Procrastinating.....

because I'm so good at it :)  But really I need a brain-break from studying.  I've been at it non-stop (it seems) and I can't stop until the last final on Wednesday.  The great news is that my last final for this semester is on Wednesday!!!  Other than that.....well, I wish I had more fun stuff to tell you.

Let's see.  The beads I showed you in my last post sold so I had to say goodbye...it was sad :( That just means I'll have to get to making some more!  I've been feeling a little bit like a "dealer" lately. Lots of purple powder has been getting measured and shipped out. If you're looking for Zimmermann Z-99 Purple Rose powder you'd better mosey on over to the Etsy store before it's all gone.  Don't I only wish I could reproduce this "lampworker's gold".

Allergies are finally subsiding a little so I can breathe.  This is a good thing.

Looking forward to starting clinicals in a few weeks (could also say I'm slightly nervous about the whole thing!) I probably won't be around much but will definitely try to keep you updated. I keep thinking it would be super cool to tell you about all the stuff I'm doing at school but I worry about all those privacy issues so I think it better to keep it simple.

So that's my blah update for the day.  Weather is beautiful. Stuck inside. Maybe I'll try to escape the house a little later on this afternoon :)

Hope you're having a great one!!

ps.  Here's a pic just for fun.  You know I'd go into severe OCD induced shock if I had to deal with this on a daily basis!

@DH's workplace!  How do you find anything???

All sorts of good things.....

1. My last post contained sad news about my friends S and J but in a miraculous turn of events they did get the baby and everyone's just thrilled that Baby K will be coming to Raleigh soon so we can all meet her :)

2. The semester is almost over (3 weeks to go!) and I will able to say I survived my first semester of grad school!!

3.  DH switched to a new group at work and is all happy, smiley again.  Woohoooo!!

4. DH got a certification that he had been working on and I'm so totally proud of him for putting his nose to the books and getting it done.  Some nights he was studying more than I was!

5.  The weather is warming up and everything is in full bloom.  I love this time of year.

6. Made some super sweet beads which, when the time comes, I don't know if I'll be able to part with.

Hope life is treating you well!

Keeping it all in perspective.....

Hey everyone!  I'm still here.  Another month has passed since I last wrote and I thought I'd finally sit down to put my scattered thoughts into words.  Many times in the last few weeks I wanted to blog out my frustrations.  There are have been so many things I've wanted to vent about but thought it prudent to keep things on the DL. 

The events of the last few days have motivated to me to write this post.  My friends, S and J, recently had a devastating thing happen.  The short of it is......they were matched with a birth mother and were totally ready to welcome a baby girl into their home when the mom changed her mind after giving birth and decided to keep the baby.  I can't even imagine what this feels like.  I have no words and the standard platitudes are just that.....platitudes.  Whenever I think about this I want to cry so I imagine it must be 100x harder for the two of them.

Which just makes me realize....no matter what I have going on that I may want to vent about....my issues are trivial.  When I was working I would be reminded on a daily basis of how unfair and sucky things could be and it really helped me keep things in perspective.  Now that I'm away from it I find myself losing perspective more easily and I don't like it.

Today I am thankful for so many things:

• the most wonderful, supportive, and loving husband
• friends and family who listen and help keep me grounded
• good health
• all the opportunities that have been given to me

 I hope that you are having a good day wherever you are and thank you for reading this blog. Each and every one of you mean a lot to me.

One down......27 to go....

Yup.  Hard to believe that one month has already passed and that we're into February.  Of course, since February is a short month it's going to be over in a flash too.  Funny how that works.  At first I thought school would never start and now it's just starting to pick up steam and I bet this semester will be over in the blink of an eye.

So, it hasn't been bad so far.  A bit of a change of pace.  Just getting back into the swing of full-time school has been challenging.  I'm trying to treat this like my job for the next 27 months and get into a routine - get up at the same time, if I'm not in class then I'm in the books.  Surprisingly it actually is working out nicely.  I'm less stressed than I thought I would be and enjoying the learning (mostly!).  Most importantly I feel like I still have time to spend doing other things which I really thought I wasn't going to be able to do.

