Update

And just like that, the 6th week of school is behind us.  Hallelujah.  And in the last few weeks, I have opened up this blog and attempted to write something.  But, my mind goes blank.  So, I've gathered my thoughts and here's my summary:

I love it.  I hate it.  It's scary.  It's exciting.  Yesterday was so fun!  Today sucked.  I feel accomplished!  I feel defeated.  I think: "I get it."  I think: "WTF am I doing here?" 

Do I sound like Sybil?

This particular week I found myself not enjoying nursing school AT ALL.  And not for any particular reason ...just everything seemed to snowball at once.  Emotionally and physically exhausted.  And I worried that if I said this out loud, does that mean I shouldn't be there?  I know the answer to this already.  If this were easy, then everyone would be doing it, right???  Some days are more challenging and frustrating than others and we press on, right?  I am making an extra effort to say goodbye to the over-achiever who lives inside of me.  For now she is gone, but she might come back for a visit, if I let her.  Wish me luck on that one.  

My clinical rotation is at JFK this semester.  Worlds apart from Eisenhower in many ways.  I find the nurses at JFK much more willing and happy to help the students.  They all seem to be very happy working there.  There are some amazing nurses whom I am inspired and encouraged by...only being out of school for a couple of years and being the rock stars that they are.  

I have had several Spanish speaking only patients.  So much for the Spanish I thought I knew....

In other news...the girls are staying busy with school and their schedules.  Chandler has turned a 180 and now seems excited about the idea of going away to college.  Today we booked a flight and are going to visit OU next month.  She seems beyond excited about this.  Also high on the list is moving to South Carolina for school.  I cannot even imagine her being so far. Two weeks ago, I found out that I was awarded 4 scholarships for my nursing program.  I vaguely remember applying for them, as I didn't think I qualified for any of them.  I was ecstatic.  Now, if only Chandler can manage to do the same!  Otherwise, how the heck do we pay for her college??  Obama says he has made college more affordable....really?  For who and where? Scary.  

So, it's a Friday night and tonight I skip the away game.  t.i.r.e.d.  So, just chilling at home and re-charging so I can focus on writing a research paper this weekend.   I'm excited about that.  Really.  Excited.  Not.  

Happy Weekend. 

Goodbye Summer, It Was Great!

Wow...it's been over 3 weeks since my last post.  When I said I had a full calendar, I wasn't kidding.  We went to San Diego for a few days earlier in the month and had a great day at the beach on Coronado, caught a couple of Padres games and did some back to school shopping.  And made a stop for a campus tour at Cal State San Marcos.  Chandler's still not sure where she wants to go...so we continue to try to figure that one out.  

Upon our return, it was non-stop with doctor's appointments, school orientations and cheer practices and other stuff.  I managed to start reading for my upcoming semester.  The days have absolutely flown by, with very little downtime and now here we are the night before the first day of school.  

This, without a doubt, was one of the best summers on record for me. It was for the most part, stress and worry free (minus Craig's golf cart accident...still on the mend and not 100%).  In a nutshell, I:

Read trashy books (you know which ones)

Vegged on the beach.  

Visited with very old friends...so great.  So great.  

Celebrated Craig's dad's 80th birthday. 
Spent a little time with my sister-in-law.  <3 

Worked (for 8 days).  

Baked a couple of peach pies.  

Took in a couple of baseball games.  

Went to the water park.  

Staycationed at a local hotel. 

Went to Dallas Cowboys Training Camp.

Jetski'd, kayaked, parasailed and horseback rode in Lake Tahoe. 

Spent lots of time with great girlfriends....with whom I laugh til I cry and til my stomach hurts.  (There were some fun, fun times.  I love my friends.).

I know there's more.  I wish I could say I worked out faithfully...but I did not.  In fact, I got very sluggish and lazy for the last month.  The ugly August weather might have something to do with that.  But, I have enjoyed as much as I possibly could this summer.  And in a blink of an eye...it's over already.  (Sad face.)

And so now another school year is upon us....

My girls both have big years ahead of them.  Chandler begins her senior year tomorrow.  She's having a hard time being excited about it.  Over the last 2 years, her best friend, Allison, moved away and more recently another close friend moved away.  And her boyfriend of 7 months will be going off to college.  I hope that she can see it clearly to make the most of this final year of high school.  I am so proud of this girl.  Yesterday, as we were out running a few errands, she stopped to register to vote...she'll turn 18 just before the election.  It was so surreal to watch her fill out this form...emotional.  And an hour later, she was officially offered her first job!  She'll be working at Good Stuff Pizza...and she's so excited about it.  Interestingly, this is the same restaurant that Craig was considering buying about 10 years ago.  

