One more week in Dallas!!

I can't believe it. I only have 6 more days in Dallas. How crazy is this?? Everybody keeps asking me "Are you nervous?". The answer to that is HELL NO!! I'm SOOOO excited!!!


So what have I been up to for the past month? Well, packing and cleaning out my closet. I have taken so many bags of clothes to Goodwill, it's just crazy. At the beginning of August I went to El Paso to go visit my grandparents before the big move. They were very excited that I came, especially my dad's mom. It's always so weird now that my grandpa isn't there. Even after a year and a half, there isn't a second in the day where I don't think about him. I hope that he would be proud of me and my new journey. I'm sure he would be. He supported me and loved me through everything. =)


My dad and step-mom had a going away party for me, and it was AWESOME!! So much fun seeing all of my friends and family in one place. Great company and food, what more can I ask for ? I'm very blessed to have such an amazing group of people around me. I also took my cousin Taylor up to Texas Tech on Wednesday, and wow--Lubbock has changed a lot!! They have a TON of new food places. Where were they when I was there!?


School started back today and while it feels weird, I'm not sad at all! =) I miss my team (as always) but don't miss the whole teaching and kids aspect of it all. But I hope all of my teacher friends had a great day and a fabulous year!!


So this week, I'm wrapping up a bunch of things including dentist appointments, oil changes, doctors appointments, and more packing. I figure I'd better use my insurance while I have a deductible that is PAID!! =) I turned in my tolltag last week which was super weird. I already feel strange not having it in my car. 


Anyways, I will be posting starting this Sunday as that is the day I leave! 


Lots of Love!
LA

Weird Dreams...

So for every night over the past week, I've been having the weirdest dreams. What have I been drinking or smoking you might ask? Nothing! So, here goes:

#1- I had a dream that I was being eaten by a shark. I was laying on a board in the ocean and woke myself up by flopping around the bed trying to get away from the shark. 

#2- Had a dream about the doctor on Boston Med that I think is cute. He looks like a guy I dated once (who I really liked!) so this one actually kind of makes sense. We met in NYC, and had a fabulous time exploring the city together. Here is a link to see a picture of him:  
http://bostonmed.abcnews.go.com/doctors-and-nurses/rick-reish

#3- Joe-Michael, you're in this one. Joe-Michael and I were working at the same place (not sure what type of business) but I did some sort of desk activities and he was a writer, which I'd always dreamed of doing. (Hate writing...not sure about this). Well one day, because it was my dream he had convinced his boss to let ME write a story. YES!! But, at the end of that day I ended up getting stuck doing my job and his job, and stayed at work all night trying to get both done. When he comes back in the morning I'm so tired and delirious I fall over a sofa (why is there a sofa?) and bust it on the floor. I proceed to laugh at myself, then I woke up. Weird.

#4- I'm in HS and The Tuohys (from the Blind Side) came to our school to speak to us about their story. After their lecture, we got to go do a meet and greet. When they go to me, for some reason they really liked me and asked me to sit down and chat with them (huh?) and all of the other students were staring at me and jealous that I got to sit down with these "famous people". I wanted a picture of myself with Leigh Anne so I handed the daughter my iPhone to take a picture of us. She took it, but then put my phone in her back pocket and sat on it, which cracked my screen and my phone no longer worked. The kicker is I didn't realize this until after I'd already left. Somehow I track down Leigh Anne and tell her about what happened, and not only does she offer to pay for a new one, but gives me lots of other stuff including a nice hefty check! After this I head off to band practice where everybody sees me give Leigh Anne and her daughter a hug goodbye. Somehow my check gets loose and flies away. I HAD to have that check, so I end up stealing a BMW out of the parking lot (this is Plano...) drive down the wrong side of a highway and then somehow run into the Teen Mom "Maci" and her son. She's homeless now so I offer to give her a ride to wherever she needs to go. Then I wake up. WEIRD! 

