Worms

Yes, that's right. Worms. Alexander and I were playing outside today with the dogs, and he comes up to me and says, "Mandy... I have a surprise for you... a slimy, dirty, gooshey, wormy-worm!" And yes, he had a worm. Just for me. Not just any worm - a BIG worm!! And he proceeded to "play" (read: torture) this poor worm for an hour straight. Nothing I said could convince him to set the poor thing free. Alex even wanted to bring the worm inside while he ate dinner - no, thank you!! I finally prevailed, and Alex found a nice spot for the poor tramatized worm to live. I love little boys!

Homelessness = bad

Well, good news! Looks like we won't be homeless next year! Hallelujah! We think we have found a place to live in Medford for the next year while Chris finishes his externship at Providence. Our good friend Carla has a friend (who has a brother's sister's uncle's niece's cousin's friend's dog... no, just kidding) who owns a dance studio in Medford. This lady is a riot - she's like eighty years old at least and was a prima ballerina for a professional company in her younger years. Anyway, she has a little house next to the studio that is going to be perfect for us - and, best of all, she'll let us have our dogs!! Hallelujah again!

And, even more good news - I can continue my world record of never setting foot in a laundromat (I have a huge aversion to disgusting, nasty, gross, slimy, icky laundromats) because the house has a washer and dryer!! And...a dishwasher!!! YES!! Could it GET any better, you ask? Why, yes it can, I reply. While I am regretting not bringing my camera to have taken pictures (well, duh, taken pictures, what else would you do with a camera...silly Mandy), I didn't want to freak anyone out by my camera toting-ness. So you will have to make do with an in-depth descriptive review.

The floors are all hardwood, newly refinished - way super duper cute! There are 2.5 bedrooms (not a typo, really 2.5, will explain later) and one bathroom. There's a huge living room/dining room space, a good-sized kitchen (WITH A DISHWASHER!!!!), and the one bedroom and bathroom downstairs. The kitchen and the bathroom are in the process of being remodeled, so it was a little hard to tell how they looked, but all the appliances in the kitchen were newer and looked pretty good... and TONS of counter space in the kitchen!

Then, upstairs (YES, you heard me right...upstairs!! I have never lived in a two-story house in my life!! That word just makes me sound rich and famous, doesn't it? UPSTAIRS [picture me saying it with a French accent]) there's a master bedroom and a little...well, I'm not sure what to call it, but it's like a half of a bedroom. It's going to be perfect for a little office or maybe a nursery?? Chris rolls his eyes when I say that. So I fell asleep last night planning where to put our furniture in our new house (but I simply HAVE to make it up to IKEA because the end tables we have right now will just not work in the new house... the house told me so) and hoping that I saw an electrical outlet in the new house's bathroom. Oh, the cruel irony, that as soon as we remodel our bathroom (after being without an outlet in the bathroom for FOUR LOOONNNGGGG YEARS) that we would move to a place where the extension cord would become my hair dryer's best friend again. Hopefully, that won't happen.

So, the packing saga continues...

FABULOUS news!

No, I am not pregnant... but I am graduated!!!!!!!! Yes, that is right, you are looking at an honest to goodness, 100%, really truly live degree holder!!!! After a seemingly endless process (no, really, I know everyone says that, but mine really WAS a seemingly endless process), I will soon have that $20,000.00 piece of paper to prove it! And maybe a pen... cause you know, the piece of paper just isn't worth $20,000.00 (wow that's a lot of zeros!), they have to throw in a pen to make sure you feel like you're getting your money's worth. So now, I have the wonderful world of unemployment and paying back student loans to look forward to!!

And the following conversation just about sums up my Western Governors University experience:

Joyce (my wonderful co-worker who cracks me up): I was talking to a young lady the other day who mentioned that she was thinking about going to this online school called Western Governors University.

Me: Ohh... what did you tell her?

Joyce: Well, based on your experiences with this school, I told her it might not be the best idea and maybe she should keep looking (Joyce is very diplomatic... I would have said, "DON'T DO IT!!! THEY WILL SCREW YOU OVER!!").

Me: Oh, good. Saved another soul from the evils of Western Governors University!!

Side note: maybe I should wait to post this till I actually have my diploma (and pen) in hand, don't want them to refuse my diploma just cause I'm bad mouthing them!! Oh well.

The point of all this is, in short, I am done and boy, am I happy about it!!! Now whatever shall I do with my free time???.....

Honor Choir!

I am so proud of our honor choir!! On Tuesday, we sang for a huge crowd of people at Peterson Elementary, and (our guest of honor), the State Superintendent of Schools! She was so impressed by our performance, she invited us to come to Portland to sing at the Convention Center! While I may not be entirely thrilled at taking a bunch of fifth and sixth graders on the six hour drive up to Portland, (I don't think they make earplugs strong enough to drown out the screaming these kids can do!) I am thrilled for our kids and sooo excited! So if you are in or around Portland on May 1st, come to the convention center and watch us kick booty!!