Average

I’ve never considered myself average when it comes to school and my grades. I’m above average, I get good grades, very good grades, I admit it. But I also don’t think I go around and promote that, don’t shove it in people’s faces, or at least I hope that I don’t.

I’ve always done good in school, without much effort. I study, yes, but definitely not to the extent that it takes some other people to get the good grades that I get. I was in the top of my high school class (although 100 students isn’t much of a class) and have done well in my undergraduate studies. I still remember failing my first test in 6th grade and being completely distraught about it. And then I failed my first (and only) college course, but that didn’t bother me because the class was crap (and yes that is partially an excuse)! Then I got into grad school and have been doing well thus far.

It never really occurred to me that Ayden would be anything different, and then it did. I tried not to compare what Ayden could do as a baby to other kids his age, especially Alexis and for the most part, I didn’t. At that point I didn’t care if he was doing everything all of the other kids around him were doing. As long as his doctor said he was progressing at the rate he was supposed to, I was happy.

Then he started school and it hit me, at this point… Ayden is average. Average isn’t bad by any means, but is it too much to want an above average child?! Okay, so he’s happy, healthy, and learning at the rate of most of the children around him, but coming from a neurotic mom like me who is used to doing better, its been hard to swallow. My friend’s daughter is in kindergarten this year and she’s reading already. Ayden is just learning to put sounds together. My friend’s daughter can add and subtract double digits. Ayden hasn’t even grasped subtraction all the way yet. And so its started, I’ve started to compare my child to other children. I want Ayden to be above average, but I’m learning to accept him as he is. He will have his own things that set him apart from the others around him. And I will be here to help him in any way that he needs, but I won’t push him past his limits.

I got A’s, and so my mom expected A’s, not that she shouldn’t have, but it sucked coming home with something less and then having her say you should have gotten this. She never shoved it down my throat or intentionally made me feel bad about lower than normal grades, but it definitely affected what I expected of myself. My brother got average grades so when he got A’s, he got extra praise. I didn’t think it was fair and my sister and I voiced our opinion about this on several occasions.

To this day, I still tell my mom my good grades, because I’m proud of them and want her to be proud of them with me. But, I’ve learned to keep the rest of my grades to myself. I don’t need to hear how I should have done better and don’t feel like coming up with excuses why I didn’t. I’ve been through that too many times. I’m an adult and am responsible for my own decisions and grades.

When it comes to Ayden’s grades in the future, I will encourage him to do his best and help him in any way so that he can accomplish that. I will not tolerate below average grades and do what I can to help him in areas he is having troubles with if that ever occurs. I want him to grow up with a good work ethic, but to also know that he can come to me with both good and bad grades and he won’t be penalized, but helped and encouraged to do better. Of course… this is all fine and dandy as I write it, I guess time will only tell, right? I know the trouble my mom and Jay’s mom have and are going through with my brother and Jay’s in getting homework done and done well.

Ah, the joys of being a parent. The world’s hardest and longest full time job that has the most and best rewards. How come when you have a baby all you learn about is baby stuff and not everything that comes afterwards, hehe! Where’s the young childhood manual? I don’t think Ayden came with a copy, can I borrow someone else’s? The decisions you have to make are crazy and you want to do what is best for your child, but how do you know if it is best or not? What if you are wrong? I don’t want Ayden to end up screwed as an adult! But then again, what parent does?

I guess, I just need to rest in the fact that Ayden’s path is already laid out for him and that I am just hear to nurture him as he continues along that path and although the way I raise him might have some impact on his future, the majority of it, I have no control over. The same goes for me!

The weather is supposed to be fabulous this week! Highs in the upper 60s! Fabulous is right! I’m taking some pictures for my friend of her two girls on Wednesday (hopefully, the last two times we tried her youngest was sick and then the following week, she was sick) and we are going to do them outside because it is supposed to be so nice out. I’m excited!

No lab for me on Friday either which is great… three day weekend! However, my classmate who normally covers hearing aid duty on Friday just got a job and has been called in for training on Friday and needs someone to cover for her. I said that I would do it because I knew that Amy had wanted to spend some time with her kids during their spring break and thus we are switching hearing aid duty days and she is taking Tuesday and I am taking Thursday, works for me since I have clinic on both days. And it sounds like Amy will be helping with the CAPD eval on Wednesday as well, so maybe I can get out of writing that report up since I have clinic on Thursday and Amy and Katie will offer to do that. Who knows?

I can keep my fingers crossed, right? Thought so!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

I’ve written…

Can you believe it?! I didn’t think that I would consistently keep up with my blog and here it is almost two  years later and I’m a blogaholic! I look forward to catching up on my regular blogs each morning and getting all of my thoughts out on paper almost every day. Its a great stress reliever for myself and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon!

I mean grad school can be pretty stressful and who else likes to hear about how much I can’t stand long labs and stupid clinic write ups?! Hehe! Speaking of clinic, I have THREE clinic days this week! UGH!

I definitely look forward to the next 500 posts (and with that 100 blog design changes since it is getting easier and easier to change and I’m a person of change)… I hope you do too!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Someone send me some ambition please!

(Written Saturday)

Tomorrow is the last day of my spring break and by that I mean, Monday I have a test, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I have clinic, and Friday possibly a lab, however because Madtown has their spring break this coming week, I will not have any actual class on Monday or Wednesday. I suppose that that is a good thing, but because we have no class, I have two projects to do in stead of them. (I’d much rather go to class.)

I have one project done… need to submit it. I have the article I need for the second project, but I need to read it and summarize it and answer some other questions about it all before April 7 (I think) which is enough time, I’d just rather not do that. And besides that, I have about 5-7 other articles that I need to read and create a powerpoint presentation on all before April 8 (that I know is the correct date). Ugh again!

And before all of this, I need to study for said test on Monday. With that being said… will someone please send me some ambition! I’ll take it bottled up in liquid or pill form (preferably chewable since I have a heck of a time swallowing pills), lol!

I feel like I got nothing accomplished these last five days and in reality, I didn’t get half of what I would have liked done. I enjoyed too much tv time and that wasn’t good. I mean I definitely enjoyed just relaxing and chilling for a few days, but couldn’t escape the fact that I am feeling some springitis! Too bad I can’t say graduitis (even though I know both aren’t words) because that would be way cool! But even so, my last day of class for my first year of grad school is only 40 days away!!!