And Rylee...she starts 8th grade tomorrow and I am equally proud of her.  She competed on 3 cheer teams last year and still managed to make a 4.0.  She will be in two clubs at school this year that will keep her busy...and she is really looking forward to it.  I can't believe my baby is in her last year of middle school.  Wow..the time....does it ever fly...

And me...I start my second semester of nursing school on Tuesday.  Yep, and I'm scared to death!  Wish me luck!

Olympic Love

It was the '72 Summer Olympic Games, when my love for the games and gymnastics began.  I was 6 and I was infatuated with Olga Korbut.  She had this signature type move on the balance beam.....

And I could so do this.  I loved Olga with her cute pigtails and her slightly crooked teeth.  She was my idol.  After the Olympic games, my mom enrolled me in my first gymnastics class at the "Y"...and I was hooked.  I continued gymnastics through high school.  I was alright...not great, but loved it to no end.  I was beyond excited when I was able to attend Bela Karolyi's traveling gymnastics camp when they came to El Paso.  Imagine the excitement to be able to tumble with Bela??!!  And his wife, Marta, coaching on balance beam?  Yep, pretty exciting.  

As much as I want to say that I follow gymnastics in the Olympics, I only halfway do.  I can't remember when the scoring system changed.  I still don't understand how it's figured.  And I am not sure when it went from the "Magnificent 7" to the "Fab 5."  When and why did I miss all this? 

I am so enjoying the Olympics this summer.  More so than ever.  Maybe it's because I notice that all four of us are laying on the couch enjoying it together.  Together, we admire the physiques and talents of the divers, the gymnasts, the swimmers.  (Ryan Lochte...yes, we love you.)  But, we love rooting our USA teams on.  I have cried almost every night watching..with pride and with agony. 

Today I have made it a point to avoid any news on TV or on the Internet.  Don't want any more spoilers for tonight.  

The countdown to back to school is on and I am overwhelmed by the amount of things that I have to get done and with a very full August calendar to squeeze it all into.

For starters, guess where I am headed tomorrow?  Yep, that's right...Dallas Cowboys Training Camp...with two VIP tickets.  I am one excited girl! 

Lake Tahoe

Last week, we set out for our postponed trip to Lake Tahoe.  We've been up there only one other time, about 4 summers ago.  My aunt and uncle have a home, a beautiful home, on the lake and we were fortunate enough to be able to stay with them for a few days.  There really are no words to describe the beauty...other than it is like a fairy tale castle in the pines.  I secretly (or not so secretly) hope or imagine my girls being married in the beautiful garden surrounding the house. 

Anyway, we enjoyed all the lake activities we could...boating across the lake to Emerald Bay, kayaking (more on that), jet skiing, parasailing, horseback riding and just enjoying the cool mountain air.  We were only away for 6 days, and 2 of those were driving days, so we got in as much as we could. 

The kayak:  Rylee and I decided to venture out...our first time in a kayak.  There is a little dock area that is surrounded by rocks at the house.  The one-seater kayak was large enough for the two of us little people.  So, we get in and start kayaking (is that the word?) around, staying fairly close to the pier.  Scaredy cat me, is to reluctant to venture out past the buoys.  So, around we go.  Rylee is a star paddler, while I am trying to steer with the pedals.  About the time we decide it's time to be done, I am doing not such a good job with steering to the dock and instead, we are headed towards the rocks.  The water is getting slightly rougher and kind of pushing us into the rocks.  I am totally not able to get us out and to the dock.  At some point, the kayak tips over and out we go!  And OMG, the rocks are soooo slippery from the moss.  Very long story short, Rylee hurt her fingers and I came out with scrapes, bumps and bruises and I am not sure how the hell I got that kayak out of the water, but I did.  Kayaking:  Done.  Way too much work.  Not any fun.  Don't need to do that again, thank you very much. 

I should have taken a picture of the kayak for posterity.  But, it's ingrained in my head.

We never miss an opportunity to go riding!

Cruising from the north shore to the south.

We had a blast on the jet skis!

After our ride, we checked out the Emerald Bay lookout point.

So, now we are back.  It was a long drive home and we were all glad to be home sleeping in our own beds.  Rylee and I have both managed to develop sore throats.  Her initial throat culture came back this morning as positive for strep, but they will confirm in two days.  Hope it's not...hope I don't have it.  So...we are laying low for a couple of days.  Thinking some good 'ole chicken soup is in order!

