It's Been a Long Time Since I Rock and Rolled (or blogged, for that matter)

Forgive any butchering of titles which may have taken place above.  This is mainly just a short post to state that, yes, I AM still alive.  I’ve just been super-duper busy getting everything ready to register for summer and fall, and figuring out which classes I’m taking at which of the three colleges/universities I’ll have to attend to get all my required degree components fulfilled.  I’ll write more soon, I promise!

It's Official!

Yesterday, I submitted the request to change my program from BGS to a B.S. in Sociology. True, this may add up to an extra year to my college plans; however, I feel I get further with a B.S. than with the BGS. Like Becca said, I don't want people thinking I got my degree from Sally Struthers on the TeeVee. Besides, I think it will make it easier on me to have the B.S. before I start a Master's program. If I started a Master's program with only a BGS, there would be a lot of undergrad Sociology classes I would have to take before I could start on the actual graduate coursework. With the B.S., I already have those classes, so there wouldn't be any prerequisities I would have to fulfill.

In order to take all the required Sociology classes, however, I had to do a nationwide search of accredited undergrad programs which offered Sociology program required courses online. Surprisingly, I found squat in Texas. With boucoup colleges and universities in San Antonio, I still couldn't find one that had the classes I needed either online or in the evening. Luckily, I found New Mexico State Universities website, which - low and behold - has all the classes I need in an online format. Also, I'll be attending San Antonio College here to finish up my core requirements, as well as to take the two years of a foreign lanuage required for a B.S.

So, to recap, I've switched majors, and set myself up for an additional year beyond what I had planned for stress and juggling kid, work and school. I feel it will be worth it though when I get my degree!

UPDATE:

Just got an e-mail from TWU notifying me that I've been nominated to Pi Sigma Alpha, the political science and government honorary. Yay, me! Woot, woot!

Obviously, Yesterday was April Fool's Day

Yeah, I know. Childish and immature to post such a blatant April Fool's Day joke on my blog. Had I taken more time, I could have come up with a much more clever, subtle joke that you all would actually take seriously, but I didn't want to post something that might seriously concern you guys. Yes, I know that you know there's no way in Hell I'm quitting at this stage of my degree plan. However, I am leaning more and more toward changing my major to get a B.S. in Sociology. All I'm waiting on now is to see what kind of financial aid I can get. There's a little problem with that: In 13 years of being in and out of school (two of those years being spent at a greatly overpriced private college), I seem to have maxed out my undergraduate loan eligibility. So, I have to see what kinds of grants and scholarships I can get, and what I can realistically afford to pay out of pocket (umm... like, $50?), so, I may not be able to afford the extra year (gulp!) I've discovered it would take for me to switch to a B.S. of Sociology. I'll keep you all posted.

On another topic, Jamie has officially earned his Nintendo DS Lite! Woo hoo! Way to go Jamie! As per the original agreement, he brought his reading grade up to a B, and none of his other grades are bad, either; so next paycheck, we're going out to get him a Nintendo DS Lite. Officially, he had all B's and one C (a 78 in Language Arts). I cut him a little slack on the language arts, because he brought it up from a low D to a 78 (C) - 2 points shy of a B, in the last week and a half of the grading period. That took some serious determination! Yay, Jamie!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Granted, if his next report card shows all of his grades slipping back down again, Momma gets to take the DS and put it in the top of the closet!

Not changing majors... just quitting

Being disgusted with school and not having enough time for Jamie, I've decided to quit school. I have a decent job, so it isn't like I really NEED an education anyway, right? Anyway, I just thought I'd let you know. Oh, and BTW, I've also decided to get artifically inseminated and have another kid.

Change of Major...Maybe

I know, it's the eleventh hour of my undergrad degree, but I'm contemplating changing my major. Not because I'm not interested in sociology and government anymore... I definitely am! It's just that I am not so sure about the perception perpetuated by my current degree plan. Right now, I'm working on my Bachelor's of General Studies (B.G.S.) degree with concentrations in sociology and government. However, some colleges don't recognize such degrees (which is important if you are planning - as I am - to go back to school for a Master's); some non-accredited colleges offer similar degrees; and some people misinterpret what exactly that IS. I'm facing the possibility of my degree not being taken as seriously as a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or a Bachelor's of Science (B.S.) would be. So, I e-mailed the sociology department chair on Monday to ask to see what I could do to fulfill the requirements of a B.S. in Sociology (if you know me, you KNOW how appropriate it would be for me to get a B.S. degree.... LOL!). I'm thinking with hard work (and a few granted variances on what sociology classes are required for the major), I should be able to have it wrapped up by Spring or Summer of 2009. If that's the case, I'll be switching my degree plan to go for it. I'll get a B.S. in Sociology with a minor in Government instead. Seeing as how I'm not sure exactly how long it will be before I go back for my Master's and then my Ph.D., I think in the mean time (if so compelled) I would be more able to secure a sociology-related position with a B.S. than with just a B.G.S.

