7 Quick Takes

Happy Friday! My goodness this week has flown by...not much time left before things around here start seriously hopping. So here are my takes for this week.

1. Final grades are in for summer term, and I got all A's! I sincerely thought I would end up with a B in the English Comp. class. I wasn't a big fan of my term paper, and turned it in despite the fact that it was not the best I could have done. The problem was the subject. I chose to write about autism and the environment, thinking it would be good for me to read and study, since I have a son on the autism spectrum. Instead, it was really hard emotionally and led to lots of crying, so I basically just slapped something on paper and got on with it. Oh well, the teacher either didn't notice, or was especially merciful when grading. Either way, I'll take it.

2. It has been raining here everyday. Honestly, that is a really good thing...we usually have rain pretty much everyday (for a little while) in the summer. This summer though has been completely dry for the most part, leaving everything brown and thirsty outside. It's nice to have it back to normal. However, my kids are not digging the staying indoors, not going swimming part of the weather. Nathan (my oldest son) is especially not liking the grass growing so much--it's his job to mow.

3. I have been contemplating the possibility of a 12-step program for facebook. Seriously. Addiction is not pretty.

4. My sweet, darling baby girl CUT HER HAIR last night. A big clump of it, right on top next to her part. :( The worst part is, that the section she cut off, is the part I always rubbed while she was nursing...by the time it grows out she probably won't be nursing anymore. So sad. And yes, I realize that it may be odd that I care more about that than the way her hair looks, but I can disguise the cut hair.

5. I have been reminded several times this week that God is good, and His kindness and providence are sufficient to meet our needs. Unexpectedly this week, we have had our needs met, just when we thought we would break. Still hoping for a job for Matt, but we're taking it day by day, and remembering to have faith.

6. This weekend, my sister is producing a bridal show at the Saenger Theater in downtown Mobile. http://www.bisforbrideevent.com/ Bis for Bride is going to be an amazing, fresh, modern take on event planning for our area. I am so proud of all she has done. And seriously, my sister is crazy talented when it comes to event planning. Here is a link to her business, Marybelle's. http://marybelles.squarespace.com/ Check out her gallery to see her work....she rocks!

7. Does anyone else think the whole "birth certificate" thing with President Obama is weird? Why are people so upset over this? Yes, he is an American citizen. His MOTHER was an American citizen. Last I checked, that counts. Apparently some people question his legitimacy as President if they haven't seen the long form of a birth certificate? The funny thing is these same people were arguing against questioning Bush's legitimacy in 2000 after the fiasco in FL. Very strange.

That's all for today. Here is a link to Conversion Diary: http://www.conversiondiary.com/2009/07/7-quick-takes-friday-vol-44.html

Coincidence? I think not.

Thirteen months ago, one week after Matt's accident at work, we bought a house. The house is a nice house--five bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a pool, out-of-date decor, but tons of potential and everything we needed for our family. Right around the corner, literally backing up to our fence, is a nice little church. At Christmastime, they put on a lovely Nativity scene and sang Christmas carols, very charming. When we purchased the house, and periodically since then, we've noticed the church and said we should go check it out ("might be the only church we could ever get to on time since it's in our backyard and services start at 11:00," we joked).

I am not a churchgoer by nature. I don't like crowds, especially not of strangers, and I struggle really hard with faith. I am a Christian, but I am NOT evangelical, and I'm pretty uncomfortable around people who are of the pushy "Got Jesus?" variety. But today, on a whim this morning we dressed the kids and went around the corner to the little church. We parked opposite our swimming pool in the parking lot, went in and the entire message of the day was on.......

"Trusting God in Times of Need".

Hmmm....interesting.

Gratitude and Goodness

Today we had a slow start. I decided to let the family sleep in, since it's Saturday, and we have basically just been hanging out--doing chores around here as we feel like it. Not a bad way to pass a Saturday morning. As most of my in-real-life people know, my husband Matt has been out of work for over a year now. Last June, his eye was injured at work, then a parasitical infection set in. Not only was he extreme pain for many months, he was left with permanent damage to his eye, and he won't ever be able to see as well out of that eye as he was before. He describes it as if he's looking though fuzzy glass, which is of course the situation due to the scar on his eye. Now that he can return to work, the economy has taken a turn for the worse, and there aren't many jobs available. He spends time EVERYDAY putting out applications, calling people he knows, sending out resumes...he's working his butt off trying to find something.