Just Cruising With a Small Bump or Two

Summer's cruising along and I am doing my best to enjoy every second of it.  The calendar says it's July now, and that makes me panic a wee bit.  It means August is just around the corner!!  That cannot happen, yet!

We have had a good little balance of days of doing nothing much mixed with days at the water park, a 24-hour fabulous staycation at La Quinta Resort, sleepovers, movies, baseball games, dinners with friends, hitting balls on the driving range.  I am not working out nearly as much as I should or want to, which doesn't make me happy.  I wish I could find the motivation for this.  I have read four books, and I'll be honest...after finishing 50 Shades of Grey...nothing else seems interesting!  

One thing I have decided to do, is become a distributor for It Works!  I am so far from a sales person and I am normally a huge skeptic, but these products have really intrigued me.  The wraps feel good and are a hot commodity right how...so much that they are now on back order for 3-4 weeks.  If you are reading this blog and want to find out more about this line of products (that will tone, tighten, and firm your skin...along with making you feel good!), check out this link: https://lorifreeman.myitworks.com/UltimateMakeover.

Last week, Chandler cut off her hair.  16 inches.  She's wanted to donate her hair to Locks of Love and she was ready for a change.  It's darling and she loves it.  

Before Chandler did this, a friend of ours asked Chandler to model for her clothing website (http://bodygearonline.com/) check it out, it's cute, cute stuff.  Chandler was beyond thrilled to be asked to do this and had lots of fun doing it! 

So, summer hasn't been without a couple of bumps in our road.  After coming off Chandler's broken nose a few months ago, we've had Craig's work injury.  He's doing better, but not healed completely.  There was a possibility that they thought he may need a skin graft, but looks like that won't be necessary.  It still looks pretty ugly and he's still hobbling a bit.  We got a call on Father's Day morning from Craig's dad, from the ER.  He had been there for several hours.  Ended up being a kidney stone.  He's doing much better.  And then most recently, we had a bit of a mishap involving the car and the house.  And that's all I'll say on that one (but it wasn't me...).  None of these things were earth-shattering and we thank our lucky stars.  Just small bumps with added expenses and inconveniences...it could be worse, much worse, right? 

Looking forward to this week..always love watching a good fireworks show and preparing for our Lake Tahoe getaway at the end of the week! 

What Day Is It, Anyway?

Last week on Tuesday, I was somewhere and as I said goodbye to the person I was talking to, I added, "Have a great weekend!"  Wait....what??  For the last couple of weeks, I have had no idea what day it is.  I so have to stop and focus about the day and date and look at the calendar to be sure I am not missing an appointment or where the kids need to be.  I kind of like it, but then again, I feel like I have been in a cloud! But, I DO know what today is...it's officially the first day of summer!

Last week was the first full week of summer vacation for the kids and on Monday, it got off to a scary start.  Craig called me around noon to let me know he had had a little bit of an accident at work.  He was on a golf cart, hit a slick spot on the cart path and it fishtailed, then rolled.  His leg was pinned underneath and he couldn't get out from it.  A couple of workers on the course saw it happen and helped him.  Long story short, he ended up being transported by ambulance to the ER.  Nothing broken, but left with 8 staples to his lower leg.  It was ugly.  We are grateful, as it could have been much worse.  He's hobbling around and is still in some discomfort.  He is supposed to have the staples removed on Friday. 

Aside from that, we've done a lot of nothing for the most part...no where we really need to be, with the exception of cheer practices.  We've done a day long beach trip with friends.  We've done night swimming at the Esmeralda.  We've said goodbye to a friend who moved away....another one of Chandler's best friends has moved.  Sad. 

I got to visit with an old pal from El Paso last week.  She came to town with her daughter and  it was so much fun to hang by the pool and catch up and reminisce about our younger days!  Tomorrow, we get to have a little "staycation" at the the La Quinta Resort.  Just one night, but we'll have fun spending the night away from the house at one of my very favorite places.  

Over the last 2 weeks, I have managed to read three of the books on my list.  Just started the third book of "50 Shades.." Have you read it, yet? 

In the midst of enjoying not knowing what day it is, I am still on the search for a part-time job.  Hoping I find one soon...

With Craig's leg still not healed, we have postponed a trip to Lake Tahoe that we were originally going to take next week.  Hoping he's back to close to normal in the next couple of weeks so we can go have some fun on the lake and get the heck outta the heat!  Good thoughts for Craig and speedy healing!