I could keep going, but won't bore you. Not sure what's going on in my brain, but it's a little strange! LOL =)

Getting plenty of rest...

I've officially become a lazy ass. I need an intervention. 


Don't get me wrong, I LOVE that it's summertime and I'm not teaching anymore, but I am bored out of my mind! You might have noticed my facebook activity at an all time high. Why? Nothing else to do. Today I was actually excited to get to pay my bills and drive to the post office and drop them off. My day usually consists of sleeping in way too late (going to start setting an alarm clock for a goal of 9 am), watching tv, playing on the computer, catching up on Netflix movies. (BTW, don't rent Did You Hear About the Morgans. Blah) Oh, and the highlight of my day is taking Scout on a walk and meeting up with friends at the field or dog park. I'm SO exciting!! Everybody I know has a real job and don't get summers off. lol I figure that I'll just be well rested by September 7th when school starts and I can look back on my lazy summer and wish I had more time to sleep! =) Guess I might as well take advantage while I can. 


Since not all of you necessarily live in Texas, you have no idea about the heat. I woke up this morning at 9 (early for me--I know, I was proud!) and looked up the current weather. It was 84 degrees but with the heat index felt like 92. Gross!!!  I've been taking 2 showers a day until I came to the conclusion that I should just wait and take one at night. Why you say? Because I'm out taking Scout on short walks during the day and am outside at night for a couple hours and am nasty, sweaty and smell like Off by the time I get home. Definitely not climbing into bed smelling like that. Ewwww. 


So like many of you know because I've written on here, I'm not embarrased to talk about my emetophobia (fear of vomit). I almost feel like I'm bringing some sort of awareness to it. I talked with my doctor a month ago and she started me on Zoloft, which has taken an ease off of the OCD part (I'm not anxious and don't worry every second of every day and I'm sleeping now!) but I still have a problem with eating out in restaraunts and don't eat at fast food places. If I do, I try to stick with the "safe" foods (in my mind) .  I'm hoping as time goes on, it helps this portion of my phobia. I'm SO ready to be over this, but seemings how I've had it for 22 years, it's tough.  I go through up and down phases with this...I'm in a down right now. I miss eating sushi with my girls! =)


I am exactly one month away from going to NYC and finding a place to live! Woot!! I feel like I have so much to do before I move in a couple months (spend as much time with my friends, pack, paint my apartment, get rid of stuff I don't need, etc.) but that whole lazy ass part comes in and I don't do any of the things on my list. Ha! 


Hope everybody is having a great month of June. Can you believe it's almost July!? 2010 has been a really amazing year for me so far! 

Summer is HERE!!!

Well, summer is FINALLY here! I am so excited!!! 

Last Friday was my last day of teaching ever. Words cannot begin to express how excited I am to start this new chapter in my life. During our "closing" luncheon we had quite a few teachers who retired, all of which were crying and sad to be leaving the profession. They'd been teaching for YEARS--30 in some cases! I didn't shed one tear on Friday--I was so excited to be done. This is how I know it's not the right job for me. There is only one thing I'll miss about teaching. I will miss my team. Sara, Anne and Sam you're the BEST! I knew that teaching wasn't for me about 1 month in to my first year, but it just took me this long to a.) figure out what I wanted to do (thanks to my old hairstylist Toni for exposing me to ultrasound) and b.) take the many years of night/summer school classes to get to where I am today.  I couldn't have done it without the help of friends though. The tons of days I had to leave Scout after being at work all day only to be home for 30 minutes and then jet off to class. They let him out, walked or fed him which made me feel slightly better that he wasn't by himself. So thank you Amy and Natalija! 

 I went yesterday to Richland College to sell my book and was definitely NOT jealous of all the kids going to class. Last summer I was up to my eyeballs in A&P I/II and Chemistry. Talk about having no life! So far today I've already cleaned my house, so I'm wondering what do I do for the rest of the summer? =) My plan is to relax, lay by the pool, enjoy my time with my sweet Scouty poo, hang with friends that I'll be leaving, clean out my closet and catch up on the million movies that are currently on my Netflix. No complaints from me about doing ANY of those things! =) Truly enjoying my 3 months of freedom before all hell breaks loose when I start Sonography school in September. 

