Thank you for the Well Wishes and Congrats!

Many people have written and offered me words of congratulations for my recent graduation from the Masters in Public Administration program (I AMMM THE MAAHSSTAAHRRR!!!). I've really been touched by all the sweet words and the enthusiasm shared so freely, so generously! Particularly special is the card shown below, sent and signed by the family of dear Wendy ~ the angel boy-O's mommie's fam...

How coool is that?!?

Thank you Leslie & Don! Dannie & Cliff! Kelly & Debbie (sp?)! Steve & Brenda! And there's one mystery signature I can't recognize...(I think it's Christopher, but I'm not sure) Thank you too!
You guys are dah BEST!!!

AND THANK YOU ALL SOOO MUCH!!!

My 300th Post

Get ready for a long, rambling post, written off n' on throughout the length of the day...

WRITTEN AROUND 9AM: How kinda funny/odd is this? Over the weekend, I graduated with my Masters in Public Administration [Hear me now in a very loud, very deeep booming voice: I AM THE MAHHSSSTAAAHRRR!], and the post in which I'm gunna write about it, happens to be my 300th post! Why is this funny? why mention it at all? Well, the Blogger 'Dashboard' will only "show" up to 300 posts... Can anyone tell me what happens with Blogger when you hit #300? Is that all I get? I'm done with my masters degree, so I'll have to go blog elsewhere now? Okay - so it's not funny at all.

SPLIT BETWEEN 10AM & 10PM: Anyhow... Soooo much I could write about right now, and not much immediate time for writing right now either... YES! I graduated = Stick a fork in me, cuz I am done! The entire weekend was jam packed with nonstop "going from here to here, to there from here and here and back again" activities. Many smiles were had. Many hugs and kisses exchanged. Lots of laughter shared. Loads of gooood food devoured. Lots of limping around was done ~ I was lovingly called "Gimpy Girl" all weekend long. Any talk over the weekend as to when I'll pursue my doctorate degree in PUA was promptly shut down. I'm way too pooped to think about THAT issue right now. In fact, right now I'm utterly exhausted. I feel like I've been run over with one of those big industrial machines that rolls itself over blacktop, with the huge roller thingy to smooth it all down. I've been packing for over 3 hours tonight, and ahhhh, there's A LOT more to pack by Friday!!! Plus, I gotta sell various major furniture items ASAP!!! I'm moving out of my apartment, stashing my stuff in storage for who knows how long, moving into my aunt's home, going to Utah and Idaho over Memorial Day to see my mum's fam and to visit my mum's grave, for what may be my last trip for several months to come... OH and ya know, somehow I gotta search for and find a job in an insanely competitive L.A. job market, and do so from Vegas. I'm tired.
But how 'bout some good stuff? There's always some good stuff...

WRITTEN @ 6PM: This is the first Monday night in two years for which I don't have a class I must go to!!!

WRITTEN @ 11AM-ish: My immediate family from Iowa met my honey-man's angel boy-O for the first time and the kiddo scored a PS2 from my parents!?! Initially, my honey-man told them, only 1/2 joking (which they may not have realized), that they were both going straight down to Hades for it. However, by the next morning, he and the angel boy-O, were both hungrily looking over the contents of the PS2's packaging, combing over the manuals, muttering many breathy, awestruck "cool"s and "awesome"s, etc.

WRITTEN AROUND 2PM: The boy-O managed to effortlessly charm the socks off the entire crew: #1 He's just absolutely freakin' cute!!! #2 Did I tell ya he's freakin' CUTE!?!!! #3 The angel boy-O said his 'please's and 'thank you's like an absolute pro and was quite the considerate little boy all weekend... with the exception of one incident, comical in retrospect, but not at the time... Late last Friday night, waiting for his Dad to unlock my door, he pulled the fire alarm at my apartment complex. A grand story in itself, of which I won't go into now, poor kid. But I'll share this: I told him that although it was a mistake (of sorts) on his part, what he had done was wrong and that he should feel bad about it, but regardless, "You're still lovable." And oh my! The increase of strength in his grip around my neck and the sobbing that poured out of him?!? when I assured him we weren't going to sell him on the black market? HE IS THE CUTEST!

