Hello, blogger world. I've been too busy for you lately. Here is a summary of the last couple of months:
I participated in a 1-mile fun run/walk with my Mom and my niece. My niece took off like a speed demon and left Mom and I in the dust! I think we still did a good job getting to the finish line. I think my 5K plans are going to be on hold until next year. I haven't trained and don't see how I would be ready for anything soon. I have a couple of races under my belt; that will have to do for now. Hopefully I can squeeze in some exercise to alleviate some stress, however. I am going to need it over the next few months!
Summer school is still in progress. I finished the phlebotomy class with a "S" (it was pass or fail) and found it pretty interesting. I am not sure how I would feel about sticking those needles into a real person, but at some point I will have to do that. I also finished my intro LPN course. I got a B in that, which I was really irritated about since it was only a two day class, but I can't do anything about it now. There are just a couple of weeks left of my medical terminology class. So far I have an A in that. It's right on the border between an A and B, which means I'll have to keep it up. I already feel like not working on it anymore.
Work is kind of nuts these days. Thanks to the state budget mess, some of my coworkers were laid off and/or resigned, and those of us left are trying to get by without them.
The best part of summer was the getaway! Rich was in a wedding at the end of June. It was in Texas. We decided to drive for the entire trip. Keep in mind, we live in Illinois! After the wedding, we continued on the highway up to the Grand Canyon. We spent two nights and a very full day there, participating in an all-inclusive tour (plane, jeep, walking, and pontoon boat), and it was amazing. I took hundreds of photos. On our second night there, we were walking along the paved trail at the top of the south rim, and he proposed! It was perfect.
I would take up way too much space on my blog posting photos from the trip that would do it any justice. The highlights were posted in my Facebook albums and I haven't printed any for real photo albums yet. I am forced to narrow it down to these, as follows: The highway in New Mexico on the way to Arizona, two photos from our first night at the Grand Canyon, and photos from the tour (plane ride over Marble Canyon, walking tour through Antelope Canyon, and the boat trip through Glen Canyon). The photo of the dam has significance because we saw it from the plane, and that is also where we started the boat trip after driving through an access tunnel near the dam.
Now I'm back in the daily life of working, tinkering with my online class, and planning a wedding. Most of my free time has been browsing websites, looking in stores, and running errands because the wedding isn't far away. I wanted an outdoor wedding in the fall, and there is just enough time to put it together. I'd like to have the big stuff lined up before I start school again in August. We have the site, photographer, my dress, my ring, the florist, the musicians, and some progress on the wedding party's attire. But there is a lot left to do!
I doubt I'll have much time to post updates for a little while. Maybe I will post more details as they come along. Stay tuned...
