Tagged-Stay Tuned

I have apparently been tagged by a friend in a game of blog-tag. Since I must get to my homework/studying, I will post my "seven things about me" on Wednesday or Thursday! Stay tuned!

To Kill A Mockingbird

I just bought tickets for my girls and me to see To Kill A Mockingbird. I'm so happy I have that to look forward to. I am so swamped this week with studying. A&P test on Wednesday, Physics test on Thursday and A&P Lab Practical next Tuesday!! AAAAAA!! Anyway, going to this play will be a welcome break for all of us girls.

When I was in high school, I played Mrs. Dubose (the cranky, old neighbor of Scout). When I auditioned for the part, I did a cold reading, and I used this great, old lady voice. Everybody laughed, and loved it. So, I got the part! On stage, I had my own little "house" (the front of it, anyway). It had a little, front porch with flower boxes and a front door with a big oval window. I think the whole cast had a hard time when they started tearing it down after the play.......Oh yeah - the guy who played Boo Radley "lived" next to me, and during one of the performances backstage, he mooned me!! HAHA! We had so much fun. It was a quirky, bunch of oddly-put-together kids, but we all meshed because we were all in the play. There is some magical quality to being in a play. Something you can't quite explain. Something deep, meaningful and connects the people in it inexplicably. There is nothing like the experience. Perhaps that's what art is.

Sex Education

I was reading a blog friend's blog, and I wanted to share some information I shared with her. I have not purchased these books myself, but I have read a couple. If you don't know how to talk to your kids about sex, this might be a place to start. There is a pack of books you can buy, which has one book for each age group (from very young children to teens). The books have wonderful illustrations in honest, age-appropriate language. I found them on www.familylife.com, which by the way, is a wonderful site for parenting resources. Here is the title and authors of the books: God's Design For Sex Pack by Stan and Brenna Jones and Carolyn Nystrom.

I hope you find this helpful!

Flow

We're kind of getting in a flow around my house. Our flood restoration is pretty much behind us, school is on a roll and schedules are meshing. I've tried to make little adjustments to our lives, so things run smoothly. Things like creating specific days Ben can play with friends, instead of kids ringing the doorbell at any moment, or Ben begging to go play at someone else's house. I guess I'm not one of those moms who has a "revolving door" to the neighborhood. It's too chaotic. With the dog barking, Ben and everyone else needing to do homework, it just doesn't work in our house. So, Ben now has his certain days he can play with friends. It's made a big difference. We can focus on his AWANA verses together, do homework and just plain catch up with each other.

I created a check-off chart for one of my daughters in order to keep her on track with her responsibilities. It's extra effort for me to hold her accountable, but the payoff will hopefully be consistency on her part.

I've let myself off the hook on cleaning my house as I typically would, as well as cooking dinner every single night. I do what I can in both cases. I know it won't last forever, and everyone else does too.

I spend a lot of time driving right now, until my oldest gets her license. If her friend picks her up in the early morning for "devos," she rides with them to her high school afterwards, and hangs out to study for her college classes and/or go to the one high school class she attend there - orchestra. So, Monday through Thursday, I pick her up after my morning class, and take her over to the college. If Joe's up he will pick her up three hours later. Then, of course, I drive her to violin lessons, Ben to AWANA and myself to my evening Physics class twice a week. It gets to me a little - all this driving.

Soon, Melanie will be doing gymnastics, which means more driving. UNLESS! Amanda gets her license, and I can make her do it! :)

My classes right now are really time intensive. LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of memorization and studying. Physics is still a struggle, but I go get help from the teacher during her office hours, or head to the tutoring center (more driving). Anatomy and Physiology is fulfilling, yet extremely hard work. Today, I had to create a plan from today until November 5th, detailing what I will do each day to prepare for 3 big exams. One in Physics, one an A&P lecture exam and one a Lab Practical. I was starting to get overwhelmed. So, whenever I feel this way, I sit down and make a detailed plan. I break each test down into day-by-day study steps to being totally ready. Once I have my plan made, I don't have to worry anymore. I just follow my plan until I get there.

This is something I am requiring my daughter to do everyday when she comes home. She must write up a plan (by the half-hour) for how she will be completing her homework and other responsibilities. I'm hoping it's a time management skill that will stick.

So, that's the flow of my life right now. Sometimes there are unexpected glitches in life's flow, such as when I found out this week that the ultrasound program changed some of the pre-req's that I have been working so hard to get!! They eliminated the computer requirement (one of which I had already taken, thank you very much), and added a CNA (certified nursing assistant) course. I got kind of discouraged, but I prayed about it, and the Lord helped lift me up. I asked Him to direct my steps, and I ended up finding a CNA course offered for free, at two different retirement homes. They offer them on a regular basis, so I will be able to check back when they start the next courses. Now I just need to carefully plan when I will take this, because I will be taking the second half of A&P next quarter, and I know it will be intense all by itself. I may take it by itself, leaving two more college classes for Spring (Psychology and Speech), plus the CNA course.

