Bloggin from my house

Bloggin' from my house, bloggin from my house (to any tune you wish).

So, I guess I am a nerd. The first thing I totally unpack and hook up is the computer. NOW it feels like home.

I went on a trip to Seattle this last weekend while my friends and husband moved all our shit into the new place. It was for school, it was a American Society of Civil Engineers Western Student Chapter Leaders Conference (or for you acronym whores out there ASCE WSCL). Because it was good for half of the credit in one of my classes this semester, I don't feel as bad as I should for not being here for the move. Still, I owe my friends BIG TIME for helping out, I throw a big party or something. Or be there for them anytime they EVER need anything. I love my friends.

Speaking of friends, I got a chance to spend some time with Heather and James and the weenies when I was up in Seattle. Heather made sushi (which was FREAKING awesome) and we drank wine and talked and cuddled with the weenies. It was so nice to see them again. I'd never realized how much I really miss her until I have to leave her again. Hopefully this summer we'll have another SOF07, maybe this time in Kansas with Lainey, Pete and Owen and their 12 million animals. :D

It's 12am, do you know where your engineering student is?

Yes, she's still up. Taking a break from doing the calculations on a lab. A lab that I've seriously spent about 10 hours on OUTSIDE of school, just this week. The lab teacher didn't realize that the labs that we had downloaded off of webct (fucking joke, that is, btw, it doens't work with IE 7) had omitted pertinent information that could have saved me about 5 hours of hemming and hawing wondering why I was so stupid and couldn't figure out this damn equation. When you have one equation and two unknowns, no matter how you slice it, you cannot solve the damn thing. Period.

Did you know that in las vegas, if you're buying a house and the mortgage company wants to verify your previous addresses, the apartments charge money to release your information? Cute, huh? Guess how I found this out... :D

Let's see, what else can I complain about...

Nope, I'll get positive now.

I had written an email to the Eastglen Alumni Society asking them if they were planning our 10 year high school reunion. I just got an email back saying they are starting to round up all the people, so I'm supposed to get the word out, so THE WORD IS OUT. Email me if you want me to send Pat (yes, the same Pat that was at the front desk in high school) your email address so she can get in touch with you and send you the information for the Partaaay. Oh yes, it will be good times.

So, I'm on someone else's unsecured wireless connection, is that unethical? Wrong? Against the law? Not quite sure, but here I am. People should secure their wireless networks so people like me don't use up all their bandwidth or something like that...

Ok, I'm going to quit the lab and go to bed. Hope all y'all are having a wonderful time in whatever it is you are doing right at this very moment (besides reading this)....

dee

YAY

So here is the picture of the finished product. We sign the papers on the 15th of February!The only bad thing is that the tree in front seems dead. Actually all the landscaping seems dead. The rocks are nice though, everyone knows how I feel about ROCKS!!! :D

It's DONE!!!

Our house is officially done! I don't have a picture right now, but I'll post one as soon as I get a chance. We're signing papers on the 15th of February, and we're really excited! We're not packed (well, there's ONE box packed) so tonight, when Brandon wakes up from his day sleeping, we're going to start.

School has started and it's crazy. I'm taking 6 classes and it's really hard. What the hell hey?

I got a new laptop for Christmas, it's my baby. I feel like I have to protect it. My motherly instincts have been activated with it. Since I will never have a real baby (ewwww), this is the closest thing. When friends try to touch the screen I almost slap their hand. Have I gone crazy? Yes.

Brandon was in a car accident this week. Some 19 year old chick ran a stop sign and he hit her. She's disputing his claim of the accident so we have to wait to get the police report to be reimbursed for the tow truck and all that crap. The thing is, the cop that was there cited her, not Brandon, so we suspect it will be 100% her fault. His car wasn't working but being the McGyver that he is, he tinkered with it and got it working so that's good. We can't really buy a car right now, what with the house and all. If you try to take out any lines of credit while you're buying a house, it totally screws up the process, as other people who have bought homes can attest to. Not the best timing for such a thing, but is there really EVER a good time for a car accident?

