46

Today is my 46th birthday, so I decided to write something for prosperity. I can't believe I'm closer to 50 than 40 now. My body has started to feel the wear, and I think I should probably start bringing "readers" with me everywhere I go now. I'm trying to stay as physically healthy as possible, expecially given my family history. I'm grateful for Lulu giving me the death stare on a sunny day until I take her up top for a long walk. I'm setting the intention to ride my stationary bike for at least 30 minutes each day and hope to add yoga and/or a workout, too. The new job I started in October reimburses up to $35/month as a fitness incentive, so I activated a gym membership 3/1 that I still haven't gone to. I've learned and changed a lot throughout my lifetime, obviously, but especially the past few years. This may be part of the developmental stage I'm currently in, but I think it also has a lot to do with going to grad school and going through a global pandemic (which required a lot of isolation and forced self-reflection). I'm learning that less is more. Simple is better. Routine is important and allows me to be spontaneous when the right opportunity presents itself. I've learned that good friends are worth their weight in gold, and it's important to reserve time to be with the people who truly matter and quit wasting precious time on those who take you for granted or use you. I've gone from assuming good intentions to hoping for good intentions but not trusting anyone until they've demonstrated their trustworthiness. It may sound like I've become more cynical and isolated, but it really is more like I recognize the importance of reserving my resources for myself and those who genuinely matter so I can be kinder, more patient, and more generous. I'm hoping to start writing here more frequently, because another thing I've learned is how feeble the memory is and how meaningful it can be to reflect on details that may otherwise be forgotten. For instance, Tyson, Victoria, and the kids took me out to The Melting Pot for my birthday last night, which I've been dying to try for years! They gave me a beautiful hummingbird solar lamp and a crystal suncatcher.

My friend, Kate, took me to Thai food for dinner and then to see Princess Goes to the Butterfly Museum (Michael C. Hall's band) at the Star Theater in Portland Friday night. It was an absolutely wonderful and mellow birthday weekend, and I feel very loved.

Baby on the way!!!

Just read my latest update and thought I'd better update that update. I left the job working for Youth Contact at Tualatin High School and accepted a position with Columbia Community Mental Health for about a year and a half before I had to walk out. It was overwhelming, and there was no way to meet the demands of the agency and actually do good work with my clients because the workload was unrealistic and there was no support from admin. Although I'd met the requirements for direct service hours and supervision hours, I was notified by the state licensing board that I needed two additional months of supervision to meet the 24 month requirement for my LCSW. I was able to get a new supervisor through one of my former coworkers, and it morphed into a new job! I just started working for this non-profit providing mental health services in the school-based health centers in Vernonia and Scappoose. I asked to work four 9-hour days so I have a 3-day weekend for resting, tending to appointments, and eventually doing private practice (probably remotely) one day a week. Anyway, that's all the boring work stuff. Three months ago, Tyson moved in with his girlfriend, Victoria, and her (then 8 y/o) daughter, Grace. Tyson and Victoria are expecting, and the due date is less than a month away now, on December 7!!! It feels weird and surreal to think about being a grandma, but I have a few friends (including Krista and Galela) who beat me to the punch, and that helps a little.

I'm so excited to meet the newest member of my family! They were considering the name Xander for a long time before settling on Milo Benjamin Morris. Tyson has been working as a server up here and spending any time off working on writing songs for others and himself, discussing merch/sponsors/branding/gigs/networking with his new manager, performing shows, and flying back and forth from LA to record songs and videos. He's super talented, and of course I'm incredibly proud, but dang I wish he wasn't so stressed about it and could enjoy the process more.

The new job offers employees $5,000 to buy a house within 15 miles of our work sites, so I've begun the process of getting approved for a home-loan with Tyson so we can get into a place of our own since rent is so ridiculous. I may not have mentioned it before, but COVID hit Oregon 3/13/2020, and life has been very odd since. Here we are, a year and a half later, and it's still the main thing on everyone's mind and the primary topic of discussion (masks, vaccines, symptoms, political implications, etc.). It affects transportation, shopping (supply/demand due to lack of workers), socialization, and even will impact Victoria's delivery. It's strange times we're living in, but the blessing I've chosen to take from this experience is to prioritize better and limit the energy I expend on people so I can reserve it for those who matter most.

