Okay....so things have been kind of insane this week. So much so that I am late with everything for all of assignments. I am trying to get things taken care of with my mother's estate and fighting my heroin addicted step-father in court for my mother's belongings so that he doesnt sell them. Running back and forth to my hometown where my mother resided is a two hour drive.....so it has taken up alot of my time. It has been a mad rush to get everything out of the house before the stepfather breaks in and steals everything that he can get his hands on. Please accept my apologies everyone due to the fact that I was one of the students complaining about the lack of participation in the blogs. Merry Christmas to everyone and Happy New Year and thanks again to everyone for sharing a little piece of themselves here on the blogs each week.

Deer Season is here!!!

Ok, so usually I am not this avid hunter but I at least go a couple of days through the season just to make the BF happy and so the kids have someone to sit with. This year I have definitely changed my mind about only going for a couple of days. Last year we only had 2 deer to put into the freezer and I must say that I was pretty disapointed when we ran out of tenderloins and deer steak by mid January. The year before last, we had 5 deer to put into the freezer. Boy was that nice. I think that meat lasted clear into the beginning of summer. I love deer meat, as does my BF and 14 yr old daughter. The 16 and 10 year old daughters are not all that crazy about it. The 10 year old will eat it but doesnt jump up and down for it. The 16 year old like to hunt, but will not eat deer meat unless the taste is drowned out with barbecue sauce. (BLECK!!!) And what a waste!!! Now if the BF has the meat made into snack sticks, the kids will practically beat him down in order to get him to give some of it up and share. So I have been out three times already this week and plan on maybe once more before the weekend hits. We ARE going to have more than just one deer in that freezer this year. I told the BF that he might have buy another freezer by the time I fill all three of my tags and then finish dragging the 14 and 16 year old daughters all over the woods till they fill their tags of 3 apiece. Im not a big fan of hunting when it so cold outside that your feet freeze to the ground.....but when its a mild 35 to 40 with no snow.....I will be out everyday!!!

Late Post for Unit 7 Blog

Sorry about the late post this week. I have been tying myself in knots trying to get everything wrapped up and taken care of concerning my mother's estate. There are basically only two things left that need to be finished and that is to get my step-father to sign off of everything before we will return any of his belongings and then to finish getting my mom's truck ready for sale and get it sold. It has been such a long process that has been going on since April of this year and I am ready to be done with all of it so that I can start the mourning process for my mother. I have felt that I have been unable to do this due to the court dates and other issues concerning my mother's estate and my step-father. My sister and I are still trying to make arrangements for the release of my mother's ashes. She lives in Mississippi so I have to wait till she comes home and we had planned to do this on the on year anniversary of mom's passing. It still seems so unreal to me. I stare at her urn and still cannot believe that she is gone. I have had people in my life that have passed away, people that I was close to, and their deaths definitely affected me, but not like this. Things are getting better though. I dont cry as much even though I miss her more and more every day. I have begun to put my life back together and push myself by beginning with everyday things that need to be done such as housework and possibly errands. I would go weeks without leaving the house. Especially after my 16 year old daughter obtained her driver's license. Its a slow process, but I am beginning to feel so much better especially when I accomlish things everyday other than sleep.

Lack Of participation

I must say that I kind of disapointed when I go into the board to post my link each week for my new blog and only see like 5 or 6 posts. I thought that this was supposed to be an effort that was to be made by the entire class? I really look forward to posting new blogs every week as it helps me to get a better insight as to what I need to do each week and also does me some good to see what my classmates are writing/thinking about. I would definitely like to see a lot more participation as far as the blogs go.

Well, we are definitely moving along in the process of writing our final papers. It definitely helps with writing my paper for Anatomy and Physiology II as well. I love the process! Just getting going and doing all the research is pretty exciting especially when the paper starts to take form in paragraphs. I have always wondered about the effects of Echinacea and how so many people can take it with all the mixed studies that are out there. I worked as a Pharmacy Techinican for over 4 years and during cold season, we couldnt keep Echinacea on the shelf! The only thing that I really worry about when people take Echinacea for colds, is the people that are really sick and are trying to substitute Echinacea for medical treatment and antibiotics that they must take in order to get well. Well, I geuss that is just another issue to cover in my paper!

Ok...so I think that I am starting to get back into the swing of things. I geuss I just needed to give myself a little pep talk in order to get myself going. They say that its healthy to talk to yourself, but only to worry when you start answering yourself. (haha) I stare at my mom's urn and I remember how proud she was that I was going back to school. Then i try to think how she would feel if she knew (which Im sure she does) that I was letting things go. It didnt matter what it was. My mom was always tell me, "You're smart and beautiful and a wonderful person, you can do anything." She always praised me on what a strong person I am, something she forever said she was not. To me, my mom was young. She was only 53 when she passed. She looked like she was only in her late 30's. She was diagnosed with lung cancer 2 years ago but she died from complications with her liver. I miss her more than anything in the world and sometimes feel like I cant be happy because I need her to be here. It's hard sometimes but I know that I have to pick myself up and hold my head up if even for the sake of my girls. They hate to see me cry....so I tend to do this in the privacy of the bathroom or when they're not home. My mom's passing did bring my sister and I closer. She is now my #1 cheerleader and she calls me almost every day to tell me how wonderful I am and how proud she is to have me as a sister. Those phone calls help me out alot because she is one of those people that when you hear her laugh.....you dont even have to know what she is laughing about.......it just automatically makes you happy. I have no other word to describe her than just awesome. Im getting there.....Im learning again to find the good things in life.....even though every thing the girls do I wish that she was here to see......their dresses for Homecoming, good grades, Noelle driving on her own....I look forward to the things to come.....and know that everything good that happens....is meant to bring a smile to my face...

Ok, so we are getting ready to start our final papers. I must say that I love the process that goes into writing a good paper. Researching all the information, breaking the information down and then forming all of that into paragraphs that you hope catches your readers attention and holds it. Then hopefully they can walk away thinking that they learned something new today from the information that you provided. It was kind of confusing at first in Comp I, but once I got the process down, I just ran with it. I believe that I picked a good topic and am actually excited about the research and presenting it to my classmates!

Gettiing back on track

Ok......so I must start this first blog by telling everyone that I started out my school career with great success and was very excited about going back to school. I started in February of this year and since then have been invited to join the Honor Society and also named to Kaplan's Dean List. I am very proud of these accomplishments. But then April came and my mom passed away unexpectedly and I find myself in this slump that I cant seem to get out of. Then I got sick and was diagnosed with an infection in my left lung (pluerisy) three months ago that has since developed into walking pnuemonia. I have been going through this period where even taking a shower is too complicated. I know that my depression with my mom's death has had a big impact on my health and I am now doing my best to try and pull myself out. My boyfriend of four years says that I need to start getting back to the things in life that must be taken care of. I know this and I know how unhappy my mom would be if she seen me this way. She was so proud of me when she found out that I was going back to school and I would have loved to have shown her my certificates of achievement. I cant even write about her without crying. Hold. BRB.........Ok..thats better.......So I have decided that instead of using her death as a reason to be depressed, I am going to continuously remind myself how proud she would be of me for what I have accomplished and finish my schooling with the highest grades possible.