Great Attitudes get us through

Today when I picked the boys up from school Ash got in the car and was totally excited about passing another level in "mountain math". He said, "Mom! I passed the next level of mountain math- and it only took me FIVE tries!" He made me smile because no matter what the occassion, no matter what stands in his way, he is always positive. So, if you try something once, twice, three times or four times and you still don't get it, keep working at it. Don't give up! Someday you will get to the top of your own mountain math. And just like Ash, you will be proud of your accomplishment.

Journal Starters

I found a fun list of journal starters that sounded interesting and inspired me to write in my blog more. Every once in a while I will try to use one to jumpstart my writing again. Today's topic is "Describe a childhood friend and what you did with him or her".

I would have to pick Jocelyn Hunter. Perhaps it wasn't EVERY day, but most days after school I would call Jocey (jaw-see) and ask her if she could play. If she said yes, my mom would open our back gate and Jocey's mom would open her back gate then I would walk through the back alley into her yard to play. We played Barbies A LOT, played house or school, rode our bikes and swam. I also remember going to the Tempe public library with her. When we would swim we would pretend to be Strawberry Shortcake and it was one of the only times I enjoyed having red hair as a kid because I could say, " I have to be Strawberry Shortcake because I have red hair. YOU can be the bad guy." Nobody ever wanted to be the bad guy. We always played at her house insted of mine because she was afraid of teenagers. As the youngest of six children, there were always teenagers at my house.

As many kids do, I became a bad friend as we got older. Long about 6th grade I began to think I was too cool to play with someone younger than me. There were girls my age who were in the "cool group" whom Jocelyn didn't like. I had to make a choice and unfortunately, I chose the wrong friends. I wish I could go back and change my actions but I can't. Thankfully, Jocelyn has a forgiving heart and we are friends again. She was a great friend and I couldn't imagine my childhood without her.

Life Update

No memorable life experiences in this post, just day to day business. Since I use this blog as a quasi-journal I figured I need to put some of this stuff in here.

First, we got Aspen and Ash's report cards this week. Overall they are both doing well. However, Aspen is beginning to fall behind in his reading- something he has always struggled with. The teacher and I have been monitoring it very closely since the beginning of the year because he has had trouble in the past and so far he was barely in the "normal" rage. He has now fallen below and needs to pick up his game.

Ash got a few poor marks because he doesn't do his homework as often as he should. Wait, let me rephrase that. He NEVER does his homework- literally. During our last parent teacher conference I asked the teacher to explain how she wants the homework done. Even Dallas and I were confused by her directions. If we can't get it I don't expect Ash, a second grader, to understand it. Needless to say, we don't do his assigned homework with him but I do read with him every night. The teacher has him reading things like "Froggy goes to the Dentist" at school while at home he is reading "Charlotte's Web". I am not worried about him getting an education. No matter what, he will be taught to read and write, at least at home.

Dallas has been sick for the past couple of days. He has a cold and a really nasty cough. One of the guys at work claims he accidently gave it to him and apologized this morning. Hopefully he will begin to feel better soon.

Speaking of Dallas, he got a new calling in the ward- cubmaster. I don't know how he really feels about it because he doesn't talk much about things like that, just shrugs his shoulders. He said yes though so I guess he doesn't think it is THAT bad.

Homeschooling is going fine. We finished reading Tom Sawyer and now Alexis is on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde while Aiden is on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Aiden said he may want to go back to public school in the fall. I am fine with his decision. As long as he sticks with a decision and doesn't think he can quit whenever he wants to, I am happy to support whichever path he wants. Alexis on the other hand has no desire to ever step foot inside another school. She is done and frankly, she is so self motivated that I can see her going a lot further with homeschooling that I can with regular school.