I'm going to a conference for the ASCE in Seattle on Feb 21, so I get to get credit for my class AND see Heather and James and the rest of the gang. I'm so excited! Heather is actually going to be making sushi on the Saturday night we're there! The only bad thing about that weekend is that's the weekend we're moving into our new house. Brandon will have to do that along with any other help he can get. I'm going to be able to move some stuff earlier that week, but he'll have to move all the big stuff. Should be interesting.... :)

Gotta go do homework!

More progress....

It's almost done!

There are only a couple of screw ups, like we were supposed to have a cobblestone/brick driveway and, as you can see in the picture, they just put concrete there. To give them the benefit of the doubt, we are one of the only ones in the whole entire development to actually get a non-plain-concrete driveway. The picture on the right is taken from the kitchen looking back at the front door. The railing in, but not stained, so is the vinyl and the cabinets and the ceiling fan, all of which you can tell from the picture.

Other than that, school has ended and I only have a couple of days before Christmas to get my shit together, but what else is new? Tara is still coming on the 28, and I found out that another friend Jessica is coming in the same day! Shahnon is thinking about a new year's party, so we'll see what happens.

I am planning on taking Tara out to Primm where we have the outlet mall. Inside that outlet mall is the COACH OUTLET!!! WHOOO HOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So we'll have good times there.

Grades? I only have 2 so far from the 5 classes I was taking:

• Surveying: A-
• Dynamics: B+
• Materials: ?
• Abnormal Psychology: ? (but probably an A)
• Advanced Math for Scientists and Engineers: ?

I'm sort of worried about my math, only because it was a really hard final, and he gives no mercy, and I'm slightly worried about my materials because I had a C+ or so going in, and it would be nice if my GPA didn't take such a huge hit. It's so crazy, I used to be so good at math until I hit Calculus III. It's been down hill from there. :(

Next semester I've also registered for a step arobics class. It will force me to be active. I think I've gained 15lbs just from this semester... :(

More Exciting Home-Buying News

My cousin Lee and his wife Sara just bought a house!

This is the cute backyard, with a beautiful deck...

It's in a beautiful neighborhood in CT, and I'm really happy for them!!!!!!!!! :D

Progress

Week 1



Week 4


Week 7


Week 12



So it's almost done!

Things and Stuffs

Updates:

School
Kicking my ass. I'm taking Dynamics (or Damn-namics), Surveying, Abnormal Psychology, Materials, and Linear Algebra/Differential Equations. First tests?
Dynamics: 85%
Surveying: 78%
Abnormal Psychology: %92
Materials: %70
Linear Algebra: %77

Needless to say, I need to improve. At least I don't have any grades < 50%. :D

I have two tests next week (surveying and Dynamics) and then two more tests the week after that (Linear and Materials). I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL THE END OF THIS SEMESTER!!!!!!! Only 6 weeks to go!

I've picked most of my classes for next semester. I'm taking AutoCAD, Transportation, Another materials class, Soil Mechanics and something else.

House
Our house should be ready by February 19th. We've watched them pour the foundation and put up the first floor framing. We are super excited! :D We've been really good at taking a picture every week (except for last week because we were in Seattle).

Seattle
We went to Seattle to see our friends Lisa and Jared get married. We stayed with Heather and James and it was like a huge slumber party because Lainey and Pete were there as well, oh and so was Lainey's sister Missy. The wedding was so awesome! It was decorated in Bamboo and earth tones, origami along with votive candles for souvineers, and all of the candles smelled SO GOOD! It made the room happy! Lainey and Pete made all the candles for the wedding, they were FairyLite Candles. They don't have a website but if you're interested in some fucking awesome candles shoot me an email and i'll hook you up with Lainey's info.

Needless to say, I had 6 glasses of wine (I think) and I ended up mopping up the entire community hall at the end of the night, I had SO MUCH ENERGY! Heather had more than me, and fell down a small hill and hit her head and knee. It looked really funny, and I think she probably didn't feel it at the time, but she has a couple of bumps. I have pictures, I should post them. HA, we'll see if that happens.