So, what do you guys think? Am I prolonging things too much, or am I on the right track here? Comments and your thoughts on this would be much appreciated!

Jamie is much better now...

...but Rachel has the bug, and I think I'm starting to come down with it. However, true to my word, tonight I am taking Jamie to Build-a-Bear workshop and to see the IMAX version of "Spiderwick". We are celebrating the fact that he has had no fever for the last 36 hours, and only has congestion and a deep cough left from his scary (to me) bout of sickness. We are also celebrating the fact that I have the day off work tomorrow for Good Friday. Rachel, however, has the full-blown bug, so if you all could send some prayers her way, it would be appreciated.

Love you all, and Happy Easter!

Dang! Poor Kid!

Jamie's spring break got off to a bang of a bad sort this year. Friday, he was fine and dandy - went to soccer practice, played with his friend Josh until 9 p.m., and was generally having a grand time. Saturday morning, Jamie woke up with a fever of 102.1. Despite alternating between Tylenol and Ibuprofen, his fever continued all day, spiking up to 105.9 at 11:00 p.m. Saturday night. Poor kid was burning up with fever so bad he was shaking and couldn't stop. I called the NurseWise hotline, and was told to immediately take Jamie to the ER, "Do not pass go, Do not collect $200" as the nurse said.

So we get to the ER, fill out the paperwork, then wait for a nurse to call us to triage. After an hour waiting just to see a nurse, they finally called us back to have his temperature taken and blood pressure checked. His pulse was extremely fast and thready, his blood pressure was too high for a 10 year old and the poor kid was having trouble breathing. His fever, however, had gone down slightly to 104.7. The nurse gave him a triple dose of Tylenol to help bring his fever down faster, then told us to wait for a doctor to see us. Another two hours goes by before we're called to see a doctor. By this time, Jamie's temperature has gone down to only 103.4. They immediately took Jamie off for x-rays, then brought him back and hooked him up to an IV and took a bunch of blood for tests. At this point, his fever had dropped to 102.

After another hour and a half (and three popsicles kindly provided by an awesome ER nurse), they came back and said it was a cold. Excuse me? Since when do colds cause fevers hot enough to boil your brain cells? Apparently, now they do. There's even strains of colds that can kill you. Ugh! The particular strain of cold Jamie has can also morph into pneumonia, which, as Jamie's doctor informed me yesterday, it has. So, poor kid is home sick with pneumonia on his spring break.

I spent Monday and Tuesday of this week home with him, but came back to work today. I got Jamie's fever to come down and stay down under 100, so I felt confident coming to work and leaving him home alone. After all, I don't leave for work until 8:27 in the morning, I'm home for 45 minutes at noon, then Rachel gets home at 3:00 from school. Also, I'm only 2 blocks (and three minutes) from the house. Still, I feel really bad for him. He was supposed to have soccer camp this week (didn't happen), and now he has a really nasty cough, stuffed up nose, body aches, sore throat and a headache. If his fever stays broken for 24 hours, I think a trip to Build-a-Bear will be in order for the poor little booger.

Oh, and that nasty cold? Jamie gave it to Rachel. I just hope hers doesn't turn into pneumonia, too. So far (knock on wood), I have yet to be felled by this nasty bug. Let's hope it stays that way!

Quit Whining!

Okay, so to help myself get out of this foggy mental state in which I have been trapped, I decided to quit whining and give myself a list of things for which I am thankful. After all, I've been telling Jamie to "Quit whining!" a lot here lately; seems like I should take my own edicts to heart.

So - without further ado, my list of things for which I am grateful/thankful:

• I have a wonderful son. Yes, he occassionally annoys the piss out of me, but for the most part, I have a darn good kid! He cracks me up and swells my heart with love and pride a million times each day.
• In our currently-crapola economy, I have stable employment that, unless I screw up BIG TIME, will continue to provide me with a decent salary while many many many other people in this country don't have a job.
• I have a roof over my head, and food to cook and put on the table for my household. See above for why, in the current state of our country's finances, this is a big thing to be thankful for. (Did I mention the economy is full of suck-age right now?)
• I have a car to transport me all the places I need to go without fear that something will break in it at any given moment.
• I have a fluffy, silly dog who is perfectly content just by being next to me (or preferably - to him - on my lap!)
• Despite my mental fatigue, I am kicking a$$ in school. As of right now, my averages in Texas Government AND Constitutional Law are 100s! In Criminological Theory I have a more modest 94. Yay, me! LOL
• This is the most important one of all - I am loved. Jesus loves me, and my family loves me, some biological, some of the heart. But regardless, I am very very VERY thankful that I am loved and can love in return.

