone looked great this year. I will try to post a picture (I know a new added bonus to my blog) or go check Ryan's or Jess's blog...they will have one up as soon as they sober up. Just kidding. I think Ryan had to drink a little bit more than usual to be so naked in front of his friends because for the first time in party history, we were the first to leave. It was a good choice because he was up early and trimmed the neighbors bushes that are poking through my fence and made me breakfast. With this extra hour...maybe we will accomplish a lot today.

Time to go clean.

What a week

The last two weeks have been a little out of the ordinary. This was the final week with my boss. She left today (this morning to be exact). It was very sad because I was learning so much from her. She took me out for lunch on Thursday to celebrate finishing up school. Right before lunch, she drilled me about practicing my elevator speech and my interview type answers. There is turmoil at work and everyone is trying to evaluate what I do and what to do with me and my position. The good news is that most of the changes so far have been positive in trying to further my career. After grumbling through and being ticked off, I do appreciate what she was doing with me. I just hate being put on the spot like that.

I think that even though life hasn't been too strenuous physically, my brain and emotions are shot this week. I have been so tired. I hope to rest up tomorrow, do a little shopping, and then go to a Halloween party. I wasn't very good with the exercise thing this week but I did eat a little better. Hopefully I won't consume too many drinks or candy tomorrow night.

Too old

I am too old to attend rock concerts on school nights! The hubby surprised me with G 'n' R tickets for last night (he got a great deal on good seats). The concert itself was great which was surprising for a band of no name players with Axl Rose. It was the hour plus waiting for them to open the doors to let us in (still don't know why they opened them late) and then the hour and 20 minute wait for the band to take the stage after the other acts...but, once they started-it was good. They finally took the stage at 11:20 and ended at 1:35am. We walked home from the concert (only 1.5 miles from our house) so it was well after 2 before we went to bed. Ryan was up at 5:30 and I didn't go back to sleep. This day just won't end! I can't wait to go to bed when I get home.

Wine and Cheese Night

Wine and cheese night was a success on my end. I had a variety of goodies to eat and everyone brought great wines and snacks. We polished off 8 bottles which would be a bottle a piece but many had only a couple glasses which meant more for the winos. I just got done cleaning up from the party. Annie was a pain in the butt but other than her it was a success. A couple of the guys were good and picked up their wives/significant others. No one was unsafe and that is always a perfect end cap.

Next weekend is halloween...not sure if I will be that safe. School will be over so I hope Ryan is up to being sober cab! I didn't get a vacation like him so he owes me one full week of dealing with Annie in the morning.

Wild Week

I don't want to jinx myself but so far, I have made it through Ryan's absence without any household problems or emergencies. The work week was a roller coaster of drama and uncertainty but as of Friday, I still have a job and my duties did not change drastically. For those of you that I didn't vent to or cry on the shoulder of...my boss announced she was resigning. I was super disappointed because I really like working for her. In the short time she has been with the company (I literally have worked with her since August!) she has had a great impact on the company and I have learned so much from her. She is a wonderful mentor. Her job opportunity is one that she couldn't pass up so I am happy for her. This wouldn't have been such a blow this week because I knew she wouldn't stay with us forever but the same day she announced her resignation, so did her boss! That is what put my job at jeopardy because he was the head honcho for academics. With him leaving, all of her departments were up for "reorganization and restructuring." YIKES! The most comforting thing this week was that I was approached from several departments that said if I needed a "home" they would hire me. Now that is a good thing to know and hear. I am thankful that people know I work hard and am good at my job. Many days I feel like I am just a body occupying space but this reconfirmed I must add some value to the company.

To cap off the week of craziness or should I say stress; I am hosting a wine and cheese party tonight for the girls. A friend and I went to the store last night and harassed the sales man to help us pick out something we normally wouldn't buy. We made it an "experience" rather than just picking up a bottle of wine. I have to say, I was the shopper I used to hate when I worked at that store but this old guy loved us. It was funny to watch someone else try to sell me stuff that I clearly knew he was just pulling stuff out of the air with. I used to say the same things when people asked me what I would recommend. They would pick out $50-100 bottles of wine and ask me how they are...Hello! sales clerk working for $10 an hour, do you really think I drank that type of wine? Anyhow, we both picked out some wines and some gourmet cheeses. I have to get the house cleaned up and make sure I have enough wine glasses.

Tomorrow's post will probably rant about my headache and wine stains on the counter tops. Until then, happy Saturday.