WRITTEN AFTER 4PM: The very first night, with him sitting on the floor near my step-mum's feet, and all of us waiting on my father so we could leave to dinner, the angel boy-O told my step-mum -with complete and utter sincerity, in the sweetest, lightest tone imaginable- that he liked her sandals. During their first dinner together, several of us quietly witnessed the angel boy-O giving slow-winks to a table of giggling ladies nearby, who were all happy to wink right back at him. He also impressed my parents when he spoke up so politely and so very confidently to ask the waiter, "Can I have some children's chopsticks, please." At some point, when my brother was leaving to use the bathroom, the boy-O wanted to go with him, "please"... as my brother slowly pulled the patio door open to go inside, the angel boy-O was doing his best to also pull the door open... Looking up at my brother who was still standing beside him in the doorway, he very proudly said "It's okay, I'm holding the door for you," unable to see that far, far above his little figure, my 6 ft. 6" tall brother had a large hand on the door's top outer corner, keeping the door propped open. There's also the boy-O's insistence that we all call my brother "Mr. Pete." And yesterday morning before brunch, when my uncle knocked on my parents' hotel room door, the angel boy-O was told in chorus to "Go ahead and answer it." Some of us peeked around the corner to watch him handle the enormous, heavy door... With great effort, once open, he greeted my uncle in a most adorable, bright and sunshiny voice: "Why Hello, Loren!" COULD HE BE ANY CUTER?!? Put a lil' whip cream on him and he'd be better than a dark chocolate drizzled cream puff!

All weekend long, the angel boy-O willingly and most freely hugged everyone. He engaged in multiple one-on-one conversations with everyone and at some point or another, he held everyone's hand. Particularly cute was the first time he wanted to hold my brother's hand, as we were all walking down a corridor in Caesars Palace. He kept grabbing for it and missing my brother's hand, and my brother was oblivious to the concentrated effort. The angel boy-O looked back at us, to me and my honey-man, to show his frustration with a funny lil' pouty facial expression... "You want to hold his hand? Just ask him." And then... *tap - tap * tap - tap* to the side of the small of my brother's back, while trying at the same time not to step or trip on my brother's heels... And then, watching my ridiculously tall lil' brother stop to turn around with a smile, to look down into the angel boy-O's earnest lil' face... "Can I hold your hand?" And then!?! to walk behind them, seeing his lil' arm stretched up to hold my brother's enormous hand? Ahh, my heart.

WRITTEN AFTER 4:20PM: And something else that was ga-ga-ga-guhoood... Sunday morning, after a long graduation-filled Saturday, my honey-man and the angel boy-O presented their graduation gift to me. Still in our jammies, my honey-man brought my present in from his car and it was an enormous gift-wrapped box (NOTE: "Enormous" must be my new favorite word.) and immediately, I announced aloud, almost scared (more like terrified), "That is NOT a rice cooker." I couldn't think for the life of me what it could be, as it sunk heavily into the bed's top when set upon it. The angel boy-O was ecstatic - dying for me to rip it open RIGHT NOW, dying to help me do it. By the way, he contributed some of his own money for the purchase of my gift and didn't want me to forget that point... I couldn't have been more slow moving. I hadn't even opened it yet, and I was absolutely stunned! After a couple rips to the wrapping here and there, "NINA" written in red lettering, in a font I know very well, was revealed and I think I died. I was stunned the rest of the day. My honey-man kept asking me if it was in a good way, unsure about my dazed and speechless state. I'd get this dreamy look on my face throughout the day...while standing in line, waiting for my bananas foster... when driving... in the middle of a conversation... "I have a Bernina. It's mine. My honey-man gave me a Bernina. A BERNINA! I have a Bernina sewing machine - a BERNINA!" I'm still stunned.

After I had first opened my present and once we had it out of its box, no sooner did we all need to get ready and going to meet my family for Sunday brunch at Caesars. For a moment though, amidst our efforts to get ready to go, at one point it had seemed to my honey-man that I had disappeared... he came looking for me, to discover I had my Bernina manual with me, um, as my chosen reading material for a visit to the bathroom. He couldn't have been more thrilled by this. For now, the only bad thing about my Bernina is I won't have a chance to use it for a while, moving out of my apartment this week.

