I looked out and saw the outline of Belize, and I realized here was the place I had been searching all my life.

My husband and I have been having a negotiation session. I privately call these sessions a "real deal." What this means is that we are discussing his career mostly. He is applying for some federal jobs that I have mentioned previously. ;) Anyway, he wanted a back up plan for other federal opportunities. He mentioned the border patrol. YUCK. However like a good negotiator I knew this was my shot. I told him if he wanted to join the Border Patrol I would support him. However after his stint in the border patrol, I want to move to Belize. Something he has been objecting to ever since Natalie Holloway has disappeared.

I don't want to move to Belize because of any ridiculous I hate the US stuff. I love the US, and am proud to be an American. However I love Belize. It is like a part of me. I love going there, and being there. I want to retire there.

The problem with the border patrol is I don't want to live on the border or in Phoenix. I don't mind relocating to Phoenix after I finish school until my stepdaughter finishes high school. But after that I want to move right back south. Phoenix is ok. I like visiting Phoenix. My aunt lives in Phoenix. HOWEVER I don't want to live there permanently. Too far away from my parents, too far away from Auburn Football, too far away from all my friends, and I like my smooth wrinkle free skin that comes with living down south.

It is going to be tough negotiating the next year. I need to apply at some tenure track positions. But I can't do that until he figures out what he is going to do. It is his turn. We compromised and moved to Mississippi so that I could go to school. Now it is his turn. I sort of discussed this owing him a bit in my Trophy Wife post.

I begged a teacher for an extension on THE ENTIRE classes' research paper today. It is midterm and we have not received any feedback. The paper is due March 3, and I would like some feedback before turning in my research paper. It remains to be seen if I am going to be successful.
This beautiful duck is living in our backyard right now. I hope he stays as I think he is beautiful.

“One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important.” Bertrand Russell

I am writing these questions....health care information systems questions for testing. I shouldn't have signed up to do this during this time. But I make a lot of money writing them...

I am having a little "mini" nervous breakdown tonight. I had a little cry as it helps to relieve the tension headache I have had for 2 days now. My comps are in a month. I can't sleep. I can't eat. I can't seem to get ahead of the curve in terms of time. My husband his sexy self is curled sleeping warm in our bed. I want to go crawl in and spoon next to him. I want to stick my feet on his warm legs, and warm these ice cubes up. But I am still working. I am still operating my wheelbarrow in hell.

I promise...solemnly swear as soon as I pass my comps I am never ever going to bite off more than I can chew again.

I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works.” Oscar Wilde

I have been discussing my job recently. So I wanted to post some hints here.

First of all I have a BS, MS, and am working on PhD from a traditional
University. They are all 3 from good schools. I have been teaching for
close to 5 years in Information Systems, Management, and Statistics
courses because that is what I am qualified to teach...I don't really
know anything about any other courses or schools or needs. Since I am
pretty much a 3 trick pony. :)

I go online and do searches for schools as if I were a student
interested in that program. Then I go to each school's individual
website and hunt down how to apply. Sometimes it is at the bottom of
the page. Sometimes it is under Human Resources, or Employment, or
About Us. Sometimes I have to use the Site Map. Finally sometimes I
have to call the number and just ask. I typically keep a spreadsheet
of the school's web address where they list their jobs. I also put any
contact information I may have and I log any correspondence that will
or has occurred.

If they request that I email them a resume...I go ahead and attach my
unofficial transcripts from all the schools and my letters of
reference. I put a read receipt on the email so I know if they are
being read.

Just so you know...applying is a hit or miss type deal. I applied for
a lot of schools in March of 2004 and was teaching at three of them by
July. However...on average I would say that from the time you contact
the school to the time you teach your first class can be anywhere from
6 months to one year. I have found that if there is an on ground
campus in your area it is easier to get on there, and then transition
to online for some schools. That technique has worked. Finally if you
know others that teach online getting them to recommend you is a QUICK
way to get hired. My mom teaches for about 5 schools and I recommended
her to all of them.

