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I picked up a Whole Living magazine while on Break because I saw one at my dentist's office and it had a detox. I like detoxes, however, it is really hard to be faithful in the diet portion of one while being a busy student at Palmer. Also, I find many recommend some juicing (not the steroidal drug type, but the Juiceman Juicer type), and I don't have a juicer (yet). :)
I liked the idea they suggest for the New Year: to reflect back on the past year for a while and then to write down your new goals for the coming months. Here are mine:
- Do the things I least want to do first (In other words: do the thing I would usually put off until the last possible minute. This addresses my problem with procrastination.).
- Raise GPA to 2.50 or higher (Very do-able).
- Exercise a minimum of 3 times per week for at least 20 minutes per day.
- Learn to knit (My friend Nicole is going to help me learn; she is a natural teacher).
- Improve dental care (Floss every night! This is hard because I really am tired at day's end and just want to brush and hurry to bed.).
I wanted to keep it relatively simple. I also found that writing down how my day went and what I accomplished helped me to sleep better because I felt a sense of satisfaction for what I had completed. Sometimes I have laid in bed and wondered exactly what did I get done in a day. That can be really annoying, especially when you feel as though, perhaps, you may have wasted a day of your life.
I did well the first week of the detox, mainly because we weren't back to school yet. School has made it hard to keep up with my goals/detox/tasks. School is a major task! That Tox project was due last Monday and I worked the previous Saturday and Sunday, most of both days, getting the case studies added to the report AND creating the slide show to go with our presentation. Got majority of it turned in by deadline. I was under the impression that was the deadline for the rough, but the professor informed me that it was to be the final, so he gave us until noon the next day to finish it. I missed class that next morning to work on it and had a doctor's appointment that took up almost two hours of my morning. I tried to e-mail it from my laptop on campus, but couldn't get onto the internet. Went to Info Svcs and they reset my password. Tried again to log on and was informed that the internet was down! Drove home and sent it, 40 minutes late. Wow.
Today was the actual presentation and I felt pretty good about it. Hoping we get all the possible points for it because we did work hard on it and we provided exactly the information the prof outlined as what he wanted in it. I was nervous when presenting. Had to come home and re-apply my deodorant afterward because I was perspiring so much!
I feel like I've been putting all my time into studying for upcoming tests in Phys Di (quiz & practical this week), Cervicals (practical next week), & PNS (Exam 2 next Tuesday). I exercised everyday last week except Friday and Saturday, & didn't exercise yesterday or today, so I am really ready for some exercise. Maybe tomorrow I can fit some in between the morning and afternoon classes.
Lani vomited at daycare today. They called me and I went and picked her up after I stopped back by Palmer to drop off my Boards application (yeah, I've been spending lots of time working on that, too, because I have to request special accommodations, so there is extra paperwork to complete for the request). She went for a walk with Grandma yesterday and it was quite cold out. They went to Middle Park and Lani didn't want to leave after playing for an hour. My mom finally got her to leave, but she said it was work (Lani can be rather stubborn and will throw herself about to stop from being taken somewhere she doesn't want to go). This morning, Lani didn't get up on her own, which is very unusual in itself, and when we went in to wake her, she pulled the blankets back over her and said, "I wanna sleep. Go 'way!" We let her snuggle in her bed for a few more minutes, then she had to get ready. She was reluctant. Now we know why.
I had some really wonderful news a few days ago: one of my friends is pregnant and I'm so excited for her and her husband! She asked that no one post it to Facebook, so I'll not mention her name until she gives the go ahead on that. Very exciting news, indeed!
Last week, on Monday, before we had to head back to Palmer, we rented a truck from Home Depot and took the aluminum siding, the awning that had hung over our front door, and the railings in to the recycling center in Moline (Illinois) for cash. I was so happy to get it out of the backyard because it has been there since October and we've had people knocking on the door nearly everyday, offering to remove it for us. Because of this economy and the unemployment rate, I think many people are turning to "scrapping" to help get by financially.
Cervicals tutorial was really helpful tonight. In class, we run through it so fast that I feel like I've not properly grasped it, so I like the slower repetition of tutorial. It is good to practice and get feedback so you can correct your stance, contact point, etc.
