Back in class

Classes started this week and it was quite a whirlwind. Originally, I had spoken with the new PhD director and he said that I had to take the 2-5 stats course on Mondays. Well, during my night class on Monday, I met a second year student who said that he was taking all his classes at night because he works full time. He recommended that I contact the old PhD director. So I did and she said I could take both 6-9 courses on Monday and Tuesday. So, Tuesday morning, i got online and swapped the classes, then attended class on Tuesday night. Yesterday, I had to go return the books from the old class and buy the ones from the new class. So, after much research and hard work :), I am now in the correct courses. Anyway, they both went well. My Monday night class is advanced research methods. There is quite a bit of work, but the professor seems really cool. The Tuesday night class is science and social work practice. It also sounds like quite a bit of work, but it also sounds very interesting. It is about theory and the practice of social work in today's society. I am not looking forward to the time and work that this program entails, but I am excited about the prospect of learning new things again. I am also excited about meeting some new people. I met this one girl, Nila, who seems really great. She is my age, has 3 kids and is a full time mom. I am excited to get to know her better and work with her in our classes. So, i am off to start another journey.

Michael is now feeling better and i think i caught his cold. I am looking forward to some good homemade chicken soup tonight. We had put some I made earlier in the freezer, but I took it out last night to defrost for me tonight. I am still feeling OK, but the cold is definitely here.

I am really looking forward to labor day weekend. 3 full days of no work, yeah for that!! We are also going to have a BBQ with my parents on Monday. Good times. Anyway, I am off. Talk to you all later.

Classes start tomorrow

So, it is Sunday evening and I am almost done with another weekend. The weeks just seem to creep by and the weekends seem to fly. I guess that is how it goes. Well, I just finished making some chicken noodle soup. Michael has not been feeling well (I think it is a cold), so I decided to make him some good old fashioned chicken noodle soup to soothe his cold since he still has a full week of work ahead of him. What a hard worker he is. :) I made chicken noodle soup several times when we lived in Morocco, but Michael always took care of the chicken when it was raw. He used to say that there was this slimy clear covering on the chicken that he didn't remember from the states. Well, I cleaned a whole chicken today and I am here to say that the slimy clear covering exists here also. I guess I have never bought a raw whole chicken before. You have to take out all the giblets and clean it before you can cook it. I actually gagged several times while i was doing it. So, since I have the fortunate opportunity to be married to someone who does not mind handling raw meat, i think i am going to leave that to Michael in the future. I will handle the veggie side of things. :) Anyway, other than the raw chicken, the chicken noodle soup was not that hard to make. I am also trying this new side dish from this magazine, Eating Well, that my mom gave me. The recipe is for roasted broccoli with grape tomatoes and garlic. It sounds delicious. We will see how it turns out tonight.

This week at work was very, very hectic. I had a lot of "special" (that is nice word for crazy) people to work with this week. Usually at work, I have many "special" people to work with, but they always seem to be outweighed by the patients that actually appreciate and are thankful for what I do for them. This week, it was mostly very non appreciative people who have this sense of entitlement. I had this mom who needed this pretty rare medication for her new born baby. She says she can't pay for it. So, I work my butt off to get her this medicine, but since it is so rare for newborns, the pharmacy said it will not be ready until 4 pm. I go in the room to tell this mom the good news that I found someone who has the medicine and she doesn't even have to pay for it. She starts yelling, I mean really yelling, at me because she doesn't want to wait at the hospital until 4 pm. Anyway, all that to say there are some real crazies out there that just don't seem to get how the world really works. Sometimes, I wish we could just say, "Sorry, if you can't pay for that, then you can't have it." But, I always try to remember that what I do is mostly for the newborn babies that can't help themselves. It is not for their parents.

I start my classes tomorrow. I am pretty excited, but I am also very nervous. From the syllabi, it seems like quite a bit of work. I am also a bit worried about how I am going to leave work at 1:30 on Mondays. Mondays are usually very busy since we are not fully staffed over the weekend, so leaving at 1:30 is going to be quite challenging. But, I am sure it will all work itself out.

Michael and I went to see Superbad on Wednesday night. We had our date night on Wednesday this week since Michael was working all weekend. It was hilarious. Laugh out loud funny. I loved it. There was one scene where I was almost crying, I was laughing so hard. We also had another round of Puerto Rico this week. Michael kicked my butt. He won by 10 points or so. It was still a great game. Playing games is something fun to do in the evenings instead of watching TV. Well, I guess that evening fun is going out the window now, since i will probably be studying every night. wish me luck.

I went up to visit my mom and dad yesterday. It was a great time. We caught up on our lives and ate some sushi. mmmmmm. my mom and i ran some errands and talked. it was really nice to see them. we made some plans for a BBQ on labor day since Michael and i have 3 full days off of work together. How much fun will that be? Hopefully we can spend some time decorating our walls in the house. we still have yet to put anything up.

Well, I am off to relax a bit before Michael gets home. I am all ready to start class tomorrow. Send smart thoughts my way from 2-5 and 6-9 tomorrow. Thanks.

Another weekend is over :(

Well, another work week has started, but at least this weekend was a good one. We had a great time hanging out with Chris, Quack (aka: Chris Quackenbush), Matt and Hayley on Friday night. We went to Piranha for some delicious sushi. God, I love that place. Then, we headed back to our place and spent the evening hanging out in the pool. It was a great evening. Chris and Quack stayed the night and we basically just lounged around the next day, which was also great times. We are all so busy that we never get a chance to just lounge about. It was really great to catch up with these guys. I hadn't seen them since our wedding. How crazy is that? Anyway, we are really looking forward to heading to New Orleans for Chris's wedding next month. I am sure it is going to be a blast.

