Today, life is good. Life is very good! After the crappy day I had a couple of days ago (as posted about in "The Vest Incident"), I woke up determined to change my destiny. Ok, so that may be a bit of an overstatement. However, those of you who know me well know that I can accomplish a lot when I am determined & put my mind to it. I want to be productive & happy, and thus, I shall be!

Yesterday, I got up & went to work, where I trained my fanny off, despite the new guy's best attempts to deter me & dodge patient phone calls. I told him to suck it up - I was throwing him to the wolves & it would be better for him if I did so while I was still around to help out.

Ty called me to tell me that he had a better day at school & that the bad news is that he had to knock out an 8th grader that was shoving him & calling him, in his own words, a "female dog". Please note that Tyson has put up with a lot of 8th graders trying to pick fights with him & has listened to his mom, who told him to always try to talk his way out of a fight. I changed my tune earlier in the year when a certain kid that we've had a lot of problems with (3 yrs older than Ty, mind you) spit in Tyson's face in the halls at school & I asked Tyson what he did about it & he said, "Nothing. You told me never to throw the first punch." When I spoke to the Vice Principal & the school counselor about the incident, they both were appalled that Tyson hadn't stood up for himself, as was I. So, I told him that he shouldn't go looking for trouble, but he needs to stick up for himself. Well, yesterday, he did. He tried telling this kid he didn't want to fight, but the kid kept taunting & pushing him, so Tyson hauled off & socked him a good one to the temple & knocked the kid to the ground with one hit. The kid laid there & cried while the spectators gasped in awe at the fact that this short little 6th grader who wouldn't stand up for himself before had KO'd this 8th grade bully! Tyson later told me that he went out of his way to go find this kid later & told him that he was sorry that he had to do that, but that he had to stand up for himself. The kid told Tyson that he understood & that they were cool now. I'm so proud of my boy! Not only did he not take any crap from anyone, he also was the bigger man about it!

I came home after work & made Tyson a "real dinner", did three (long!) tapes of transcription, and studied for my 5 chapter Psychology test, while managing to text my ex-sister-in-law. Afterward, I went online & finally bought the tickets to the NBA game. We decided on the Trailblazers vs. Mavericks game on April 12th. It's a Saturday at 7 pm, so it works out better schedule-wise. The only good tix were WAY too expensive, especially since I told Ty he could bring a friend, since it's for his birthday. So, Tyson told me that the important part is that we'd be there
& to just get the $6 tickets. Maybe we can work out something with a scalper once we're there, but at least we're guaranteed some seats for now. I figure we'll probably head up to Portland early Saturday morning & check into a motel, spend the day doing the tourist thing & go to the game in the evening, then just head back on Sunday afternoon.

Needless to say, by the end of the night, I was feeling pretty productive.

Today was awesome. First off, I got a "good morning" text from "The Guy", who I thought was trying to pull a Houdini on me & we met for lunch. I called him after I got off work & was on my way to school & had a great conversation. I've been missing that! It looks like we'll get to spend some time together this weekend & I am looking forward to that.

I talked to Seth today & it looks like he's going to take Tyson for a few days over Spring Break. He informed me that he lost his job. Am I surprised? Nah, the only surprise there is how long he kept this one! Anyway, he still has to run it by his girlfriend, but it looks like they'll have Ty for Easter & a couple of days afterward. We'll see...

Another exciting upcoming event is: MY BIRTHDAY!!!! And, of course, my last day at work. I convinced my co-workers some time ago that they need to throw a party in my honor (along with a potluck on my last day). I told Dr. England that all I want from him for my birthday is his pumpkin spice-cream cheese roll that he makes that is simply TO DIE FOR! Anyway, the party planning is underway! We are going to Four Daughters' Pub for dancing/drinks first, then heading over to Chadwick's for some karaoke. We're talking about making it a theme party, too. We'll see - just watch, I'll be the only one who shows up in costume!

And, last but not least: I took my Psycholoy final tonight & hung around afterward for the test results. In order to get an A in the class, I needed 360/400 possible points. I ended up with 406/400 points & I didn't even do my second extra credit project worth 20 points!!!! I'm so stoked! When the prof handed me my test results & grade, she smiled at me & said, "You did REALLY well!"

Kristin just called, so I'm gonna give her my undivided attention, since I've been too busy to talk to her the last 10 times she's called & she's overdue for an update!