I’m not ready for school to start again. I need to qualify that. I’m ready for school, but I’m not ready for how it’s going to affect my schedule, especially my work schedule.

Currently, I work full-time and go to school part-time. Because of this, I have to fit my school schedule into my work schedule. As I’m getting closer to graduation, this is becoming harder to do because the classes I need are only available at certain times. This next semester, they happen to be available around lunch time.

Each day, I need to be to work by 7:00 in the morning. Then, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I have a class from 1:00 to 2:00. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have a class from 12:00 to 1:30. After class each day, I’ll go back to work and stay there until 6:00.

I’ll still be working only 40 hours, but because I’ll be there from 7:00 am until 6:00 pm each day, it’s going to feel more like 60 hours each week. The things I do to better myself.

I was able to work out my class schedule so I have a class each day. I like that much better than last semester when they were all MWF classes and I had to make up the time away from work on Tuesday and Thursday by working 12-hour days. Thank goodness for small miracles.

Before School Starts To Do List

1. Finish watching LOST. I only have 16 more episodes.
2. Conquer Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I only have Ganondorf left to defeat.
3. Finish reading The Book Thief. I keep getting distracted and now I have no more time for distractions. ;)
4. Reread Shiver and Linger, so I can read Forever.
5. Gather my sanity to get me through the next few months.

I have too much going on all at once to have to worry about an accelerated class too.  Changing jobs has taken a toll on me.  I really like my new position, but it has taken some getting used to, especially as far as the schedule is concerned.  I can dictate my own schedule, but I have existing appointments I have to work around so I’ve had to work 11-hour days a couple of times since I started.

Trying to figure out my health is taking a toll on me too.  I’ve noticed that I’ve been feeling a lot worse lately, which is in line with IBS.  (The more stress you’re under the worse IBS becomes.)  The more and more I’ve started to pay attention to the things I eat, I seem to feel icky after I eat anything with gluten or anything with dairy.  I haven’t been able to pin it down to one or the other yet.  (Corey thinks it could also be sugar.)  I’m slowly going gluten free, but I don’t want to go completely gluten free until I’ve talked to my gastroenterologist tomorrow.

My regular doctor told me I should know after two weeks of being completely gluten free if I feel better, maybe not completely better, but remarkably better.  I’ve decided to go gluten free for two weeks (starting this Sunday) and still eat dairy.  If I don’t feel much better, I’ll also cut out the dairy for a couple of weeks.  Then, I’ll introduce gluten back into my diet to see if one or the other (or both) are the culprits to feeling bad after I eat.  If neither going off of gluten nor dairy helps, then I’ll cut out the other allergen foods and work from there.

It’ll be nice to not worry about school while I’m figuring out my new job and figuring out my new eating lifestyle.  Plus!  I get to read what I want for 10 weeks. ;) I’m hoping to up my number of books read drastically during this little hiatus.

As you can see, I have a few options to try.  We’ll see how I feel after I give up some yummy foods. Now, it’s just a matter of stocking my house with gluten-free things.  I’m going to go simple for the first little bit by just eating veggies, fruits, and lean meats.  Then, if I notice that not eating gluten helps me feel better, I’ll add in the gluten-free carbs.

*****

My spring term class officially ended yesterday.  I didn’t have a final exam; I just had to hand in a final paper worth a sixth of my grade. Depending on how I do on my paper, I’ll either have a low A or a high A-. I’m really happy with how well I did in this class.  It definitely wasn’t the easiest class since it focused mostly on principles of literary theory, but I did learn a lot.

*****

My new class starts on Monday.  My teacher is pissing me off more and more.  The main reason is the assignment to read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy before class even starts.  In her first e-mail, she told us we had until the end of the first week to get them done.  In subsequent e-mails, all sent this week I might add, they now have to be read by Monday. I’ve only finished The Hobbit so far.  I’ve been too busy with my current homework, new work schedule, and everything else life has thrown at me to spend the time I need to get the other books done.  Luckily, I get to choose the book to focus on during the class so I’ll just choose The Hobbit.  I still need to read the other three books because she said we might draw on them during the term for more information.

Finally, she signs every one of her e-mails as “Sister” blah blah.  I know I’m going to BYU, but do teachers really have to go by Sister or Brother blah blah (unless they’re religion teachers, of course)? I had to send her an e-mail yesterday and I deliberately called her Prof. blah blah.

I’m actually considering dropping this class, not because of my teacher, but because I’ve just been s0 busy with everything that I’m a little stressed out right now.  Plus, I’m a little overwhelmed with my new job.  Starting a new job and a new accelerated class at the same time doesn’t seem like a good idea.  The only problem with dropping my class is that I can’t take it in the fall because it conflicts with my other classes.  The soonest I could take it is in the winter.  Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but it directly corresponds with the class I just took so I don’t want to let too much time pass by before I take it.

