I just took my stat test. As always, I really have no idea how I did except that I felt like I knew what I was doing on all but one question. So fingers crossed hoping I did at least a B.
Now I can turn my full attention to that #$%^&*&$ interview paper. As soon as I finish procrastinating, that is. I am home alone for Thanksgiving, by choice. It is always sad to wave goodbye to my family as they drive off to Missouri. But once they are gone I kind of bask in the treasured alone time knowing that I can totally do what I have to or want to do for a few days. AND, that I'm not freezing my butt off. Unfortunately this year it is study for stat and write paper. Cleaning will have to wait for Christmas break.
Chewy and I are putting off the actual Thanksgiving celebration til Saturday because she has to work. It works out great for me because I can concentrate on school stuff and hopefully just about finish my paper before the fun stuff, which will make the fun stuff more fun!

I finally went out and ran today. I was only going to do a mile because I was certain asthma was going to be a problem. I started out pretty slow and easy and it felt good. I ended up going half again as far as planned. However, by the time I got inside I was wheezing pretty bad. I managed to get my lungs clear in about thirty minutes. I expected it, so I'm not that concerned. I think it will get better without any other intervention. I'm still laying off the Tings, trying to get down a lot of garlic and just alkalize like crazy.
I am really glad I ran though. It am pleased that I don't seem to have lost too much fitness.
On the school front, I have my last stats test before the final. Only one more chapter. I am hoping to get at least a B on this one. I'll be glad when it's over and I can just concentrate on getting that big paper done for psychology. After that the semester will be a coast downhill. I should be exempt from the Behavior Principles final, which rocks!

I'm finally getting over the bad cough I had. Unfortunately chest stuff generally hangs on because of my asthma. I haven't had problems with it though in some time which also makes it hard to deal with. I am blaming my overindulgence in Tings. Those suckers are all corn and while the bag SAYS they are good for you, I know they are not. SO! I am determined to avoid Tings for a long time and see if my asthma doesn't improve. Even before I got the bad cough I was getting wheezing when exercising which hadn't been happening. I should see a reduction in wheezing with exercise if the Tings are the problem, which I think they are.
Meanwhile, my mood is quite fowl after ten days of no exercise. I played a bit of ddr this afternoon with Reagan and it caused some minor coughing but not too bad. Of course, I really suck at ddr and only did four or five songs. At least it got me moving a little.
Now I'm trying to do my stat homework and I am distressed because for some reason I'm getting a different result on my calculator than we got in class and they get in the solutions manual. I really think I'm entering everything right. I should have stopped after class and asked what I was doing wrong but there was already a line to see the prof so I just left figuring I could figure it out on my own. Well, I can't! So I'm going to try You Tube and if that doesn't help I guess I'll have to go in to the math lab tomorrow. grrrr. We have a test on Wed so I need to get clear on this.

I have gained three pounds. I know how too. I've been binging on Tings, those yummy corn things from Pirate's Booty. Also, I've just been having too much fruit apparently. Amazing how quickly things fall apart just from a food most assume to be quite healthy and good for you. Yeast!!!
I've been making smoothies pretty much every day so I can get that hemp protein powder down. It's kind of gross just to mix it with water. This has been about a month now. Another problem is that I haven't done anything about my broken juicer so I haven't been able to make fresh green drink. This must be addressed.
I've noticed my mood going south a bit lately, and I'm itching a bit which is a huge telltale sign of yeast. So needless to say, things are changing today.
It just amazes me how people refuse to believe in the profound impact what we eat has on our bodies and our minds. I am considered a "health nut", and I still have these issues if I'm not careful. But the flip side of that is that I can feel so very vibrant when I do what I'm supposed to.
Today will be a better day.

The first part of this is redundant. But I do believe that brain chemistry dictates mood. We can do many things to affect our brain chemistry however. So in a sense, we can control our moods. I believe that certain aspects of our personality/temperament are inborn, but a GREAT deal of shaping takes place through the environment throughout our lives, which influences who we are at various stages in our lives.

I can't see you guys, but maybe you can see me. For some reason, when I try to bring up my friends page, all I get is this background green color. Same thing when I try to get my journal to show up. Every now and then it will come up normally, but that seems to be more and more rarely. Is anyone else having this problem?

