Almost Done

This coming Wednesday is my last class!! Yea! So excited. Not that it hasn't been all sorts of fun, but it will be great to get that first one out of the way and move on. I'm ready.

Saturday is hannah's wedding. Can anyone believe that? i cannot. It's gotten here sooooo quickly for me. I can't believe that it happening, but I think that she is REALLY ready for this. I know it's been a big stressor for her for a while now.

My daughter is sick. The doctor diagnosed her with foot, hand, & mouth virus. The real name starts with an 'ST' and ends in 'MITUS' or something, but I cannot remember what that name is. There's nothing that they can do I guess... it has to run its course, and we ahve to keep an eye on her fever. Lots of fun. It's super contageous so I have had to try to clean everything... I've heard that's good practice so when she gets to school and they THINK she has lice, I'll have to do the same thing. But can I get this foot, hand, mouth thing? The tingle in my throat and little ping on my thumb is just my body's way of freaking me out right? Dr. Danielle???

Class, class, class...

So our learning team is meeting at the school tonight... I have no idea where in the school, but somewhere. I have been there once and know where the bathroom and that one classroom are... That's it. Good luck, Rachel. I don't even have our assignment done this week. Frankly, I don't want to do it. I know it's a bad attitude, but I have other things to work on tonight rather than this paper, but this is the last paper. Our last night is next Wednesday! YEA! But then I have another class starting on the 13th. They can't give me a couple of week to relax or anything, huh?

So I stayed up last night to work on my paper, yeah that didn't happen too well. I almost got through my abstract. So guess who's staying up late tonight? Yeah... I spent too much time dealing with learning team drama and chatting than I did working... Oh well, better luck next time.

Self improvement tip of the day: Keep your mouth shut and your eyes and ears open, you just might learn something.

I GOT AN 'A'

I did our Learning Team assignment, and we got a perfect score. See what a little concentration and bullying can get you? LOL. Anyways, got that score back, now I need to do my paper that's due Wed. 5 pages... Haven't started. Yeah, maybe I should be working on that...

Friday a group of us went out, Okay, most of the people that read this are the ones that went. It was a good time. It was a birthday/bachlorette party. Should have been a blast, really wasn't that great. It could have been better. The whole time I was thinking, why isn't she having fun? Why won't she just smile? At one point I wanted to shake our birthday girl/bride-to-be and yell, HAVE SOME FUN! Narrow-mindedly thinking that since I have fun going to the city and bar-hopping, why the heck isn't she? There more than the blasted 30 mile radius that she sees everyday to life. But then, I had to control the drunken (tipsy, really, we walked around too much to be very drunk) tongue and not make the night any worse. On the way home while talking to her, it hit me: She's happy. She really is happy. She has a great fiance', a good family, a nice house to move into, a good job-- everything she's ever really wanted anyway. Why should our search for Friday night fulfillment interfere with something like that? So bars aren't her thing, so what? It would have been great to have had this kind of epiphany BEFORE the party, but it was still good to get out for a change. I think that she did have enough fun to justify the time and money spent out too. Better luck next bachlorette party, I guess. So, who's next?

Remind me

Please remind me why I'm going to school. Really. My learning team for the week before this last got 75% on our assignment. I offered 3 times to help anyone who need help so we could get a good grade, not a C. I did most of the work on this last one. We better get an A.

I woke up and thought it was Saturday this morning. I am not sure why b/c I have plans tonight, and Lord knows I didn't leave the house last night long enough for Friday night plans!!

Sorry I'm so solemn... Just really, really ready for this weekend. Have a good one everybody!!

Happy Father's Day...

So yesterday was Father's day... we celebrated at my home... Steven and Tina and the kids were all there. It was a good time... The men aired up a little pool for the kids and they all splashed around (some big kids like Steven included). My little girl turned out to be quite the little water baby even though the water was a little chilly. I was thinking back to all the Father's days and special times I had shared with my dad and became a little sad. Sad that my daughter will probably never have that kind of relationship with her father. It made me want to cry a little that even if that kind of thing is "normal" now that I don't know how to handle it, then all sorts of situations that I'm not equipped to handle came to mind and I had to change the subject in my mind. How can being a single parent ever be normal for a child. I think that she will miss a lot not having her father around. Maybe not... maybe everything will work out just fine. It will all be new and different.

Ok... on to something else: Krystle Gaddy is out of the hospital as of last night. She'll be staying with a friend in Archie until she can move around a little more. She still has lots of recouperation, but she will be fine.

