The votes are in.....

and my grade for my practicum is an......



A!

now, back to regularly scheduled programming.....

OK, now the story of the rental truck...

I mentioned a few posts ago that we had picked up the bathtub since we had the rental truck. Here is the backstory on life throwing us lemons, and how we made a little lemonade....

I took Thursday off to study and work on practicum assignments (ok, I called in sick...shhhh!) DH was off as well, and decided that he would go get the oil changed in my car. That sounded like a great idea to me, since it would get him out of my hair for a while. About 10:15, he called and asked if I was dressed. The answer, of course, was no, since studying is best done in pajamas. He requested that I get dressed and head to Wal-mart to pick him up, since my car needed to be towed to the dealership for repairs.

WHAT!?!?! Yep, once again, Walmart (during the last oil change) had overtightened the plug to the oil pan. Last time that happened, I just had to take it someplace else to have the plug removed and replced. This time, however, in their effort to remove the overtightened plug, had completely stripped the threads on the oil pan, which meant that the whole pan had to be replaced. Walmart's insurance would completely cover the cost of the tow and repair. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that I had to be at ISU for my final, and DH had to get the boys to their baseball games that night. And now we were down to one vehicle. Well, as luck would have it, Walmart's insurance would pay for a rental car, too. Great!

One problem....it was U of I's graduation weekend. The insurance would only cover $30 per day. There were no cars in Champaign-Urbana left in that price range, due to the large number of people coming to town for graduation. After waiting at Walmart for 1 1/2 hours while the manager tried to find us a car, they finally decided to upgrade us and pay for the difference. We were sent down to the airport to pick up a car, which ended up being a Ford F150, which has the perfect sized bed to haul home a bathtub. Therefore, we would not have to rent a truck to haul one home for our future bathroom remodel.

So, that is my story of making a little lemonade...

**A side note: Walmart went out of their way to be helpful and, while they may have an emplyee who apparently does not know how to tighten oil pan plugs, they took care of everything 100%.

A plan for a blissful weekend...

This is the first weekend since January that I have absolutely NO HOMEWORK. And to add to the specialness of the weekend, DH is off. So, I am hoping for a weekend of pure bliss!

Tonight: retirement party for a co-worker, whic meant that I got home too late to fix dinner and DH had ordered pizza; planted some glads out beside the house; planning on heading to the scrap desk later

Tomorrow: sleep in(!); take Gracie to the vet; cook out for lunch; send boys off to Corwin's birthday party in the evening; dinner out (a date!) with DH; shopping at Lowe's for our new vanity and tile for the bathroom

Sunday: church, scrap, clean, work outside, etc.

So, now that I have a lovely plan for my weekend, what do you think will go wrong?!?!?! Stay tuned to find out.....

Grades are in.....

for my Thursday night class, and I got an



A

As for my practicum, the jury is still out. There is some discussion on what kind of points are being given, what counts for credit and what does not. Since this is the first time this program has been offered, there is no precedent set for grading. Hopefully, the grades will be available soon. Right now, my supervisor says my work is A work, but she is not sure that she can give me credit for everything I completed. Unfortunately, now is a little late for me to find that out, since I cannot change/complete alternate assignments. We'll see how things will work out.

Happy Days are Here Again!

OK, so, after a little retail therapy, a movie night with my boys, and a good night sleep, I am definately recovering from the post tramatic stress of the semester. After consulting with my dear friend Tracy, I took her suggestion of retail therapy. The boys were somewhat tolerant of my plan, especially since I bought them ice cream at the mall.

I had promised the boys last week that we would rent Night at the Museum this weekend. We set aside Sayurday night for the movie. It was really cute. Much better than Everyone's Hero, which we rented last weekend. I missed about 15 minutes of the movie, however, when I choked on a piece of candy. I was terrified that I would not be able to get it out on my own. I was about a minute short of telling the boys to call 911 and go get a neighbor when I finally was able to breathe again. Now my chest, ribs, and back are sore from all of the coughing, but at least I'm alive.

Mother's Day was a fun, simple day. We went to church, then met Tracy and her boys at Red Lobster for lunch. Ken was working, so it made perfect sense. Tracy finally gave me my birthday present (yes, my birthday is in January, LOL!), but I am so glad she waited. It was a Red Lobster gift card (the irony, I know) and the new Jodi Picoult book. As she pointed out, now that the semester is over, I have time to read it! After lunch, the boys and I bought flowers and groceries, and spent the rest of the day working in the yard, cleaning the house, and just hanging out.

DH and the boys gave me a gift card to Christopher and Banks, which I will have the time to spend this weekend, when Ken is off, and I have no homework to do! Are you seeing a trend here? Also Saturday night has been set aside for bathroom remodeling shopping. The boys are going to a birthday party, so DH and I will be having dinner out, then buying the vanity, tile, etc. for the bathroom. The demo begins in just a few weeks. The bathtub is already in the garage; we picked it up while we had the rental truck. Now that is a story for another day.

The light at the end of the tunnel....

I am finally there. I have arrived to the official end of the semester. I have been working feverishly for the last few days to complete the assisgnments. I just emailed the last one off a few minutes ago.

I thought I'd be giddy, jumping up and down for joy. So, why am I sitting here, with a major headache, coming down from the rush of cranking out the work. I have no desire to move, much less go out and celebrate.

Hopefully a few hours of relaxing will help my mood.


But, the important thing is...

It's over!

My Final is OVER!!!

One more thing to cross of the to-do list!

Now, to finish my practicum requirements.....

Baseball

Here are a few pics from Josh's recent baseball game....





At second base...



At bat....

Isn't he cute?

Soccer Updates

Soccer season is soon to come to a close. It is by far my favorite sport to watch them play, so I am sad to see it end. Here are a few pics from recent games....

Here is our wonderful photographer, Alan.

Jake as goalie...with those gloves, looking a little like Mickey Mouse.

I included this picture to show you where we play...on the park district fields, right behind he county jail (hence the fence and barbed wire)

Jake and his friend Rosie.

KICK!

Run, Josh, Run!

It's DONE!

While it may not be the last assignment I need to finish this semester, my huge project for my Thursday night class is......


DONE!

And, before 2:00 a.m. on the day it is due!

On to the next item on the to-do list....