Where has the time gone?

Thought it was high time for an update. Ron and I have been together for over a year now and it looks like we will be in it for the long haul. I graduate in less than a month and our parents will get to meet for the first time at my graduation banquet.
My sister graduated this Sunday as I took my part IV national board exam. I'm so proud of her accomplishments and am doing my best to support her from afar as she studies for the bar exam.
As for my own studies - I have completed all of my clinical requirements and am presently using my blog to avoid researching demographic stats for the District of Columbia. Yes, one assignment left folks and I am deep in the throws of senioritis.
There is so much that I have to be thankful for at this moment - friendships renewed, the summer breeze and a new chapter in my life unfolding.
Well, I think I have finally exhausted my urge to avoid working on my assignment at all costs.
Be well everyone and have a great night.

Been a long time gone

For all those who have visited faithfully without an update, I apologize. Eee gads it's been an insano trimester. Our last day of finals was Thursday and we started the Activator elective Friday afternoon. Looks like I will be in Iowa till this Thursday and then the great trek home for break begins.
Updates: Ron and I have been dating for a little over 2 months now. I'm happy, he makes sense to me, and rather than being a source of stress, he helps me keep things in perspective. I consider myself a lucky woman. Looks like I am going to be staying with him on my way through Chicago and will get to meet his Mom. If I thought about it I would be nervous. I plan to come bearing gifts of Whitey's ice cream (a local favorite) and toiletries. What woman could say no to chocolate and bath salts?
My sister is going to have surgery this summer to close a defect in her heart that she was born with and which we were told had closed by age 5. For those who pray, please keep her in your prayers. She, and Nate, her husband, are taking things in stride. Mom and Dad are well and Grandma is still trying to whip Dad into shape. As far as I know Sahib, Mom's iguana, continues to thrive and love Mom only and despise the color yellow. I can't wait to see my Lucky dog and Chunk who my father has turned into a sumo fantail goldfish. Yes, ladies, he still lives and I have the pictures to prove it!
Darn the power of coffee to keep you up when you really should be sleeping. Alas, it will be 8am sooner rather than later and I really need to try and get to bed.
My love to all, later gators. I promise to post while I am at home in NY.

giddy

Tonight was one of those magical evenings. Wore my new dress and went out on a date to the river city music experience to catch the Mercury Brothers, a local blues band. It was a free event through school. It was fun to see some of my professors let their hair down and put on their dancing shoes. Ladies and gentlemen...give it up for Dr. Ring.
Life seems different at the moment - brighter, more full somehow. I have a lot to smile about and another date for tomorrow night.

been a long time gone

It's been forever and a day since I last posted and I thought that I would take the time to write a bit. I'm about a month into my 7th trimester and as promised it has been busy. We have at least a practical a week if not more. Tonight I have slacked off a bit and watched "A lot like love". Decided that I needed a break. I've got a scholarship essay to write but other than that there is nothing else on my plate for tomorrow.
This weekend I was in Chicago for a BEST seminar. It was an uplifting and centering experience. The past month has been difficult emotionally and it was good to meet up with friends that I haven't seen in many months. Recently my father's mother died unexpectedly. I'm thankful that I was able to fly home to New York for her memorial service and be with my parents. I'm glad that grandma went quickly and was not in pain. I've also come to terms with a few things. My friend from Pittsburgh and I are just that...friends and nothing more. He is back in school and wrapped up in his own world. Distance and time have given me perspective and I have let go of my need/desire for a movie ending to that story.
It was good to go home. I realize that I have an exceptional relationship with my parents. I love and respect them and even enjoy hanging out with them. It is a bit hard to be back in Iowa after being with them. When I broke up with Drew I lost the intimacy that we shared. We spent a tremendous amount of time talking on the phone and were near inseparable on the weekends when he was home. I made the right choice when I broke up with him - I know that. I stayed in that relationship long after my heart told me to jump ship. Ah, the things we do because we think we are pleasing our parents or are "finally dating a normal guy".
So that brings me to where I find myself right now. This weekend at the seminar I found myself looking at one of my friends with different eyes. He had dropped a few innuendos which I chalked up to his humor until we went out dancing on Saturday night. Next weekend we are going out to lunch. Nothing may come of this other than an opportunity to get to know him better. It is exciting to like someone and I'm comfortable with the fact that he is younger than me and in a lower trimester. More later. I'm finally feeling ready to write.