When I apply for schools I sit down and treat it like a job. I apply
for hours at a time. I research, apply, follow up, and keep records.
One Friday in January(07), I spent all day applying for schools. I
heard back from some of them, and got a pass from others. One of the
schools I heard back from interviewed me and I trained in July. I am
teaching my first course for them now. That is just an example of how
long the process can take.

As it is, for the last almost 5 years I have made a good living
teaching online. I spend between 8 and 9 hours per day on my courses. To be a good
instructor you have to take time.

Additionally applying at just 10 schools is not going to be enough. I
would say that your response rate is going to be about 1-3 percent.
(And 3 percent is high). Plus you never know what is going to turn a
school on. It can be frustrating filling out online applications again
and again, but that is just part of the territory. I have had schools
that I applied to on Monday and they wanted me in class teaching by
the following Monday. A word to the wise. This sounds EXCITING, and
for those of you that are dying to teach...I can understand. But trust
me when I tell you that a school that manages its courses like that
will burn you out quickly.

Finally, I have several schools I teach for regularly and about 3 or 4
more sporadically. I enjoy what I do, and love the freedom it brings.
But there are some pitfalls.

I see a lot of people on this board complain about the pay. I believe
for what you are required to do the pay is great. Where else are you
going to get paid to stay home? I am married and my husband does have
benefits so my position is a bit different from others. Additionally,
I find it to be excellent working conditions. Also you have to factor
in saving gas money, eating out lunch money, career clothes money,
time spent on the commute, and all the tax breaks that come with
having a home office...I think it evens out. I also invest in a self
employeed 401k. Tax wise if you teach online you are ALWAYS going to
owe money at the end of the year, so be sure you are saving so that
you can write that check April 15.

I guess the last piece of advice that I have is follow up. Follow up.
Follow up, and did I mention follow up? If you have contact
information once you apply. I try to follow up somewhere between every
3 weeks and 1 month. I have found that it IS very possible to fall
through the cracks so to speak.

Best of luck!

In its early stages, insomnia is almost an oasis in which those who have to think or suffer darkly take refuge. ~Colette

Sleep is perverse as human nature,
Sleep is perverse as legislature....
So people who go to bed to sleep
Must count French premiers or sheep,
And people who ought to arise from bed
Yawn and go back to sleep instead.
~Ogden Nash, Read This Vibrant Exposé

I am still awake. Have not been to sleep yet. Number of times tried to sleep in my bed 4. Number of times woken husband up getting in and out of bed 0. Number of times tried to sleep in guest bed 3. Number of times tried to sleep on terrible eclectic modern sofa in study 2. Number of times tried to sleep on sofa in den 4. This is about the worst I have had it in a long time. Of course I am exhausted, but I can't turn my brain off.



When you have insomnia, you're never really asleep, and you're never really awake. ~From the movie Fight Club, based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk

I think I am exhausted...so I try to sleep then I realize...I can't. There isn't any sleep in me. However I am too tired to work/study.

Insomnia is a gross feeder. It will nourish itself on any kind of thinking, including thinking about not thinking. ~Clifton Fadiman

Do you have insomnia? Not the joking around kind that you tease people about but honest to goodness insomnia. I have insomnia. I get maybe 4 hours of sleep a day. So I am generally always tired. I get it honest though my mom wakes up every day at 3 AM. I have 2 kinds of sleep problems a.) I can not get to sleep b.) I can not stay asleep.

I have this amazing bed. It has an expensive mattress, year around down comforters, 1000 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets, hotel collection feather bed and mattress pad, dozens of pricey pillows too. Sleeping in my bed is like sleeping on a cloud. My husband is also warm. He lets me stick my feet on him and warm those icey things up. He is also a fairly cuddley sleeper holding me all night long.

So why am I not in my amazing bed with my handsome man? Why am I on my freezing leather sofa debating about trying to sleep in the guest room AGAIN? Because I have insomnia. I just spent the last hour laying in the dark. Making deals in my mind about going to sleep. I gave up and moved out on the couch. I figure a few hours of work won't kill me if I can't sleep. Where are those darn Serta sheep when I need them?

