Done with my first assignment - woohoo!

So this semester, I have 3 assignments - 1 key concepts facilitation, 1 paper, 1 group project. Typically, I end up with one of the last dates for the key concepts facilitation, but this semester I lucked out. My group was the second group to go. And, we kept it low key, so I didn't have to spend too much time putting together information for a paper or a power point. Gotta love facilitation in groups! I definitely am comfortable just talking "on the fly", so I was happy that I got the part with the least "planned" talking points. :-) Good times... And now I am so ready for the weekend!

Chemistry!

Matt has been brushing up on his chemistry knowledge in preparation for testing out of his chemistry pre-req for nursing school. What fun! I really hated chemistry while I was in college, but I think that's because I hated going to 7:30am labs. Now, though, I'm excited to re-learn with him. Hmmm.... "chemistry" while studying chemistry.... Does that make me weird?

Busy Busy!

It has been ages since I posted. :-( Sorry!

I have been so distracted with things lately. School, work, and now practicing for the Christmas concert have taken over. Oh, but I am glad to have found some time for scrapping. My Christmas cards are done way ahead of schedule! Now to get together addresses...

I have only one more "learning" class left for the semester, and one additional class for presenting final papers. Still not sure what I am going to do for my final paper, but I will probably choose a topic tomorrow. I also have to participate in a discussion board this week for class. School is so close to wrapping up - wow did the semester fly by! I do like being in school, but I will be glad to have one less thing on my plate between December 16th and the end of January.

The music for orchestra is manageable, but I am having to practice a lot, and I'm still struggling on the fast parts. Though this is to be expected, I'm a little more nervous since I've lost Jennifer D., Jenny W., and all the other wonderful flautists who could sight read stuff that I couldn't even dream of playing up to speed... I do think with a bit more practice, it will come together nicely, though. And I have three other flute players joining me, so hopefully they practice hard this next week, also. Gosh darn flute parts - they are always so fast!

And one more thing about orchestra - yay for the strong Xpedition turnout! We are definitely representing. Hopefully I'm not forgetting anyone, but our class has contributed two trumpets, a french horn, a trombone, a saxaphone, a clarinet, a viola, a flute/pennywhistle, and a somewhat reluctant auxilliary percussionist.
:-) Woohoo! Anyone else want to join? There's still time!

I so want to just practice and not think about projects for school... can you tell?

Another weekend has ended...

I was able to get my email all checked, but I still didn't get any reimbursement application writing done. Oh well, maybe on Tuesday it will happen... :-/ I know it will get done, but I'm just not interested in doing it now, and I know I have time.

So intsead, I slept, read, slept, watched a movie with Matt, and ate. All in all, I think it was a good weekend. I'm so ready to stay home on weekends for a while. I need to balance out my overly social summer.

And now, I'm going to go read some more before bed.

Yay for the Weekend!

Matt and I barely did anything today, and it was great! We did go to the bookstore to by my books for my fall class and finish sealing the table we built. We also made a stop by the library and the grocery store, picked up a redbox movie, and spent the majority of the day reading, playing games, watching the movie we rented, eating (mmmm... mixed berry smoothies...), and doing a variety of other relaxing activities.

And again, Max jumped the fence while I was supervising. That darn cat! At least I know I can still jump the fence to grab him before he gets too far. :-D

Now I think it's time for some more reading. Yes, I think I will leave all email-checking and tuition-reimbursement-application-writing for tomorrow. Procrastination is what I do best on Saturdays....

Summer Plans

Matt and I have a lot of fun summer plans. We are almost booked solid! Camping, trips to Indiana, visits from family, more camping, etc. I've really been wanting to sew a microfiber futon cover and loveseat slip cover for our living room, but I'm just not finding the time - too many other priorities. I also was hoping to help Matt make some new tables for our living room, but seeing as I can't even do a bit of sewing, there's no way we'll get to making tables.

I'm a little bummed, but I'd much rather do what I'm doing instead - spending time hanging out. Come fall, I'll be back in school, and homework will once again take over my non-work life. Registration for fall classes starts July 7th. The summer is ending way too quickly! At least I've convinced myself to only do one class at a time. Taking 6 years to complete my masters is okay, right? I mean, they only require that we complete it within 7 years...

The end of the semester

Tonight is my last class! I have completed my final paper, and tonight I have one more mini presentation. After that, I will be free for the summer! Who want's to go play some tennis?

And I'm back....

I have two more weeks of class. This means I have 2 presentations and a paper due. I will probably not post until the craziness is over. Also, I have definitely convinced myself that I need a break this summer from taking any classes. That means I will finally be able to sleep - Yay! Anyway, I'm going to bed now, and I will be back again maybe in two weeks. Goodnight!!

Change of Plans

Well, my chick-flick night turned into a clean-the-car, walk-with-Matt, do-homework night, which then ended with a little bit of American Idol catch-up on youtube. :-)

If you are watching American Idol this season, who are you hoping will win? I am still trying to formulate my opinion, but I think I'm leaning towards Carly...

