There's always next year...

This seems to be my motto lately. I am getting pretty good at missing events that I have been wanting to go to (being out of town, or having something else going on or being sick). Let me go back a couple of weeks to get ya'll caught up on what has been going on.

First off, I am almost finished with summer term. This coming week is finals and I will be so happy to see summer term end. That will mean that I only have ONE... O-N-E term of math to go. YIPEEEEE! I cannot tell you how much that means to me. In my women's studies class we are doing a group presentation for our final. My group has been studying Wicca. I have learned a lot this past weekend about witches, witchcraft, and this quite interesting religion.

Let's see next is the dreaded health chit chat. It's funny, it really is true that the older we get the more we talk about our health. Mine seems to be good news or at least I have gotten some answers. I started seeing a Natural-path. She has me on this really wonderful (read: I HATE) diet to figure out what foods I am allergic to. At this point I cannot eat any of the following: wheat, dairy, soy, refined sugars, fake sugars, tomatoes, potatoes (with the exception of sweets potatoes), nuts (except coconut), eggplant, and well... those seem to be the major restrictions. I will just say this, spelt bread isn't horrid, however gluten free cereal and almond milk is NOT the same as any "normal" cereal and cows milk. I have also been OFF of diet Pepsi for over 2 weeks! Who'd a thunk?! So far I have been having a bit of headaches come and go due to the lack of caffeine but not enough to cease functioning.

On the good side of the health issues, she (my new Doc) tested me further for thyroid issues and we have found out that I have a not quite uncommon autoimmune disease called Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. The kinda crazy thing is is that htere is no real cure for this yet, just experimental stuff. She has me on some remedies and I think they may be working. Yay!

Ok, now for the more fun stuff! I apologize that this blog is becoming so lengthy, this will teach me to not update it more frequently! This morning I woke up at 4 am to get to the MAX by 5:30 (riding my bike there), for the hour long ride to downtown Portland. Katie and I rode in the Portland Bridge Pedal. 3 different routes crossing either 11, 8, or 6 of the cities bridges. Due to my health issues, being sick so much I haven't been able to ride my bike much in preparation for the ride and only made it across 2 of the bridges. It was worth it, kicked my ass but fun.

Next year I shall complete the ride, which brings me to the title of my post... There's always next year!

Summer break wrap up...

With the end of spring term I decide that I wanted to take advantage of the week off before starting summer term. First up on the plate was heading to Eugene to visit a friend who I recently got in contact with via Facebook. Ahhh the wonders of the social networking sites. Somedays I love them and others I just think they are the biggest time sink and waste of time ever. However, in this case, FB was my best friend. I got to see Meg after not seeing her for over 6 years. What a fabulous time we had. I got to play with her ponies (ok so just petting them and taking their photos, and bringing them in for the night) it was great. Sometimes I do miss having a horse but then again not having them is a lot better to my non existent bank account.

We went and had some fabulous drinks, this pepper infused margarita was the BEST, at Lava Lounge. I had a fab burger w/ mushrooms and brie cheese. YUMMMMO! Spent a lot of time just relaxing, playing with the dogs, and catching up. At the end of the trip Meg decided to give me a brand new tent and air mattress.. this came in useful later in the week.

Tuesday was the Hillsboro Farmers market in downtown Hillsboro. I got to ride my bike down there and meet up with friends where we had some more yummy food, picked up some fresh rhubarb and strawberries, and some vegan chocolate truffles (they are incredible!). I decided to try making a strawberry rhubarb pie... it turned out very good, but the crisp I made was better. Overall not bad for my first attempt.

Wednesday my aunt and I took the dogs to Seaside. Her dog had never been to the beach before so this was a momentous occasion. What I thought was going to be a grey day turned out to be quite lovely over in Seaside. There was amazingly a lot of people there for the middle of the week. Tiger loved just laying in the surf (I will post a pic later).

By Thursday it was time to just relax, as Maggie and I had been on the go all week and were a bit tired. We were also gearing up to go camping. This is something that I haven't done since I was a child. More on the camping trip later as it is past my bedtime and school starts at 8 am with Math tomorrow... bleh!

Goodnight my friends!

It's here! It's finally here!

The "it" that I am referring to is actually a couple of things. First off, summer seems to be peaking around the corner with temps getting up into the 80's and 90' all over the state. The recent bout of nice weather has had me out enjoying my bike. Thanks to Crazy Kate who picked Betty (my bike) and I up and took us out for a nice ride.

The other "it" is the end of my second term of school. I can't believe that the Spring term has got only 1 week left until finals. The term has been pretty good, and I will def miss a couple of my Profs. I will once again be taking 15 credits during the summer term and of course there is a math class.... I swear that will be the bane of my existance! :P

Memorial Day weekend came and went. I got to spend it at the Oregon coast visiting my parents. It was a great time and gorgeous weather! We spent a night in Newport and the following morning was a minus tide which meant killer tide pools.


So not the most creative blog ever, but hey... at least I made an effort! haha :P

Enjoy the pics. :)

It's over for another year...

