Always Balancing an Overflowing Plate

I can't believe it's almost the middle of May already. I've finally gotten a taker on my father's house (Praise the Lord!), and we're due to close July first. Before hand though, the whole house must be emptied. This should be interesting as it is full of stuff! Even though Leah has been working really hard to clear things out--it is still full of stuff! It will be sad not going there anymore for Holidays and whatnot. I loved that house a lot.

Thankfully, I'm in my own house now, and am very grateful. It's so nice to have the additional space and the back yard to take care of. I redicsovered that I love playing in the dirt. That takes a little stress away from the overwhelming feeling that I'm going to drop this very full plate I'm carrying.

I'm not enjoying my classes as much this quarter. They incorporate a lot of reading and it's frustrating to me, because I can read without understanding anything that I'm reading. Some of the articles are interesting, but others are down right boring. I've been told that it's sometimes is boring reading about ethics and policies and things... but it's ever important. I just hope that I will come out with A's. There are a couple big projects that I should be getting started on, but haven't exactly been motivated to do so.

Work has been okay. I never feel like I'm getting anything done, and the library faculty and staff have been at arms this week because the computer lab has been so full. Students are asking that we open the LIL (library instruction Lab) so people can work on papers in there. Unfortunately, the lab is theoretically only for instruction use--not 'lab' use. It's a very frustrating debate, and I can't help but take a defensive stance as it seems like my student workers are being underestimated. I have a lot to do this summer in terms of getting information together to develop effective training materials and figuring out how to be a better supervisor. I also need to find someone to help me with Interlibrary Loan over the summer. Adaley will certainly be missed! I've tried starting the schedule for the fall, but am not getting very far. I only have about 6 student workers returning to the Lab... (some graduated, some are moving up to staff assistantship)...so, I need to hire a number more. Unfortunately, I'm not getting a large response to my job posting. This coming week is the last week I will be working from 4-midnight three days a week and the weekends. I am actually going to return to the normal way of life starting May 19th.

One of the gals I used to work with at Pearce 4 Kids actually does in home daycare now! She agreed to watch Scianna at least for the summer. I'm glad about this, as I think I need something a little more rigid, and set. Plus I will have two days off in a row! YES! I think int he fall, I'm going to keep sending her to daycare three days a week, work on Saturday and Sunday and have two consecutive days off, although I'm not sure which ones would be best to take off. I need to consider both the staffing in the computer lab AND what interlibrary loan might be like.

I have been a LOT happier in this new house. I feel like I have something to do outside... which makes me happy, and I started up my plant collection again. Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't have gone into horticulture or something--oh how I love those plants.

Tonight, I am going to make croissants. I found this recipe for 'whole wheat' croissants that I think will be interesting. I bought some raspberries and blueberries and am thinking about adding them to the croissants for something different. Tomorrow I need to take said croissants to a "mother's day brunch". It should be nice! Then... It's off to work with me! Yahoo!

I guess that's enough ranting for one time.... need to get back to doing something productive.

Rule 735 from the peanut gallery

When everything is said and done, everyone hates you anyway.. no matter what you say--or so it seems sometimes.

The 735th peanut gallery rule is: KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT--or REFRAIN YOUR FINGERS FROM TYPING...no matter how bad you want to say something.

I am now apparently a snippy girl who is harsh on everyone. I swear I wasn't trying to be harsh, or condescending or anything. I am a people pleaser. God forbid I try to make amends here.

Aunt Anne will be leaving on the first of May. By the tone of her e-mail it seems like she's been wanting to leave for a long time. If that's the case, I don't understand why she hasn't.... especially if it's so terrible and horrible to live there.

I feel like the most horrible person in the world for asking her to leave. I am honestly very concerned about her.. But what can I do? I'm not there every day. I believe that Rachael is moving out right now solely because of Aunt Anne's behavior...

*sigh*... I need to think...

Always eat before taking....

Yesterday I discovered that one should always eat something before taking Tylenol allergy pills. Especially, when you wake up feeling like you have to hurl anyway!