(Sunday now.) I was so ambitionless last night that I didn’t even finish my post, lol! Actually, I went to campus so I could print off some articles that I needed. We can print as much as we want in the clinic (after paying our $30 paper fee) for the entire year and damn if I won’t be getting my money’s worth. After I finished printing some stuff, I went and got started on my pre reports for tomorrow and Thursday. I wrote up what I could given the schedule, but not having access to the patient’s files and then I got my reports and summaries mostly ready as well. Gave me a head start because I will have two reports to write on Tuesday, one being a child evaluation and I haven’t really had to do one of those before so we will see how it goes. I don’t know how old the child is yet and the reason they are coming in for, but will find that out tomorrow.

I slept in this morning for a bit and then got up and showered right away so I could study for my test because I really need to do that. So, tata for now, because I’m in need of some serious Hearing Science bonding time!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

At it again!

Instead of studying for my upcoming test on Monday or working on any of the projects that I have due in the coming weeks… I updated my blog look today! Likey?!

And now instead of studying for my upcoming test on Monday or working on any of the projects that I have due in the coming weeks… I will enjoy a fudgesicle and my book!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Spring Break almost over!

I'm determined to be productive today, to get at least something school related done. I have a study date with my classmates for lunch. That is school related, right? Does that mean I get to go home afterwards and take a nap again? I took a nap yesterday and it led me to being up until midnight last night, no good! No good at all when you have to get up with your alarm clock the next morning, ugh! But... in order to get tired, I brought out the book I have been reading and got a little further in it. It worked, by the time I was done, I could barely keep my eyes open.

However, it didn't help the dreams I had last night. I know what I dreamt about had to do with the phone call I was on before I went to lay down in bed. I hate how that happens, but oh well. Guess I can't control my unconscious thoughts as much as I would like, eh? Oh well!

I went out to eat with some old friends last night! There's a group of four of us that are still pretty close from our undergrad days. I've talked about them before... Robin, Leah, Kristi, and myself. We all have kids. We all get along great! Unfortunately, Kristi was in the Dells with her family yesterday (she won a free hotel room at the Atlantis resort) and couldn't join us. Boo! But I know she was having a good time. Anyways, Robin, Leah (who is having the twins), and I went out to eat at IHop and had a great time catching up again. Its hard for us to find time to get together when everyone is free so when we can find time, we grab it. That, and Leah lives about 45 minutes away so its a little harder for her to drop everything and just swing over. It was fun to get together and catch up! Leah has her 'big' ultrasound in a few weeks (she's 18 weeks along right now) and I can't wait to find out what she is having! At this point they know it is identical twins, and she said last night that the odds of identical twins being one girl and one boy are like 1 in 650,000 identical twin births. So most likely, its two boys or two girls! She's shooting for girls since she has one boy already and most likely she'll need a hysterectomy with the c-section given the complications she's had in the past and the large amount of fibroids she has currently growing.

She looks great right now and is taking each day as it comes. She knows she'll probably end up on bed rest at some point so she's soaking up the time with her little guy right now, while she can move around. We told her that we will become her hospital buddies once she's stuck and can't go anywhere. Also, she's due on Ayden's birthday (August 22nd), but they are already planning on having the babies in July, most likely towards the end, and is expecting some sort of NICU stay. She is such a strong woman! Love her to death!

We got Ayden's summer school registration packet yesterday. Definitely saves us on childcare costs in the summer. They also have a swim program as well which I think we are going to do this summer as well. It is one hour everyday for two weeks (Mon-Fri) for $5... definitely worth it! Anyways, the only bummer part is that I don't know my clinic schedule for this summer. I start clinic the week before he starts summer school and end one week after his summer school ends. We'll need to find childcare and/or some sort of babysitter for the days that I have clinic, whether it be in the morning or afternoon. I'm kind of stuck right now on what to do, but I'm sure something will come up. I'm a planner and like to have things laid out ahead of time so I know how things are going to go, but that never happens. Even the best laid plans go awry!

I recently got a new spring coat on sale at Target and wanted to share a picture of it with you all since I’ve been getting so many comments on it while wearing it. I think this picture makes me look fat, but I take solace in knowing I had a bulky sweatshirt on under the jacket so that adds the extra poundage I don’t like seeing. But I love the coat and couldn’t pass up the sale and needed a spring coat anyways. Well maybe not NEED it, but thought it complimented my wardrobe, hehe!Time to go and be productive… right?! Or at least try and be productive, until I find something good on the tv, lol!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Do to or not to do… that is the question!

Photography is a hobby for me, one I love. I offered to take some pictures of my friend’s son this past fall. Mostly because I wanted something new to photograph something new and I knew she’d let me. You know, we’re tight like that, lol! Plus her little guy is such a doll!

Then I offered to do the same for another friend who just had a baby a few months later, pretty much for the same reason. And then another friend who is expecting (haven’t done those yet). And then, I found out another friend is having twins and pretty much demanded that she’d let me take some pictures for her. Well, the friend who is having twins wants me to take some maternity pictures for her and some of her son and another friend wants me to take some more for her of her daughters (apparently she actually liked the first ones, hehe). And then, another friend asked if I would take her brother’s senior pictures this coming fall.

I’m elated at getting to take all of these pictures for my friends. I’m flattered that they even consider me good enough and I feel relatively confident that I can give them at least one good photo. And, because I’m only relatively confident, I don’t/haven’t charged anything to these friends. Mostly because I wouldn’t do that to friends and because I really just love to do it. All stuff I’ve said before.

But the point of this whole post is that tonight I was offered to the chance to take pictures for someone’s wedding. This someone happens to be one of Ayden’s old daycare teachers who is super cool and nice. I originally declined the offer because I didn’t think I could do justice as a photographer for someone’s wedding. And, I think that wedding pictures should be of a certain quality. Something you’ll want to remember and cherish forever. (I know that for my wedding that most likely will be the biggest expense because I want a certain type of photos and unfortunately those usually come at a cost.)

I was sincerely flattered that I was even considered as an option to take pictures for this wedding, but I was too worried that I wouldn’t do good enough for her and her family. However, she responded back saying that it was going to be a very informal wedding and that she loves my work and has every confidence in me. This leaves me wondering if maybe I could do this for her?! Should I? Should I stick with thinking I cannot do her justice?

Jay thinks I should, says I could buy a new lens with the money I’d get. (But then again, he thinks I should charge my friends too! He wants me to start my own side business.) I’d charge her, but definitely nothing compared to what they would/could be paying for someone ‘professional’. I’d love a new lens, really would! But then again, I’d love a lot of different things.

I guess its something that I’ll really have to give some thought to. I’ve never had anyone ask me to take pictures for them (well other than recently for the senior pictures)… it’s always been me asking my friends if I can do it for them. I could use a few extra bucks though, would be nice.

We’ll see…

CIAO! LOVE ME!

A whole lot of WILDERNESS!

We had a great time at our hotel these past few days, but before I delve into how much fun we had, I thought I’d catch up on the few days before that.

