Ups and Downs of the Season

Well, it's official...I failed Algebra! I've never failed a class in my life...this is disappointing, but what's worse is that I'll have to take it again in the Spring instead of Statistics. Bah! Humbug!

My oldest has gotten sick again, just after the rest of us has gotten over this weird cold/illness that's been plaguing us for months. He's got an ear infection, the baby's had strep, we've all had the flu...some of us twice...and there's been this crazy sinus thing that's been hanging around in the backdrop since Aug. We're pretty exhausted at this point...it's got to stop!

My boyfriend's brother and I like to discuss conspiracy theories, among other unusual topics (he's a fellow Scorpio so we totally go there!), and I told him I thought it was something the pharmaceutical companies sprayed into the air to get us to buy up over the counter stuff in an attempt to counter-act everybody going frugal, green and doing alternative therapies (makes for a good conspiracy, right?). It's like 'sure we bought some TheraFlu at one point, but we've also upped our garlic intake and gritted through it...so in your face pharmaceutical companies!' :P

I have barely talked to any of my friends in months, due to schedules and being sick...any time I had free was spent sleeping. I ran into one friend at Halloween (right before my birthday trip to the casino), another the other day at the store and another called me a couple days ago. I'm thinking about setting up either a Myspace or Facebook to make staying in touch easier. There has been some contact, but I miss the little bit of sociability I had before.

One of my personal email addy's I rarely used had been hacked sometime in the last few months since I'd checked it last. I'd even received emails with my full name and old address in the subject title, emails supposedly from friends that looked too suspicious to open and there was evidence that my personal info had been used in a porn site or dating site or IM or whatever. I contacted the FBI's cybercrime unit to start an investigation, since my Facebook had been hacked a few months ago and I was iffy about one of my other little used addy's.

I've changed all my passwords (again!), changed my yahoo profile to that of a very old lady (pic and all...let them use THAT profile in a cyber-chat!) and I'm in the process of transferring the stuff I wanna keep to a new addy so those can be deleted (after an investigation, of course). In any case, it's a good excuse to finally get around to combining those two addy's into one, more manageable one. And, to watch whoever is messing with my stuff going down is simply a bonus because I am one of those weirdos who enjoy it when ignorance gets dealt with!

Woo! Sorry about the rant...sometimes I can't help it. And I'm feeling a bit silly tonight anyhow.

Thanks for bearing with me this Fall...let's enter into Winter on a better note and have a ton of fun this Holiday season!

Hectic Season!

I can't believe my last post was in Sept! That's crazy. So much has happened since then...

We found out that my youngest has mild aortic stenosis...he was born with two aortic valves instead of three and that's what caused his heart murmur. Valves develop in the first few weeks of pregnancy and I had the flu at the very beginning of the pregnancy with him...dunno if the fever played a part or what. We're worried because of what it could mean for him if it progresses past the mild stage. For example, even at the moderate stage, he'd be unable to play sports. However, his cardiologist says not to worry at this point, just watch for changes and to let him be a kid (mild doesn't require any special adjustments). Some people go all their lives without progressing one iota, so we're hoping for the best.

I finally made it through Fall trimester! My Algebra class was brutal and I won't know till tomorrow if I passed or not. I've never come so close to failing a class in my life...I really don't want to take it over again. I passed Internet Marketing and Communication. I've got two weeks off before Winter term starts...maybe to work, maybe to relax...dunno yet. Next up is Management, Advertising and Social Media Marketing...I'm taking a break from math before Statistics in the Spring, but got a heads up that the Intermediate Algebra course I just finished is way harder.

I asked my doc about the Essure procedure of sterilization and he told me of an improved version, called Adiana, and referred me to a colleague of his. It took two separate surgery dates before it finally took, so now we're waiting for the 3 month mark to be sure everything set right. If all goes well, I'm done having kids. The two (three if you count my niece) I have test my patience...I figure it's best not to test my luck.

I've gained a lot of great experience on oDesk lately, mostly in creating marketing materials, and one client referred me to one of her clients, who has since referred me to two others. I'm ecstatic that my skills are so well-thought of and I'm given a chance to advance in Marketing. I'll probably get some Adobe CS5 software for this, while the student discounts are still available. Next, I'd like to get hands-on with ecommerce admin and active online marketing campaigns or social media work.

I had some time to kill today and decided to look up language learning. I thought Rosetta Stone, while useful, was so far out of my budget it isn't funny. So, I looked up what was available for free and came across a site called LiveMocha"...It covered all 6 languages I want to learn (French, German, Italian, Gaelic, Latin and Cherokee), so I signed up. So far, I'm partway through the first French lesson. I've also gotten a start on gaining 'points' by helping those learning English to improve their skills. It's pretty cool...I'm enjoying it so far...

I better get going and make some dinner for the gang (got a house-full). We've got a full lunar eclipse tonight that I don't wanna miss...just in time for Yule!

Hope you're all well and enjoying this holiday season!