Swimming lessons, what?!

Can't believe I completely forgot about swimming lessons starting last night!!! I so completely forgot that I didn't even remember until I was half way to work this morning thinking about what a great week I was having and that it was sure to continue. Well of course then something had to pop into my head to take that greatness away, right? Ayden's swimming lessons started last night and he was a no show! It totally sucks that I forgot. I cannot even say we (as in Jay and myself) because he is a guy and he had no idea they even started this week. I did! I had just got done talking to my mom on the phone on Sunday (or maybe it was Monday) that Ayden would be starting them this week and that Jay was going to have to take him alone because I had a meeting at that time. I blame it on my meeting that I forgot because I left early and didn't really even think twice. No biggie though, we will just go next week. But of course there is a problem with that as well because remember I told you that I had a meeting with my group next week on Tuesday and that I thought maybe I would bring Ayden along because Jay has a wrestling meeting at that time as well?! Well, it just so happens that swimming lessons happens to fall directly into the meeting slot time that I had set up with my group. Guess I really won't be going to the group meeting... I won't miss two classes of swimming, especially when I paid $50 for them! At least he will not have one class cancelled because of Thanksgiving because he has them on Tuesday. Maybe that will make up for it... I just still cannot believe how it totally slipped my mind! I am usually so on top of things like that!

This weekend will be pretty busy for us. Well maybe not uber busy, but at least we won't be home for most of it. We/I haven't gone home for an entire weekend in a LONG time! We haven't decided if we are leaving Friday night or early Saturday morning. It depends on how late Jay has to work on Friday. He said that they were going to be working late today which is fine if that means they will get done on time on Friday. I would preferably want to leave on Friday because then I don't have to get up any earlier than necessary on Saturday morning. Originally we weren't going to leave until later Saturday sometime, but my mom started a new job this week and has stupid hours for the weekend. Despite what she thinks about it, I think she will often end up with stupid hours on the weekend. Of course she wants the hours because that was the whole reason for taking another job, but unfortunately that is the way many retail places work. Watch her get some stupid hours over Christmas as well. That would totally suck, but what can you do. Extra money, what she wants right about now. I kind of feel bad for her because here she is working 40 hours at her regular job, giving plasma (for those of you who don't know, you get money for this as well, sometimes up to $60 a week, if you are able to donate twice), and now working another 16 or so hours at Walmart... all while her husband (Jim) has a job that he works at for about 6-10 hours a week! I work more than that!!! And I go to school full time (class wise, definitely not 40 hours/week, more like 10 hours of class time, 3 hours of clinic), do all of that extra work outside of class and am raising a four year old. You would think he would find something else that would give him more hours or at least a second job. I just don't know... over the years I've grown to accept the guy and even like him, but this is definitley something that he hasn't worked on and really should have been. Okay, but enough about that, back to my weekend...

We are going to go by my mom's on Saturday morning to hang out with her for a while because we were supposed to go last weekend and that didn't pan out and she hasn't seen Ayden in a while either. You know, those grandparents always say that they want to see you, but it’s really the grand babies that they are after, lol! I think we will probably spend the rest of Saturday at Jay’s parents house. I will allow Jay to go and get some hunting done. Funny how I say, allow, right? He’s of his own free will and volition to do what he wants, but he’d have to pay the ‘consequences’ if I didn’t want him to go, lol! I will probably work on a LITTLE bit of homework because well I never really get any real homework done while we go home on the weekends anyways. Then on Sunday we are going by my dad’s house for a little while and then hopefully going trick or treating with Wendy and Alexis. Well, we are going either way, I hope that they decide to come this year. Wendy said she was bringing Alexis last year and we all know how that turned out. In any case, no matter what it will be fun! And after that, it’s our ride back to Point!

Next weekend in my cousin’s wedding!!! If you haven’t already, you can check out her blog at http://agk11808.blogspot.com! I am excited, first because I get to skip class on Friday. Now about a year and a half ago I would have thought, skipping class, yeah I do it all the time (and I probably did more than my fair share of it) but since then I attend class ALL the time, even if I don’t want to! After getting close with my friends, I developed this thing called guilt when I would skip a class. So to be able to skip two classes and not have any guilt about it because I will actually be doing something will be kind of nice. I even have to say that we’ve been lucky (knock on wood) and Ayden hasn’t really been sick in the past year where we’ve had to take a day off or what not. And if he has been it’s always worked with our schedules really nice. So I cannot wait until next Friday! I am supposed to have a short essay due that day, but because we are behind in that class I’m thinking the teacher might push it back, and if not, I will just turn it in a day early. All is well!

Jay has to work late tonight… kind of a bummer, but nothing we can do about it. Just deal I guess. Ayden and I played with his geo traks and colored dinosaur pictures. I just marvel at some of the things that come out of his mouth. He is so smart! Takes after his mommy, lol! I have a test to study for tomorrow, but I am not too worried about it. The last one in this class was not all that hard and this one has all that much less material to remember. I also have clinic bright and early. I’m not getting my hopes up about my client not showing. Part of me thinks that they will and another part just wishes they would call ahead of time to let me know so I wouldn’t have to get it all set up and take it down all again. Oh well… either way it’s already Thursday tomorrow and that means only one more day and another week is OVER! Where does the time go, seriously!!!

Tomorrow night shouldn’t be too bad. If I have clinic tomorrow then I will have to do my self eval and another lesson plan, but that altogether should only take about 45 minutes and then the rest of the night will be mine to enjoy Greys and ER! And really the only thing I HAVE to work on over the weekend is my diseases class paper and I just have one part of that. Should be a good end to the week to a good week! But speaking of my lesson plan and self eval… I turned in my lesson plan for tomorrow at 8am this morning and when I went to go pick it up at 2pm, it was still in the ‘in’ box. I was mildly peeved, but I guess that my supervisor was just busy today. Oh well, I don’t really need it for my session tomorrow. Oh, I was going to work on some language sample stuff tomorrow too. But that is pretty much just rewriting some stuff onto another sheet.

Okay, enough for now… CIAO! LOVE ME!

For lack of a better title… It’s Tuesday!

I had a partner test today in my psych class. Partner testing... hmm? I am not really for it, but we will see how my grade ends up being. Here's the thing, you need to collaborate on your answers and that is not always so easy. As I don't like being authoritative it is hard for me to 'make' the other person think that my answer is correct. The partner that I had did really well on the first test and so I knew that she was capable of doing very well on this test too. It made me a little more confident in our testing abilities. So, the test was moving along quite nicely and we get to the last page which had about four short answer questions and then I happened to look at the clock and we only had 10 MINUTES LEFT! Talk about making me want to rush through the last four questions to get them done before the time period ran up. Overall, I think we probably did pretty well on the test. I looked up a few answers that we had questions on after we handed in the test and our answers were right. I’m feeling pretty confident about it.

It was discussed in another class of mine that we were going to have our test on Thursday as planned. Good because we don’t have a lot of material to study for the test… bad because it is just one more test that I need to study for this week. However, I guess that that is okay because I don’t have a lot of other stuff going on this week. I am meeting up with Kristi and maybe Leah tomorrow afternoon to study. Well probably more to chit chat, but we will get some studying in. Always do, plus it is nice to just hang out every now and then outside of class. I really miss our girl time this semester. Even though I’ve said it like a million times already.

I had my conference with my supervisor tonight. It got started a half hour late because she was at a parent teacher conference that took longer than expected, which was fine by me. Always good to have a parent that is interested in their child’s progress and wants to ask questions. In any case, the conference went well and I got good remarks. I left feeling a lot more comfortable about the whole client/clinician thing and got a lot of positive feedback from my supervisor. Plus, I got it over with which is good as well.

I have a meeting with the clinic director on Thursday to discuss the audiology practicum. Nervous about how that is going to go, but also hopeful. My supervisor told me tonight that she had already talked to the clinic director about me and how smart I am and how thankful she was to receive me as a student and the clinic director told her that she already knew that I was smart. That made me feel really good as I am sure that the clinic director will have some input as to whether I get into grad school here and whether or not they would/will see me as an asset to the program. Just kind of a highlight to my Tuesday. This week seems to be going pretty good.

Jay made chili for supper tonight… A FIRST!!! I don’t particularly like chili, but this was okay. It filled me up, but I was pretty hungry to begin with, lol! I will probably eat some of the left overs as well. Always good to have those for my late lunch when I get home during the week.

It’s been SO COLD out these past days. I cannot wait until Thursday when it is supposed to warm up some. Of course it is bound to get cold again, but I could use a few extra ‘warmer’ days, as I am sure many people would agree with me as well.

