One Hug

This has been a rough week. This was my first full week of work and my internship on top of everything else. The kids I nanny for have been sick and cranky and fighting with each other non stop. I have been swamped with schoolwork and just plain busy. Tonight I went over to get my W2 and I saw Ry. I have not seen him in about 6 weeks but as soon as I walked in, he ran right into my arms and gave me a HUGE hug. That hug put the biggest smile on my face and made my whole week! He is growing up into such a big boy. He is 100% potty trained, has a big boy bed now and talking like crazy! He did not want me to leave when it was time for me to leave but I promised him I would see him very soon! I still miss him but he is thriving in school and this was the best thing for him. I was blessed to find them and very blessed to have had the opportunity to be with him through all his firsts. I will always treasure the time we spent together and he will always have a very special place in my heart:)

Rest in Peace

Even though I never met Kay Yow, she touched my life. She was a fighter and did not let breast cancer control her life. She was an inspiration to many, especially to the lives she has touched. Rest in Peace, you'll be missed but never forgotten.

30 Random Things about me

I am going to copy my roommate and good friend, Jill on this blog. She blogged about 30 random facts about herself and I thought what a great idea. Now let's see if I can come up with 30!!

1. I have 2 middle names, Jean Louise. Jean was my grandma's first name and Louise was a family name going back 4 generations. My mom and grandma were really close so she gave me both names. I used to hate it but as I have gotten older, I have come to cherish it.
2. I am a bit OCD but only about certain things.
3. My sister and I resemble each other but we are only half sisters. We share the same dad, and yet people think I look just like my mom.
4. I have to eat something sweet EVERYDAY.
5. I drink 10 glasses of water everyday.
6. I love milk.
7. I once got tomato soup all over the back of my white shirt and none on the front.
8. My first love is still a very important part of my life, he's my best friend. How lucky am I?
9. I am a klutz but have never broken any bones.
10. When I am nervous, I bite my lip.
11. White roses are my favorite.
12. I dvr reruns of Beverly Hills, 90210.
13. My favorite vegetable are Brussel sprouts.
14. I am addicted to real life crime stories.
15. I am super organized.
16. I can remember dates of something that happened 20 years ago.
17. I never forget anyones' birthday.
18. I am not a morning or a night person. I prefer afternoons, early afternoons.
19. I only like coffee if it doesn't taste like coffee.
20. I don't like chicken, weird I know but it grosses me out.
21. My favorite color is red. It signifies confidence to me.
22. I look horrible in yellow, it makes me look sickly.
23. I am an overachiever. I am always striving to be better and sometimes even perfection isn't good enough for me.
24. When I get overly embarrassed, I cry.
25. I feel guilty when something goes wrong even if its not my fault.
26. I am shy when I am in an uncomfortable or new situation.
27. I get along with both of my parents.
28. I have a tattoo on my left hip.
29. I got my belly button pierced during my last semester in college.
30. I wear a size 6 shoe in women's and in some cases, I can still wear a size 4 in kids.

That was much easier than I thought. I only struggled with the last 2! Thanks, Jill for the great idea:)

A Double Life

At the moment, I feel like I lead a double life. Why you ask? Well, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I have my internship in the morning so I have to get dressed up. I actually do my hair, put makeup on and wear jewelery. After my internship, I go to work for the rest of the day. I tend to keep my 'dress' clothes on because I do not want to dirty more clothes than I need to, that would mean extra laundry and I am not cool with that. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I work the entire day so back to wearing just jeans and a shirt, what's the point of getting dressed up when I am likely to get noses wiped on me and who knows what else in the course of 9.5 hours? This will only last until April and then I can go back to leading my boring 'single' life!!!

How to make the perfect snow angel

Here's a video of me demonstrating how to make the perfect snow angel!

Snow Day 2009

We had a snow day yesterday! It was a great way to end a 3 day weekend!! We got a total of 7 inches of snow! That is a lot for Raleigh and unlike New York, everything shuts down. Schools are closed again today and most businesses had a delayed start. That is what you get when you don't plow the roads!!! My roommate, Jill and I took at least a 4 mile walk around our neighborhood and down to Lake Johnson. It was a lot of fun:)

**My pictures are not loading so I have uploaded them to a web album, please enjoy them there!!**

Whirlwind of a week

WOW, what a week! Grad school and my internship started on Monday, so I'm still trying to get into a routine and figuring out how to juggle my many commitments! I wasn't as nervous as I expected I would be on Monday morning but then again I have visited twice before so I was familiar. My mentor, Dee Dee is awesome and she had my office set up for me and sent out an e-mail to everyone in the department so I had people coming into my office and welcoming me all morning. I jumped right in with meetings to find out what I needed to do with all my projects that I will working on until April.

I am still trying to process that this is my final semester. This is something that I have wanted for as long as I can remember and to think its less than 4 months away, very surreal! And of course many days I think how in the world am I going to work 35-42 hours/week, do my internship, keep up with 2 grad classes, study for my CHES certification exam, train for my half marathon and still have time to see my friends/family and most importantly, sleep? I am trying to get ahead in my classes so hopefully I can keep that up until May. I'll keep ya posted!

