still organizing...

schoolwork this time.

i just sat down with one of my handy-dandy notebooks and wrote out all of my assignments for the rest of the semester. i can't believe the semester is more than 1/3 of the way over now, and there's so much i need to do! i'm a bit behind on a couple of classes, one of them i'm way behind on because they didn't give me access to it on blackboard until the end of the 4th week, then i had to wait to get the book on cd from the professor. so yay, i get to play catch-up now...fun.

i'm taking a test today and doing an article analysis for one class, need to do a book critique and chapter quiz for another class, need to do a report on art & science in culture in another, do a research article review in yet another class, have to do four chapter summaries in a class in which i'm behind, and all of the catch-up stuff for the class i've just gotten all of the resources for. that's all that's due this week (or prior to this week). the first one listed has to be done today, everything else by friday. it will most likely be saturday or sunday for some of the stuff though. but if i can get it all caught up by the end of sunday, i'll be happy with that progress, then i'll be on top of it all and won't have anything late after that. seven classes...it's a LOT of work. i wish i could have my degree at the end of the semester to show for it all, but unfortunately i have one class left to take this summer. (hopefully i can start on it a week or two early and finish it a month or so early, we'll see.)

hopefully the "mail fairy" will come and bring my financial aid check today too. money is just killing us right now (or actually, lack of it)! if it doesn't come today, i'm going to scream! they were supposedly processing it on 2/3, and supposedly they have 10 days to get the checks out after the funds are released...they were a bit late in that one, don't you think? i'm not thrilled with their financial aid disbursement practices, they've been late every semester for me, and it seems like they get later and later each time. oh well, it will be over soon-ish, right?

i'm hoping to get all of this done so i can try to work on things that i need/want to do around here. i have a dresser half painted, but need to get pulls for it (need the money to come first). once it's painted, along with the bookcase, they'll both go in my room. then i need to paint the armoire for thad's nursery. once they're all out of the way, we can go pick up our treadmill that our friends are giving us for free! i so need to start working out, and once a treadmill is here, there will be no excuse. i can't wait! (hopefully all of this will happen by the end of the weekend, including jerry picking up the treadmill.)

heading back into the books now...

sick and tired...

literally. i started getting a scratchy throat on monday and now i'm in a full-blown cold of some kind on thursday, this stinks! i've been running a fever off and on for a couple days, my nose is stuffed up on the right side, my right eye has been running like a faucet all day, and my right ear is stopped up so it sounds like i have my finger stuck in my ear. i made it to the chiropractor yesterday, so i feel much better where my back and neck are concerned, it helped so so much to get an adjustment!

so i missed both of my days of doing my practicum work this week and will have to convince my sitter to stay over a few times to make up for it. if i can pull it off without missing any more days, i can have my hours done by the end of march. it would be great to be finished early to give myself the extra time to focus on the other six classes i'm taking.

i've decided that i need to be more organized and utilize better time management skills (that's kind of obvious when you consider a 5 month-old baby, 21 credit hours of college classes, marriage, an elementary school-aged daughter, and a teen-aged son...and then look at my house). so once i get past this week's worth of schoolwork, i am going to sit down and make a schedule for myself to stick to. i know with kids things will come up to change the schedule, but if i have a basic schedule for the the days i'm home and stick to it, i could probably actually have time to do things i "want" to do like sewing and knitting, among other things. so i'll check in next week and let you know how i'm doing. if you have any tips or suggestions, feel free to share! my "priority" is to finish the knitted diaper covers for my photographer friend laura at toddlerazzi. then i will focus on finishing the nursery (yes, he's 5 months old) and the next "project" is re-doing nick's room. somewhere in there i need to finish sewing the burp cloths for mister slobbers, and his set of cloth diapers too. i guess those are kind of at the top of the list also.

okay, off to take some medicine and work on school stuff...

whiney...

everyone seemed to be whiney this morning! now that they're all gone, i'm feeling a bit whiney myself!

i'm still tired, would love to go back to bed. my back is killing me, but i don't have time to go to the chiropractor today. i have assignments for school that i don't feel like doing, but they're due today, so i have no choice. laundry is (as usual) overwhelming...there has to be a better system, or actually "a" system, that i can follow. it's raining and getting colder as the day goes on...not a big deal, until you consider the fact that we have a first round soccer tournament game this evening out in the crud. today would be a perfect day to have chili simmering in the crockpot for dinner, hot coffee brewing all day long, and snuggling up in bed under my comfy blankies in my pj's with thad and watching all of the recorded things on the dvr that i haven't had time to catch up on...but i can't because i have laundry and assignments to do. wah. (see? i'm whiney)

so instead, i'll skip the tv, snuggling and chili, and settle for my joffrey's "jamaican me crazy" coffee brewing in the pot...it smells divine. hopefully the caffeine and taste will lift my mood, my headache, and give me a burst of energy so i can do these dreaded assignments!