It is ridiculous. Here is how it will start. I will get in bed. I have to read to go to sleep. So I will be reading. Then I will decide my pajamas, nightgown, t-shirt, whatever itches so I will take them off. Then I get my nightly mandatory backrub (the real reason I got married. hehe). Then I try to read. I decide I want a tshirt so I put one on. Then I go into the bathroom and stare at my teeth. They are brushed, mouthwashed, flossed, and flourided (I take care of my teeth.) I might reclean my face. I lay back down. I read a few more minutes. Toss around. Turn the light out. Lay there in the dark.

I think of ridiculous things like what if I am murdered by a serial killer will everyone remember I want a New Orleans style funeral? Also what if I were to go back to school after my PhD what would I study and would hubby let me attend University of Texas? Do I want to teach statistics next term? Is my step-daughter going to go to Auburn? Will she join my sorority and become a tigerette? Do I have anything in the house for lunch tomorrow? What would be the best strategy for living through a zombie apocalypse?

I eventually give up. I have had enough. I get back up. Go to the computer do some work...write on my blog...complain about how tired I am. If you don't have insomnia you have no idea, but it is horrible being up at 3 and 4 AM. Then I give up and just start studying. I figure I might as well. If I am going to be up I should study for my comps. I am obviously going to have to go back on Ambien. At least then I will be sleeping.

“Life becomes precious when we look for the little everyday miracles and get excited about the privileges of simply being human" Tim Hansel

So I found this kick butt site today. It used to be called site59.com, but not it is called lastminute.com! Anyway it is this awesome website for travel. It allows you to buy not just trips, but also experiences. You can get Lamborghini track driving experiences! :) Or you can book totally pitch black dining. I think it is awesome, and I am definitely going to be using this site in the future.

My family is trying to decide where to go on family vacation this year. We are going to either go to Costa Rica or go to Belize. I love going to Belize so of course I vote to go there. But I also wouldn't mind a visit to Costa Rica. Hubby says wherever. My dad is thinking Belize. Hubby and I were married in Belize. I think it would be a great time to go back. We have been married three years, so it would be fun to go back.

Study Study Study Study Study that is me. If I can come up for air...remind me to take my vitamins.

The recipe for perpetual ignorance is a very simple and effective one: be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge. Elbert Hubbard

TODAY WAS THE DAY. I feel better today. I am still coughing still not perfect but better! YEAH.

We had a much better day this Sunday than last one. I also was able to get some studying done for my comps. The first time in like a week. I feel guilty because I have not been able to do the required hours. I am going to have to amp up the time spent studying to make up for lost time.

I will be studying during our cruise, but I am used to multitasking.

I have on occasion an overactive imagination. Because of all these ridiculous books I have been reading and movies I have been watching about zombies...I have started joking with my husband about the zombies. I jokingly told him my plan to survive when zombies invade. At any rate a little inside joke has ensued at our home. I always joke "when the zombies come," like when he comes home and scares me because I have my head in a book.

He still owes me dinner for Valentine's. He keeps talking about it reminding me that he can't wait to take me out, which I find adorable and sweet.

Sometimes the cure for restlessness is rest. Colleen Wainwright

I know I keep complaining about being sick, but I am tired of being sick. I have got to feel better. Every morning I wake up thinking this is the day I am better today, and every single stinking day...I don't. Sigh. I did get the cruise airline tickets booked.

So here is my travel schedule for now:
Cruise (Spring Break March 10-14)
San Diego (March 26th - 30th)

But I want to stay home after that. I probably feel like that because I have been traveling a lot lately, and because I can't seem to get well here. I had to book my stepdaughter in here. She gets upset when she doesn't get to spend time at the house. So she is going to be able to spend Friday, Saturday, part of the day Sunday. Then we go on our cruise and she will get to spend Saturday and Sunday back here. It makes her happy, and I am a SUPER sucker for making her happy.

Government's view of the economy: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. Ronald Regan

Some thoughts on the economy. I am tired of listening to people whine about the economy. Especially people my age. First of all if you are in your late twenties early thirties...and you invest the stock market going down is a GOOD THING. For the most part if you are investing...you are investing for your retirement. If the mutual fund that costs you 20 bucks yesterday costs you 10 dollars today you can buy 2 of them. You can then hold on to them and keep earning. The stock market going down helps you to accumulate more. Over the long haul it helps you out in times like these for your retirement investments.