Okay, so, I've wrapped up my list of things for which I am thankful. I'm sure I'll think of more things later, but these are the biggies. Happy weekend to you all!

Physical, Emotional and Mental Fatigue

So, I haven't posted anything significant in quite a while. We're kind of going through a rough patch right now. For several weeks now, I've been in this physical, mental and emotional funk - I'm so tired it's all I can do to keep putting one foot in front of the other. But I'm not just physically tired; everything about me is tired. My brain is sluggish, my soul even feels sluggish. It's like my entire being is enveloped in a fog. I can't concentrate at work, can't concentrate on school work and deadlines - all I want to do is sleep. But, when I try to sleep, my brain is spinning so fast about so many different things that I can't sleep either. It's become a really vicious cycle. And, of course, the more tired I am, the more distractable I am, which means the less work I get done when I need to do it. Like I said, vicious cycle.

I have put a big priority, though, on concentrating on Jamie and making sure that he knows that he's Mommy's number 1 priority. I don't want him to feel like Momma isn't paying attention to him. I don't ever want him to feel like he isn't important to me. I don't want him to feel like Mom was there physically, but not mentally, for him. I remember what that feels like, and it's no fun. Another reason why I'm trying to show him how important he is, is that he's having trouble at school again. He's gone back to emotional outbursts at school, and saying things that quite frankly freak me out. And sometimes, I have to wonder, how do you tell the difference between "make-believe" play, or something else? Then I feel guilty for wondering what I'm wondering, which makes me even more emotionally, physically and mentally tired... Get my drift?

Anyway, I don't mean to dump a bunch of stuff on you guys (my loyal readers), but I just needed to get some thoughts out of my head and down on paper. I guess I feel a little like my blog is my own personal pensieve. If the thoughts are down on "paper" (of a sort), I guess my head feels a little less crowded.

Happy Tuesday to you all.

R.I.P.

Today is a sad, sad day. Rest in Peace, Mr. Gygax. And thank you for providing us with countless hours of entertainment over the years.

Record Breaker

On Monday, we had record breaking high temperatures here in San Antonio. We hit 92(!!!) degrees here, breaking the record of 91 degrees set back in 1917. While I'm sure some of you who are sick and tired of snow up north may be feeling envious, let me just say that temperatures this hot in February just plain STINK! We haven't had any rain in quite a while, the grass is dry, ugly and brown, and all I can think is, if it's this hot NOW, what's it going to be like this summer?!?!?!?!!? I'm not looking forward to it AT ALL.

Okay, back to work now.

Eye Candy Tuesday

It occurred to me that I hadn't posted any pictures of my visit to Kentucky on Thanksgiving week. I apologize for the oversight. I actually didn't take too many pictures when I was "back home" simply because I was enjoying too much talking and visiting that I didn't want to take out the time to get the camera and take pictures. But, what few I have, I'll post here now.

Here we have my "adopted Momma" pretending to pick her nose, while my "adopted b-i-l" has no clue what she's doing. This was taken during the pickin' I went to with my adopted family. Looks like Tooz here is doin' some "pickin'" of her own! I had so much fun that day!!!!

This is my pretty and sweet "adopted sister". It was sooooooo goooood to see her!

This is Jamie sitting with his Great Uncle Alvin and Great Aunt Janet (my mom's brother and sister in law). They are the only relatives on my mom's side of the family with whom we stay in semi-regular contact.

And in celebration of soccer season being back in full swing, here we have an action shot of Jamie in a 3v3 soccer tournament a couple of weekends back. His team tied for third place in the tournament. Not too shabby, considering they played some teams older than them! Way to go, Jamie!

A Big Brother for Jamie, and Other News...

Various and sundry news about my favorite boy...

- Hooray! After two years on the waiting list, Jamie and I have an appointment to meet his potential big brother (from Big Brothers Big Sisters) tonight. Huzzah! Everybody pray that they hit it off and that his BB is a positive influence and helps Jamie's self-esteem.

- Just the other day, Jamie looked at me and said, "Am I ever going to have a Dad? Please don't tell me what you think I want to hear. I'd like the truth, please." OUCH! Not only was that some grown up words and tone, but it hurt to have to say "Honestly baby, I don't know. But I'm doing what I can right now, which - honestly - isn't much. Between work, school and keeping up the house, it's about all I can do to make sure my socks match every day, much less dating." He took it rather well, and thanked me for telling him the truth instead of sugarcoating things. When did my little boy get to be such a young man?

