Behind!

I hate falling behind.
It was difficult keeping up with my schoolwork this week. At first I thought I was going to be OK. Then for a few days it was too painful to sit up so typing became a huge challenge. And with healing comes sleep, and I slept a lot this week!
So I am a bit behind with my homework and I hate that.
This means there is no way I will get an A for the class I am currently taking and that is irritating.

However, I did help my two boys catch up on their school work. L finished up all last weeks and next weeks spelling and math, hooray! And now R is finished with 3 of his 5 book reports for this school term, sweet!

Over the next 2 days I will be working on a PowerPoint presentation, an essay, and some discussion boards. So hopefully by Wednesday I will be all caught up and ready to start the new school week clear headed and on time.

Ouch!

Monday was going fantastic. I was knocking down my To-Do list left and right, so productive. I was finishing up some chores before having to take L to the dentist when somehow I threw out my back...ouch!
It's ridiculous how much it hurts, I so can't like it.

I really didn't know how bad it was. I was still determined to get L to the dentist. However, after crawling around on the floor unable to actually touch my feet or walk I came to the conclusion that maybe I'd have to reschedule the appointment.

Since R and L were home I didn't cry, but sure wanted to! I called J and my friend Blue. Blue rescued me and took me to the hospital where J was waiting for me. After a shot and some Rx meds I went home.
Since Monday I've been asleep more than I've been awake. It is getting better, I can walk almost normally now.
I told J I feel like I'm aging way too fast. Especially after the Doc told me that I have a bad back and I should wait almost a month before doing any exercises other than walking.

My husband has been fantastic. All week he has taken care of the kids in the morning and getting them off to school before going to work.He even took Tuesday off and stayed home with me. He also has been taking care off all our meals. He's a keeper!
Blue took Wednesday and stayed with me and on Thursday she drove L and me to L's new dental appointment (that field trip was painful)I can't drive yet and it was awesome she's there to help out.
I am very blessed to have the help I need this past week and I am very thankful!

Friday Favorites!

Hello Friday! I love Friday since it means no strict bedtimes and the kids will be home for the next 2 days.

1. Olive Oil -I had my hair cut at Regis and the hairdresser introduced me to this shampoo. My hair is very fine and this product is excellent!

2. Teacher Email (and great teachers!) - It is so nice to be able to contact each of the boys' teachers through email and every time I do I get a response very quickly. We all know that sometimes it's difficult asking others for help!In grade school this wasn't the case with R, however, it is a different story now that he's in middle school. This week I found out some stress he was experiencing in school in some of his classes. I sent a few emails and by the time R got to school his teachers worked with him and emailed me back. When he got home in the afternoon he was feeling much better, a full 180 from the morning! He's growing so fast. I love being Mom and being able to help him out.

3. The New Bag - For Christmas J got me a very cute coach purseand my friend gave me a Vera Bradley purse,I love them! The NEX had some great sales this week and I bought myself a Vera Bradley church bag.


4. New Snack -I love craisins and now they make chocolate covered ones, yum!

5. Comics - I don't mean comics like Marvel, I mean ones like Garfield, FoxTrot, Zits, and Calvin and Hobbes.I think its cool that the kids like them too, love hearing R or L giggle when they read something funny. Sometimes you just need to read something that makes you laugh! I read these after I have a heavy school week and my brain is textbook tired!

Friday Favorites!

It's been a while...here are my recent favorites:

1. Sold!J got this car a couple years ago. It had a burned out motor and it sat in our side yard, and sat, and sat. He sold it! Way cool.

2. Noodle Salad: My friend Junebug made this salad for me and I love it.It has sun dried tomatoes, artichokes, carrots, baby spinach, any noodles you want, mozzarella, chicken and some seasoning. You pretty much put in anything you want, super fast and so good.

3. Bones! This show is awesome!


4. Juice: I am trying to cut back on diet sodas. I love this stuffand bonus, I'm the only one in the house who likes it :0)


5. Pokemon: OK, Pokemon is not really my favorite.However, R has been a fan for years, and now L is all about it too. The part that is my favorite is seeing them 'talk shop' and get excited about the characters and games together. They are almost 4 years apart and I love seeing them being friends, not just brothers. Its really cute.

(Pic of R last season)

R is a pretty smart kid. He is logical, rational, and fair. He is academically strong. R is not a sports fan. We have put R in some type of sport since he was 4.

We have found out that he does not like Tae Kwon Do, soccer, or baseball. He is unwilling to try football or wrestling. However, Basketball is his game. This is his 3rd season.

R is also an allergy ridden asthmatic!

Its true that he likes basketball. Every year we still have to 'force' him to sign up though. I told him years ago that our family rule says he has to play at least one sport a year.
You would think I told him he had to do extra homework or hug me in public. I thought his eyes would fall out of their sockets from the excessive rolling and that his dramatic sigh may have been an asthma attack.
Good thing he is pretty obedient. Once the season starts he is glad he is on a team and tells me, "Mom, I'm glad you forced me to play this year!"

