Online Master’s Program

I have known a few people who have decided to study for their Masters degrees online, and I think it’s an interesting way to do it. I was reading about various schools and heard about Gonzaga University. Several of their programs are available online and US News & World Report ranked them number three in the West. Forbes ranked it highly as well. Not many school that rank near the top offer online programs and I have to wonder why. In this day and age when everyone is hooked up to the Internet, you’d think that it would be an easy way to expand some of their programs. At any rate, Gonzaga offers the opportunity for people who have to work actual jobs to further their education. You don’t have to be a “professional student,” LOL! While that would be nice, it’s not something most people can afford to do.

Happy Halloween

What a day. I took Noah to a birthday/Halloween party, then got Jake and Drew and we went trick-or-treating at the mall. We picked up dinner and are now watching old “Tales from the Cryptkeeper” cartoons because they are “not scary, they are funny-scary.” So that makes them OK. After the boys are in bed tonight Drew and I plan on indulging in some sinful chocolate ice cream and watching a horror flick. We haven’t decided which one yet (we have several in our DVD library that we haven’t seen). I sure hope that some of the victims in these movies have the good sense to look up term life insurance quotes before they meet their untimely demise, LOL. At any rate, we’re in for the night. Honestly, I’m not a big Halloween fan. I enjoy it through my kids’ eyes and I like the opportunity to watch scary movies, but I don’t love being out and about on the day. So getting in my PJs and spending a cozy night inside sounds perfect to me.

Aggressive Drivers

When I was up in Massachusetts last weekend I realized just how aggressive the drivers are up there. People talk about NY drivers, and yes they are bad but the ones up in Mass…. man, it’s like they see my NY license plate and they think it gives them free reign to tailgate me, cut me off, and pull out in front of me without using a blinker. It’s very frustrating and so dangerous. I wish that they could somehow charge higher auto insurance rates for people who are that reckless. It’s stressful to have to watch the other cars so carefully.

Christmas Countdown

It just occurred to me how close we are getting to Christmas! I’d love to have another cocktail party like we did a few years ago. It’s fun to design holiday invitations and plan the menu, and of course visit with good friends. I’m not sure if we’ll get to it, though. I do, however, have to seriously start thinking about my Christmas Day menu. Do I want to do a roast? Brunch? Ham? Sigh… I don’t want to leave it to the last minute. Last year I did beef tenderloin. That was simple and it was well-received. Maybe I’ll just do that again. Otherwise I’m thinking roast beef. It’s also easy to make and everyone enjoys it. Guess it’s time to start pulling out the cookbooks.

Early Birthday for Me!

My birthday is on Monday, but since I’m at my parents’ house this weekend, my mom is doing a little mini birthday celebration: roast beef, mashed potatoes, veggies, salad, and my favorite strawberry cake. I’ll save the appetite suppressants for another day. I’m going to enjoy this, especially after the last two weeks. I’m not sure what I’ll be doing on my actual birthday. We’ll see how everyone is feeling and that will dictate whether we stay in or go out. As long as cake is involved somehow, I’ll be a happy girl

Staying on Track

I’m thrilled that pretty much all of my pre-pregnancy pants fit me. A few pairs are a little snug, but at least I can get them on. I need to start using the recumbant bike more often. We’d looked at several kinds of exercise equipment, including treadmills, ellipticals, etc. They all are great, but the bike worked out best for us. Drew uses it on a regular basis and loves it. I just need to get my rear in gear too, LOL! Maybe now that the basement is well on its way to more of a “family room” I’ll actually venture down there more. I can put on a movie or something and just bike for 20 minutes or so. Every little bit helps, right?

What a week

October’s been a rough month. We’ve had sickness, emergency heart surgery, and yesterday my grandmother passed away. It was time and it was for the best because she was in a lot of pain, but it’s still sad. I’ve been getting such poor sleep lately that I really need to find something that lightens dark circles under eyes because I’m starting to look a little zombie-ish. At any rate, for my mother’s sake, I am glad it’s all over. It’s been a long five years in the nursing home for my grandmother and for the last year, she really has been “gone” - you know? It’s comforting to me to know she is at peace and in a much better place now.

Sigh.

Why is it that it seems like 50% of Walmart shoppers look like they could benefit from weight loss pills? Seriously I hate to be mean, but I was there the other day and there are some really big people. And they always for some reason feel like THEY have the right of way. Being big does not make you entitled. Nor does being a skinny bitch make you entitled. Just be aware of the people around you who are shopping because, you know, I have enough going on right now and really don’t need to get run over by a freaking scooter.

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Spy vs. Spy

The other day, while looking for something silly, Drew clicked on a link that took him to a suspicious website and all kinds of windows kept popping up. (Ugh - would this happen on a Mac?). Anyway, luckily he has antispyware software and he did a virus check and all that good stuff and everything was A-OK. But it’s annoying how careful you have to be when looking up information online. When I research articles, I try to stick with .org and .edu sites. That doesn’t mean they are necessarily safer, but often they’re a better bet.

Sometimes I miss good old microfiche. Couldn’t catch anything from that