I got back from the Monster Triathlon a couple hours ago. I am really looking forward to going back and reading my post from last year. This year rocked! I didn't get a really super night sleep, about 5+ hours, but I felt great. I ate an avocado and some grape tomatos and asparagus pieces on the way to the race. I didn't drink much water b/c I didn't want to have to pee all morning.
It was especially nice this year because the lady I've run with a couple times did it with her friend from Houston, so I had company to wait with before the swim.
I swam 100 yards to warm up because walking in to the natatorium and seeing the pool set to long course was really scary. I am so used to seeing it at 25 yards and was just there for Reagan's swim meet so I felt like I should get in there and boost my confidence. I felt great, but I didn't want to get too comfortable. Last year at this race I panicked, and had to do breaststroke for half the race. This year was amazing. I started the 0 to 1650 in six weeks program a couple weeks ago but have really only swum 3 workouts following the plan. I think it was helpful anyway. I also think the hemp protein powder is building my stamina. I did not anticipate this race being so easy. I never got tired in the swim. I actually passed about 6 people and had a burst of energy in the last lap to finish strong. The only place I lost time was on the turns because there were usually people clogged up waiting to go under the ropes. I had several people let me go on past them. That, is a miracle! lol
When I came out of the pool building I was surprised at how chilly it felt. The wind was blowing pretty hard. I decided to use the chamois and dry off good because I figured I would freeze on the bike if I didn't.
Since the Hermann Memorial Tri in Sugarland in June I haven't been on my road bike. I have been on short rides on my mountain bike but not nearly enough, so I was a little concerned about the bike leg. Because of the wind the hill on Davis was tough, but the hills on Bear Creek were really not. This was a very pleasant surprise b/c I have memories of about dying on those hills. Today I actually had energy to kick it at the top so I got over 30 mph on the downhills. Not so very fast but definitely good for me.
Reagan volunteered to help with the race and so I got to wave at her when I passed her on the corner of Davis and 1709. She dressed up like a black cat and looked adorable.
My transition two time should be pretty good. The only negative, as I pulled my left bike shoe off it stuck and my calf cramped. Throughout the run I could feel it tighten up from time to time.
I feel pretty good about my run. My legs felt stiff coming off the bike, but I'm hoping that means I worked harder than usual. After the first half mile I was feeling pretty good, and was able to keep a decent pace. I didn't have nearly the aches and pains that I did last year. AND I was ahead of my old man buddy who I usually run into at these things. Normally, though, he runs with me for a while and then I let him go on ahead. But this time, I passed him on the way home and he was still going out. He never caught up with me.
I passed people on the swim, the bike, and the run. I got passed a lot as well, but it's nice when you get to do some passing too.
I had energy at the end of the run to pour it on at the finish. Told myself at that point that this is the time to push it so I don't look at my time and think, "dang if I'd just pushed a little harder"
I don't know my time or any of my splits due to DA's pitiful timing as usual. I am hoping to see posted soon. I will be disappointed if my swim time isn't faster, but I am so happy with this race I don't think anything can make me feel bad about it. Sadly, it's the last tri of the season. Of course now I'm looking forward to the St Patricks day race which I swore I would never do again!

I went to the gym tonight because I have the Monster triathlon on Sunday and I haven't been swimming enough. I was just going to swim but then decided to do twenty minutes on the bike. I am so pleased that I was able to do twenty minutes on level seven on the random hill program. I hardly ever get on the bikes except for the spin bikes, and the last time I did that workout was over a year ago and I couldn't make it through the whole thing on level six. In fact, I seem to recall getting like heart palpitations or some weird crap from the exertion. Tonite I was like, hmmm, where are the hills? Oh a hill, la de da. lol
Afterward, I swam 1250. I started the 0 to 1650 in six weeks program, which is supposed to get me to swimming a mile in six weeks. I like it because the rest intervals are based on breaths so I don't have to worry about watching the clock that is behind me at the gym.
So I did 200 yds straight, then 4 100s with 12 breaths in between, then 4 50s with 8 breaths, 4 25s with 4 breaths. That was the workout for the mile thing. But I also did 3 100 IMs and then a cooldown fifty. The best thing was how good I felt. I think the hard running yesterday was good for me. And I'm convinced the hemp protein is making me stronger.

