Wow - I really didn't know the extent of my neurotisism until I just went back through some of my previous posts to see what someone might find out about me. That's some scary stuff, right there! Oh well, I guess that's me: I'm here, I'm not queer, deal with it!

I did my best bar-ho impersination last weekend. Actually, I started on Thursday at this little dive down the street from my place, The Little Brown Jug. (My friend, Tobyn, kept calling it The Big Red Jugs.) Anyway, I had class on Thursday, so I told Tobyn I'd call her afterward to see what she was doing since she'd be in Talent. Amazingly, I did pretty well on the Psych test I didn't get to study for & I'm thinking maybe I will actually do well in this class, after all. So, after class, I met Tobyn at The Jug, where they had just started karaoke! Luckily, there were only like 5 other people there, so we got a lot of singing time. I had a cold with a pretty severe cough, so again, luckily, there were only 5 other people there. It was not my finest performance! Friday morning obviously sucked, as Tobyn & I were both feeling the after-effects.

Friday night, I decided to take the ladies from the bank up on their offer & go visit the meat market. But at least I was going with a bunch of friends & knew I could just dance & have a great time, so that's what I proceeded to do. This guy kept on dancing next to me that had reached out & literally grabbed me on my way to the bathroom & I was just like, "whatever, I guess I'll dance with him" but wasn't into him or anything. Then this other cutie that I'd seen earlier danced up to me & just kinda aced that guy out & said that he was there to save me (likely story). Anyway, he was cute & had some moves, so I did dance with him a little bit. We kept on running into each other on the dance floor after that (not literally speaking, although I was smacking people & accidentally grabbing crotches & such, being the totally smooth chick we all know I can be). Eventually I ended up talking to the guy & was pleasantly surprised to discover that he had a sense of humor & a personality - he wasn't just your average sleaze. So I let him talk me into giving him my number before I left. Lo & behold, he called me the next day. Refreshing, considering most guys do the whole cocky phone game, so I thought I'd return the favor & called him back later & we had a great conversation.

On Saturday, Tyson had a couple of games in Grants Pass & Samantha came with me. He was the top scorer & super-stud, as usual, but they still managed to just barely lose both of their games. Later, I was debating about whether I should go do karaoke with Tobyn & co. or if I should chill out with Ty & rent some movies, when Samantha called crying & literally begging me to go back out with her because she needed to get out & have some fun. When I talked to Tobyn, it sounded like she wasn't sure if they wanted to go anymore or just wait till next weekend, so I told her we should totally save it until they REALLY wanted to go & we'd have a lot more fun. So, yep - I went back to the scene of the crime...Drank less, danced some, saw "the guy" again & we hung out. Samantha was ready to go pretty early, so "the guy" & I spent some quality time together after taking her home. I got home pretty late & spent most of Sunday recuperating.

Today I had to come in to work early to interview for my position - I did give my notice, by the way. They asked me to consider staying on full time & going to school at night & then acted surprised when I asked if they were on the crack pipe! Like, hell-oooooo, I'm a single mom - when would I ever see my kid, much less do homework?! Of course, it was flattering to think they didn't want to lose me. Anyway, they had a guy interview this morning. He may not have my people skills or personality, but does have extensive coding & billing experience & I think he'll be incredible once he gets going. I'm pretty sure they'll hire him. I was impressed by his poise, considering there were 7 of us in the interview, which I thought was just a bit of overkill & found a little amusing. I know it's stupid, cause I'm really looking forward to this new journey in my life as a college student, but I'm kinda getting sad about the reality of leaving this place. It's really been my rock through a lot of transition, during the divorce & all. These people are really my friends & I'm going to miss it, even if I am making new ones. *Sniff, sniff*

By now everyone knows about the issues my brother has been dealing with. Rather than go into detail regarding something that's not mine to share, I will simply ask for my friends & family to continue to pray for him, his sobriety, & his happiness.

In other news, I met with an advisor. I know what classes I will take, but I can't register until Feb 29th. We've narrowed down my major to an MSW degree (Masters in Social Work), which will allow me to practice for 3000 supervised hours necessary for my LCSW that I can use for private practice, and a minor in music. That way, I'll be able to study what I love & also incorporate that into my therapy! I will be taking Writing 121, Math 60, Psych 202, HD100 (which is a new student survival/success class worth 1 credit that the college actually pays for) & Yoga. I need to look into it more, but I think that I will rely on loans for my first year (along with the financial aid grants & scholarships - none of which I've heard back on so far) & devote my time to learning to be a college student. If I'm able to get the class times that I want, the way I've set it up, there's about 50 minutes between classes a couple of days, so I can just hang out at the campus/library & get my homework & studying done. Then I can come home & do whatever transcription I have & will be here with Tyson in the evenings. I am SO excited about this transition! I just hope that it all comes together the way I want it to. I don't think I'm doing so well in my current Psych class because of working f/t, doing transcription, & some other family issues that have come up.