Also, who typically agrees with Simon? I know I do - practically every time. It's the game of guessing what Simon will say that keeps me watching the show. :-)

Spring Break!

I am excited - there's no class tomorrow! So I guess I get to spend the evening with Matt.

But wait...

Gamestop called today. Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 is being released tomorrow. I think my husband may be preoccupied. I suppose it will be a chick-flick night.

Does anyone have any good suggestions for movies to watch or ways to spend a free evening?

Unemployment, Day 3

Lots of meetings today! Thankfully most were by phone. I spent the morning in meetings and the afternoon catching up on homework and typing up notes from one of my meetings - it was a phone interview for part of our group project. And today is class day, so my evening was also used for school. :-)

Other than that, nothing really exciting happened. But I did update my blog skin again! This time, I actually drew the images instead of using brushes. Still not settled on something yet, but this blog skin can last a while if needed.

Another lead...

My week is quickly becoming booked! I still don't know exactly when to expect a call back from the person I had previously interviewed with, although it should be sometime soon, and today, I made plans for another initial phone screening for a job that one of my classmates recommended me for. Tomorrow will be busy with homework, job hunting, cleaning, possibly breakfast/lunch plans with friends, and general catching-up on "stuff". I will have to try to remember to give a report on what happens during this week. Hopefully I get tons done, including cleaning my house. :-)

I know this was just a quick note, but I'm trying to blog even though I have nothing important to say and no good stories to share, so cut me some slack for now, please...

Good news and sad news

Last night I was able to complete my first paper of the semester in 2.5 hours, and this morning I did some editing before heading into work. I have been thinking about what to write for a week, which helped when I sat down to actually type. I think it went okay, but we'll see when grades are returned.

So here's my sad news... I was in a situation tonight where I felt a bit of rejection. I was actually impressed with how I handled it, and it is clear that I am growing in this area. It had been mentioned a few weeks ago that I was being invited to be part of a particular group of classmates for working on our final project. Nothing was set in stone, but the inviter hadn't clued me in to any changes in plans. I had been asked by someone else to be in their group, but I told them of my previous plans and asked that they keep me in mind, but not wait.

Well, being swamped with job hunting, I neglected to check on my original plans, and tonight it became obvious (in a non-spoken, middle school kind of way) that I was not welcome in the original group. I have my theories as to why, but as I am learning in class, it is never a good idea to assume that I know the interests of others...

So here's my plan: I need to at least touch base with the inviter to make sure we are okay. And even if things aren't okay, I will find a way to deal with it. Ultimately, I don't feel I did anything to provoke harsh feelings, so hopefully there aren't any problems. I just hate leaving the giant pink elephant in the corner with no one to acknowledge him...

Long story short...

My job is ending on Feb 29, so I'm hunting for work, which means more is on my plate. Lots to do, lots to do. I have to write my first paper of the semester tomorrow and finish updating my resume... scrapping was fun last weekend, but I need another weekend to regroup....

On another note, I love my husband so much and think he is so cute. FYI - he posted a fun story on his blog that you all should read. I will blog more after my paper is written and my resume is out on the web...

Looking forward to Friday

I, the queen of busy-ness, have succeeded in accomplishing at least one thing this week. I completed the layout plans for 19 single/double page layouts, and I compiled and printed 53 - 4x6, 5 - 5x7, and 5 - 8x10 photos. This is much more work than one might think, and I am glad to know that my pictures are ready for the weekend.

Now I will most likely not get through all 19 layouts, but I need to be prepared. What if there is a layout that I don't want to work on? I need a backup plan. Or maybe a selection of backup plans. Can't be too prepared, can I?

On to other things... I have a list going for this week. 32 hours of work (8 completed), finish reading my book for class (I'm slow, so this could be about 4 hours...), read my articles for class (1 hour), journal for class (2 hours, spread out), write my paper for class (~5 hours)...

I'd like to pause and mention that I'm starting to notice a trend...

Back to the list. Laundry. Clean the clutter mess that is forming in my upstairs. Call Grandma (since I was too distracted to call her on her birthday, which was Sunday). Coordinate rides for Friday with my carpool. Organize scrapping supplies for the weekend. Speaking of which, I think I need to buy a rubbermaid bin for some of my larger loose items. Clean cat litter. Call Mom - this one is way overdue. Go to class on Wednesday night. Go to Allison's on Thursday night. Exercise daily - 30 minutes - that's not too much... evening devos with Matt and God. Morning Devos with God. Prep for volunteer training. Lunch with past roomates from BSC...

I almost forgot. I need to eat dinner at some point. And sleep. And blog. And answer emails from friends... and...

Happiness

So lately I have been on a big, random-thought and random-activities kick. Playing piano, looking up random things related to hobbies and interests I used to pay more attention to... I think it's all in preparation for school this semester...