Seven Years of Life: the Readers Digest Condensed Version

Feeling nostalgic, so I'm writing here for the first time in years. So much has changed! I was going to write without looking to see how long or what was going on then, but that just didn't make sense with all the Big. Events. I think the easiest way to do this is to summarize, and then maybe I'll come back some day and fill in some details. Who knows? Maybe I'll finally write a fucking memoir. I got that second major in Journalism and wrote for the Sneak Preview for a year and a half as a side gig. Tyson became "Sports Editor" and we each had monthly columns. The night before my SOU graduation, I got a call from Dad saying he wouldn't be able to make it because he'd been diagnosed with lung cancer. Tyson graduated in 2014 with a 3.5 GPA as an All-Star basketball and football athlete. He took an offer for an academic scholarship at a Division III private college in Allegheny, PA and went to live in the dorms. Winter break, he came out to visit and decided not to go back. Instead, he transferred to a community college outside of LA, where his high school girlfriend lived with her mom, and started rapping. He eventually moved up to Portland and is currently living back in Medford, writing and recording music. He just got his first break bartending/serving and hopes to eventually transfer and move back to LA older to pursue his music. Seth never did have to pay child support, dammit. I thought at least Tyson would get back pay, but no such luck. Can't squeeze blood from a turnip, as Mom used to say. So yeah, Tyson and I saw Dad for the last time July 5, 2013. He died just over two weeks later. And that's pretty much when everything started to fall apart. Mom outlived him by 11 months, after a quadruple bypass surgery she never quite recovered from. After years of anger and resentment for not being the strong woman I wanted her to be, I've finally recognized all the wonderful qualities she did possess, and I've forgiven her. It wouldn't be Mom if it wasn't complicated, though, and of course there's a lot of guilt. I wish I had the chance to ask her to forgive me. I wonder if that will ever go away... Fast-forward to Kathy introducing me to a guy she went to high school with, a real sweetheart/teddy bear type who ultimately was little too passive and conservative for it to work. The two of us moved to Scappoose together and I bought a boat with some of the money I inherited when Dad died. We lived aboard the Last Mate for a couple few years. During that time, I got work at a social service non-profit agency as a case manager working with Portland families facing homelessness. I eventually ended up working in the Early Childhood program and learned how to be a puppeteer so I could present to K-5th graders about being kind, standing up for others and reporting abuse, etc. I finally applied for the MSW program at PSU, but wasn't sure if I really wanted to go. Got rejected. Freaked out that in order to use my scholarship, I HAD to get accepted the next year (2017). Did a LOT of networking. Got in. Killed it. Loved it. The Social Work program is basically group therapy with a bunch of likeminded empaths. I learned so much more than social work. Boundaries and self-worth, even. Whodathunk? Graduated last June with my MSW (Children, Youth & Families concentration) and my School Social Work License. Got a job working as a mental health therapist with teens and their families at a high school about an hour drive from where I live in Scappoose (oh yeah, sold the boat to Mick when we broke up and rented a floating boathouse apartment in the same moorage). It's been a really rough start, but I'm finally getting my bearings a little bit and while I'm far from perfect and only just beginning, I'm good at what I do and I love being a therapist! I got a fancy hybrid electric car (2013 Chevy Volt), my credit score is in the "excellent" range, I have a shit ton of college loan debt, I got a dog (Lulu is the sweetest Olde English Bulldog ever!!!) and I need reading glasses. I think I'm finally grown up.

