Unit 6
This week we are doing our first draft and post - draft outlining which is something new to me so I have been trying to figure this all out. To tell the truth I think I could get this done alot faster if my husband wasn't home.He can see I am busy but he still comes in and wants to talk. I love him dearly but PLEASE......then I decided to change my topic from depression to ALS which is something I know alot about since I cared for a friends mom for 4 years. What a horrible disease so sad to watch someones body waste away while their mind stays the same. I grew to love this lady so much and I still miss her all the time. A very good friend just found out that her sister now has this disease, that is why I decided to switch so I can give my friend all of my research when I am finished. Been such a busy week and I am feeling overwhelmed, plus I took on a few extra projects this weekend..what was I thinking? Saturday I am helping a friend at her Bed & Breakfast with her open house then work at 4:00...Sunday I am helping at the fun run at Priest Lake , handing out water from 9;00 until 12:30, then lunch with friends then work at 4:00 so looks like I will not get any school work done this weekend...like I said what am I thinking?

Unit 5
School is starting to be hard for me: I just started a new job and now trying to fit everything into my days is becoming harder. Here it is Saturday morning and this is the first chance I have had to even do any of this weeks work. I have three teenagers, an unemployed husband (who should be helping more I might add) and my 83 yr old Dad who is in a wheel chair and a very picky eater lives with us :) I am not complaining but there really isn't enough hours in any of our days is there? Some days I leave the house to run to the store and get there just to realize I forgot to comb my hair and it never fails I always run into someone I may not really want to see me (like an old boyfreind) yes even at my age I still avoid that :) But school is almost out for the summer and things may get easier once the kids can start to do their share and I get back into the grove of working again.

Thirty years ago today Mt St Helens blew....I remember that day like it was yesterday. I lived here where I still do. My husband was on a back packing trip in the mountains and I was home with our three girls. I had decided to drive over and visit my parents and on the drive there I noticed a huge dark cloud coming...I had never seen anything like it. When I got to my parents my Dad had plastic all over the front yard...of course he told me what had happened and he told me I needed to get back home and stay inside. By the time I arrived back home it was completely dark and it was only three in the afternoon. On my porch was 3 dogs and 4 cats all sitting together and all very scared. I never did find out who they belonged too but they all sat there for over 24 hours.My husband seen the ash cloud coming in all day and he thought we were at war and they came home, hiking in the ash all day in the dark.He didn't know what it was until he arrived home at midnight.

Unit 4:

Sun still shining today and busy day ahead. Trying to finish up all of this weeks school work so I have the whole weekend to "play" actually have two baby showers, the one I am giving my daughter Nicole will be here at our house Sunday and the other is at Nicole's Mother-in-laws on Saturday. Mine has been planned for months, she decided last week to have hers just before mine (?) won't go there:) When I first planned this shower I seen it being held out doors on our "new lawn" well that hasn't happened yet so shower will be inside. And why do we bother with RSVP-- no one ever pays any attention to this detail. I plan on serving lunch but not sure if I will be serving 40 or 4. But thanks to ladies in my class I now have some great ideals for some games and that helps. Nicole and Cory are having a boy this time...they have a girl, Addy who just turned 3 and said she would rather have a puppy than a baby brother. Oh and my new job starts next week...wow I am excited about that..looking forward to getting out around people again. My Dad lives with us and can't be left alone but my husband is laid off so until he goes back to work I will work :)

The sun is acually shinning here :) wow I am so ready to go out and play in the dirt. We just moved into a new home this last Nov and our yard is bare ground. I want to start on my new herb garden and my reward for finishing all of my school work this week is to go out this afternoon and start on that garden. So much to do.....

Well my Dad has been home for a few days now and yes I am beginning to wonder if we as a family can really do this. I feel like I am being tested....this morning I woke at 6:00 and went in to check on him and he was on the floor, said he had been there since 3 :00. Thank fully my husband was still home because I know I would not of been able to pick Dad up off of the floor. He has been sleeping since, said he did not want any breakfast that he was sick to his stomach. Dad is on 15 different meds and he can't take them on an empty stomach and these meds keep him alive. Plus he needs a shower and how am I going to be able to get him in there? I need some strength to get though today....

Well I have good news...guess the Social worker at the hospital put the fear of God in my Dad...he started eating and doing his PT and tomorrow he gets to come home :) Today the hospital bed and bedside comode were delivered. Dad is not to excited about that comode but I just told him to get over it. Years ago I was a CNA so I have been trained in this kind of care so it will be no big deal to me. I am just happy he can come home because I was so afraid he would never be back here and that laid heavy on my heart.