Ayden gets to wear his fireman costume to daycare tomorrow. He is super excited for that. Today was hat and shades day and he had fun wearing his superman hat and thomas the train shades to daycare. I like when they have fun days like that.

It’s time to go read Ayden his bed time story. I love this time of the day! Special mommy and Ayden or daddy and Ayden bonding time. And Ayden is at that age where he really likes being read to. I’m so happy that he loves books/reading because his mommy is a readaholic and would read all day long if she had the time and had a good book! I cannot wait until the end of the semester when I can get a good book or two or three read!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Another week… more Not Me’s!

Like I said yesterday, pop over to mycharmingkids.net to see MckMama’s (the starter…) and many others!!!

I did not start my Not Me's early because I wanted to have a nice long 'fun' list of them for fellow bloggers to have fun reading...

I did not put Ayden on a time out for not getting dressed in the morning after I asked about a half dozen times to get dressed, and I did not put him on time out WHILE he was naked, and then told him too bad when he decided he then wanted to get dressed. And I most certainly did not make him sit there for the full four minutes and ignore his pleas to get up and get dressed...

I did not call the driver behind me an a** when he decided to go straight, but went in the wrong lane and almost cut me off... because every driver knows what lane to go in for turning and going straight and I definitely always go in the right lane...

I did not sleep until 10am Sunday morning because I had the house to myself and could do what I wanted because I do not sleep in whenever I get the chance!

I did not secretly rejoice when my client did not show on Thursday because it gave me extra free time and I do not like extra free time at school because I most certainly always get some every day!

I did not tell Jay that he could go hunting and then get mad when he decided to go and left me home alone with Ayden because it’s not as if I ever get to leave the house and do what I want without feeling guilty about it…

And then I did not miss my boys tons and tons when they went home for the weekend and I decided to stay in Point to get just a bit of ‘me time’ and I didn’t wish I would have gone along only a few hours after they left…

I did not sit in bed last night watching old episodes of Prison Break because I just wanted to see a little bit more of my Wentworth because it will not be on tomorrow… and I so did not think he was SUPER GORGEOUS because I don’t oogle actors like that, no never!

I did not immediately drop everything I was doing the second Ayden walked in the door after getting home, scoop him up, and plant a big smooch right on his cheek and hug him like no tomorrow because I’m not one of those moms who misses her children terribly the second they are out of sight. Oh wait, who am I kidding, I am SO one of those moms!

I did not go and get my clinic grade this morning and did not worry about what it would be... and I did not look at the grade and think, WOAH, this has got to be some sort of mistake, because I most certainly did not get a 100% for my midterm grade for clinic!!! Yeah, that's right... 100%!!! How not stoked am I? Totally not stoked!!!

I did not hope that my client would not show today, but then did not get equally as excited when they did because I really do love playing with him.

I did not hit the snooze button on my alarm clock this morning because I wanted JUST 15 more minutes of sleep. I dispise the snooze button, so it could not have been me that hit it this morning, never!

I did not plan a meeting with my diseases class group to work on our paper next week and then a couple minutes later remember Jay has a meeting that same day and so I need to stay home to watch Ayden. And then I did not proceed to keep this fact from my group for the fact that maybe I could get out of the meeting. In actuality, I will tell them about it, bring up the option of bringing Ayden, or just email them my part so they can work on it without me.

I did not order a new camera last night from Amazon because it was not $100 cheaper than Best Buy and it's my Christmas gift and well we aren't even in November yet. But I did tell Jay that I promise not to use it until we sell my old one. And I am not going to try and sell my old one at more than it is probably worth because I do not want to get a little bit of profit out of it and no one ever does that, right?

And I am not writing the rest of my Not Me's at work because I do not have anything better that I could be doing, oh wait, we got all of our 'important' stuff done last week and I really don't have anything better I could be doing. I love my job!!!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

10am…

…is precisely the time that I got up this morning. 10am is the latest that I have slept in a million bazillion years, or at least since having Ayden and not going to bed past 10pm. I woke up this morning and looked at the clock thinking it would be like 8:30am or 9ish, but it was 9:59am. I was actually kind of disappointed because there went my morning hours, not that I would have actually accomplished anything, but in the event that I might have, there went the time, lol!

It was nice to be able to sleep in with no worries, actually it was nice to have a weekend without really any worries as well. My boys got home today around 3:30pm which was earlier than I had expected, but also good because then I got to spend some time with them before it was bed time or later. Ayden is currently taking a bath.

We carved our other two pumpkins today. Its safe to say that I am not a pumpkin carving goddess or anything because mine never turn out as perfect as Jay’s. We had fun though and Ayden even joined in. It was a good time.

The rest of my day (before the boys got home) was spent doing some actual work. I admit that I did watch a handful of shows on TV and did a lot of relaxing, but I also finished a powerpoint presentation for a class. I saved all my grad school applications (didn’t fill anything out on them yet). I got my stuff ready for clinic tomorrow. I got the rest of my school stuff in order. I did not make the bed, lol. And I got Ayden’s pictures in envelopes that are now addressed and ready to be mailed tomorrow to their respectful recipients. So, obviously not a whole lot, but more than I originally had planned. I need to do a little bit of studying tonight (test on Tuesday and Thursday). The plan for the week (since the only things I really have to worry about is clinic stuff) is to get a start on my grad applications, my personal statement for that, and the folders for my recommendation letters. I think I have a bit to do for my progress report, but that shouldn’t be too bad either.

I think I might also meet with the clinic director about next semester and the audiology practicum. I have a meeting Tuesday night with my supervisor to watch my taped self eval (which I am dreading because I HATE watching myself on tape) and to discuss my grade (which I will be picking up tomorrow- so nervous about that!). The meeting is scheduled to take about an hour and a half, ugh, an hour and a half conference with my supervisor?! Hopefully it goes well!

Speaking of that, I need to schedule a conference pretty soon with my client’s parents to discuss his progress over the semester, which unfortunately has been pretty slow because we’ve only about about 5 sessions now. Five sessions… when everyone else is on like 12-14! That’s okay though, I guess. Here’s my logic… it was meant to be this way because I am not going into speech, so I was supposed to get this client so it would give me some experience with it, but not too much because it will not be my focus. Everything happens for a reason, right?! I think so!

So, tomorrow is Monday, and clinic time! I’m thinking that the client might show up both times this week because in the past two weeks they have missed one of the two sessions. Good thing maybe. We’ll see. Also, it’s my busiest day because I am go go go from the minute I get there to the minute that I leave. Class, clinic, class, meeting, and then work. Actually, every day that I am at school I am go go go because I’m either at work or class.

I cannot wait until next semester when I will only have to be on campus three days of the week!!! Tuesdays and Thursdays will be just work for the time that Ayden is at ‘school’. And then we will be home for the rest of the day. It will be kind of nice because then he will be taking a nap at home during the afternoon and making the afternoon go a little faster. Actually, during that time I can either sleep as well (even though naps only make me not sleep at night) or work on my online class. I hope that that goes well! I’m kind of nervous about it because the friend that was going to take it with me doesn’t know if she will because she is taking more credits and it will cost more for her.

Jay is cleaning the kitchen and sweeping the floor… reason for this… I asked him too/pretty much told him that his chances of having any ‘fun’ tonight ride on whether or not he does that stuff. Sad, I know, but apparently he’s desperate because there is no way he’d do this without me giving some incentive. I wonder if I can add on the task of cleaning the toilet to the list as well. OMG! He’s swiffering as well!!! I didn’t ask for that, but my guess is that he’s just trying to be extra nice. And my 10am wake up time is not going to work with an excuse of I’m too tired tonight. My apologies if this is TMI… okay not really, you choose to read, you’ll deal, lol!

G’night and have a good Monday!!! Be sure to check MckMama’s blog tomorrow for a good dose of Not Me’s! Can be found at mycharmingkids.net! I guess I should say, I hope she posts…

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Noisy Neighbors :(

Jack- for the most part, our neighbors are pretty decent, however, tonight their music is DRIVING ME CRAZY!!! Last winter their music got so loud and bad that I literally had to go over there and ask them to turn it down. It’s pretty bad when you can hear it over your TV and your TV is louder than it usually is. Wouldn’t you say so? Upon talking to said neighbors (btw, they are the ones that live behind us and thus we share a common wall) they turned down their music and all was well.

There have been a few instances in the past month that said neighbors have had their music louder than I would have liked, but nothing that I couldn’t tolerate for a little while and it could mostly be covered up by our TV. But tonight, I have the TV on and the music is loud enough that I can hear the words in our place, OVER the TV! Ha, the funny thing is, as I type this, the music went off. I’m not keeping my hopes up, as it will probably return soon. I’m too nice to go over and ask them to turn it down again.