Vishnu

Shahnon and Rick were not able to go to the wedding because they had a pet emergency. Their cat Vishnu was having a hard time breathing and they weren't sure what was wrong. They found out this week that Vishnu's tonsils were infected. Poor cat! This is the one of the most friendly and soft cats EVER created and he was all sad.

Dr. Phil
Shahnon and I went to see a taping of Dr. Phil at the end of August and it aired the Monday after we got back from Seattle (this last monday). Of course, it was the ONLY day I didn't put a tape in the VCR, so I totally missed it! Tara caught it, and she even called me. TARA - sorry I have not called you back, I stayed at school till 11pm two days this week and I've been REALLY tired. I'll shoot you an email... sorry, tangent.

So that's what's been going on. I feel like a crazy person, but it's all good. It's making the time pass REALLY FAST.

Ugh...

Just a quick update...

I am officially going crazy. I have 3 math intensive classes, a group project and I am being FORCED to become involved with the ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers). It's part of a class that is required where you earn points for doing certian involvement things. Kind of like how being on the Student council in High School looked good on your resume when you went to apply for that job at McDonalds. (Which, I might add, I was not hired for the first time - I mean jeez, they hire the handi-capable and not me? Well, I guess if the shoe fits...)

I don't mind it, but everyone's been telling me not to get involved just yet, that the people that are currently doing certian activites are losers and alcoholics. I should clarify the term loser: one who isn't really going to show up and do anything which forces you to do EVERYTHING but as a 2nd year, you won't get any credit for it, the senior will. If I do that, then I will feel forced to carry on the tradition once I become a senior. I don't have to define the word 'alcoholic' do I? ;)

I really like my math teacher. I like my statics teacher. My Materials teacher is getting better; he cut down on the homework this week (thank god!), I LOVE my Psychology teacher! Not 'love' like 'if you love him, why don't you marry him' kind of love. He's one of those teachers that makes you learn something new about yourself and the world around you every day. I also have an 'Ethics/seminar/ASCE' class that I haven't had to attend since the first day of classes (it's only on Mondays).

OH JESUS, I ALMOST FORGOT!!!!

Brandon and I BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!!!!!
Here is a picture of what the model of the outside part of the house looks like...



Here's a picture of what the downstairs looks like...


It will be finished around the end of February. Our "pre-construction meeting" is tomrrow morning. This is where I get to meet the superintendent of the project and we go through all of the options one by one to make sure all the I's are dotted and the t's are crossed. In about 2-4 weeks, they will actually break ground on the house! We're SO EXCITED!!!!!!! I never thought I'd be able to get a brand new house! It was nice that these houses were cheaper than a used house of equal size here in Las Vegas. It's got the perfect location too! Just off the I-215 and Durango, sort of in the Fort Apache/Blue Diamond area. We have the mountains right in our backyard. It's also slightly cooler there by a couple degrees because of the elevation. Hey, I'll take all the cool I can get.

Well, I should probably get to studying, lord knows I'm going to be doing that all weekend...

Vacation... All I ever wanted!

So the road trip was fun. We headed through creepy northern Nevada, past the "Clown Motel" which was literally a motel with that name that had clowns all over it. Tara, I'm not even kidding! We bought some fresh beef jerky in one of those towns and there was this really creepy but flying around in there that was HUGE with stripes and everything. We ran through several thunderstorms and Brandon even saw lightening hit the ground! I had to go to the bathroom really bad so we had to stop at this abandoned metal building that looks like it used to be a gas station about 30 years ago. It was totally burned out and there was debris everywhere. There was a thunderstorm going on in the distance and here we are, in the middle of the desert, next to a metal building, and I'm leaning on an old washing machine to steady myself while I squat. OY! Good times!