It was a wonderful beautiful day yesterday... Sunny and brisk outside. I woke up feeling like my head had been run over by a freight train and then the unfortunate pill taking which resulted in a nice little reminder of how much I need to clean the toilet! I found that there was finally space in a playgroup that I've been trying to go to since January... so I said yes, not realizing that I was going to be feeling yicky. After saying yes, I ventured up to the shower, with Scianna close to my heels... She was intrigued by the shower water, but all said and done, she didn't want to have anything to do with the water that wasn't already in the tub. I got myself and Scianna dressed and then ran about throwing things into my quilted bag in preparation for the playgroup. I remembered to grab the car bill which I thrust into the mailbox, and remembered to lock the door, but I just couldn't have remembered to grab the house key? Nope! So, I didn't even realize I had forgotten the house key until I went to unlock the car. Luckily I had the spare car key in my bag--woot! I also realized at that point that my cell phone was busy being charged upstairs and out of reach, considering I'd already left my keys inside. So, being 10:00 and not having a way back into the apartment until 6:30 I set out for the playgroup.

The playgroup was good. Nice being in a house instead of a public place everyonce in a while. Scianna was thrilled with the new set of toys to play with for a while. I was thrilled to just sit and chill for a little while. The other little kids were cute. Michela was probably feeling a little threatened because everyone else was playing with HER toys. She kept getting upset with Scianna for playing with certain toys. I guess it's a good oportunity for "learning to share". After two hours of playing it was time to leave. This still left me with six hours to kill before I could get into the apartment. Great. Scianna and I ventured over to SamsClub in Greece, and got Ham, and shrimp and Chicken for Easter dinner on Sunday. We walked down every aisle and had fun munching on samples. Scianna especially liked the cheddar and gouda cheese that was being offered. I never knew that a two year old would like gouda cheese!!! After leaving SamsClub we ventured over to Wegmans to get the other things necessary to have a successful Easter dinner, and hopefully not have to go shopping until next weekend. Scianna promised me she'd be a good girl in wegmans, and she was for the most part, until we got to the checkout aisle and she insisted on climbing out of the cart. We were right near the balloon station, so she played with the ribbon, until it was time to leave. I had a near breakdown trying to figure out what ingrediants were needed for my family's special rice. My Dad was so great at making it... and now he's not here to do it. I was able to find the clams and the pimentos, but I couldn't find the same kind of flavoring paste he used... I know it was in a white container... but didn't know what section to look in. I ended up getting this stuff that I found with the boullian... "Better than boullion". I hope it will work. After wegmans it was 2:55 and that meant I still had 31/2 hours to kill before the key arrived.. at this point... I was like.. sheesh.. I could just go to Webster and get the key... So, I made a plan in my brain to do that. Before doing that though, I stopped at the mall hoping to get my own special rice pot. I thought maybe Bed Bath and Beyond would have a nice pot. Although they had nice pots, I wasn't about to spend 500 bucks on a whole pot set and it didn't look like the type of pot I was looking for was available just by itself.. and Sc ianna was starting to be a pain in the rump... so we exited Bed Bath and Beyond and headed over to Marshalls... where I found, after crawling around on the floor with Scianna, a large cast iron pot that matches the two I got for Christmas, on SALE marked down 50%!!! . I nabbed that up and carried it to the checkout where Scianna proceeded to turn into jelly and roll aoround on the floor just to torture me. However there was nothing I could do carrying a cast Iron pot that weighed as much as she does... Probably couldn't have carried both--I'm not that strong. So, finally she stood up and found a mirror to look in and I checked out, and grabbed the pot and her hand and headed out to the car. Welcome 3:30! So, into the car we go, with much protestation and to Webster to the fine establishment of Atlas music. Because I didn't know exactly how to get there, I went the long way around, but we finally made it. While I was there I acquired the key, disposed of some coke, and tried out a bassoon, which I'm hoping to nab up after a while. 2,000 for a decent student model bassoon is cheap! I realized yesterday that it's been almost 5 years since I've played a bassooon! I should get into the habit of playing music again. So little time, so many things to do! With key in hand and car full of goodies, Scianna and I headed home via 104 to 590 to 390 to 490 to 33... Another round about way! When we finally got home I decided that I needed to take the boxes and skis out of my car and put them away. I also cleaned up the car a little bit. Put the groceries away and then argueda bout what to have for dinner. If you every are stumped by this quandry you should definitely check out: "What do I want for dinner?" It doesn't actually solve the problem.. but it generates a laugh every once in a while.