Second of all if you are educated (as everyone I know is). Then there is no reason why if you can not find a job that you should not be able to make something happen for yourself. This may sound harsh, but your education taught you to hustle. It trained you for this day.

Third of all if you paid one second's worth of attention in personal finance then you shouldn't be in a mess. Your house shouldn't be under water, and you should be living with in your means debt to savings to income ration wise.

I am not trying to sound smug, but those are just the rules I live by. If I lost my job today...I could go get a job at Ruby Tuesday and pay my mortgage. I don't have any other debt. My husband did not sign on to this program originally. However after five years together he has gotten with the program.

I was discussing debt the other day with a friend. She has lots...I have none (except my mortgage) How did I do that and go to school? First of all I go to a state school where tuition is reasonable, and I get out of state waived because my husband works here.

I invested when I got out of college. I saved a lot of money and put it down on my home. I paid off all my vehicles. My spouse and I are on a strict budget. Last year I out earned my spouse by three times. But that is ok. Because it isn't about that. It is about he and I working towards our dreams. That is why the youngest car we own is six years old; we also have an eight year old car and an 18 year old car. I intend to drive both of our main vehicles until they are falling apart.

Ok...the cough medicine finally kicked in. I can go to sleep.

A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic. Joseph Stalin

I sort of kind of halfway feel better today. What this means is...I might be getting better. I still ran a fever and coughed. However I didn't feel as though my death were imminent. This marks a vast improvement over the last few days.

I need to book airfare for spring break, but I have been making mistakes left and right here the last few days. My brain has been put in a blender in other words. Perhaps I will feel well enough to make some flight decisions tomorrow. Cross your fingers.

The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think. Horace Walpole

Life resumes like plain blah vanilla ice cream (and I don't even eat ice cream) at my house. However let me mention if I do not get well I have to go in the big H. H-O-S-P-I-T-A-L that is right if I don't get in bed and get some sleep...if I don't stop studying and start getting well I am in T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

I want to feel better so bad. I just refuse to listen to anyone. I packed my gym back today. Loaded it up in the car, and headed to the pool. I decided what I needed was some laps. About half way there I started convulsing because I had the chills so bad because my fever was so high. So home I came and into bed I got. Life is BORING from your bed unless you are lecherous enough to not be bored in bed. However I am too sick for the that kind of exercise too I imagine.

All studying has been halted until my brain has been ruled "working well enough not to make airhead mistakes because I am sick and don't feel good." Sadly the situation does not appear to be improving.

"I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make my marriage vows mean what they say. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh." - Anna Quindlen

There are two types of couples. This is something I postulate. One type of couple fights and nit picks at one another all the time. They might have anywhere between 1 and 70 fights a week. None of these fights is big they are all about small things, but they fight often.

Then there is the other type of couple. This type of couple fights infrequently. Their fights are rare. However when this type of couple it is NASTY. WWII fighting.

A friend of mine reminded me that there are 2 other types of couples. There is the type of couple that never fights (but constantly wage a silent passive aggressive war on one another). I am not ever silent even while asleep so I have never been involved in one of these.

The final type is the kind of couple that fight alot and have great big rows. I HAVE been in one of these horrible relationships. I forgot about this type of relationship. Thank goodness I outgrew bad boys.

The kind of relationship my marriage is would be the second. My husband and I get along fabulously like 96% of the time. We have approximately 3 fights a year and they are usually doozies. I guess to be more REAL more Organic as it were we fight 4 times a year. We will go literally 2-3 months with not a cross word between us. However this weekend we were due. I am still sick...I am probably going to die...I just seem to get worse.

Anyway, I needed some help doing a little research. I asked him for some help and he instead of helping made some smart comment to me. Well I just lost it. I admit I over reacted. I know this. I am not denying that one bit. I will admit a few things.

First of all, I am for the most part nice. I am like a 95 percent nice person a really really nice person, which means I get an A. However that other 5 percent is pure evil. I always see the best in everyone. I am always willing to look for redeeming qualities in EVERYONE I meet. But this evil side of me only comes out when I am angry.