Random musings

I just got back from an hour-long bike ride in this beautiful, 75+ degree weather! I so enjoy these rides and I can't believe I let myself forget just how much. I haven't made exercise a priority in the last 9 months, since I'm pretty focused on school and Tyson. But a friend's boyfriend, of all people, reminded me how much better we feel and how much more productive we are when we make time to exercise. With the increasingly steady appearance of the sun, I feel more motivated to get out and get moving, and I was thinking today about how beneficial it is to my mental state as well as the physical. I work too hard. I've recently realized I'm a control freak. Actually, someone joked about it and it resonated with me in such a way it echoed in my head for days afterward. I mentioned it to a friend, who laughed so hard he spit beer out his nose and told me he thought I knew that about myself. Like a movie montage, my mind recalled several different moments where I should have taken note, but didn't. And, hey, I'm making peace with it. I think at this point in my life, when I need to be on-task and successfully traverse my own college graduation and application to grad school in addition to helping prepare and plan Tyson's future with him, while making the transition to living on my own for the first time since I was 19, I need to be meticulous and dedicated to my goals. For this reason, I'm embracing my inner control freak for the time being. However, I will revisit this issue when the dust settles. I want spontaneity and messy relationships eventually. Just not right now. I'm actually, for the first time in my life, in that place where everyone always says you should be as a single person. The grass is greener from where I stand, being single. I'm independent and able to focus on what's really important. No one around to distract me or make me question myself or to have to compromise with/for. And, although this also means no one to see me naked, I plan to use this opportunity to work on my physical appearance for the sake of self-confidence and for my health. Not to fit someone else's ideal. I like it here, by myself, where no one can judge me. I like being in a crowd by myself, so I can take it all in without someone else's perception clouding my own. Well, those are my somewhat-deep-thoughts for the day. Back to work I go. I have four stories due this weekend and I want to get them done before Tyson gets back from Salem, where he's playing with his travel team.

Funny how much has NOT changed since the last time I posted. I am still working on trying to balance out my work/school/family/social life, putting the emphasis on Tyson. I found out that the EMDA class was actually a requirement of my Journalism major, so I signed up for it over the summer and have one final project that I'm working on this week, but it looks like I should get an A! I'm not sure if I ever clarified on here that I am pursuing a second major in Journalism. So as it stands, I have completed the undergraduate requirements for my Bachelor's in Psychology with a minor in Sociology. Because I'm staying in school longer, I won't walk at graduation until next summer (in June of 2013). A couple of terms ago I started doing an internship for a local newspaper (the Ashland Sneak Preview: http://www.sneakpre.com/ashland-sneak-preview-archive) as part of my major's requirements. At the end of the term I was asked if I wanted to continue to write for them and get paid to publish one story a month. I have been given "carte blanche" to basically write about anything I want that has to do with Ashland. So far I've written about the golf course, a gala night for an SOU theater production, a city ordinance regarding urban farming and a stand-up comedy troupe. I absolutely love my editor and his wife (who is from Sams Valley and Gold Beach)! I have been volunteering at the Dunn House, a local shelter for survivors of domestic violence. This started out as part of my psychology practicum requirements, but I enjoy the work, so I have stayed on. Tyson got his license a couple of weeks ago and I bought him a '99 Honda Civic in November (black, 2-door, 5-speed, tinted windows & a moon roof) which he will buy from me for half the price I paid for it. It's been a struggle trying to come up with the money for car payments and now my insurance has doubled. However, Seth just got a job so I should start getting back child support which will help cover these expenses. I don't want Tyson to have to worry about monthly payments and getting a job with everything else he has going on, but he does have to come up with his own gas money. For the past three weeks, Tyson has been assisting his middle school basketball coach at summer clinics for kids ages 7 - 13, as well as going to daily weight training and football practice. Summer basketball just ended. We didn't do all that great, but summer ball isn't always a great indicator of how our school season will go because some of the major players choose not to play over summer for a variety of reasons. Tyson will be a junior in the fall and he is the captain of the boy's varsity basketball team and also the starting linebacker/running back for the varsity football team. His grandpa & uncle (Seth's dad & brother) bought him a letterman's jacket for his birthday. In addition to his sports accomplishments, Tyson has worked really hard on his grades this year and has earned college credits by taking advanced placement (AP) classes and still managed to not get a single C all year! If he continues to take AP classes, he has the possibility of entering college as a sophomore. Last month I was invited to my friends' wedding. They are a gay couple and the wedding was held in San Francisco at a rooftop garden. It was absolutely beautiful and an amazing experience to be a part of. When I arrived, the couple asked me to officiate the wedding (and of course I accepted)! I was dating someone for a while (a guy I knew from my high school days), but that didn't work out. However, it was such an incredible learning experience that I have absolutely no regrets about having gone through it. At the time of the relationship and the breakup I was taking a Positive Psychology class which really helped me recognize my own strengths and taught me how to be resilient and grateful. If any of you are interested in learning more about positive psychology, you can go to the website: http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/. Well, I really do need to get cracking on my EMDA project, but I just wanted to update people on all the new and exciting things that have been going on in my life (if anyone still reads this)!