Finally, Bill Gray's famous cheesburgers were decided upon; it was after 8, so no one felt like cooking. I sat on the couch nursing my headache and gorging on cheeseburgers and watching 101 dalmations which Scianna seemed to love (however not nearly as much as the Incredibles craze of late). Then I read one fish two fish red fis blue fish to Scianna. She only got 3/4 of the way through before she fell to sleep. Instead of rushing downstairs to clean clean clean I opted for a full night's sleep--for once.

So I'm off to dreamland dreaming about Robert's renting out the Dave Matthew's Band for an audience of about 100 in some small room somewhere on campus. The big day arrives and I have front row seats and something goes wrong with the room's system so they pack up and call it quits. I leave the room and see them bussing away. I was surprised that Robert's had rented them out in the first place...

This morning I woke up feeling much better (YAY!)... I immediately hop on the computer intending to check email but instead got sucked into the wonderful world of celebrity gossip, which I usually care nothing about. So, I spend half an hour trying my hand at a quiz about people I know nothing about.. and really---should I? Although, it is difficult NOT to know about the perils of Britany Spears or the craziness of Tom, Kate, and Suri.

Now that I've blogged about yesterday, it's nigh time to get on with today. On the agenda for today is planning the course of action for tomorrow... I'm going to bake a ham, make callah bread, make my family's rice, and steam up some asparagus. I also have to prep the Easter basket for the Sci Sci, and then find a hiding spot for it. Also on the agenda is the task of clean clean cleaning and sort sort sorting and beginning to pack pack pack. JOY JOY JOY! :)

And the ponderance for today, is why have I encouraged Scianna to be a chocoholic???

Done Done Done!

I am pleased to announce that for the next two weeks I am done with my first quarter of graduate studies. The completion required non-stop work on Monday (from 7:30Am to 11:00PM) and Tuesday (from 7:30AM to 4:45PM).

The systems exam was interesting. I hope I responded in the correct way. I'm not really sure I did.. especially concerning the question on decomposition. There wasn't hardly any information in the book and I had a really difficult time finding any literature on the topic at all.

On the plus side, I have nearly perfect grades for the entire quarter... so I think I will be okay even if I botch the exams... I was actually afraid to look at my grades--I even had to fight with myself to do it today. I'm a little disappinted that none of the great posters from my systems class this quarter will be in my classes next quarter. :( Oh well... I will live, and I'm sure there will be other great posters this semester.

At this point, I've spent so much time on the computer that I can't believe I'm still sitting here on the computer.

Back to work bright and early tomorrow morning. Need to get back into the spirit of ILL and management of my little old computer lab. Perfect timing though, the students are on break next week.

As for now... I guess I'm going to set on the couch and snooze while scianna works off the orange pop we accidentally (on purpose) gave her...
Such a bad parent I seem to be..

One more week as of tomorrow

Tuesday--tomorrow marks the one last week of my first quarter of grad school!
WOW.
The systems class has been really time consuming. I think I'm doing okay in both classes.. but am afraid to look at my grades... I don't think I have since the beginning of February.

I spent the first half of today avoiding my homework by cleaning house and then the second half of the day, I spent researching for my final project for the other class. I think I've found some things that will work... Hopefully there are at least 20 citations for peer reviewed articles!
Now.. I'm spending the third half of my day at the library--YAY!!!

