Desert Magnolia

My white, bossy, princessy, very very routine-based cat would make a great president. She is sweet (diplomatic), but somehow always gets her way. She is attractive, which we know helps in general. Yes, I just said that. She is vain, which means her opponents might underestimate her and compliment her excessively. But she is smarter than vain, so when she sees through the ploy, they'd better be careful. (See suffering no fools comment.) She is smart, anticipates her 'opponent's' next moves, and suffers no fools. She has NO patience for stupidity. None. Tipper Ann slightly pissed to have been disturbed during beauty sleep She is also incredibly prompt. That little pussy cat stomps on my body every single morning at 602 a.m. if I am not UP already. And if you've ever had a cat you know that when they stomp, their entire body weight is focused upon the foot they're currently pressing through your belly to your backbone. It's a physics thing.

Simple things are truly what make life rich and wonderful. In fact, some days, the simple stuff is all that keeps me from running screaming from the room. Seriously. Like, when my friend JL would do her silly happy dance as she walked by my office door. That would jolly me out of any stress out I could conjure. Every single time. Like when Son called yesterday and announced he'd be joining us in Mexico for the holidays. Woot! So now our fam will be complete plus 1 sweet friend of Daughter's...laying on the beach, contemplating whether it's time to apply more sunscreen. Or or to reach for a cold beer or order a chilly marg. You know, that kind of stuff. Easy. Like Daughter and I spending time at our hair stylist's yesterday afternoon. Sipping a glass of wine, getting our 'dos done. Then shopping, and actually finding a cute pair of boots and some darling jeans for the girl. Like dancing in the kitchen..while listening to Tom Petty, laughing with my girl, p

I have been studying in weird places since I started school. We bought a cool chair, for in our guest room, that is comfy and works well for this. With a pretty side table and lamp, that's been my headquarters for almost a year. But not anymore. I now have a real desk and a real bookshelf and a real chair. Woot! My office! For real! It's the little things, yes? Having a space dedicated to...studying, and working, and that I don't have to tidy up every time I'm done with a session feels really cool. And official. Which kind of gives me performance anxiety. I mean, the pressure is on, right??

Midterms were interesting, this term, with more 'practical' ie 'hands on' stuff than ever before. Which makes sense given what I'm studying, right? In all, I think they went well. My final midterm, in Anatomy & Physiology, was yesterday. 50 multiple choice questions, fairly written, and fairly straightforward. Which to me means if you know the material, it's easy. I knew most of the material. The couple that I'm sure I missed, I just didn't know at all. Which is fine. I'd rather have it be that than knowing it but not being able to access it at test time. That sucks. The good news is I feel solid in my program, and like progress is being made, and like the foundation for the discipline is being laid in my psyche. So that's all good. Milestones ...Daughter no longer has to use crutches! Woot! As of this morning, the surgeon released her to walk on her own. She started, at his behest, to put 50% of her weight on the leg beginning last