Michael worked on Sunday, so I had a day at home to be very productive and very productive I was. I got so much stuff done, I still can't believe it. I cleaned house, worked out, took care of the finances, set up a budget (since we need to start saving for school and all :), went to half price books and best buy and bought some new workout DVDs that I love. I bought the Biggest Loser workout video and it is really great. I also took care of the groceries and cooked some beef broccoli for dinner. I got a chance to set up my facebook and myspace accounts. Those websites are addictive. I am going to have to set a limit on how often I can be online for those sites. :) All in all a very productive day. I was really needing a day to catch up on things at home, so it worked out well.

More board game news, Saturday night, Michael and I played our new board game (we just got it in the mail on Friday). It is called Puerto Rico. We played it when Almond and Paul were in town and we loved it, so we bought our own. It was tons of fun. It was different playing it with only 2 people, but I actually enjoyed it a lot. I think it was extra fun since I won, but I only won by 1 doubloon. It was a close game. Don't you love the word doubloon. :)

Well, this is my last free week before classes start. I start classes on Monday. I am really looking forward to it. Oh, one more bit of good news. My cousin Myrna in Lebanon just had a beautiful baby girl, Luna Marie. Congrats Myrna and Jose!!

Well, on that happy note, I am off.

Yeah for Sabra!!

I know it is not quite right to start a post talking about a TV show, but what can I say? So You Think You Can Dance was awesome. I was never really into reality TV before, but this show really grew on me. It was like getting to watch a dance performance every time it was on. And to top it all off, my favorite dancer won. Go Sabra!!

Well, I went to my PhD orientation yesterday and it was quite informative. One thing that really stuck out for me is when Dean Hernandez was talking about what it will take to make it through your doctorate. He said that you have to have some major motivation. He said just wanting to be called "doctor" or wanting the initials of "PhD" behind your name is not enough. He said you have to have some other kind of motivation that will help you continue when the program gets touch. I think that I have that because the reason i want to get my PhD is to be able to teach, first and foremost. I have always been pulled in the direction of education. I love passing along information that I think is valuable. I feel that I have the skills to motivate and teach others. Second, I also want to do research. I want to be able to contribute to the already massive body of knowledge out there. I know that the above makes me sound quite amazing, :) but all that to say I think i have the motivation necessary to complete this program. It is quite an intensive program with several hurdles that I have to pass to continue with the program, but I am sure I can do it.

All right, let's move on. Michael and I have been playing Odin's Raven each night and he has redeemed himself. I am still the big winner, but he has won several games now. It is a great game. The best thing about it is that it is made for 2 players, which is great, since those games are so hard to come by. Also, it can be played in about 40 minutes, so you don't have to spend a whole evening playing. Good times.

Chris and Quack (2 of my buds from high school) are coming to hang out in A town tonight. I am really looking forward to seeing them. It has been a long time. I am not quite sure what we are going to do, but I am sure we will have a great time.

Well, that is all I have for now. Have a great weekend, folks. Happy Friday!!

Fun times!

Michael and I were both off work this weekend (which doesn't happen as often as I would like), and we had a great time. Michael's sister, Almond, and her family came into town for a Rush concert. We hung out together eating, talking, and playing a really cool board game called Puerto Rico. It was tons of fun. We hung out with their boys on Saturday night while Almond and Paul went to the Rush concert. We took the boys to see Harry Potter in 3D on the IMAX. They loved it. On Sunday, Gabe came over and we did some celebrating since he got a teaching job. I am so happy for him. I think this is the beginning of great things for him. We also made a trip to Costco this weekend. I know that shouldn't be eventful enough to write about in my blog, but it really is. We always go there with a short list and we end up leaving with half the store. They just have such great deals and really cool stuff. Anyway, all in all, it was a fabulous weekend.

What I have to look forward to this week is my PhD orientation tomorrow afternoon. I am hoping to meet all my co students and get some great information about this program. Also, my 10 year high school reunion is this weekend. We are not going to the reunion, but some great friends of mine from high school are coming into town and we are going to have our own party. I am sure it will be a blast.

Last night, Michael and I played this game that Almond and Paul gave us. It is called Odin's Raven. It was so much fun. I think it was especially fun since I won both times. :) Well, on that uplifting note, I am going to sign off.

I'm Back!!

Well, it has been almost 2 years since my last post. wow, that is quite a break. :) so, let me explain, no it is too much, let me sum up (where is that quote from :)? Michael and I moved to Morocco with the Peace Corps. We had some serious trials and tribulations mixed with some amazing experiences. We did some great things, saw some amazing sights and met some wonderful people. Now, we are back in the good ol' US of A. We have bought our first home. It was quite a big step, but we did and are very happy with it. We are living in Arlington, Texas again. I am working as the Women's and Children's Social Worker at Arlington Memorial Hospital and will start work on my PhD in Social Work on a part time basis this Fall. Michael is working as an RN in the ICU at Arlington Memorial Hospital. He is beginning the process to start working on a Masters in Nursing to become a Nurse Anesthetist. It seems like we hit the ground running since we returned back home.

We have also had the chance to catch up with all our good buds and do some traveling since we returned home. We got to head up to Amarillo and spend some great times with Michael's family. We also got to go to Bucerias, Mexico for Miriam's (a good friend of ours) wedding. We also had a Lambert family reunion in our new home a few weeks back. We got to head out to California to spend some time with my dad's family and my good bud from college, May-Ling and her boyfriend, Leith. We have been so lucky to get some great traveling times in since we got home. We both really enjoy traveling and spending great times with friends and family. We also have a few weddings in September we are planning to go to. One in Austin and one in New Orleans. Good times ahead. Well, that is a quick sum up of what we have been up to. I plan to post as often as I can, so check back when you get a free second to find out what we are up to.