When I get into an argument I want to win, and I go nuts. I will say or do whatever it takes to completely win an argument. It is not good enough to win. I have to annihilate the opponent. My dad is an attorney so I am very practiced at this. I spent my entire teenage life with a professional arguer. :) I can play semantic gymnastics all day. My husband can not stand this. He doesn't think arguments should be fought this way.

I will attack the person. Such as, "Well I wouldn't have to act like that if you were not just taking up air and wasting everyone else's space." I will muddy the water, "Oh yeah well last year when we were in Paris, and you said that you would hold on to the passports, I had to hold on to them, and so that is why you are wrong." I will get quiet, and not speak for hours at a time. I will shout over what you have to say. I will leave the argument. I will try to make you leave. I will use sarcasm. I will bring up something that I know bothers you and call it out "Well maybe if you had normal sized ears you would have heard me." I will cry, pout, act stupid, scream, hum, go silent, call names, threaten to tell your mother, threaten to tell my mother, whatever it takes to win normally.

I was in a diminished capacity today. Because I am sick as mentioned above. Typically I wouldn't have even paid attention to that silly smart comment. Today though was different. I got mad, and I stormed out of the study. I am all about dramatic exits. I slammed the study door. Then I barged back in and demanded he leave the office since I needed to work on our taxes (I was soo not going to work on taxes...just trying to be annoying). He obviously saw that I was just being annoying and started in on me that I was working too hard. That we needed to spend more time together. I was having none of it. So the argument went down like this:
Me: I am not going to put up with this. I am sick of this. Your face makes me sick.
H: OMG not this again.
Me: You keep it up and we are going to be talking like this all evening. I know how much you love those kinds of talks. I will make sure it is full of all kinds of stuff that YOU have to do.
H: Look I didn't mean anything by it...I don't want to fight.
Me: (I ignored this because I wasn't done). Then I proceeded to filibuster about my feelings for the next 20 minutes.
H: You are absolutely right. You are sick. I should have cut you some slack. I apologize. Do you want some hot tea?

So that was it. Cause I could hardly argue with that. (Actually I could have...I could have pulled the feminist card "You think I can't make my own Tea?", but I know a victory when I see one. And with the first argument of 2008 under our belts and about 45 minutes of our day wasted. We should be good until May or June. ;)

“We are the people our parents warned us about.” - Jimmy Buffet

All day long class...BORING. All day long class while you have pneumonia and get hopped up on Dayquil and Mountain Dew...nah still Boring. It is amazing the back of my head doesn't just FALL off after I have coughed so much. I really feels like it is optional. (I have to edit this. Obviously I was trying to say "I really feel like this is an option." Yet another victim of being SICK!)

I gotta be making travel arrangements for spring break. We are going on a cruise. =) I got the tickets in the mail the other day. I also managed to buy this awesome bathing suit cover up when I was in south beach. I can't wait to wear it again...I wore it in South Beach, but still. It is like ankle length but a halter. I have never tried that full length cover up thing before...but there is a first time for everything! However...when searching for a picture for that online I found this. Which is hilarious. I must teach myself to sew. I have always wanted a swimsuit poncho ;P
If you don't find that hysterical...try this. Get really sick...the flu AT LEAST take about 2 times the recommended the amount of Dayquil. It will probably make you sick and shaky so take a Goody's powder...your antibiotic and 2 Diet Code Red Mountain Dews. Now re-read isn't that the height of hilarity?

To be able to be caught up into the world of thought -- that is educated. - Edith Hamilton

Goodness Gracious I read my posts for the past few days and you can tell I am NOT FEELING well. I had had had to go to the grocery store. It was all I could do. I finally got overwhelmed and called HH in a puddle of tears. He insisted I go to the doctor. My fever was high 103 and I was hacking up my lungs. Guess what...not just the flu. I have pneumonia. Yuck antibiotics for me. :(

I got to keep the pictures of my lung x-rays though. That was the highlight of my day. (Joking)! I finally got all of my emails going to my Blackberry. I am really excited now because rather than checking all 15 of my work emails now go to one Blackberry. Isn't that fantastic? I believe it is. :)

So my exciting weekend includes antibiotics. That should make for some wild nights. I have class all day tomorrow too. That should be wonderfully entertaining.