I think I may have done well on my stats quiz.
I am getting a little freaked out over my psychology project. Maybe I'm making too much out of it. I have to interview someone who works with kids and then tie their responses into a major theme in our textbook. Sounds simple until I start trying to come up with questions to ask.

Once again I'm attempting to actually journal about my day to day life. I used to do this when I was young, (ahem...youngER) I really enjoyed it, and I like being able to look back on those journals and say, "Oh I remember that. Boy I was a REAL dork" etc. These days, most of the time, I just think that life is somewhat mundane and not worth taking the time to journal. So I guess, what I'm saying is, this previously nonexistant journal is about to burst into glorious existence, but will be somewhat boring.
Sorry, it appears I've forgotten how to do the lj cut. Chewy! help!
Let's see. Last night, J's mom texted me to see if I could stay longer today so she could get her hair done. I told her sure. I was looking forward to getting paid today since it's been three weeks. Last time she overpaid me by a week. Then when I got there she told me she had to pay me next week. Nice. Of course, I just said, That's ok. This is the second time in six weeks? that they've done this. But out of those six weeks only two were pay weeks so that's twice out of three paydays. Sheesh.
I am pretty much used to being broke though. What's another week without money.
So, I spent three hours with J. He is a sweet kid, very social but very apraxic. My theory is that he is not really so much disabled by his disability as he is by his parenting. He defines "learned helplessness". However, mom told me today that he took off his shoes and socks and put his socks back on by himself. (Big goal from day one has been to get him doing this independently. He's eleven, I think it's a reasonable goal) Also he answered questions I asked him today, twice with a "Yes" response. This is also something we've been working on.
The other biggie is that I seem to actually be getting somewhere in reducing his prompt dependency. It's finally clicking with him that he will get the good stuff when he tries, not when he gives me silly crap. Today he copied "Taco Bueno" with just a few prompts and corrections. Our big goal is to get him reading and writing so he can have a reliable form of communication. He is so apraxic that it's impossible for him to use more than a couple words per sentence and most of the time it's impossible to decipher what he's saying.
I am really enjoying this kid so far. Even though I think a lot more work could be done when I'm not there, mom seems committed to helping him and I think she is working with him at least a little bit each day. I've learned over the years to expect nothing so that even a little involvement makes me happy.
In other news, Reagan is sleeping already as she is getting up at midnight to go out and help initiate the new swim team members. There is crap going on in the team with people getting left on the periphery socially (and I wonder who that might be?). It's not just her though. There are other kids who also had no idea there was a homecoming float making party tonite. Pisses me off, but what else is new. Dick is going to appeal to the coach to meet with the so called Team Captains and inspire them to do a better job of bringing the team together as a real "team".
And finally, I got 8/8 points on my last psych. paper. This made me exceptionally happy and reconfirmed my belief that I can be a successful college student. The first paper was not well received and while I feel that the grading was a bit unreasonable, in my heart of hearts I knew the paper was kind of sucky.

I am about at my wits end with the tedium of statistics homework, so I decided to make it more fun by figuring out my own practical application. I wanted to find the probability that in a random sample of seven days in one year, that I would have done housework on 1 or more of those days. I figured that I probably do serious housework,(more than just mopping the floor, or vacuuming a random room, or doing the dishes) no more than 15 days out of the year. That makes the probability that I will do housework on any given day .04. So it turns out that there is a 75% probability that I will not have done housework on any of the 7 days sampled. There is a 22% probability that I will have done housework on one of the days. The probability that I will have done housework on 2 of the days is 2%, and the probability that I did housework on 4 or more of the days is effectively ZERO!!!!!!! hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Sadly this is closer to the truth than I'd like it to be, and at the least, eye opening. I figured that I do serious housework scarcely more than once a month, but occasionally more than once - hence the 15 days per year.