Celebrate...

Celebrate good times come on....

I always manage to turn something that my kids say into a song.  It annoys them to no end.  Rylee can't understand how I can instantly break into song with a single word or phrase that she or Chandler is saying.  (But, now I am starting to see where she gets some of her random, spontaneous song outbursts from....).  I can't help it.  I love to be silly sometimes.  Unfortunately, I don't think my kids find it silly...just embarrassing.  Oh well..

So, speaking of celebrating, it's what I've been doing.  I love my birthday and I celebrate it for as long as possible.  Or for as long as it doesn't become totally obnoxious.  For me, it starts with Mother's Day.  I get a little attention and a little bit of spoiling and feel all special....and I kind of just run with it.  During May, the weather is warm and from my previous post, we all know how I feel about that.  More reason to celebrate--that summer is comin'.

After my final (and after I came out of my little funk of not getting the grade I so wanted), I pampered myself with a little massage.  From there, I did a lot of stuff around this house that had been neglected over the last few months.  Swept out and organized the garage a little.  Cleaned up the laundry room.  Cleaned up this desk and filed things away.  I read the first of "50 Shades of Grey" (oh my...).  And started "Bloom."  I am getting things checked off of my summer to do list early.

I find so many little things that make me happy.  So, the little things that help me celebrate are attending year-end school awards assemblies and banquets....for academics and for cheer.  Nothing makes me happier than seeing my girls work hard and be rewarded and acknowledged for their efforts and talents.  All the year end culmination is happy and fun and exciting and it all falls around my birthday.

Friday night after one of our cheer banquets, some of our families gathered by the pool where our banquet was held.  The kids swam and the adults sat with our adult beverages and snacks and we laughed and laughed and laughed.  My stomach hurt.  It was too much fun and just the perfect way to "officially" start my birthday weekend. 

Saturday morning, Chandler left for a beach trip with her high school cheer team and Rylee left for an all day/all night birthday party.  As of 10 am, I found myself by myself.  What to do...So, I made myself breakfast.  I ran an errand and then ventured into Sephora.  I love Sephora.  I just wandered and played with makeup for about an hour.  From there, I treated myself to a pedi.  Bright pink with green polka dots.  Fun.  Summery.  Birthday-ish, right?  From there, it was sushi for dinner with Craig.  A lovely, quiet day.

Sunday was just pretty chill around the house.  Had breakfast then Craig and I headed over to the Esmeralda pool where Rylee's birthday party was finishing up.  We met friends, had cocktails and laid in the pool and the weather was nothing short of perfect.  From there it was Chandler's high school cheer banquet and home.  Chandler's boyfriend came by to pick her up and brought me a little cupcake.  My only cake for the day.  Got to make a wish and blow out a candle.  Thanks Andrew.  We couldn't let the evening end without a trip to Coldstone.  Yummy Cake Batter ice cream with strawberries.  My fav.

And last night.  Mexican dinner and margaritas with some great girlfriends.  Oh my...the things we talk and laugh about.  It was great and I am so grateful to have such beautiful friends in my life.

Goodness gracious...I think I am done.  Time to cleanse and dry out for awhile.

So, another year older, and I hope, wiser.....Last summer I was pretty sure I was having a mid-life crisis.  I had this panic attack that I had so little time left to "be young."  And panicking about what I was going to do with the rest of my life.  Well, after finally being admitted to the nursing program, I am grateful that I will get to do what I have wanted to do for so long.  And while I was doing my clinicals this semester, I had a couple of patients that made an impact on me.  Our focus this semester was geriatrics and orthopedics.  I had one female patient who was 61 years of age.  Without giving too much info, let's just say she was HOT.  She was beautiful.  Natural.  She was in great shape...and like I said...she was, well...hot.  She was 61 and she might as well have been 41.  I had a couple of great conversations with her.  Another one of my patients was a 75 year old male.  Not kidding..he had the body of someone who was 30 years younger and in phenomenal shape.  Hardbody like you would not believe.  He told me that he and his wife have been married for 55 years.  And that his wife might as well be 50 years younger than him, because it's how she looked and acted.  Getting to know these two patients gave me reassurance that you truly are as old as you feel.  And obviously, if you take care of your body.  And if I ever second guessed myself about acting and feeling youthful or retaining my youth, these two patients were proof positive that it's not only A-OK, but it IS possible.  

We have more celebrating to do...only 2 more days of school this week!