things i want to do...

seem to always get pushed aside for things i "need" to do. especially now that a new semester has begun, my time is yet again spoken for in ways that i don't "want" it to be.

i want to sew some things, i need to sew some others. i need to knit some things, i want to knit some others. i want to paint some stuff, i need to paint the walls. ...you get the jist.

so how does one figure out how to juggle it all? i'm not sure yet, but if you have any suggestions, i'm all ears! time management and organization are not my strongest skills. help! lol

i think that the first focus needs to be the nursery...paint the walls, paint the armoire, sew the dust ruffle, rocker cushions, curtains, etc. and hang (and buy) pictures for the walls.

so my goal is to do something every day to work on the nursery. i washed the fabric ready to be sewn yesterday. today i think i will cut the fabric for the dust ruffle. i want to make it tailored looking, so i think i'm going to do box pleats at the corners and not gather it. tomorrow's goal will be to sew it together (if i don't do it today)...after i get back from doing some of my practicum hours for most of the day...

maybe not 21...

i still haven't heard back, but they have to get approval for me to take that last 3 credits this semester. i pray that i can get approval, but if not, it will work out somehow anyway. maybe i can talk them into letting me take a 1/2 semester class for the second half. i might email the dean if they tell me the answer is no, and plead my case with her. i know i have a "history" of incompletes/extensions, but there have been extenuating circumstances with all three semesters i've been going to school so far! (nick's headaches/surgery/missing 78 days of school...me being pregnant and in bukus pain...me giving birth via c-section...don't those count as exceptions to the norm? i think they do, but oh well if they don't...)

so a new semester has begun. i've turned in my first assignment (a few days late, thanks to my books coming almost a week late), and i'm ready to be finished already. i am however convinced that i must be a major glutton for punishment though because i am considering starting my master's degree this summer if possible...we'll see.

...back to the books!!!

21 credit hours...

...that's 7 classes!!! it's going to be a tough semester, but i'm excited that i will be able to finish and graduate this may! fortunately (or unfortunately actually) two of those classes are me finishing up my "incompletes" from the summer semester when i was in so much pain and couldn't sit at the computer for long periods of time to complete my coursework...so those two classes are already more than half-way finished. a third class is my "practicum" which is going to be me going to the school and shadowing the guidance counselors, checking in with my professor about it weekly, and then writing a paper when i've finished all of my hours of shadowing. (thankfully, i think i have someone to watch thad on tuesdays and thursdays so i can go in twice a week and get the hours finished quickly.) so basically, i'm taking 4 full classes. two of those are psych classes, and two are general studies electives that i had to take. i'm taking children's literature, which should be really fun, and women in leadership, which should be insightful because it deals with issues that pastor's wives (and other women in church leadership roles) deal with...i could've used this class years ago, it probably would've helped me cope with some stuff a lot better than i have through the 15+ years we've been married and in ministry together!

so here we go, a full semester ahead....wheeeeeeee!!!

insomniac...

yep, that's me! i can barely sleep through the night, and when i get woke up i can't get back to sleep. they told me to take benadryl, but i don't want to take it too far into the night and have a hard time getting up to get the kids to school!

the kids started back to school this week, and it seems weird not to be going with them. i know this leave is a good thing (for baby and college classes) but it's hard not going to work every day and wondering what i'm missing out on too! i miss hanging out with my coworkers...guess i'll be meandering down there to volunteer so i can still feel like i'm connected a little!

second day of school was canceled for tropical storm fay...and nothing happened, we barely even got a sprinkle of rain! now "she" is still hanging around and it's kind of windy out and we've gotten some rain tonight from her. my friends over in cocoa haven't gotten flooded in their house, i hope it stays that way since they just bought it and moved in this month!!!

my fall semester started this week, so i need to get on top of my assignments and not let them get out of hand at all. i have 2 extensions that i need to complete too, so we'll see if i can get them done soon! i should take my insomniac time to work on them. i've been trying to get myself tired so i can go back to sleep, but i guess i'd better roll with it and use the time from now on to work on school stuff...since i like to sleep a lot during the day!