On Thursday night of last week I took the free movie theater ticket we have had sitting at home since the beginning of the school year and used it on the movie Remember Me. Technically, it was Ayden’s ticket, but he won’t know the difference because he probably doesn’t even remember that we had it. And… I really wanted to see the movie Remember Me (despite the not so good reviews it was good, but mostly for the fact that Robert Pattinson was in it and personally I think he’s pretty easy on the eyes). I get to the movie theater and since it was a 5pm showing, I thought I might get the whole theater to myself and it started out that way. I picked the perfect seat and then of course some more people came into the theater and where did they sit… the row right in front of me! I couldn’t believe it… a whole theater empty and you need to sit in the row right in front of me! Thankfully they didn’t sit in the seats directly in front of me, but off to the side a little bit.

On the whole I thought that the movie was pretty good. I still think that Rob’s acting is a little influent at times, or awkward, but maybe that is what the script calls for. The ending was definitely a surprise! I was pretty pissed at the ending, but only because it made me leave the moving with tears streaming down my face. Damn writers, hate that they know how to play on human emotions like that! Just once I want a movie to end happily where I am smiling and not crying, lol!

Speaking of movies (this skips ahead over our trip to yesterday afternoon), I got the New Moon DVD that just came out, although wasn’t one of the people who needed to get it at the midnight release of it, and watched it last night. Of course I’d seen it already, but I could watch it over and over. I can’t wait until Eclipse comes out! Thankfully it is this summer and not next fall! And then I found out that they haven’t even started filming for Breaking Dawn yet and won’t until this fall and there is the possibility that it could be broken into two parts/movies! UGH! I’d definitely hate that, but also know that if they did that that they could put a lot more of the book into it since the last book is the longest. So that means no Breaking Dawn in theaters until the summer of 2011. Bummer! Oh well though! Just means I’ll probably reread the book another five times until then, lol! I’m not a Twilight fanatic, but I’m definitely a Twilight fan! Give me those books any day! Definitely good reads!

Anyways, Friday was any other normal day… on campus and then home for the night. We left Saturday morning to go ‘home’. We were going to watch the elementary school play of Willie Wanka! (Which incidentally I am watching the movie on the Disney channel as we speak since I haven’t seen the one with Johnny Depp yet). For being an elementary school play I thought that it was pretty good. One of my cousins even had a solo and I thought that she did a great job!

After that play we went to my mom’s house for a quick visit and to let her see how Ayden could ride a two wheeler. He did great still! And then it was back to Jay’s parent’s house for a nap. Well Ayden anyways because he was SO crabby at my mom’s house and wasn’t listening at ALL! He definitely needed it and fell asleep for about an hour. I was surprised because I didn’t think that he would nap at all, but he woke up in a much better mood. While he was resting, Jay and I practiced our Wii skills because we were heading to a Wii tournament at his aunt’s house that night. Unfortunately, I didn’t end up winning the Wii tournament, not by a long shot! But it was still super fun!

Jay’s aunt had to the new Wii fit plus that has some new games compared to the first Wii fit games out there. Anyways, I hadn’t seen any of these games yet and one of them was a game where you were a bird flying to a boat and had to flap your arms to get the birds wings to flap. So his aunt showed us how it was done and let me tell you, I have not laughed that hard in FOREVER! It was SO funny! Ah, what a night! Lots of fun! And Ayden had a great time playing with Quinn (Jay’s younger cousin) who is always in such a great mood! What a cute little guy! Love ‘em!

It was a late night Saturday and an early morning Sunday. We left midmorning for the Dells and Ayden stayed awake for most of the ride. I was pretty surprised because normally he still falls asleep for the longer rides. It took us almost two hours to get there from Jay’s parent’s house, but by the time that we did it was SO worth it.

The hotel was ginormous! So much walking! But SO worth it as well! We checked in, but we weren’t able to get into our room right away so we checked out one of the water parks and the game room and the play area. We played a round of mini golf and by that time our room was ready. We hauled all of our gear into our room and changed into our swimsuits to check out the water parks! There were three indoor water parks at our hotel so lots to keep us busy!Ayden was brave enough to get ‘dumped’ on by the huge water fall! He was so excited when the bell went off signaling that it was going to dump! He would run right down there to get underneath it!Daddy and Ayden in the wave pool! Where are the waves?! We want waves!!!Ayden was attacked by the shark during mini golfing! He couldn’t get away fast enough! Here are those waves that we wanted so badly! Oh they were so much fun! My favorite part of all the water parks!

It was a full three days, but we had tons of fun! I’m still tired from all of the swimming and walking we did. Maybe by this weekend I will have caught up on my sleep because even though we were busy all day long swimming and playing, Ayden didn’t sleep any later than normal and sleeping in a different bed definitely didn’t leave me sleeping soundly all night long. I was so happy to come home and sleep in my own bed last night and sleep through the night, even if I did have to get up to my alarm clock this morning, ugh! On Spring Break even!

I need to get started on my studying for my Hearing Science exam and on my hearing science presentation of which I just found out our rough draft of our power point presentation is due on April 8th, a presentation that I haven’t even started yet. Although, I suppose that I still have two weeks yet, so not too bad, eh?! I have a few articles picked out that I want to use for it.

Lunch time!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Random Thoughts

It's almost the end of the week! Yeah! And guess what today is?! Thursday... and it means NO class OR clinic today! Or next week for that matter since next week is spring break. The sucky thing is that when we have no class the following week because it is Madison spring break, but we still have clinic. And unfortunately, I have double clinic that week and volunteered to help with a CAPD eval on Wednesday. So, it will be a busy week for me to say the least. Although, after a week off, I will most likely be looking forward to going back to class and clinic. I do enjoy some time off, but I also enjoy having some sort of purpose as well. Thus, why I'm destined to be a career mom versus a stay at home mom. But, that's not to say that stay at home moms don't have a purpose either, but of course they do. What I am trying to say is that, I'm not destined to be a stay at home mom at this time, because for me it feels like I should be doing more. I know stay at home moms who feel they serve a great purpose being at home with their children. And all the more power to them, its just not for me. Especially since Ayden is in school now and we are dirt poor and over our eyeballs in student debt!

The majority of this week has gone well. I've been procrastinating beyond belief on getting my projects started. I watched the one video I needed to for one of my projects and have one sentence written for the summary of it. Think that will do, probably not. I think I found the article I am going to use for another one of the projects, but haven't really looked at it all that close to determine if it really is the article that I am going to be using. And I have found two articles for another project that I have to do. So... I've started, but haven't accomplished ALL that much. What I HAVE accomplished is starting a new book, hehe!