On another note, my neighbor Steve who I knew from my complex and the little "dog park" that we set up at the park down the street passed away in a freak helicopter accident last week. I wasn't super close to him, but can't stop thinking about how his young life was cut short. I've asked a million times "Why him?" "Why such a great, friendly and outgoing person?" I'm really thinking about his family and his dog Foster. I can't imagine what they're all going through. My prayers are definitely with them. It's made me raise a million questions in my own life. I don't even have a will. I need to get one. If something happened to me, who takes Scout? (my mom said she'd take him) What would they do with all my belongings? Bills? The thoughts go on and on. My biggest concern is my little Scouty poo. We are so attached at the hip that I think a piece of Scout would die if I were gone. Man I love that dog more than anything in the world. But, as my grandma said God needed Steve up there and that he's not done with me yet. I try to find peace knowing that he's in a better place. 

On a more positive note (sorry for being a debbie downer, but had to get my thoughts/feelings down somewhere) my mom and I are still scheduled to go up in July to find an apartment and my aunt and I are going to drive up there in August together. I'm super excited because I plan on going to eat and some places that are on one of my favorite shows: Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. Sad that I'm planning my trip around routes that have my favorite places? Nah! =) Still not sure where I'm going to live at, but I really am finding that Brooklyn is our best bet on prices. Plus, I keep thinking to myself that I'm not going to be a tourist and need to go to Manhattan everyday to tour Times Square, Empire State building, etc. It's a short subway ride to the city so I think it will be just fine. But, I'm looking in lots of different places: Manhattan and Brooklyn. We'll see where Linet and I end up! =)

Next week I'm babysitting my cousins so my aunt and uncle can go on vacation by themselves, away from the kids! =) Very excited! I get to play mom for a week! They're super sweet kids and will be going to Lifetime Fitness day camp so it should be a pretty easy gig! 

Hope all is well with everybody! Lots of love,

LA

Surgery

So I apologize in advance for not telling anybody what my surgery was, but a.) it's embarassing and b.) it's embarassing. LOL. I will say that it's not me getting my boobs done as my students were guessing. Ha! I only told a couple of people,but with that said, I hope you understand, and the reason I'm writing about it is because lots of you are asking, so here goes! =)


So I went in on Friday around 7:30am and went through registration and all that good stuff. What is it about surgery that scares the crap out me? Well, besides the possibility of throwing up from anesthesia, I think it's more of the unknown of the actual surgery. I saw a show once where people were under anesthesia yet felt every single part of their surgery. Extremely rare, yes I know, but hey, it's possible, right?! Sat around forever and and waited for my anesthesiologist. She called me on Thursday night and left a message and I knew I didn't care for her then. Have you ever had it when you hear someones voice and get a little uneasy? This was her. My thoughts were correct as when she showed up 30 min or so after my surgery should have started she looked like she just got home from the club. Her hair was literally a mess (in every direction)  greasy, and looked like she'd found her scrubs in a pile of clothes, sniffed them to make sure they smelled okay and were clean so she threw them on. But hey, she knocked me out and I didn't throw up so I guess she ends up being awesome in my book! Got home Friday evening and have just been relaxing since then. My mom has been walking Scout which is so nice so I just get to lay around. My pain is NOTHING EVEN CLOSE to the horror stories I had read about before this surgery so I feel extremely lucky, and am SO glad I got this done. Still have one more hurdle to cross but after that, it's all downhill from here! I must be one of the abnormally easy recoveries. 


So far I'm realllllly enjoying being off work! Although my days are going to be really mixed up and I could go back to work next Monday because I'm feeling so well, I'm not going to. If they actually paid me for all of my extra days I would go back, but they don't so I won't. Sure wish they did though. I'll still have a crapload of days left over even after being gone for 10 days.