It is difficult to see him at games and practices sometimes. He pushes and pushes and really hates using his inhaler. There are times I think he goes too far, but he keeps at it. Last year many times he would cry on the way home after practice from chest pain or headaches. I feel bad for him when he feels so nauseous from the asthma and his medication. I worry when it takes days for him to bounce back from a practice or game.

He rarely, if ever, becomes discouraged from being the slowest at running, or that he didn't get as much play time as other boys on the team.
Last night they had a scrimmage. He worked hard, made some great rebounds and is a good defender. He felt very happy with his performance, "I'm proud of myself tonight Mom" he told me. I can tell he is looking forward to games starting next week and so are we.

We sure love that kid. I love seeing him grow, being R's mom is pretty awesome.

Jordan & Sanderson

"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. ...There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning" (Robert Jordan).

In my Sophomore year of high school a friend of mine told me to read 'The Eye of the World'. I really thought he had said 'The Eye of the Wolf' so couldn't find it so didn't read it.
About 2 years later, right after I got married, my husband J received a signed copy book 8 in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. He was very excited and told me I should read them.

I tried, I couldn't do it. Then his cousin, the friend who 1st mentioned 'The Eye of the World' to me, told me that if he at least gets to page 200 in any book he usually can finish it. So I gave 'Eye of the World' another try. My only goal was to hit page 200.

The 200 page marker theory worked for me too, I was not only able to finish the book but to also fall in love with the story. I was hooked and soon J and I were talking about the characters like they were real people. (big book nerds I know!)

He told me that he worried that the series would never be completed the ending would always be a mystery. J started this series when he was 14, he is now 31.
Then one day a fellow college classmate told me that Robert Jordan had passed away. I've never talked to him, met him, or even seen him. But I've devoured his stories. I felt bad for his family and sad that the stories had ended. It was so cool to find out that Robert Jordan and his family prepared for the story to be completed even after his passing.

Hello Brandon Sanderson! He is writing the last 3 novels of The Wheel of Time.
We had never heard of this author before so I bought J one of his other books. Instant hit, he is a great story teller as well.
I also discovered that he wrote a youth age series, 'Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians'. I got the first book for R for Christmas.
I read a lot of what R does, I love being able to talk to him about the books. This series is FUNNY! I love it and hoped R would too. He read book 1, in one day, and book 2, in two days. I think its safe to say that Sanderson is another favorite author in our household.

We are awaiting the last book. Soon I am starting over. I will read the prelude and books 1-13 so when the last book comes out I'll be ready.

A New Year!

I like that the start of a new year brings the opportunity to create personal goals and grow as an individual. OK, the new year is when we can all think about our imperfections and know that your supposed to make new goals to be better or more accomplished, or awesomer.
I love making new goals, the idea is pleasing. I think that following through with goals is where I have difficulty.

This year I want to:

Finish my Bachelors in HR administration.
Get a job.
Become more organized.
Be more crafty.
Learn more; example-gardening, cooking, sewing, building, crafting, business, writing....etc. etc.
Keep on working on being healthy.
Read a lot of books.

I am pretty confident in some of these goals. Namely my degree and reading lots of books. I'm so ready to graduate and have 2 2/3 classes left. I am addicted to reading. I would like to convince all that I read really important stuff. I don't. I love to read funny things, sarcastic stories, fiction, fantasy, and science fiction. I love reading the stuff my 11 year old reads (but hey, he's reading at a senior in high school level as of last year) I enjoy 'fast reads', and I love big long books and series are my favorite.

Organization is very difficult. I think when anyone has a secret rebellious side it becomes nearly impossible to be very organized for any length of time.

We all know what working on healthy means.

Crafty is as crafty does. Just kidding. I get to be extra invested in crafts since my volunteer work with church and cub scouts gives me the perfect excuse to do so.

I love learning new things. I must be big headed in some context because I get very impatient when something does not come easily or quickly for me. Frustrated as in 'How dare this new thing defy my understanding'! I am thinking on learning more about writing and documentation. I have been writing material that I haven't really wanted to write about for the past 4 years. I have received positive feedback from my instructors for most of my work and have earned high grades for what I've written. I think I don't like it in that I have to write about a specified subject and am getting graded on it. Makes me want to do the opposite.

I am scared about getting a job. I have a great job but it won't pay off my student loans. I work pro bono. I have been giving back to society by raising 2 of its members in such a way that in the future they will contribute so much that we would all be lost without them. :-) I wish I could use their pictures as currency and send that to the bank.
I have not worked in a real establishment since I was a teen. Yikes! However, I am determined to stop freaking myself out and let the job hunt begin.

So a week late: Happy New Year! Here's to all of us becoming awesomer in 2011!