We got to Ginni's house (Brandon's mom) later that night (after eating Del Taco - Mexican) and stayed there for 3 days. In that time they took us to eat Mexican food (of which, on the whole trip, we ate Mexican 6 times - which we both LOVE) and we drive to Lake Tahoe so Brandon could see his idol's restaurant "The Cabo Wabo Cantina" (Mexican) The drive through the mountains was beautiful, especially with a convertible. We left Ginni's on Wednesday morning and drove down the California cost with the top down. It was AWESOME! We stopped a million times to take pictures (of which I will TRY to post here) and we even got to see seals sunning themselves on the beach! We went into the ocean in Ventura up to our waists and got our clothes all wet, and had to race the bugs or sandcrabs (not to sure which one) back to where our sandals were. Again, that night, we had Mexican which was really good and then next day we drove home and had Del Taco again in Barstow.

When we got home, we had to get ready for the boat trip and then when our friends arrived in town we went to Benito Michocan (Mexican) for dinner. Mmmmmm.... Mexican.... We went back to Rick and Shahnon's and had drinks and the boys played music and even Damian (Brandon's brother) was on the drums! Who knew! That boy is such a mystery! He's like McGyver, I swear.

The next day we all took off for the boat trip and discovered that our beach that we used last year was taken, but we found another beach right next to it in the same cove, only this beach had an incline. The boys set up camp while we, did something, I can't remember, or maybe we didn't do anything and let the boys set up the whole thing. :D

We floated, discovered the pygmy Bush Fags, had a bout of Lake Racism(TM) and yes, Heather, your mattress is in the tent and I BLEW IT UP! We had a game where we were scoring points on being Passive aggressive, Massive aggressive and Massive Passive. Damian won the "Massive Passive" trophy, although he did gain some Passive aggressive points. I honestly can't remember who won the Passive aggressive award, and THAT'S JUST FINE!!!! I Don't Care!!! ;) I think everyone got the Massive aggressive award, after being without a shower for a whole 3 days... YUCK!!! That shower was the best shower EVER! So to all the friends who read this and were there, thank you for still being my friends even after experiencing me with no shower and no toothbrushing. I don't get it, I brought a toothbrush and toothpaste but I never used it. It was just TOO HOT! I lost my mind. The tent must have been at least 100 degrees in the middle of the night. It was like a sweat lodge. We discovered our spirit guides and shit. I had the peyote and Rick was really sad that I wasn't sharing it. ;)

So then we got back and went and had dinner at the Mediterranean Cafe. I drove them to the airport the next morning and then went with my Mom, Aunt and Uncle to Mt. Charleston to celebrate my Auntie's birthday! It was fun, and it looked like it was going to storm the whole time, but that didn't happen until about 7pm and man! Was that a storm. Brandon was out driving in rural NV and he actually had to put sunglasses on because the lightning strikes were so bright and frequent that he was having a hard time seeing.

More on San Diego Comic Con and The Conway Truck Driving Championship in a few days...

In other News...

I got an Engineering Scholarship for $1000! I have to run around today and get all this crazy shit done to make sure that UNLV knows that I'm a full-time student between CCSN and UNLV so that I can receive my scholarship and get more financial aid.

Star Trek The Experience called me and wanted me to come work in Cash Control again. I considered it, seeing as I'd be able to do my homework while I was at work and It would only be on the weekends, but I realized that I would drive everyone I know crazy. I get all stressed out WITHOUT at job during school. And especially next semester when I'm taking 6 classes (16 credits) OY!

This weekend we're going to Brandon's family reunion in LA. The only part I'm not looking forward to is seeing Brandon's dad and Rosemary. Uhg..... The just look at me like I'm garbage. I haven't seen them in a LONG time, and It's been ok that way. Oh well, I can't stay away from them forever, right?

My Car has decided to start to take a shit on me. The check engine light has been on for 3 months and just recently it started threatening to stall on me when the air conditioning is on. I bought a diagnostic tool today and Brandon will be able to attach it to the computer on the car and tell it what's wrong so that he can fix it. Damn you, Mercury in Retrograde!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mercury goes direct on the 28th, so hopefully, all this craziness will end.

Well, I gotta get to running around... See y'all on the flipside!

It's over!!!

That math class is over and I can finally breathe a sigh of relief!!! The final was HARD, but after a visit to Sweet Tomatoes, I got over it. :D

So that's over, but there is so much to do tonight! We are leaving for California tomorrow and we're not even packed. We also have to have my shit ready to go for the boat trip on Friday! Heather, James and Doug are almost here! I'm so excited!

