Thanks for viewing my Blog! It means a lot to me.
The boys, Brittany and I had a nice Thanksgiving. We celebrated over the weekend. I have to say spending the actual day of Thanksgiving by myself sucked, but...I guess this is how it's going to be.
Instead of cooking a turkey, we had some of the Latin dishes I've worked on in class. Chris helped me cook most of it because he was here before Jason and Brittany arrived. That was so nice cooking together!
I put up my tree last night. I know I have another box of stuff in the storage unit that I used last year. I guess I'll have to crawl through it to find it. Should be accessible - just hate going into that unit. Someday I'll have it in my house.
Here's a photo of the guys in my Latin class! We just had our dishes evaluated and now it's time to eat!
Today is Thursday, and it's a good day. I've had so many friends write, text, and e-mail me lately. I am truly blessed. I know that. We had to write 4 poems as part of our mid-term in English II. I decided it was a good time to purge. It felt so good.
Lots of positives this week. School is going really well. Mid-term grades came out - all A's. I made a Chayote salad and Empanadas this week in Latin Cuisine. We are studying South American cuisine. I'm understanding my Math I class. Now, remember, I've not been in high school for many, many years. It's funny - we'll be sitting in class and I'll suddenly remember studying it - actually - in grade school. This class went back to the very basics - adding and subtracting...we flew through that part of the book. It was a good reminder, though! LOL! Anyway, we have a test on Monday evening and I feel really ready. My Computers for Culinary class is - well - I thought it was going to be boring. I can't believe all the shortcuts and applications in Microsoft Office I did not know! I'm just used to doing something one way when there are actually four ways to do it - all quicker than the way I've always done it. I'm really enjoying it. We had an assignment to plate a dish. We had to list all the items in the dish in a table to practice doing tables in Word, then we had to either draw by hand with the "pencil" tool or use Word objects. Believe it or not, I used the pencil tool (I'm a TERRIBLE artist) and made asparagus, stuffed chicken breast, Potatoes Dauphine, and bread pudding - with raisins!
I started back to the gym FINALLY! The trainer I had when I first moved here has been so wonderful about keeping in touch with me and encouraging me to start back. So, I have a schedule worked out. It revolves around school - depending on my work schedule - I will still be able to work it out to be at the gym several times a week. I do feel so much better emotionally when I work out - I know that - it's just hard to get started. I want to try running again. Not pushing myself like I did last year and injurying myself. I want to just be ready to do some 5k races in the spring.
I'm going to start working in the kitchen at work - some real life experience! I'm so excited about that!!!
The other stuff - the negative stuff - it's always going to come up - I can't dwell on it. It just brings me down.
Here's some photos from this week in Latin. As you can see, all but one of the Empanadas is gone!
I can't believe that my last post was only October 10th...seems like a lifetime ago. The day I went to Kalamazoo to see my therapist was a hard day. That's the day I found out that Dan had remarried. I just felt my world crumble. This was right on the heels of my break-up with Ramzi. But then the next day, I felt a sort of relief. I can't explain it. It was like it is really over with Dan - he has certainly moved on. I need to, too.
Exactly one week later, I got a call from my brother telling me that my niece had committed suicide. I was in total disbelief. I still am. Throughout the next week, I was in a daze. I drove home for the viewing and the funeral. During the funeral mass, the pastor said something that has really stuck - and has helped me through this past couple of weeks. He said, it's not about you - it's not about Desa - it's about God and how he brought us all here together. Her death, though senseless - has to mean something. We need to take this opportunity to open our hearts to God. I've not been doing that. I've been trying to hold onto every hurt, every emotion, every pain, every fear. That day - that moment - I gave it up to God and said, I can't do this anymore. I've got to give it up to you - everything - I need your help. I can't do this anymore on my own. God spoke to me. I asked my Dad and my brother if they felt it, too. They did not. It was not their time.
I can't let her death be in vain. For me, I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior - again. So, I've made contact with a representative of Yellow Ribbon - a group addressing suicide prevention. I want to help, but I also want to heal.
School is going really well. I have more work this semester, but don't feel the stress like I did last semester. Mid-terms were this week and I'm carrying an A in all four classes. I am starting back to the gym. I've been taking time to breathe like my therapist suggested. I'm going to be working in the kitchen at work to get some back of the house experience, which I'm excited about. God has given me so many joys - I have to see them and recognize them and not just focus on the negatives. I have so many friends who care about me. I have so much. Life is full of good and bad. I have to take the bad, then let it go. I have to take the good and hold onto it.
