Random Thoughts

High Blood Pressure. I went to the doctor Wednesday to get my blood pressure checked. The bad news is I still have high blood pressure. The good news is it went down considerably. Yay! The meds I'm taking definitely helps (duh, right? that's why they prescribed them). Had my pressure been too high, they would've put me on more meds. Did I mention that not only do I hate taking medication, but I'm also horrible with taking them on time? Yeah, so more meds would've sucked. Anyway, I'm on the road to controlling (and eventually getting rid of) my high blood pressure.

Dissertation. Unfortunately, unless a miracle occurs (and I do believe miracles can occur), I won't be walking across the stage during the summer ceremony this year (July 25th) in Minneapolis, MN. Instead, I'll be walking at the winter one - Walden only has summer & winter ceremonies - which is on January 23, 2010 in Dallas, TX. Am I saddened by this? Oddly enough, no. The good thing about this school is you're considered a graduate when your degree is conferred & your degree is conferred on the last day of your term. The registrar confirms that all is well then, 8-10 weeks later, I'll have my actual degree. Sounds confusing? Basically, I'll become Dr. Raenice Weakly and have my EdD before I walk across the stage. The commencement is just pomp and circumstance. The proposal (the 1st 3 chapters of the dissertation) takes the longest out of the whole dissertation process and guess what? I'VE FINISHED IT!!!! YAY ME!!!! Yep, it's being edited as we speak. I've gotten over the hump that has kept me from finishing, so the rest is smooth sailing compared to this. I'll be finished w/my research study by June 1st which means I could be done with EVERYTHING by October. THANK GOD! Another good thing about the winter ceremony is it's in Dallas, which is a heck of a lot closer to me (in Houston) than Minneapolis. I won't have to buy a $400 plane ticket...just drive 3 hours & my family can come with.

New Year, New Job. I've been a substitute teacher for 6 years. Because I wanted to concentrate on my business, writing career, and finishing my dissertation, I chose not to go back to full time teaching. Though I love the kids, it would've been too time consuming with paper work, lesson plans, staff meetings, professional development, grading, etc. Subbing helps because I still work with kids, but on my own schedule, no staff meetings, no lesson plans, etc. The ONLY cons with subbing for me were the inconsistencies - I may not get a call for the day - and the pay. Now, God has blessed me with a job that's perfect for my time. I'll be a Math support teacher for 3rd - 5th grade. Now, I must admit that Math isn't my fave subject. I'm just now getting to the point where I may have an inch of liking for it. As a child (actually from 6th grade on) I disliked Math. But, I'm okay with this job. Why? It's consistent; only 4 days/week; only 5 hours/day; and I make more doing it than I do subbing. The pay ($100/day) is nowhere near what I'd be making as a doctorate level teacher w/7 years experience ($47,600), but I'm happy. God is awesome!

No Puerto Rico. At least not during Spring Break. But I'm okay with it. You see, my sister and I started looking into moving out this year and becoming home-owning roomies (I mentioned this as one of my goals for '09). Well, an opportunity has sort of fallen into our laps. We'll start off leasing a townhome, in one of the areas we wanted btw, with plans to buy it. The landlord really just wants to get rid of it (has own house now) and just happened to mention it to my parents. Since she know my parents are good people, she knows we're good people, and is willing to give it to us rather than list it for the public. And it's affordable! She's a realtor, too. So, instead of Puerto Rico, we're putting that $ towards the deposit & first month's rent and possibly move in during spring break. Oh, but PR isn't forgotten! We're going during Christmas Vacation.