I am feeling a lot better than my last couple of blog posts and wanted to update people with good news for a change!

When I became overwhelmed and had to drop the EMDA class & lab, I also decided to cut out all the socializing. Now that I have stepped back from most of my "friendships," I am more aware of how things really were. I was giving more to these people who mostly didn't deserve my time and energy, but who gladly accepted it, than to myself or my son. The longer I've had away from certain people, the more I've realized how shallow those friendships were and how much I was being used and/or disrespected.

The good news is, I do have many wonderful friends who understand I don't have time to hang out all the time but who love me anyway and are willing to hang out when I can make the time.

The even better news is that I have a lot more time (though still not enough!!) to focus on my home life, work, and school work. I had a moment last night when I was washing my face and brushing my teeth where I realized I had gotten out of the habit of doing so at night, just falling into bed and then waking up for a shower in the morning. I thought to myself about how much more clearly my thinking has become and how I feel good about the quality of work I'm putting out as well as the quality of time I have with Tyson. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw a hardworking woman who deserves to end every night with 5 - 10 minutes of private time to focus on herself and realized how much I've been disrespecting myself in little ways and not even being aware of it. And then it occurred to me that maybe that's why others were treating me disrespectfully, because I had accepted it.

As a matter of fact, I had an interesting email conversation with a guy I knew from middle school on Facebook. We were doing the usual "catching up," where we talked about our kids, relationships, jobs, college, travels, etc. over the last 20 years and he asked if I was single. That's fine--I replied that I was, but that I was grateful for the fact these days. He then implied that I must just have "buddies" that I use for my sexual needs. Again, I deflected and said that I'm not really into casual sex or that whole scene. He replied by making a comment about pleasing myself and sex toys. At that point, I decided he had really gone too far. I'm no prude and I'm very open about topics around sex (obviously, as a potential sex therapist, I'd have to be!), but I also realized that I felt that he was disrespecting me by violating my privacy and I had never encouraged him in this way. I wrote him back and told him that I didn't want to discuss my sex life with him and that he needed to not ask me such personal things. At first, I was thinking about how I could be funny about it or look out for his feelings and say things like, "I'm sure you didn't mean to but..." and then I realized that I need to quit making excuses for others or trying to put their feelings ahead of my own, when he was the one to insult me. It felt really good and very empowering! I wasn't rude, but I was very direct.

So anyway, that's the scoop on where I'm at these days. Calm, direct, and focused on the things I want to make priorities in my life. I like the new me and I think I'll see a big difference in the way people treat me as a result.

This has been a very emotional week for me. I'm sure losing Aunt Wanda had something to do with it. As I explained to my sister, Laura, last night on the phone, although I adored Aunt Wanda and will miss her, it's more about feeling for my dad and my sister, Kathy, who was very close to her. I also feel for Uncle Glenn and their two daughters, but my heart is aching for these two people I love so much. I know they're "handling it" just fine, but I also know how it feels to lose someone close to you and I know from experience that it will be a process, with some days better than others.

The day after Aunt Wanda died would have been Shannon's birthday. I thought about her, of course, and missed her, but for some reason it's really sinking in today. I was on Facebook and sent her oldest son a friend request and saw pictures of him and his two younger siblings. I don't know why, but it was actually the picture of them with their dad that hit me hard and made me start crying. Regardless of what happened at the end, Shannon and Brett were together off and on since we were all 13, and they loved each other so much. There's just something about knowing that there's someone else who feels the loss in the same way that you do, that knew all the good and bad things about that person and misses them just like you.