Here’s some pictures of Ayden to enjoy. I think I’m going to watch Twilight tonight, for about the billionth time!  CIAO! LOVE ME!

Real life ‘Jack’ is gone.

I was doing so good, and then I had a dream, a dream I wish I wouldn’t have dreamt because, UGH, it brought to mind things I’ve been working on so hard pushing away.

The truth is, I’ve been feeling kind of isolated as of late. I’m not an extrovert by any means and my circle of friends (especially those close friends) is rather small, very small. Smaller than maybe I’d care to admit.

Maybe its the fact that people grow up and grow apart?! I have quite a few friends, but at this point, only one that I would pick up the phone and call in a crisis I need a friend moment. :(

I credit the the distance between one of my friends and myself due to the different directions we are headed in life and the different outlooks we have. One can only listen to constant pessimism for so long before it gets annoying that nothing you say will change that pessimism. And due to the fact that you’re only ‘needed’ when the situation or timing calls for it. It’s sad, it bugs me, but its a chronic circle that I need to get myself out of. I’ve tried over and over to change the dynamics of the friendship by open communication and what not, but nothing changes. So alas, I’m doing what’s best for me, or so I hope.

But what has been bothering me the most these past few days is the fact that I’ve ‘lost’ my real life ‘Jack’. ‘Jack’ being the made up ‘go to’ guy from grade school with all of my problems. The one I would to in my journals during high school, the one who would ‘help’ me solve my problems. And then I ‘found’ a real life ‘Jack’ and couldn’t have been happier. Someone who would actually respond to what I had to say and in an open and honest way. I valued the friendship we had above all the other ones. It was that open and honest communication that we had going on that was so great. If I got pissed, I’d let them know and vice versa. It was great to know that no matter what I had going on in life, I could go to that person and vent about it, get advice on it, etc…

And through some extenuating circumstances that were beyond my control, I don’t have that anymore. I haven’t had that for months and it hurts. It hurts because my friend said nothing would ever change our friendship, EVER! And I believed them! But beyond all of that, I really just miss my friend, having someone to tell anything and everything to no matter what it is.

Of course I can and do tell everything to Jay and despite him listening to it all, I don’t think he gets it all. It’s not that I think he doesn’t care because I know he does, but I know he doesn’t care about the same things I do, the same as I don’t care about everything that he cares about. But sometimes you just need to unload on a friend. And right now, I don’t feel like I have that. It makes me sad. :( Boo!

What’s a girl to do?

CIAO! LOVE ME!

A few fun photos!

Second trip down and Ayden already has it! Way to go buddy! Mommy couldn’t be more proud of you!Daddy teaching Ayden how to make some turns! Kind of hard on the narrow path we were learning on, but once we got into the parking lot, it was SO easy for him!Look at him go! Just like that and no more training wheels! Easy peasy!Look of concentration… wouldn’t be complete without the Hoerth tongue! Time to get our skate on! Ayden didn’t have as much fun as I thought he would, but always fun to try something new! It was a great end to a crappy start of a weekend!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Craptastic turned FANTASTIC!!!

I got up this morning (and despite the fact that it was already an hour later than my clock read- because I didn’t turn it ahead before I went to sleep), I was in a better mood than when I went to bed. The sun was shining and I knew it was going to be a good day, I was destined to make it so. You know, because I was in such a craptastic mood yesterday. And with the sun shining, how could it start out bad?!

Guess I was a little too positive because Jay and I got into an argument even before 10am, ugh, didn’t look to be a promising day! We all left to have another go at the whole riding the bike with no training wheels and Jay and I didn’t speak a word to each other in the truck. (If I didn’t mention it yesterday, we were teaching Ayden at a place away from our house because don’t have conduce teaching conditions at our place).

Ayden blew our socks off when he hopped on his bike though! He wasn’t really in the mood to try and learn again, but he didn’t pout too much about it either. He hopped on and it took one run with Jay holding onto him lightly and then he sort of took off on his own. Just like that, he had it! I couldn’t believe it! I thought we’d be working at this for another few day AT LEAST and that there’d be lots of whining and possibly tip overs. You know, everything that I thought would go with learning how to ride a bike without training wheels. Nope, not with Ayden. Just like that, he was off and riding! He did great, is doing great, loves not having his training wheels on. Especially since now he knows he can get a bigger bike (which he needs).

And thankfully, the place we were teaching him at had this huge empty parking lot that he was able to ride all around in without having to stop and turn around. It was a great start to my craptastic turned fantastic day! That, and it made Jay and I unmad at each other. We let Ayden ride around for a little while before we headed home for lunch.

I let Ayden call my mom when we got home so he could share the good news and then while I was chatting with her on the phone, Ayden proceeded to make his own lunch. He came walking into the living room with a sandwich and a glass of chocolate milk all by himself. I was surprised that he was able to get it all by himself and not spill anything, but he did!

After lunch we went roller skating like I had wanted to the other day. Jay came along, but he didn’t go skating with us which was okay. Ayden really didn’t care for the skating either. He had more trouble with it than I thought he would, but at least we tried it and had some fun, I think. I don’t think that we will be going back anytime soon, but it was still fun!

The weather is fantastic today as well so who can beat that?! All of the snow is melting! Even better! I know that it is still early to be having such nice weather, but I can’t help having a better day due to the sun being out and it being nice outside. Ayden and I even went for a bike ride after we got back from roller skating. I was leery to at first because we needed to bike on the road before we got to the bike path that we go on and I didn’t know how well Ayden would do on his first bike ride on the road without training wheels and I wanted to make sure he would be safe. We made it to the bike path without any major problems and went down the bike path for a little ways before turning around. Once we got back to the road on the return trip, Ayden wanted to walk his bike back to the house. I was fine with that, even though it took a little longer. He said it was too hard to bike on the road and although I didn’t think he had that much trouble the first time, I didn’t want to make him do something he wasn’t comfortable with and it was easier on me not having to make sure he didn’t weave out into the road while trying to stay up and not tip over.

Of course, all this great weather isn’t doing any good for me on getting my homework done. UGH to that, lol! But my 9am class is cancelled tomorrow so I have time to work on a few things in the morning that I wanted to do today and no tests this week so that is good as well. Just need to make it through clinic and the rest of the week should be fine.

I was watching my lifetime movie last night and for some reason, the lifetime channel just blacked out and I missed like 10 minutes of the movie. Thankfully, it is on again tonight so I am DVRing it tonight and going to watch the rest of it sometime tomorrow. I was really getting into the movie to so I was kind of bummed when it stopped working. Boo! Not the only time that that has happened to me either, but oh well. It was just a show.