Funny Joke

Every morning before we leave for work I leave a list of chores or reminders on the whiteboard for the kids. Sometimes I will make the chores silly, like give mom a back rub, rub mom's corns, file mom's toenails, etc. This morning Dallas got into the act and gave everyone the day off of chores except for Aiden. He gave Aiden a huge list of real chores but had no intention of following through with it since it was a holiday for the kids.

My mom woke up and assumed Aiden had gotten in trouble and she made him do every single chore on the list while none of the other kids did anything. Hahaha! He ended up vaccuming the entire house, sweeping, mopping, scrubbing the bathroom, cleaning out the car, cleaning the family room and getting my mom a drink every time she wanted one. He tried telling mom it was obviously a joke but she didn't believe him. Thankfully he was a good sport about it, did the chores and was able to see the humor in it at the end of the day. (The fact that he is exempt from chores for the next few days probably helped too.)

Delicious Throw Together Soup

I came home late from work last night and was craving a nice warm soup after a crazy day. I looked in the pantry and created a delicious new recipe. It completely hit the spot on this cold winter night. Try it out and let me know what you think.

Wendy's Throw Together Soup

1 jar of chicken chunks (or a couple cans of chicken)
2 bottles of cubed red potatoes (or cube and cook some fresh)
about 2 C mini carrots
1 jar Cheeze Whiz- I used generic
1 box of chicken broth
1 chopped onion
Pampered Chef Dill Mix (or add your own herbs- garlic, onion, dill and whatever else you may have laying around)
Water
Corn Starch
Bowtie pasta, cooked

Cook the carrots and onion in the broth and add water if more liquid is needed. When they are soft, add the cooked, cubed potatoes and chicken. In another bowl, mix some cornstarch in cold water then add it to the soup. Add the cheeze Whiz and cooked pasta. Heat through then add a bunch of the dill mix- as much as you want. Enjoy!

Christmas Goal

What started out as a school project has turned into a family goal. I wanted Alexis and Aiden to memorize something for school and as I began looking for poems I felt worthy to spend time memorizing I came across "The Living Christ". I began to study it and found it is basically broken down into two parts- the birth and life of Christ and then the death and resurrection. It was as if a light bulb went off in my head and I thought- "Hey! They can memorize THIS!" Then as I did more research I realized Alexis needs to memorize it for her personal progress anyway. It somehow turned into a family goal to memorize the first half before Christmas because that is what it talks about, and then we will memorize the second half before Easter.

All of the kids are doing GREAT at memorizing it. So far we have the first two paragraphs down and are into the third. There are four paragraphs in the first half so we have some work to do this week but we can do it. Ash and Aspen's goal is to memorize only the first and fouth paragraph but if they get the second and third they will get an extra surprise!

Father in Heaven Speaks

Last night we were watching "Bedtime Stories" with the boys when the narrator of the story begins speaking to the main character. The main character called the narrator "Dad" and Ash looks at me and says, "That must be his Father in Heaven speaking to him." so sweet.

Winter in Kentucky

Winter is COMPLETELY different here than it was in Arizona, that's for sure. We had our first ice storm yesterday and it is amazing! Why is it that so many of life's most awe inspiring sights involve water? Think about it- Hawaii's beaches, Niagra Falls, the Great Lakes and every calendar ever made has to have at least one shot of a small stream (I think it is a law somewhere).

I have now seen another amazing spectacle courtesy of Mother Nature. Every branch, twig, leaf, blade of grass, rock and berry is coocooned in ice! It is a sight to see. Mom had told me about these storms when she was on her mission but words do NOT do it justice. Even pictures cannot capture the silence and feelings of an ice storm. It isn't just that everything is cold. It is as if time has literally frozen still. NOTHING can move. There is snow on the ground but it too is covered with a layer of ice. Walking down the side walk reminds me of the old oil stickers we used to collect as kids because when you take a step you can see water seep out from under the weight of your foot. The ice doesn't break on the sidewalk but the water under the ice moves around.

There are teeny tiny bubbles covering the street about three feet from the curb. I am not quite sure what makes those form but it looks like someone took a coffee stirring straw and blew little bubbles over all the neighborhood streets.

