Oh yikes. Been a while since I've posted. I wonder how many of you still check in with me anyway.

Over my little break from school I just read, ran and read. It was lovely. Back to the brain growing....I started my new course this week. It's solid man. I am loving it. It feels like this could be my new major? *stay on target* Anyway...my prof is cool and is super excited about teaching. His wild energy wakes me up from my already too long day. I've met a couple of nice folks who are study-like minded. Helpful. And I am still pumped about my impossibly nice high mark from psych. B+ Uncurved, so doubley nice.

I have it all figured out that if I read 10 pages (of text) a day, I'll be on target for reading. I have to plan this one out. 6 credits in 12 weeks. What was I thinking? It will be fine when school is out but I still have another 7 weeks of that, and my course will already be half over so I really have to focus and not procrastinate. Which as you can see, by the fact that I'm blogging right now instead of studying, is not getting off to an excellent start.

My kids got another paper route and thankfully, I think, I'm banned from helping them. hahaha! Apparently I can't read a map and I get impatient. lol Who'da thought?

I am loving running and think I've finally become a runner. I always thought that I would like to think I could be a runner but could never really get there. I am running 1.5 miles without stopping and heaving, or sucking on my puffer all blue from oxygen withdrawl. I've been running at school with the kids in the running club over lunch time. It is so cool to have a little grade 3er as your pace buddy, who's busy chatting his little head off while you just focus on making it to the next drive way. lol

It might be time to ditch my v.v. boutique running outfit and pull out the real one.

Off to my text book.

Life these days....

I did well in my course. Last exam 80% and final, yet uncurved, is a B. So I'm hoping the reason the marks are taking so long to come out is he's curving them. :) Whew! I needed a minimum of a C to get into a bunch of courses so I'm glad it all worked out.

I have been loving my time off. I've read book upon book, just for pleasure. And I've been trying to get my running on track, playing baseball with the kids and shopping with my girl.(takes after her grandmother) We're also planning an addition to the house.

I'm a little freaked about it, and it's a little tempting not to get back into the tortuous swing of things of trying to balance work, family and school and now renovations...but the longer I put off even one course is the longer I'm putting off myself and my goal. So back I go. I guess part of the deal is becoming the person who can do it. Without melting....so I hope the kids are pretty good painters. I do know the boys are quite excited to be part of the destruction of the front porch. lol What kid wouldn't!

Besides that, I'm glad it's spring, although that bit of a blizzard we got on Thursday isn't making it feel too warm. But I'm trying not to complain (even though it didn't buy us a day off school).

Psych 1200

I have completed my most bizarro, thus difficult university course this far. Tonight marks the end of this class. I just finished writing my exam and think I did pretty good. Especially for not studying hard *sigh*. I wonder if I will ever get to study hard? Or maybe that will only happen at the 5am mark for me, but we all know how likely that would be for me. hehehe

It was lovely that my mom was here and got my kids after school,made supper for everyone, and held down the fort while I went to school to study and read. A lovely treat on the last exam.

I have a feeling of failure though, about this course. I didn't get (make?) enough time to study, didn't read enough, didn't go over my notes like my dad told me to. High school was a bit of a bomb for me at the end there and I have to work very hard at not letting past failures bring me down as well as not let old habits sneak back in. I work and study to get good marks now. I have a great gpa and I want to keep it. Not only that, this is my MAJOR! I think I only got about a C+ in this course and it's bumming me out. I have my fingers crossed that the prof will have to put the marks on a curve, bringing my mark up. (there's alot of nutty people who have been consistently failing but are hanging in there hoping for the same thing - yikes)

This week I'm going to treat myself by reading a FICTION book. Stricly for pleasure! Yippeee! I only have 3 weeks before my next course starts. Maybe I'll squeeze in 2 books. Ahhhh!

Forgot my earplugs.....

Okay, so I'm still cool. lol

Avril put on a great show. She changed her clothes a bunch of times and the stage was great. It was all punk rawk and pink. She had great dancers who reminded me of Zombie days. I was quite impressed by her musical abilities. She can play everything, even her pink sparkly drum kit.

There was this little kid sitting behind us, she was only about 4 and she was rawking out unbelievable! It was cracking me up. I think I watched her more than the show. Her dad was very conservative and did the golf clap while she was dancing around waving her little rock'n'roll fist in the air. And who taught her the deevil horns? wow.

My girl and her friend had so much fun. It was so cool to see them having such a hoot. I'm sure they'll rembember this show for a long time to come.

There was one downer though. My kid and her friend were asked to sit down. What!*? Is it just me or perhaps were the people behind us a little stiff? Ever been to a "concert" before. She was very polite and did sit down but, couldn't help it, me and my friend stood up for the encore. I just couldn't help it. The people behind us weren't old either. Perhaps they've just never moshed.

pffftttt....sit down.

Concert

I am off to see the Avril Lavigne concert tonight with my daughter. I have my earplugs all ready and am on the lookout for some pink hair extensions. lol

This has given me a new appreciation for the time my mom took me and a friend to see the Headpins when I was a pre-teen. I remember the arena was smoky and packed with wild haired people. It was loud and I couldn't hear right for days after. Poor woman. And she did it out of love! A person just doesn't realize the love and sacrifice of a mother until they have to do something similar. I had completely forgotten about the concert she took me to until yesterday.