Dog Park

Tonight my dog, Annie, met her boyfriend, Scooter, and they went to the dog park together. They are so darn cute. Scooter was a ball of fire and a big dog made him a little nervous so he huddled up next to Annie and she told that big dog to leave Scoots alone. For those of you have met Annie, she is a loving, possessive, hyper pointer mix. She loves me and our friends but will not have any of us pay attention to dogs outside of the circle of friends. Tonight she barely snipped at any other dogs and was quite fun to watch at the park. The best moment was when we walked through a large group of people and dogs and she mistakenly took some other girls pastey white legs for mine. Jess and I walked quite a ways away and looked back at her. She had the moment of oh, oh...you aren't my mom, where is my mom? panic about her. She looked around and we both called for her and then she had the oh, thank god, I thought you left me, look. Quite humorous.

Afterwards the dogs came home to torture the cat while we grabbed a bite to eat. Then we came back to watch lost while they annoyed the crap out of us. Guess the dog park is only good for the ride home...

Is this how the Others live?

I easily forgot what it was like to be a normal person. Go to work, get off work at 5, have endless amounts of time to do things rather than homework...what a novel way to live! Tonight I was out the door at 5pm on the dot. The traffic God was with me and I made it home in 35-40 minutes rather than my normal hour or so. I had a glass of wine, talked to my dad, went to 3 stores, unloaded all my loot, had supper and took out the garbage all before 8:20 tonight! When I got done, I felt lonely for the computer since it has been a full 2 or 2.5 hours since I had last checked my work email or school stuff so I logged in. An hour later, I am still on it blogging. Time to get ready for bed. I have 3 new books plus the one I am reading and two new magazines. Ahh...I feel like I am on vacation even though I am not!

Unofficially done

I have submitted the last of my gradeable assignments except my weekly message board posts. The good news is the remaining four are pre-written and waiting to be posted. Then it is just responding to peers and I am officially done. The anticipation of my last assignment grades and final ok on my EPP are killing me. I know I did well but it is nice when it is final. Then I can officially relax.

So, in the spirit of starting exercising once I am done with school...I am starting early by taking the hound for a walk right now. My computer time will be much less going forward but hopefully that means I have more interesting things to blog about.

Weekends are too short

I propose the next President, Congress, Company CEO, whoever, changes the work week from 5 days a week to 4. I more then put in my 40 hours before Friday and never quite get to relax on the weekend. I run errands, clean the house, do chores and homework, etc. I can't believe it is already over. I accomplished a lot but still could use a day of pure relaxation.

Temporarily single

With the hubby gone on his duck hunting trip, I have been enjoying my temporary single lifestyle. Yes, I changed the cat's litter and took out the last of the garbage last night. Then I went to a birthday part for a friend of ours and drank my fair share. This morning, the dog got me up at the normal time and was quite a fussy little thing considering she got to sleep on the bed with me last night. I was officially up and started my day before 8am because of her shenanigans. I looked outside and noticed someone decided it would be fun to dump most of my recyclables all over the yard (which of course means if they aren't in the bin, the recyclable garbage guys don't pick them up). I missed them so I hurried out to bag it up before the regular garbage men came but I missed them by about 3 houses. Darn! Oh well....just more garbage for Wednesday. After that little adventure, I went out for lunch and shopping with a friend. It was a very unproductive trip and left me very tired. I came home and ate my lunch leftovers, watched a little tv, took a nap and then hit the computer for some homework. I have started laundry but it takes me forever because I always forget about it. I will get that finished up tomorrow before I go to another birthday party. I feel like quite the party queen. I wonder what social activities Monday-Friday will bring?

Pretend vacation

The hubby leaves today for his duck hunting trip to North Dakota. It will be like a pretend vacation for me. I will have to pick up his slack on the household chores but at least I can eat and watch whatever tv I want while he is gone. Not that it has stopped me while he is home...but cheese and a bottle of wine will equal a meal while he is gone. Same with chips and salsa. I can also go to bed at 9pm and no one will harass me. The down side is that while he is out playing, I will still be getting up and going to work each day, taking care of the animals, and up keep on the house. I know...not that big of a deal. This is the first time we have been apart more than a week since we got married. It is scary to think we used to go for months without seeing each other.

Not much for excitement in the blogging world. I will have more after our friend's 50th B-day bash this evening, another friend's 30th, and a shopping spree.

7 + 5 does not = 12 inches of swimming fish!

That's right, my 7 inch and 5 inch bala sharks died last night. They were 4 years old, survived hurricane Wilma and a treacherous move to the kitchen. Last night they were gingerly moved back to their rightful home and bit the dust. I tend to think the anti-chlorine stuff I put in the water poisoned them because it is super old but I also wonder if it was just too much stress. I am saddened by their deaths for a few reasons:

1) They were monsters and about double to triple the size they were ever supposed to grow to
2) They had been with us for 4 years and appeared to live a very healthy life until I killed them
3) I think it was my fault :(

So, I still have 2 cichlids remaining in a very large tank. I would like to redo it but now I might actually consider doing away with it. I need some time to think about this one. In 3 weeks I will have nothing but time!

Capstone assignments-all in!

