Minus 4 wisdom teeth

As many of you know, I went and had all four of my wisdom teeth out yesterday. Naturally, I was nervous and was anticipating a very long morning of pain and discomfort. My appointment as for 7am and I was originally told that it was going to take about 90 minutes to do a deep cleaning and then the extraction. So my mom came over from St. Pete and drove me to Port Orange. When we got there, I got to go right back. No waiting.. no time to be nervous. The shot me up with novocane and I was feeling fine. The did the deep cleaning, polished my teeth and then moved onto the extractions. They didn't even need to give me the gas.

All I have to say is that it must have been a new record. With all of the things they accomplished, I was in and out in 29 minutes! No joke. It was amazing. I was told that they wished all patients were like me. No fuss, no muss. They also warned me that red headed freckle faced kids typically puff up like balloons (or chipmunks), but I didn't puff up at all. No swelling, so no mess, just a little bit of pain. To be honest, the swelling and whatnot was not the problem at all, nor was the pain in my jaw. The biggest problem was the fact that the combination of painkillers and antibiotics are kicking my butt. They not only make me drowsy but to some extent they make me dizzy and nauseated. SO I have been spending the last 2 days relaxing on the couch eating a combination of mashed potatoes, apple sauce, ice cream and oatmeal. Yay for mushy food. 

Overall, I feel fairly good. I went to Joann Fabrics this morning and I don't know that it was such a good idea. It was a little warm in the store and that just made it worse. Now I am attempting to gum down potato salad that my made last night. I figure this little amount will take me about an hour to eat. Wish me luck.

Busy Weekend!

I must say it was a crazy weekend. I have been trying to get as much of my homework done for the next two weeks since I am getting my wisdom teeth out in 4 days. I have heard so many horror stories about the lengthy recovery times that I don't want to run the risk of not being able to function for homework's sake. So instead of the average load of homework, I have been working on double the fun. For example, within the next two weeks, I have 4 studio art pieces, a powerpoint presentation, 2 chapters with questions, an article summary, 3 page artist critique, discussion questions and responses, beginning work on our group project, and sketchbook work all due. Yay! No worries though, to be honest, if I continue at the rate I am going I will finish in no time. 

On Saturday, I decided to do something girly. For those of you who know me, girly is not a word that is used to describe me very often. My friend Andrea started up her Mary Kay business and invited to her debut party. It was a lot of fun. Aside from the fact that I poked myself in the eye with a mascara brush, I actually did fairly well. But, before you ask, no I didn't take any pictures with the make up on. It wasn't too much anyway, but the main difference for me was that it eliminated a lot of the red tones that are usually in my face. Granted, I am still not a make up person, but one thing I did discover is that they have a line of sun care products. One of which is an after sun gel. Considering the sun burns I tend to get, that just may come in very very handy. I also picked up some mint foot lotion for my mom as a gift for taking me to the dentist this week. 

Yesterday was a pretty crazy day as well. After work, I headed home to get ready because Ricky and I were scheduled to go to a first time home buyers seminar. We weren't expecting much, but we figured any information is good information. We found out that our chances of getting a house before I get a job are non-existent and that the options for help are completely gone. Granted, considering the economy, we figured that was going to be the case, but it also may mean that we have to consider looking elsewhere instead of staying in this house. I think from now on when we find a house we like, I am not going to say that we would consider buying it because every time we do, something else comes up. The thing is though that what is supposed to happen will happen, so we are taking the whole process one day at a time and figure it will work itself out. Besides, we have been renting for this long, what's a few more years, right?

After the seminar and dinner, Best Buy was having their annual store party at the Froggers in Oviedo. Ricky and I decided to go so that Ricky could see a few of the BBY people again. It was such a nice night and such a great turn out. A good portion of our store was there and most of them ended up playing beer pong at some point. Ricky hadn't played in a long time, and yet managed to win the game he was playing. I was so proud. 

Today (although not the weekend) was the crowning point of the week. I FINALLY got my student loans disbursed today! They came just in time too. I was able to purchase our airline tickets for May for our trip to DC as well as pay bills and the biggest event... buying our new TV! Ricky is picking it up tonight since the box would not even begin to fit into my car (thank you Gary!) and it will be joining our family this evening just in time for our Super Bowl Party this weekend. The one thing I couldn't get today was the new receiver to replace the old busted one we have, but it will do until the other ones come in. (silly backordered product)

So things are moving along here, I am off to work on some more homework. I just wanted to post an update since a lot has been happening lately. 

And in answer to the question that has been plaguing your minds.. no I am not going to take picks of myself and post them after I get my wisdom teeth out. No chipmunk faces here =P.

What do you mean 4?