The kids and I took a walk through the neighborhood to see what everything looked like and slipped and slided our way down the street and back. We had a great time pulling ice off the van when we came home. If we had a way to cut it off without breaking the ice, we could have replicated our van full scale in ice because it was just one complete layer of ice covering the entire vehicle. We had an amazing day yesterday- no work, nowhere to go, just stayed home and enjoyed being here and seeing new sights with our kids.

12 days of Halloween

Someone in our ward is doing the 12 days of Halloween to our family. It is really cute. The first night they dropped off one bag of Doritos. The second night they brought over two large pumpkins. The third day was three bags of candy, fourth was carmel apples and tonight was cute little Halloween cupcakes. I have an idea of who it is but nobody else in my family does. Sooo... if you happen to be reading this and you are our Halloween buddies, thanks! We are loving it! Oh, and watch out- my kids are out to discover your secret identity.

Week Two

Second week of home schooling. Alexis and Aiden finished reading Summer of the Monkeys. Friday they turned in a report on the author and it was uncanny how many similarities they have with the author. For example, he was home schooled by his mother. At around age 12 his family moved due to the recession and he was left with no friends. He thought most of the books his mom gave him were girly and didn't like reading until his grandma gave him a copy of Call of the Wild. Aiden told me he thought blogs were girly because you talk about "your thoughts and feelings" and oddly enough- we had already chosen Call of the Wild as our next book. I was glad to see both of the kids pointed out the similarities between themselves and the author.

Amanda received her patriarchal blessing last night. It was a good experience for her and I am happy she received it. I hope it will give her direction and comfort throughout her life.

Long but good post

After I wrote a scathing note to Amanda's teacher last night, I woke up this morning to a different thought. The parable of the poop cookies popped into my head just as I opened my eyes and I knew I needed to be nice to this teacher instead of lashing out. So, I politely sent some delicious pumpkin cookies to her school this morning with a letter telling the teacher they were "Historically accurate, traditional Squirrel Feces Cookies". I had taken the liberty of pulling out all the big pieces of poop and only left a few pieces in there so she could get the flavor. I added that she could pick out a few of the last little bits but that they were so minimal she probably wouldn't even notice.

After sending the cookies to the teacher I went in and visited with the vice principal. To make a long story short, the principal stated that he supports his teachers 100% and that if showing a rated R movie is the best way to teach children they will do it. He saw nothing wrong with the movie and since we live in a digital world we need to reach out to children in their own medium. I concure with that statement but added that the medium of movies doesn't need to be rated R movies. They could show History channel movies that would get the story across just fine. No, he insisted. It needed to be more realistic. Dallas and I left the meeting knowing full well nothing was going to change. The VP went so far as to say it wasn't going to change.

By evening time I had mostly forgotten about the whole principal and cookie episodes (I am a mom. Anything past five minutes ago is ancient history). We went to church tonight and Sister Valenta smiles and says, "So, I hear you sent some cookies to Amanda's teacher this morning." Her son and Amanda have early morning seminary together and Amanda read him the letter.

It turns out that just yesterday she and her husband had visited with this same VP about a book her son was given to read. She said they were extremely upset about the vulgar language and scenes portrayed in the book but the VP said it was a great piece of literature. This went on for sometime when the husband said, "If I made you some brownies with just a little poop in them, would you eat them?" The VP said, "no." "Well, why are you asking my son to read a good book with just a little poop in it?" They didn't get anywhere with him either.

The best part is that I learned the relationship between Amanda's teacher and the VP. Get this- they are MARRIED!! I don't know if anything will happen or not, but I can't help but think someone put that story in my mind this morning at 5 am. I had already written a letter to the teacher. I had signed the opt out slip. However, someone else knew of the VP's conversation the day before and also knew who he was married to. He also knew I had just baked cookies. I trust Heavenly Father can teach the VP and the teacher both a lesson that neither the Valenta family or mine could get through to them this week.