WRITTEN AT 10PM-ish: Sooo in contrast to the beloved Bernina, the lovable angel boy-O, and THE MASSSTAAHHRRs degree, let me return to my complainer-mode (this is your chance to quit reading!): My honey-man's previous work in Vegas, which enabled us to build a relationship, has come to an end, no longer requiring that he come here each week. For me, although he'll be here to help me move and we'll be in Idaho with the angel boy-O the following week, also meeting up in L.A. the weekend thereafter for Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion" at the Hollywood Bowl, it's gunna suck not seeing him each week... Just temporary, I know - I know, but it makes this transitional phase sucky, nonetheless. But again, I recognize this is a time of major transition for not only me, but my honey-man. In Vegas, he has LOVED the chance to do what he loves to do, and this past semester may very well be his very last to ever enjoy such license and freedom and support to do what he so loves to do and get paid for it! For him, this makes me very sad, but to make certain things happen now and to set things up for 'tomorrow' and 'someday' requires sacrifice. I wish my honey-man could do in L.A. what he's been able to do here, but in his own words, "It won't happen."

To make my honey-man's absence from Vegas far worse and matters particularly miserable for me from here on out, at least until I'm in L.A., yesterday I lost my kitty boys to my L.A. boys... My Otis & Owen now live in L.A. and last night was my first night without them = Getting ready for work this morning, without any furry meowing bodies to trip over, I nearly burst into tears! Mmmkay - that's a lie. I did cry. I miss them horribly, okay? Anyone who's seen my with my kitty boys knows that I absolutely adore them and the two of them bring me joy on a daily basis! My father has often mused over my neverending enthusiasm for my cats, wondering what I'll be like with a child of my own. It's always been hard enough, not being with my L.A. boys, but my furry boys had always compensated for the lack a little... Now I'm without them all. [IMAGINE BOTTOM LIP PROTRUDING OUTWARD IN A MAJOR POUTY POUT] And YES, I am whining and I know it. Yes, I'll get over it (maybe) and this is just temporary, and it's better not have my babies around for the packing and moving frenzy underway, but I really miss my furry babies and it's only the 2nd night. Off I go to bed, without my boys... *sniff, sniff*

P.S. I know we'll be fine. CORRECTION: We are just fine, in relative terms, but fine, nonetheless.
Over the weekend, during another moment of complete insecurity, ladden with uncertainty, my honey-man said something along the lines of the following: Along a scale (if one were to exist), there's a beautiful life at one end, and at the other, there's a life of utter hell. Most people in this world, unfortunately, live their lives closer to the "hell" end, and we're very fortunate to be closer to the other opposite end; the "beautiful life" end, and not just in the middle between hell and beautiful. We're truly fortunate.

WOOooOoOO-HOO!

I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED!
(Jumping up and down on my one good foot!)

Quotes taken from those in attendance at my defense:

From the Committee Chair of my paper: "Excellent."
From the Chair of the Dept: "It's fascinating material... well done."
From the Director of the MPA Program: "You were marvelous."

I PASSED MY DEFENSE (SCREAMING FOR ALL TO HEAR) !!!

* ENORMOUS SUPER LONG-WINDED SIGH OF RELIEF *

I only need to add a couple "statements of limitation" in a couple sections and it's ALL done - won't have to represent or recirculate the minor additions... just make 'em and I'm done. Will take 15 minutes!

(and I'm gunna pass out now, I'm so elated!)

Online Unwind

Soooo - my paper - it's 'done' technically and it's been handed over for faculty review. It's crap, but it's done - for now. My defense will be next week. Most likely, I'll pass with contingencies and I'll graduate on May 13th. woo-hoo.
Please pardon my present lack of enthusiasm... Let me explain myself.

Tonight, I came home from work around 6:15-ish and almost immediately, I crutched over to the couch (yes, STILL using crutches) to turn on my laptop for some much wanted, much needed online unwind time. While my compooter powered on, I talked on the phone with a friend, catching up since my disappearance months ago from nearly all social contact. Once my compooter was up and running, I was happy to see each "wireless internet strength indicator bar" was bright limey green = excellent internet connection ready to go-go! ~ I click on my lil' Firefox QuickLaunch icon annnd - and? - and nuthin' - - I click again - double click - click - click, click - - and still zippo. I restart my compooter. Same thing again. So I give up momentarily to attend to my growling stomach, crawling on my hands and knees into the kitchen, and I finish my call, 20 minutes later. At that time, I call my honey-man, who asks what I've got planned for my evening - - "eat dinner, surf the web, veg a bit and go to bed," BUT my internet isn't working. He tells me to unplug both my modem and router, let them sit a couple minutes, power the modem back on, wait 5 minutes and then plug in the router... been there, done that - sounds easy enough. Will do.