I think maybe another reason this is all coming up is because I attended the suicide intervention part of my volunteer training last night and of course that made me think of Shannon. Another thing is that I've really been evaluating my friendships lately and been disappointed by so many people that it makes me long for the closeness that she and I had. I do have some amazing friends that I'm close with and I am going to focus on cherishing those friendships and not blindly trusting people anymore.

I have definitely begun a new chapter in my life in which I plan to put all of my effort into Tyson and myself for the next few years. I have so many things going on right now that I'm barely hanging on and I need to cut out any extraneous crap that can affect our happiness.

For the first time in my life, I can honestly say that I am not looking and actually am WORRIED that I might find someone because it will interfere with my goals. I am looking forward to the day when I finally have my masters degree and begin my new career and life without raising a child or worrying about anyone else. I know that may sound selfish to some, but it just seems that I've always put someone else's happiness ahead of my own and I look forward to putting my energy into myself and discovering the life that I want.

Overall, I feel melancholy and wistful today. I am feeling sad and hopeful all at once, and it feels very vulnerable.

Well, my excitement quickly transformed into an intense feeling of being overwhelmed once I delved into the learning process in my EMDA class which I planned to use this blog for. I won't go into details, but I think I did the smart thing by withdrawing from that class to minimize my class load this term. I'm now down to 12 credits, which is still full time, and with the TA position, practicum hours at the psychologist's office, and volunteer work, I think I'll be plenty busy still. I actually skipped my classes today so I could stay home and get caught up on schoolwork and online quizzes (as well as transcription) and it's only the second week of the term! I'm sure I'll do fine, now that I extricated myself from the EMDA class and a few other "obligations" that I felt I had to commit to. I'll try to still keep up on the blogging.

Today is the first day of fall term at SOU. I'm excited because I'll be taking communications and digital arts/media classes as part of my journalism minor in addition to the psychology and sociology classes I've been taking. It looks like it will be pretty challenging, too-- I have a research paper assignment in my Media History class that has a minimum 25-page requirement with 35 sources! I actually have an idea of what I want to write it about and how I can incorporate my psych and soc knowledge, though, so I'm excited about the challenge.

One of the assignments for my EMDA (Emerging Media and Digital Arts) class is to set up a blog (or use a previously existing one to post our work on), so you will be seeing some of my schoolwork posted here. I'm not really sure about the context other than the fact that it will involve some form of visual graphic art and/or photography, so stay tuned...

P.S. I got my final grades for summer term: A+ in Human Sexuality, A in my senior capstone class, and a B+ in Philosophy of Science and Religion.

Well, between the guilt from my dad and being shown up by my sister, Kathy, I have determined it's time to post on my blog again! These things really are great. There are a lot of things I had forgotten about until I went back through some of my blogging history and was reminded.

Right now I'm in finals week, two terms away from getting my BS in Psychology. I am taking my first capstone class in which I prepare a portfolio of my future career and educational goals and how I will accomplish them. Part of the capstone process is working with a local agency to gain 100 hours of experience in the field. I met with a clinical psychologist and three-time published author today who specializes in sexuality and divinity. She agreed to supervise me and I will be working in her office for two hours a week as well as being her teaching assistant next term (she is also a prof at SOU) for her Human Sexuality class (which I took earlier this summer and got 102% in). I'll get a chance to review her chart notes and learn how to open and close cases, along with the day-to-day operations of running a private therapy practice. I am so excited at the prospect of getting some hands-on experience and I feel closer than ever to my goal.

I'm in the process of deciding whether to graduate in two terms with a psych major and sociology and journalism minor or changing my sociology minor to a major. I've done extensive research and am just waiting to hear back from my sociology advisor before I decide for sure. I have, however, made the decision to stay in the area and get my master's in social work (MSW) degree here. I will be applying for the Portland State University distance learning program held on the SOU campus in January, and classes begin in fall term of 2012.