Tomorrow... is the first playgroup I will have attended since my Dad passed. I just haven't had the time and every time I've thought about attending an event, I've been driving out to Buffalo. I am not planning on driving out there again until I have to. It's such a long drive and any kind of snow makes it absolutely miserable.

In other news, we over here have begun our own process of buying a house--YEAH! It's got a wonderful kitchen...3 bedrooms, gorgeous hardwood floors, and 2 full bathrooms! I never thought to nab the pictures off of the realty site before it was taken off. I'm hoping that we'll close by the end of April. Another big change!

I'm still frustrated with the surrogate court of Erie County. It has been well over a month and I still don't have the letters of administration. This is most frustrating! We really don't want to be paying out of pocket for Dad's house and stuff.. but I guess we have to do what we have to do until it's sold. If anyone has they're prayer hats on, please say a prayer that Dad's house will sell quickly. IF you're looking for a huge fixer-upper with a bundle of potential and outdoor charm.. check out the listing on RealtyUSA and give me an offer!!!

Scianna gave herself a bloody nose today. She was dancing with Jenna in the living room and fell nose-first into the carpet! Whoops!! She appeared to be okay. Instead of wanting to dance after that, she wanted to play game cube and then promptly fell to sleep! All her 2T shirts are becoming too short. I guess it's time to move her up into the 3T realm... :( Although still 2T pants for a little while I'm sure.

Yesterday, I decided, since it had snowed so much, that I would Cross country ski to work. Little did I know that most of the snow ont he road would be gone by the time I actually headed out... AND... the hills people create while shoveling and plowing were not conducive to continuous skiing, but once I got to the church on the corner I was able to cut back onto the RWC cross country trails.. :) Because I had left my car at work overnight, I had to dig the darn thing out with the official and very yellow library shovel.

In other news... All I have to say is that amethysts are SWANKY and I love them.. :)

I guess I'm headed into the work zone now... better get to it!

Blindsided

I feel so overwhelmed right now. I'm in shock still--there's no other explanation. Day 14. I haven't even taken a good minute to think that he's not going to ever walk out of that bedroom with his hoodie pulled over his head---won't see him slumped over on the couch sleeping while sitting up---Haven't taken a good minute to cry, to miss, to anything. I'm just plugging on trying to take care of business. This could be wrong.. it could be exactly what I need. I don't really know. I just wish that Dad's death didn't have to happen that way. Someone asked me the other day if I had a close relationship with my father. I told them that I didn't really know. How can I not know. It's not like we were on the phone everyday... it's like the relationship was understood. We didn't talk a lot. It seems like the middle sister was the closest... I really loved my Dad. I didn't know how to tell him a lot of things, and I think he felt the same way about me. But, he was a fantastic man. It sucks that he so terribly under estimated himself... BUT I see myself doing the same things. It's amazing how much we end up like our parents whether we want to or not. I really just need to cling to the belief that he's in a better place--living with the Father without pain and suffering, seeing Mom again, praising and dancing and biking in the sky. I think that's the only way I'll get through this.

All of this is really pressing down on me. I am really confused about my own life. I am not getting any kind of peace from my life. I really like working at the library. I really hope going to library school is the right thing. I really want to do the right thing by Scianna.. but I don't know what that is. I don't know what I'm doing. I feel like I floating by the seat of my pants. I just want some peace. I'm sick of not being able to keep up with things. I'm so tired. I feel so useless almost. I know that I'm not.. but it feels like it sometimes. I'm not completely comfortable with my new role at work. I don't know that I like supervising all of these students. I enjoy the ones that I have in interlibrary loan, but I have a more difficult time relating to the ones in the computer lab. I try really hard to communicate, but I feel like I come off as an annoying boss.

I'm not happy at home either. The rent is too expensive... The place is too small. I'm hesitant to dive into a mortgage situation, because I'm not sure if the current living situation is 'right' so to speak. It's just convenient and what I think I have to do--one would hope there was more to it than that, but I have to wonder a lot. I feel annoyed the majority of the time--I don't want life to be this way.