Also, if I am going on about noisy neighbors, I have to say that the ones who live above us have been exceptionally quiet these past couple of months. I hope that I didn’t just jinx myself by saying that. On occasion they get out of hand, but recently it hasn’t been that bad. They just left, hopefully for the night, or at least won’t be coming home until well after I am asleep. That way I don’t have to deal with whatever noise they will be making.

My Saturday has been pretty good. Kind of lonely, lol, with Jay and Ayden gone. I decided to stay home because Jay wanted to leave earlier today and go hunting today instead of tomorrow and I didn’t want to be gone the whole weekend. Ayden could have stayed home with me, but of course he cannot pass up an opportunity to stay at Grandma Michele’s house. He was all too excited to leave when he found out where they were going. Jay ended up getting a duck when he was hunting which was good, but not the one that he wanted to. He got a mallard, but he really wanted a wood duck. Apparently they already migrated…

I went to Walmart earlier today and got a few things. We needed some more envelopes and a few food items. Didn’t really spend a whole lot which was good because Jay spent enough at Mills on decoys. Actually it was birthday money that he spent which was okay so that was okay. He gave in and got Ayden a little toy, which is fine with me, but doesn’t help with our not getting a toy every time we go shopping dealio. But I’ve never denied Ayden being spoiled…

I spend the rest of the afternoon on and off my computer. I printed a few pictures and did a bit of surfing for my new camera. I’ve been comparing two different ones and I think I’ve found the one that I want. Also, I found it on Amazon.com for about $100 cheaper than at Best Buy so that was cool. Although I think they may be having a sale so we might need to buy it soon. Then I will try and sell my other camera. If I cannot get the price that I want for it on craigslist, I might try and sell it to my brother. My mom originally suggested that, but I don’t want to because I’m too nice and won’t make my brother pay me what I want for it and my mom won’t let me make my brother pay that much, lol!

I also tried to start a new book, but only got about 40 pages into it before I was almost asleep and really couldn’t concentrate on it anymore. Not a whole lot of stuff that I want to watch on TV either, you know with all of the channels that we have.

Tomorrow will probably be a day of relaxation and maybe a little bit of homework. I need to do some research for a paper that I should be working on for a group paper in one of my classes. Don’t really want to, but not much I can do about it. But that is life for you, right?

Not much of an interesting day, I know, But relaxing none the less!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Geotrak Mania!

We got ALL of the geotraks out last night and had tons of fun making some awesome paths. I managed to get kind of creative and then Jay took over and finished the rest of it. It think it’s one of the better ‘paths’ that we’ve managed to put together. After laying all the tracks out we had TONS of fun with Ayden driving the trains around!

I was messing around with my camera and found a new function. I can take close close up pictures and they turn out great! Always fun to find something new on your camera!!!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Friday!!!

Hmmm… the morning started out pretty good today, despite the fact that it was rainy and crappy and dark out when I left to take Ayden to daycare. Not liking that so much, and then walking in the rain to work, yes I did bring my umbrella. And then work being closed, but I guess I kind of expected it because it has been closed the last three Friday mornings that I’ve gone to work. So that was okay. I have an advising meeting today after my first class so that cuts out another hour of work for me today, oh well though, just one less time that I have to walk back and forth in the rain.

Jay was originally going to have to work late today because he had a meeting early this afternoon that would have prevented him from going to work at his normal time, but because of the rainy weather it looks like he might not have to work at all. I am not keeping my fingers crossed though because they are super behind so his boss just might make him come in. Ha, he would probably have him come in tomorrow instead. I can’t remember if I mentioned this last week or not, but Jay’s co-worker said that he was going to come on and work on a Saturday so that they could catch up a little bit. So then Jay’s boss turned to Jay and asked him what time he was coming in. Huh? Was that a, You have to come in, I want to know what time! Well, Jay told him that he wasn’t coming in and that he already had plans. He didn’t think his boss was too happy about it, but it is not something Jay could get fired over. If his boss would have asked if he could have come in and maybe earlier in the week I know that Jay would have obliged because he is just nice that way. He goes in pretty much whenever his boss calls in the winter… at any time… which mostly because of the snow is like at 1 or 2am, but that’s the job and Jay likes it. He just doesn’t care for the getting up early and working and then having to make it to school later.

Speaking of winter, they are calling for possible snow flurries on Monday! I refuse to believe it! It is too early for snow and I really didn’t want any before my cousin’s wedding because snow just adds ickiness (yes I made that a word) and I just don’t like snow and really, that is pretty early for snow. Snow makes for work for Jay in the winter which makes for more money for us, but I really HATE driving in it!!! HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT!!! And I would really like for the weather to be half way decent for trick or treating next weekend. Ayden is getting more and more excited, as am I. We still don’t know the time of it yet, but oh well.

I’ve been on the fence about going home with Jay and Ayden this weekend. Originally I wasn’t going to go and have some me time alone at home and be able to catch up on a few things and yada yada, but now that I didn’t have clinic yesterday I don’t have anything that needs catching up on and I don’t have any papers or anything that are due so I think I might go. One of Jay’s aunts that lives in Iowa is coming to visit and of course I’d like to see her and her family, and I’m sure they’d like to see me as well (either way they’d see Jay and Ayden- and isn’t Ayden the only one that really matters, lol). But sometimes it just feels like such a waste of a weekend because I never get anything done while at home. Obviously besides visiting with the family. Ha, I complain too much, don't I? Well that is the point of this whole bloggy/journal thing, to get my frustrations out and to vent, well that and to tell awesome funny stories about my adorable son, Ayden! It keeps me sane and I have to say that I've really enjoyed being able to do some sort of 'journal' again over these past couple of months. I find an outlet with writing and it really helps! And it might even be mildly entertaining to those who keep coming back for more, lol! Something about it has to be catchy!

Speaking of blogging, there was this blog that I was a lurker at. I wouldn't check it everyday, but I'd say a few times a week. It was quite different from most of the blogs that I follow, but I think that was one of the things I really loved about it. The woman who wrote it was great and funny and awesome. And I didn't even know her! Well, I checked it the other day only to find out that due to reasons she cannot explain, she will have to stop blogging. I was sad to read that, as were a lot of her other 'followers' because it was such a great blog. I have an inkling as to why she cannot continue with her blog and I completely understand her and her decision, it was just kind of a bummer. You know? I stay current on a few blogs (a few people I do know it 'real life' and a few that I don't) but even though most of the ones that I follow, I don't know, I someone feel kind of close to them. Is close the right word? I don't know, but I get excited for them and feel sad with them, and so on and so forth. It's weird, but I'm sure many other people feel like that as well. So maybe I'm crazy or maybe not, or maybe we are all crazy in this blogger world.

Here are a few pictures from our recent pumpkin carving adventure…

Hmm… so many choice. Which one do I choose? I really want the spider one, but we have two other pumpkins. This one maybe, or wait, this one, what about this one?

I found one, I found one! Mommy, how about this one!

You mean I have to stick my hand in that stuff and pull it out. Okay, I will give it a try. Icky, I don’t think I like this stuff, maybe daddy should finish this part!

I’ll take over the punching the pattern part. It’s clean and easy and perfect for little guys like me!

Here’s the hard part. I had daddy help me with most of it. I was even nice and let him do the hard parts all by himself!

Check out our finished product, pretty neat, huh? We have two more to carve! Wonder what they will be!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Wouldn't you know...

Jack- looks like my client was a no show again today. Okay, not looks like, was! But that is okay. Sometimes I just wish that they would let me know ahead of time, like before I get all dressed up for therapy, before I set up the room, and before I let my observers know all about what we are going to do. It's not so much that I care, but it sucks for them because they took the time out of there day to schedule some observing time and here they wait for about 15 minutes and then I have to let them know that there will be no session. I know exactly how they are feeling because it has happened to me many of times, but it still really sucks and well I hope that they are able to make up that time at some point because I know that during your other undergrad classes that you need to have so many hours by a certain time and what not. In any case, it gives me a few free extra minutes this morning.

I wanted to take a second and let all of my faithful blogger readers, and those who happen here by happen stance, that my cousin, Amanda had a baby boy last night. She blogs as well (many of you probably have found me through her)... so check out her blog at http://aproudmommyof4.blogspot.com/ and read all about her and her amazing family (and see pictures of her adorable three daughters!). Also, check out my cousin's blog (Amanda's sister, Amy) to see some updates on the baby-while Amanda is still in the hospital, and maybe some pictures later today (and read all about her upcoming wedding on November 8th!!!) at http://agk11808.blogspot.com/.