The Beginning of the End

I started my final semester of grad school today:) It will definitely take me a few days to get my motivation back to sit down and do my work. Sunday is usually my 'homework' day and lately I have been lounging around so this Sunday could be a bit challenging for me. I actually have started some reading and already have one assignment finished and one about 90% finished. I guess I am off to a good start, probably because I know this is my FINAL semester! I'm sure I already said that but I want everyone to know that this is my FINAL semester...lol! Can you tell I am a little bit excited....! This semester should be good. My 2 classes seem to be interesting. One class I have has exams and quizzes but no papers or project. The other class has assignments and a big 25 page paper but no exams/quizzes. And you can't forget my internship which is like another class. I am going to be VERY busy this semester so hopefully that will make it fly by! Wish me luck!

Bessie Update

As most of you know, I have been battling an ovarian cyst on my right ovary since July 2008. As of October, 'Bessie' as I have named her was 5 cm in size and covering almost my entire right ovary. I have been having some problems for the past week so my doctor set me up for a pelvic ultrasound. 'Bessie" is still there but she has shrank down to 1.5 cm!!! However, she is causing some pain and next week, I am going to a gynecologist to see what can be done to get rid of 'Bessie' but also to prevent more from forming. As it is now, surgery is not an option because of my age and they do not want to create scar tissue which could affect my fertility when it comes time for me to have children. I feel better knowing Bessie is shrinking and hopefully at my next appointment in 3 months, she'll be history!!!

Wow, time flies when you're having fun... or not

I can hardly believe that school starts again on Friday (And what is up with classes starting on a Friday?? Are you trying to ruin my last free weekend...???)? Where did the last 5 weeks go? Besides Christmas in NY, I did nothing and I don't mean nothing like sitting on the couch like a lump and catching up on sleep, I mean I was so busy I barely got anything accomplished. Actually, I did lay on the couch like a lump on Thursday and Friday last week only because I knew I wouldn't be doing much of that come January 12, 2009 and I had a 4 day weekend after having 11 days off, and then working 2. I wish all weeks could be like that.....hmm, do you think the state government would go for that? Probably not.

Anyway, classes start Friday and once again I got little accomplished in my 5 weeks of freedom but looking on the bright side, once May comes, besides work and the gym, I will actually have free time again!!! Hmm, I wonder what that is like?!?

Six more days....

until my FINAL semester of grad school starts! WOW! Classes start on Friday, the 9th. I am not sure why they start on a Friday, go figure! Its hard to believe that last year at this time, I was just beginning grad school and now I am only 4 months and 5 days away from graduating!! I can honestly say I am excited but also a little bit nervous. I know I shouldn't be nervous, I should have the hang of this by now but this semester is the most important! I have 240 hours of my internship to complete by April 27 plus 2 classes to finish up and on top of everything, working 2 jobs and training for another half marathon! I did cut back on my nanny hours (not as much as I would have liked), otherwise I wouldn't be able to do my internship but I will still have internship work to do outside the time when I am not in the office. At times, I feel overwhelmed because I am not sure I will be able to juggle everything successfully but on the other hand it is only for 4 months! I have everything I need to be organized and I am even making a schedule with Excel to hopefully make my life a little bit easier. After my 4.0 last semester, I am determined to get another this semester because if I do, I will graduate magna cum laude. I am determined to do awesome at my internship so it turns into a full time job for me. My mentor has already told me that is her goal for me and she is confident that I will shine. That gives me even more motivation because I hate to let people down. So I am working at PaDoodles today so I guess I should get back to work!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year to everyone! I am very happy that it is 2009. As most of my friends and family know, 2008 was a challenging year for me so I was glad to see it come to an end. My idea from this post came from my very good friend and fellow blogger, Melissa! Previously she posted a blog about her 80 things that she would like to accomplish in her lifetime. It made me realize that they are many things I would like to do as well so instead of your typical New Years' resolutions, here's my list:

1. attend grad school (in progress)
2. run a half marathon -completed 12/11/2004
3. run a full marathon
4. visit the Grand Canyon
5. visit Hawaii
6. go to Mexico
7. go on a cruise
8. buy a house
9. learn to ride a horse
10. take Karate lessons
11. go on exotic vacation by myself
12. visit Spain
13. tour England
14. attend Mardi Gras
15. go to Miami/South Beach-completed 8/2/2008
16. become an aunt-completed 7/14/2000
17. be a wife
18. be a mother
19. learn to ice skate
20. ride the Zamboni
21. visit Alaska
22. spend the day at a spa
23. go on an African Safari
24. learn to crochet
25. visit Australia
26. meet Rod Brind'Amour
27. meet Steve Young
28. write a letter to my immediate family
29. visit the White House
30. Meet Barack Obama
31. visit Seattle, WA
32. ride a horse on the beach
33. get laser eye surgery
34. receive a perfect 4.0 GPA for a semester-completed 12/13/2008
35. get married on the beach
36. learn to surf
37. attend the Olympic games
38. live at the beach
39. Visit the Biltmore House
40. learn to drive stick shift
41. go to a Red Sox game (preferably when they play the Yankees!)
42. become a success in my career
43. learn to play pool
44. learn to play poker
45. own stock in a company
46. learn to embroider
47. swim with the dolphins
48. go on a whale watch
49. take up Yoga
50. Go to Vegas-completed 8/2001

I know there is more and I plan to add more as I think of them! Thank you again, Melissa for the great idea!