I did it, I hit the send button and submitted my action research proposal paper. It isn't due for another week but I decided the longer I looked at it, the more anxious I would become. I am over it. I even answered all the main discussion threads for the remaining three weeks. I am just waiting to post those each week and post to my peers.

That leaves me with a final and a reflective journal to write for my elective class. That class has some weekly discussion threads too but I haven't looked at them yet. I hope to get this all done by a week from now. Then I can sit back and worry until my final grades are posted. Just kidding, well, sort of...

Now I need to pick a new topic to blog about...time for a new hobby.

Working on my final research paper

We had a great game night last night at a friend's house and so I am moving a little slow today. I was hoping to have the full rough draft done today but it looks like maybe later this week...who knows; there are still a few more hours of daylight :) I have been putting this one off as long as possible. Today I calculated and analyzed some raw data for my research paper. I have no idea how to really do this correctly and at this point, could care less. I do have to figure out how to incorporate my results and some tables into my paper and write up a final conclusion. Then I am done with paper writing for my capstone class. Just weekly message boards after that. I figure next weekend will be final paper writing weekend for my elective class. That should go a little more smoothly, I hope!

I was working on both computers today and of course my giant spreadsheet I want to send myself is on my work computer. I hadn't cleaned up my files for a while and decided to since I got the "over your storage limit" email today. Now it is taking eons to transfer. Shame on me. I must stick to my weekly cleanup otherwise this is a painful wait. Gotta love technology.

Multi-tasking-does it make you crazy?

Yesterday I worked from home (my new dining room table and chairs were delivered-they look fabulous!). Since I was at home, I decided I would do a little laundry, straighten up the house, and work on my homework while keeping up with work emails and phone calls. I was very productive but by about 3:00pm yesterday, I was starting to think too much multi-tasking can make a person nuts. For instance, I had both computers running with different things on them. I literally was typing a paper and then lifting the screen on my laptop to check for incoming emails. It was funny because I would start to type on my keyboard and then wonder why I couldn't see the text on my laptop. I also had two "mice" next to each other and kept getting those confused. I know that it was counter productive in one sense but it broke up the monotony of writing. I had to laugh at myself a couple times.

The best news was that I finally submitted my EPP (electronic portfolio presentation) for graduation. Even though I know it wasn't that big of a deal, getting that submitted was like a weight was lifted. I have to proof a paper today and then there are only 3 remaining. I plan on getting at least one rough draft done for 1 of the 3 this weekend and possibly a second. It is finally coming together...I can see the light!

My hubby-the tech guy

Ok, I admit I stink when it comes to technology. Do you know how hard it was to work as "tech support" at an online university when I barely knew how to turn my computer on? I have come a long way but not as long as I should have for working in that hell hole for 9 months. I am scared of it because I don't ever know how bad I can screw something up. So my spyware adventure was quite interesting. I was comfortable running the normal spyware removal products but after a while, nothing would take care of my virus/bug thing I had going on. So...I had to call in my hubby for support.

He hates messing with the computer and gets frustrated with me because the things he is comfortable with and does all the time I don't and am very awkward with. Don't even ask, I am sure all of you would think I am a moron. Now the programs I use all the time and the way I navigate them...I get frustrated watching him maneuver in those areas. With that said, I was asked to leave the room and leave him alone. He would fix it. And he did! :) I didn't have much time to do any homework last night because he finished just in time for Lost (which was awesome!). I did realize this...without the computer or homework, I actually got some ironing done!

The weekend ahead looks like turning in my final EPP and writing my Philosophy of Education paper. After that (and hopefully I can squeeze in one more paper) I have a my final research paper, a final tech elective paper, and a reflective journal. It is coming together.

Spyware sucks

It seems that every time I get in a crunch with school work, spyware attacks my computer! I have an anti-virus and clean my cache and history quite often. I never download music and most of the sites I visit are pretty normal (a couple blogs, email, MSN, etc.). Tonight I suffered through the latency and annoying pop-ups because I had a ton to do. I have run some anti-spyware removal crap a couple times and shut down and restarted. Still no love. I am crossing my fingers that after I clean it up one more time tonight and shut down, some miracles will happen by morning.

Wish me luck (and if anyone has any great tips, please pass them along).

Busy weekend and busier week ahead

My weekend was packed with a household shopping spree and entertaining my parents. My hubby, dad, and a family friend put in our new laminate wood floor this weekend. They worked their buns off. It looks great.

I decided to for go my usual weekend torture of 8+ hours of homework to get some shopping done. We found some great deals and the house looks good. I am pretty excited.

With all that "fun" work and no homework, I am looking at a week filled with school work to play catch up for all that I didn't get done this weekend. Yuck. As you can tell from this blog, my brain isn't quite functioning correctly. The words just won't come out in real sentences.

Time to call it a night.