I started classes on Wednesday. I'm taking a class about managing interpersonal and organizational conflict. For part of the requirements, I have to keep a journal about conflict in my life. I told this to my co-worker, who then said something along the lines of me having internal conflicts, but her never having seen me willingly get involved in other conflicts (or something like that?)... still not sure what to think about that, but it is interesting to note...

So now I have a paper due in two weeks - a 6 page reflective paper - which isn't difficult, but I have two busy weekends coming up and no time to sit down and focus on writing. We'll see how long it takes me to start... probably the night before it's due. :-)

And now the good news... I've been sitting on the other side of "the wall" at work for the last week. This means I actually have peers sitting close by, and I am actually being treated as part of the training department, as opposed to being off by my lonesome. And I have a relevant project to focus on for a while. This is fun. Now if only things would settle down at work so I could get hired full time...

The last week before vacation

I was so busy the last week before vacation that I had absolutely no time to blog. Sorry to everyone who has been anticipating a new post. :-(

So, last week, on Saturday, I wrote a ten page paper and got Christmas cards ready, Sunday we went to Church and lunch with friends, then we went shopping, and I made fudge and reformatted my computer yet again. We hung out at home on Monday night (Jen and I watched the finale of ANTM cycle 9), I had my final class of the semester on Tuesday, we had a cell group Christmas party on Wednesday, I hung out with the ladies on Thursday, and we left for Mom Sharp's on Friday.

In between all of those activities, I was able to get my christmas present wrapping done, packing for the trip, and deliver the house keys to our wonderful cat-sitter, Jen. I don't think I went to be before midnight on any of those days. Acutally, I don't think I've gone to bed before midnight since that Saturday paper-writing frenzy. I am tired., but I finally got to sleep in today to make up for all of the late nights.

And I just found out got an A on the paper. :-)

The Good, the Bad, and the Downright Frustrating

I finished my last paper of the semester and sent it to the instructor this afternoon! Yay! So now I have time to think about other things, like getting ready to leave for the holidays.

The bad news? I still have a lot of "work" that I have to do, so it doesn't look like I'm really going to get any sort of a break before leaving. At least while I'm gone, I will be forced to relax a bit. Then hopefully I can get most of the "work" finished before classes start up again at the end of January.

And now for the reason I am ready to scream at the moment - A while ago, Matt and I hesitantly decided to purchase an *affordable* (read "cheap") anti-virus software, b/c McAfee has gone up in price, we really hate Norton, and I'm not ready to fight any open source programs. Thinking that at least this software would be a straight install-it-and-forget-it kind of deal, we thought it was worth a shot.

I am glad to say that at least we didn't waste very much $$ on this piece of junk software that has brought me almost to the point of tears. I am so amazingly frustrated that there are simply no words to describe what I am feeling. Matt has agreed, although his computer didn't react as badly as mine, and so he purchased a copy of the more pricey McAfee program today. I am now reformatting for the second time in the last month or so, and I am going to be fighting to take the company up on their 100% money-back guarantee. Apparently the other users who hate this program have not had much luck with this, but by golly I will not go down without a fight!

One Down...

I am done with one class and have only one paper left to write and one more day of class before break! So the best new is that I am finally starting to relax a bit. I'm becoming more of my goofy self again. So happy! I am still overwhelmed with things to do, but I think I can handle them now that I have more free time during the week. On Saturday, I will be spending the morning writing my last paper, and when I'm done, I'll be free! Then I'll have to catch up on all my Christmas shopping and planning. What fun! And even better yet - I have nearly the whole month of January off of school - woohoo!

So "Cah-hold" Outside....

It has been a while since I posted - sorry to anyone who is bummed about this. Anyway, last week was a busy one. I took off work Tuesday through Friday in order to attend MBTI Qualifying training down by the MOA. I braved nasty snow driving nearly every day and left at least 2 hours before training started in order to get there on time. The plus side - I learned so much! And now I want to talk with other people about what I learned, but it seems that practically no one is as interested in this stuff as I am. It's sad but true, and now I will have to keep most of what I know to myself in order not to bore others...

At some point in my life, I hope to be able to use what I know on the job, and therefore have an outlet for talking and sharing with others. Looking forward to that... Or even better, maybe I could use what I know at our church? There were a bunch of people in training with me that wanted to do just that. If ever I have the opportunity, I will pounce on it like a cat on a dangling piece of yarn. :-D

Other news - it is still freezing, but Matt and I are motivated to "get moving" again, so we pulled out DDR yesterday and today. We're going to try to keep ourselves more active this winter than we have been in the last few years. The big difference this time is that we have set up a reward/anti-reward system for ourselves to hopefully help keep us motivated. We'll see how effective our system is in the coming months.

And the best news of all - I am mostly done with one of two 10-page final papers, and I only have two evenings of class left for the year. Woohoo! Then it's time for a break. And boy do I need a break...