I should post more often. I have really gotten bad about it. Today is Labor Day and I have done NOTHING productive, unless you count throwing stuff into the crock pot for supper. Actually I probably won't eat it since it's pot roast. ( Read more... )

I am really feeling out of sync so far this semester. It has only been one week and just one day of classes at UNT but I have several things going on that are creating an underlying anxiety that has me a bit discombobulated.
I have pretty much committed to working four hours a week with an eleven year old autistic boy who lives nearby. I did this mainly because I am so darn tired of being broke and having to ask Dick for money whenever I need something. ( I mean come on, he should just GIVE me money!)
Seriously though, I like having an income, even if it's meager. However, I always forget how completely time/mind consuming these jobs are, because I never get to work on programs as a simple worker bee. I always get the kids who need someone to develop and supervise the programs. I should really work out a pay scale that involves the extra work I have to do in order to run successful sessions, but due to my lack of executive function, I FORGET about it until the next job. So now I have that to deal with and that is contributing a GREAT deal to my underlying anxiety.
Also, this is my first semester at UNT. I have fears of not being able to maintain my gpa at a school which will be demanding more of me than was demanded at TCC. So far, this fear seems a bit unfounded, since I've now seen the syllabus for both my classes and with the exception of lots of reading and a bunch of short papers the workload does not seem terribly burdensome.
One big difference this semester is attending classes at two different campuses, since I am taking statistics at TCC, not only TCC but the NE campus instead of my beloved NW. I like that I can find a parking place at NE and that their math lab has lots and lots of computers and more tutors, but I don't like that I can't see the beautiful lake (NRH20 instead)and the tutors don't seem to be as helpful and charming as the ones I've grown to love at NW.
And let's just talk about Statistics itself, as a subject. I don't think I like it so far. It has taken me a LONG time to do my homework this week just because each step is so crazily tedious and NECESSARY and each problem has multiple steps that involve drawing graphs and pie charts, (which would be fun if there weren't so many problems)
I guess once I have my first quiz on Mon I'll have more of an idea how the course is going to go. I am trying to be positive and avoid giving in to the urge to say "Ugh, I see what everyone means about Statistics sucking".

I wasn't going to swim today, but then I sat down here at the computer and just felt guilty. I really wasn't too tired or anything, just had decided not to go. So I got up and went to the pool. I ended up swimming 1650 including FIVE 100 IMs. That is a record for me. I am really enjoying the variety that being able to do all the strokes allows me. I have to say, though, my arms felt it by the time I finished.
I had a pretty busy day today. After I swam I went to see a mom about working with her son a few hours a week, (good as I have been very broke), then went to school, came home and had a salad, picked up Reagan and took her to the pool for swim team placement tryouts then to UNT for her neurotherapy, met Dick at Jason's for supper, then came home and ran. Now I am ready to crawl in my bed and it's only ten o'clock!
I'm going to crawl in there with my Behavior Principles book and see how long my eyes stay open.

I thought my classes at UNT started today, but I was WRONG! I discovered this after getting up at seven to go swimming before I took Reagan to school so that I would have time to come home, shower, get ready to go and eat a salad before I left an hour early, since I hadn't figured out how long it will take me to get parked and to my class. I haven't bought a parking pass yet and am waiting to see if it is really necessary. Apparently parking is a big pain in the butt at UNT even if one possesses a parking pass. I don't really want to pay for one if there aren't going to be any spaces anyway.
So I did all that and managed to get to my class fifteen minutes early only to discover that classes don't actually start until Thursday. A nice man told me that.
My only question is, if classes haven't started yet who are all the people that were taking up all the parking places???? Don't even tell me it's going to be worse on Thursday!
I was rather disappointed actually because I'm looking forward to these classes. So far, I have only had statistics, which is not really terribly exciting.
Reagan's school situation has been fraught with it's own drama and disappointment. Because KISD has dropped an entire class period from the daily schedule due to financial issues, Reagan is not able to swap Spanish for AVID which means she can not participate in Varsity Show Choir, aka Rhapsody. This was quite frustrating because she has already had to drop swimming in order to make room for AVID. I think she will be able to participate in swimming anyway but won't receive credit for it, which is fine. And if they have the JV show choir she should be able to do that, but they aren't sure if they will because they've had to replace so many kids from Varsity because of the credit issue. Sheesh.

