Nervous Breakdowns

If I had time for a nervous breakdown, I do believe I'd have one.  I know I've griped about school before and my research, but it's about to make me insane.  I entered all my data this morning into SPSS (the statistical program), and then the computer crashed.  This is why my hatred for PCs runs so deep.  Every time something important is entered, it's immediately lost.  So after taking the computer to the library tech guys to have it fixed, I've re-entered my data, run the statistics, and have no earthly idea what it means.  I did take a statistics course about 3 semesters ago, but I honestly can't remember anything about it.  Guess I'll stalk my statistics professor again in the morning.

I have class all day tomorrow.  Tomorrow starts the May Mini session and my class is vestibular rehab.  Class is scheduled all day, 9 - 5.  I have about a zillion things I need to do instead.  Like my research.  I don't know how long I'll last before I check out.  

Chris is back in Arkansas.  I had my white coat ceremony over the weekend and it was great.  My family came to support me, the only one missing was James, my little brother.  Speaking of James, I haven't seen him in forever, and am really missing him lately.  He was always my responsibility and my best friend, and it's hard when he's 2000 miles away.  Anyway, Chris is in AR, like I said, and I'm in TX finishing school.  It's been rough the past month not really being around each other often.  Chris was in another world (as he should have been) when Jim was in the hospital, and then I left, and we've only really been around each other by ourselves for about a total of 7 days in the past month.  After a period of time, we have a re-adjustment period.  It's sad, really.

Enough whining.   Peace out. 

Pictures, as promised.

Grant's 3rd Birthday Party was a Doodlebop theme.  He knows all the dance moves and lip synchs very well to all the songs.  Here are some pictures.

                              The Birthday Boy

               Grant and Aunt Clare

                       Jude and Aunt Clare

       Paw, Jude, Grant, Aunt Clare and Uncle Chris

We are Arkansans again!

Well, not officially. We still have TX licenses and plates, but our stuff is out of storage and in our new apartment in AR! WooHoo! It was an ordeal getting it there, but it's there and that's what counts. We don't have cabinet doors or drawers in the kitchen or bathrooms yet, but that's just small details. In case you were wondering, our apartment is a newly renovated apartment, and the cabinet doors and drawers are on back order. Of course.

I flew in to TX this morning because I have class today. I have been running around campus all morning because I'm flying out tonight after class. I met with one of the professors who is on my committee and is the wiz at statistics. I had to figure out what next step i needed to take in analyzing my data. It was productive, but now I just have to figure out how to work the program.

My nephew's third birthday party was Saturday. It was a Doodlebop theme. His favorite. He knows all the words (lip synching of course) and ALL the dance moves, it was great. This is the first birthday party I've gotten to go to. His first was in N.C. and his second I was in CO. We had a blast! Afterwards, my dad and older brother helped Chris and me move into our new apartment. We were exhausted from the party, but managed to get it done none the less. I'll post pics later when I get to a Mac instead of a PC.

It's going to be a long day!

I hate school.

And here's why:  They are auditing me!!  Isn't that the IRS's job?  Seriously!  They are auditing me!  And guess where all of my tax crap is?  In a box (who knows which one).  In the storage unit.  In Arkansas.  Have I mentioned I hate school?  

On another not so brighter note, Baxter has been sick the past several days, and so Chris took him to the vet this morning after he threw up his dinner at 2:30 am.  His blood work was fine, but he had a buildup of bad bacteria on his back teeth (the vet says he must not use his back teeth to chew.  he's right, baxter doesn't chew, he gulps.  he's so greedy) and that was making him sick.  They needed to sedate him to clean it up, and so while they were at it, we just made the decision to go ahead and neuter him.  We did, however, forget to tell them to take off his dew claw, but I guess we can live with that.  Now he's on some medicine and a special diet for a while, but hopefully he'll feel much better (if he doesn't realize his manhood is gone) when we get through it.  

I'm in TX for class, and have to go finish up my last couple days of clinic tomorrow and Wednesday, and then have a ton of crap to do the rest of the week.  If I can be motivated enough to do it.  I can't wait to be settled back in a place with just Chris and me.  And not have to travel back and forth will be a huge blessing.  

Have I mentioned I hate school?

Finally...a real blog!

Like I said before, the past few weeks have been CRAZY! Or maybe I said nutty, take your pick. I'll start with Friday, March 21.


That Friday, the 21st, we woke up to a phone call in Texas from Chris' little brother Jon. He was telling us that Jim (their dad) had a heart attack but was stable and in the hospital in NWA. Because it seemed like everything was fine, we decided not to pack up and leave. We went and met a couple of friends at Lowe's, had lunch with them, went grocery shopping, rented a couple of movies, and headed home. It wasn't 30 minutes after we got home that we got another phone call saying things weren't so great, and that Jim was going to have surgery. Of course, we started packing our bags to leave town. We didn't want to take Baxter with us, so I called some friends to come pick him up. Chris and I barely missed the last flight out to NWA, so we had to drive.


We finally made it in to NWA around 2 a.m., and headed for bed. We got about 2 1/2 hours of sleep before we had to get up to go to the hospital (the first visiting hour starts at 5:30 a.m.). We spent pretty much all day Saturday going back and forth to the hospital, waiting to hear about surgery. This lasted for several days, and Chris and I started getting anxious because we had to be out of our apartment in Texas by the 31st. Finally, it came down to where we had to book a flight to come back...we had to move! I had scheduled us a flight out on Thursday, but on Wednesday, the doctors decided to schedule surgery for the next day. Obviously Chris couldn't leave with Jim having surgery, so I cancelled the flights. We made the decision that I would go to Texas with my parents to finish the packing and do the move over the weekend. My parents were great! They really stepped up to the plate and pitched in (they cancelled their vacation to Chicago for me). My older brother even pitched in by paying for people to come load the U-Haul for us. There was no way my dad and I could've done it all. But as luck would have it, they pushed back Jim's surgery again...


My parents and I left Texas Saturday afternoon and headed back to Arkansas. We made it to my parents house around 10 p.m. and Chris surprised me by coming in that night about an hour later as well. It was great to have him there, plus on Sunday morning we had to unload the U-Haul, so it meant an extra hand. We got the U-Haul unloaded and Chris and I got back in the car and headed back to NWA. Jim's surgery was finally scheduled again for the following morning. Monday morning, Jim went into surgery, and ended up having six bypasses and an aortic valve replacement. (The doctor said he's tied for the most bypasses at the hospital). Afterward, he went to the ICU, where he stayed for about 3 days. 2 days ago, they finally moved him to a normal room. He's still in the hospital, and is expected to be released on Tuesday...


And I should mention that during all of this, Chris left my lights on in the car and my battery died, which was just replaced today. Also, we had purchased Dramamine for dogs (as prescribed by his vet for traveling) and it worked wonders during the move. Chris told the vet he wanted him to be rag doll status...and he was pretty close :) Emily (my sis in law) and I have become much closer, and Jon and Chris had a chance to reconnect. And one more thing, we discovered that the apartment we were scheduled to move into was no longer available...but they have another one (a bigger one) for us that they have to give to us at the smaller ones price...and it's newly remodeled!


So we're back at my parents and I have to go back to Texas for class in a couple days. Tomorrow, if it's not nasty outside, we're going to go play with our nephews and my brother and sis in law. I'll be glad when all of this craziness is over!


And I still have my research to finish...

Serenity Now

I need it.  These past couple weeks have been nutty.  Updates to come, I swear.