Morning Constitutional

Every morning, I drive to the park adjacent to school and park my car at the bottom of a hill. Then, I climb the hill to my building and attend classes for three and a half hours. Today was different. I drove to the park, parked my car and looked at the sky. In five minutes, it had turned from light gray to black. The breeze died and as I walked, cotton filled the air around me. The entire atmosphere changed in an instant and I felt a few drops of rain hit my face. As I walked through the tall, thin conifers, the wind picked up, the cotton swirled and the sky grew menacing. I am often struck by God's creation as I walk up the hill, and today was no different. But today, instead of realizing the beauty, I reveled in the uncertainty and power that weather presents. And how amazing is its Creator.

School and Such

I'm smack dab in the middle of crazy-busy school right now. Only two and 1/2 weeks left, but it feels like an eternity. Hung out with my great friend Anna tonight. Part of the evening was spent drinking a nonfat, caramel macchiato with a double shot. Yes, a double shot at 9:15 p.m. The result is Kate being WIRED at 12:19 a.m.
I have another test tomorrow - my third this week and I have two still to go! But, at the end of this session, I will have 10.5 credits more toward my degree! But I hope I haven't killed 10.5 million brain cells due to the stress and cramming.
One more item: it is h.u.m.i.d. outside. It's like looking through a dirty window. And the heat will show up tomorrow. Suffice it to say, no pictures of my hair for the next two months. Heat+humidity=Crazed Coiffed Kate.
I'll try to post again before the session is over, but no promises. Although, if I have another double-shot, you may get another post! Off to lay in bed with my eyes open for two hours.

The Stress

I should have known this would happen.
A tiny comment from a friend sent me into gulping sobs today.
The dog watched with sympathetic eyes until I quieted myself.
Why do the everyday concerns about life, friends, marriage and school all seem to hit at once?

A New 'Do

Relatively new - I got my hair cut about two weeks ago. I'm not sure about the bangs straight down in front. Usually I "swoop" them to one side. But, the hairstylist assures me it's cute this way. This pic is taken first thing in the morning. I have to leave my hair slightly damp to prevent frizz later and I hadn't stepped out into the humidity yet. So, this is the best my hair ever looks. Enjoy!

(Sidenote: Don't you love the burned-out student look after only three days back in classes? Complete with dark circles and droopy eyes.)

The Hazy, Crazy Days

I may be a little insane.
After deciding that I should graduate in August 2009, I signed up for five summer classes. The U has five different summer sessions, but 3 1/2 of my classes fall during the second session. Five weeks of intense reading, writing and rising at the crack of dawn. Today was my third day of class: I had 5 chapters of reading due, a map quiz, and a meeting with our class "PR "client" for the group project. This is all by the THIRD day!
The only thing getting me through is the fact that in five weeks, it will all be over. Actually, less than five weeks now! I'm already a little happier!

The bathroom project has begun:

(Yes, there is a missing wall.)

I rescued this cute guy from the street.















(He hung out while we waited for animal control. I hate calling them, but what do you do without a collar or tags?)

We went camping and boating with friends on Memorial Day weekend...















...where I got a sunburn that led to this:















I know - it's gross. But if you can't show the gross stuff, what's the point?

Eric took this Monday night. No touch-ups! We have had crazy weather lately - the tornado sirens wailed for 1 1/2 hours tonight. And a torrential downpour led to water in the basement. Not a lot, but enough to make our next project to install drain tile along the property line to divert rainflow.














Have a lazy summer for me!

This is the 106th post I have posted!

And on that note, I'm off to interview for another internship today. I feel like all I do lately is interview, send resumes and plead for letters of recommendation from my sources. The internship today is at an insurance company (yes, I know, insurance) in the HR department. I feel like the job would make great use of my skills, I could learn a lot and this is required for my degree. Pray for me and wish me luck!

Also, I could leave the horrors of retail and have evenings and weekends with my husband and dogs! I can't imagine what that would be like! (That is, if Eric can make his evenings and weekends free!)

The most boring day ever...

If you're wide awake and but should be sleeping, keep reading. If you want to congratulate yourself on how exciting and spectacular your life is, keep reading. And if you want to the know the unretouched and honest details of how I spend my nonwork and nonschool days, keep reading.

Let me set the stage: I cleaned the house yesterday. Scrubbed the bathroom (BLECH!), vacuumed and dusted all the dog hair into oblivion (although, the winter coats are still shedding. Am I crazy?) and did the final two loads of laundry (that have yet to be folded). My friend's message at 3:09 p.m. which began with, "I'm headed to the pool. Drop everything and come!" was obediently heeded and we finished off our swimming with pizza and wings. (mmmmm...) That's not the boring part, but here it comes...

Today, I woke up to the humidifier beeping its full-of-water alarm. I emptied it, started to make pancakes, found out there were no eggs and walked to the grocery store. I finished the pancakes, ate four (small) and started to read "The Last King of Scotland." I didn't wash a single dish, fold a single piece of clothing and watched a boring movie on TV. The ONE bit of excitement was a phone interview for yet another internship (please let this be the last interview!) and a trip to Lincoln for Eric's licensing class. Now, realize that the five sentences above constituted a whole eight hours. What lazy bum I am! But you have to reach rock-bottom before real change occurs.

