Pumpernickel Bread and Direct Access

Delightful moments...

"I'm a politically active 40 year old woman mooching off her parents and if I pumpernickel bread isn't cutting it, I can go use my own money and buy my own dang bread!"

That phrase sums up a good chunk of my past two weeks. Pardon the randomness of this as I yammer on and share what that quote means and other delightful moments of the past few weeks.

First of all I became politically active last night at 11:30pm as I was listening to my 18th Korean English test of the day. In my new world of Physical therapy we are facing a legislative bill in Texas to allow patients Direct Access to PT's. Chiropractors and massage therapists don't need a referral to be seen, but PT's do. Seriously? How crazy is that? I emailed off an example letter to friends last night asking them to send it off to their Senators. (If you would like more info you can ask me.) This morning I got my first reply from a former employer who said she would love to support this and will send a letter. Go political me!

English Oral Proficiency Exams...the Korean's have been busy speaking English to Eva- the animated computer interview for OPIc. About 6000 tests have come in this week alone. Last week was spring break, but no break for me. I have rated 160 tests in the last two weeks and it looks as if this speed could continue for a few more days. I rate test, do homework, rate tests and do homework , than rate more tests... My favorite one last week was a lady comparing private schools in Korea to Hogwarts. They have different houses and house competitions. No Quittach however, just soccer. Yesterday I got sung to by a girl describing popular music in Korea. Often they are boring, but I get a few gems here and there.

Speaking of non-native English speakers check out this link for a good laugh. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RgL2MKfWTo

I did manage some fun during spring break, but that is how I found out I am 40. If you have heard of the Wii Fit, you know that you step on the box and it measures your weight, height, checks balance, and real age. Then it spits out your Wii Age. 40, it aged me at 40! How wrong is that? I teach yoga for goodness sake!

I was so mad I was screaming at the TV with my friend Karen laughing behind me. I promptly started doing planks and other ab work almost every day since. In Brasil some teenager guessed my dad is 35. So he is 35 and I am 40- what an upside down world we live in! My grandma turned 75 this week, but she thinks the numbers are backwards and she is really 57. She is the busiest 75 year old I know, I think she passed that trait on down to me.

Grandma also gave me my quote of the week last week. In reference to her geneology work she said, "the dead don't sleep, but I keep telling them I do!" It sure made me laugh.

Finally on to the pumpernickel bread...that means dad is back in town. My options for bread in this house are pumpernickel bread or 40 calorie sourdough. Hmmm, neither sounding very appealing for peanut butter and honey in the mornings. Dad and I have had breakfast together most mornings this week and we joked that since I am a mooch and raking in money this week, I can go buy my own dang bread! Dad being home also means we get to watch the opening 10 minutes of the Ellen Degerneres show together. We are excited for Ellen reaching her goal of getting on the cover of Oprah's magazine "O". It reminds us that goals are good. So my latest goal is to be the new class President for the Physical Therapist Assistant Club at school. Elections are next week.

Back to sitting nice and tall in my chair for my poor back, and listening to the Koreans... they leally rike kimchi and go to Jeju island with their rovers.

Spring in Austin!

On St. Patrick's Day I celebrated Spring by hiking in the Wild Basin with a good friend. Don't I look all sporty and outdoorsy? She even had cool metal hiking sticks to use. It was lovely to get lost in the great outdoors in Austin.

I am loving the weather this week, bluebonnets are popping up and the trees are green again! Spring can be vicious though, here are some pics I took last year in our backyard. The lizards looked like they were playing, but you can see in the progression it came to a tragic end! I had trouble getting the pics in order, but the last one is the bright green one winning and dragging the dark green one down the tree and out of sight. Moral of the story- Beware of Lizards, they bite! Maybe they were fighting over a woman....

Picture Challenge

I have been issued the picture challenge by the lovely Michelle Clements. I was suppose to open up my photos and pick the 4th folder and the 4th picture in that folder and explain it. I challenge Elizabeth (http://thewholeebang.blogspot.com/) next.