SOOOOO.... Yeah

Not much happening, yet still I write. I'm so ready for a weekend, and hope that the upcoming one will be productive. Need to clean and work on home work. I have another paper coming up, maybe I'll get started on it aheard of time, 'ya think?

But I must have a proud mommy moment: My little girl now has darn near 7 teeth and is taking up to 7-8 steps all by herself. She is growing up so much. It's just beautiful to be experiencing that with her. She smiles and giggles when she sees me and says "Uh-Oh!" when she "drops" something on the floor. She shrugs her little shoulder and is learning to bat her eyes at her grandma and grandpa to get what she wants. She sleeps through the night now and eats "big people food" like a champ and LOVES watermelon! I sometimes wish that I could just stay home and be with her and remember EVERY little cuteness about her. Last night, she danced a little with my brother Matthew and showed him for the first time that she could walk more than one step. He was very impressed with his niece, but what do you expect? So far, every stage of her life thus far is my favorite. And I hope and pray that that she will always be this wonderful and happy.

Hey, please be sure to check out my poems link of my latest. I'm so excited about getting it all up and running...

Who Needs Homework?

Oh, yeah... that would be me!! I have a paper due tomorrow, but who works ahead on these kinds of things, seriously? I haven't even read up on my reasearch... I'll be up late the next couple of nights. It's supposed to be 700-1050 words... not too bad, but then again it is b/c I haven't written a real paper for quite a little while. I don't really have anything else going on right now (that's a good thing), I probably need to concentrate some on school, 'ya think!?!?

FRIDAY!! IT'S FRIDAY!!

Yeah... ready to go HOME... really ready. It's been a long week. And it will be a long weekend trying to get my homework all in... we'll see what happens.

Hey, I got my Sears pictures of Miss Maddie back today, SOOOOOO cute! SOOOOO excited!

Here's an update on Monica:

Monica has been moved to Menorah and is settling in just fine. She was having a really good day yesterday and Tina thinks the change of scenery was good.

Unfortunately, due to the extent of her injuries, Rehab will be a very slow process and they have to take small steps at a time. Right now, they are working to get her comfortable with the wheelchair and the ability to transfer to and from the chair. She is learning to be more self sufficient for now. They plan to release her in the next 7 to 10 days. She will be able to heal better in the comfort of her own home and her own bed which will be good for everyone.
I sensed a great deal of frustration in Tina's voice yesterday because the reality of the wheelchair hit them pretty hard. It's easy to get caught up in all of the progress made from the standpoint of putting the broken pieces back together, but now, the slow painful task of learning to walk is upon them. Monica will be in the wheelchair for a long time and that is difficult to accept, but everyone is positive and hopeful about the prospects of her walking again. It just takes a long time to make that happen.

Tina is hanging tough and looks forward to getting back to work next week. Not sure what day yet, but she is ready to get going again. I'll let everyone know when she's back and you can wish her well.

She tells me every time we talk how much they all appreciate the cards and thoughts from everyone in the company. It has really touched them and you have all made a difference.

Here we are on Friday again and one of our own is still hurting. Have a great weekend, hug those you care about and be careful on the road.

Have a wonderful weekend everybody!!

"Disturbing" at dailydancer.com

This blogspot where you are reading me right now has what is called a "Dashboard" where they leave important and not so important messages for their members. Anything from maitentence to Blogs that they have noticed recently. The later of which is sometimes quite interesting. But today, no not today. Today, it was disturbing. I innocently click on "daily dancer" to see what the hype could be about, expecting maybe a ticked off broadway dancer or maybe even an exotic dancer. No, that's not what the blog is about. This is what the heading says:

WELCOME TO DAILYDANCER.COM!
I am Daily Dancer, a computer geek who loves to dance!
Every weekday morning, you can watch me dance to a different
song. If you like my blog, please tell people about it. If you have a
website, please add a link to mine. I will add a link to yours as well.

And I spared you the pictures and banners and videos, but you can check them out at your own risk. It's scary. I wasn't sure if he was being serious or kidding or just plain weird. He actually post something like 5 videos a WEEK of himself dancing away. And not like tap, jazz, ballet, or modern dance. It's just him standing in his home jumping and jiving in an off-beat sort of way. Why would he (and his girlfriends, poor thing) subject himself to publishing these things? Anybody can get there, I did. What if his boss gets there? ThenAnd, he's a computer geek. It's very obvious by his looks and attire too. Creep me out. Why would the Dashboard even put his site on there... it's not good, not good at all...