So, because I don't have clinic today, that means I don't have to worry about doing any clinic work tonight like I thought I was going to have to do. That means, I am free to watch Grey's and ER and not worry about A THING! It also means that after I am done with work, I am free to enjoy the afternoon with Ayden. It feels good to have no pressure to get anything done tonight and just relax and let the brain chill for a little while.

I got an email from my friend Kristi last night about the online class that we were going to take together. She talked to our advisor and apparently it is going to cost us an extra $800 to take the class. Now, I need to talk to her and the advisor about this to see if that is an $800 out of our pocket or what it is because I think it might be just added on to our tuition. I don't know though. I looked at some financial stuff and well need to look into it a little bit more.

Night time now... our afternoon was pretty good. We decided to go to the corn maze this afternoon and it was fun. I was stupid and didn't take any pictures, but oh well. It was going to cost us $9 to do the maze, but the lady let Ayden get in for free which was really nice. I was surprised at how much they charged for everything there. It was kind of ridiculous, but oh well, we got to do the corn maze so that was fun. We got 'lost' for a while and then Ayden was getting tired so we found our way out. We also got some carmel apples before leaving, but they weren't fresh so that kind of sucked. Still good, but not what I was looking forward to.

After the corn maze we stopped at Menards so Jay could look at something and then we started talking about our options for supper. Jay decided that he was hungry for pancakes (Menards is convienently located next to an IHOP) and so we ended up eating there for supper. It seems like we have been eating out way too much (well just twice in the past two weeks) but it starts to add up. The food was good, but none the less we need to start watching it a little more. Oh well...

And then we headed home and relaxed for the rest of the night. I'm patiently waiting for Grey's to start in about five minutes. Just got Ayden off to bed, teeth brushed and story read and he's happily playing for a little while. Jay's probably off to play his game for a little while and I'm going to relax and think about nothing and let the brain do nothing...

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Passing on Pittsburgh…

Jackers…I did some serious thinking last night about the whole Pittsburgh thing and well I came to the conclusion that even if I were to apply and have a glimmer of a chance at getting into grad school there, here is where I really belong. It's not that I'm letting the fact that I have a family hold me back, its the fact that I don't want to separate my family. Even it it is a once in a life time thing, it's just not worth it to me. The amount of work and stress and everything else that would go into moving there if anything came up of would not be worth it. I'd be splitting up my family (even if only for a few months) and I cannot do that to Jay and Ayden (because we all know that I wouldn't be leaving my baby behind) and that would mean being a single parent, paying the bills (ie: working), going to grad school, and putting Ayden into kindergarten all by my lonesome. I think... Point is just calling my name. But it is a great opportunity so I hope that some potential audiology grad students can seek the benefit of it, even if it isn't from me or our school (as I think there is only me and one other student going for audiology) from my specific graduating class. So, I’m pretty much decided on that, for now anyways. Maybe some spectacular offer will come past and Point will be offering it!?

This afternoon and tonight have gone pretty well. I had two shorts papers that I had to do this afternoon and I thought it would take me a long time to get them done, but thankfully it didn’t! I got both of them done before 4pm and then I even cleaned/organized Ayden’s room. I’ve been slacking on putting his clothes in his drawers the past couple of weeks. I do laundry, fold his clothes, put them in a basket and then it sits in front of his dresser. Today I finally went through his dresser and took out all the shorts and made room for the pants and then cleaned up the rest of his room. It wasn’t that messy so it didn’t take too long. The living room is what is really messy, but I don’t care about that.

I feel like I’ve had a pretty productive night thus far which makes me feel good. I haven’t been stressed about homework tonight like last night and my PMS level is way down, lol! Although, as I was making supper tonight, I started to feel a little crampy, pretty unusual for me, but oh well.

Ayden has been a great boy tonight, except for about 10 minutes of whining and crying and two time outs. Okay, that doesn’t sound like he’s been good, does it? Here’s the story… we were sitting down to watch a little bit of TV and he starts whining about not wanting his new Diego toy anymore. I told him fine, I will find some other little boy who wants to play with it. Then he found Jay’s change container sitting out and decided that he wanted some of that money. I told him that he could get some if he cleaned up some of the living room. He didn’t go for that and just kept whining about wanting money for his piggy bank. It was quite funny, but trying not to give in to his pleas, I just ignored him. Then he started crying about it. I finally said that it was time for supper.

Ah, supper! Ayden had a lunchable for supper Monday night and last night and he wanted ANOTHER one for supper tonight. Trying to add a little more nutrition to his diet tonight, I told him that he could not have one and that we were going to have something different. That ensued lots of crying and disobeying me trying to get one out of the fridge. Warnings went out and he ended up in time out, however that didn’t go over so well as he kept getting up and running to his room. It was getting to the point where I almost couldn’t carry him back the the ‘time out spot’ anymore because he was getting so heavy. And I almost couldn’t stop laughing. I finally got him to sit on the chair and then he gets up and decides that he wants to sit on the floor instead. Knowing that if I let him get his way once, he’ll try and do it over and over. Back on the chair and another 4 minutes added to the timer. In the end I let him up after 4 minutes and he had finally stopped crying. We talked about why he was there and everything was peachy keen again. He got over the no lunchable for supper and actually ate what we did have like a champ. Btw, we had rice, chicken nuggets, peas, and applesauce.

And during this time, where was Jay? Not home… but hunting, which is where he still happens to be even as it is pretty much dark out! Okay, maybe he is on his way home, but seriously did he have to stay out so long? I guess it was nice that he called to ask if he could go. I didn’t really want him to, but said that he could because I know that he’s been wanting to for a while now and really hasn’t been able to. He went on Monday after work for a little while and got two ducks. He was happy about that!

I have therapy tomorrow morning, 8am! And I’m not really looking forward to it. Maybe they will not show, lol. Okay, so it’s probably not funny, but anyways, at least the client and I get along really well and he has fun when he comes. I like that! We will see how it goes. And then two classes and work and then it’s Friday!

I have a meeting set up for next week with my supervisor to go over a few things. It’s actually kind of nice because this one is after school and after Jay gets home so I don’t have to worry about missing work or anything and trying to fit it in with my otherwise super busy schedule this semester. (Oh, I think I might have just heard Jay drive in!)

As for the rest of the night, I think I am going to write a long overdue letter to a friend and relax in bed. Maybe fall asleep early and chillax. Ghost Hunters is new tonight, along with Criminal Minds as well. Two good shows to choose from, I wonder which one will win?!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Feeling Frustrated and Overwhelmed…

Sitting at work with a million and one potential things to do, but not until my boss actually gets those things to me. I have eight packets of material to get together for ETP clients, however, I cannot get these packets together until I know what kind of materials it is that I am supposed to be gathering. And wouldn't you know it, my boss has not done that yet so what does that leave me with- a whole lot of nothing! I have all of the files together and some potential material that I think I am going to need. I have SO much stuff that I could be doing at home with the extra time that I am doing nothing here at work. However, I could use the extra money and if they are going to pay me to sit around for a little while, so be it.

Tonight I have to do some data evaluation, a self evaluation, and write up my new shortened lesson plan, study for a test (ie: write up the study guide that I get to use on the test tomorrow) and possibly start working on a paper/article review that I have due on Thursday. And this isn't even taking into account all the work I did last night that I wasn't going to do. I wrote a paper last night that is due on Thursday, started my presentation for my diseases class (although that could have waited because it's not due until almost the end of the semester) and finished up the worksheets I had for another class. Really all I want to do is crawl into bed and go to sleep, well maybe eat something first and then go to sleep. And tomorrow night isn't any less busy. Finish up and/or start two papers. Thursday night, data eval, self eval, lesson plan. So much to do, so little time!

Along with this I have therapy and a progress report to do another draft of. I don't know when it is going to stop?! However, I did find out some good news today. There is a class that I am required to take, well one of three, and one just happens to be offered online. My friend, Kristi, asked if I knew about it and I didn't. After looking more into it, I am definitely considering taking it online instead of one of the inclass ones. Less hours I need to be at school the better because of the additional costs we are paying for daycare now that our assistance as run up. Also, I need three more credits after that class and I found a juvinelle delinquency class that is offered on Wednesday nights. It is from 5-7:30pm. That would work out pretty nice as well because then Jay would just have to be home by 4:30 from work and I could go to class. Even less hours Ayden will need to be at daycare. That would mean I would have only one class during the day, M,W,F from 11-11:50am. On Tuesdays and Thursday Ayden would only have to go to daycare for school (no additional costs there) and hopefully that would be in the afternoon. Of course I would need to try and fit clinic in there somewhere, but I need to talk to the clinic director first about the audiology practicum. Hopefully things are looking up and Ayden will only have to be at actual daycare for just a few hours per week. I still need to see if he can be moved to the afternoon class though.