Creating has fallen by the wayside.  I'd be lucky to get in a day of torching every few weeks I think.  I did spend this past Sunday doing some sewing.  Just needed to get away from the books for a while and do something non-educational :)  The upside to that is I'll be swimming in scrub caps by the time clinicals start.

No pics for today.  Maybe I'll try and see if I can get back with a more detailed post about what my days are like and the courses I'm taking.  For now, I'm back to the books.  Yay ;P

Hope you're having a great day wherever you are!!

First day of school.....

I wanted to post after my first day but was super swamped and never got around to it so this is just a bit late. 

It's official. I am an unemployed, full-time student.  And on my first day of school I felt like the kid in the picture above.  It's finally set in that yes, they did indeed mean to offer me a spot in the program and no, they did not make a mistake :)

Last week was orientation so we spent a good deal of time just dealing with logistics and administrative stuff.  I think that might have been the worst week.....you're ready to get going and yet it's dragging by because you're not really in "school mode".  Well, if I wanted school mode I certainly got it this week. We jumped right from the frying pan into the fire!!!  Never-ending reading. Concepts that have my brain screaming for mercy. More paper, more assignments, more reading....more, more, MORE!!!

But I LOVE IT!!! And I'm so totally excited about it.  Today we finally got to the good stuff.  The anesthesia gas machine (AGM). Yeah!!!  It makes sense!! It's awesome!! I can't wait to drive it!!!  Instead of dreading it (like I thought I might) I'm totally stoked about this....about all the learning and the challenge.  There's something to be said about being an adult learner.  I think you take it all so much more seriously and it's more meaningful somehow.

Anyhow, I'm rambling but it's because I was up way too early this morning and have already put in a full day. And my brain is fried because I can't comprehend pKa, pKb and all the other p's.  ;P

I hope that I get the chance to take you all on this crazy journey with me but I can't promise frequent updates. I'll do what I can.  In the meantime......keep calm and carry on!

On the cusp of a new year.....

I'm sure I'm not the first to say.....My goodness! This year has just FLOWN by!  At the start of every year I find myself wondering if it's ever going to get going.  Then, before you know it, the summer is over and all of a sudden it's Christmas and a new year is just around the corner.  Then I find myself wondering....where on earth did the year go and what the heck did I do all year???

The highlights of this year include:

Kev not killing himself falling off his bike.  Don't know if you recall that one but he knocked himself unconscious and was transported to Big Duke. Didn't know his name. Talking out of his head. Major concussion.  For a while there I thought maybe I wouldn't ever get my Kev back.  Thankfully he's back to his same silly self with no seeming lingering effects of the accident.

I freaking got into Duke for grad school!!!  YEAH!!!  Please remind me that this was a highlight of my year when I get on here in the coming months and moan and gripe about how school is sucking the life out of me :D

I found some additional creative outlets - incorporating metals and whatnot into my repertoire.  Keep checking back.  I've got some fun stuff planned :)

Thank you everyone for being a part of my life this past year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

Post Holiday Slump....

I finally feel like things are slowing down. Even though my last day of work was on the 13th I didn't really feel like I was winding down because there was so much craziness going on with the house and then the ramping up to the holidays (even though we didn't do anything!).  But with the start of this week I really am in full-blown veg mode :D

The house isn't completely done yet. Unfortunately they had an issue with one window that's held up the job. I'm hoping that window comes in today in which case it might get installed sometime later this week - maybe after the snow melts - and then they can finish the siding and painting on that one section. Some of the gutters still need to be finished. Same thing with later on this week. Can't imagine anyone wants to get on a 20ft ladder while there's ice and snow on the ground.

In the meantime, DH and I are fortunate enough that we get a full 2 weeks to spend together. This time is super precious because I have no idea how much time we're going to get to spend together like this once the insanity of school starts.  We don't have any major things planned other than to veg together and do whatever we want whenever we want.  It's pretty sweet :)

I've managed to sit down and torch a couple of times. Played with some silver. Got some new ideas cooking. More on that later.  For now here are some house pics for fun.....

Hope you're staying warm and safe this winter season!