I know what I have to do... I need to trust completely that God will take care of me... but it's really hard for me to do. It's hard for me to let go of myself and let God.

The other thing I'm very unsure about is the music studio. There are occasions that I really enjoy working there, but then again, the majority of the time I dread going there. I don't feel like I"m reaching them anymore. Except maybe Nora and Cindy... But even then...I just don't enjoy it like I used to. I need guidance in this area too. I know that I have to give 30 days notice in order to quit. I don't want the owner to be mad at me like so many other teachers that just announce one day that they aren't coming back.

I will continue to ponder life's difficult problems and then plop them here later.

David Shank

Dad and Cousin Cameron December 2007

It's so amazing to me how fickle life is. In a blink of an eye, it can all be over. I'm trying not to think of the obvious: Now my Baby girl doesn't have her maternal grandmother OR grandfather.

Don't get me wrong... I'm thankful for the time we've spent together over the years. My Dad is a fighter, and a survivor of heart. Even though in the end the cancer got him, I can only hope he's resting int he Glory of God's embrace. I'm hoping that whatever happens the next few days, we will first and foremost be remembering and celebrating his existance!
It was a shock yesterday to receive a call from Leah telling me my father was coughing up blood and in the hospital. I was working, so I couldn't leave immediately. I heard later that they had gotten it to stop for a long time. He was even seeming better, but was pretty frightened about how much blood he had coughed up. This is where the recounting gets rather fuzzy: He started coughing up blood again. They were going to try and insert a respirator to help him breathe better, but couldn't get it to go down his trachea. Who knows what happened then... He may have had an anuerism. The tumor might have burst and spread like hellfire throughout every aspect of his body. We don't really know.. All we know is that he was here laughing and talking one moment and gone the next. I am so thankful that he didn't suffer for an extended period of time laying down int he hospital bed.

I don't know anyone who was like my Dad. He was funny, creative, and a lunatic (in a good way) all at the same time. He had a heart of gold--even if life didn't deal him a perfect deck.

The thing that struck me most when I heard the news was how my dad had told us girls that my mother had died. He wasn't like me... he put a lot of heart and thought into the telling. It was July of 1993. My mother was diagnosed with cancer in May. Unlike my Dad, she was having a hard time keeping up with the treatments. This does not mean however that she gave up. She gave it all she got! However when she passed away, my Dad came home with a bunch of balloons. He came and collected my sisters and I and we went out to the backyard. He had the balloons with him, and scissors too. Instead of just telling us our mother had passed on, he showed us the balloons. He said... your mom, just like these balloons ... is free now--he cut the strings holding the balloons and they flew into the sky. I remember vividly that it was a full moon that night. I will always remember Dad for doing that.

Over the past 24 to 36 hours, I've thought a lot about my Dad. I've thought about the little rhyming treasure hunts he used to make us as girls. I've thought about his love for bike riding and his chiding me for coasting. I've thought of his teasing me for getting a 99--"Can't you do any better than that". I remember when I got my learner's permit and he made me drive the fully-extended dodge ram home from the DMV. He was so nervous I was going to hit someone's

mailbox! I remember him playing trumpet at church and jamming to Frank Zappa down in the basement. I remember at one party he carried bottles of champaign around in his jacket... ready to fill an empty glass. I always liked how he'd get stuck on some mechanical thing he was thinking about and then explain it out loud (and draw diagrams) to anyone who was listening or standing there. There were also time where he woudl appear in the middle of this outrageous story only to find out he was recapping a dream.

He was always so full of surprises.
It breaks my heart to think that Scianna will probably not remember him a year from

now. But.. I hope she does.

There are so many things that run through my mind. Hopefully he will be fondly remembered. I pray for peace for all of my family members. This will be a difficult time. A difficult transition... perhaps even more so than when my mother passed away.

Lastly I think of Psalms 30... especially the last two verses.

Psalm 30
1.I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up,

and did not let my foes rejoice over me.