I say all this, not to whine, rather to express my gratitude. Gratitude for my husband who is so willing to try so hard for our family. His persistence and resilience is a wonder to me. Maybe I am too thin-skinned, but I don't know how I would fare in his position. And yet, he stays positive...he still smiles, laughs, and gives hugs as though we have no need to worry. When I open yet another bill and get flustered and feel desperate, he always tells me we'll be ok. I am so grateful for him. Grateful that he is the same loving person no matter what situation we face. I wish I could say that I am the same for him, but sadly he married a tempest.

7 Quick Takes

1. Today I am going to attempt to actually, gasp!, participate in some of the regular postings I read every week. This post is a first attempt. I have no clue if I will actually be able to pull off a blog link thingy (yes, the technical term), but I am giving it a go.

2. Also regarding today's participation: I am getting involved. Normally, I am the girl that sits on the side of the group listening and watching. I am not really so much shy as I am fascinated by human behavior. I also am not a big fan of controversy, so I often try to avoid subjects that are near and dear to my heart in the hopes of not pissing someone off and having to defend my perspective. In the last 7 months since returning to school, I have discovered this is basically futile. I won't be able to avoid speaking up, so I may as well get good at it. Hence my "coming out" in the cyber world.

3. So, yesterday I mentioned that I slept until noon. Yep, I did. And it was soooo nice, until I realized that during my long, unbroken sleep my children had wreaked havoc upon their bedrooms and the pantry. I woke up to find ALL THE SNACK FOOD GONE. Note to self: While pretending to be 19 again and sleeping in the day after exams is a great luxury in theory, "treats" like this have too high a cost in real life for a mama of 4.

4. I am thinking about what I am going to do with my former blog. Not sure if I should try to move the archive over here, or print it out to save for memory sake, or just keep the blog as is? It is written mostly just for me, without the perspective that someone might read it, and I did a lot of the "avoiding discussion" thing over there. Still, I definitely don't want to lose it. Ideas?

5. We were supposed to leave for Disney World today with the kids. It was the "mom-finished-school-for-the-term-and-it's-summer-vacation" reward. Instead, we had to cancel since Matt is still looking for work. The kids are pretty disappointed, and truthfully I am too. So today instead, I am going to try to make time to do something fun with them. Hoping to picnic at the park provided that the weather isn't too hot and muggy.

6. I am also working today on rescheduling our lives for the coming term. Nursing school orientation is on August 14, so I have a little over 2 weeks to implement new bedtime, waking, and chore routines. I am not great with structure, so it will be challenging for me. But my kids desperately need it, especially Gordon, and so do I if we are going to survive the intensity of classes to come. I think I need to try to make friends with the structure. Kind of like Ricki Bobby does with the cougar.

7. Doing seven quick takes has been fun. I think this week, I will keep a list of ideas so that I don't have to try to think on my toes about what exactly my "takes" are. Also, my post won't have the cute little button at the top...haven't figured out how to do that yet. Tutorials and help more than welcome. Glad to participate :)
Happy Friday!

Here is a link to 7 quick takes friday over at Conversion Diary http://www.conversiondiary.com/2009/07/7-quick-takes-friday-vol-43.html

Statistically Speaking

Yesterday I finished up my last prerequisite course at USA. I took the final in my Statistics class, and even though I don't know my score on the exam, I am sure I passed the class since I had a 98 average going into the test. Now, this was a bit of a watershed moment for me, because I spent my entire first undergraduate career avoiding the math department like the plague due to a strong belief that I suck at math. Fourteen years later (and may I add 14 math-praticeless years later), I have discovered that I don't in fact suck a math. :) I am relieved beyond measure to have this class over. Now I only have to wrap up the Chemistry 101 class I am taking. I'm taking this class at a community college, so it's only one night a week--there was no other way to work all the classes into a schedule so I could finish all my prereq.s by August.

In other news, today I slept in until noon and have spent the rest of the day so far making phone calls and catching up on "real life". Matt put out a bunch more resumes and job applications today, so hopefully he will hear something back soon.

New Digs

So I've decided to move my blog to blogger, just because I like the set up here better. This blog is mostly a chronicle of my life, my family, and our adventures as I make my way through nursing school. I also hope that it will serve as a reminder that I should savor each second of the journey, because even when it's crazy, life is always amazing!