We've borrowed Leif's car for the road trip (which I cannot remember if I've posted that already or not) and we're really looking forward to feeling the ocean breeze throught our hair.

We're managing to only stay at one hotel, probably in Santa Barbara so I have to go look right now online to reserve that.

Brandon and I are getting pre-qualified for a mortgage to see if we can get enough money to actually buy something here in expensive Las Vegas or if we have to wait until I have a job as well. We'll see...

I'll be back in a couple of weeks!

DEE

No hope...

Well, as fate would have it (or me not studying enough) I don't think I'm going to be able to pass this freaking class. I'm so sad. I want to kill everyone.

Good news? Brandon and I are leaving for our roadtrip on Saturday morning! I'm very much looking forward to it!

School rant: BOYS ARE STUPID. I swear, 20 year-old boys are more insecure than I am, and that's saying A LOT.

No news on the test yet. I guess the prof wanted us to all have a good holiday weekend.

Hey Tara, I lifed my glass to Cananda Day yesterday. You'd be so proud!

Inspired!

So after seeing Tara's new blog I decided that mine needed, well, more circles on it. It's only fitting seeing as we're doing spherical coordinates in calculus right now. :D

I wish I was inspired for the test tomorrow. Man, if I have to take this class again I'm going to change my major to underwater basket-weaving. It's SO MUCH INFO in just 5 WEEKS! What are my scores so far you ask? On the first test, I got 70%. Second test I got 71%. Now, in Canada, this would be a solid B. Here? Oh no, it's a C- (some teachers choose to use +'s and -'s, some don't) and a C- does not count towards my major. I have to get a solid C in order to use the class.

I need some mojo, so if anyone has any to spare, please send it my way. Thanks in advance!

Ha! Minor in Math

So I asked my current math teacher (yes I am taking a summer course in Calculus) what two other classes he would recommend and he sort of brushed me off by telling me that the class he was teaching next semester was too hard for me. OY!

In other news...

One of my good friends favorite teachers was busted for soliciting a prostitute this weekend.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jun-27-Tue-2006/news/8184513.html

Heather and James just bought a house!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy for them.... Clickity click for a pic

Jim and Kristine are coming into town this weekend. Kristine is moving to LA from being in Chicago her whole life, and Jim is her supportive friend making the drive with her. Here is her blog for anyone who feels like watching someone chase their dream... Good for her!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is my HERO!

Danny and Jessica are coming in from the East Coast this weekend as well. BUSY BUSY BUSY.

Not to mention the fact that I've had two major math tests in the last 3 weeks and I have another one on Thursday. My final is on Friday July 8th, then Saturday July 9th, Brandon and I are off to California to visit his family members all around the bay area. Then we're going to go stay in a hotel in some national park or something (we still have to work out the details on that) and then come home. The second we come home the Thursday after we left, Heather and James are going to be coming into town for the boat trip. We will have a party at Shahnon's house Thursday night and then a sleepover (like when we were teenagers) then leave for the 3 day, 2 night boat trip on Friday morning. We get back from the boat trip on Sunday. Then Monday July 17th is my auntie's birthday and we're going up to Mt. Charleston to have lunch and experience the mild weather. SO I'M GOING A LITTLE CRAZY RIGHT NOW! There's a lot going on.

I need to go study!

Peace out man!

Minor in Math?

I just did the "math" and I'll only have to take an addition two courses in Math to graduate with a major in Civil Engineering and a minor in Math. Hmmmm... One of the courses is Linear Algebra and the other one I picked was a History Of Mathematics. The only problem is, will UNLV actually offer that last class ever? That's the problem I'm running into for the Fall 2006 semester. They're not offering this one class that I REALLY need in order to be able to use it as a pre-requisite for a Spring 2007 class. In theory, this could delay my graduation by a semester. That SUCKS!