2.O LORD my God, I cried to you for help,

and you have healed me.

3 O LORD, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.
4 Sing praises to the LORD, O you his faithful ones,

and give thanks to his holy name.

5 For his anger is but for a moment;

his favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may linger for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.
6 As for me, I said in my prosperity,
"I shall never be moved."
7 By your favor, O LORD,
you had established me as a strong mountain;
you hid your face;
I was dismayed.
8 To you, O LORD, I cried,
and to the LORD I made supplication:
9 "What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10 Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me!
O LORD, be my helper!"
11 You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken off my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy,
12 so that my soulb may praise you and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

Perhaps it's not the most appropriate passage, but it was the one that struck me last night.
Praise be to God for not letting my Dad suffere anymore! May He grant peace to those who will be mourning!








Scianna and Grandpa Nov. 2007

Three weeks down...

Seven more to go!
Being back to school... It's craziness! I find that I manage my time a little better (or do I?), have something to look forward to, and am probably more committed to an online class than I was ever to classes that I physically had to be at! I definately took one hard class my first quarter. It's one of those ones that consumes pretty much all of my time, where as the other class doesn't take me nearly as long to complete. The only problem I have is the lack of sleep. I can't believe that I have two full time jobs (library & daughter), a partime job, and school (partime). I'm wondering if I should quit teaching. Part of me would like to. The rest of me says.. hang on to it... It's a good diversion. Plus, the owner of the studio would have a fit if I just upped and quit (i'd give her the 30 days notice as she requires). The other thing is that I've been teaching there for 5 years almost! WOO! Plus, it's a nice way to enhance my pocketbook.

Work is crazy. The schedule I have adopted is even more insane, however, I don't want to have to take Scianna in too much. She's good most of the time, but the other times she's somewaht unmanageable. I'm still not sure if I like supervising. One week, I'm okay, the next I'm not. I'd really just like to manage soley ILL. Although I enjoy working iwth the computer lab students, I feel bad, because there's nothing much I can really say or do at this point. Without having a list of projects that need to be done, I can't really tell them to do much but sit there and answer any questions that arise, do the walkaround, and enter the data into our less than efficient spread sheets. I applied for a job at Binghamton University. I havne't heard anything back from them, and am not really expecting too. I'm not too crazy about the idea of moving, but I guess I'd have to if it was for the betterment of learning and family.

Scianna is 2. I don't really consider her terrible yet *knocks on wood*--but I think I may be getting burned out. This week has been particulary wild. She's constantly moving chairs to get what she wants--in some ways it's humorous, but in other ways, it worries me that she's getting into things she shouldn't be. Just now in fact, she pushed her stool into the little bathroom, told me she wanted to go 'pee' and then continued to turn on the water and play instead. Keep in mind that she's not even potty trained yet! I feel like a terrible parent when I direct her to the telly and allow her to watch sesame street, little Einsteins, or something other so I can try and get my homework done. I did join a play group. I wanted her to have a chance to interact with other kids around her same age. We've been to a few events, and have liked it so far. Visit the Rochester Sweet Peas site for more information! We've been mall walking, to the Sandbox, an indoor playground in Fairport, and more recently to a story time at Barnes and Noble.

Actually the B&N storytime was today. It was rather amusing and rather disturbing all at the same time. I really like how the guy seems to remember kids who are there frequently. It's very crowd interactive AND very crowded. I always hoped that I'd be able to be that kind of person--not caring what everyone else thinks and being silly for the sake of laughter from the kiddos. I'm too conscientious for that I guess. He actually made fun of Scianna because she was so loud. What did he say,oh yeah-- "This one really needs to come out of her shell--she's so shy" Being sarcastic obviously! I never really realized just how loud she is until today. It's funny because I CAN recognize her little voice and laugh when I can't see her. What's really bad is when she starts the Nelson "Ha-Ha" laugh from the Simpsons. It's really loud and equally as annoying. After the storytime, Scianna commenced to play with their Thomas the Tank Engine setup. Lordy Pete I can't believe how expensive those things are! If I was made of money I'd A. have a HUGE playroom with color coded bins and shelves and B. have a swanky train set like that. Unfortunately I'm not made of money and I will make it a point to visit places that have fun toys like that :).