Oh Ashton...

A woman showed up on my doorstep yesterday with her daughter in tow. She said she wanted to speak to me about Ash. Aparently Ash told this little girl that if she didn't come play at his house today I wouldn't let her ever come over again. This made the little girl very sad and she went home crying because she wasn't able to come over yesterday. I have never even seen this little girl, let alone threaten her. Her name has been mentioned but we haven't ever actually met. When asked if he said that during dinner Ash got a funny look on his face and kept on eating. I asked him again if he threatened the little girl and he said, "mmmmmaybe." He said that he really wanted to have her come over and that was the best reason he could come up with.

The good news is that I finally saw who has been writting love notes to Ash and chasing him on the playground.

School Troubles and School Successes

I will start off with the bad so I can finish this post on a good note. The bad news is that Amanda brought home a note today asking for permission to see a rated R movie- The Patriot. This is the second note (third movie though due to two movies being on the same note last time) I have received asking for permission to see rated R movies in school. In only three months!

The educational system here in Kentucky is heinous! As previously stated, I have already taken my middle school children out of the schools. The elementary school FAILED the state exams given last year and the high school has tried to pass three rated R movies as educational in that many months! I simply can't believe how horrible the schools are here. No wonder Kentucky children have a reputation as being stupid. How can they expect to get an education when this is all they have? I am going to the high school first thing in the morning and I will post the results of my meeting with the principal soon.

On a good note, we have now completed three days of home schooling and so far- so good. The kids are reading Summer of the Monkeys. They each have a blog (listed on the right hand side of my blog) and through both the blog and through conversations about the book we have been able to talk about the Ozark mountains, the intelligence of primates, different types of guns, the difference between teens in the 1800s and today, the value of a dollar then and now, prohibition, mash, physical disabilities and tolerance. The kids are also each doing a report on the author.

Every day we also discuss items that happened this day in history. Each day we try to pick out two things and spend thirty minutes on each one. We have studied Marie Antoinette's life and her beheading (which also led into a conversation about John the Baptist and Laban), Benedict Arnold and treason, yellow fever/cells/epidemics/mosquitos, and the USS Cole attack. We learned that when the USS Cole was attacked it was in the Gulf of Aden. Did you even know a place existed? How exciting for Aiden to find out he has his own Gulf! We looked it up on a map and found Aden, Yemen and the Gulf of Aden. Kinda cool.

I am finding every thing we discuss leads into another discussion- which turns into more knowledge. For example, while we were talking about Marie Antoinette today we saw she was married to Louis the XVI. Alexis and Aiden wanted to know why X,V and I were used as numbers instead of J,L and K. So we began looking up information on Roman numerals and how they came about. In talking about boats one day the discussion got around to Noah and Dallas had a good conversation about being prepared BEFORE an emergency strikes- backing it up with scripture.

We have only done home schooling for three days now so please take this with a grain of salt, but so far I like home schooling. Now, don't throw that back at me in the future when I say I hate it- because I am sure I will post something to that effect sooner or later. However, for now- this works for us and I am enjoying it.

Open for Business

In my last post I mentioned that I didn't need this blog anymore because my life was back to "normal" so I could write in my journal again. What I thought was "normal" seems to have been just a slight reprieve from insanity. Here I am again, this time living in Kentucky, embarking on a new chapter in life. This one includes working full time and homeschooling two of our children. Free time is not just a premium anymore, it is trading at an all time high right now. No complaints, just adjusting. Anyway, I am back to blogging for the time being because it is easier and more convenient than journal writing. Hope you are along for the ride!