I do have to say that the best part of day light saving times today is the fact that it is now 5pm and it looks nothing like that outside! I love the fact that now is the time of the year when it stays lighter out later and makes it seem like the days are lasting longer! Daylight until almost 9pm by midsummer is my type of day! Although, because we lost an hour today, the day has just flown by! Only bummer part about that because I really like my weekends! Just five more days until 9 days off! Fantastic!

Enjoy the video of Ayden rocking out on his two wheeler!!!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Craptastic Mood

I had this super fun day planned and none of panned out in the way that I wanted it to, which only enhanced the craptastic mood that I’ve been in the last few days. UGH! I’d rather curl up and sleep for a week than be awake and deal with anyone right now. UGH again!

We (mostly Jay) tried to teach Ayden how to ride a two wheeler today and that didn’t go as well as I would have liked. Ayden was non to happy to try and learn at first. Then when I thought it was going to go good and he was smiling, he tipped over and it only made things worse. Plus, the weather was pretty craptastic today as well and it never got as warm as I would have liked and Jay was complaining about it. Didn’t make me any happier.

What I thought might be like a half hour or more of trying to new two wheeler thing ended like fifteen minutes after we started. I know, I know, its not like he is going to get it on the first day. I wasn’t thinking he would, but I thought he would be happier about it. Instead I have a crabby kid who wants his training wheels back on. ARGH!

And then I wanted to go roller staking as a family this afternoon, but I knew that Jay didn’t really want to go and wasn’t even going to go roller staking but just come with us and a kid who didn’t even want to try it, much less go. So I said screw it and we stayed home. I wasn’t going to force anyone to go and then have them complain the whole time while I wanted to have a fun family afternoon. It sucks that Jay doesn’t want to do more stuff that I suggest or even suggest anything himself. Honestly, he NEVER suggests to do anything as a family, unless its something he’d really enjoy. He’d never suggest going for a bike ride together, taking Ayden to the park, going to the library, taking a walk, etc etc etc… and it bugs me.

*Maybe I should note that I’m PMSing right now, so that doesn’t help my craptastic mood or outlook on life right now.

But… get this… Jay SWEPT and MOPPED the kitchen floor today WITHOUT me even asking for him to do it! OMG! Can we get an amen?! That was super awesome of him since the floor hasn’t been mopped (only swiffered) since we moved in which is almost a year ago. Wow, still kind of in shock!

I was annoyed pretty much all day long today and it showed. I hate days like today! And the weather has been SO sucky lately that that doesn’t help! I want to be outside enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. I have Spring in my blood and want it here NOW!

I’m also kind of feeling the pressure at school right now. So many projects to get started in the next few weeks and clinic and ugh, just everything seems to be culminating around me. Have I mentioned I’m PMSing and my outlook on life right now is pretty pessimistic?! Lol!

I’m in dire need of spring break and a few days away! I can’t wait to hit up the indoor water parks next weekend and just have some family time away.

One good new bit of today is that my bestie asked if I would take her brother’s senior pictures this coming fall. Of course I said yes! How awesome is that?! Although, I seriously can’t believe that her brother is going to be a senior next year! I remember him being not much older than Ayden’s current age! Wow, time does fly!

I’m hoping that tomorrow I am in a less craptastic mood and more of a fantastic mood. Maybe if I think more fantastically than craptastically it will work?! If its a little nicer out we are apt to try the whole two wheeler thing again, wish us luck, and I might just get a little more motivated with the whole homework thing. We’ll see! Or maybe at least an Ayden and mommy bike ride?!

And since when is this weekend daylight savings time? Am I like the last person to find out?! No one said anything on campus about it yesterday. I had to find out by a facebook status. Argh, I must be really out of the loop!

Off to get brainwashed by some Lifetime Movie Network… that usually does a PMSing women good, right?! That and a bowl of ice cream (or in my case a bag of peanut butter M&Ms)!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Starting to learn how to ride a bike with no training wheels!

He’ll get it… practice makes perfect! I’d call DAY 1 a success!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Tribute to Misty!

My mom informed me last weekend while we were home that they (her and Jim) were going to put the family down down the following weekend. I was pretty bummed to learn this because I couldn’t imagine visiting my mom and Misty not meeting us at the door like usual, but I understood her motives.

Misty was almost 14 years old (I think that's what my mom said, at least it is somewhere in that region) and she was really going downhill fast. She was pretty deaf, not even barking when you’d come in the house, much less meeting you at the door. She was going blind and also having lots of trouble going up and down the stairs to get into and out of the house. She was also ‘using the bathroom’ on the patio versus the lawn like usual. My mom did not want her to be in pain anymore and knew it was time.

But to even comprehend my mom’s house without her makes me sad. I remember her being a puppy when Jim first got her and him bring Misty over when he would visit (this being before he moved in). I mean fourteen years with a dog is a LONG time! She will be greatly missed! She was a great dog! Everything a dog should be!

I think out of all of us, my sister will take it the hardest. :( I’m dreading the next time we go and Ayden notices that Misty isn’t there and then having to explain it to him. We’ve had the ‘dogs go to heaven’ talk once before when Sparky (one of Jay’s family dogs) was put down, but that was when Ayden was like two and really didn’t comprehend it. I’ve already had to have a talk about dying with Ayden and he was upset. And at this point, I’m sure it will be hard on him too. :( Ugh!

The only solace is knowing that Misty will not be in pain anymore. Although I don’t think my mom’s house will be the same for a very long time. The presence of a dog who craves attention and gets in the way too much will be missed. As for getting another dog, as if! If anything, my mom would get another cat, hehe! She’s definitely going to be one of those old cat ladies, just kidding! But she does love her cats!

Boo! This post only increased the already bad mood I was in. :(

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Tick Tock… Tick Tock…

Honestly, I don't think that this week could have gone any slower! Maybe its the fact that I am just looking forward to spring break THAT much! YES! I am, I really am looking forward to that week! A week of nothingness! Yeah right! I still have to work a little bit, but actually, I will get the majority of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday that spring break week to relax at home and maybe (just maybe) read start a book. I can only hope. Its probably a bad idea given the three projects that I need to start on, but I really could use a good relaxing book at this point.

Other than classes and clinic related stuff, I haven't been doing too much this week. I was lucky to have my afternoon ABR class cancelled on Wednesday which afforded me the afternoon to go home early and just relax for a bit. As well, I was able to go home Thursday early for a few hours, but then I was back running a lab from 4:30-6:30pm, so that took out most of my night.

Ayden had a dentist appointment Thursday afternoon and I was proud to hear that after all the cavities he had after his first dentist visit, they said that this time his teeth were looking really good and NO cavities which was the best part! Healthy teeth make mommy happy, especially after what he did have to get done! And really, I don't think that we have TOO many sweets at our house. In any case, he did great the dentist and I really love the place!