I started thinking about this CNA course, and thought it might be kind of cool to get a job at a nursing home as a CNA, like one day a week or something (maybe after A&P is over!). I actually need some patient-related volunteer or work hours as points to get into the Ultrasound program, so this may work out yet!

Well, I must continue with today's study plans. If you have a blog, I am still checking yours, even though I may not leave a comment. Thanks for reading mine! :) Maybe I'll have something more interesting to write about soon. :)

Homecoming

Amanda is at her Homecoming dance as I speak, but I thought I would post a few pics before I crack open my A&P books. She went with a good friend named Colin, along with a group of friends. They went out to a nice restaurant beforehand, and are probably now dancing the "Soldier Boy" at their school.

Amanda had a little trouble with her hair before Colin came to pick her up. She had borrowed this crimper thing from a friend, but it just made her look like major bedhead. So, as you can see, we straightened it. Then, we curled all of her ends to make it look different than "everyday hair." I did her make-up for her, so it too, wouldn't look like "everyday" make-up. I think she looks pretty cute!

Her buddy, Colin is a great kid who is a senior. They go to church and small groups together. He is serious about studying acting, and is already auditioning for colleges. Recently, he attended a Shakespearean festival. Amanda was very excited to go to the dance with him. Neither of them are into the boyfriend/girlfriend drama, and just wanted to go and have fun together with "no awkwardness," as they put it. I think it's cool!

Roof and Bones

A roofer guy came out yesterday, and thinks that perhaps the "valleys" in our roofline was where the water was coming from. He noticed that the shingles' "dog ears" were not properly cut, so he cut them. He think this will solve the problem, because the water will not be wicking under the roof. If not, they're going to redo the valley-parts of the roof (which shouldn't have to be done since it's only 8 years old). Anyway, he wouldn't let us pay him, which was really cool of him. I guess we'll see if the problem is fixed when it rains next.....

I won't have much time for blogging, because right now I'm supposed to be learning all of the bones in the body. That might sound simple, but did you know that just one bone can have like 20-30 markings on it? Yeah. That's what I have to know. Every bump, every hole, every line, every curvature, EVERYTHING for each bone. And some of the names have 3-4 words in them! So, if you don't hear from me in awhile, that's why.

I covet those prayers and verses!

Throw Some Verses At Me

I could use some encouragement. Between the house stuff, family stuff and school pressures, I need some good "Word Food" to keep me going. Would you ask the Lord to bring to your mind a verse to share with me?

No Joke

This is not a joke. Joe woke up to dripping from our bedroom ceiling this afternoon. Our roof is leaking.

Something other than house stuff...

Would you like to read something other than mundane updates about my house? :)

Melanie is going to try out for the high school gymnastics team, and she is very excited. I'm excited for her to have a niche like that. As a 9th grader, she still attends junior high, but can be in high school sports.....

Amanda got a part in her high school's winter play. This is going to be interesting, coordinating her college schedule with this play....We think she's ready to take her driver's test now, which will be VERY helpful! Right now, I spend a lot of time shuttling her back and forth to school (since she does college and high school at the same time). She is doing really well, by the way!

Benny is doing very well in school, too. He's an excellent reader, and I'm trying to foster that more. He is thriving in AWANA, and wears his little vest proudly. He has earned his patch, a crown and two jewels. :) I love listening to him say his verses, and see how enthusiastic he is about it.

Joe and I are going to try to get away soon. We had been thinking about it before our flood, but now we REALLY need some getaway time. There are these really neat, log cabins in the mountains that I have been thinking of.....

I decided not to join a small group for now. If I did it, I was going to try to do a morning group, but my only free morning is Friday. There are supplemental instruction opportunities on Fridays for my A&P class, and I really need to do that. Plus, I think it would be important to volunteer in Ben's class once a month, at least. I know I will join a group, eventually, but I will probably have to wait until all of my A&P classes are done.

Gotta go study....

My House

My house. It smells new now. Joe finished painting the repaired drywall today, and you wouldn't even be able to tell that it had been torn off. His last task is to reinstall crown moulding on that wall. We will be having our downstairs carpeting cleaned on Friday, and we're officially DONE with our water damage restoration ordeal.

Our insurance company covered all the water damage done to the specific areas of the house. This did not cover the carpeting in two bedrooms, but we did it all anyway. We also had our third bathroom floor replaced to match the other ones, which was not covered, either. And, actually, there was a small bit of water damage to that flooring as well from a tiny separation in the old vinyl, so it was probably a good thing we ripped that up. They actually had to cut out a piece of that underlayment. Anyway, my task now is to tally up everything we spent and see it we spent what they gave us. If we did, we can claim a little more money, which would be cool, since we went ahead and bought the toilets.