Cupid- When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon. ~Author Unknown

Happy Valentine's day. So I like celebrating valentine's. Call me childish. But let me explain my birthday is December 26th. My mom has made sure my entire life no one has "jipped" me. But if I didn't celebrate some other holidays I only get presents once a year ...that is also why I got married during the summer. Call me a little girl if you want, but whatever. :)

Anyway, I was sick all day yesterday. I slept the whole day. I psyched myself up for the concert. THEN I went. With in 30 minutes I was clammy and shacky and ready to go home. So I got a chair. I lasted a whole 45 minutes. It was a bummer. But then when he came home from work Hubby had burned me a CD of Cross Canadian Ragweed! So sweet. He knew how bummed I was that I couldn't stick it out at the concert. I do have some pics. I will upload.

We are going out to dinner Saturday. So that is wonderful. I managed to drag myself to the store today. I had to get my hubby something. The entire errand took a little less than an hour, but when I got home I was shaky and sick. It has taken me the rest of the day to recover.

I have GOT to get BETTER. Oh my goodness, I am so wonky feeling. I just want to be well. I have class ALL day Saturday. Please let me feel better before then. I am scarily behind at work, but my brain just won't engage. I am sick.

One the comps note I obviously have not been studying because my brain is like a bowl of oatmeal. In other news one of my resolutions was to help hubby lose weight. He has lost 10 lbs and is now at 185. He is getting close to his sexy weight of when we met. Go honey!

Also I have been asked to upload the presentation I gave while in Florida. :) So here 'tis

I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial. - Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb

Blah. I am sick today. I have been sick since Sunday. However today I woke up with a fever. I have spent the entire day in bed sleeping. Translation: I have a lot of work to do, and do not feel like doing any of it. I feel like going back to bed. However I have some work that MUST be done tonight. No excuses.

The problem I have with having colds and such is that I feel terrible. So I take medicine that makes me feel even more terrible. It is some horrible round robin. I am also one of those people for which benadryl should be a controlled substance. When I take Benadryl I can't stay awake for more than 5 or 6 minutes after consumption.

I might have to go to New Hampshire at the end of the month on some business. I typically try to keep my travel arrangements simple. When it is hot in Mississippi...I don't mind going somewhere cool. When it is cold in Mississippi, I don't mind going somewhere hot. But since it will be neither hot nor cool at the end of February, I do not want to go to New Hampshire where it will be decidedly cold.

Also I STILL haven't gotten my husband anything for Valentine's day. Please keep your fingers crossed I will feel better tomorrow. I have got to get out and do some shopping. He is always outdoing me on Valentine's.

We have tickets to see Cross Canadian Ragweed, and I don't want to be too sick to go.

Stupidity is an elemental force for which no earthquake is a match. Karl Kraus

I survived the Earthquake in Mexicali in case you are wondering. I was in Mexicali and staying at our hotel were the Miami Tropics, the Argentina, and Brazilian teams in that league. None of us had ever lived through an earthquake before. Me and the members of the team I had befriended during dinner ended up quaking under the table. The hotel then evacuated and made everyone stay outside for an hour and a half. It was a bummer. I was freezing.

Anyway, I am in Atlanta on my way home. Way overdue ready to see my hubby. Way overdue ready to sleep in my own bed. And glad as heck to be off the fault line.

IPG

“It takes no more time to see the good side of life than it takes to see the bad”-Jimmy Buffett

My glass is always half full. My parents were wonderful parents. My dad gave me several nuggets of wisdom. One of them was that the only thing that is absolutely yours is your education. Another is that it is as easy to view the cup life handed you as half full rather than half empty.

When I first got married it was hard for me. It was difficult for me to establish my place in my marriage. I kept believing that I "needed space." However after a mere 1.5 years that worked itself out. I used to revel in the time that I could spend by myself, but last night tired as I was I had a hard time sleeping with out my husband snoring happily and loudly as it were by my side. That kind of dependence I thought I never wanted. However there is magic there. I could list millions of reasons of why I love my husband, but it all boils down to he was perfectly crafted for me.

