Sleep IS my best friend!

I slept all weekend long.  No joke!  I did a little bit of homework, but really not that much at all.  In fact, here's how my day went on Sunday...got up at 9 to get ready for my Sunday morning church meeting.  Went to said meeting at 10:15 and finished at 11:30.  Went to lunch with a good friend and then came home.  Entertained the idea of doing homework for about a half hour and then decided to lay down for a...*ahem*..."nap."  It was around 2:30 when I laid down.  In what seemed like a matter of minutes, my eyes were open and I was thinking, "I should probably get up."  So, I looked at my clock...6:00 PM!!  YIKES!!  This is the best part, though...I got up, got a drink of water, looked out the window to see if it was snowing and then thought, "Nope.  I'm not ready for this."  AND THEN...I laid back down!!  It was grand!!  I slept until 8:30-ish, got up, took a shower, did some bumming around on the internet and was ready for bed again by 10:30.  I think it was around 11 when I last looked at the clock that night and let me tell you what...I slept like a rock again!!  I don't know that I even moved very much until my alarm went off at seven the next morning.  ha!  Do you think that maybe I was a wee bit tired from the previous week?!  ha!  Okay...I'll admit that I did stay up a little late on Friday night as I went to a potluck for a friend leaving town and then some of us hung out and visited until the wee hours of the morning, but I sure don't regret that for one minute!  Plus, I slept for about 12 hours after that, anyway, so yeah...I think I might've just been plain tired. ;)  (And, yes, I know, I know...if I had kids, I wouldn't be able to do all that.  BUT...I don't (have kids)!  So, I do (get extra sleep when needed)! :)

Anyway...my week is going good so far, but let me tell you one other thing, folks...I AM SO SICK OF SCHOOL!!!!!  I know, I know..."Hang in there, Jen!!"  Ugh.  I think it would be less painful to stick a pencil in my eye.   That being said, I have four and a half weeks left and, officially, eight class meeting times left and one final.  It's NOT that bad, right?!?  Right.  Stick a little senioritis in there, though, along with bad instructors and it makes for a ROUGH few weeks ahead.  ha! :)

On a different side note...don't you just love it when things just "work out" in life?  This is really such a trivial thing, but every time it happens, I just find myself smiling (and, yes, similar situations have happened before...I'm probably jinxing myself by talking about it!).  Shortly after this month started, I was feeling a little strapped for cash.  That feeling kicked in even more so this past week and I was just feeling nervous about getting through until payday (last working day of the month).  That was Friday.  On Saturday...a $35 check shows up in the mail from a doctor's office because my insurance covered more than they thought it would.  Then, on Monday, a $50 check shows up in the mail as part of a "health bonus" for completing a health & wellness check through my insurance company six weeks ago.  Isn't that just wild?!  No more fretting this week!  Yahoo!!! :)  Oh, I know it doesn't always go that nicely, but I sure am thankful for those times when it does! :)

I hope that YOU are doing well, wherever you are!  Enjoy the rest of your week!

Whizziness 'n stuff.

What a week this has been!!  Crystal so kindly reminded me about how I was already breaking the "new law" that my dad informed me of, so I figured that I'd better get an update on here.

Honestly, this week feels a lot like this...

I just feel like the days are whizzing by and I'm not sure which way is up and which way is down.  It's advising week at work, you see, so I have been B-U-S-Y.  Don't get me wrong, I really DO enjoy this week, but it can leave me feeling a little like this...

In fact, I'm pretty sure that I had a moment yesterday morning where I looked something like this (sans the wedding ring)...

But what do you do, right?!  Well, all I know that a person just needs to get PLENTY of sleep, drink lots of water and pop an occasional airborne tablet and after that, you can manage advising week just fine. :)

Another thing going on this week is the wind.  Oy vey.  Sunday and Tuesday, it was SO windy outside!!  It was incredible!!  I completely understand why you read of women in wagon times just going crazy because of the wind.  Out on the prairie where there is nothing to stop it, it's just intense and it could certainly drive a person crazy.  Of course, we manage it just fine, but it sure makes us more thankful for the non-windy days!  What I'M most thankful for on the non-windy days, though, is not having to worry about holding down my skirt!  When I stopped at the grocery store on Tuesday, I'm pretty sure I had a moment where I looked something like this...

Yeah...it was pretty bad.  What wasn't caught on camera is that while I was trying to hold down my skirt after this incident, my shirt proceed to fly up in front of my face.  So...not only did the world get to see my underwear at one point, but I'm pretty sure they saw my brassiere, too.  *sigh*

What is also frustrating about windy days is that a person can spend precious time in the morning getting dressed for work and doing their hair and then they leave the house and disaster happens.  You feel like you're looking all nice and stuff, but by the time you wander out in the wind and make it to work, you often end up feeling like you look something like this...

No joke.  So, you head into the bathroom to check things out and freshen up a bit and you find that what you really look like resembles something more like this (sans the leash)...

Yeah...that wind can be kind of a frustrating thing to deal with and even more so in a week when you feel busy, tired and run down.  It just seems like you're much more quick to get SO aggravated by the wind. 