I'm wiped. Currently on a course of antibiotics for an infection confirmed last week at doctor's office. This particular antibiotic has some rather unpleasant side effects; the one that I'm finding most bothersome is the metallic taste in my mouth. I feel like I can't get my teeth clean and that nothing tastes good. This is a bummer for someone like me who loves food.
Part of the detox is to get to bed earlier...for better sleep hygiene. So I'm headed to bed.
It was so good to just be home today! I slept in because Lani didn't wake until 8:00 -- a miracle from God! What a beautiful, wonderful, lovely thing...I love just lying in bed and feeling the warmth of the fleece sheets (just had to bust them out before we left town last week because I was just too cold with the regular cotton sheets), the weight of the down comforter and the blankets that I pile on top of that: one from my mother-in-law (it is really heavy, plush, warm), one from long ago that I bought to be a throw for my couch (heavy chenille), and one from my dear friend Sara that is one of my favorite colors, a gorgeous, muted teal (a lightweight chenille with a basketweave pattern). Sara gave me the blanket when I was going through my cancer ordeal (now 7 years ago, I think). It was the perfect gift because I was always cold at work and I could wrap it around my legs or sit in my office chair and wrap my whole body in it if I needed to warm up. I just love to snuggle down into bed when it is cold outside and I can just stretch and wake up slowly. It is a treat.
I also got to go to yoga today, so I am an especially happy camper. Got my haircut this afternoon and while my mom was working on it, I tried to convince her to join me tomorrow and give yoga a try. I hope she does, because I think she will enjoy it. She cut Jon's hair, too, and then later, Dartagnan's. I think D got about 3 inches cut off and it is now out of his eyes. I kept telling him he was going to give himself whiplash because he was always jerking his neck to flip his hair out of his eyes.
Didn't study today...that is bad. I have a lot of work to do tomorrow. Test coming up early next week in PNS, I believe. Also, must put together the rest of our group presentation in Toxicology (3 more pages, single-spaced) and then from that have to create the PowerPoint presentation...should only take about 30 min. or so. Ha ha! Right! I wish!
Jon finished reading his Dan Brown book, "The Lost Symbol," that he borrowed from Win. He really wants me to read it. I told him I probably won't be able to until the PNS test has passed because I need to focus energy to that. He understands.
While we were out of town, I did a bit of shopping, but I was unable to find a dress coat to replace my very worn Banana Republic black peacoat I bought in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on my very first recruiting trip at my previous job. It is about 9 years old. I stayed behind to shop in Peoria while Jon brought D and Lani back home yesterday. I was just preparing to leave Peoria (without having found a coat I'd fallen in love with) and had stopped by Panera to get a sandwich so I could eat and drive home, when I was sitting at a light, waiting to go to the interstate. I was munching on my sandwich and waiting for the light to change and suddenly, I saw a red Dodge Durango spinning around in front of me and another red Durango looking like it was pushing the other one and they were both headed right toward me. There was nothing I could do and nowhere to go, so I just thought, "Oh, no, I'm going to get hit." I tensed up a little, and thankfully, the two vehicles began to lose momentum as they approached my car and then one hit my Honda Civic on the right front quarter panel and smashed it up. It stopped and two men jumped out and ran away. Very strange behavior. The other Durango came to rest right in front of my car, as though I was in line behind him at the light. Three people were taken away on back boards and I hope they are all OK. I was fine except BP was a little elevated, as was pulse. Jon's dad, Jeff, and Mariola, his wife, both came to see me from their ballroom dance lesson. Jeff checked out the damage and said it would be OK to drive after he bent out a piece that was rubbing on the tire. I'm glad I could get home, because I was really tired of being gone at that point. I finally arrived home by 9:00 and couldn't wait to fall in bed, but Jon and I had to unpack the car, which held our food and other bags that we split between his van and the car for the trip.
While we were in Peoria, Jenni, Jon's stepsister, gave Lani an ice-skating lesson. Jenni teaches at the local rink and is quite an accomplished figure skater. Lani loved it! I expected she might be on the ice for 15 min. or so, but she was out there the full 45 min. available and didn't want to quit when it was time. She's so fearless! We took pics and I am quite certain she is one of the most beautiful, fun kids in the world!
I still need to call my friends and catch up with them, but just felt like I needed a "decompress" day to myself first. I'll be on the phone tomorrow to return phone calls and e-mails.