Tonight- not having a very good night here. My afternoon was okay to say the least, although I haven’t done much besides sit on my computer and do work and fret over an exam that I have tomorrow. I feel like I haven’t studied for it at all (well I really haven’t), but I don’t know what to study. The professor gave us the essay questions that he is going to choose from for the test. He gave us 5, and is going to put two of them on the tests. Fine and dandy, actually pretty nice of the guy, here’s the problem, I don’t even understand the questions in the first place so how am I supposed to do good on them?! Argh!

Add in extra clinic work that I’ve been doing and still don’t have all the way complete and my brain cannot handle anymore. I’ve been snippy with Ayden even though I don’t mean to be. I’ve been ignoring Jay. I’ve just been in a slumpy dumpy, pissy mood. I got my period today, can I blame it on PMS? That’d be nice, but I know I’m just having an off day. Hopefully tomorrow will be better, we’ll see how my test goes.

Add in another dilemma and we can call it a night, right? I received an email today from one of my professors with a flyer attached for this AWESOME scholarship opportunity for incoming graduate students who want to specialize in the area of pediatric or educational audiology. Well, I want to do pediatric audiology and started reading the flyer and was getting all excited, until I got to the part about it being in Pittsburgh!!! Here is this great opportunity for me to apply to a school that will emphasis in my area of study and it’s on the east coast. Do I apply to the school and go for the opportunity? Jay will have one semester left here and there is no way I’d go to Pittsburgh without Ayden, but if I got in could I take Ayden from Jay for a semester? Not only that, but when I told Jay about it, he was not supportive of it at all. He was all like, I’m not moving there, we already don’t see our family enough, we would never see them then, blah blah blah. Shouldn’t he be supportive of something like that if the opportunity arose? FREE education!!! I know I’m getting way ahead of myself, but should I really think about applying for this school or is it a lost cause because I have a child and a boyfriend? Blogger buddies, I’m asking for some advice here!!!

Okay, enough for now, back to my studies! CIAO! LOVE ME!

Not Me Monday!!!

Can’t get enough of it… MckMama over at mycharmingkids.net deserves all the credit again! Check out her site to see her Not Me’s and links to many many others!!!

It was not me that went to both Walmart and Target today in Superman pj bottoms, a dress shirt, and dress shoes tonight, nope not me!

I did not go to Walmart so that Ayden could spend his ‘allowance’ because ALL four year olds get an allowance, right? And I did not go because I was sick of working on homework and wanted to get out of the house to spend some time with Ayden.

And then I did not go to Target afterwards to look for a new winter coat for Ayden because the one that he has from last year does not fit as perfectly as I would like it and he most definitely cannot have the same winter coat two years in a row even if he wouldn’t care. And while there, I did not buy new snow pants for him right away because of course we are never going to go outside in the middle of winter to build snowmen because I’m a cold hater and cringe at the thought of snow.

When I saw my client’s parent’s phone number on my missed call list, I did not hope that they were calling to cancel Thursday’s session. Side note, they didn’t leave a message so I don’t really know what they were calling about.

I did not get into a fight with Jay on our drive back from Chilton last night because he watched the Packer game pretty much the whole time while at his brother’s birthday party and left me alone to deal with a no napped child pumped full of birthday cake FROSTING and ice cream. I did not put all the blame on him because he ‘disappeared’ and didn’t even bother to check in with me. I did not just sit and deal with Ayden myself thinking Jay was pretty selfish.

I did not tell Ayden that either he ate his supper or no cake in a sterner (is that a word) voice than necessary because I was certainly not fed up with the way he was acting. My four year old is always perfect and never misbehaves.

I did not let Ayden eat cheese and cracker and meat lunchables two nights in a row last week because I didn’t feel like cooking and that is what he wanted and I am not offering it as a choice tonight because I have too much to do and do not feel like cooking spaghetti like he asked for. And I will not be sitting next to him eating one as well because I did not stock up on them when they were on sale for $1 at Walmart last week.

And finally, I am not going to lock myself in the bedroom tonight at 8pm to watch Prison Break all alone in some solitude because I am not obsessed with Wentworth Miller and did not get upset when the stupid baseball game was on last week and Prison Break wasn’t.

Boring Not Me’s today, eh? I guess it is all in the eye of the beholder I guess… Didn’t do a whole lot of not me worthy stuff last week and if I did, it escapes me now as I try to hurry up and get a quick post in before supper duties call and Ayden gets sick of his new toy.

Maybe more later… CIAO! LOVE ME!

Last Soccer Game

Jack- today was Ayden’s last soccer game of the season and unfortunately they lost. But the reason for that is that they took the best player on Ayden’s team and switched him to the other team because the other team was lacking in players today. That’s okay though, Ayden still had fun and Seth was there today so that made it even better. They were stuck side by side all game which was funny to watch.

I got up early this morning and drove in some super dense fog to Kaukauna for my last dress fitting. We (my sister and I) were in and out in fifteen minutes which was really nice. Both dresses fit perfectly… just had to pay for the alterations, which were enough the way it was, but I guess they could have been worse, and then book it back home. The drive home wasn’t so foggy, but it was still bad enough. I drove past an accident that I am guessing was the result of the fog. It wasn’t bad though so that was good. I even made it back in time before the game even started so I was happy about that.

Jay’s aunt, Sam, and grandparents (the Cooks) came up to watch the game as well. And after the game Ayden went home with them to spend some time with Auntie Sam. I didn’t know how it would go because he has never spent any time alone with her, but he left with no tears so that was good. I know that they are going to have a super fun time so that is good.

Tomorrow we are heading back to Chilton to pick up Ayden and go to Steven’s birthday party, and to get my programs for my computer. I could/should be working on some homework right now, but I cannot get myself to do that. Blogging is a much better use of my time, is it not? Lol!

I did some searching on craigslist tonight for some Legos for Ayden and wouldn’t you know, I found a lady who is selling a TON of them. The thing is, she didn’t put an asking price and we had to offer one first and see if she would take it. Well, I know what the max amount is that I would offer and so I told her that and we will see if she accepts it or thinks I am an idiot for offering that little for the amount that we would be getting. Or maybe they are not even for sale yet, but she first put the ad up yesterday so maybe. It would be a great Christmas gift for Ayden. We could divy it up among people and they could give him them, or we could keep them all and give them to him. He just really wants Legos and this is 115 lbs of legos! I said it was a lot, didn’t I? We will have to see how it plays out. And if we don’t end up getting them, that is okay too…

Jay and I went to best buy tonight to get some more ink for my photo printer and to look at the cameras. I found the one that I want for Christmas and I know what I am going to get Jay for Christmas as well. That and I am going to try and sell my camera for a little bit so that will help offset the cost of the new one as well. I know what I would like to get for it, but it is about 2 1/2 years old and in camera (and computer time for that matter) that is a long time and even though mine still looks brand new, I know it probably isn’t worth what I want to try and get for it.

Okay, enough babbling, I’ve probably put everyone to sleep already, this is kind of a boring post… CIAO! LOVE ME!

Fun Night

Jack- The night was pretty good, or I should say the rest of the afternoon! I asked Ayden closer to the time to go swimming if he wanted to go and he decided that he wanted to which was good because I really wanted to as well. First we ran some movies that we had checked out from the library back and then headed to YMCA. We were the only ones in the pool! I couldn’t believe that there were not more people there, and we were there from about 4:30-5:15pm. The water slide wasn’t on though which kind of sucked, but we had a lot of fun none the less. Ayden jumped in by himself many times and even put his head under. We always have a lot of fun when we go swimming together.

We got home around the same time that Jay got home from work so that worked out pretty nice. Ayden said that the wanted mac and cheese and hot dogs for supper so that is what we made. He scarfed that down pretty fast. I had just a sandwich, I wasn’t all that hungry. And then Jay and Ayden carved a pumpkin. Ayden actually did a lot of the work as well, well helped Jay. Ayden was not all for digging out the icky slimy stuff on the inside, but who really is? But he helped poke the holes for the pattern and then helped cut it out with the little carving tools. I took some pictures, but we didn’t get any outside of the pumpkin yet because we don’t have any candles to put in it. Hopefully tomorrow and then I will put some on. It is so easy to put pictures on my computer now because the computer has a slot already built in that all I have to do is insert the memory card. Sweet, eh?