This picture was taken on my photo booth on my mac. (got to love photo booth). I don't think you can get much more random than this picture, but it sums up our friendship perfectly. My best friends and I were just goofing around late one night and ended up taking about 50 pictures. I have been friends with Nadia and Natasha since 6th grade- that is like 18 years! In fact, I am hanging out with the two of them tonight watching movies, doing pedicures, and eating homemade pizza. Good times! What would life be without friends?

BUSY? Maybe just a little...makes my head spin!

Busy, busy, busy...if you have asked me how I am doing the past year of my life, my answer was probably...BUSY! I wonder if people think I am making up an excuse sometimes. I was thinking about my schedule this week and wondering just how I keep it up sometimes.

Take the past few days for example. Wednesday I got up at 5:00am to go to Body Pump (weight class at Gold's Gym) at 5:30. I had to have Nadia text me encouragement to go, or else I would have stayed in bed. 6:45-10:00am Rates Oral Proficiency Exams. (Got to love the Koreans! You like Kimchi? You know Jeju island?) 10:30-11:30 New Testament Institute Class. 12:25-4:45 Data Collections and Therapeutic Exercise Labs. Oh my brain hurts by the end of this. Next stop- sub a Body Flow class from 5:45-6:45pm. Luckily I did get invited by my parents to go out for Thai food with them. Afterwards, more homework and tests to rate till about 11:00pm.

Friday I worked at Odyssey from 8:00-12:00. Then I ran to the bank and then off to campus to study. I was on campus till almost 4:00pm. I took the evening off from school. However, I made cookies for snacks for an open lab today.Then at 8:00pm I decided to go for a run at the gym. After my run I stayed up late watching shows on hulu.com till 1:00am. Okay, so Friday doesn't sound so bad...

Saturday- hold on to your seats folks...I got up at 8:30am after my late night. I ran over to the church where dad was at the pre-crop walk breakfast for the Walnut Creek Ward. It was my only chance to see him before he flew off to Chile. From there I went to the park to walk the CROP walk at 10:00am. That was quite delightful, I invited Leslie from my class to join me, we had a nice chat and walk together. From there I went to campus for the open lab- 12:00-3:00. We practice PTA/patient scenarios in preparation for the midterm practical next week. It was good, I talked people into bringing snacks to share and we had a ton of food. I actually stayed till 4:00pm talking to other students and my dedicated instructor Karen. It was a very helpful day. I headed home exhausted. I crashed on my bed for an hour and half, then on to part II of the day. I went to a wedding reception followed by picking up a friend to go play volleyball. We played at the sand courts at Aussies- a restaurant without door courts. It was a lot of fun. (I admit I quite enjoyed the handsome 22ish year olds to admire in the sand.) I made it home at 10:45pm only to discover that is it daylight saving tonight and I am loosing an hour of sleep. Not so fun, I am going to stay up for a few more hours rating tests.

Did you get tired reading this? Man, I am exhausted just thinking about it. I'm not trying to complain, I realize I am incredibly blessed with energy to keep on going. Got to live life to the fullest right? The good news is, tomorrow is Sunday, the day I take off from the gym and school, and get to rejuvenate Spiritually in preparation for another week. The bad news is, starting Monday I begin a week of fitting in work around studying for midterms and tests. It is going to be a whirlwind of a week. But there is a more good news, SPRING BREAK begins Thursday at 3:00pm. Can I get a hallelujah? Oh yeah!

Painting Murals

I am in the middle of reading a booked by Kristen Oaks called "A Single Voice". I am only on chapter 2, but so far I love it. The theme of the book is that the single life is not a lesser path than the married life. My value, my worth as a daughter of God, is not determined by my marital status. I don't fall short in comparison to a married woman just because I am single. It reminds me of an article that I read a very years ago-Kimberly D. Nelson, “My Classroom,” Ensign, Jan. 2005, 36–38. I think of this article often when I am throwing a poor-single-me pity party. Not poor me! I am living a great life. I am surrounded by incredible friends and family who add so much encouragement and joy to my life. (Michelle, Elizabeth, Shaleen, Chanda, Darlene, Nadia, Natasha, America, Beth, Christina, Lisa, Kristin, Ivy, Mari, Sandra, Lorena...and many, many more! ) They are part of my mural, and the mural just keeps getting more and more colorful the more I try to live my life more fully. There is nothing to "fix" about this path of life. As long as I am striving to be guided by the Spirit, I am still on Heavenly Father's plan, Plan A... and Plan A is where I want to be!