There's a whole lot more to talk about (after all, it's been over a year since I posted!), but I really need to get back to working on my papers which are due in a few short days. I'll try to get back to blogging more often from here on out!

I've been busy lately, trying to balance and juggle work and play, responsibilities and priorities. It's been so beautiful out and I really just want to go play, but I've made myself work out and do homework, as well as taking care of other priorities, like Tyson's basketball schedule. He just closed up the summer season for the incoming freshmen team, but works out and does drills in Medford with some of the valley's best coaches. He is waiting to hear from two different travel teams he wants to play for this summer.)

As I've mentioned on my blog before, my friend Samantha has been going through an incredibly tough time in her life, having lost her mom suddenly to a heart attack right after starting college, then her dad had complications from a triple bypass and has had to have multiple procedures as a result. She's such a great person and it's hard to watch anyone go through this, but especially someone who has worked so hard and taken a lot of blows, but still keeps pushing forward without blaming others. I've been trying to squeeze in as much time for her as possible these days to offer my support and keep her mind occupied.

I also helped the therapist that serves as my mentor move into a new office today and I asked her if I could interview her about her career and education so I can get a better idea of the path I want to take before I proceed any further. I had a great time with her and she had some great insights and ideas. I'll write more about that after I talk with my advisor and do some more research.

The only thing I didn't get to do today was work out. I've been trying to do something active every day, but I guess some days it just can't happen (I'm too busy, lol!).

Well, today was Tyson's graduation...from 8th grade. He survived middle school! He thought the whole graduation & pictures thing was lame, but I did get manage to get him to pose for a few shots.



I started school again today, with my first class of the summer, The Psych Major. It's a 5-hour class, but only today & Thursday, and then I'm done! Until next week, when I start Conceptual Writing & Poverty, Family, & Policy (a Sociology class). Those classes get out July 16th & then I take a psychology class (Intro to Helping Skills) from August 16 through the 29th. Oh, and I don't know if I mentioned it or not, but I got A's in all of my classes last term!

So, I've decided to stick with a Psych major/Soc minor, but I am looking into getting a second minor in Journalism and plan to take as many creative writing and Spanish classes as possible for the next two years.

Yesterday was my RCC graduation ceremony. I've uploaded a slideshow here & I'll post a link to the video from graduation once they put it on the college page, just wanted to get the pics up. Off to do a photo shoot for my niece, Heather before she pops!



Here's the link to watch the RCC graduation: http://stream1.roguecc.edu/2010grad/2010-rcc-grad.wmv (Just copy & paste or type that into your address bar.) I come in around 15:40 and have the gold stole around my neck. I get my diploma at 1:21:59 and around 1:26:00 I'm in the front when we put our tassles on the other side.

Sooooo..... while I was in a funk from being sick, I've done some soul searching and I want some honest feedback. I'm asking for your opinions, so I want the truth. Just understand that I won't be making my decisions based entirely upon others' opinions. I just need to put things into perspective & I think some outside advice may help.

As you know, I've just entered my junior year in college. This is basically the last chance that I have to change my direction before I go any further without screwing up my time frame or finances.

My focus thus far has been on therapy of some sort, whether it be as a Sociology or Psychology major. If I continue in this direction, I'll most likely go for a Psychology major with a Sociology minor, then get my Masters degree in Mental Health Counseling. I have the option of continuing from there to either get my LCSW or PhD.

The other crazy idea I have is to switch gears and go for a degree in writing of some sort -- journalism (maybe even photojournalism?) or editing. I like all the different kinds of writing I've been exposed to & want to write someday, either fiction or even psychological articles, if I go that route. I enjoy reporting and technical writing, along with graphic design and advertising.

Okay, well those are my thoughts. Any feedback would be appreciated! And for those of you who are local, my RCC graduation will be Saturday, June 12 at 6 p.m. at the Grants Pass campus. For those of you who are out of town, it would be great to see you, but don't feel obligated to come. This is only my first graduation. :)

Well, I made it through the week (barely)! I've been progressively feeling crappier despite taking antibiotics, so I finally went to the doctor, who gave me more antibiotics.