The weather has been craptastic all week long! Okay, well for the majority of it anyways! Foggy and rainy! I can't complain about the temperature though because it has been warm enough out that I stopped wearing my winter coat. Feels weird not wearing it to campus though after wearing it for so many months. I am SO ready for the warm weather to come, but we have cold for so long that you get used to something. Sort of like in the fall, having to get used to wearing long pants again. At least I do because I'm totally a shorts girl in the summer.

Speaking of shorts (nice segway, huh? lol!) I 'stocked up' on some this week. I bought four new pair of shorts at Target because I couldn't find any shorts long enough or cheap enough that I liked at Kohls and I needed some new ones. Some of the shorts that I have are like four or five years old! Crazy! And... of course they fit like a glove because I haven't gained any weight in the last four or five years I recently gained a few unwanted pounds that have made my clothes fit not as well as I would like them too. Stress much?! Overeat much?! That's me! And with summer right around the corner, ugh much! However displeased I am with my 'figure', I'm not displeased enough to get on some diet run or regular workout routine. Ha! I'm so unmotivated for that! So, I've just been trying to watch what I eat. As... watch it go in my mouth and think, man, I really shouldn't be eating this, haha!

This weekend we are staying home and relaxing. I have three weeks worth of laundry to fold and put away. I always keep up on the laundry! My weekend plans look something like this... if the weather is nice tomorrow morning we are going to take Ayden out and attempt to try teaching him to ride a two wheeler bike. We went for a bike ride earlier this week and he was doing pretty good keeping off of his training wheels. If the attempt goes well and no one gets frustrated, we might buy Ayden a new bike. He's had his current bike since he was almost three and he's pretty much outgrown it. If the attempt doesn't go so well, he'll just keep his current bike with the training wheels on and we'll use that until he gets it. I'm in no hurry for him to ride a two wheeler since it doesn't really matter to me, but we thought since the weather is supposed to be half way decent, we thought we'd give it a try. And then Saturday afternoon we thought we might take Ayden roller skating for the first time. We'll see though! I also have laundry to do, clean a few things around the house, and then work on a few of my projects that are due within a month.

…. it is later Friday night now and I was able to make it home by 3pm today from campus. Before 4pm three days in a row, how great is that? There must be something wrong that I am missing because that NEVER happens (at least this semester)!

So, what did I do with my afternoon? I got all of my laundry done! Okay, almost all of it, I have two baskets to fold tomorrow, but it is nice to have the bulk of it done already! I also looked up some articles for my projects so I have at least all of them started. I have a few of them on interlibrary loan so I hope that I get them sometime this week so I can see if they are really going to work for me. Sometimes you can’t get everything you need from just the abstract and unfortunately a lot of places want you to buy the article.

I totally got to use some power tools while on campus today! Well, it was just a dremel, but it made Jay proud, lol! We were modifying hearing aids for our lab today and fortunately we have a HUGE bag of old hearing aids that we can mess around with. Don’t ask me how we got all of those hearing aids because when we asked our professor, she didn’t even know. We are just fortunate enough to have them. We got to make a hole and then patch it, shave off a bump and smooth it out, create bigger vents, lots of different stuff. It was probably one of the most fun labs because we didn’t have a write up and we got to actually work with hearing aids. We also finished up the testing for our ABR lab and printed off some of the reports for that and were able to talk to our professor regarding the questions that we had so that was good as well. It was a good day!

And I’m looking forward to tomorrow… a fun weekend on the horizon!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

I probably shouldn’t have taken it to heart…

It’s definitely NO secret… my love for photography. I’m forever taking pictures of those around me… namely Ayden, and some scenery. So, the other night when Jay’s mom asked Ayden if I was trying to turn him into a model in front me, I probably shouldn’t have taken it to heart. I know that she was (probably) joking about the fact that I take so many pictures of him, so many where he’s more ‘posed’ and so forth. It really shouldn’t have bothered me, but it really kind of hit a sore spot.

My love for photography has increased exponentially since Ayden was born. I’ve been editing pictures of him since birth, its just that my editing process has gotten a little better with the better software that I have now. I’ve always loved editing, that’s NO secret either.

I love photography, but not the point where I want to start a business with it or anything. I like taking and editing pictures for my own pleasure. And every now and then, I have taken some pictures for my close friends. It’s given me something new in front of the camera and I’ve enjoyed it. But I know that I couldn’t handle the pressure of being in a business and taking photos for people and them expecting them to be good. My friends maybe expect a certain quality from my pictures, but they know and understand that I’m not in the professional realm. I think they just enjoy it because it saves them money and for the most part, I get at least a few useable pictures.

And I know that I’ve taken countless pictures of Ayden recently, but its because… first I love him and adore capturing him on ‘film’, secondly, I don’t have any other kids around to photo (someday he’ll hopefully have a younger brother or sister), and thirdly because I’m in love with my camera and continually curious about what the different settings can do. So, who can blame me for taking gobs and gobs of pictures (‘staged’ or otherwise) of my adorable (of course I’m biased) little guy?!

No, I am not trying to turn my five year old into a model, in fact, if anything by the time he is an adult he will hate the camera as much as his dad does. What I am doing is bribing my five year old to let me take some pictures by letting him take some pictures of me as well. I’m spending time learning new things with my camera at the same time that I am capturing a moment in time of my little guy. And… not only am I learning more, I’m saving boatloads on professional pictures! We haven’t gotten our pictures professional taken in OVER a year and for me that’s a LONG time seeing how much I love photography.

I know I don’t need to defend my actions to anyone. Who am I to care what other people think about me and the fact that I take WAY too many pictures? It shouldn’t bother me… but Jay’s mom’s comment scratched the surface and honestly I do care. I don’t want to continue to post pictures and have people think, there goes Ashley again… ‘showing off’ her pictures because I don’t post them to ‘show off’, I post them to share. I hope my readers enjoy my pictures just as much as I enjoy seeing pictures on the blogs that I read. I haven’t gotten any comments regarding anything of this sort, but I just wanted to get out what I was feeling.

On a different note, I had a relatively good weekend. We went ‘home’ and took my mom out for her birthday. Well, my sister, Ayden, and I did. We did some shopping at Kohls and I didn’t buy a single thing for myself… wowsers! It was a zoo in there though, like they must have been having a super good sale because it was almost as busy as the day after Thanksgiving shopping. Crazy, I know!