Speaking of which, I probably should use this time to do some homework so that I'm all caught up. I'll try not to write all about school next time, ok?

Well, well, well...Will wonders never cease? I bet you thought I was done blogging, didn't ya? I can't believe how many things have happened since I last posted! Where to begin...

Let's see - Tyson & I flew to Arizona to see Kathy & Laura & co. We had a SUPER time & got to party, do karaoke, have fun with the kids, shop, go to the movies (we saw P.S. I Love You, which turned out to be more tear-jerker than romantic comedy, like we thought it was), jam out in Mark's music room, go horse back riding & do a photo shoot (I'll edit this later & add a couple of those pics) with Mark's Harley & with Hart, the horse that used to be Kathy's that is now Laura's & that is the first horse to ever throw me. I'm not even sure you can call it that - it was more like she ran so fast & weaved to & fro until I just lost any ability to cling on & went tumbling. I felt like a huge dork & Tyson didn't help matters by pointing & laughing & asking "Did anybody get that on film?" before inquiring if I was okay or not. He now thinks he has bragging rights, since he rode the same horse & managed to stay on. We also got to play Deluxe Encore, the board game I've been wanting eeryone to play where you have to sing songs with certain words or phrases in them. I thought I'd be awesome, but it's a lot harder than you'd think when you're put on the spot like that! I won't even waste my blogging space to detail the nightmarish flight (on Christmas Eve, nonetheless) other than to just say that it really sucked & I got patted down twice by security - ok, I did ask for it the second time, JK!!

So, we flew back on New Year's Eve. Lisa & Allen picked us up at the airport & we all went out to pizza, where I made my big announcement - are you ready for this? Ok, most of the people reading this already know, but it's still crazy exciting for me, thus the big presentation...I am going to college!!! I decided while I was in AZ that I needed to make a decision about what I needed to change in my life & this was the realization that I came to. I am going to get an LCSW degree, which stands for Licensed Clinical Social Worker. It sounds like I want to work for CSD or something, but that's not it at all - it's so I can go into private practice as a family/child therapist. It turns out that what most people don't know (including myself, until I started asking questions) is that it's very rare for a psychologist to actually practice therapy. They're generally more into research & testing & writing, and it's more about the biological functions of the brain & how that affects human behavior, where as the sociology focuses more on environment & relationships. I went to Rogue Community College to ask the financial aid dept. some questions & it turns out that my placement test from 1998 is still on file & usable, but unfortunately, this means that when I moved & didn't attend classes, instead of the classes being dropped like I thought they would be, I actually flunked psychology by not attending! (Ah, the irony...) So, what I had to do is to pay to take the psychology class over (starting a week late by this time) & write a letter of appeal to the financial aid dept. explaining the circumstances. The good news is that they approved my appeal & kicked in $ for the class & I'm now on academic probation until I can pass this class with a C or better & then I can ask them to remove my previous grade & replace it with my new one. So, I've been attending a Psychology 201 class every Thursday night for almost 3 hours a night since January 17. I really love it! No surprise there - I always loved learning. I just let the social stuff get in the way in high school. I will start school full time in the spring term (3/31) & still don't know for sure what I'll do for part time work as income, other than keep the transcription contracts I have. I plan to discuss my options with an advisor next Tuesday & get registered for whatever classes for spring at that time. I've already applied for a couple of scholarships & have some great letters of recommendation (one from my therapist, who is also an LCSW), but there are some scholarships I can't apply for because of my low GPA. These have a 3/1 deadline & I won't get my psychology grade until 3/21. Major bummer!

The new girl is working out great - she is just as smart & hard working as I thought she'd be & I adore her. I've told her what's going on so that we can have a little more time to train, but I'm not planning to give my notice at work until 3/1.

There's even more stuff (SO MUCH MORE!) that's been happening, but I just don't have the time to go into it all right now. I will try (I know, I've said this before!) to keep up on this so that I can get y'all caught up on all the important stuff. Thanks for being patient with me!!!