I watched Ghost Whisperer tonight and it was pretty good! I started watching Super Nanny, but then figured maybe I should blog some more, heck, why not? That and I needed to turn my computer off anyways, so why not get a few sentences in before I go. I need to get up early tomorrow, on a Saturday, that completely sucks.

You want to know what is ironic, tonight Jay hasn’t even turned his computer on. I have a theory behind why this is so, but I will keep it to myself for now because he probably wasted a whole night of not going on the computer for something that isn’t even going to happen. But that is Jay for you, pretty weird some times. Btw, he’s eating some popcorn right now. Smelled up the whole house, and personally, I am not a popcorn person. Used to be, not not anymore.

 Let’s all hide like Ayden and play some V-Smile, or better yet, just cuddle in the blankets and watch some good TV. He’s pretty good at that cuddling in the blankets thing… see previous post…

Have a GREAT night!!!

CIAO AGAIN! LOVE ME!

Had to get better…

Jack, my day started out pretty crappy… first I went to drop off my lesson plan and all of the clinic doors were locked, ugh, then I walked across campus to go to work and that was locked as well, no receptionist so I couldn’t even get in, ugh, so I went to the University Center for a little while and then back to work, where it was finally open. I worked for about 40 minutes before I had to head off to my first class. But before I went to my first class, I dropped off my lesson plan, and this time the clinic was open. Dropped off my lesson plan and made it through my first class with no hitch. It was actually pretty interesting, and I’d have to say usually is because it is an Abnormal Psychology class.

After the psych class, it was off to the computers in the clinic to finish up my progress report, but unfortunately all of the computers were being used (mind you, we have about 8 computers down there). Luckily, one of my friends was on one and I asked her to come let me know if someone happened to get off so I could get on (I was going to be in the next room) and thankfully within a few minutes she let me know that one of the computers had opened up. I finished my progress report (cross your fingers that it is good) and then headed off to my second class.

Oh wait, before my second class, I turned in my progress report and my supervisor just happened to have my lesson plan looked at already and it included a sticky noted saying that I was being ‘promoted’ to a shorter lesson plan format. She said that I should see her about it, but I’m thinking anything to do with being ‘promoted’ is a good thing, right? I will talk to her about it on Monday before my session.

My second class went well today, got some laughs in and I was able to talk to my friends for a little bit before hand which helped make my day a little better. It started pretty shitty… and after my second class it was off to work again for a few hours.

Home now with Ayden and ate some yummy left overs for my late lunch. Ayden is watching Jurassic Park right now and I am checking out some new things on my computer. It came with Vista and I am still getting used to it. My mom said I should still get XP on my computer (even though most new ones come with Vista now), and Jim said he preferred XP over Vista, but it was really a personal choice. I decided to just go with Vista and I have to say that it is pretty neat. I’ve heard about all of the problems in the past with it, I hope that they are for the most part sorted out. Jay’s friend, JT, has Vista on his computer and he loves it. I have to say that so far I am loving it too. Although, I still have no programs on it yet.

The YMCA is having a free community night tonight, I think I might have mentioned that yesterday, and I wanted to go swimming with Ayden, but he is adamant about not going. I don’t know why because he loves the water slide there, but he gets really upset when I mention us going, so I guess we are not going. I will ask a little closer to the time that it starts to see if he still says no. He said that he wanted to go to the one that was outside, but obviously we cannot do that. I’d love for the weather to be nice and warm again so that we could, in due time, right? So we might just end up spending the night at home, which in hindsight really isn’t all that bad, is it?

I have a dress fitting tomorrow morning for my bridesmaid dress. Should fit perfectly, at least that is what I am expecting. Then it just needs to be steamed or whatever it is they do to it to get out all the wrinkles and then picked up before my cousin’s wedding and then it’s wedding time! Fun fun fun!!! It kind of sucks living so far away…

Actually, I was thinking about that the other day on my walk to work. If I found some great job opportunity in my home town would we move back there and take it? Would I want Ayden to grow up in Chilton? Well, here is what I came up with… I guess the whole thing would be just how good the offer was. If it was good enough for me to afford driving from like Darboy or Appleton each day to Chilton to work , then maybe, probably… but I don’t really want to ‘live’ in Chilton. Although it is a great small town to raise a family in, just after living in Point, it’s too small for me. I like being anonymous here in Point where no one knows my business and doesn’t really care either. Not that everyone in Chilton would know my business either, but word travels, especially if you are part of the Hoerth family because they are so big the way it is anyways.

But in all reality, if the job was that good and I had nothing else and Jay wasn’t doing super great here, we’d move back… because supporting my family is what matters. I never said I couldn’t live in Chilton, it just wouldn’t be my top priority. And watch, now that I’ve written this, when I graduate in another four years, we will move back, lol! Right now, I’m loving life in Stevens Point, even if it is an hour and a half away from family. We’ve survived three years already, what’s another four?

So, Jay was on his stupid computer game from 9pm last night until 4:30am this morning. Yes, you did read that right… I did not mistype! When I woke up at 4am and realized that he wasn’t in bed I thought that maybe he’d fallen asleep on the couch. I was going to leave it at that, but then I had to go to the bathroom and came out and realized he was STILL on his computer. I could have blown a gasket! And he had the living room light on. That is an extra 5 1/2 hours that his computer was on and the light was on that it didn’t have to be, saying he normally gets off around 11pm or earlier. He’s a big boy and I really can’t tell him to get off his computer, but seriously here, 4:30am is a little long to be on it… that’s 7 1/2 hours of game playing. WAY TOO MUCH! And then he had to get up at 6:30 to help me get Ayden ready in the morning. He didn’t go to bed, he took a nap. And then he had to work all day. Pathetic I tell you! But that is just my opinion. It’d better not start up again because I will get pissed. We will see what he does tonight…

No homework that is technically due on Monday which is nice, but I do have two short papers that are due on Thursday and a test on Wednesday. I already have my next therapy plan mostly written up so I don’t have to worry about that too much. Should be a relaxing weekend, yeah right! We are going home on Sunday for Jay’s brother’s birthday party. Actually we are going home the weekend after that as well and then the weekend after that and even the weekend after that. Then I think we might have a weekend at home and then it’s Thanksgiving already. And I thought that we were done with this whole travelling thing. Guess not…

Thus far the afternoon is going pretty good. I could lay down and rest for a bit while Ayden is watching his movie, but I should really start some laundry. Don’t have that many loads to do because I did two on Monday night, yeah me! I have no idea what we are going to have for supper tonight, we’ve been pretty lazy this whole week.

Jay probably won’t get home from work until late because they have started fall cleanups. The busiest time of the season. He said that they will probably be working late from here on out until the snow comes. Good for the money, but sucks that he will be getting home later now. What can you do though?

Kinda just want to curl up and relax… how about you?

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Goodbye and Hello!

It was time to say goodbye to my old computer as I found out today that it was beyond repair and that I needed to get a new one. So much for getting my computer back this weekend! It was what I had hoped for in the beginning, that my computer would be broken and then I would have to get a new one and then I found out that my computer could be fixed and better for a really decent price and I was excited about that because we wouldn't have to fork over the money for a new computer, because we all know that computers DON'T come cheap. But unfortunately, a new computer was in need. After some extensive searching, which had already been done before we found out my computer was crap, some store shopping around looking at some models and asking some questions of people, we came home and I made some calls to get some further advice and then it was decided... we bought a new laptop tonight for me. I'd like to think that we got a pretty good deal, we did not pay over $800 for it and it is not a 'crap' computer either. Um, I'm still kind of depressed about my other computer, even though I know that I shouldn't be. What can you do though? I have to wait until the weekend to reload all of my programs, which is like two, lol... because Jim has the cds because I was thinking he would be able to reload them onto my computer. So, here I sit on my new computer with just the internet. And really I shouldn't even be on here because I don't have any current virus protection. But I thought that just logging into blogger should be 'safe', right? Well, maybe and maybe not. I will not stay on long because ER is on and I just want to rest and relax tonight. It's been a busy night thus far...

Some shopping, making cookies with Ayden, painting a pumpkin, cleaning, trying to get my computer to work/set up, and finishing a project and some other homework (that really I don't think is all the way done anyways).

I might get more written tomorrow as I shouldn't have any homework due on Monday. Stuff that I should get done, but probably won't work on. CIAO! LOVE ME!

Week Half Over

Jackers... I cannot believe that it is the end of Wednesday ALREADY! These weeks just seem to be flying by and there isn't anything I can do to make them slow down. I've just been super busy that I really haven't been enjoying the first half the semester. But what is there really to enjoy about school? Just the seeing the friends part...