After that we lunched at Hu Hot. My mom states that she isn’t ‘hooked’ just yet, but really, how can you NOT be! I stuffed myself so full! My mom had to work in the afternoon, so after lunch we headed home. Ayden and I spent the rest of the day at Jay’s parent’s house. Jay was in town helping out with the youth wrestling tournament and didn’t get home until supper time. Ayden was so well behaved Saturday afternoon, it was great. However, the majority of the afternoon was really just a waste. I couldn’t get anything done because my mom took my computer and personally, I don’t care for the chairs that Jay’s parent’s have to sit on and watch TV… they really aren’t all that comfortable for relaxing and Ayden was taking up most of the couch.

After Jay got home, I retreated to the basement because by this time a headache was brewing in my head and I needed to lay down for a while. I slept like crap both nights while we were ‘home’ which isn’t unusual for me. Actually, I haven’t been sleeping very well at all lately. I’ve been waking up quite a bit during the night and let me tell you, that does not lead to a happy Ashley in the morning, no siree bob! I sleep a lot better without Jay in the bed (I know, sad, right?) But at this point (especially after sleeping like crap again last night in MY OWN BED)… I’m really craving a night to myself all alone in bed!

Yesterday was another kind of loss of a day. Ayden went to the circus with his Auntie Sam and really enjoyed himself. I was productive during that period in which I sat myself down at my mom’s house for an hour and a half and whipped out the answers to my take home test. I need to finish one question up and revise the other three, but for the most part I am done. I think that that was the most productive I have been all semester so far, well at least at one given period of time. And without including the labs that we’ve run already which have gone over two hours. In fact, we came in early this morning to run a lab which took almost two hours. Not fun! Especially since class didn’t start until 10:30am today. Oh well, I suppose.

The sun is shining yet again today (oh how I am in love with constant sunshine in the skin and almost NO clouds)! I hope that this streak continues for at least another few days! Okay, bummer, I just checked the local weather and it looks like today will be the best day of the week, with the possibility of rain Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday… wait and maybe even into Saturday! The warmer temps along with the rain will definitely help get rid of the snow that seems to be sticking around yet, but it will also just increase the muddy conditions that are part of spring. The part of spring that I don’t really like, mind you, lol! So, today, while the temps top out at almost 50… Ayden and I are going to go on our first bike rides of 2010 since the bike path is pretty much clear and I need to get outside in the sunshine and enjoy this afternoon because honestly, I was in a pretty sour mood when I went to bed last night. Actually, I was in a pretty sour mood for the majority of the night after we got back to Point yesterday. Maybe the fresh air and sunshine and a good bike ride with Ayden will kick me out of the funk that I feel myself falling into right now. And I KNOW that it has nothing to do with the fact that my friend is going to visit right around the corner, nope NOT AT ALL (insert sarcasm here) since I know that it probably does.

At least said friend will have visited before our trip to the Dells… which is merely 12 days away! and I’m just over a month away from going to San Diego! Yippe! Oh crap, I just realized that said friend might be taking the trip with me. Not that you care to know when or when not I get visits from my friend, lol! Okay, now I’m in a bit better of a mood, lol! Call me crazy, that’s my name!

Off to my weekly supervisor meeting and then HOME for the day! YEAH!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

My Friday

I'm endlessly running around throughout the course of each day during the week and more often than not getting home later than I would like to, so I thought I would give you a run down of what my Friday looked like this past week. By no means are any two days during the week similar, but I thought this might give some perspective as to what I am doing each and every day that I am on campus. Not that any of you need it or want it, but it gives me something to post about, hehe!

So, this Friday looked something like this... get up at 6:45am... shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, do my hair and makeup, get my back pack ready (and because we were going home this weekend, finish packing everything I needed for the weekend that I couldn't pack the night before- and I even forgot a few things) and then leave for campus by about 7:30am.

7:45am... get to the road that I park on, get a good parking spot because no one gets to school THIS early, and walk the three blocks to campus...

8:00am... meet up with one of my classmates and reprint a lab we were working on since our other classmate labeled some things wrong when she printed it and we needed it correct since it was our rewrite

8:35am... realize there is already a hearing aid repair in for the day, clean and fix hearing aid and get it ready for patient to pick up (although Katie did most of this work since it was her day on hearing aid duty)

9:00am... first lab of the day starts... listen to professor yammer on for a half hour about stuff we already know about and then fit ourselves with a hearing aid. Spend the rest of lab (until 11am) fitting Katie with a hearing aid listening to the professor yammer somemore when we could have had all three of us done before 11am.

11am... walk very quickly across campus (because you know running would make me look weird, sweat really bad, and feel horrible since I'm in no shape to run) to the building I work in where I proceed to spend the next hour rushing through sending out a bunch of marketing materials and give myself a paper cut!

12pm... walk very quickly back to the clinic building where we (my classmates and I) proceed to fit the other two of us with hearing aids so we can finish our lab this week and not need to take extra time next week to do it.

1:30pm... finished fitting ourselves with hearing aids and getting our lab reports ready and now its time to get set up for our ABR lab... during this two our lab, I was the 'lucky' one who got hooked up with electrodes and got to spend two hours laying in a recliner trying to be still and quiet so they could measure my brain wave responses to clicks and tone bursts... all while they are right next to me discussing the material and telling funny stories. Not easy to not laugh, lol!

3:50pm... 20 minutes after I wanted to leave campus and go home so we could leave and drive 'home'... I am getting to leave campus and actually go home.

BUSY DAY! I felt like I never stopped moving and I didn't! So much to fit in and so little time! And it doesn't look like it is going to slow down anytime soon! This week I have clinic all day Tuesday! I love clinic and all, but the paperwork on our campus is endless! Really... it is! I can't wait for my off campus placements where it isn't nearly as much!

And this Monday, I don't have my 9am class, but what am I doing? Instead of staying home and sleeping in until my 10:30am class, I need to head in early to call some hearing aid companies for prices on hearing aids, get some reports signed off on, and then we are working more on our ABR lab, even though we have Thursday night to work on it and Friday afternoon! And I can't even leave campus early on Monday's because my weekly meeting isn't until 2:45pm so the earliest I can get home is 3:15pm and not that that is late, but after being on campus since 7 or 8am, its been a long day.

I also feel bad for getting home later than normal most days because it shortens my time with Ayden. He gets home at 4pm when he rides the bus and goes to bed between 7:30 and 8pm so thats only 3-4 hours a night I get to spend with him since I'm usually gone by the time he wakes up and it bugs me. I want more time with my little guy. And then the nights that I get home after 4pm, its less than that. I suppose that I should be grateful for the time I do get with him because some parents work a lot more than that and don't get even the few hours that I do. I couldn't imagine that. So, I try to make the time we do have together good and then worry about school stuff (or don't worry about it) after he goes to bed.

Oh the woes of grad school, lol!