My mom was so cool, and she still is.

I'll let you know how I fair. I guess I won't know for another 15 years or so. lol

My exam.

Okay - so I didn't get up at 5:30am, but I did get up earlier and I did study alot.

Wrote my exam tonight and got my mark. Highest mark yet, although still a ways away from what I'd like. My husband says pretty good for someone who works full time, has 3 kids, runs a house, is trying to run, and is married to someone like him. hehehe

It's hard to balance everything and try to be great at all of it. Sometimes you've got to settle for being just good at some things to be better at the others.

Sheeesh....

Okay, so I didn't make it. I did hear the alarm at 6ish. And I did grunt at my husband when he was leaving for work at 6:10 ish....and at *drum roll* 6:15 am I was out of bed and into the shower.

Needs some polishing but better.

I did get some really good study time in. Hopefully tomorrow.

What sort of madness?

I am an adult student. I work full time and take university courses in the evenings. I have decided to take another course during the summer session and am taking an intensive during august. Having a family and trying to concentrate on university is a challenge that I haven't completely figured out how to do successfully. Usually school suffers.

I have issues with procrastination. Despite my procrastination, I still make out pretty ok - thus negatively reinforcing my procrastination issues. (imagine what I could do if I wasn't a huge lover of delaying the inevitable...)

Because I haven't finished all of my readings for the week and have an exam next tuesday I have decided to do something drastic. Never, have I even thought this to myself before.... I am going to try to get up at 5:30am to study and read before work. My plan is to have the coffee going and a shower before I sit down to the books, to entice me into thought.

Hopefully I don't look like this by my morning coffee break.

Dodge the bullet...

One of my greatest fears is to get lice.

Yep, you heard it. Lice. I know there isn't anything wrong with it, it doesn't mean anything bad about you or that your dirty, but my hair is thick and long. And I just feel like, I'd never get it all out. And my sisters aren't any where near by to help me out. Not that it would be our favourite activity, but lets face it, a sister would do it. I have good friends and my husbands pretty loyal but would they really sit up with me for hours laughing and combing?

All winter my kids have been bringing home the standard lice note. "We have found a case of lice in your childs classroom. Please check your child's hair." We've been getting the note about once a week. In fact, I don't even know who is actually bringing the note home or if it's left over from last week because I have such a pile of the notes. (perhaps time to recycle) My head has been itchy ever since.

I got a call one day from one my daughter's friends parents. "Hi, my daughter has lice and I know your daughter was just here for a sleep over so you might want to check. Oh, and your son was also over the other day sooo....". "Ah...thanks for calling, I'll check."

Yikes. Turns out all was clear.

A few days later, my daughter calls around to invite a group of her friends to the movies here in town. Living in a small town, going to our two-bit, sticky floored, cheap treats, aluminum sided theatre is a HUGE social event. It is the place TO BE for a 12 year old on a friday night - even if your big, tatooed, loving, overprotective, dad is sitting in the back row making sure your not meeting any boys there. (lol) So, she must have called about 10 friends. She got the same answer every time.

"Sorry. I can't tonight. I'm going over to so and so's. We're having a big lice/nit picking party tonight. Oh? You don't have lice? Sorry, you can't come. See you monday!"

Now that's turning lemons into lemonade.

My secret for keeping those pesky critters away? About 5 drops of tea tree oil in a bottle of shampoo. For extra measure, a spray bottle of water (sterilized) with some tea tree in there. Spray a couple of shots on your kids hair before school. And if your really nervous, put all hats, coats, ect. in the dryer on HOT for a while the second they walk through the door after school and put a tich of tea tree in the wash water in the washing machine (it's good anyway).

A long winter.

This winter has been the longest in my lifetime. Or so it has seemed. It has been too cold to go outside since christmas. We usually have 2 week long streches of -45 C ish (with the windchill) and then a break of warmer weather, then cold again. But this year it seems to have been the entire 3 months. I have been seeing people around town and you ask how they've been and the answer is the same. "Grunt. Mumble. Long winter. Grunt." Everyone is feeling it this year. Including me.

I have been bundling up to go for a quick jaunt every day but I was not loving it. I have just needed to get out of my 4 walls. It was so cold that even if you were dressed head to toe in - 50 C stuff and sweating, you would still be feeling it after 15 min or so. I hadn't seen the sun in a while. We've been watching more than our share of movies and I think I've even read 4 books in the past month or so. The kids have seemed abnormally wrangie and there have been ALOT of wrestling matches these days, my hubby included.

I didn't really realize how much it was getting to me until the past 3 days. It has been beautiful and warm ( -10 C ish ) and you can go outside without your nose hairs looking for cover! I have been outside more in the past 3 days than in the past 3 months. I have been skating on the river, tobbogganning and for walks. I am revelling in the sun and warmer winds.

I was feeling so much like my self I even baked bread today. Mmmmm....It smelled so yummy. The kids were like, "What's going on? Your baking bread..."

It's springtime in my soul. :)