Tyson is still pretty sick too, but wanted to go to Salem to play basketball with one of the Rogue Valley's traveling teams. I hope I made the right decision in letting him go, being sick and all, but I just couldn't bring myself to deny him the opportunity.

In his absence, I'm taking it easy. I do have a lot of transcription & finals to do, but I'm trying to take at least today to get some R&R and hopefully get better. It's beautiful outside & everyone's camping or traveling for Memorial Day weekend, but I'm holed up on my couch watching chick flicks & crime dramas. On the upside, I've discovered a few new shows: Castle, Drop Dead Diva, and Happy Town. And I re-watched How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Oh, that Winston... If he were here, he'd take such good care of me... (although I wouldn't want him to see me looking like this!)

Today was a rough one. It started out well. I woke up slightly groggy from staying up doing homework last night, since I spent all weekend doing farming, transcription, and basketball games (all this while still sick after 2 weeks)! I actually got to my 8 am yoga/meditation class on time, and had a really nice, mellow class. Afterward, I got a cup of coffee to accompany my healthy breakfast of a banana, granola bar, and yogurt & headed off to my "Media in Communications" class. I had some time in between classes, so I sat down & organized my notebooks & my planner. Off to a great start!

After class, I checked my voicemail & was told I had an extra tape to pick up for one of the docs I'm filling in for, so I picked that up & headed home for an hour to eat lunch, do my online transcription, purchase my books for the next two terms, and register for summer & fall classes. The address on my debit card didn't match my new address that I wanted to books shipped to, so I had to change my info with my bank. In the meantime, $93 was charged to my bank account eight times, so I had to call my bank to straighten that out. While doing so, I emailed the professor of my 2 pm class to see if we were having class, because I'd written down that there was no class in my organizer but wasn't sure. While I was logged into my school email, I noticed an email from the McNair program that I had interviewed for last week. I was a little surprised, not to mention disappointed, to discover that I wasn't chosen for the program.

I got a reply from my prof that we did indeed have class, so I headed back to Ashland for school. Once class got out, I picked up some groceries & more transcription, dropped everything off, and headed to Phoenix to pick Tyson up from basketball practice. On the way, I stopped off to check the mail & I got a letter saying that they had adjusted my financial aid, so now I will be getting at least $600 less next term. The other piece of mail was from my doctor recommending I call to schedule a pap smear. This day had definitely taken a turn for the worse.

Tyson was exhausted when I picked him up & is feeling sick all over again (I got my cough from him), so he was grouchy. We came home, I cooked dinner while doing transcription, and Tyson took a shower & fell asleep watching TV in his room (without dinner).

I went back to Ashland at 7 to pick up four more doctors' dictations & came back home & decided to work on a project for school & take a break from the transcription, saving it for tomorrow. I wasted 2 hours watching this movie all the way through before I realized that it was a different movie (by the same title) than my prof had assigned.

I'm going to bed now, so I can get up tomorrow & do it all over again... ugh!

Here's what I did today:



My friend Michael (my old editor from the RCC Byline) called me up the other day & asked if I'd be interested in volunteering, putting in a garden for the local food pantry. I said I would & he asked me to bring other volunteers, so I rounded up Mary, Allen, & Tyson & we went to work on the farm today. There was a photographer there from the Mail Tribune, too, so we might be in the paper!

Well, I just basically wanted to get these pics uploaded & now I have to get to work -- I picked up that extra transcription this evening, so it's back to the grind!

Sure enough, Tyson brought me breakfast in bed for Mother's Day. Afterward, I called my mom & had a nice long talk with her. I think that was the extent of the celebration, which is perfect as far as I'm concerned.

I did my Media/Communications class presentation and I think it went pretty well. We haven't gotten our grades back on it yet. One of the other three students never met with us to do any work on the essay or presentation, so we had to politely explain to her that she couldn't present with us. We had all tried to include her in our emails & meetings & she never responded, so we were a little surprised when she replied to our email asking her not to prsent with us saying that she was "hurt." That very same week, she copied & pasted one of my other team members' weekly post online for an assigment! I felt a little less bad after that happened.