Closing the Blog

When I started this blog a couple years ago it was so fun to update it regularly, to follow the blogs of friends and family and to keep in touch through this medium. There was a very hard time a year ago when my life was so overwhelming that I couldn't even find time to write in my journal. During that period, this blog served as my journal. I even printed it out in book form and added it to my journal collection. However, that time is past (thankfully) and my life is again manageable. Updating this blog is one thing still hovering over me and leaving me feeling guilty for falling down on one more duty. Therefore, I have decided to quit blogging. My apologies to the few of you who keep in touch with me through it. Please feel free to keep in touch via email, facebook, text, calling or even going old school and dropping by for a visit. I would love to chat! Until then....

FHE idea

At the beginning of the year we decided to highlight one person from the scriptures with each FHE lesson. Their picture or other reminder is displayed in our home for the week and we discuss a lesson that that person's story represents. For example, this past Monday we talked about the 10 virgins and procrastination. Aiden and Alexis have both been falling down in their school work because they haven't been doing it on time. When we talked about the 10 virgins we got to discuss both spiritual preparedness and also every day preparedness/procrastination. Some others that we have done are:

Haman- learning the consequences of doing things that hurt other people
Laman and Lemuel- when we ask for God's help we need to also follow his laws.
David (we will do him again because there is so much there)- courage
Shad., Meshac, Abed. and Daniel- Word of Wisdom, keeping our bodies healthy
Balaam- obeying God, kindness to animals


So far it is going really well and the kids are excited each week to see who we are going to learn about next. It is sometimes easier to find person to highlight and to discuss his or her story than to decide, "What are we going to talk about tonight?"

Valentines Day

Nicole was giving me grief about still having Christmas on my blog so here is one that will last me another month or more:

What is your favorite Valentines Day memory? Here is mine:
When our kids were younger, Dallas took them out for a day and went hiking and found a cute tin bucket. He then took the kids to Home Depot to buy flowers for the bucket and Walmart to buy sidewalk chalk to decorate the bucket. They assembled it all and put it on the front porch so I could see it every time I walked out the door. I LOVED it!!

Christmas Traditions

I am curious what kind of Christmas traditions everyone has. If you would like to, please leave a note with one tradition you and your family share around this holiday season. Here's mine:

We have a few things we do each year. But I want to share a game we began this year that I hope will turn into a tradition. On our piano we have a three piece nativity set- very basic. I made it out of clay pots and wooden balls. Each morning before the kids wake up I hide baby Jesus somewhere in the house. The kids all go on a treasure hunt in the mornings searching for baby Jesus. The person who finds him gets $1. By the time Christmas comes, each child could have earned around $5. Not much I know, but $5 to a 6 year old is big bucks!

Now it's your turn. What do you like to do as a family?

Lucky 13

This past weekend Dallas and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. We celebrated by taking the entire family (including all three grandparents) to the park at Anthem. The afternoon passed peacefully while we played Scrabble, ate some lunch, rode bikes, napped and played on the playground. I couldn't have asked for a better, more relaxing day!

In honor of our 13 years together, here are 13 memories of that wonderful day and 13 things we enjoy doing with each other today.

13 Memories of our wedding day

1. the temple lawn was being fertilized so the grass wasn't green- it was black.

2. Dallas' wedding ring was late- the jeweler met us at the temple!

3. We didn't have a reception line- I hate them. We just walked around and visited with friends.

4. I wore a burgundy crushed velvet dress to the temple and afterwards at the luncheon.

5. We were married in sealing room 4 (to the left of the staircase as you come downstairs)

6. I didn't cry at the wedding until afterwards when I hugged my sister.

7. My father-in-law and my brother Craig served as witnesses to the wedding.

8. We stayed at a Motel 8 on our wedding night then left early in the morning for our honeymoon in the white mountains.

9. My reception colors were burgundy and green.

10. I felt like a princess!

11. My sister was having a miscarriage on my wedding day but didn't tell me until years later because she didn't want to ruin my day (she attending all the day's events like nothing happened). Now THAT is sacrifice! What a sweetheart!