ta dah

I've made it through 9 days of the diet! I'm still going strong. Anyone know any good recipes for making goat cheese? Stop laughing - I'm serious. Didn't get enough sleep this weekend and picked up a virus but am doing much better. Being ill without mashed potatoes is not as much fun but I am more than surviving ;^)
Happy Birthday Mozart (Jan 27th) and Happy Birthday Jo (Jan 30th)!
News of note - the Palmer men's hockey team won their game last Friday. I can't wait till their next home game. I'm breaking out of my study shell and trying to get out more on the weekends. So far so good. With the help of friends I also discovered a really cool jazz bar with live music on Friday and Saturday nights.
Looking forward to the superbowl - GO STEELERS! I told my tutorial students that all of my sessions on Sunday would be over with by noon leaving more than enough time to get ready for the game.
That's all for now. My love to you all.

Up, up, up

Yay! The plumber is coming tomorrow to fix the toilet in the downstairs bathroom!!! It's been a great day - my car is fixed and it didn't cost an arm and a leg and I got all my points on my pelvic practical. Did well on my philosophy midterm as well. Two more quizzes this week and then I can rest a bit this weekend. It's going to be quite a ride till the end of the trimester. Taking it one day at a time.
Doing much better since I last posted. A lot has happened. Got a great adjustment this afternoon and at the recommendation of my DC I am going to bite the bullet and start the specific carbohydrate diet. I'm having my last hurrah before Monday when I swear off complex sugars, grains and non-fermented dairy products for a year. It is a choice I am making to heal my GI tract and get rid of some of my food sensitivities and intolerances. Over the next few days I will be saying goodbye to pizza, sushi, chocolate, ice cream, mashed potatoes, pancakes and other yummies.
Been working on my relationship with God and am developing my spirituality. Updates to follow. For those of you who pray - please keep me in your prayers as I embrace this opportunity to deepen my relationship with God and ask Him to heal my past wounds so that I can in every situation practice forgiveness.
Nuff for now. I get to sleep in tomorrow and want to take full advantage of the promise of extra sleep rather than just staying up later.

Pandora's Box

D called yesterday night in a panic - he couldn't find his passport and wondered if I remembered which box I had put it in. In true form he had waited until the last possible minute to get packed and ready for his trip to CR. I was mistaken in my earlier post - I thought he was leaving on the 1st but his flight leaves today, the 2nd. Ah, the agony that boy could avoid by preplanning. He insisted that he had looked everywhere and had his parents likewise tear apart their house looking for it. When I packed up my apartment I had made an effort to keep all of his important stuff together. A few shirts and CD got thrown in with my stuff as Julie and Jo helped me pack everything up but that was to be expected. After talking to him I decided to give the basement a once over since the possibility existed that his packet of important papers had been packed together with some of my papers. There it was in a bag with some of my other school books that had been in the living room at the old apartment. So, I called him to let him know that it had been located. He was rightfully overjoyed and I asked him when he wanted to come pick it up. He decided to stay at his apartment and pack more and then swing by in the morning on his way to Chicago. I was a bit bitchy with him on the phone and told him that this could have gone a hell of a lot easier had he not waited until the last minute. Yes, it was a moment of weakness, and I probably should have kept my mouth shut in retrospect. So I called him to apologize for being a bitch, and I got sucked back into the drama. For a moment I stepped right back into the revolving door. After a quick turn I was able to wake up and smell the metaphorical coffee and quickly end the conversation. So much for progress. This morning he called twice to say that he was running behind. When he arrived he wouldn't step across the threshold but waited in the sunroom for me to hand him his things. He said thanks and then was off. I went back to cleaning/straightening/organizing and the phone rang. He called to apologize for leaving so abruptly and said that he wasn't angry with me for having his passport and that this could have gone more smoothly, etc. He asked me to not worry about him. I told him that I had given that up for the new year. I think that took him off guard. I can't remember much else of the conversation other than that he started to grasp for straws again at the end and I told him that I needed to go. A half hour later he called again and I figured that if it was truly important he would leave a message. From now on I am not going to answer the phone if he calls. He can bloody well leave a message. We can stick to our agreement of he dropping off my stuff in the sunroom and I leaving the remainder of his things with his brother. I can't allow myself to be continually sucked back into his drama. Yesterday while walking the labyrinth I began to make peace with myself and where I am going. The process of cleaning and organizing the house is both a symbolic and practical exercise in cleaning out the old and ushering in the new. I've made a commitment to marching towards a greater understanding of what motivates me. If I am going to realize my full potential in this life I am going to need to consistently make choices to that end. That's all for now. I've an adjustment at 3 and then back to the task at hand. Be well all.