Wow, I’m behind

I just checked out my bio on the right, and it still says that I’m 24. I’m a little behind, I guess! Should be fixed now.  I also have to update my Finished Objects page, but that will be for another day.

I call a do over

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, calls, and cards

I am apparently reaching the age where birthdays are less fun than they used to be, because yesterday was kind of blah.  I’m hoping it was just the circumstances though, because I am a firm believer that your birthday is your special day, damn it, and it is meant to be special no matter what.

My first mistake was working Friday night, meaning I spent the first six hours of my birthday at work.  (I knew there was a reason I never work on my b-day!)  Then I went home, couldn’t sleep, then finally fell asleep and slept until almost TEN PM.  I know I like to sleep, but that was rediculous even for me.  I didn’t miss anything though, because Friday night when Adam got to work his boss informed him that he had to go in to work five hours early yesterday and do a standby at a parade – AND work his regular shift.  So…dinner plans were already out.  Then my going-out plans were shot, because Melissa ended up having her kids.  I ended up relaxing, knitting, and watching movies.  I also made myself some gluten-free fudge truffle brownies, which were delicious (thanks Mom!)

So, I call a do-over.  Adam is trying to take tomorrow night off work (keeping my fingers, arms, legs, and toes crossed) and we’re going to go out to a nice dinner at a celiac-friendly restaurant.  Melissa and I will go out the next weekend we have off.  It’s all good.

Definitely the highlight of my day was getting to have a nice long conversation with Mom while heading home from work – a great way to end a cruddy night at work, and really great that neither one of us had to run do something else.  Thanks for having me Mom

A little bit crazy

It’s that time of the semester where classes are winding down, finals are happening…and of course, I get sick.  Nothing too bad, but just enough at the wrong time to totally wipe me out.  I worked last night, then went and took my psychology final first thing this morning (95 – yay!), then went to my last Chemistry class (all review, so I got to knit for an hour which I really needed), then took my Chemistry lab final (think it went OK) then came home and passed out for 12 hours.

So on to the crazy.  My Chemistry final is Tuesday morning, and at this point in the class I have a solid A.  The test grades up to this point are worth 80% of the grade; the final is worth 20%.  I did the math today, and I can get a 60 on the final and still get an A.  So why am I stressing about it?  I probably won’t ever know my grade on the final anyways, just my final letter grade.  And I know I’m probably going to spend my entire birthday weekend studying, even though it really doesn’t matter.  And that, my friends, is where perfectionism crosses the line to crazy.

So tonight, I am Not Studying.  I am watching Grey’s Anatomy on DVR, and knitting, and Not Studying…and working on getting healthy because TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY!  And birthdays are for fun and relaxing and not being sick, and I could use a special “me” day about now.

Public Service Announcement

Only five days left until my Birthday…clear your calendars now!

Still freaking out…a little less

OK, they received my transcript…but I have no idea when/if they will actually submit my application – so I guess I’ll be in the dark until I hear (or don’t hear) from school.

(All PA school applications are done through this central application program, who then forwards the applications to the schools once they are complete.  They verify all the coursework and calculate their own GPAs, then submit everything at once.  I don’t know if they will submit it now that they received everything, or wait until they calculate my GPAs and verify my coursework.  If that’s the case, it’ll be late.)

Oh well – nothing I can do about it now.  At least Potsdam sent the #&*@^*& transcript this time!

Freaking Out

Today is November 28th.  I have three days (including today) for CASPA (the PA school application service) to receive and process my transcript from Potsdam.  I sent it out two weeks ago for the SECOND time and it’s still not there…and I’m starting to panic.  I’ve already paid the application fee, and if this doesn’t work, I have to wait another whole year to go back to school.  I don’t know if I’ll even be able to afford school if I do get in, but I at least want the chance to try and make it work.

I’m going to go throw up now.

(It’s also Staffan’s 14th birthday – Happy Birthday Staffan!)

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday dear Mo-om…

(Insert harmony here)

Happy Birthday tooooo youuuuu!

Love you and miss you, and sending warm sunny Florida thoughts your way!  Hope you have a great day

I’m aiming for Zen

After a long and stressful weekend, I’ve decided to make my life more Zen. Thursday is not only my first holiday off in four years, but also my first holiday off with Adam in about as long. I work Wednesday night, so the plan is to come home, sleep for a while, then have a nice relaxing Thanksgiving dinner with Adam and his mom. There will be plenty of yummy food that I can eat, and an evening to relax and not be worried about work, or school, or whatever.

I’m going to try to make a conscious effort this year to enjoy the holiday season and not stress about everything so much. I already have a good chunk of my knitting done, and I plan to take an evening in the next few weeks and finish my shopping before my birthday, so I can send everything out in time and not have to deal with the mad rush the week before Christmas (like I usually do).

Today Adam and I went to Target and picked up our fake artificial tree, a few lights and some simple ornaments, and put it up when we got home!

It’s nothing fancy, but I was really craving some twinkly christmas lights. We got it set up then turned out the overhead lights and sat on the couch and watched a movie, and it was really nice and relaxing. I know it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, I’m looking forward to a enjoying it for an extended holiday season (something we could never do with a real tree down here – it would be dead in two weeks). It was fun to do everything on the spur of the moment too, rather than trying to find the time to get the tree up in the middle of the working/shopping frenzy. And I love our little tree

School is also a big reason for my new Zen philosophy. Somehow, Potsdam either never sent my transcripts or CASPA (the PA application service) never received them…so the application deadline is in eleven days and my paperwork is still not in. I resent my transcript request last week and I’ll call them Wednesday to make sure they sent it out, but I’m getting really nervous that I may not even be able to apply (and it doesn’t help that I already paid the $160 application fee). I can always apply again next year if I don’t get in this year, and if I don’t get in I’m also going to apply for RN/Nurse Practitioner school. It probably wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had to count on only getting into one program, and USF has a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner program that I want to look into.

I had a fantastic trip up to Rochester last weekend, just hadn’t had time to blog it yet! Mom picked me up at the airport and we hung out at Home Trends for a little while, then picked up Staffan and went to Mecca Wegmans.

I miss Wegmans so much! We went to the Pittsford store, and it was so much better than I remember. Best of all, they had a great gluten-free section.

Friday night we had a really nice dinner with the whole family (Mom, Paul, Sean, Staffan, and me) and watched old home movies. Saturday we went to Grandma’s for Heidi’s birthday, and it was wonderful to see everyone! (Missed you Holly, Alicia, and Shannon!) Definitely not enough time, but really really great. Sunday was Football Day, then dinner down in Avon with the Engstrom’s, and Farmor (in town from Sweden).

Alex, Staffan and I played cards.

Mikaela has gotten so big! She’s three now, and very smart and cute (and a little camera shy, I was lucky to get a couple pictures).

Then very very early Monday morning it was back to Florida. It was a great trip, even if it wasn’t as long as I would have liked. Mom, thank you so much for all the gluten-free baking mixes – I’ll be well fed this holiday season! I’m definitely not waiting another eleven months to get back up there. I’ll leave you with some beautiful fall colors (I miss those down here, although I have my share of raking leaves…)

One Year Ago Today…

I got my braces.  At the time, the orthodontist quoted me two years, so theoretically I’m halfway done – but I’m still hoping for less!  Happy brace-a-versary to me

If a cat can do it…