12. My heart was about to beat out of my chest before the actual ceremony.

13. I remember thinking, "I am the luckiest girl in the world! This day is the best ever! Nothing will ever go wrong!"

13 Things Dallas and I enjoy doing together

1. holding hands in church

2. window shopping at Home Depot

3. Going to Sonic during happy hour (Dr. pepper for him, Diet Cherry Coke for me)

4. taking long drives

5. Staying up late at night after the kids go to bed

6. attending the temple

7. going out to dinner

8. bottling/canning things from our garden

9. playing Scrabble

10. lying outside at night with the kids on a blanket to look at the stars

11. yardwork

12. playing Hand and Foot (a family card game)

13. giving each other our own little secret "I love you" sign. (I am sure you have seen us do it because we do it all the time but I bet you don't know what it is!)

Halloween 2009

Good Lesson

While I was in California (see next post), I had a nice conversation with my Uncle Ernie. He is my mom's younger brother and has always been like a father to me. I love him with all my heart. As we sat on the couch early this morning before anyone else was awake, he told me about a class he teaches for people struggling with addictions. One of the stories he told me taught me a lesson and I share it in hopes that it might help someone else.

In the scriptures we read that when we pay our tithing, "the windows of heaven will pour down blessings that there won't be room enough to receive them". A gentleman in this class commented that he would pay his tithing then wait for a check to come in the mail, a bank error, or some other windfall of money that would be just the right amount of money that he needed. He was looking for a miracle of money.

After struggling with this for a long time, the gentleman said he finally reread that scripture and focused on the word "window". He realized that money does not come through windows when they are open. What does come through open windows is light and warmth. He said he learned that when he paid his tithing, Heavenly Father wasn't promising to give him that money back in another form (yes, that stuff does happen sometimes, but that isn't my point) but rather when he paid his tithing, Heavenly Father promises to give him light and knowledge and warmth. He promises to strengthen our testimonies.

As we all continue to struggle financially, I hope this helps someone else like it has me. I need to focus my attention on blessings that are not as tangible as cash such as the light of the gosple, peace in my heart and an increased desire to do good.

Wedding and beach weekend

I'm too sexy for my short...

I Love the Beach!!

Insert Bay Watch theme music here.

Ash after a long night of partying

Me and my cousin Michelle

Beach Beauty

Run! Run! As fast as you can!

Bro's

This is what happens when you give two 6 yr olds the camera

My cousins Dave and Kathy Horner, Mom, Uncle Ernie (Father of the Bride)

My cousin Jackie got married this weekend in California. My mom and I took Aspen and Ash with us on the trip and had a GREAT time. Jackie and her siblings have always been some of my favorite people in the entire world to be with- extremely fun and happy. Now that we are all grown up and live all over the country we don't get to see each other like we used to, making weddings an even more special occasion because we get to reconnect with one another. My children met my cousin Stephanie's boys and they were instant friends. It was like they had known each other their entire lives!

Sunday morning we hit the beach for a couple hours before heading home and the weather, sand, water and amount of people couldn't have been better if we had planned it. Absolutely GEORGEOUS!!! It was me that was whining when it was time to go home, not the boys.

I am glad to be home now though. I missed the rest of my family and nothing beats walking in the door and having your kids run up to you and give you hugs. I hope they never get too big to do that.

3 month catch up

I went to Bahama Bucks last night with some friends and one of them is a big time blogger. She inspired me to catch up with my blogging and to do better at following other people's blogs. (Step A-WAY from Facebook, Wendy!) It has been three months since I last blogged so here is a short recap of what has happened in my life over that time. Fair warning- it isn't all that exciting. Try to stay awake.

Started school. LOVE IT! I am using my brain and getting out of the house. Just got my midterm exams back and got a B in a 300+ level Democracy class essay exam. Can you believe it? ME! Look out Palin- here I come! Japanese history is going good as is math and Culture Diversity.