- It's amazing what a little motivation will do. Once I told Jamie that he could have a Nintendo DS Lite only if he started getting B's or above in reading, and had all A's and B's on his next report card, he has brought home fantastic grades. So now I've begun bidding on a Nintendo DS lite on eBay. The little stinker just needed the proper motivation to do better. Granted though, he won't actually get the DS until I get the report card with all A's and B's on it.

- Last but not least, my sincere apologies to all the people to whom I used to be able to speak to on a half-way regular basis over the telephone. Between work and school, my butt is being spanked (figuratively, of course) and it seems to be all I can do - as I previously mentioned - to leave the house each day with matching socks on. I promise to do lots of calling the week of spring break. Would you believe that not only is my school's spring break and Jamie's spring break the same, but I also have a holiday from work that Friday for Good Friday. Thank you! That will be a Jamie and mommy day, with no homework, no chores, just fun!

Love you all, now I gotta go!

Oh.....My.......

I have a secret to share - I enjoy reading stupid, trashy Yahoo! celebrity news site "OMG!". I don't know why I like it. I guess it's kind of like watching a car accident. It's horrible to stare, you don't want to keep staring.... but you just. can't. look. away. Anyway, they announced today that there is a new indie vampire flick in production. S'okay. Vampires are hot right now. It's the title and the premise that have me cracking up. It's entitled "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead." Yes, you read that right. The basic premise is that "Hamlet" is being produced off-Broadway by a Romanian dude who just so happens to be a vampire. Yeah, and his secret goal is to turn everybody in the cast into vampires, who will then attack the audience and turn all of THEM into vampires, who will then... you get the picture. I don't know why I'm cracking up so much over this, but I am. Go fig'!

Post-Undergrad Contemplation

So, I get my undergrad degree at the end of the year (if all goes well, which it should). Now I'm pondering what to do after I graduate. At this point, I'm looking into graduate schools - University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Kentucky, and several others offer not only a Master's in Sociology (which is my goal), but also a Ph.D. of Sociology (which is my ultimate goal). One of the schools that offers this is.... Yale. I know it's really hard to get in, and I know it's really expensive... but I'm thinking about applying, anyway. As one of the other soccer moms I talk to said, "Yeah, it's hard to get in, and only maybe 5% of applicants make it, but you can't be in that 5% if you don't try." I won't be ready to start on my graduate plans until after October 2009 anyway, so I have time to contemplate it. I'll see how my grades are. Being a Yalie would be pretty cool, though, don't you think?

New Recipe and Another Food-Related Post on R.O.U.S.

Just a quick note to say, "Yes, I'm still crazy-busy." However, I did find the time to post a new recipe on R.O.U.S. over the weekend, and a food-related post today. At work, so I have to run now.

Just a Quick Note...

...to say "Yes, I'm alive." And to also tell you that I'm buried in homework, have exams this week, buried in tasks at work and at home (as usual). So don't be surprised if it's a while before you hear from me on here again. But don't worry, I'll still keep track of all the other blogs. I just don't think you want a whole bunch of posts of me whining about how stinkin' busy I am right now.

Big hugs and sugars to you all!

Happy Valentine's Day!

... Or, as I like to say, "Happy Corporate-Generated Holiday Designed to Sucker You Into Supporting the Greeting Card, Flowers and Candy Industries!"

Feeling Introspective

So, having read Suze's blog and COMPLETELY understanding her feelings, I can also concurr and state I myself have been feeling rather introspective lately, but in a different vein. In fact, I had a verbal tussle with my roommate over the weekend, and she hurled a particularly pointed verbal dagger at me that was way. too. true. And it hurt, not because she said it, but because it was true.

Basically, Rachel pointed out to me that the reason why I'm lonely and haven't been in a relationship in too long to count is because I've built such a thick wall around myself that no one can get in. No one. Even if I want them to, that wall is so thick that nobody has a chance to get to know me, and I don't give them a chance to know what kind of person I am, because I'm too chicken shit to tear down the wall and let anybody see me - you know, the real me. Not the sarcastic, scary-brained geek freak persona I put on to rebuff people.

Can we say "Ouch!"?

Yeah. Major ouch. But what hurts the most is that it's true. And what sucks the most is that the wall has been there so long, I don't even realize it's there half the time, much less remember how to take it back down again. I think I erected this wall somewhere around 1986, just after my sister died.

So, anyone with demolition experience out there want to suggest how I can tear this sucker down? Because I'm really tired of the wall, and I'm really tired of having the real me tucked away behind this bitchy persona I don't even really like all that much.

I Agree, Little Puppy