Off to maybe gets some of my take home test done, or not, lol!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

The sun is shining!!!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Is it Friday yet?!

We I didn't do a lot this weekend. It felt nice, but I also felt WAY too lazy as well! There was so much that I could have done around the house that I neglected to do! Its not that our house is warzone at this present moment in time, but there are things that could have gotten done with the free time that I had on my hands, if you catch my drift. Like put away the Christmas ornaments we got for the ornament exchange that we didn't get to go to this year and that will not stay sitting on my dresser until the party next Christmas. At least I hope that they might get put away at some point. The bathrooms need a good deep cleaning, but yeah, who really likes to do that? The floors could use a good vacuuming (well, I did the living room floor and entry way so that counts for something). The kitchen table needs to be cleaned off and there are gobs of miscellaneous things that are on top of the refrigerator that don't need to be there. Ayden's room is in a mild state of disarray and don't even get me started on the basement! What did I do all weekend... well we kept the living room mostly clean by the end of each night and I did the laundry, however knowing me... I haven't put last weeks away yet so there is a big pile on my bedroom floor and I didn't fold this weeks clean stuff either. Oops, lol! But, I want to be productive this week, I would like to get a lot of this 'extra' stuff done because I don't really like clutter.

According to Jay I keep a lot of things... he says I'm a hoarder. This is NOT true! But... he only says it because I have two boxes full of momentos from my high school years, and these boxes contain old journals from my high school years, and in these journals contains stories upon stories of my life before him. He doesn't like that, he doesn't like that I'd want to keep stuff that doesn't include him, but other guys. I don't keep it for that fact, but for the fact that I love my journals and want to keep them as something to look back on when I'm older. Every so seldom, I'll get out those old journals and reminisce about the old days, but its not to think about those other guys like Jay thinks. Its to just reflect upon who I was then and who I am now and to laugh at how trivial life was and yet how big a deal I made it seem. It is rather amusing at times to read what I wrote about, what I care about, etc... and so if two boxes of 'crap' from high school classifies me as hoarder, then I guess I'm a hoarder, lol!

But in reality, I rather do prefer everything to be in its 'assigned' spot. I have labeled toy bins, I like everything to be lined up just so on my dresser, I organize my side of the closest by dresses, sweatshirts, dress pants, jeans, dress shirts, etc... I am so neurotic about things (not always, but a lot of the time) that when I am cleaning, I will go so far as to place the remotes all lined up on the coffee table even though I know they will be moved a few minutes later by whoever is watching TV. I like everything just so… is that bad?! Hehe!

This week has been going good so far. I prefer Tuesdays and Thursdays when it comes to being in the grad room because the second and third year students are not on campus. I like them all well enough, but I never get anything done when they are here because they are continually talking and well I just can’t get my nosey ears to tune them out like I should in order to get some things done, lol! I also find it funny that last semester one of the second years couldn’t complain enough about how loud the speech students that were in the grad room were and this semester she is the loud one. Ironic, eh? Yeah, I thought so! And complain complain complain, that is ALL I hear from them sometimes. Yes, complaining and whining is fine, everyone has bad days, but its constant! Sometimes I just want to say, get over it, ugh! But, I’m just a lowly first year and so I keep my mouth shut and just listen to it. I can’t wait until next fall when they are not on campus hardly ever! But maybe then, we’ll be the ones complaining because it does sound like they have had quite the year so far. Alas, they are almost done with their second year, only one more after so they can deal, right? I can’t believe that I am almost done with my first year of grad school! I know that I’ve said that already, but seriously, this first year has really just flown by! I didn’t think I would make it through the first semester!

Today has been a pretty great day though and for no other reason than it has really hit me that I KNOW I chose the right career path, or was led to the right career path! I had a great morning of clinic! We did hearing screenings at the senior center and it was so nice to just visit with some of those patients and then I had two hearing aid checks. Both of which were with patients that are really in love with their hearing aids! It is just amazing to see someone be able to hear something that they haven’t heard in years, or have barely been hearing. The delight on their face is GREAT! One of the patient’s we had was just amazed at what he could now hear. He was very reluctant to even get hearing aids because of all the horror stories that he has heard, but is so glad that he did because he loves them. Now, not everyone is going to have the same experience with them because everyone’s hearing loss is a little bit different, but as an audiologist (or aspiring audiologist, hehe), we want to provide our patient’s with the best quality we can in regards of getting them the amplification they need. My only qualm about hearing aids is the cost. They are SO expensive, even at a clinic like ours where they are considered cheaper than other places. Our high end hearing aids run at about $5000 for a pair, where as you could get the same hearing aids at a different clinic for upwards of $8000. Seriously, who can afford $8000 for a pair of hearing aids! The one thing I don’t want to be when I get my degree is a sales person. I don’t want to have to push expensive hearing aids on people just because they are the most expensive. Because as an individual, I wouldn’t want that done to me. I’d rather fit them with something that would work not only for their hearing loss, but also their wallet, versus worrying about making more money for the company/clinic I am working for.

I probably mentioned this already, but this weekend my sister and I are taking my mom out for her birthday. We are taking her shopping and I told her that she needs to think frivolous birthday present instead of practical. My mom never spends money on herself, and when she does, she buys WAY on clearance, like when things are $1 or $2… and not that that is bad because heck, the cheaper the better, but I want her to get something just because and what better than as a birthday gift… and I got 30% off at Kohls so that is better. Or maybe not because I just paid off my Kohls card, lol! And after we are done shopping we are heading off to HuHot for lunch! My mom is a HuHot virgin so I can’t wait to introduce her to this experience! HuHot rocks!

And then on Sunday, Jay’s aunt asked if Ayden would like to go to the circus with her. It’s actually one of Ayden’s godmother’s… he has a godfather and two godmothers. I don’t know if I ever said this or not, but Jay has a younger brother who passed away shortly after Ayden was born and we were going to have him and my sister be Ayden’s godparents. Well, after Adam passed away (which was before we got Ayden baptized), we asked his godparents if they would like to be Ayden’s, thus the fact that he has a godfather and two godmothers. So, anyways, Auntie Sam asked if Ayden would like to go the circus with her and of course I said yes since we didn’t have any other plans. She is always asking to do things with him which I think is just great! He’s spent the weekend at their house once or twice, accompanied them (Sam and her husband Matt) to the Dells for a weekend, gone on numerous outings together. Its just so nice that she wants to do these kind of things with Ayden. I love her for that! I can’t wait until their baby is born! She is going to be such a great mom!

HuHot and the circus all in one weekend… Ayden is excited! Me… I just want the weekend here already, one week closer to our Dells mini vacation, hehe!

CIAO! LOVE ME!