Kids are all in school and extra curricular activities. This is what I spend every afternoon/evening running around to. The boys are all on different baseball teams (games 2 nights a week and practices two times a week), Alexis is in the town play, Willy Wonka, Amanda is in YW, Aiden is in scouts, Alexis goes to Achievement Days.

I got put in the Relief Society presidency. It is great to be out of primary but I worry that I am not doing a good job in RS. It seems like what I do matters a lot more there than it did as music leader in primary. Meeting new women and visiting with them is a lot of fun though and I am glad to be serving where I am serving.

Found two baby sulcata tortoises in our front yard. The kids have named them Tut and Tina and we love them!

Halloween is coming up. Dallas and I are going as Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, Alexis is going as the Queen of Hearts, Aiden is going as a belly dancer (Yes, you read that right), Aspen is going as a toilet, Ash is going as the Shaggy Dog and I don't know what Amanda is going as. I am looking forward to it!

That's about sums the past three months up- school, kids and home. That's my life and I LOVE every minute of it.

Are you kidding me???

I just checked out the ASU website to find out about parking permits. There is NO WAY I am paying those kind of outrageous fees. The cheapest rate I found was $210 for ONE semester and the price goes up to just under $800! I am seriously in shock right now. Not sure how I am going to get to class but I guarantee it won't be by car.

What's New?

It is almost 4am and I am forcing myself to write in the blog right now. I wish I had something fun and exciting to write about but I just don't. We are pretty boring. The only major thing coming up is school. The kids start back in a week and I start at the end of August. (Well, I finish the summer semester in two weeks then start up again at the end of August.)

Alexis and Aiden got their teacher assignments this past week and are excited to start at Queen Creek middle school. It will be a new adventure for everyone since they are changing the school to a 5th and 6th grade school from a 6th-8th school. Aspen and Ash are meeting their new teachers soon too. Ash is in Ms. Self's class and Aspen is in Mr. Jeffers. There was a little drama getting Aspen a teacher that I felt would be good for him but I feel content about him being in Mr. Jeffers class. He seems like a good teacher. I don't know much about Ms. Self but I have heard she is a loving teacher, just what Ash needs. Amanda starts at the high school this year and she is both excited and nervous. Who didn't feel that way the summer before high school? I am glad she is taking seminary and hope she will learn a lot about our church and heritage by taking it.

As for my schooling, I am taking classes at ASU and am VERY excited about it. It has been 13 years since I have been in a classroom setting and am finding myself anxious to get started. My class load for the fall will be a math class, democratization, diversity in cultures and Japanese history class.

With the exception of the math class, all my classes this semester are in compliance with my requirement to take ten credits of "culture" classes. The classes I had to chose from were kind of a joke. Some of the classes options I had were gay and lesbian rights, the struggle of illegal immigrants in the US, African American history, Wealth Distribution, Chinese American history and Women in the 19th century West. I chose the ones that seemed the least driven by political agendas. Seriously, even if I am educated in wealth distribution or the plight of illegal immigrants into America, is that going to make me a better nurse? In a hospital setting I will treat every person the same. The human body is the same, no matter if it is a Mexican body, a poor body, a rich body or a lesbian body. I will be performing the same procedures regardless of who or what the person is. Grr... All to get a little piece of paper to hang on my wall that says I went to school.

Dilema

I am not sure what to do. I have a big dilema. Dallas took the kids to the ranch for three days and I am here all alone. What do I do? Well, let's see... I can make dinner for only me(or not make dinner at all). I can clean the house then watch it stay clean. I can go to bed without removing any children from my bed. I can brush my teeth without cleaning toothpaste from the sink first. I can sit on the couch without scooting somone's feet off it. I can put my Diet Coke on the counter and return later to find it still as full as when I left. Boy, I am really going to suffer through these few days! hahaha

Just kidding of course. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my children and dear husband and I will be very excited to see them again on Friday night. In the mean time I will LOVE LOVE LOVE being alone.