Anyway, there's a little update for you on how I've been.  I hope you've been having a great week!!  On another note...I think that I'm going to amend "the new law" a bit by saying be thankful if you hear from me within a 96-hour time period with each post, at least until I'm done with school.  After that, I'll try harder to accomplish posting more in the 48-hour range. ;)

My quilt

As most of you know, I turned the big 3-0 this year.  I wasn't shy about advertising that, that's for sure, but we all know that I'm NEVER shy about having fun with birthdays, so this year was no different. :)

I tell you what, though...I was spoiled this year.  I had so many friends celebrate my birthday with me this year and it was just a fantastic time.  Not only was I spoiled with attention, but I was spoiled with gifts, too.  It's always fun to receive AND give gifts, but, honestly, I would be just as thrilled if my friends gave me absolutely nothing but still celebrated with me.  Really! :)  I know, I know...some of you are saying, "Well, why didn't you tell us that before?!?"  haha! :)

Anyway, one gift that I have been wanting to show off to so many family and friends is this beautiful quilt that was given to me.  It was made by a dear friend of mine, Kathy, and I L-O-V-E it!!!  It's beautiful AND so warm!! :)  I'll have to ask Kathy again what the name of the material is that's on the back side of the quilt, but it is SO soft and warm that I just love to curl up in it at night.  I tried to capture what the material looks like in the second picture below, but it's kind of hard to capture it well.

Anyway, I know that Monique and my mom and maybe a few others have been waiting to see this beautiful piece (my very own "Kathy quilt"!!! :), so here it finally is in all it's beauty! 

Dads rock.

My dad is so good to me!  He just really looks out for me, you know.  Why?  Well, the other day, he e-mailed me this new law that went into affect and I just think it's neat that he shares this stuff with me  According to dad, the new law is:

FLASH!!!!  NEW STATE, FEDERAL AND TOWNSHIP LAW JUST PAST TODAY STATES IF ONE HAS A BLOG ONE MUST BLOG AT A MINIMUM OF ONCET EVERY 48 HOURS OR BE SUBJECT TO ANY AND ALL PENALETEEZ FORTHWITH AND EVEN FIFTHWITH THAT WILL BEE ASSESSED HEREWITHIN FORTHWITHIN BUT NOT SHORT OF LACKING THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW!!!!!!!

Now don't you think that it's just COOL that he wants me to know about these kinds of things?!?  And I swear...I'm about 99% sure that my own dad did NOT make this law up.  I mean, seriously...do you think anything like this would come from a common, ordinary guy?  Yeah...I didn't think so, either. :)

So, to start following the "new law," I figured I'd better update.  I hope my dad is happy about that.  Er...I mean the lawmakers...hahaha! :)  Anyway, I thought I'd share with you how I've felt about blogging for the last week or so.  It's summed up pretty well in this cartoon I found:

hahaha!!!!  Isn't that hilarious?! :)  It's true, though!  I haven't blogged as much lately because I've been SO busy at work and with school that I just haven't felt like I've had much time to blog and I just don't really feel like I have much to say, either.  Well, really, I think it's more because I'm tired by the end of the day and so my creativity with blogging is zapped.  But...to appease my dad and "the lawmakers," I will try to do a better job updating my blog on a regular basis again.  So...let me sign off here and say...

Have a great St. Patrick's Day!!!  Go enjoy some corned beef and cabbage!  I plan to!! :)

Lovely...

I saw this quote on a friend's facebook page today and I tell ya what...I really needed to see this today and to be reminded that I should be striving for better things.  I hope you enjoy this just as much as I did!! :)

"Live without pretending, love without depending, listen without defending, and speak without offending."

A bullet day! :)

• Work is taking over these days as we are short staffed for the month and I find that my workload seems to have doubled.  It's job security, I know, but it kind of wears me out and makes me feel a little overwhelmed.  This, too, shall pass, I guess.
• I had a mid-term exam for a class tonight and I think it went well.  On the flip side, I really don't care, so who knows how well it was!  ha!  :)
• Seven more weeks of school.  WOOT!!! :o)
• I've decided that I am not good in debates.  I don't really care for confrontation and when sides are opposing on an issue, I really don't do well in the conversations that are going on.  I think it's because I just get too emotionally involved and I take comments personally.  I'm such a wuss.
• I bought some new tennis shoes this week and am really liking them!  So much for paying off the credit card quickly, though...ha!  :)
• MY MOM IS COMING TO VISIT!!!!!  yahoo!!  :)  BOTH of my parents are coming to visit for my graduation in May, but mom decided to fly out almost two weeks ahead of my graduation just to spend time with me and I'm SO excited about it.  Dad will come out closer to my graduation (on May 7) and then I'll have about a week with them, I think.  I haven't quite worked out the details of my vacation yet.  I'm just SO EXCITED that they're coming to visit SOON!!!  Yay! :)
• March 13:  Turn the clocks FORWARD!!  Can you believe that it's that time of year again.  LOVE IT!  The daylight will be SO much longer!  YAHOO!
• This is definitely the summer of weddings AND babies!  I know several folks getting married this summer and NUMEROUS people having babies.  It's exciting!! :)
• The graduation ceremony in May for my bachelor's degree...I've decided that I'm not going to walk.  Is that crazy?  Everyone keeps acting surprised at that decision, but if I go on for a Master's degree, then I definitely will walk in the ceremony.  For this one, though, I'd rather save my money and invest it in a nice frame for my diploma AND to get my graduation picture taken (in a cap & gown).  That's really ALL that I want from it!  Is that goofy?!?  ha!
• I worked out a budget last week that will kick into effect in May.  With the new budget, I'm going to pay my credit card off in 12-13 months and my car loan one year ahead of schedule.  Let's hope that I can stick to this budget because that would be GREAT to get all of that stuff paid for and cleared.  Yay! :)
• Finally...life is good.  I've been tired and over-extended at work lately, but I really can't complain because life is good to me right now and I'm SO thankful for that! :o)