Getting There...

Well this semester has been insanely insane for me...19 credit hours has made most days fly by in a whirlwind! I've had to stay very organized and on top of things in order to keep it all together, but overall I've been OK. We're finally getting down to that end-of-term crunch time where everything is due and demands are high. This will be a stressful few weeks ahead, but then I'll be done, AND I'll have eight more classes checked off my list! Even though I've been busy as a bee, I'm glad I went ahead with the crazy semester while I was able to take on such a heavy load. My husband has been great, very supportive and understanding as I've put virtually everything but school on hold. I'm getting to the point in my educational career where I can see that light at the end of the tunnel, and it puts a smile on my face. I now only have a few spring/summer classes, in addition to two more big semesters and I'll be ready for my year of student teaching. It seems so close and still so far away! I can't wait to finally graduate and move on, but having said that, I'm also trying to be where I am and enjoy the positive aspects of being a "college kid."

Who Knew?

Apparently, holding down the shift key for 8 seconds causes something called "filter keys" to become active on windows computers. I learn all sorts of things I never wanted to know in any given day, but this one takes the cake! Why in the world would something like this be built into the OS...I simply can't see any advantage to such a feature, weird!!

Diamante Poems About My Day

Student
dedicated, diligent
reading, writing, working
books, paper, pencils, stress
reading, writing, working, thinking
tired, educated
woman

Dogs
sweet, spoiled
running, rolling, barking
ears, tails, noses, paws
playing, begging, sleeping, snoring
happy, loved
pets

Dishes
dirty, gross
invading, stinking, annoying
sink, water, soap, sponge
soaking, scrubbing, rinsing, shining
clean

Chipmunk

small, quick
running, scurrying, quivering
driveway, woman, car, tires
rolling, squealing, stopping
ugly, depressing
death

These Make Life Sweeter...

...nieces! I'm thoroughly convinced it's no coincidence that the words nice and niece are so closely related. One of the things for which I am most thankful in life is my status as "Auntie Melba." First with my nephew, Nick all those years ago, and now with my two sweet nieces, I have always been fortunate to have close relationships with these special children. A few weeks ago, Michael and I kept the girls so my sister and her husband could take a much-needed respite to celebrate their anniversary. It was a win-win situation, because we got some one-on-one time with these sweet girls, and they got a night of freedom. Here are my favorites from the images taken that weekend:

One sleepy, one silly

= arms full!

Is there anything better than a baby falling asleep in your arms?

Ava in Shades

One Big Baby!

L.G. - Life's Good!

{Auntie}

Laughable

This one made me chuckle...


Click here to see a larger version.

Frozen

I've had two experiences involving frozen things over the past couple of months, both of which have been really disturbing. This has been a cold, bitter winter...more so than most Michigan winters through which I've lived. So anyway...a few weeks ago, I had a nice, steaming hot burrito for my lunch. I'll admit it, I have a weakness for Taco Bell, though more for the hot sauce than the food. I don't go there often because I'm trying to avoid the whole fast food pitfall, but alas, I digress!

So there I was, sitting in my car, eating my nice, hot burrito as I waited for my next class to begin. The outside temp was (I think) maybe 5 degrees that day, so yeah...cold! I was hungry, having not eaten since early that morning. I looked into my bag, and...no hot sauce! To understand the magnitude of this problem, you have to understand my relationship to TB hot sauce. For me, eating TB food without hot sauce would be...I don't know, like eating a sandwich without bread. I love Taco Bell hot sauce! So anyway...I was disappointed, but still very hungry. I looked around my car and saw the long-forgotten, and very frozen hot sauce in my cup holder. I thought about this for maybe two seconds and then decided it was better than no hot sauce. I opened the packet and put the sauce on my burrito. The stuff was the consistency of thick mucus and it was so cold that it hurt my teeth when I took a bite. The combination of very hot with very cold was unsettling. Let's just say I ate the remainder of my burrito with no sauce and it has been easier for me to avoid Taco Bell since then. The mental image of that slimy, frozen packet of snot keeps creeping into my mind...gross!

Then yesterday, when the temps dropped below zero again, I was on my way to school when I realized I had forgotten my chap stick. One annoying side effect of extreme cold and dry heating all winter long is dry, chapped lips. I needed my chap stick! Again, I looked around my icebox of a car and discovered some long-forgotten and very frozen chap stick in the center console. I pried the cap off and placed the tip on my lips. I attempted to move the tube back-and-forth, in the manner of a person applying chap stick, but no...the thing just sat there, affixed to my lips in one spot. Apparently, frozen chap stick is closely related to glue! I might as well have had a glue stick in my hand and been trying to put that onto my lips. I managed to get enough chap stick to make a small difference, but it was cold and clumpy and basically just gross. I survived the rest of my day without chap stick, but I've certainly learned that some things are just better left alone when frozen!