Anyway, I don’t have to worry about that anymore! :D I still work for Henry Schein, but as of today, I’m no longer in the Practice Education (Training) department.  I also no longer write training manuals.  :D Hallelujah!  I’m now in the Coaching department and my new title is Profitability Account Manager.  In my new position, I’ll coach dental offices on how to be more profitable using the resources and information in their software.  I’ll also help develop the curriculum (kind of like my old job) for the coaching topics.

My schedule is still fairly flexible (except during this transition period when I’m taking over appointments the previous person in my position scheduled), and my new manager is awesome.  I’ve actually worked with him for the entire time I’ve been working at Henry Schein–10 years.  In fact, he’s the one who trained me to use the Dentrix software.

I was a little frazzled today trying to figure everything out, but I think I’ll really like this job.  I’m excited to be working with offices again.  I’m also excited to be doing something different.

At work, I’m underneath an air vent.  Not only does this air vent gush out cold air all year around, it also gushes out the air full blast. 8O It’s ridiculous!  I’ve never been so cold in all my life!

On a typical day, you can find me wrapped in my slanket trying to keep warm.  On some days, I’m so cold that my slanket isn’t enough.  On those days, I’m not only wrapped in my slanket, but I’m also wearing a sweater, a coat, or both.

I feel like I work in the Arctic.  My overall body temperature is changing because I’m starting to feel cold in other places too.  I didn’t like being a hot person, but I don’t like being a cold person either.  Isn’t there a middle ground?

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On Friday, my work held another blood drive.  For most of the day, I ignored it, didn’t give it a second thought.  However, right after lunch, one of the executive secretaries started to encourage people to give blood because there was only one person in the chair at that moment.  After a lot of internal debate and some external debate with some of my co-workers, I finally decided to donate blood.

Fortunately, my phlebotomist was very skilled.  I didn’t feel the needle going in at all.  I only felt a little bit of pressure, which I was extremely grateful for because I’ve had some pretty awful experiences when I’ve had to have my blood drawn.

Apparently, I’m a slow bleeder.   Federal regulation stipulates that you can only have a needle in your arm, while donating blood, for 20 minutes.  This helps prevent infection and irritation to your vein.  Most people can donate an entire unit (one pint) of blood in no more than 10 minutes.  It took me a little over 18 minutes to donate an entire unit.  At one point, I had three phlebotomists working on me trying to get my blood to drain faster.  I guess if I ever get in a bad car wreck, there’s a good chance I don’t have to worry about bleeding to death. ;)

I was very nervous at first, but donating blood wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.  I think it depends on the phlebotomist you get.  I should’ve done it a long time ago.  I’m fairly certain I’ll donate blood again, even though I have a bruise the size of a small kiwi on my arm.  (I followed the directions precisely and didn’t take my bandage off until 4 hours later.  Corey thinks it has to do with the phlebotomists moving the needle around trying to get me to bleed faster.)

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My team decided to go to the Rodizio Grill for lunch and see A Christmas Carol afterward.  When I found this out, I was both excited and worried.  I love the Rodizio Grill, but have you seen their menu?  Welcome to Calorie City! I decided to enjoy myself because I haven’t been to the Rodizio Grill in more than five years.

When we got there, Megan gave everyone a cracker, which is a brightly colored paper tube, twisted at both ends.  It usually contains a party hat, joke, and some type of trinket.  If two people pull it, it’s supposed to give good luck to whoever has the larger end, kind of like a wishbone from a turkey.  They’re traditional in England around the holidays.

My cracker contained a green crown, a joke of Laffy Taffy quality, and a plastic compass. When I saw that Gentry got a purple crown, I quickly said, “Hey-Gentry-can-I-trade-you-crowns-kay-thanks!” At that point, I basically commandeered his crown without waiting for an answer. He had to know it was inevitable with my obsession with purple.

If you haven’t been to the Rodizio Grill, I recommend you try it at least once … unless your a vegetarian because servers bring around a variety of meats grilled in a traditional Brazilian way.  As you can imagine, this can be quite delicious and very fattening. Luckily, I’m not much of a meat person so I only ate some of it while shying away from the chicken hearts completely.  Not my idea of a good time.

I did eat a lot of the awesome grilled pineapple.  It’s glazed with brown sugar and grilled to perfection.  In pineapple, there’s an enzyme that causes your tongue to become raw when you eat too much of it.  However, that enzyme is neutralized during the cooking process so you can eat as much of the grilled pineapple as you want without killing your tongue and I definitely did.  I think I ate an entire pineapple, but I don’t feel guilty about it because it was so yummy and worth the amount of calories I consumed.