Yes he has a crazy family, was married before and is imperfect as the rest of us. But none of that matters because he is perfect for me. I also think it helps that my marriage is going awesome. I am terribly absent minded. The absent minded professor hasn't got anything on me. Well hubby always remembers where my stuff is. That may seem little but to someone who loses stuff all the time it is great! I could name a million of those little things that locked in place that make this marriage work.


Say the weather is getting you down, but you are having a bad day at work. I live on this beautiful peaceful lake. I can take a cup of tea and sit out there, and reflect. There are wood ducks, and Cranes, turtles, muskrats, and otters to watch. It helps me to be happy. But when I was unhappy at school I couldn't focus on any of that stuff. The thing with my department the thing with my health overshadowed my life.

A lot of it was me I think. I hadn't ever lived with someone before, and I wanted to keep all this independence and stuff and still be married. I guess I really learned that you can't have both. Either you are married or you aren't. There is no LITTLE BIT MARRIED.

Working all day helped me to get organized and get studying on my exam. I spent roughly 3 hours studying today. I have mapped out 9 major constructs that I must study. From those nine constructs I am able to map out a battle plan. It allows me to work in a systematic way. I appreciate the ability to sit down and diagram what I have to accomplish and then tick off my progress. Additionally it is not worrisome and does not feel quite as overwhelming when I have a color coded map of goals. Did I mention I color coded it? I wanted to ensure that I had a "plan" of attack. I don't work well with chaos. An unorganized comp schedule was not working well. I ascertained what the major constructs and articles were. I obtained the articles, and then I used all the information I had to determine all the information I did not have. I then employed my research skills to allow me to fill in those gaps.

I keep regular records of what I have covered, and what needs to be covered. I also am keeping a database using Endnote of the references I intend to use, and the ones I have read versus the ones I have skimmed.

War Eagle!- George W. Bush

I am out the door early tomorrow. I know this clip is not news, but I love it nevertheless. At any rate...I will be in San Diego.

I have to take 6 books, and a laptop and my comps material with me. A backpack, some suits, and some killer shoes.

I already miss my HH. He can't go. He is in charge of a major website for the University...he has to answer to a university VP. Guess he has to stay here. He called me today and told me how much he was already missing me. :( Miss you too baby.

I mailed my Stepdaughter's valentine box yesterday. I try to send her something for every single holiday. However I fall down on the job when it comes to St. Patrick's day. ...and Chinese new year...MLK :) Ahh well at least I take care of Valentine's and Easter.

Laissez Le Bon Temps Roulet

Happy Mardi Gras Everyone!

I am having an exhausting day. My stepdaughter made straight A's again. :) We are so proud of her over here in Mississippi.

C'mon Mike Huckabee! You thanked the Roll Tides, the Vols, and the UGA bulldawgs! There are some Auburn Tigers pullin' for you here! He also claims he is going to hang a going out of business tag on the IRS. I am enjoying watching how Super Tuesday is turning out for my candidate.

I have GOT to do some shopping. My handsome hubby deserves something creative, sexy, and wonderful for Valentine's. I need ideas. Problem is all my brain power keeps being used up on worthless statistics and classes. ;P I was thinking some gadget whatnot. But maybe I will give him a can of whip cream and we can turn in early and play connect the dots. Ha!


I leave for San Diego on Thursday. I am buried studying for comps and working on my job. :)
So not much other than the happy straight A's news!

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. Explore. Dream. Discover." -- Mark

I wanted to post some pictures of our trip. :) This is my friend Jen and I down in South Beach!

This is my HH and his best friend. We had just cut down coconuts in the front yard. ;)

Now that I am home I have to prepare for my trip to San Diego. Then I am in until my comps. I will be studying quite a bit. I am actually enjoying the study. I am learning and working and honing my skills so that I can do an excellent job on my comps.

Our annual superbowl party was a good time. I am beat though. I will not be hosting parties mere hours after I return home, in the future.

Ok I am out of anything to say. I have more...just can't seem to turn my brain around.

I am home

Had an awesome Super Bowl party. I have some lovely pics of our weekend in Miami.
I am exhausted, and still working. :)
I am going to have to finish up in the morning. :)
April