Last Week

Next week is the last week of school for this semester. It is always a little bittersweet if you really like a class, but if you don't it is the best feeling in the world.

Intersession class

I am taking an intersession class this summer. It will be a week long from 8:30 to 4:30. I have never taken one before and I am a little nervous about cramming so much information in one week, but I am hopeful that all will go well. One stinky thing about it is that I have to take vacation days at work to be able to take the class. Oh well, it will be worth it since I need it to be able to take physiology this fall.

Kitchen

It has been three weeks and I am still without a kitchen...sort of. I have a refrigerator and a stove but no sink. Unfortunately there are many things a person cannot do without a sink, and you really would not know all of them until your are without one for so long. Hopefully it will be in this week, but I am not going to hold my breath.

Summer

It is so nice outside today. The wind is a little strong but the sunshine is great. This is absolutely by favorite weather. You cannot help but feel good when the sun is shinning on you.

P90X

I have ordered these workout videos called the P90X and I am excited to start using them. My boyfriend and his son got me introduced to them. They have been using them for four weeks now and I have noticed changes in there bodies. As I get older my body seems to be getting soft and I do not like that at all. I definately am in need of a change. I truly believe if I can stick to this I will be on an upward climb out of the softness. I can only hope.

Remodeling

I am so excited. I am getting my kitchen and bathroom remodeled. I currently have half of my kitchen completed and my entire bathroom gutted. Unfortunately, I do not have water so I have been having to shower, etc. at other peoples homes. It makes me feel a little bit like a transient. I hope to have it all completed in the next week or so.

Teeth cont.

I had the root canal and I feel ten times better. It is still sore but at least the throbbing pain is gone. I had to go to a specialist instead of my normal dentist because he did not do root canals. The Dr. did a fabulous job. Nothing hurt except for the shot in the roof of my mouth. The office itself was pretty fancy. In every "operating room" there were televisions in the ceiling that you could watch when reclined back. I'm not really sure how you are suppose to watch when the nurse and Dr's. heads were in your face, but it was a nice touch. I would say over all, the whole experience was pretty pleasant. Nothing I want to do again too soon, but still pleasant

Teeth

Tooth pain is absolutely the worst! I had a crown put on a back tooth last year. It seemed to be doing fine except that sometimes I had a little cold sensitivity, until last Sunday, then it all went crazy. I started having throbbing pain shoot through what felt like was my whole jaw. I thought at first I may have had something stuck between my teeth and it was irritated, but then it continued for a few days. On Tuesday I called my dentist so that he could look at it, and he told me that I had an abscess under the crown. YUCK! Now I have to have a root canal tomorrow. I so wish it were something easier. Oh well, at least the pain will be over.

Chickens

I have been going through books looking for chickens to raise. I know which ones I want for laying hens, but I also wanted a couple that I could hold and they not freak out. After much searching I have finally found the breed I want, silkies. They are originally from China, with very fluffy feathers on their feet, and with what looks like a feathered hat on their heads. My favorite part about them is that you can hold them. They are very people friendly. I don't know the reason I truly desire to carry a chicken, I just do. I also want to hold a penguin, but that is another story.

Facebook

I signed up for facebook a few months ago because I wanted to see a friend's kids. After that it just sat there. Well, a couple of days ago another friend asked my to let her on so I thought maybe I should go ahead an update things and try to be a active party. Today I went on and updated it a little. I am confused about what all a person can do on it. Do you write things? Do you email from it? How do you put on pictures? I understand the concept but I am a little computer illiterate. I know how to get into things I use for work, school and personal beyond that, not so much. I am excited about it. Hopefully over time I will learn to do more things on it.

Shopping

I do not like shopping. Let me rephrase that, I do not like shopping for clothes. I never can find the cute things that I see on everyone else. Even when I do find something that I like, at least on the hanger, it never looks good or right once I get it on. I really wish I had more of a sense of style so I can just easily see and know what works the best. It may would help if I went shopping more and tried on things more to see what works, but that is where the hate of shopping comes in. Maybe one day my thoughts will change. Who knows.

eBay

Last week I bid on an item on eBay and last night I found out that I won. This is great. I have never won any item that I have ever bid on because I didn't ever want to go as high as it sold for. I was lucky though the bid never went any higher than my initial bid. We'll see what happens next time.

