Last Blog

I wanted to take this time to tell you all how much I have enjoyed reading your blogs every week. I also have enjoyed writing them every week. At first I thought I was going to hate it. I wondered if I was ever going to have anything to write about. It always worked out. Every week I would come up with something. I learned a lot about my classmates through these weekly blogs and I will miss that terribly.

I also wanted to mention how much the group work for the writing assignments has helped me. I have come to really appreciate my group members Stephanie, Miranda, and Curtis. I don't know about the rest of the class, but my group has really bonded. We got so lucky that day we drew numbers to be assigned to groups. All of the group members have showed up for all of the group meetings. It has been GREAT! And by the way Curtis trips me out. That kid is crazy!!!

I am looking forward in so many ways for this semester to end. I don't want English 226 to end though. Well, I do want the writing assignments to end but, not the bonding.

Saturday

Because I was out of town Saturday I did not know that our blog dates had been changed! My boyfriend and I went to Texarkana to help his mom do some yard work. We are getting the garden ready to plant vegetables. I can't wait! I love fresh tomatoes right off the vine. I go out there with my salt shaker and just pick and eat until I can't eat anymore. I was so cold doing that work, but it will be worth it. Go figure we have been having 70 degree weather and the one day I have a chance to go work outdoors it is under 50 degrees! Oh well, I really did enjoy myself.

We also went to visit some friends and had a bar-b-que. Once again quite cold to be outdoors, but a very good time. Because there was some drinking involved (and I won't ride in a car with anyone that has been drinking) my boyfriend and I spent the night and he brought me home this morning.

Today he and I have lots of school work to get caught up on. I'm glad we were able to get out and have a good time before we have to buckle down and get it done!

Break

There is only one more day left of spring "break" and I haven't gotten done half the things I wanted/needed to do. As I said in my last blog I have several tests the week we go back. I haven't got nearly the amount of studying done I needed to. It is not for a lack of trying.

I ended up being a chofeur this week. My boyfriend had a break on his car that was grinding. We took it to the mechanic and found out it was a pin inside a caliper (or something like that, I don't speak mechanic). Anyway, the mechanic had to order the part from Volkswagen and that took two days to receive. I ended up having to take my boyfriend to work every morning except monday. Then I would have to go and pick him up every evening. I know it sounds like I'm complaing and I guess I am to an extent. This was supposed to be my "break". It was nice to spend a little extra time with him though.

I am sorta looking forward to going back to class. I do like structure so I am missing my routine. Hope everyone is as ready as I am to knock this semester out.

As I sit here overwhelmed with all the responsibilities I have over spring break, I find myself needing some time for myself. By no means does that include running off to some spring break hot spot. Instead I curled up on the couch and watched a movie. The movie is titled Memoir of a Geisha. This is a fabulous movie. The movie is many years old, but I never watched it because I never knew what memoir meant. I know that sounds silly. It wasn't until this semester in college that I found out what a memoir was. Since then I have wanted to know more about memoirs.

Over the break I have to write two book reports, which means I still have one more book to read. Each book report has to be five pages. I also have three tests the first week I go back to class. Therefore, I will be doing lots of studies in marketing, business statistics, and music appreciation.

Once spring break is over there are only about five weeks left of class before finals! That means we are going to be very busy between now and then. I have several more tests to take in most of my classes. I hate that so much gets pushed back to the last weeks of class. In some classes I have had one test before spring break. That means that those teachers plan on giving me three more tests after spring break.

Have a nice spring break everybody! I hope you all get plenty of studying done. It will come in handy when we return from the "break."

Good deeds

After my classes today I stopped at Super One Foods. That is where I purchase my gasoline. I was at the pump when a young man (probably in his low to mid 20's) walked up to me. He explained that he and his wife were from Corpus Christi and were stranded here in Shreveport. He said they had no gas to get home and that they did not even have money for food, he said they were very hungry. He went on to say that the reason they were stranded with no money is because their car had broke down and the tow company charged them $800.00 to fix their car.

At first I was of course thinking the worse, perhaps he needed the money to feed an alcohol or drug habit. I told him that I am a poor college student who has very little. I did however have 10 dollars cash in my wallet.

As he walked away, I began to feel so guilty. What if he and his wife really were hungry? I could not bear the thought that I would leave them in that parking lot without helping them. So I drove over to where he was talking to some more strangers and gave him the 10 dollars out of my wallet. I know it is not much but I do feel like I did my good deed for the day. I just hope that my money was used to put food in their bellies and not for a bag of crack or a bottle of wine.