"Every morning you are handed 24 golden hours. They are one of the few things in this world you get free of charge. If you had all the money in the world, you couldn't buy an extra hour. What will you do with this priceless treasure? Remember, you must use it, as it is given only once. Once wasted, you cannot get it back." - Anonymous

How do you motivate yourself when a day stretches empty before you?

Lists for a Weekend Off

House:
1. Clean / Organize Basement Shelves
2. Vacuum EVERYTHING! (gotta love dog hair!)
3. Finish laundry and put away
4. Paint laundry room

Dogs:
1. Bathe both
2. Walk both
3. Feed both (this goes without saying)

Relationship:
1. Date Night
2. Keep at the Life Plan (this could take up an entire post - more later)

Stayed tuned for pictorial updates!

How you know Kate was camping...

The rain. The incessant rain.
The sunburn. The itching, peeling sunburn.
The laundry. The mounds of smoky, rain-soaked, sun-dried laundry.
The dogs. The tired, lethargic and stinky dogs.
The gear. The piles of camping gear in various states of putawayness.

It rained. From the time we arrived (11:15 p.m. on Thursday) to set up in the dark, until the sun broke through the clouds Saturday at noon, it rained. Even though the weather was perfect for the remainder of the trip, that rain sucked out my camping soul and made it difficult to enjoy boating on a perfectly still lake and eating s'mores by the fire.

Even if you are craving the sun after 36 hours of rain and it's after 3:30 p.m. so you think you don't need sunscreen: WEAR IT ANYWAY! I got my first and last sunburn of the season while boating for two hours in the early evening. And it hurt like crazy for two days, itched like crazy for 4 days and will probably peel like crazy for the next 24 days.

I never realized how wonderful a tiny-town laundromat could be! After soaking through every long-sleeve clothing item, towel and blanket from our gear, we spent two glorious hours (three times!) watching our clothes tumble dry and reading Redbook magazines from 2006. The fourth and final drying took place on the clothesline outside our tents - after the sun made its miraculous appearance.

If you were a dog, what would be your idea of heaven? If you answered swimming, fetching, chasing rabbits, playing tag with other dogs and a warm campfire at night, then our dogs spent 4 days in a heavenly place. The recovery time has been slow (thankfully) and not a whine has been heard for 2 days!

We've been home for 3 1/2 days now. The kitchen counter is full of camping pans, the basement is littered with camping tubs and the laundry room contains piles of clothes destined for the washer.

The recovery is almost complete. I'm rested, clean and -most importantly- dry. But, this trip took a lot out of me. If you asked me today "How about camping this weekend?" I'd decline immediately! If you give me a few weeks, the horrors of the wind and rain may fade and I might be ready to pack up our gear and head into the great outdoors once again. But, that's a big "might." I'll let you know...

Monday, Monday

Ways to spend your day off:

1. Sleep in
2. Eat a leisurely breakfast while checking your email
3. Read three chapters in a good book
4. Take the dogs for a nice, long walk.
5. Do your favorite exercise DVD
6. Organize your closet
7. Update your blog with a list of activities
8. Open all the windows and let the outside air in
9. Interview for a new job! (Details TBA!)

Trust or Lack Thereof

I trust Eric.
I trust my dogs.
I trust two good friends to be completely honest with me at all times.

I do not trust that my fellow biology classmates will not copy the answers out of my lab book.
I do not trust the woman who sideswiped me to tell the truth.
I do not trust the shoppers at my place of employment to return things that they haven't cut, damaged or stolen.

Flip-Flops and Fruit Juice

I had a "Naked" fruit juice blend today. Mmmm... I can't remember the name, but it's the one that has mostly berries in it and has energy in the title and is purple. Good Stuff!!! And I am wearing flip-flops with my jeans today. I finally got rid of the remnants of the six-week-old pedicure and have naked toenails. Don't get any ideas - nothing else is naked today. Just my juice and toenails. So, I'm wearing flip-flops, drinking fruit juice and sitting across from a weird little boy that sat down across from me in the library. He read "Catch-22" for about an hour, snickered three times (I'm assuming it was something he read) and left. But not before standing and using the wall to support himself as he stretched out his legs from an hour of sitting. Sheesh - kids these days!
I really needed to get three evaluations written today, and have had NO luck. The problem is this: my last three evals I turned in were marvelous. These are not my words: the teacher posted them in our class folder as shining examples for all to see. And when I reread them, I can't believe I wrote such eloquence! I'm not being arrogant - simply happily confused they turned out so well.
Fastforward to today: Three more evals are due tomorrow and I've already done as good as I will ever do. How can I compete with my own amazing standard? Everything I write sounds like drivel and all my word placements seem awkward. So, there's my prediciment What do you do when your best is behind you, but you still have to perform in the future?
I suppose I'll keep writing tonight after a few caffeinated drinks. Maybe my brilliance is contingent upon the number of Coke Zeros I drink in a 12 hour period. I'll let you know...