i had some stuff i wanted to blog about a week or so ago, after reading a book for one of my summer classes, but i never got around to it. there was some pretty good stuff in there. i'm sure i'll have some interesting insightful stuff to blog this semester...i'm taking 4 psych classes and i'm sure i'll be psychoanalyzing myself! one of the classes is "preventive stress maintenance"...the guy at the book store said i'll need that one with all of my psych classes and a statistics class on top of it! greeeeeaaaaat!!! the other classes are "biblical counseling" which should be pretty good, "contemporary issues" which covers some interesting topics like divorce/remarriage, homosexuality, and a few others. then i have "social psych" too.

okay, i think i'm rambling now, but wanted to post a little update here.

still waiting for baby to decide to come...little stinker isn't cooperating with what mommy wants! (hopefully that's not a sign of things to come! haha) i just need to quit being pregnant already. the pain and dizziness and fatigue is all i can handle and i'm over it. now my ganglion cyst is back in my right hand, and i'm mentally fuzzy...i want my body back to myself!!! (well, except for the breastfeeding part...i won't have it "all" back for awhile...)

hopefully i'll have something more interesting to say next time...

that was brutal...

i'm so confused about ed psych! i studied but obviously don't get it from just reading. hopefully the test doesn't hold a ton of weight compared to the projects because i think i just bombed it! i hate that! oh well, i think there are only 2 tests.

coursework...

wow, i feel overloaded with my classes for the summer semester, and i've not done a thing for one of them because the prof hasn't responded to an email yet.

today i took a test in humanities and pretty much aced it. even the stuff i didn't know for sure and just guessed on...i still got correct! i love it when that happens! then i did a couple of chapter reviews and another paper too. i'm pretty much braindead for the rest of the day i think! i have a test in educational psych tomorrow that i need to study for, but that will be later this evening before i crack that book open again!

that's pretty much been my day. jerry took the kids out for the afternoon so the house could be quiet while i did some work. it's been a rainy day, so it was good not to be distracted by the restless natives! ha

i think i'm going to go and veg out on the sofa for awhile and do something mindless like watch tv and look at some magazines i've not had a chance to peruse yet...

tomorrow is going to be busy with a bunch of church stuff and fitting my ed pscyh test in the middle of everything...time to veg...

wow...i'm exhausted!

so nick is still sick, and we're going in for another ct scan next week because he still doesn't feel great after being on antibiotics for almost 2 weeks because of the staph infection. he went to school for 1 1/2 days this past week.

i've finished 3 of my classes: OT survey, math applications, and psych testing and eval.... i, so far, have gotten all a's!!! i have to finish biblical worldview and personal evangelism in the next week or so. soon it'll be 15 hours down and 34 to go... i'll be registering for 4 more classes this summer, then 4 in the fall also. that should be interesting with labor, delivery and a newborn thrown into the mix! at least i won't be working...

there are only 3 1/2 weeks left of school....yay! i can't wait to be finished with being an instructional assistant! if i go back for the 09-10 school year, i'll be a teacher, not an ia. (i say "if" because i'm hoping to build our business enough that i can just do that and not "have" to go back to working a regular job...though i may decide to just because i love working with kids...we'll see.) i'm taking next year off to be a stay-home mommy and full-time college student...and work on our business. i think that will be enough to do with my time, don't you?

last night we went to the school carnival from 6-9, and then jerry and i went to the wrhs relay for life for a couple of hours. i'm fighting a cold or allergies or something, and can't sleep lying down, so i had the pleasure of trying to stay propped up on the sofa all last night to sleep...i feel like a train wreck!

today is the mother's day tea with the ladies in our church. i almost forgot about it. i hope it's casual, because i will be! i am not dressing up for it...not that i could anyway, i'm very limited in my wardrobe choices these days!

okay, well it's time for me to lounge around some more...hopefully this headache and stopped up nose and exhaustion will go away so i can think and focus on some schoolwork later this afternoon!

so much going on...

nick's follow-up was yesterday and it went really well. they had to suck out some gunk that was stuck in his sinuses, but the doctor said it should all be good now. he did have a headache early today, but when we got home he seemed much better. i love that the dark circles are finally going away from under his eyes. i'm just praying that he'll continue to get better and that the neurologist will take him off the meds she prescribed...we'll see her on tuesday.