I also want to thank all of my friends for calling and checking on me. It's just so sweet to know that people are thinking about you and asking if I need anything. So sweet it makes me want to cry! =) So THANK YOU!!! xoxoxo I've also got a giant pile of magazines that I'm beginning to read and recycle so if you want some, just ask and they're yours!


LA

8 Days

As I'm writing this blog post I'm listening to the rain and thunder. Is there any better sound? It's so soothing to me! And it was sunny earlier today, imagine that! 


So in 8 days I'm having my surgery. I'm so nervous. Not really nervous about the surgery, it's the pain afterwards! So please, say a couple prayers that I have speedy, and not torturous recovery time. Since I'm going to be off work for at least two weeks I've been in TIVO hibernation mode. I've been saving up every show that I watch for at least a couple weeks, so I now have a DVR 50% full of my favorites! Tori and Dean, Cougar Town, Diners Drive Ins and Dives, Kendra, Project Runway, Real Housewives (NJ and NY!) and the list could go on. For me, there is nothing better than vegging out in front of the tv after a long day at work. Totally relaxing. I've also stockpiled all of my magazines, so I should be set! Luckily, my mom is coming to take care of me, and walk Scout for me.  So in the meantime I'm watching dvd's quite a bit!


So I took the day off today to go to the doctor so I could start getting my immunizations ready for school. She was asking me about my shot records all the way from infancy. Who has those!? Luckily my mom did, but I still had to get blood drawn (twice), TB shot, and the first round of Hepatitis B shots. It's a good thing my phobia isn't needles, although I'd much rather have a phobia of needles than vomit. This whole emetophobia thing is getting ridiculous! I got an rx for Zoloft today to try and ease my anxiety about the phobia. Hope it helps. Fingers crossed. Anyways, I also went out and bought some new glasses today. I'm so excited! It's been 6 years since I've bought new frames and the ones I have are seriously jacked up. =) Here's a picture of my new glasses! I especially love them, because a.) they fit my skinny face and b.) they have a nosepiece so that my eyelashes don't hit my glasses all the time!

That's about it for now. I'm still working on my "thoughts on education" blog, but will definitely be posting that one after school is out. My notes are getting QUITE lengthy! Oh, and have any of you eaten the flaxseed granola from Whole Foods? I'm addicted!!! 

Yes!!!

Well I've finally found a roommate!  I went searching out on craigslist and happened to come upon a post where it sounded like a real, normal person. Even though our times to move were a little off, I thought I'd email her and just see if by chance she'd be interested, and thank god she was! We've been emailing back and forth for a week or so now, became friends on facebook and we are 2 peas in a pod! The list of things in common are crazy! And a MAJOR bonus? She likes dogs, so Scout will have another person to love on him! YAY Linet!

So my friend Michael gave me a contact to a broker in NYC to help me find an apartment so I'm going up on July 26th to find a place for us. Linet can't come apartment hunt so I'll be emailing pictures a lot so she can be a part of the process. I've been on cloud nine since finding her and excited that things are finally falling into place. I keep thinking to myself: Is it August yet? Can it be August already!?

Let's see. I'm supposed to have surgery in a month or so that I'm not looking forward too, and don't really want to share details about it, but say a prayer on that day that everything goes well! Not looking forward to the pain of surgery, but there is a bonus. What is it? I'll be off work for 2 weeks straight, so I'm down to a total of 24 days until I am no longer a teacher. Be ready to see a post in the coming months about my feelings on teaching and kids. It's gonna be a long one. I'm super duper excited! 


This week my neighbor Amy and I took our dogs (Scout and her dog Corbin) to take some pictures in the bluebonnets near my house. I figured that since this is my last time to see bluebonnets for awhile, it would be a great picture to have with my Scouty poo. Here it is:

That's about it for now. Can't think of much else going on except that I am in the home stretch for my Physics class. 5 classes left. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can......