Mom

My mom is doing well. We had a relatively civil political discussion on the weekend, so all is well. :D

Heather's Birthday!!!!!!!111

It's tomorrow, and I really wanted to make a crafty card and shit, but it's just not going to happen. I'll have to send her a late one... Sorry H. :( But she should be expecting SOMETHING in the mail....) :D

Grass Class

Is more or less over. Our final presentation was given this morning and it went well. I have to get together with one of the other people in our group tomorrow to put the finishing touches on the written final report and then it's DONE! Thank God! I was sick of that class.

My other classes are going ok. The only one I'm worried about is statics. I really have to study HARD. OY.

In my ethics class, we have to do the whole Speech thing again, this time on a topic of the prof's choosing. This is done in the whole "Toastmaster International" way, I'm sure they have a website that you can look that up on. I just don't feel like explaining it, and I'm sure most people don really care about it anyway. :p

I finised my paper on infrared radiation. I actually didn't mind this one. It was actually interesing, and we're only going to be covering it for one class period. Then test 3 then the final. OY again.

I have a Geology test today, but he's dropping the lowest score and I've gotten a 92% and a 96% on the last two exams so I don't really care how I do on this one, it's just going to be dropped. I'll still try, but I'm not going to stress out over it. It's the final where I'm going to really study.

Update

Things went really well with my Mom's surgery. They removed about a foot and a half of her colon and about 14 lymph nodes to make sure that the cancer didn't spread. The surgeon said that her nodes were clear, but she still has to have regular appointments with an oncologist and with her regular doctor to make sure it does not come back. She came home about a week after her procedure and she's doing really well. She's a little stir crazy, she's a "likes to keep busy" type person, but she's finding things to do. She's knitting me a pillow. She says it's cause she never finished my baby outfit. :D

School is going ok. It's a pretty serious crunch in the next couple of weeks.

My geology field trip was cool! I have some pictures that I will, of course, never post. But I have them, damnit! ;) I did get lost for about an hour and a half. There was some mis-communication between my prof and me and I was the last person in the car line. So there.

My family was here the last couple of weeks. They came and spent time with Mom and we all ate and drank and were merry. We also laughed, A LOT! My cousins were cracking me up. I went to Hoover dam and saw the "Damn" dam. ;) Rob and I were making Dam jokes all day, damnit. As were were driving out to Hoover damn, we were talking about the local geology. Evan had asked me what a fault line is and I told him that it was where two plates came together (or something like that) and released energy. Aidan says, "Actually, it's plate subduction." Jeez, freaking genius. Lee and I took Aidan to the arcade inside the MGM Grand and we had a blast! Aidan is very good at winning those crazy games where you put money in and the claw grabs at shit and seems to never pick it up. Well, Aidan won about 4 of those, 3 on his first try! Amazing. He takes after his Uncle Danny with that stuff. :D

BOAT TRIP BOAT TRIP BOAT TRIP BOAT TRIP

This year, our boat trip is on July 14, 15 and 16. YAY!

I'm thankful

...That most of my family is coming in the next couple months.

I couldn't have said it better...

My cousin Danielle wrote this on her blog and I thought it was really nice. Especially the part about me. ;) No really, I didn't quite know how to say it or write it, but I needed to put it here. My mom actually told me before I read it. She didn't tell me when she found out, there she is trying to protect my feelings again. So here it is.

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My auntie has cancer.

When I was little, I had a very small family. Mom was an only child and not close to extended family, so there was just her and her messed-up mother, my scary Endora-from-Bewitched-lookin' grandmother. On Dad's side, there was Grandma and Grandpa, Auntie Di Di and Auntie Carole, Uncle Danny, and eventually, my one and only first cousin, Dee Dee. Auntie Di Di and Uncle Danny were my godparents. Auntie Carole was what I thought of as my glamorous aunt.

A lot of people back then thought she was a bitch, but she's actually a cool combination of very wry and very shy. When I was a little girl, she had long, long straight hair, the kind everyone in the mid-70s wanted to have. It was dark, it was thick, it was glossy, and on dress-up occasions, it was pulled into an intricate bun. Most of the time, however, it flowed free, combining with her olive skin and her eyeshadowed dark eyes to create a sexy aura of mystery. I was five and I knew it was sexy.