I have been working really hard on butterfly lately. Today I accomplished two goals - swimming a fifty fly (without passing out) and swimming 100 IM. The IM was not that difficult aside from backstroke outdoors with no flags. I kept running into the lane rope and fearing for my head. I am really proud of how much my fly has improved. I have graduated from resembling a little kid who is just learning to an old lady who just needs to get a bit stronger. I am enjoying the variation working on all the strokes provides. Freestyle gets pretty boring.

I ran tonite for the first time in a while. I went to the track with a lady who lives in our subdivision. She is very nice, easy to talk too and I really enjoyed the interaction. We alternated running and walking laps which was fine with me b/c I haven't been running and my butt and legs hurt. Tomorrow we are meeting at the pool to swim. She is planning to do the Monster Triathlon which means I will finally have a friend to go with. I have been trying to get involved with some group workouts but I am anxious about being too slow and old. LOL. So I am glad that I met her. Now to get my behind in bed b/c we are swimming at 7:15.

My life sprawls before me like an endless sea of no algebra to do. It's a bit sad.
But it will only be a short time till I am crazily overwhelmed again.
I passed my class with not only an A but a gigantic A. I am surprised on the one hand, and then on the other hand, how sad would it be if I devoted the past six weeks to virtually nothing except this class and DIDN'T get an A?
I will be taking my first behavior analysis class this semester, along with developmental psychology and statistics. School rocks.

I have one more week of algebra. It has become rather anti-climatic though because my teacher is SO easy that even though I truly have worked my behind off, I am making an A due to her desire to have us all do well. A part of me appreciates this, and part of me would rather have a B that I feel more like I earned. Ok, well- I certainly deserve an A for Affort. But still.

I have been swimming quite a bit and my flip turns, I'm happy to report, are actually improving. I cut little pieces off of a noodle to hold behind me to keep my arms up where they are supposed to be. With them, I can do awesome turns. Without them I am learning to flip faster and stay tucked so I don't go straight to the bottom! When I use my arms to help me flip I do a decent turn, but not proper. I figure if I don't keep practicing the right way I will be doomed to an eternity of mediocre flip turns, and I just can't live with that.

I have my fall schedule pretty much worked out, however I'm hoping to be able to swap classes at UNT so I would be taking abnormal child psychology instead of just abnormal psychology. I think abnormal children are more interesting than abnormal adults, plus my class last semester amounted to abnormal psych, even though it counts as a different class.

We are taking a short trip to Missouri after I take my exam, and then when we get back school will start again in just a few days, leaving me very little time to muck out the house. Dick actually got a card from the neighbors for a cleaning service. I guess he is getting tired of living in filth. lol

Still sugar free and feeling pretty good. I can't believe it's been seven months. I think the holidays will be hard. But at least I will be able to cling to the knowledge that on Jan first I can get a molten chocolate cake, which will probably make me barf, but I don't care.!

I am officially a UNT student as of today. I am only taking two classes there this fall because I still have stuff I can take at TCC and I need to save MONEY.
I am excited though. I went to orientation today and so got to see more of the campus.
A lot of the psychology courses I wanted to take were already full so I am taking abnormal psych which should be fairly easy b/c the class I took at TCC in the spring was actually abnormal psyche. However, that class will still count for credit at UNT so I will have nine psychology credits. I am also taking Behavior Principles 1.
At TCC I will have statistics and possibly an art class. I need another one for some reason.

On another note I have two more weeks of algebra. So far so good. It is very stressful but I'm doing great. She is making the last test before the final a take home test, so I ought to be able to get an A.

Have not been working out as much as I'd like, although I have been riding my mountain bike some. I love that bike and I haven't ridden it in a couple years. It feels so free when I ride it b/c I don't wear my helmet and there are no clipless pedals or cages. It is a good workout too, due to the heaviness and the fat tires.
Been running a little and swimming the most. I am still working on the flip turns, I am trying to do the flip without using my arms but it's really hard for me.

Anyway, I have a lot more to say but I have to go to bed!!!!