i'm super behind in schoolwork. i have 2 tests this weekend, and about 10 papers to do. once we get past tomorrow i'll be able to focus on it all. we have a youth fundraiser at our house...parents' night out...how things like this happen sometimes is beyond me. they just seem to appear out of thin air sometimes, and end up at my house. lol

pregnancy issues...pelvic bones are shifting too early, so i'm in a lot of pain...along with lovely round ligament pain... went to the doctor wednesday afternoon, got checked out and everything is fine. so i'm told to stay off of my feet as much as possible...i work at a school, are you kidding me? also, i'm having people at my house tonight...not staying off the feet today...gotta clean the house and then help watch at least a dozen kids! on the plus side, my ultra-sound is tuesday. i can't wait to find out what kind of little bun is in the oven! i've got so many sewing and crafting projects in mind, but need to know what's coming first! then we'll find out if we need to actually agree on a boy name (which we haven't been able to do), or if we'll get to use our chosen girl name... stay tuned!

it went too fast...

spring break is basically over, we have today and tomorrow and then it's back to school. jerry's preaching tomorrow, so today will be focused on that for him, and then of course church is tomorrow so there's the weekend.

nick's surgery went well. he seems to be recovering rather well too, but last night he was getting a headache from the inflammation. he's been running a lowgrade temp and his poor little face was looking kind of puffy and swollen, but he's a trooper and in a good mood for the most part. i just pray that this will be the "cure" for his headaches. the poor guy has missed over 40 days of school this year and has a few he has to miss coming up for his follow-up and other appointments too. it's been quite a year for him.

i've done almost nothing for my classes this week, i've done some but not as much as i'd hoped. i've also done almost nothing around the house this week either. so i decided to get motivated yesterday and was spray painting furniture that needed refurbished, moving big bins and boxes around in the garage, moving furniture, doing laundry...and i barely put a dent in what needs done and killed my back in the meantime. jerry was aggravated at me for not having him move the heavy stuff...as well he should've been, it was dumb. i'm feeling fine today though, so i'm going to continue to finish the laundry and do the regular cleaning that needs done (vacuuming, mopping, bathrooms, kids' rooms, etc.) but i'm going to put the kids to work on some of it too, at least elisabeth...maybe nick depending on how he's feeling. my nesting instincts have started in, i just haven't had a lot of motivation and energy to do anything about it.

i can feel "sparky" moving quite a bit now, it's kinda cool. i'm still in shock at having another kid, but starting to get excited about meeting this new little one too. i have an ob appointment on monday, hopefully my weight gain hasn't been too bad, but i'm not going to hold my breath. i actually haven't been eating a lot, but we'll see. (i was supposed to be on my way to my skinny, in-shape self right now...not gaining weight! ahhh!) i have an ultrasound in a couple of weeks, so hopefully we'll see the "goods" and know what we're having...

much to do, and the weekend's getting away...

college courses + no books = insanity!!!

i ordered my books for my courses last week. i was assured they'd all be at my house either saturday or monday, minus the math book that was out of stock but on order. saturday, nothing. monday, nada. tuesday, zip! wednesday, i call the bookstore...the math books came in today, and we'll be sending it out with the rest of your books today too...WHAT?!?! so i had the pleasure of emailing all of my profs and letting them know, i'm sorry, but i can't do any of your assignments until i get my books, hopefully i can turn something in early next week for you! yep, that's the first impression i wanted to make.....not! ugh!

looking at the syllabi (is that proper plural form of "syllabus"?), i'm starting to wonder what i've gotten myself into! i could drop a course, but i'd really hate to. if i can manage it, i will take the full load of 15 credits this semester. summer is much shorter, so i'm not sure if 15-18 is realistically possible or not, and who knows what the fall term holds...many surprises, i'm sure! (if you're reading this from "gtgf" go check out my "overwhelmed and over-extended" post) i'm beginning to wonder if graduating in december will be possible or not. i'd probably ought to start changing my mindset to a may '09 graduation instead of december '08.

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so tomorrow, we go in for the EEG and MRI. nick's EKG turned out fine, so he's on the new headache meds and they really seem to be doing the trick. he's been hyper and crazy and basically "normal" (if there is such a thing for him) for the past 2 evenings, it's good to have my son back after a 6 week hiatus! i hate it when my kids aren't feeling well, even if it means i get a little peace and quiet, because i hate to see them miserable.

...and it's that time of year again, when the insanity starts, and you're carrying around this sign-up sheet for girl scout cookie sales! we missed the meeting over the break, so elisabeth just got her information monday night. besides my big order that i wrote in last night, she just started selling cookies today. she's already sold 42 boxes and got all three of our school's principals to order from her, she's really impressing me this year. last year she was so shy and scared to ask people, and this year she's pretty bold compared to what i expected! i love how much better she is lately at having confidence and concentration. it's awesome!

okay, off to start reading genesis for my old testament survey course...wheeeeeee!!!