My Master

Three and a half years ago, my boyfriend and I moved to Bossier City from Texarkana. The reason we moved is because he was excepted as a graduate student at Louisiana State University Health Science Center in Shreveport. He is in the masters program but ultimately wants his PHD. I am still an undergraduate, and I really don't have any plans of attending more school after I get my bachelor's degree.

It has been a rough journey for both of us, especially him. There has been many times when we were ready to just pack up our things and move back home to Texarkana. Somehow, we would be able to convince each other to stick it out.

We got some great news today. After several months of Jason working on his masters thesis, it has finally been approved by all four of the professors that needed to sign off on it. He is now a master of science. I am so proud of him!

This gives me great encouragement to continue on in my journey for higher education.

Changes

Over the last couple of years I have made many changes in my life because of concerns for my health. I quit drinking beer a couple of years ago when I realized I could not go a day without it. I would shake, and get really sick if I did not have a beer. Then 14 months ago, New Years 2008 I gave up cigarettes. I had been a chronic tobacco user for 12 years. I never imagined I would give them up, but I am so glad that I did.

Imagine my surprise, after doing so much for my health. It was just a couple weeks after classes started last semester, when I started having dizzy spells, changes in my vision, and other symptoms. I went to the doctor and found out I had type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

What a bummer! I had given up so many things that I loved and now I would have to give up sugar too!!! It was almost the end of the world to me. I am doing a lot better now, but sometimes I would really like some CHOCOLATE!!

Thanks for listening...I feel better already...almost as good as a chocolate fix!

Dirty Drivers

Sometimes I wish I could just have the whole road to myself. I get so tired of people putting my safety at jeopardy with their irresponsible driving. I live in Bossier on Airline Drive, right across the street from Wal-Mart. People in front of Wal-Mart drive like they do inside of Wal-Mart....CRAZY. I have to get in the turn lane to get into my apartment complex and the people who want to turn the other way into Wal-Mart try to hit me because I am some how in their way...as if Wal-Mart is going somewhere.

At least once a day on my way to or from LSUS, my safety is put in jeopardy. It seems like someone will cut me off, be more preoccupied with the cell phone conversation they are having, or just simply not know how to drive. I wonder if they are giving out drivers licenses in cracker jack boxes now days.

I know I am rambling on about something that is outside of my control...I just feel as though people need to take into consideration that I like my life and they have no right to put my safety at risk!

Puppies!!!!

My boyfriend and I have 3 rat terriers that we love as if they were our children. The two females (Mooi and Juddisch) belong to my boyfriend. He had them before we met. The Little boy dog is my Gerhard. Jason and I bought him when he was just a little baby, and, he became my baby!

As you all probably know the females come into heat twice a year. We try to keep them separated from Gerhard when they are in heat but, sometimes we just don't succeed. It is not really a big deal if they do get pregnant because we are willing to take care of the puppies. We either sell them or give them away to loving families. Yesterday Juddisch had six puppies! I always get excited, they are so cute when they are babies. They are cute until they start chewing on everything...like my shoes!

The reason I wanted to talk about this topic today is because I noticed a billboard on my way home from school the other day. It was talking about spaying or neutering your pets. (I would never do that to mine, but, I am a responsible parent to mine.) The billboard said " What if you could have 18 babies a year?" WOW...that got my attention! If people are not willing to take care of their pets then they should not have them! Our shelters are full of animals that people give up on..it is so sad!

The other day on Chanel 3 news, there was a story about people dropping their dogs off at the dump. As if these precious pooches were garbage. What is wrong with people. Leaving these dogs to fin for themselves! A couple of days later they had a story that somebody went to the dump and shot one of the dogs. It makes me so sad!

Dealing with Death

I got an e-mail from my sister in California this morning. The news was quite upsetting. She told me a long time friend of the family James Patrick Dale had passed away on Monday. He was 74 years old and died in the hospital. I want to cry so badly but I just can't because I keep thinking of all the good he did for me. About 5 years ago I found out my husband was having an affair with a friend of mine. I packed up my stuff and was planning on sleeping in my car. Jim would not allow this, he made room in his house for me. We would spend time in his hot tub drinking beer, and gazing up at the stars in the sky it was so peaceful. He took care of me when nobody else cared! I guess I thought Old Man Jim (OMJ) would be around forever. I haven't called him in over a year, I wish I would have now. I won't be able to go to his funeral because of school and the fact that my hometown where he died is about 3,000 miles away. I know everybody has their own way of dealing with the death of a loved one, but I haven't had to deal with much death. I really don't know how I am supposed to deal with it.