visit simplemom.net to enter a nifty contest :)

Date:	2008-10-13 18:22
Subject:	need opinions
Security:	Public
Mood:	contemplative

here i am, posting for the first time in over a year. my infrequent blog posts typically happen on myspace, but i want all my friends to have access to this, not just the myspace people.

my longterm goal is to attend Bastyr University and get a BS in Herbal Sciences and then get my ND. unfortunately, it's not feasible for me to do that for at least 4 years. spence and i have decided we need a plan B, primarily to cover us in the event he doesn't find a job out here when it's time for him to get out. if he doesn't, i'll work full time and he'll go to school for something else. nuclear power isn't a career option in the seattle area, after all. plus, it would be nice if i could work sometime during the next 4 years and make more than $10/hour.

now, with the school i have available to me, there are two options that will work best: get my RN, or study programming. they're both yawners to me, to be honest, but either one would give me a decent job should i need or want one before i can go to Bastyr. they both pay decently. i wouldn't be able to really start the nursing program until next fall, but i'd be an LPN in a year and able to make decent money should i work (part time while i complete the next year to my RN). after two years i'd have my RN, and there's also an RN to BSN option in the area that i could continue with. nursing jobs are plentiful everywhere, so it wouldn't be too hard to get a job.

programming: i could start right away and most, if not all, of the classes are online so childcare wouldn't be as much of a concern. it's probably more suited to my personality than nursing is. jobs on this side of the water aren't as plentiful when it comes to programming, but i could possibly find one, or get a job based in seattle where i work from home. the good programming jobs pay more than the good nursing jobs in this area, i think.

either one would be workable should we need to move to the other side of the water in 4 years when spence gets out (and we probably will). for those who aren't in the know, we're currently living in Kitsap County, across the water from Seattle.

so, discuss :) which one do y'all think would be a better idea? i'm especially interested to hear from programmers and nurses who can tell me how much they love/hate their jobs. this is a means to an end, not a calling, but i don't want to hate life either.

edit: also, i could get an associate's in computer science over here, but i could go all the way to a BSN if i do nursing.

edit two: apparently, some find the term 'yawner' offensive, so i want to explain that all i mean by that is that neither nursing or programming is my passion. if the world were perfect, i'd get to pursue my passion. right now i can't, so i'm looking for what i can do that is in the best interest of my family. i will put my all into whatever job i do. spence has been working his ass off at a job he hates for 12 years. i'm doing what i can to allow him to stop as soon as he can, and i can only choose from the options in front of me. i certainly don't intend to offend anyone whose passion is nursing...or programming ;)

Date:	2007-08-09 11:07
Subject:	help!
Security:	Public
Mood:	crazy

we need some serious help with this contest. we keep trading the top spot with another entry. they apparently have the whole mellencamp fan club helping them.

top of the haystack

you have to hit refresh until we come up. it's random and there are around 220 entries, so it can take awhile. vote for amber dyson and heather dyson. you can open up multiple tabs in firefox and refresh them all at once with right click. if you happen to be on the computer, just check them every so often and refresh. every single vote will help us. i'm between semesters and my kids are at school during hte day so i'm dedicating ALL my time to this.

also, if i win, i'm going to donate the money i save on flight/hotel to farm aid, a cause that i'm very passionate about. so please help, and know that you're also helping a great cause :)

(and while you're at it, check out their website, get some info, and support family farmers!)

has it really been almost a year since i last posted an entry?! damn.

well, i'm kicking butt in school. my first semester at UNF i rocked with a 3.95. i just finished calc 2 with a 99% average! i was pretty proud of that. those are really the only updates :) my world is going along smoothly and happily and i have no complaints ;)

i'm actually posting to beg everyone who knows me to go to this site and vote for me, because i really want to win!
top of the haystack

i think you have to vote between pairs until i come up (or just keep hitting "refresh"), but there isn't really all that many people entered at this point, so it shouldn't take TOO long. whatever you can do, i appreciate :) and if you're wondering, the picture on my profile is me with matt 4 years ago, and connor took it :)

so, last year La Redoute had this gorgeous pair of shoes that i didn't see until they were out of stock and i couldn't get them. and they never sold them again. it turns out, the UK store has them, but they don't ship to the US.

does anyone have any UK friends that can help me out? i can pay for the shoes and have them shipped to the UK resident, who i'll then pay to ship them to me. or they can just get the shoes and ship them to me and i'll pay them directly for everything.

i really love these shoes. help!

(edit: the link doesn't work. rats.)

man, i'm never around anymore. i never even remember to come here and read journals.

i finished my summer semester with a B+ in one class, which i'm filing an academic grievance over because that's utter horseshit. i won't go into all the details why, since everyone would probably be bored by that, but it is. and my GPA has become extremely important because i've decided to go to med school. which is a pretty funny thing to decide when you're almost 29 and almost have your A.S. in math and science. spence and i move to kings bay, GA in october and i'll still be doing online classes at SUNY through december. then i'll start elsewhere (probably Jacksonville). I'd really like to complete a BS in Psychology with premed requirements, since my ultimate goal is Psychiatry.

we get out October of 2008, by which point I hope to have my BS. I'll spend the fall/winter studying and take the MCAT in the spring of 2009, then hopefully enter med school in fall of 2009. this is where it gets challenging. originally, we'd planned for spence to get a job around chattanooga/knoxville. there's no med school there. commuting isn't really feasible since at some point i'll go on call. ETSU is my preference for med school, and is only 3-3.5 hours from connor, but i don't know what kind of job spence can get there, or how much it will pay. i'd like to go to med school without sacrificing our comfort level or proximity to connor, but i don't know if that will be possible. we won't know until 1-1.5 years from now when spence starts looking for jobs and we find out what our options are.