Today was pretty good. I took my Diseases test this morning online and got an A on it which was pretty good. Got done with that and went to work for a little while and then had my 11am class and then back to work again. After work I had a short meeting with my supervisor about changing therapy time and I think after a call to the clients mom that we have everything sorted out again, at least for next week. I think this new time might be better for both of us though so that is good. I also emailed the clinic director about the aud practicum and she said that maybe we could work something out. We will see...

I watched my clinic videotape today, but wouldn't you know it... something happened and THERE IS NO SOUND!!! I filled out all the questions before I went to view it and that was like five pages of writing and so I am going to talk to my supervisor because I really don't want to do that over. It took long enough the way it was. I don't have the extra time!

I could write so much more, but I know that Jay is kind of wanting to get on his computer and I hate keeping him from it. I should really be doing homework, but it is not due tomorrow so that means just one more day to put it off, right? Maybe a little more tomorrow night...

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Changes again?!

Argh... just when things are getting 'settled' for my clinic schedule things are starting to get all goofy again! I thought that after our change for this week, things would be all good, but then now it is probably going to be changing AGAIN! It's time like these that I wish I wasn't in this major at all. Everyone else is getting halfway through the semester almost (seriously, we are like on week 7 of the semester and only 8 more weeks left!) It is really flying by! And I just got done checking my email and got all excited about the possibility of doing an audiology practicum in the spring because the clinic is going to offer one this coming spring, until I got to the part from the clinic director that says it will be in addition to our speech practicum as well. She explained a little bit about the aud practicum and it would be an hour a half direct clinic work and then a meeting each week, so we are talking about 2-3 hours of extra work per week in addition to the 3+ hours that we already have to put in with our current speech clients. In any normal circumstances I might be inclined to take advantage of this opportunity because it would/could be very beneficial to me, but I cannot afford to send Ayden to daycare for an extra three hours, or more, in the spring seeing that during school hours we have to pay for daycare now. Our childcare assistance has ran up for the hours that we attend school, however thankfully, we will still get some assistance for the hours while we are at work. I had previously looked at my potential spring semester schedule and it looks like I might be able to get Ayden in for only part time in the spring which would save us about $50/week, which is about $200 per month. That is $200 that I really don't/can't afford to spend just to get some additional clinic work that I will still be getting as a first year grad. Ugh, oh I don't know! I might email the clinic director and talk to her about my situation and maybe (although I highly doubt it) something could be worked out where I don't have to do two speech clinics because of my 'special circumstance'. Lol, like that would happen, nice dream though, right?

Other than clinic possibly changing again, this week has been going pretty well I guess. I found out some rather interesting/exciting/depressing news today from two of my friends. I found out one of my friends is expecting her second child. She is excited and scared at the same time. It's definitely understandable and I hope that she knows she has all of us here for her. I didn't really get a chance to talk to her about it because we were in class at the time, but I hope she finds some peace with it. It was unexpected, as she has two more years of school in front of her, but God works in mysterious ways... I also found out that one of my other friends left her boyfriend this past week. She is back at home for the time being, but said that if things do not change and soon she will be gone for good. It's a complicated situation and they have been together for longer than Jay and I... I hope that she discovers what is right for her and their son and that all works out the way it is supposed one... once again, God works in mysterious ways...

Jay has been experimenting last night and tonight with his dad's homemade pasta maker and I have to say that it has turned out rather good. I love homemade pasta, there is just something about it that makes it so yummy! That, and I love anything PASTA! Carbo loading, right?!

Prison Break was not on last night... I was sad! I should have known that baseball would have screwed me over sooner or later and here I was all excited for it! But it gave me a chance to watch some of my other shows instead of putting them off for another day. Tonight I haven't done a whole lot besides play with Ayden. I found out today that one of my essays due this Friday was pushed back a week which is great, and that the test in that class might be getting pushed back as well! I have a therapy progress report/revision due on Friday which shouldn't be too bad. I also have to critque my video that I did today. I had to tape my session today and well I don't think it went all that well. In actuality, the client did talk a lot, but I think I was pushing out the activities and because I didn't have one of the toys that I was planning on using (another clinician was using it) I had to use something else and it just didn't go as I would have liked.

I have a test to take in the morning (the nice thing about this is that I get to sleep in for an extra 45 minutes)... online and open book and notes which is good, but I need to take my time because the last one I didn't do as well as I would have liked or probably could have. Thankfully my 8am class is cancelled so I can stay home and take the test. I don't think I will be doing anything else tonight besides relaxing and probably going to bed early because I am pretty tired. I stay up too late! Tomorrow will be my video critque and then a meeting after that at 5:30. Hopefully Jay can get home from work a little early and then I will have plenty of time to get my video critque done and maybe even work on my revisions for my therapy report. Depends on how motivated I am...

I cannot WAIT to get my computer back this weekend. It sucks having to 'share' a computer with Jay because I feel like I am using too much time and well I would just like to do things on my computer again. I guess that is all for now... CIAO! LOVE ME!

Another Not Me Monday!!!

Props goes to McMama over at mycharmingkids.net for starting this whole thing, it is pretty catchy!!!

Here are my 'Not Me's'...

I did not go into Shopko looking for a halloween costume with Ayden and then tell him that if he was good that we would get some candy on the way out. And it wasn't me who proceeded to buy two bags of M&M's (telling Ayden that we could practice our sorting and counting) and two Hershey's bars because they were on sale, and a pack of air heads for Jay. And I did not let Ayden eat two of the air heads and I did not eat one even though they were for Jay and I also did not eat a Hershey's bar and Ayden and I both ate our M&Ms all BEFORE supper on Friday! Definitely not me!

I did not waste away the morning on Sunday watching a movie on TV and tell myself that I had all afternoon to work on my lesson plan and I did not continually put off my lesson plan until almost 5pm because I certainly did not have the house to myself for most of the day.

I did not only send one pair of extra clothes with Ayden to his grandma's house because of course he wouldn't get them dirty and then have nothing to wear. Luckily though, he didn't get them dirty and everything was okay.

I did not leave our patio furinture out yet again for another weekend because you know, when I say I'm going to do something two weeks ago, I get it done right away!

I did not cry when I was told that my computer was unfixable and I lost all my materials. Because crying would be breaking down and really none of my stuff was all that important, was it?

It wasn't me who was thankful that I didn't have to buy a new computer because that meant I could get a new camera sooner. I did not immediately search different kinds of cameras that I might be interested in getting.

I did not call Jay about 4 times while he was gone on Sunday to see what time he would be home at to guage how much longer I had to procrastinate and watch TV before actually doing something.

I did not leave the laundry in the dryer last night and say I'd fold it with the next batch because I always fold the laundry when it is done and right out of the dryer.

And I did not rejoice when my client did not show again today because it lightened the work load for me this week because I should want my client to show up so we can get some progress made. And I will not sit back and relax tonight because I don't have any data to interpret.

All for now... maybe an additional post later!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Gone but not forgotten...

...I regret to inform my fellow readers that Jim was unable to 'save' my computer... (insert HUGE frowny face here). I recieved the call this afternoon that my hardrive was D...E...A...D! Jim put it in his little testing thingy and it would not even register it, which in the long run means that he was unable to save any of my files. I am mildy down about that, but am looking to the fact that everything happens for a reason and will not let this little mistep control my attitude about other things. There is now reason why I should expend energy complaining about it when there is nothing that cannot be done. And on the bright side, I recently uploaded all of the scrapbooking pictures that I have done to my facebook albums so all of those hours are not wasted. I was pleasantly surprised when I rememered that. The one downside I think about is a lot of the little extras that I had on there, such as, pictures of friends that I will not be able to get back, scanned pictures, other miscellaneous files from at my mom's network, but I shall move forward... Also, Jim said that he could order a new and better hardrive for me for about $70 and could 'rebuild' my computer and it will be better than new for the next couple of years. I suppose in the long run this helps because I get a whole 'new' computer for less than $100. Of course it will not be as good as buying a new laptop, but it is definitely a save on money and now I will probably not have to buy a new one for another couple of years. That means if I can keep this one until I get my doctorate maybe I can get my mom to buy me a new one because I will then be a doctor. Lol, when I told her this, she said that since I will be a doctor that I will be making the money and should buy her a new computer. But in reality, just because I will be able to be called Dr. Schwobe, I will not be making six figures. The label 'Dr' does not automatically assume richness! Now maybe in a couple of years audiologist will be really in the need and I could be making that, but it doesn't matter to me. As long as we can make ends meet, support our family, pay off student loans, and live with a little extra here and there I will be happy. I don't need the hunderds of thousands of dollars (although, don't get me wrong, it WOULD be nice) to be happy. I just need to be able to pay bills and go out to eat at Arby's every now and then, lol! So that's the story, my poor computer soul is gone, and I will be getting a new and fixed one hopefully by next weekend. One more week without my lovely laptop...