I'm going to school, I'm going to school

Off to school I go!! I start classes tonight at Univeristy of Pheonix at KC. I am very anxious to get going. It's been awhile since I was in a classroom and tonight will be a great learning experience. Wish me luck!

Update on Monica

I received an email update about Monica this morning:

I spoke to Tina this weekend and have good new to report. Monica was moved to a
private room this weekend and she and Tina both feel much better. She has been
fitted with braces for her legs and they put her in a machine that slowly moves
her legs to help bring back flexibility. She sat up yesterday for about 10
minutes and will continue to do that adding minutes daily. Her fever has been
very manageable and her lung function is improving all the time. She does
breathing treatments and exercises frequently and continues to get
stronger.
If all goes well, they hope to move her to Menorah Medical Center
(119th & Nall) by Wednesday to get her into their re-hab program. OPRC
doesn't have a real "in-patient" re-hab department so the Orthopedic Docs at
Menorah will take over from there.
She still has a long road ahead of her but
things continue to improve and she seems to be in good spirits. Tina said just
moving to a private room felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. She
really sounded good on the phone yesterday and spoke really positively.

And I ran into my 7th grade teacher Mrs. Turner today at Raymore Wal-Mart... it was weird to see her there. It was also really hard to tell her that I am a single mom. I don't know why it was; I've never really had a problem with it before. But it really got to me this time. I wanted to cry. But she is so sweet and gave me a big hug... I hadn't seen her since my brother graduated from 8th grade in '01. It was a real flash back to slacks and skirts and those akward years of trying to fit in.

PS-- Check out my photo albumn for Hannah's bridle pictures!! :)

What happens when you JUST DON'T CARE!?

I have worked for my parents' company for almost a year now and have asked twice for a promotion to no avail. Not that they are not thinking about it or have outright rejected my request, they have just not said a GD word to me about it. It's like I have never even asked in the first place. I can get over rejection and would be elated with a yes! But haven't heard ANYTHING and am going CRAZY. I start school NEXT WEEK (about the time DS gets out of hiding, I'll be into hiding, trying to get my homework done), and I need answers to get my life in some sort of order, and I don't want to do it living at my parents' basement forever. Today, one of my co-workers from Pleasant Hill went on a tangent today about how the company should make me a processor. That made me feel good, like I'm not the only one wanting this.... Maybe I'll find a second to call my manager today. Maybe today.

The "It's a Small World" Phenomenon

I read a 13 page paper last night written by someone I didn't even know existed, but who is almost related to me. Dr. Steven Hageman is my uncle's brother (my dad's 2nd youngest sister's husband's brother, which helps him with a point). He is a well educated, well traveled and well versed man in his late 30's I'd say who probably gave this paper to his brother who in turn gave it to his mother in law, who gave it to my dad last weekend. It's basically saying, "Yes, it IS a small world," and that there are 4 types of phenomena that people experience.

The 4 types are something to the affect of 1) running into an acquaintance (someone you recognize) at some unexpected place at some unexpected time, 2) sharing a common acquaintance or relative with a stranger, 3) sharing a common experience with a stranger then meeting them again later, and 4) some combination of the above three. And that the odds of predicting the exact "mystical" happening are slim to none, the odds of something of a "small word" experience SOMETIME in the future is VERY probable. I was very intrigued by his thinking and his "small world" stories.

First of all, he says to estimate the number of people you know... Then keep thinking about the number of people that you are just "acquainted" with, and then those you would recognize from town or church or work-whatever. This number he estimates is near the 10K mark for most people (some higher, some lower). Then think that you and the people that you know the best, or have ever known, probably share interests with you. You will probably see them somewhere that you have a common interest point (museums, conerts, conference, etc.).

Then think about everyone that you have ever known and the probability of running into a stranger that has ever known them, a teacher, an ex-girl/boyfriend's mother, an aunt, a tour guide. The possibilities are really endless.

It puts everything in to a perspective that I hadn't really thought about before, but had accepted because EVERYWHERE my father goes, he knows someone. And I mean EVERYWHERE. When we took our 2 vacations of our lives one to SD and the other to MN, BOTH times my dad saw someone somewhere that he know. I just kept thinking, Can't we take you anywhere? But this paper proves that it's not just my dad who runs into people like that, everyonw does.