Christmas Up North

Yes, I am at my parent's home in the great North (aka, frozen tundra). I flew in on Thursday and we have been on-the-go since then. On Friday, we were supposed to have special company, but then they had to cancel at the last minute, so that was a bummer. My brother came up in the early afternoon hours, anyway, so we just hung out and enjoyed each other's company.

On Saturday, I went with my dad on one of his Nursing Home visits. He & Buddy (the dog) are part of a "Therapy Dog" program and they go visit local Nursing Homes and hospice patients a couple days a week. Dad thinks that Buddy brings some happiness to people, so he likes to share her. Yesterday was a local Nursing Home and in the spirit of the holidays, we spruced Buddy up with some reindeer horns. Plenty of the residents got a real kick out of them. Buddy, on the other hand...not so much. :o)

After we got home on Saturday, we packed up and headed south where we went to a surprise Anniversary/Retirement party for my aunt & uncle. I was able to see all of my aunts and uncles on my dad's side, with the exception of one. It was a great time! But guess who forgot their camera? ME! :(

We came home Saturday night and then on Sunday, we headed out for a church meeting that was more Special than most, and I was able to see LOTS of friends and family there, too. This weekend had plenty of events where I was able to see a lot of folks at one time. It was great!

After Sunday AM meeting, we went to visit a dear friend who is battling cancer. She has been given 6-8 months to live and that diagnosis came about two months ago. I wanted to make SURE to see her on this trip home.

After visiting her, mom & I went to my grandma's house for a visit and we spent a couple hours there. It was nice to see her since we hadn't had time to get over there since I'd flown in. She fed us lunch and then we just sat around and chatted. I love my grandma! :)

After that, we came home. Dad is making spaghetti for supper and we're just hanging out and watching football on the TV (the Packers, of course! :). I have no idea what's planned for this coming week, but I do know that there is something penciled in on the calendar for every day! Sheesh. These retired folk just never slow down! I thought I came home for a vacation, but they just never stop going!!! ;o)

So, I'll keep you updated when I can. There are lots of things to come and I'm looking forward to it all! I'll sign off with a picture of the flowers that my dad got me for my birthday. Aren't they gorgeous!?! They have some pine boughs mixed in there and it smells fantastic. I love it!

Oh, and one last thing...I earned an "A" in my Spanish class! Wahoo! Turns out that when I posted the other day about my grade, she still hadn't entered some participation points. Once she did that, my final grade was a 90.2%. Yippee!! :o)

Where am I?

Without giving my exact location, tell me where I am!!! :o)

And the final grade is...

I don't know. Why? Well, here's what happened with my final exam for Spanish...

We take an online multiple-choice exam for our Spanish class. The exams usually have about 60 questions, but the final had 109 questions. I got a 79.5% on it. Yes, I missed a "B" by a HALF of a point. I was still happy (honestly!) with my grade! :)

Then, we had an oral exam to give in which we answer any questions that she asks and then we have a conversation based on ONE scene that is drawn from a hat (our scenes included a doctor/patient visit, OR a friend asking about a recent movie, OR a friend asking about a party). I ended up getting an 88% on that, which is sufficient for me.

So...I move on and calculate my entire FINAL GRADE for the class and what do I have? And 89.96%. Yes, a "B." If I would have gotten that extra HALF credit on my multiple-choice portion of the final, I would have a 90%, which equals an "A". However, I don't. Technically, I have a "B" and I have NO idea if this instructor will round up this final grade or if she'll just score it as is and figure that I should have worked just ThatMuchHarder to get an "A".

Woe is me.

On the other hand...today is my birthday and I am HAPPY!!! :o)

Finals

So, it was finals week at the University last week and the town has cleared out (for the most part). Students have gone home for Christmas break and it's relatively quiet at work and around town and I love it! I am usually glad to see the students return, but I'm glad for the holiday breaks.

Last week, I took a final exam of my own and I did well and actually ended up with an "A" in the class. Yay!

Tomorrow night I have another final (for the community college) in Spanish and I'm a little more concerned about that one. We have a 50-80 question exam (it always varies) plus an oral exam so that the instructor can evaluate our speaking ability in a foreign language. Ugh. What adds to the frustration of it all is that my partner for the speaking exam has TOTALLY slacked on her part and I've ended up writing all of the scenarios to cover my rear. I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, never agree with a professor that says, "Group work is good for you." It's a total rip-off and there's always someone who gets away with doing nothing. Grrr...

So, I'm off to study a bit more and to memorize more of my lines for the speaking exam. Keep your fingers crossed for me! I'm bordering on getting an "A" in this class, as well, but I might fall just a point or two short of that if things don't go well tomorrow. What shall be, will be! (But I really want an "A" in the class!!! :o)

New York, New York

Back in 1978, Frank Sinatra started singing this song and in 1980, he made a recording of "New York, New York." It became a hit.




In 2009, a rapper by the name of Jay Z made an updated New York song titled, "Empire State of Mind". This is today's hit.

Which one do YOU prefer?!?!? :o)

Water

My daily calendar has a phrase today that I've really enjoyed. It says:

"Nothing in the world is weaker than water,
But it has no equal in overcoming the hard."
~Lao-Tsu

Isn't that awesome? It has just really got me to thinking this morning about how something so simple can have so much power, both seen and unseen. It's definitely a force of nature. Just think about it for awhile and I think you'll quickly agree. :)

Have a good Friday!

Christmas Countdown

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone (as we all well know!!) and now the countdown to Christmas has begun. I love the Christmas music that plays and all of the memories that I have from this time of year. It’s just a special time! Now that I live so far away from my family, the end of Thanksgiving, for me, signifies the countdown to when I’ll get to see them again!! Yay! :) Yes, it IS a special time of year! :)

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I had a spectacular time and really enjoyed my four full days off of work! :) Now it's back to work and back to reality. However, what's nice is that this is my last week of class for one of my classes! Yay! :) I'll finish up my other class on the 15th. After that, I'll go home for Christmas and will relish the break because after it's over, the work will really begin. Why? Because I'm hoping to finish my bachelor's degree in May 2011!!!!! That was not what I had originally planned, but some newly acquired information allowed me to work things out so that I can finish in four more semesters! YAY!!! I'm planning to take three classes every semester (which will be a lot!), but it's a schedule that I think is managable, so keep your fingers crossed that it goes well! :) If I do end up deciding that it's just too much to take so many courses in a semester while also working full time, then I'll go to my back-up plan and graduate in May 2012. That plan just lets me lighten the courseload a little bit for each semester.

So, there's lots to think about for the upcoming year, but I'm excited just knowing that the end is in sight in regards to school. How can a person NOT get excited about that!! :)

I need to get back to work, so I'll let this be all for now. Take care and have a wonderful week! :)