I finished my lesson plan for Tuesday. I hope that it is good enough. I've been having some issues with thinking that they are good enough lately, but I just don't know. I am supposed to be taping my session on Monday and then reviewing it. Another thing that I have to find time to do, but I think I might just take Ayden with me and bring some toys and he can play in the room while I am watching the video tape because we cannot take the tapes off campus. And well I don't particularily like watching or hearing myself on TV. Just weird I guess...

Final Destination 3 is about to start so I am going to go get my backpack in order for tomorrow and go watch that. Hope all my blogger buddies had a great weekend!!!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

What else could I have done?

Jack... home alone right now and I'm kind of liking it. I could sick and watch movies on dish all afternoon long, but then I wouldn't be getting any of my homework done, now would it? I've been working on my lesson plan and language sample for the past 40 minutes so I thought it was time for a break, that and then some lunch. Jay is on his way to his parent's house to pick up Ayden and help take his grandparents pier out. I decided to stay home so I would have a chance to get some work done in piece and quiet, seeing I didn't do anything yesterday afternoon after Jay's mom left with Ayden. Well, I take that back... Jay and I did do a lot. First we went to a costume store in Wausau to see if we could find a costume for Ayden for Halloween and we did! He is going to be a fireman for Halloween and he is really excited about it. I cannot wait for him to get home and to try the costume on. They even have a little Halloween party at daycare for the kiddos. I still need to talk to my sister to find a good time for her to go trick or treating, well that and to see when Chilton is actually having theres. I'm sure I could find it somewhere or ask my dad or Jay's mom. They would probably know.

After Wausau, which only took about an hour and a half, we decided that we would take our comforter to the laundry mat and wash it. It is way too big for our wash machine in our apartment (the quilt is a king size) and so off we went. I was nervous to wash it because it is a down quilt and even though I got it on sale, I didn't want to wreck it. We stayed the half hour at the laundry mat while the machine was washing it and then put it in the dryer for an hour and came home. At home I did more laundry and some cleaning. Back at the laundry mat to see how wet our quilt was yet (we had to use low heat so as not to wreck the quilt) and it was still moderately wet. Another hour in the dryer and Jay and I went to KMart to look at duvet covers for it. We decided to stop at KMart first because they were closest. The cheapest one was $80 (more than I paid for the quilt!) so we decided to check out Target and then Walmart to see if we could find one for cheaper. We found one at Target for $25!!! The main reason behind the duvet cover is so that we only have to wash that when the quilt gets dirty and not the whole quilt. I read that it isn't good to wash your down quilts too much so this will hopefully help save on the washing of if. After Target we stopped at Taco Bell for supper. I needed a Fruitista! They are so yummy! And so are the tacos and cinnamon twists! Good supper and then we headed back the laundry mat to pick up our quilt and head home! By this time it was almost 6pm! After that I pretty much relaxed on the couch and chilled for the rest of the night. Jay was on the computer playing his game and I was channel surfing missing my computer!

The first half of our day was pretty busy as well. It was homecoming week/weekend for UWSP this past week so we went to our first homecoming parade. Nothing to get excited about, but it was okay. Ayden got some candy and it got us out of the house earlier than waiting for soccer. That, and Landon from MTV's Real World (probably 5 or so seasons ago, for those of you who might know- and a few Real World/Road Rules Challenges) was the grand marshall of the parade. Since I missed out on the Adam Brody sighting, I can now say I've had a 'celebrity' sighting, lol! And because we were at the beginning of the parade route and the people were pretty sparse around us, he actually said good morning to us and asked us how we were. So not only did I get a sighting, but I got conversation as well. LOL! I know, I'm crazy, but it was neat.

We watched the parade and then hightailed it over to soccer and made it there just in time. Ayden played like a champ again and almost scored a goal again. Just can't seem to kick it in just right. Technically his team lost by two points, but that is okay because really who is keeping score, lol. Next week will be his last game and it is kind of bitter sweet because I know that he really enjoys it now!

Friday night my friend, Lee, called and the conversation did not go as planned. Not that I really had anything planned out. I let him carry the conversation and I wasn't really in all that good of a mood to begin with. And then about halfway through the conversation, I mean about a half hour into the conversation, we get cut off and I cannot manage to get ahold of him again which really sucked. And after that ensued quite the argument with Jay that ended with me texting Lee that I think we shouldn't talk for a while right now because I cannot handle the arguments that it leads to between Jay and myself. It hurt typing that message and I was almost crying afterwards... telling my best friend that we cannot talk until I can get things sorted out at home. Some might think that it was the right thing to do, I should put my family before anything else and really isn't that what I'm trying to do. But it was hard... I don't know what is going to happen. Jay and I were fine after our fight (usually happens that way) and I told him I just didn't want to discuss it anymore and I wanted things to be good between us and if this is what needed to be done for a while then so be it. I did tell him though that it probably wouldn't be a lasting thing, but in any case, I know (even though he hasn't come right out and told me) that he's happier than he lets on about my decision, even though I'm still pretty distraught over it. But what else could I have done? Maybe it was just building to this all along? I don't really know...

In any case, Jay and I have had a good rest of the weekend so that is great! CIAO! LOVE ME!

Should have slept in...

Jack- because I have a class that is cancelled today that leaves me an extra hour to work this afternoon. And that technically means if I wasn't going to work over my usual hours, I could have slept in this morning and had Jay take Ayden to daycare, but no, I decided that I would go to work at my usual time at 8am and work the extra hour. I know, I'm so dedicated to my job... but seriously, I do really love it and the people that I work with and feel really blessed to have come into it and have been able to work as long as I have there and for them to not want me to leave. But back to my point, I get to work this morning and am about to enter, when I find that the door was locked. Cannot get in! This is unusual for this time of the day as the office technically opens at 7:30am. I decided that I would go down stairs to the customer service office and see if I could get the key from the recepionist, but to my surprise, she is not there either. Instead of waiting around for someone to show up, I decided to go find a computer lab and catch up on my blogging from last night. And it's not as if I'm actually missing out on any work either, because I do have that extra hour this afternoon. But I did miss out on an extra hour of sleep that I could have had...

We have a guest speaker in my Abnormal Psych class today. I am excited about it... it is a war verteran that is going to talk to talk to us about his post traumatic stress after coming back from Iraq. I am pretty interested to hear what he has to say. We only hear what is going on through the news (okay, so I only hear that) I'm sure the family members of our veterans hear much much more. But I'm curious as to hear more of the 'real' story. I have a friend who was over there twice (I believe) but he won't really talk about it. But I don't think I've ever sat down and grilled him with questions either.

It's Friday today and I am really happy! Tomorrow we have soccer and the weather is supposed to be great! And Jay's parents are coming up to watch Ayden and just maybe taking Ayden home with them for a night. Ayden has literally been begging to go to Grandma Michele's house for the last week or so. He thinks that if he puts this adorable smile on this face and asks really nice over and over that we will go. I hate telling him that we cannot go because she lives too far away and we do not have the time to during the week. That, and he doesn't really understand that fact. So, Jay's mom suggested that maybe he come home with them for Saturday night and we can pick him up on Sunday and then Jay can help take his grandparent's pier out. We also thought that it might be a good idea because next Saturday night Ayden is going to be spending with Jay's aunt Sam and we want Ayden to be excited about it and willing to go versus not wanting to go. We think that maybe if he gets this 'I want to go to Grandma Michele's house' out of the way this week he will be more apt to want to go with Sam next week. Who knows? And he hasn't been at Jay's parents since early August. Not that we haven't seen them since then, just haven't spent any time at their house. And well if I can get a night alone go work on some homework, more power to them.

I probably won't be going home with Jay to pick up Ayden on Sunday though. I will get stuck watching Ayden while they are taking the pier out and that is never fun by the water and what not. I can get more work done while at home. Not that I don't want to see him earlier, but with all that I have to get done, the little bit of extra free time would be nice.

I watched Grey's and ER last night and both were really good! I wasn't planning on it, but I was tired and got my lesson plan done early so we chilled after Ayden went to bed. Well, okay I chilled and Jay was on his computer. I'm still feeling pretty lost without mine right now. It's not the same sitting down to blog at Jay's computer... it doesn't move! And I usually like to sit down at the end of the night in the rocking chair or on the bed to blog, but no can do with his. It is going home tomorrow so hopefully Jim can fix it. Keep your fingers crossed!!!

CIAO! LOVE ME!