My other classes have been going well, except for the fact that I didn't attend all of them last week. I caught some cough/chest thing that Tyson had & it's been really doing a number on me. I'm going on two weeks now & it's still pretty bad.

Last weekend I went to Heather's baby shower, which was a potluck BBQ at a park in Medford. There were a bunch of people there I didn't know, but Mary & Matt came, Allen came with me, and Mindy & Brandon were there of course. Heather was a little cranky, but I think she's at that point in her pregnancy. I took some pics, but I think they got lost when my hard drive crashed on my laptop. (Dell overnighted me a new one, which is what I'm using now). I'll look to see if they might have been uploaded to my other laptop by any chance. I sure hope so. I know for sure I lost all Tyson's basketball videos from the past three seasons, which is a TOTAL bummer!

Last night, Mary & I went to Grants Pass for my brother Allen's Phi Theta Kappa honor society induction. His sponsor & Rosalie & David came, as well. The ceremony itself was very short, but I took video & pics, so I'll add those to this post as soon as I get a chance. Allen has a 4.0 GPA & I hope he sticks with school so he can see the potential that we have all seen in him.



Well, I'm gonna eat something & try to nap a little bit before I get started on some homework. I'm trying to get ahead in school because I'll be filling in for another transcriptionist all next week & it's also the week before finals.

I don't actually have anything new to report, but am trying to stay in better touch with family, and blogging is one way to do that...

My niece, Mary, came over for coffee Friday morning (yesterday), then we went to Medford & did some shopping before I headed over to my friend, Samantha's. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but her mom just died a few weeks ago, and now her dad's going in for tripple bypass surgery. She's obviously been going through a rough time, but she's really keeping it together. We went shopping at the craft store to look for scrapbooking ideas for a project for one of her classes. Afterward, we went out to Mexican food, then she came over & we had a nice long girl's chat in my room until after midnight.

I also put together a paper for my communications class which I present with three other students on Monday morning. I'm actually pretty excited about it, because my team members are really smart & liked my ideas, as well as having some great ones of their own. I figured if it's a class about media and the effect it has on society and cultures, we should include video & music in our power point presentation. Nobody else has done that in our class, and I think it's going to go over really well.

I popped over to my friend and old neighbor, Bridget's, today for a little visit & a banana daquiri. I'm not sure what's on the agenda for tomorrow for Mother's Day. Tyson has some friends staying the night, so I'm gonna just chill in my room & fall asleep to a movie. I do enjoy this quieter life!

Had a great weekend! I went out to an early dinner with Rosalie and her husband, David, at The Roadhouse. She & I have just recently reconnected after not having seen eachnother since I was in elementary school. She's a good friend & old flame of my brother's. I arrived late, and she had made her hubby wait at the table while she ran home, so I didn't know what to do when I walked in. (I'd never met her husband before). Fortunately, the hostess went over & asked him if his name was David, and I headed on over to introduce myself. I liked him immediately -- super easy to talk to, and a genuinely nice, intelligent guy. After dinner, I came home and worked on homework.

We had two back-to-back games on Saturday night and we won both. Tyson was really on! I'm going to try to upload one of the mixes he made of some highlights from his games(I record them with my camera's video setting, so the focus isn't always great).



Tyson's friend, Eddy, stayed the night after the games & went to church with us this morning. We all had a great time and I ran into a couple that I know from basketball and from SOU, so that was cool. I just think it's so great that Tyson has formed friendships with kids he knows share his beliefs and that the boys would enjoy going to church together.

Other than that, I stayed home all weekend doing homework and unpacking/organizing. It can be ovewhelming to go through all this stuff, but it feels so good to get rid of some things and sort others.

Alright, I'm up waaaaay too late & should get to bed now. I have my first class (yoga/meditation) at 8 am. Ugh!! But hey, at least I can't get in trouble for falling asleep in class... ;)