so, yeah, my fall semester just started and i'm taking a couple of PE courses, second class in my bio series, statistics, and elementary french. then i'll have earned my AS in math and science, woohoo :) during the following 2 years i'll need to take 3 more semesters of chemistry (i've had one) and 2 semesters of physics.

i'll be 40 by the time i'm really a professional, but at least i finally found what i believe i will most love to do :)

i'm loving my new hair color. took some pictures yesterday :)

( clicky for piccies )

Just in case anyone hasn't seen this yet:

Sign the Petition Here!

this is a REAL petition about REAL legislation to give preference to internet traffic based on who can afford it. If you don't know what net neutrality is or what the issue involving it is, let me know and i'll fill you in :)

i'm all excited. i've discovered a weightloss system with vegan sugarfree products! woot! i only just started so i can't tell you how well it works for me, but it's been working great for my mom. we've got the same body type/issues so i have high hopes.

i suppose LOW sugar is more accurate, but it only has fructose and stevia, no sucrose or artificial sweeteners. and no milk or animal products/byproducts. no artificial colors or flavors either :) i'm using the chai tea flavor and it tastes pretty good. a tiny bit chalky but not enough to bother me. i like the after-taste. my mom said the vanilla is a little chalky, too, but the chocolate is great.

Figure 8 weightloss from Arbonne

not everything is sugarfree, though. i'm not using the chews or the fiber shakes because of that. FYI :)

i signed up to get the discount on products. it's a pretty good deal...only $29 to sign up and then a huge discount on products. if you get autoship on the weightloss products you get them all for 50% off. i'm going to see how the first month goes, though. but yeah, i saved over $29 on my first purchase so it was worth it. i want to try the skin products, too. i'm using the anti-flake shampoo and i can't give longterm results yet, but i like what it does for my hair and it smells wonderful. the literature they sent me has some wonderful before/after pictures from their skincare lines.

so if anyone wants to give arbonne a try, buy from me please! what's better than losing weight? losing weight AND making money ;)

from resk







HA HA HA. i really can't argue with the "yearning for repair" bit.

Should anyone need some baby clothes, my sister-in-law is starting to sell some on ebay. She's got all boys, just like me :) And she's trying to raise money to go back to school, so please pass this along to anyone who might be interested :)

Ebay auction

She'll be posting more in the future as well.

I need your help for an assignment. I'm taking a Children's Literature course this semester and my assignment is to find as many children as I can and ask them what their favorite poems are and why. I only know three kids (mine).

So, if any of you have or are close to kids, would you mind asking them what their favorite poems are and why and telling me? I would reeeeeeeally appreciate it! I'm desperate!!

EDIT: For those parents whose children seem to have no familiarity with poetry, try asking them if they have a favorite nursery rhyme, or children's songs (a lot of traditional songs come from poems). Lullabies are another example. Of course, there's Shel Silverstein (my favorite). Riddles or jokes that rhyme count. There's also "playground verse", like the rhymes for skipping rope. So if they have no response to "what's your favorite poem" they might have one to "what's your favorite thing that rhymes" ;)

the funniest flight results i have ever received on a search (note: this is one flight):

( click here for the 12+ hour flight from albany to chattanooga! )

And I'll wait here a while
Just long enough to be sure
That you didn't make a wrong turn
And I'll wait long enough
Maybe an hour or two
Before I decide it wasn't me, it was you
It wasn't me it was you
And I would like you to know
Although it seems sad to say
This was only the worst hour of my day
The worst hour of my day
How long has it been on your mind?
Do you think about it when we laugh?
I think that it's a big mistake
Because I think that we could make it last
Even if it's just for a while
And I'll wait here for now
Just long enough to be sure
That you really want to go through with this
Because I don't really want to go through with this
Do you really want to go through with this?

-jack johnson

How You Are In Love

You fall in love quickly and easily. And very often. You give and take equally in relationships. You need your space and privacy. You don't like to be smothered. You love your partner unconditionally and don't try to make them change. You stay in love for a long time, even if you aren't loved back. When you fall, you fall hard.

	Dear Cupid, This year, I've had my ups and downs in the love department.
I woke up with a tattoo of Ozy_y2k’s name on my inner thigh. Mermaidsonora, Theohara and I went skinny dipping in lake Michigan and now we are cold all the time. Girl-about-town was video taping me while I was changing then put it up on the internet and now I’m a huge star.
So as you can see it's been a hectic year. Can you please make No-nevada hook up with me this Valentine's day? Sincerely, autumnjasper
Take this Quiz at QuizUniverse.com
( or, take the 'clean' version at QuizGalaxy.com )

i wish...

i really, really need some advice because this medical issue of mine has me baffled.

( if you don't want to read about female issues, don't click here )
i'm going to call the doctor on monday but we're leaving on thursday and won't be back until february 27th so i'm not sure how much i'll get figured out before then.

i need to write about the incredibly eventful cruise, but i don't have time because i am completely buried in schoolwork. after the GA/Jamaica trip i might be able to come up for air a little more.

i am amused by the fact that i go to the gym every day and work out for over an hour, and yet i will refresh the UPS tracking site to see if my package has been dropped off, rather than getting up and looking out the window.

so i have a history assignment for which i have to read this essay and then write a reaction to it in the online discussion forum (all of my classes are online through the SUNY network). i really hope the prof isn't expecting us to learn something useful and that i don't get in trouble when i post about what a poorly-written, sprawling, narrow-minded essay this is.

if i didn't HAVE to read it for class, i would've stopped in disgust 20% of the way in.

Edit: ok, to be fair, it WAS written in 1893. apparently, that was before decent grammar was invented =p