After lunch, I had a meeting with a financial aid adviser at BYU so I wasn’t able to go to the movie.  Honestly, I wasn’t too heart broken about it because I’m not much of a Christmas movie fan.  I do like the story of A Christmas Carol so I might go see it with Corey some time.

All in all, I think I can speak for everyone when I say, “We had a great time.”

Today, I finished confirming my schedule for Winter Semester 2010.  I’m taking 9 credits, which makes me a 3/4 time student.  I figure that since I’ll be working full-time I shouldn’t take anymore credits than I’m already taking.  The classes I’m taking are Japanese, Doctrine and Covenants, and Writing & Rhetoric.

So I can still work full time, I’m taking evening classes and working during the day.  I’ll be going to work at the butt-crack of dawn–6:30 am. 8O I don’t want getting up that early to be a huge shock to my system when I start school so I’ll be going to work 30 minutes earlier than the week before each week until school starts.  I hope my body will adjust quickly, which is very unlikely.  Wish me luck because I’m going to need it!

Even though this looks to be a strenuous and busy schedule, I’m looking forward to it.  I have wanted to go back to school for nearly the entire time–10 years–I’ve been gone.  I’m looking forward to a different kind of challenge.  And, I think only the English class will give me a challenge, if it even does.  I guess I’ll see what the semester holds.

My work canceled trick-or-treating and thus … decorating.  The management team is worried about the swine flu.  They’ve been putting all kinds of procedures in place to help limit its spread at work, which I’m very thankful for.  They had the employees vote on whether trick-or-treating should remain the same or whether the company should just send the employees home with treat bags for their kids.  The latter option won.  I was a little bummed and a little relieved at the same time.

Because trick-or-treating was canceled, I decided not to go all out on a costume this year.  And, because my brain slugs were a big hit and are so awesome, I decided to wear one again this year.

I feel like I’ve changed a lot over the past year.  I decided to take a picture with the brain slug on my head in as close to the exact same position as possible as last year’s picture.

I think you can tell I’ve lost weight when looking at these pictures side by side.  It would’ve been better if I had full body shots, but I don’t think my face is as full as it used to be.  (I wonder if that’s because my hair’s longer.)

I haven’t posted an update about my weight loss for a while so I guess now is as good of a time as any.  I have almost lost 40 pounds. :D I’m trying to decide what I want as my reward for hitting my second benchmark. But, I have a couple of weeks to decide if I continue to lose weight at the same rate I have been.  Do you have any ideas?

I’m really worried about the holiday season that’s approaching rapidly.  My cravings for sweets have become stronger over the last month.  I’ve had a very hard time saying no to things and I feel like my resolve is slipping.  Don’t get me wrong; I really want to lose the 60 pounds I’m still striving to lose, but I don’t feel like my motivation to have self control and to exercise is as strong as it was.  I’m hoping with Daylight Saving Time ending on Sunday, I can get back into exercising before I go to work in the morning. Then, all I’ll have to worry about is my self control with my eating habits.

By the way, happy Halloween! :D

I took these pictures with my Macbook while I was at work yesterday.  Fridays are a little more relaxed than most days because I’ve usually finished my weekly projects by then.  This week, I decided to take a couple of minutes to goof around.

Anyway, when my friend Debbie saw my photo, she noticed the picture of Jack Skellington on my wall and said she’d love to see a video blog of my cubicle. ;) I thought this was a great idea, except the only ability I have to record video is with my cell phone, an old Nokia 5300.  I decided it was going to have to do, but I’d supplement it with some pictures too.

As you can see (sort of), I have an L-shaped cubicle.  And, because I spend most of my life at work, I have completely personalized my workspace.  I want to feel comfortable and at home while I’m working.

My magnet board doubles as a dry erase board.  I have a few Twilight-inspired magnets I received from Debbie–her husband Tarl designed them.  I also have a couple of magnets my co-workers have brought back for me on some of their trips.

Not only have I personalized everything on or in my cubicle, I have customized my Desktops too.  Right now, I’m sporting Halloween-themed backgrounds.  Next week, I’ll probably change my background back to my Ewan McGregor collage. :D Who wouldn’t want to stare at his pretty face all day!

In 2001, I received the Support Tech of the Year award and in 2003, I received the Team Schein Award for my work with certification.

I used to travel a lot.  When I traveled, I wanted to bring back a souvenir of each place I went, so I chose magnets because they wouldn’t take up too much space.

While I was in the Support department, my team decorated our cubicles like The Nightmare Before Christmas for Halloween.  I drew the Jack Skellington on my wall as part of the decorations.  Jack Skellington is one of my all-time favorite fictional characters so I had to keep my rendition of him.