Blogging

Oops, it is Friday and I have been so caught up in everything going on this week that I forgot to blog, until now. Tonight I am studying for mid-terms so I cannot blog any more than I have. Until next time...

My grandparents house

My grandparents house was torn down over a two day period last week. When I passed by their house last Saturday, part of the sides were gone and a lot of the insides where gutted out. It felt like my grandparents had just passed away again. It was so heartbreaking I just cried. I just wanted to fix it. The next day, I passed by again and it was just gone. I know that a house is not the "home" or the memories that you had. And really since my grandparents were gone, seeing the house, was not the same as when they were alive. It was still a big part of my past and was hard to see torn down. I think I would have been better off to have just passed by and it be completely gone than to have seen it partially gone. It makes me wish they were still here. I miss them.

Soldiers

I am watching a show on television where they are talking to men and women who have been injured in Iraq. I feel like so many people come back from war and get lost in the world. I don't know that I feel they get the proper treatment mentally to be able to cope the best possible way they can. It bothers me. It makes me wish there was something I could do to help. These soldiers go through so much for me and my family. They deserve the best possible to make it through. It's the least that can be done for putting their life on the line.

Weather

It has been so nice outside yesterday and today. I love it. I think it would be really great to live in a place where the weather was like that all the time. Of course, you would need the rain but at least as far as the temperature goes it would be great. Truly though, we are very fortunate to live in an area that gives us the blessing of such diverse weather and not any of it lasts extremely long. Its nice. I do like it even if I am a hot weather gal at heart.

Slowing Time

Most days, time seems to move so fast. I get up in the morning and before I know it twelve o'clock has arrived. I wish some days time could really just slow down. I don't know deep down if it would really make a difference but it sure feels like it would.

Soda

I am trying to stop drinking soda or at least not so much of it. I have never really had a problem of drinking it all the time, just maybe once or twice a week. It's just that I really want to cut back to where I am maybe drinking it once a month. This week, I have already had it once and today I am having Imo's pizza, which I love, and I cannot eat pizza without having soda. So, this week I will be off my course and have it twice.

Mexico

My sister-in-law just left today for Cancun. She goes every year with some of her girlfriends. Three years ago I got to go with them and it was GREAT. Now every year since then I have been asked but I don't feel I can really go because of my classes. I feel I made the decision to go to school and so I need to attend. It still bums me out a little though, but one day I will be out of school and can go again. Until then I will just daydream about it and live vicariously through her.

Vonnegut

I finally receive my copy of "The Sirens of Titan" so I can now start reading it for the book club. I will blog my thoughts on the book at a later date.

Succeeding in life

To laugh often and much,
to win the respect of intelligent people and
the affection of children,
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends,
to appreciate beauty,
to find the best in others,
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch...
to know even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived.
this is to have succeeded!

-emerson

First Tests

Taking first tests are so frustrating! You go into taking a test with an idea of what is going to be on it because you were taught all the material weeks prior to the test. It seems though, once you see the test your mind draws a blank and all the material looks like a foreign language. Well, that has happened to me today. I took a math test and thought, "Have I even seen these problems before?" Of course I had, but it seemed like I hadn't. Now I have to wait to see the damage I've done and figure out what I need on the next tests to keep the grade I want. I would like to reprogram my thoughts so that I do not continue to have these problems. Don't get me wrong, a majority of the time the grades do not turn out too bad. I would just like a great start and be able to keep it all semester.

Chicken

A Great Chicken Recipe

Cooked, deboned chicken or you can use chicken breasts
1 box stove top stuffing
1 can chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
milk
cheese
cooked vegetables-optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make stuffing according to directions on the box replacing the water with chicken broth. Layer it in the bottom of a 9X13 pan. Layer cubed or shredded chicken over the stuffing. You can add the cooked vegetables at this point too. Mix 1 can of cream of chicken with equal parts milk. Pour over the chicken. Add as much cheese as you desire over the top and bake for 30 minutes. MMM MMM good!