I hope you enjoy the article too...

"My Classroom"

"At some point in my life I was assigned to a classroom labeled “single.” Despite my efforts, I realized I had little control over when I could leave, so I spent most of my adult life seeing my classroom as a prison.

Although my attitude may have seemed positive on the outside, my relationship with Heavenly Father suffered through many long nights of desperate pleading, angry demands, and general despair. I struggled despite Heavenly Father’s many reassurances that all was well, that my deepest and most dearly held dreams would come to pass, and that He would never leave me truly alone. To my mind, that just wasn’t enough. All I could focus on was the door of this prison, and all I wanted was out.

I finally reached a point several years ago when my hope, faith, and energy hit an all-time low. Walking past affectionate couples depressed me. I watched my married friends deal with the joys and trials of marriage and family life with envy, even when toddlers threw tantrums and dishes were left undone. As far as I was concerned, I just couldn’t handle being single anymore.

I went to church one particular Sunday having already decided to ask a friend for a priesthood blessing. When I arrived, one kind sister complimented me by saying I looked “so put together.” I smiled and thanked her, while the irony of her words weighed on me: I actually felt close to falling apart.

The words of the blessing I received later that day shook my soul. The Lord’s reassurances had never been so clear or so directly linked to my particular thoughts at the time, and I had never felt the Spirit more strongly. And while the blessing did not answer all my questions, it started me on a road that took me closer to the peace I had been seeking.

Feeling stronger than I had in a long time, I started looking around my “prison.” I began to see, dimly at first, the positive aspects of the room. I began to take inventory of the ways in which I had been of use in the lives of my friends and family. I realized that being single allowed me more flexibility and freedom of movement, something I had always taken for granted. It allowed me to serve in ways I might not have been able to otherwise.

However, I continued to struggle at times with doubt, loneliness, and confusion. The tears did not come as frequently as they had in the past, but I still did a fair amount of complaining. It was as if I had started to explore my situation in a limited way, tiptoeing around the room and catching glimpses of beauty through half-closed eyes but still never truly seeing what I had been given.

I began to wonder if I had somehow failed Heavenly Father. I thought maybe it was taking longer for the door to open because there was something I was supposed to be that I wasn’t being, and that it was all my fault. Lasting peace continued to elude me. Again, I requested a priesthood blessing. Again, the reassurances and counsel of a loving Heavenly Father quieted my fears and unfounded guilt. But I also received some counsel that puzzled me: I was told I needed to humble myself—despite the fact that I had just spent the last several months beating myself up for imagined offenses. Obviously I needed a different kind of humility.

The answer finally came. It didn’t come in words; it came as a feeling. During a ward activity, as I looked at my surroundings, several thoughts ran through my mind. I remembered many such activities in the past as well as the people who had been a part of them. I realized just how much the people in that room and in my life meant to me. I thought of the many small miracles that had guided and comforted me throughout my life. Reflecting on Heavenly Father’s infinite patience with me, I remembered the Savior, who had been through the greatest torment of all so that He could succor us through life’s challenges. I felt overcome with gratitude.

It was as if a veil had been lifted from my eyes. I realized that what I had considered a prison was filled with more wonderful things than I had ever noticed. In my obsession with getting out, I had either missed or had only partly seen the Lord’s hand in filling that room with people and experiences that had taught me, comforted me, and filled my life’s cup to overflowing. I had only needed to humble myself enough to be deeply grateful for those gifts to finally feel years of pain fall away.

The exit to my classroom still has not opened. I don’t know when it will. I still listen for the handle to turn—after all, I will never lose the desire to leave my single status behind and become a wife and mother. As I have been counseled many times, that is a righteous desire. But I am finding myself more occupied with painting murals on the walls these days, contributing to the beauty of my surroundings rather than pounding on the door. I believe that when someone finally comes into the room, holds out his hand, and says, “Honey, you’re finished here; let’s go,” I will have to stop long enough to take one final look around at what the Lord has done for me as a single person before finally stepping through the door—and into another classroom."