She smoked More cigarettes, the long, dark brown ones. She left lipstick on the filters. Her fingernails were long, too, and they were kept buffed and brightly polished at all times. She'd sometimes let me press my squishy little girl fingers into their tips, making half-moon impressions on my skin.

She was a travel agent and went to places that sounded very exotic to me, like Bermuda. She lived in New York City for a while, and for a time in Florida, and I have no idea what she did in either of those places, but I imagined those things to be very exciting. She was -- and is -- a sharp-minded woman, and I can't imagine any experience went to waste.

She read women's magazines and told me before I even had hair on my legs that if I used conditioner when I shaved them, I would have soft skin. She let me play around in her face creams, her makeup, and her weird little squishy things that helped to turn her mane into a chignon. Sometimes, we'd watch Love Boat and Fantasy Island together, and I had no problem imagining that she'd show up on one of them someday.

When she was 39, she discovered she was pregnant. I remember touching her belly and trying to picture a baby inside, and I couldn't quite manage it. One day, there came the baby. That's the baby who got married last year. Back in 1979, it wasn't quite hip to decide to have a baby as a single mom, and at no time is it an easy thing for the daughter of an Eastern Orthodox priest to do. But that baby she had? If my son becomes half the person my cousin is, I'll be the proudest mother alive. She was absolutely devoted to her child, and sadly, I think that was my first experience with that kind of thing. I think it was formative.

Dee Dee was raised with many parents -- Auntie Carole, of course; Grandma and Grandpa, when they were still alive; and my Auntie Di Di, who has lived with her since she was born. My father and uncle walked her down the aisle when she got married. "Dee's Got Two Mommies" is the family joke, but the truth is, Auntie Carole, tho protective like a mother lion, let everyone have a spot in Dee's upbringing.

Auntie Carole (that's CAROLE-WITH-AN-E!) is having surgery next week, a resection, to remove some colon cancer and to explore further. I don't have many details yet, as those come from my father, and my father wasn't even supposed to share the news yet. I do know that this is serious, but I haven't any idea how serious. All I know is that I'm so sad. I'm sad that she has to worry, I'm sad that my father has to worry, I'm sad that my Auntie Di Di and Uncle Danny have to worry, I'm sad that Auntie Carole is going to experience a lot of pain, and I'm sad that my cousin, who doesn't know any of this yet, will have to wonder about her mother's mortality. I'm not ready to think about Auntie Carole as a mortal just yet, myself.

The trip to Las Vegas we had scheduled for later this month turns out to be quite timely, indeed. Until I know more, and until I can be there, I pray. If it's your practice, will you please pray, as well? We need strength.
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My mom is certainly not nearly as worried as I would be if I was faced with the same situation. She really is a strong woman.

OMG!!!

I actually forgot to pay my local telephone bill last month. Oops. I knew that would happen sooner or later. Maybe it's because I keep saying how much I hate sprint so I keep subconsciously (or consciously) losing my Sprint bills. I lost my cellular bill too, and even though it's a Nextel phone, it has the sprint logo on it. Coincidence? I think not.

I had a great study session for Physics with one of my classmates yesterday. We met at Barnes and Noble (a very dangerous store for those on a budget). I only walked out with 3 books. "Red Mars" by Kim Stanley Robinson which was recommended to me by my astronomy teacher as well as several other sci-fi people I associate with. "TI-89 for Dummies." Yes, they actually made a "Dummies" book for this new calculator I just bought. It's like a damn computer. I can't remember the exact name of the third book and I'm just too lazy to go downstairs and look it up, but it's like a dummies guide for multivariable calculus (which I'm taking in the summer.)

I'm also starting up my stamping club again this Friday. Visit http://www.stampinup.com for details. YAY!!! :D :D :D

Surprise in the Mail

Andy sent me a birthday present! It's these handmade (by him) frames made up of pictures of old sci-fi cartoons! Thanks ANDY!!!! You ROCK!!! It totally made my day! I will find a place for them as soon as we get our sorry-ass excuse for an apartment cleaned up.