no more cookies

I've had another week of small milestones. I now feel like I can just focus on "normal" life.
This week I survived the girl scout cookie booth, hosting a baby shower, helping a friend with her babies, a crazy pump-it-up birthday party for a friend, and a birthday party at my house for one of the little foxes. I'm looking forward to this next week. I'm joining the YMCA and I'm going to start taking a little bit of time for myself. I still feel slightly guilty about this, but I'm sure that won't last long. I'm hoping that once I get my house "caught up" I can actually blog a bit more as well. :)

Catching up...

I'm not sure where the last week has gone. We made it through auditions and my Princess is a squirrel no longer! She is very pleased to call herself a "Wildflower Pixie" now. She gets to sing and dance and wear a costume that has bright colors on it. She's so excited!

This week has been busy but we started it off right. Monday was a holiday, so Sunday night, after church, we cranked up the satellite radio, plugged in the disco ball, and had a dance party in my living room. I love nights like that. :) Now, school is back in session and all but 2 of the 10 people in my home are students again. I'm taking Microbiology, Micro Lab, and Wellness for Life this semester. It should be a nice change from last semester.

I also started babysitting my friend's kids two days a week while she's in school. She was hoping to send them to JCCC daycare, but there were no vacancies. I think I've realized that 5 children is my number. I was thinking about the last week, and I almost always have at least 5 children in my home. (Even when 2 or 3 of the 5 that live there are at school.) Please don't misunderstand me, I have no desire to have anymore of my own. 5 is just a good number for my home I think. It's comfy.

Another highlight of my week will sound very silly to most- American Idol started this week. My whole family loves this show, and it's nice that we have something that we can all watch together. We have even more fun with it when the actual voting begins. I don't have a clear cut favorite yet, but I did love watching the little cowboy say that he'd never sang to anyone but a turkey before.

It's now 3 am and I can't think of a way to wrap this post up, so here you go...
I

My Goal.

2 1/2 years ago I decided that I wanted to go to nursing school. I was pregnant with Frogger and knew he'd be my last child. It was time. So I looked up the classes that I needed to take and I devised a plan. I broke down each semester and knew what I'd be taking each time. I enrolled in a summer class and got started. My list is finished. I applied to nursing school today. I won't know until February if I even get an interview. If I do I will find out in April if I get in. I have a back up list ready for the classes I'll take next Fall and Spring so that I can apply to more schools, just in case. But it feels strange that things are now completely out of my hands and now in God's hands. I like to be in control. When I made this plan, I assumed I wouldn't get in on the first try. (Very few students do in the program I applied to.) So I think I'm more nervous that I will actually make it.

Okay, well enough about that. Squirrel has auditions today. Time to move on....

Random memories of the past year

2005 was a good year for the Gerbil household! It started out great and ended well too. Here are some memories, happy and sad:

• We started and ended 2005 in Texas with Magrelo's family
• We began a family tradition called WagJerCo in January- and now it's one of the things I look forward to each month. (Good job Forrest!)
• I went on fun mini-vacations, instead of one exhausting long vacation. Texas for Memorial Day to see my new niece (she loved me!), St Louis in July with great friends, The Lake in August with a really fun group of friends.
• I attempted to go to SD for Labor Day, but I had the joy of getting a new furnace instead.
• I finished Chemistry, Anatomy and Physiology, took the ACT and got my CNA license. (and did quite well in all of them, I might add)
• I took care of Crazy's twins in the NICU when they were born.
• I picked up my daughter from Crown Center when she threw up all over her teacher on a field trip.
• We got a trampoline and Monkey has never been the same.
• I jumped in Antioch lake.
• I turned 29, my kids turned 7,4, and 2.
• Some friends finished the year without a loved one that they started the year with. I said goodbye to one friends child, another's mom, and another's dad.
• I spent another summer of fun at the pool, this time Chia joined me.
• I attempted to go to the movies with Frogger- not fun!
• I began blogging...
• I hung out with Bob almost every Wed, Thurs and Fri.
• A bunch of Foxes moved into my home.
• I played lots of PIT, and finished off with quite a bit of Texas Holdem (with some big foxes, of course.)
• I forgot to return a lot of phone calls.
• I watched Squirrel in her first dance recital and first play.
• I watched a great friend fall in love with a man that's perfect for her- finally!
• I enjoyed Christmas and tried to focus on the meaning behind it.
• I discovered even more things I love about Magrelo.
• I reconnected with old friends, and made new ones.

I have so many happy memories from 05, but I won't bore everyone with any more of them. I hope last year was great for all of you; and I hope 06 is even better.

Slow down, you move to fast....

I always think that "if only ____" I would have more time. Mainly, If only I wasn't in school. But right now the kids aren't in school and I'm not in school, and I still don't get everything done that I want to. Tonight Princess Squirrel, 3 foxy chics, and I scrapbooked. It's the first time I've ever actually sat down to do it. We had a lot of fun. I feel like I have to pack things in to these next few weeks. School starts in 13 days and I'm not ready. Yesterday I was crying at the thought of Princess being a kindergartener, and now we're halfway through 1st grade and the monkey starts Kind. in the fall. How did this happen? I'm already saying, in the summer we'll be able to.... But who am I fooling? In the summer we get nothing done but a whole lot of hanging out at the pool. Forget reading to the kids, SWIM little ones, SWIM!

I have lots of fun pictures and stories from the holidays, but of course, no time to blog them. I will try to catch up as soon as _________....