Ahhh April 16th has marked the end of tax season, now I can really focus on school and some sleep.. or can I? After last nights end of tax season party I was excited to sleep in today, but then I woke up with a nasty headache and all I have wanted to do is sleep all day! Ugh, I hate days like that. I haven't even opened a book, which I need to do! That's what this weekend will be for I suspect.

So let's see where was I when we last met? It was coming to the end of winter term at school. I did well in my classes getting to 2 As and 1 B. Not bad for not having been in school for long. I just found out last week that my grades earned me a spot on the Dean's list. Woo hoo! That was a bit exciting for me. This term in school I am taking Sociology, Personal Health, Math 65 (Algebra), and US History 203. I have 2 of the same instructors which makes it nice. So far I am enjoying all of the classes, yes even math. I have a "math friend", makes going to class a bit more fun.

I am quite excited as spring is def in the air. I am going to purchase a bike this weekend so that I will start getting out and enjoying the outdoors. I am quite excited. Honestly there really isn't much going on. Maggie has been on thyroid medication now and her energy levels have gone through the roof, just like she was a pup again. She drives me crazy some days with the dang red ball, but I love her she is a great companion.

There you have it a bit of an update which pretty much most of you who read this already know. I just felt the need to post! :)

Cheers!

Small update

My first term back to school is quickly drawing to an end. This is dead week and boy am I feeling dead! I have been trying to keep my bedtime to 10:00 pm as 6:30 am comes FAR too early. My life has pretty much been work, school, homework, sleep, rinse repeat. Weekends have left little time for playing my newly acquired Wii, but I do love it! I need to get the Wii fit since I can't really afford the whole gym thing. On that note I am planning on purchasing a really cool old fat person bike from REI. I am sooo excite about getting it, I think that may happen this weekend. Back to the school thing, so far I have confirmed that as long as I do well on my final project in writing and get at least an 85% on my math final I will have 2 A's, I am not sure about History, that is a solid B if not an A if I do well on the final. I am totally crossing my fingers.

Maggie has been doing well although me being a picker and mother hen, noticed something funky going on with her ears last week. She went to the vet, had her ears shaved, and has a fungus on her ear tips. Not sure what it is caused from, she is on meds now so hopefully it is gone in a week or 2. She also has been diagnosed with almost non existent thyroid. Just like her mom she gets to be on thyroid meds. Lucky us! lol Other than that she is still my happy go lucky, "let's play with the red ball" Maggie.

That's it for now, hope all is well with you in blogger land!

Cheers!

RIP Grandpa

About 30 minutes ago I got a phone call that my mom's dad passed away. Anyone who knows me, knows that the relationship I had with him wasn't the best especially the last several years. I haven't actually seen him since 2004. Maybe that is why I am so torn up. Death really is about closure. I know that in his last years he wasn't himself, suffering from dementia. He just wouldn't have known who I was. I feel so guilty that I didn't go see him. I was actually mad at him for the things he said to my mom and about her. I know that he didn't understand what he was saying, it was still just hurtful. I hope he knows that I did love him, I am sure he did.

He always told me to find a good cowboy to get married to. He was a cheap man, financially. I guess that is what happens when you live through a depression. He would always send me $2 bills when I was a little girl for my birthday and Christmas. The not he included in it would say "No booze, pot, or cigarettes". Which is a bit ironic as he both smoked cigarettes and drank.

He would come to my horse shows and watch me ride. I know he was proud of me. He built his own house, the one my mom and her sisters grew up in. He lived in it until he had to go into an assisted living home. He took me to my first horse race in Grants Pass. We ate cold pork and beans out of a can for dinner.

Grandpa Dave, you were loved and I hope you are at peace now.

Love,

me

Life is good

In short, yes, life is going well.

1) School- busy as usual. Only have 4 real weeks of class and then finals week. I only have one final test and that is in Math. I have a bunch of papers due in writing, but that is easy for me so I am not too concerned with those. Then I will have another 2 papers and a ton of reading to do for history. Guess I know what I will be spending a majority of my weekend doing!

2) I bought a used Wii. Yes I finally gave in to the urge. I am so excited to play. Although I bought i last Sunday I haven't had time to play.. school and work keep me pretty busy during the week. So, if anyone wants to have a Wii party come on over on a Saturday or Sunday. :)

3) Work- Yikes! We are in the full swing of things, let me tell you! Busy busy. It's hard for me to remember those days when I didn't work or have classes to attend. It's a good thing this is my 4th year doing the accountant gig. I work for such nice people it's great!


Those are pretty much the major things that have gone on sine my last post. Honestly I lead such an exciting life, please don't be too jealous. ha ha ha :P Maggie is adjusting to me not being at home as much. Poor girl, I think she has developed quite an anxiety disorder. What with my pit stops at home at lunch and in between work and school, she has no idea what's going on.

Next on my purchase list is a wicked cool bike from REI. I am so excited especially now that the weather is warming up and it is actually sunny. YAY!

Cheers everyone!