-Origins unknown

Farm Life

My grandparents owned a farm and lived a mile away from me so my brother and I were there A LOT. Either my mom would take us or we would walk or ride our bikes. Everything there to me was fun. We would plant gardens, milk cows, retrieve eggs, anything that you would think happened on a farm we were a part of. I loved it. Now as an adult my boyfriend has a farm. He does not have a many different animals as my grandmother did but he has a lot in quantity. (I hope to add some different ones this year) He also works for an electric cooperative and so he has been out of town for a week now helping to get power restored to those in southeastern Missouri. Since he has been gone I have taken over the "farm" chores along with working and going to school. In this small amount of time I have gained even more admiration for those who farm because it is a bear. I have to get up earlier, I don't get in the house until late, its cold, I don't get into bed until late, which means dinner is late, homework is late, it is just so much. I'm guessing when I was a kid and it was fun, it was because I was a kid and what else did you have to do. Don't get me wrong I still love the farm life. Even thought its a lot of work it feels simpler. Maybe because that is how it felt to me as a child and that feeling gives me comfort.

Blog Week

I still have one more blog to write this week. It is now Saturday and I am just now finishing the third one. The one question I have though is, since Saturday is our class period does the week start on Saturday or is our blog period a normal week of Sunday to Saturday?

Cooking

One of my favorite things to do is watch cooking shows. I also love cookbooks. They are my favorite things to read. Right now I am watching Hells Kitchen. I just love Gordon Ramsey. He is one of those people that you will always know what he is thinking because he will tell you. I could not be on his show because I don't feel that I have the talent yet. I love to cook when I can but I have not cooked as much as I could have for my age. I know that if I did I could be a lot better. My mother, grandmother, and my aunts are incredible cooks. I wish I had half of their talent. Food can be so many things for people and you can never be without it. I feel it is a good skill to have. Hopefully one day I can be great at it.

Peace

Peace.
It does not mean to be in a place
where there is no noise,
trouble or hard work.
It means to be in the midst of those things
and still be calm in your heart.

-unknown

Television

I put off getting a coupon for the converter box for my television until a couple of weeks ago. When I finally requested them I saw on the news that they were not sending out any more coupons. I was left to wonder what I would do at that point. My true self tells me that I don't want to have tv's. I truly feel that they are time wasters, when you can do so much more with that time. You can visit friends, read, do creative projects or spend more time with those you love. I would follow this thought process of no tv except that I have a college student that when he comes home would absolutely not know what to do with himself without a tv. That leads me back to square one. I do not want to get cable or dish because I just would not have the time to watch it and since I do not watch tv much now it would be a waste of money. Then I thought maybe I will just buy a new tv, but once again if I do not watch it much do I want to spend the money. I have pondered these thoughts for the past week and lo and behold today I received my coupons. So, maybe I will keep the tv....you know, just in case.

Thoughts of the day

I feel I may have an addiction problem... I am addicted to books. Don't get me wrong I don't feel this is necessarily a bad thing. I feel reading broadens your mind and makes you think about things that maybe you necessarily would not have. It can change your life or aspects of it anyway. My problems lies with purchasing them. I at least purchase one a month sometimes more. I have a few hundred. I wish I could go to the library, pick some out, read them and then purchase them if I liked them well enough to read again. That just does not seem to work out for me. I never can seem to find the book I want at the library, it seems to only be when it is displayed so nicely on the shelves of Barnes and Noble or Borders or which ever place I am that the books are lined up on. I hope this year to try the library more at least until the lure of a new book draws me back.

A New Year

I have started out this year reading a daily book called Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. It is about how everyday your life can be an expression of your authentic self and lead you to a happier, more contented life. Each days article starts out with a quote. The quote on one day states, "You only live once-but if you work it right, once is enough"-Joe E Lewis. It makes you stop and think about what changes you would make in order to make that statement true. A person would definately want to live their life without any regrets. Knowing that everything you did was with a purpose or a goal in mind or just because it is something you wanted to do and enjoy. As I get older I make a list, a "bucket list" so to speak of things I would like to do or experience in the lifetime that I have. I want to learn to play the piano, to go to Washington D.C., to see the Buffalo stampede in South Dakota and to see Pearl Harbor. I want to raise chickens, grow a beautiful garden, can fruits and vegetables, become a great cook and make a quilt from scratch just like my grandma. I want to truly feel and enjoy to experience of every moment and not "sweat the small stuff". In the big picture there are a lot of daily things that happen to people that really does not matter. Like being stuck in traffic..and then getting angry about it. The past few months I have made a conscience effort when I get upset with something to ask myself, is this going to matter tomorrow or next week or even next year. If not I try to let it go. So far it really helps me. I feel the little stuff fading away and not even mattering. Hopefully this is a start to having a life of simple abundance.