We had such a pleasant weekend. Got plenty of time to study, went to a Christmas party, made cookies, had a friend over for dinner, and watched a hilarious movie.
Friday afternoon, I had a practical in Phys Di and it went well. I forgot to describe the outer lips, mouth, and nose and lost 5 points, but remembered all the other things I was supposed to do. I got the bonus point for looking in the mannequin's ear and noting the finding of a cholesteastoma, so that brought me back to 36 out of 40, which I am very satisfied with. The practical covered the head, neck, ears, eyes, nose and throat and there was a lot to remember. Today is the written exam and I feel pretty good about it. Going to review during my morning break after Tox.
Was able to study quite a bit Friday afternoon after the practical. My cousin Tonya took Lani with her and her two children, Hannah and Gabe, to movie night at her sister Becky's house. All the kids were getting together to watch Christmas movies. "The Polar Express" was one that they were planning to watch and Lani really likes that one. Tonya said the movie reminds her of her sister Cretia who passed away about two years ago because it was the last movie they all went to see together at the IMAX before her death. Cretia and I weren't particularly close, but she was a really warm person and I miss her, too, because she was an anchor of stability & peacefulness in our family. She always hosted Thanksgiving dinner out in Walcott at their farmhouse and it was great because the house was big and could comfortably hold our very large extended family. She suffered a lot in the last three years of her life with recurring bouts of pancreatitis and from Hepatitis C, which she contracted from a patient in the ER at Genesis Hospital, where she was a nurse. Cretia had just completed the interferon treatment for Hep C when she was hospitalized again for something else and she passed away while there, quite suddenly and unexpectedly. It is still very sad to me that we lost someone so young, (40 yrs. old) so kind, so full of life, so giving, so fun. She left behind a wonderful husband, an upstanding son, and two beautiful daughters who all miss her so. She was very close to her sisters and they miss her deeply, too. She was very active in her church (one we, the cousins on my mom's side, all grew up in). Her funeral was one to aspire to: the number of people whose lives she touched was huge. There were so many people who came that they had to extend the visitation hours. She had a life that made a difference.
On Friday night, Dartagnan had a "date" with his girlfriend, Michelle. They went with a group of friends to see a movie, "Fair Game" I think, that none of them ended up liking, so they talked through the whole thing. I told him I hoped they weren't loud and disturbing other moviegoers and he said they weren't. He had fun and spent the night with his friend Trevon, whose mom kindly drove them to and from the theater.
Jon and I went to the Palmer Student Christmas party Friday night and had a great time. Jon was still not feeling so well, but I really wanted to go and he acquiesced. I think he ended up enjoying himself, but he was ready to leave when we did. The band, BBI, hired by Student Services, was excellent and played great covers that spanned the past four decades. They were energetic and their lead singer is fantastic. I've heard them perform before for past Homecoming events here at Palmer and they always do a marvelous job. Jon actually danced with me to two songs! He hasn't danced with me in a very long time...so it was fun to be grooving on the dance floor with my handsome man!
Saturday Jon made waffles (yum!) and we hung out at home. Got quite a bit of studying in; I had a lot of text reading to catch up on for classes; Jon was busy studying for his upcoming NMS II practical. Had fun playing with Lani, got some laundry done up, and got some housecleaning done. Also met with Jeni and Sheila to discuss our Tox project that will be due as soon as we get back from break. We divided up the work and I went and pulled some articles on our subject: Fosamax. Was at the Palmer library for about 3 hours. Had to run to WalMart to get a few things before heading home. Tried to put gas in my car at WalMart, but couldn't get the little door open because it was frozen shut (we had a blizzard warning). Oh well. Got home and cooked a risotto in my rice cooker and stirred in pistachio pesto my mom made with the last of her fresh basil at the end of summer, before serving the risotto for dinner. Was delicious with a glass of Riesling and a salad! My friend Janice, who recently graduated Palmer and is getting ready to open her practice in Rock Island, came for dinner after she got off work and we had a pleasant visit. Was really nice to catch up with her.
We watched "Despicable Me" last night and I have to say it was witty and that Jon and I were quoting it to each other after we watched it because it was just so funny. Steve Carrell's Russian/French? accent is hilarious and the way he leaves off words makes it even more funny. I definitely recommend it and we will definitely be buying it soon.