Another Vacation Please!

It's rainy, cold and drizzly today. Thinking back a month ago, we were 1100 miles south on vacation - and I'm ready to vacate again! Great things happen when you're on vacation.

For example:

...packing all your belongings for a week into suitcases (the sad dog is not part of a great vacation experience, but is necessary for a good time)...

...putting 3000 miles on a rental car instead of your own...

...seeing your first flowers in six months...

...beagles glaring at you from the back seat (She got back at us for our segregationist attitude)...

...tours of the private jet...

...picnics on the pier...

...private helicopter flights along the Gulf Coast (with front seat status given to yours truly)...

...meals (and snacks and more meals) with the Southern Sorensens...

...posing with crocodiles...

...relaxing on the beach...

...AMAZING (and super expensive) desserts...

... and kicking highschoolers' butts on the go-cart track.

Because it has been a whole month since we were on vacation, what better way to celebrate than with a pictorial tribute of the wonderful 10 days away.

"No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one. " ~Elbert Hubbard

Charging the iPod...

I'm sitting in the corner of the small third-floor lounge in my building on campus. Usually, I like to work in the library because:

1. I love books - being with them makes me happy.
2. I love coffee - the coffee shop in the library has Starbucks.
3. I love silence...and noise - I like having the option of quiet study or talking around me.

But today, on the 11th day of April, 2008, it is snowing. Yes, snowing and while I love snow, I don't love the rain and wind mixed with this specific batch. So, I'm hanging out in the building where my only class of the day will be held and waiting for my iPod to charge. Hope your weekend is less snowy than mine has started out!

Dental Hygiene

I hate brushing my teeth.
This does not mean that I don't brush my teeth.
Because I do!
Twice daily.
I love the way my mouth feels after the deed is done - clean, minty and fresh.
But I hate poking a plastic stick into my mouth and I hate the way little dribbles of toothpaste that occasionally end up on my chin.
I like many other tedious tasks like matching socks, sorting laundry, cleaning out drawers and vacuuming the floors.
But, brushing my teeth?
I could live without it.
Unfortunately, my teeth could not - or my gums for that matter.
So, you won't see yellowed teeth on me any time soon nor a bad case of gingivitis.

But, just remember: I'm not doing it because I like it, only because I have to.

"Do you have a ****** card with us?"

I'm working in retail again.

After I swore I wouldn't (I really shouldn't swear).

And actually, I don't mind that much. I shopped in this store before I worked there, really like their clothes and like helping people buy cool stuff. But, the biggest part of the company's business is credit cards. Let's get this straight - I HATE CREDIT CARDS! I could go into great detail about their wretchedness, but will instead direct you to the anti-credit guru: Dave Ramsey.
The worst part about my job is that every shift I work, I'm supposed to get at least person to apply for a credit card. This means I have to "sell/pitch" the object of my disdain to people until they've said no three times. And most of the time, I do it. But, this week, I barely tried. And then realized today - the last day of this time period - that if I didn't get a card, I would get written up for a week of no credit. Yes, this store writes you up if you don't get at least 1 card every week you work.
So even when someone turns me down (three times) I secretly applaud their willpower, but then feel bad that I will be called out once again for my lack of credit applications. Why can't we just sell the clothes? Because people who use credit cards irresponsibly are every company's dream - more money, more profits, etc.
So, keep saying no to store credit cards people! Even if I have to get written up, it's worth it to keep one more person out of credit card trouble!

Sweet Relief!

The paper is done - completed and reviewed by the teacher. After a few tweaks, I'll turn it in on Friday, confident and completely stress-free. As I wrote my "Works Cited" page, I realized my shoulders were nearly touching my ears - I always scrunch up my shoulders when I get super stressed. But, the stress is over, the paper is done and I'm ready for a nap. Thanks again Renee' for your FANTASTIC advice! As soon as I'm un-sleep-deprived, I'll get some vacation pics posted.

Thanks Renee'!

I've been de-stressed due to great advice from my sister-in-law. And my paper is practically writing itself! Now, back to the the grindstone. Just giving a quick credit where credit is due!

Eek!

This is very un-type-A of me, but I'm still avoiding! Blah! And I'm starting to freak out a bit.

Avoidance Technique

I love school - I really do, but this paper coming up (due in 1 week) is driving me crazy. I don't care enough about my stance to write - when I'm passionate, the words flow, otherwise...

Instead of writing my paper, I am writing about writing my paper. Clever, no? The biggest problem is that I need to have hours and hours of uninterrupted library time. But due to a family crisis, will not have the time I need. The crisis has prompted family visitors as well - who we're delighted to have - but that means a quick dusting and vacuuming (as well as laundry from vacation and extra bedding).

All this to say, the paper will not be spectacular. It will actually probably suck royally and I'll get a non-A grade. All because I don't really care and it's too late to pick a new subject.

New Topic:
Our vacation was wonderful! I'll post many pictures later.