Sick and tired

As the semester drags on, I can feel myself getting more and more tired. I need more sleep than usual to function properly; which really isn't possible right now with only a week and a half to go before my last final. My poor babies have head colds and I think my body is really struggling to fight off the germs this time, plus no sleep for them equals no sleep for me. I'm sorry...I don't have time for a cold right now! However, I do fear the worst illness of my life after I come off the high stress level of school. I always get really sick on vacation or the weekend when I have time to be sick; it sucks. But since my brain is about to implode, I am looking forward to any kind of boredom (and/or disease) that comes my way; just as long as it's not in essay form.

Exam

Yesterday I had to drive all the way to the college campus to take an exam for an online course I am currently enrolled in. (I thought the point of an online class was so that I would have to go to campus when I didn't want to and see people I didn't want to, but whatever.) I have only taken three other online college classes before and all of the tests were also taken online as well in a very casual, open note type setting. Not this class! All the exams are online, BUT they are password protected and only the on-campus proctor in the testing facility has that password. So I drive down there through nasty road construction traffic...park...make my way to a little room of about 20 or so computers and feel like I'm about to gain access to top-secret information or something! I show I.D., I give a password, my belongings get taken from me, I sit at a computer, I log in, I am asked to turn around so the top-secret password can be entered to open the test, THEN I take my test, I receive my grade, I log out, I sign out, my belongings are returned to me and I leave. It's exhausting!
I don't get a pat-down...that they don't do!!! (That would be ridiculous!)
Then I decided to drive home a different way to avoid the construction work I previously hit; but sadly the route I chose also had road work traffic. Grrr. I think my entire city is under construction right now. And to top it all off I got a C on the test. Double Grrrr! I really was hoping for a B, even though the material this time was challenging. A lot of this stuff should not be in multiple choice format...it just doesn't work; but what do I know! But I still have a strong B in the class and we only have the final to go. Philosophy is not making me happy right now.

My baby's going to kindergarten.

Last week I got a call from the elementary school that my oldest will be attending next school year saying that she passed her kindergarten entrance test! I can't believe I will have a child going to kindergarten in August! Our life with her has gone by so quickly. She is SO excited about school, and I am very excited for her. I've been home with her for the last 3 1/2 years and we are always together. It's weird to think that she will now have a major event going on in her life that I won't be a part of.
Now I just have to keep her busy enough over the next few months so she doesn't make me crazy waiting for school to start...(she's not terribly patient; she's four, after all). Thank God for the summer preschool program!

Coffee, Wine, Gelato

This is the name of a new store in a strip mall on Indian School and Litchfield on my way to school.
Some day I hope to see what it is all about...and live there.
A person can live on these three food groups, right?

In the midst...

OF HELL WEEK!!!
This may be the single worst week of the semester. Yes, even worse than finals that are coming up. WAY too many papers all due at once, with 2 field trips for research, plus the usual reading, quizzes and an exam! All I can say is AAAUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!
I hope to survive...brain and grades intact.
I can't WAIT to get my life back! (3 weeks, baby, 3 weeks)

A homework free weekend!

Can it be true?! I have stayed up many late nights this week just so I can have this weekend to do as I please without doing any homework. Usually the weekend is full of assignments and deadlines, but this week I managed to get ahead and stay there! Go me!!! My drive was knowing that I wouldn't have to look at anything school related for two whole days!
This is, of course, the only weekend left in the semester that I even have this option, with two major, grade-altering papers and finals coming up; so I took it and ran.
With only four weeks left, maybe the next few weekends will be a little brighter knowing I'm almost on the other side.

And the countdown begins...

As of today, I officially have five weeks left of school!!!!!!!!
Holy cow! I can't believe I am finally this close to achieving a goal I started over 9 years ago!
This semester has been quite a hardship for not only me, but my family as well. Taking nine credits on top of our everyday lives was a bit too much, but I so deperately wanted to be done with all of this before my 10 year high school reunion that I felt it was worth several months of sacrifice. It's been a LONG time since I did something this big just for myself, but this goal was definitely just for me. Sometimes I do feel selfish for asking my husband and children to put my education in the forefront of our lives right now, but I am hoping that we all will benefit from this accomplishment. I needed to do this for me...and it feels great to cross something so big for me off my checklist of life goals.

Thanks Aimee

Before I was a Mom -
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom -
I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom -
I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.
Before I was a Mom -
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom -
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.
Before I was a Mom -
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.