I unplugged them both and quickly finished my dinner before returning to my bedroom to power the modem back on. With the modem back up and running, not wanting to crawl or crutch off to anywhere else, I then plopped on my bed with my boys to wait five minutes before turning the router on. I laid on my stomach with a fuzzy soft kitty neck within reach of each hand... Nearly two hours later - phone ringing - I woke up!

So why am I less than ecstatically enthused about my upcoming graduation? I. AM. TOO. EXHAUSTED. So for now, I'm off to bed - and tomorrow? Well, tomorrow, I'll - I'll - - Zzzzzzzz...

The Final Countdown

My dear fellow bloggers, friends and fam ~ The final countdown has begun. I have until April 14th to complete and distribute hard copies of my "thesis" to my program's faculty, and I must then defend it before April 28th - and then? Then I need to kick my job search into high gear, while I finish a final for my last class ANNNNND then I'm gunna graduate on May 13th!!! (woo-hoo!) - and then? Then I have to move out of my apartment by the 20th of May and put all my crap in storage... Wait a secky...

Do you hear that?

Do you hear all that - - all of that screaming?

It's me! I'm about to loose my mind under all the pressure to finish my paper on time! And ya know, like everything else... that's all. Yup, I'm a bit overwhelmed (GARGANTUAN, MOST HUMONGOUS UNDERSTATEMENT).

Last week I had a fitting for a nighttime mouth guard, which I will now wear every night I go to bed to prevent "stress fractures" in my teeth from the habitual grinding and clenching of my lower jaw at night. NOTE: I've been clenching my jaw and grinding my teeth off and on for years now, since high school. My father has told me that he could sometimes hear me from down the hall, my grinding was so loud! For a few years, post-divorce, I'd been jaw-clenching free, but since my return to school for grad study in the MPA program, I've been back at it. Usually it comes and goes in relation to the level of stress I may be experiencing... The past year n' a half though has been stressful, apparently. Anyhow, the mouth guard will be good - oh, and it's way sexy, I tell ya!

*sigh*

But really, I'm okay; I'll be okay... I had a migrane this past Sunday for nearly 3 hours, but I am okay - REPEAT TO SELF: I. know. I. will. be. okay. This will allllll be over soon... [Inside my head: " TOO SOON! OH MY GOODNESS, IT'S GOING WAY TOO FAST - NOT ENOUGH TIME FOR IT ALL!!!! - OH MY GOSH - OH MY GOSH - OMG!!! " and she begins to hyperventalate...]

Must breathe.
Inhale..... Exhaaaale.... - 1 banana, 2 banana, 3 banana, 4...

Naah, I'm okay - I'm just kidding (kinda). As one could expect, my presence in the Bloggosphere will be purty non-existent for the next 2-3 weeks. Wish me luck! and loads of it!

Crunched fer Time

Mmmkay - I sooo so so wanna post stuff about Montreal - I'm still running high off that trip! Man, it WAS SO GRRRREAT, if I haven't mentioned that already... but I have a gazillion "just-before-school-starts" things to do. BUHT! I do intend to post - best intentions to post, I have.

'Til then, have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Stuff Portrait Friday! ~ Meet my Compooter Desk

Gotta show this first...

The only reason why this looks soooo very clean (referring to the total lack of paperclutter) is that beyond internet-like capability? this PC is a BIG piece O' shhEE-ite!!! I've been using my honey-man's old, total-eye-candy iBook - turquoise - for all my word processing/school work needs.

And THANK YOU AGAIN for that babe!

M.P.A. aka Voluntary Mind Torture

Here's the deal: I'm a grad student in a Public Adminstration Masters program, working full-time at my regular dayjob and going to school full-time in the evenings to earn my M.P.A. (Masters in Public Administration).
What does this mean? - 1. I'm a glutton for punishment; 2. I have a lot of stuff to do (mild understatement); 3. I voluntarily subject myself to hours of painfully boring and excruciating class instruction each week. #2 and #3 are both supportive statements of #1.