But.. on the bummed out side, I lost Scianna's very cute monkey hat :(. Hopefully I will be able to relocate the purple hat that came with her furry purple coat to take its place. It was really cool because this is the first she's really been interested in wearing hats or gloves!

On to the wonderful world of fast food dinner! Whoops!

Another one hits the dust

Two weeks into classes and I'm already starting to feel the burn. I'm not sleeping, I'm not functioning and I'm not giving each class equal thought. I spend far more time on the systems class than I do on the Information resources. I don't know why that is, probably with the anticipation that it's harder. I spend so much time reading and trying to answer the silly quesitons, but I don't feel like I actually achieve success.

The schedule at work is crazy!. What's even crazier is I spend additonal time there researching and trying to outdo myself on the posts for my class. I don't feel like other people are putting quite as much effort into it as I did.. and I don't even know what I'm talkinga bout half the time.

Scianna turned the big number 2 yesterday! I feel really bad because the birthday planning has gone awry, only in that I guess i wasn't there for cake last night... but still I feel bad that I chose to work and thend o more work instead of spend the time with my daughter. She was really fantastic at the dr.'s office today though. She didn't even scream at the stethascope this time. Usually she does. She did however, scream for the flu shot, but calmed right down. By the time we were leaving she was all smiles and chattering. Then we had to go get her blood drawn for the hemoglobin and iron tests. She sat still while the woman coerced two vials of blood out of the ring finger of her left hand. She seemed proud of the bugs bunny bandaid that she received!

Now my homework is done (the first part anyway) and Scianna's asleep (I hope--or not), and I'm resisting sleep still for reasons I can't even fathom.

Pic Spam! and trip back.

In reverse order of course!

The drive back from Philly was much more uneventful than the drive out. I think I had finally figured out how to navigate around the darned blocks... (good thing becasue I somehow lost the directions home--whoops). The ride seemed to take forever! I couldn't imagine doing a straight trip to North Carolina or SOuth Carolina....

At any rate.. here are some more pictures that I couldn't get to upload last night... The first picture is compliments of the Roberts Wesleyan Christmas party. It was nice to get Scianna all dressed up to go, even if we could only stay for 10-15 minutes or so. Next we have the plethora of Christmas cookies that we decorate so lavishly. We usually make enough to cover the whole long dining room (kitchen) table. Scianna even got into the cookie deocrating this year... although she mainly just wanted to eat the sprinkles... Okay.. More pictures to follow.. I promise.

I should have figured this would happen...

I go and start a new blog. Do really good for about a week and then BLAMMO! I fall off the face of the blogger world for almost a month! YIKES. Not that I like to make excuses for things, but I'm figuring I haven't been posting because the semester was over for the students and I didn't have a reason to post to the OTHER blogs that I keep for my job. Lame, I know. You'd think if I wasn't doing stuff to related to work, I could at least post to my own self initiated blog.

Well all that let out... I come back to my blog with my world rife with change. The babysitter for Scianna has gone back to school. I have decided (probably not in the best judgement) to avoid getting a new sitter for her. Instead, I've decided that I'm going to change my hours at the library to accomodate her being home. This means that my schedule will be most crazy and weekends will be worked a lot, or all the time. I'm not quite sure what I will do once the summer comes because the library hours change. My boss insists that she doesn't mind if I bring Scianna in--My 'office' is in the back where she can play and be non-disruptive for the most part. It seems that several people enjoy her presence... but, I'm not sure that it would be tolerated for a whole summer. I'm hoping that the babysitter will decide to watch kids during the summer, but I remain in uncertainty until then.

