To Friends!

I took a vacation day today to get a few things done and it is feeling good so far! I wish every work week consisted of four, not five days. Having some extra time to accomplish personal errands and such makes for more play time on the weekends!

I had a great night with Liz. I invited myself over for dinner, and I was there for four hours! She makes the best Cobb salad, which I requested of course. It was good to catch up...I tend to talk a whole lot so I hope she wasn't bored with me. But it was good to just talk and talk, you know? Just discuss things I don't talk much about. Liz has an empathetic ear, yet she knows how to give good advice.

Actually, I am lucky to have in my life all my friends. You know Facebook? How you can have, like, hundreds of "friends"? I am not that open, and am pretty happy with the small amount of close friends I do have. Who else knows what my face looks like when I am mad? Who else tells me that I look great, even when I don't feel my best? Who else can I reminisce about what stupid things we did growing up? To my friends...I am one lucky girl to have you all in my life!

If you didn't already know

If you didn't already know, we have a new president who means business. Within hours of taking the oath, Barack has already achieved so much by way of international diplomacy. He has made strides in such a short time to undo what 8 years of the Bush presidency has done to how the international community views us. I am ever so hopeful that this is new era of peaceful justice.

What is new? I started the internship for ED 205. While I am so excited to teach, I am wiped out at the end of the night. I just sit and stare while my mentor is talking. I need to figure out waking myself up during these long four hour stretches. Next week I get to teach a section. I am going to teach about the role of faculty, advisors and the student. My plan is to break them into three groups to hash out what they think these roles are. Then I will build on that to teach the Regis model. Should be fun.

It was nice to have a break from the Conflict Center class on Monday (MLK Holiday). We were off at Regis as well and so I laid in bed from 9am-noon reading my book The Hour I First Believed (Yes, mom and dad, you gave me this book for Christmas and I am still reading it...). I am such a slow reader at night. I read one or two pages and then boom! Head hits the pillow. How can I argue to my boss that I need one day off a week to lay in bed and read? I would be so much more productive.

What else? Mike's health is still in a questionable state. He is much better than before, but there are a few mysterious things going on. Plus, he just isn't himself. Well, he is still awnry and all that, but he just doesn't have that spark sometimes. I know it is because of the pain, but I hope we can come to some resolution so he can start enjoying life again. He has a PET scan scheduled for the end of the month, and so hopefully it answers questions, even though the answer still may be "we don't know."

Jason and Jess are coming to dinner Saturday. We haven't entertained or gone out in a long while, Mike has been too tired to want to. They proposed that he can sit in his jammies while Jess and I cook and he and Jay chat. That sounds reasonable. Plus, they have their Disneyland trip DVD. I want to see Max coming off Space Mountain. They said he went on ALL the rides. He is certainly becoming a big kid.

Family Pictures

Mom sent along some pictures from Christmas-here are two of the family together Christmas Day. It is amazing that we are well into January and the holidays are behind us.

3 minute daily retreat

I have a colleague who teaches Religious Studies here at Regis and he has a blog with this link. The above link is a daily 3 minute retreat you can take when you need to get away from the work at your desk, the emails and calls you have to return, and all the other little aspects of the day that make us get really busy. Just one click on the icon and you can take 3 minutes to yourself. It is a Jesuit retreat so it will be religious, but if you aren't Catholic you can imagine whatever spiritual realm you would like. I am trying to incorporate it into my everyday to remind myself of this quote by Archbishop Oscar Romero:
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning. A step along the way.

What store are you?

I went to the mall with Meg this weekend and we talked about what clothing stores we like. So, that got me thinking about posting "What stores am I?" Now, here is a disclaimer-this idea for a posting does not mean you (or I) have to necessarily shop at these stores. Rather, this is more what kind of store speaks to your (or my) style. Let's give it a try:

1. What clothing store am I? I love the clothes in Anthropologie. But, I can't say I am Anthropologie. I think I am more Eddie Bauer, Ann Taylor Loft, and sometimes, yes, Target.
2. What bath store am I? Hands down, I am Crabtree and Evelyn. I love their rosewater lotion-it is the perfect rose smell.
3. What home store am I? I just got a catlog the other day for a store called Arhaus http://www.arhaus.com/ I fell in love with everything in the catlog. I love the relaxed and earthy feel.
4. What kitchen store am I? I like Crate and Barrel-the simplicity matches my style. Sur la Table has fun knick knack kitchen stuff as well.
5. What shoe store am I? Definitely The Walking Company. I need therapy shoes for my feet.

Good things come to those who wait

I am happy to report that Mike's health is on the up and up. He isn't 100% but from where he was before even 75% better is an improvement. He has been working and we actually had our first date night in a month! Saturday we saw Marley and Me. We of course didn't bring kleenex (not wise) and so we sniffled through the last half. We went home to our guys and gave them extra loving before heading out to sushi at Osaka Sushi on Colorado Blvd. We ordered eel and after some hemming and hawing I actually tried and liked it! It was good to get out and spend some fun time together.

I started teaching at the Conflict Center last night. I love the class and the topic is easy to teach because they have it all outlined in a clear syllabus. I co-taught with Pearl who works there and I think we both had good energy and cliked. The clients are all such amazing people who are on their own personal journeys, whether or not these journeys are court mandated. Some are looking for personal developement and I hope they find it in this class.

So, things are looking better than a month ago. That and we are on the downward slope toward spring!

All the good things coming along

I guess amongst all the stress and health crisis of late, two good things are happening. First, my first night to volunteer teach at the Conflict Center is Monday night. I am a little nervous and will need to prepare over the weekend. The second thing is I get to do my internship for the course at Regis, and today the chair of the course came by and asked if I want to start teaching this summer! I am nervous and excited. I ask myself...is this really happening to me? All these things I have been planning for are actually happening. And, I keep feeling somewhat unqualified. Not that I am not qualified...it is just those doubts start creeping in. I am one of those people who just needs to jump in and get going...I can't think about it too much.

Mike went to work today which is a good sign he is feeling better. He even was able to get on the floor this morning and rub Chester's belly. Imagine...a Chocolate Lab, stretched on the floor, arms open, tail thumping the ground, waiting for his papas to come and scratch his belly. He was incredibly satisfied today after it happened.