I'm still alive

Stress will be the death of me, I'm sure.  But for now, I'm still here.

My oldest son requested that I spend more time online, blogging and Twittering and Facebooking.  I am going to try to update more often, since he's so far away and misses this part of his family.

We're down to about a year before my husband retires from the military.  It's time to start sorting through our belongings and preparing for our last military move.  We're anxious to get started on the next phase of our lives, while at the same time, it will be strange to actually be able to choose where we go next.  Obviously, we have to take jobs, schools, and housing into consideration, but we are free to make our own choices from now on.

It's going to feel strange at first, but I'll get used to it.

Con Crud

Believe it or not, that's a very popular term for the illnesses that typically strike after attending a major convention.  Whenever you gather 70,000 people in one small area for a long weekend, you're bound to have germs traveling from person to person.

I am trying to fight off a nasty cold this week.  It's not much fun.

Fortunately, a cold isn't truly horrible, so I'm thankful that the only germs that latched on to me were cold viruses.  It could have been worse.  I'm trying not to complain too much.

I still don't like being sick, though.

Dragon*Con 2010

Sweetie and I were able to leave the kids behind for a week, so we could attend Dragon*Con in Atlanta.  It was our first real vacation alone together since our oldest daughter was born in 1999.  Needless to say, our marriage required us to get away for a change.

We didn't do nearly as much as we would have liked to do, simply because it's a rather overwhelming experience.  I helped out a couple of the tracks as a staff member, and Sweetie basically wandered around and tried to absorb the chaos of the convention.  Dragon*Con isn't an average sci-fi convention.  It is one of the largest conventions in the country (and possibly the world), and the sheer magnitude of the things to see and do is incredible.

We are still recovering from the trip.  If I didn't have to go out in a few minutes, I'd join my toddler and take a nap.  We did have fun on our vacation, and I think we ironed out a few of our problems just by talking during that long, long drive to and from Atlanta.  It was well worth the expense.

Shipping, shopping, studying, slacking

I am slacking a bit by posting here, but I need a break from everything else I've been doing today.

Finished almost all of the shopping necessary for the trip, with the exception of the groceries.  Those will be purchased right before we leave town, to maximize the amount of food that my kids have in the house for the week we're gone.

After I finish this post, I'll go back to packing my eBay and Etsy shipments.  I had quite a bit of success with both lately, and while I didn't make as much money as I wanted to, I did make enough to cover the overpriced hotel we're going to stay at during our trip.  The quilts I'm finishing and the money from Sweetie's own eBay sales will cover the rest of the expenses.

I have a lot of homework to do this weekend, too.  I have two finals due, as well as three essays.  The exams will be done tomorrow, while the essays aren't due until Thursday.  I just need to get everything done.

I wish I could function without sleep.  Just for a few days.

Where did our summer go?

I was shocked to log into my blog today and discover that I haven't posted in nearly two months.  TWO MONTHS?  What happened?  It doesn't seem like two months have disappeared.

The kids are back in school, but since they go back in August, the first day of school didn't seem like the end of summer.  Labor Day weekend is coming up fast, but it's still hot outside, so summer must still be here.

It is getting colder at night, though.  Sure, just down to 59 degrees, but that's cold after a high near 90.

I guess autumn really is approaching.  I'm not ready for that yet.

Let the spinning begin!

Today marks the first day of the Tour de France bicycle race, and it is also the beginning of the Tour de Fleece spin-along. For the duration of the race, thousands of fiber spinners are creating new yarn and showing off their work over on Ravelry.

I decided to give spinning a try this year. Since I'm so new at this, I decided to buy an inexpensive drop spindle and one braid of ready-to-spin fleece. From the first day, I was hooked! My yarn may not be all that pretty, but it's MY yarn, handmade by me. I ended up buying another braid of fleece to use during the Tour, and I plan to start as soon as I finish a couple of assignments for college.

It's amazing that something so simple can bring me so much happiness.

The yarn on the drop spindle is part of my first braid of roving, in a color called "Electric Rose Garden." The braid next to the spindle is my Tour de Fleece roving, and the dyer calls the colorway, "Kaylee's Jacket."  She was inspired by the jacket worn by Kaylee during the pilot episode of Firefly.  I love the colors!

Back to school again

I am making a big push to finish my degree this fall. Unlike this winter, I am actually feeling good about school, and it looks like I'm going to have a good quarter this time around.

Unfortunately, summer quarter presents a lot of challenges, since my children are home all of the time now. If all of them actually got along, it wouldn't be bad, but that isn't the case. My oldest daughter and fifth son seem to hate each other right now. They are constantly fighting, pushing each other's buttons every chance they get, and trying their best to hurt each other. Every now and then, they will play together like the best of friends, but so far this summer, that hasn't been happening very often. It's pretty sad. I hope that they outgrow this stage soon, so we can have some peace in our household for a change.

My youngest three children are almost always nice to each other, and they will play together for hours without fighting or yelling.

At the beginning of the quarter, I enrolled in an online textbook service, where I paid a fraction of the cost for the textbook and could read the book on any computer with internet access. I could even print out pages, if necessary. Thankfully, they had a return policy, because just trying to read the first chapter online was a major pain in the neck (literally, as well as figuratively). I was able to order the hardcover textbook in time for the quiz this weekend, but it was three times the cost of the electronic version, and that hurts. I hate spending money on textbooks, especially since they are worth next to nothing when you are done using them. Oh well. Such is the price we pay for an education.

I have several assignments due tomorrow. I think the kids are getting an early dinner tonight, just in the hopes of having a little extra studying time tonight.