What does one do with an MPA? - ya work for a public sector entity = state and/or federal govt. orgs and depts, country and city entities, non-profit agencies...Presently, I work for the state and lemme' tell ya, what they say about govt. jobs is true:

The Good: Job Security & Bennies galore!
Flexibility to handle personal emergencies w/o risking your job
Practically guaranteed job security (ya gotta REALLY suck to get fired!)
3 wks annual leave/year - that's 120 hours of time off per year!?! hell yeah!
3 wks sick-leave/year
11 paid holidays!!! - this alone is fabulous!
Discounts for public ticketed events
Tuition remission for up to 12 credits/year
Health and dental insurance offered at low cost
Almost guaranteed merit increases
Cost of living increases given every 2-3 yrs
Generally stable retirement program

The Bad: Bureacracy! Bureacracy! and more Bureacracy!
LOW productivity!!! Takes so damn long to get things done! and the right way!
Almost impossible to get rid of lousy employees
High rate of absenteeism
Merit increases expected and given to those who DO NOT DESERVE them
Good employees are grossly underpaid compared to private sector pay rates
Not a high yield retirement program (if ya ask me, it's better than nuthin'!)

Why do I wanna work in the public sector at all? 1. I'm good at managing govt. money and organizing policy, resources and people, as my personnel mgmt. skills are improve. 2. I am NOT a career girl and have never wanted to be one - I simply want a secure job that grants me the flexibility and freedom to enjoy what I really love; time w/ my family and friends. 3. As I hope to have a family, govt. jobs of the kind I'd pursue are typically known to be kind to mothers.
I had originally landed the job I now have, hoping it would facilitate my caring for a family...but I had no family of my own at the time. So, I finally got my butt into grad school, so that once that time does come, I'll be even more so prepared to help support and provide for my family.

So (a recap), what will an MPA mean for me? - it'll gimme' gimme' mo money! SHOW ME THE MONEY!

Count the P-Funk!

As of last night @ 8:30pm, my spring semester finals came to a glorious end! and then I was off, like a red hot flash (in a white Toyota Echo) to Mandalay Bay to the House of Blues to see George Clinton and the pa-pa-pa-P-Funk!!

I think it's fair to say I had NO IDEA what was in store for me despite any previous exposure I may have experienced, but before I get into that lemme' tell ya - I love the House of Blues!?! Not too big, not too small - has a certain feel of intimacy. It's perfect. Never there have I sat on my keister at any point, not ever! cuz I'm always way too busy DANCIN'!!! (more exclamations points) !!! I absolutely love they're hardwood floors - not that their gorgeous or anything like that. They're quite ugly, really - BUUHHT - no floor takes a good foot stomping quite like hardwood! There's also a totally righteous (yes, I said RIGHTEOUS!) stage curtain made like a patchwork quilt...rich velvets, brocade, and velour. The visual displays for one's eye to behold; you're surrounded by artwork! oh! and the chandelier looks like a big fat HUMUNGOUS GLOWING JELLY FISH!!! ~way totally trippy to stand just below it and stare up into it's center (and no, I wasn't 'on' anything at the time). You can see a pic if ya check out the LV HOB "Slideshow Tour" on their website! do it!

So, gettin' down to the P-Funk here, finally. um, how does one say this? They were fabulous? - yes, FAH-BOO-LUS! They played for over 3 hours...and yes, that's not one, not two, but THREE HOURS! over 3 HOURS of pure funk!?!??!! one jam went on for 20 minutes alone!?! I think if they'd had it their way, they would have played for another hour.

What's it take to have yourself a Funkadelic Parliment?
juhsst how many P-Funk players are there? - well, I can tell ya cuz I was the big NERD that stopped moving just long enough to perform a solid body count: 4 keyboardists, 4 percussionists, 3 bass players, 4 guitarists, 5 female vocalists, and at least 6 male vocalists at any one time (and those 6 did nothing but sing - no other double duty purpose involved) and sometimes there were up to NINE male vocalists on the stage!
There were also 4 grand-children involved and numerous significant others wandering on and off the stage throughout the show...which was over 3 hours long!

At one point there were 25 people jammin' away on the stage! and all that energy in that room? it was awesome! And so another semester has come to an end and a spectacular one at that! And soon I'll be back in school for the summer term just NEXT WEEK! *sigh*

In the Midst of Finals - (holding back tears)

For the next few days I will be totally buried in textbooks, papers, and soggy tissues - I must devote all my 'freetime' (and sleeping time) to finals.

Wish me luck - I won't be done until the 11th...and that night, I'll reward myself by going to see George Clinton at the House of Blues (and I got the tickets fer free!) ~ woo-hoo!

THIS BITES THE BIG ONE!!!

I'm in class right now, not only on a SATURDAY, but over a THREE-DAY WEEKEND?!?
I've known for weeks that I'd have to be here in class (no choice - our midterm was scheduled for today, of alllll the days we have class scheduled) and I AM PISSED (still).