If that weren't enough, I've started course work at the ischool for Drexel. Not really knowing better I signed up for a class that may be better taken after at least one quarter was completed. This course has consumed many hours of my life in the past week. I'm trusting that the other course won't be as tedious for me. But I have yet to get into that information. I'm hoping that the courses and things will go well. If it becomes easier...I may consider going full time to finish up early.

I finally got my schedule set, and one of my students decided that she couldn't come on Monday evenings anymore. This means that my schedule must change once again. My new schedule starts this week. We'll see how well it goes! For those of you who know me, I apologize, but I might be a total walking zombie!

So.. now.. to the updates. I don't know that I can remember a lot of what's happened over the past few weeks, but I will try. Scianna did get better before Christmas. I was thankful for that. I was quite worried actually, that she'd be unhappy during the Christmas holiday and my week off. During the week I 'took off' during Thanksgiving week, Scianna was very very cranky and miserable. Now though she's been pleasant and amusing and funny as all get out!

Christmas was good. It was wonderful to see the family members that I don't see very frequently. My sister was home from Idaho for the Holiday. We frosted cookies on Christmas even and she stayed with up with me all night while I feverishly tried to finish a Christmas stocking for Scianna. I didn't really finish it all properly (ran out of time), but here it is (with all the others). You can just make out the nna on it. It's the bright one that hasn't been through so many years of use! I'm hoping to make another one next year the proper way. My sis even took a nap on the couch before we opened gifts.

Not long after that my Grandmother arrived (being up from South Carolina), and we dug into the presents. It took forever, and Scianna has to open each present to the 'playing' stage until she can move on to the next one. After all the work on the stocking, she didn't really care too much. Santa probably could have left a plastic grocery bag and she would have been happy (after eating a bajillion m&m's). Eventually all the presents were open and I felt like I was going to fall over with lack of sleep. By the time presents were finished, it was time to get started with dinner. Dad made spanish rice (very very very very yummy), and we had Steak!--Also very yummy. After dinner, we hung around at the kitchen table and chatted a bit. After that I took Scianna up to the mother-in-law apartment at my Dad's and crashed. That was about it.

One of the best things was going out for sushi at the Fuji Grill on Christmas Eve. We all piled into the car and drove down there. We ordered a ton of sushi and seaweed salad and miso soup and had a bit of a sushi party! My sister is very cute with Scianna. She swears she never wants kids, but Scianna seems to like her a lot. I'm always shocked when Scianna is good at restaurants and things like that. A couple days after Christmas I took her to Panera's after our first playgroup meet. She sat there and ate her sandwhich like a big girl--she even sat in a regular chair! She always surprises me.

New Years was pretty uneventful. I even went to bed before the ball dropped, I must have been tired! Then.. back to work... and then a week later school.

Right now, I'm in Philadelphia. The trip down was agonizing. I neglected to see a split and drove on the wrong highway for probably 45 minutes. After turning around, I ended up being late for my college orientation. Late enough to miss it entirely. Then.. we got lost in downtown Philly trying to find our way to the hotel. When we got to the hotel, the hotel people said they need to have the ID of the director of the library --which I didn't have! WHOOPS! So.. They had to put a hold--I was so afraid that they were going to turn us away! On the bright side, I got to eat more sushi, and some yummy mango chicken. The conference turned out to be really fun. After the driving incident the night before Lindsey and I walked to the conference building and then took the trolley back tot he hotel. After much confusion and indecision, we finally arrived at the liberty bell. We also saw City Hall and Reading Market (which I so badly want to pronounce Reading instead of redding). Instead of going to the swanky fondue restaurant, we settled for Chili's.

I don't know that I could live in a city day in and day out. I'd miss the quiet and the fresh air of the suburban areas. Plus, I get overwhelmed by tall buildings and excesses of people. I'll be glad to get home.

Thanks to my friend CIndy, I've become a Trader Joe's nut. So, when we were walking to the conference this morning I nearly did cartwheels when I noticed that there was a trader Joes on our route! It was considerably smaller than the one in Pittsburgh and Ohio.. but still nice to go into!

The internet is acting up at the hotel---time for me to take leave for now!