All in all, this whole thing has turned out O.K. It was a major inconvenience, and sometimes overwhelming, but we got through it, and have a pretty cool-looking house. I remember the first day all of this happened. Joe was working a double shift, and came home to find me sobbing on the couch with fans everywhere. I was freaking out. We went outside to get some air, and he stopped and prayed about everything. It was nice. He also handled a lot of the coordination, since I had just started my classes. He has done a great job putting things back together.

Apparently, it's not the end of the world to have a flood in your house and replace most of your flooring. It is survivable. Life does actually go on......

Physics Angel

I have been immersed in studying these last couple of weeks. Physics has been a real challenge for me. We got to our second chapter, and it's a bunch of story problems dealing with one-dimensional kinematics. We had to learn how to find out the given information and decide what information we're supposed to find, using four kinematics equations. If what I just said just flew right over your head, don't worry. That's what it's been doing to me!! I've cried to my teacher, cried to another student and threw an adult temper tantrum with my husband over it. I was sure that I was stupid, would never pass the class, and never become a sonographer.

Finally, though, I found an older gentleman in the college's tutoring center named Doug. I am convinced that Doug is an angel sent by God. (hee hee) He sat with me for two stinkin' hours, slowly working me through a couple of problems to help me discover how I needed to think and handle these problems. Somehow, a veil has been lifted. So much so, that the prophecy I proclaimed to my instructor that I would be failing the first test, did not come true. In fact, I took that dang test last Thursday and felt really good about it. I chalk it all up to God, and my Physics angel.......

Carpet's In and some Mom advice

Our new carpet is in! The last three days have proven to be a true upheaval of our lives. My attempt at diverting a nasty cold failed, as I helped my husband move furniture and our other belongings from room to room. I am totally sick now. The carpet guy did three areas at a time in the process of two days. Every room in the house was temporary storage for other rooms. Crazy. Anyway, my pretty Frise carpet is completely installed. Now, we start putting rooms back together. Joe is putting back baseboards today, as well as touching up paint and re-installing doors. He still has to finish the drywall repair and crown moulding job, and after that I can have my downstairs carpet cleaned. Inch by inch....

I had my hair colored the other day. This lady comes to my house and does a full foil for sixty bucks. Anyway, she related a piece of advice I thought was pretty good and I wanted to pass it on! Here it is: if your child doesn't want to eat their dinner, tell them, if they don't eat it tonight, they have to eat it for breakfast the next day! HAHA! Pretty good, huh? I used this one on my son tonight. We had Tilapia for dinner. Can you imagine Tilapia for breakfast? Ewwww.....

Coming Along...

Here's the house update as of today:

New vinyl installed in all 3 bathrooms
3 new toilets installed
Drywall 1/2 done
Carpet installed this weekend??

How are my college classes?

Physics: totally lost-was in tears yesterday
Anatomy & Physiology: it rocks

How was my small group?

I was sick, tired and stressed. I didn't go.

And the fam?

Getting over colds; doing great in school; happy; playing and working hard; waiting for a clean house again.....

Mmmmmmm

Mmmm...I just polished off the last of several chocolate-covered gummy bears. Who would not love these? The chocolate starts melting in your mouth immediately, while you get the pleasure of chewing the gummy part. Mmmmm...

I'm feeling rather good about myself right now! I got 22 out of 24 on my first Anatomy/Physiology quiz!! I have been a studying FOOL in this class, so the payoff feels GOOOD!!

Physics is weird. I wasn't sure how much of the textbook I was actually supposed to read, but it seems like I need to be reading it well, because the last lecture was like listening to someone speak Chinese, and hoping I would catch on to something soon....I hope this gets better....I really don't want another class where it's a struggle the entire time....

I went out to lunch with a good friend yesterday. Maybe you've heard me talk about my lamb-now-sheep friend....She's doing well, but struggling with health and faith issues. She thinks she needs more faith for her healing. I said that it's not about more faith, but WHO your faith is in. Otherwise, it's relying on yourself to muster up what you think is enough faith to qualify for getting something from God.

It seems to be popular "theology" to treat God like some kind of vending machine, where if you put enough "faith" in the slot, you get what you want. It scares me. This is just me, but I think it's up to God what He does, even if it's healing us. We just need to wait on Him and trust Him that He knows. It's not an easy feat, this waiting on God for something need, like healing. It's not easy to understand why bad things happen, or things are difficult for us. Wouldn't it just be easier if we were all happy, all the time? The harder truth is: the Bible doesn't say anywhere, that once you become a Christian, everything is going to be great in life. Sometimes, there is still suffering and hard times. But, the difference is we have God with us in it and through it. He promises to never leave us. And, this is life is but a blink of an eye compared to the awesome eternity awaiting us with Him!! Praise God!