Winter is Ovah!

Officially over! Today is the spring equinox!  I know that doesn't mean a whole lot of anything in Colorado but it means a whole heck of a lot to my mental health.  It means that summer is coming.  And that means driving with the windows down, wearing flip flops and tank tops, sitting on the patio with a glass of cold riesling and playing kickball.  It means grilling and having a beautiful array of fresh, delicious produce bursting out of all my cooking.  It means swimming and sunshine and thunderstorms and nearly daily rainbows.  It means motorcycle trips and wine in Palisade.

I'm not naive enough to think we don't have any more wintery days in our near future.  In fact, Paul and I were talking about this a few days ago and I said something about bracing myself for a blizzard any day now.  He poo-pooed that and said we were done with snow until next fall.  I poo-pooed that and reminded him that since I moved here all the kids' snow days have been in March.  So we made a bet that within the next 30 days -- that 30 days ends on April 10, I think -- we'll get at least 5 inches of snow in a 24-hour period.  Psst ... I'm gonna win.

Anyway, whether I win the bet or Paul wins the bet, the cold mistress known as Ms. Winter is officially over! Everyone join me in a happyhappyhappy dance!

Water Park Fun

I forgot about these videos from our day at the water park in Arkansas.  I give you -- The Toilet Bowl:

My Kidlets are Home With Me & Other Stuff

I enjoy my kid breaks.  I'd be crazy not to -- a single mom whose life is wrapped up in 3 not-so-small persons the majority of the time.  I need my breaks.  I relish them. 

But when we have a long break in the summer, I start to feel anxious toward the end of it.  I know that my summer freedom is not reality and I feel a little groundless after a while of that.  The kids and the routines that we have established help me feel rooted in real life.  There's not so much fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants when they're here and I need that.

Anyway, the kids are home with me again.  They started school last Monday.  The transition has gone shockingly smoothly.  The post-dad-spoiling detoxification has gone really well.  I'm afraid to think about that too much.  We're planning Miriam's birthday party, setting up play dates and soaking up all the last bits of summer that we can.

I'm finally officially registered for college again.  I'm waiting on the financial aid documentation to come through and shopping for books.  My schedule couldn't be better, really.  I'm cutting back my work days to just 3 per week -- Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  All my classes are online so I'll stay at home on Tuesday and Thursday to do school work.  I will be taking clinical calculations (a math class), microbiology and nutrition.

The way ADN programs work in Colorado is a little different from the way they work in Texas.  All of my credits from Texas transferred (Yay!) and I have a few that I didn't even need.  That means when this semester is finished I'm technically done with pre-requisites and can apply to next fall's ADN program in February.  I'll use next semester to take pre-reqs for the BSN program that I want to transfer to when I'm done with ADN.

I have two chances to get into the ADN program, which is merit-based.  I can apply to the straight ADN program, which takes 2 years and I can apply to the LPN to ADN program, which is one year.  I have excellent chances of getting into either of them, though obviously the bridge is more desirable because of its brevity. I'm really excited.  I want to the get the next couple of brutal years over with so I can have more options open to me.

I've slowly realized that this is the optimal time to get school over with.  I wanted to wait until my kids were a little older so I wouldn't have to depend on day care to get us through it. However, I can't wait until they're too much older because then they could potentially spend a lot of time at home alone while I'm in school and I definitely don't want that, either.  So this is perfect.  I'll be completely done with school before Solomon gets to high school and then I can spend more time with the kids, transporting them to extra curricular activities and spectating at band concerts and athletic games.  They're really going to need me a lot then and I can be there for them.

I have lots more to write about but it will have to wait.  We have a birthday party and shoe shopping on the agenda for today and it's time to get started.

Updating the Number and Other Things

It's summer.  Summer means the kids are gone and I have lots of free time.  Free time that is eaten up by working out, traveling, tasting wine and playing kickball.  That doesn't leave a whole heck of a lot of time for writing.  Something's gotta give, huh?  As always, when I go on a writing hiatus, I miss it tons.

So.  First things first: The Number.  The Number is looking better.  I haven't quite reached my goal yet but that's okay.  I'm eating well and feeling great -- really, really great.  I've embarked on a workout schedule that I really enjoy. It is as follows: Monday, Wednesday and Friday are running days and Tuesday and Thursday are weight training days.  I have completed Week 4 of C25K and will begin Week 5 this coming Monday.  It feels really good to be moving and it feels even better to see muscle definition appearing in places I've never had muscle definition.  I'm on track to run a 5K at the end of July and I'm excited about it.

Early this month Paul and I celebrated one year since our first date.  It's been quite a year.  Paul is a great guy and I am fortunate to have him in my life. We went to Palisade, Colorado and celebrated there.  More about that in the next post.  And lots and lots of photos.  Hold on to your hats.

My 31st birthday is coming.  It feels weird.  Thirty didn't bother me at all; it was fun, actually.  Thirty-one isn't bothering me, per se, but it does feel much, much older than 30 did.  I don't know why.

Later this week I will leave to pick up the kiddos in Albuquerque.  Then we'll head to Arkansas to see my family.  It's been way too long since we've seen them.  I have missed them so.  The kids are pumped.  It's always so much fun to see my kids playing with my siblings.  After a week or so there, we'll head back to Albuquerque where the kids will stay to spend the rest of their summer break.  On a side note, I'm looking forward to running at thousands of feet lower than my current elevation to see how much easier it is.  I only hope the humidity doesn't make it that much more difficult to breathe.  I will report on that next week.

On a blogging note, I have tons of stuff I want to write about but I'm afraid I won't remember it all.  I should start saving notes on my phone or something.