Last night,  I had my studio art class (which I am enjoying by the way) and was siting listening to the general info at the beginning when the professor starts to discuss our first studio assignment. From reading the syllabus, I was under the assumption that we were going to have one large piece that contained four divided sections to show examples of the different types of art (representational, abstract, non-representational, and conceptual). I had started to formulate a few ideas, but nothing concrete as of yet. 

As he was describing the assignment, one of the students raised her hand and asked the magic question, "Wait are we doing 1 piece for all four or 1 for each?" The response, "You will have 4 total pieces." 

Oh...

So in the next 2 weeks I have 4 studio pieces I need to start, work on and finish. Welcome back to studio class!

Boo!

So last week as I was attending one of my graduate classes I became aware of some very unfortunate news. I am not going to be able to go the Flogging Molly concert. BOO! 

As I was sitting in class, our professor started to list off article for our class presentations. He was going one by one down the list and taking volunteers for each week. Jen (my classmate and MEd student as well) and I decided to select weeks that we knew wouldn't conflict with other assignments we were going to have to do. So we volunteered for week 3 since the article was short and there wasn't too much we had due for one of our other classes (we have class together on Wednesday and Thursday night). As our professor was looking for volunteers for the next week, Jen and I started deciding which one we wanted to do next, but all of a sudden, the professor just started assigning the rest of the weeks. Of all the weeks to assign, he gives us the night of the Flogging Molly concert. I am allowed to miss one class without being penalized and I was going to miss that particular one because of the concert. But no.. the only night I want to miss, I have to give a presentation that is 20% of my grade. Awesome.

So I know what you are thinking.. well what are you going to do with the tickets. Well, since we paid for the tickets and Ricky doesn't have any plans for that night, he is going to go with his friend Drew. So as they are enjoying the one concert I wanted to go to this year, I will be in class giving a presentation about an article I probably won't enjoy. Yay me!

On a side note, after telling my brother the story he told me that Flogging Molly is going to be part of the Warped Tour this summer so I think we all may go to that as well. Granted, its not HOB but at least I would be able to see them. 

Yummy White Sauce!

Yummy chicken and white sauce.... delicious!

This past Saturday, Ricky and I ventured out to I-Drive to meet friends for dinner at Kobe's. Normally, I have had fairly decent experiences at Kobe's, but unfortunately, there were a few setbacks this time around. 

My dentist had given my antibiotics to take to make sure that I wasn't allergic to them. Since I am allergic to penicillin they really just wanted to be sure that this particular drug wouldn't have the same effects. Although I didn't have the same effects, I did end up experiencing a few of the side effects. My stomach hurt and I was so incredibly nauseated. Apparently, that is a more than common side effect and of course they were right. Granted, i think the rest of my story had a little to do with the effects, but still it was not a good start. 

So we arrived at Kobe's around 6:30PM and they said that the wait would be about 45 minutes to an hour. Considering it was a Saturday night and was in tourist town, it wasn't that bad. Unfortunately, Kobe's has not adopted the concept of tell the guests a longer time and then when it is shorter they will be thrilled. They did the opposite. We ended up waiting an hour and a half. Now most people that know me fairly well know that I don't like confrontation and I tend to keep quiet about most things, but I was not feeling well and the monster was unleashed. There were multiple bachelorette parties going on that night, and although the first couple did have reservations, there was a third party who didn't. As we were standing by them, one of the girls came up to the rest of the group and was being congratulated because she managed to convince the ladies at the front to get them in faster. I think they may have been in the restaurant 20 minutes and were seated before us. I was no happy. I think I voiced my concern a little too much, but I was hungry and nauseated all at the same time. 

After 90 minutes, we finally were seated from a very nice and entertaining family from North Florida. We thought the wait had finally ended... we were wrong. After they took our drink orders, it was another 30 minutes before we even saw water. Once we finally did get our drinks though it went very smoothly and I would say efficiently. The food was delicious as always and the teppanyaki chef was wonderful entertainment. How could get the eggs to cooperate, but he made it very amusing. 

Once I got some food and liquid in my system, the nausea started to go away, but I was still a bit shaky. We all managed to have a lovely evening despite the wait, and although they kept filling my sprite glass with water it was an enjoyable evening. 

I did try my antibiotics the following day with food and I didn't get any of the side effects, so I do think the effects were increased by the circumstances, but I am still not showing signs of any allergy so I should be fine.  

Reaquainting myself with the dentist

Ugh.. today I finally ventured to the dentist after a long hiatus and it didn't go nearly as badly as I thought was going to. I am in fact going to have to get my wisdom teeth taken out on the 30th. I am getting all four removed. According to the dentist, three of them will be quick easy extractions, but the roots of my bottom right side wisdom tooth merge so they have to break it in half and pull out each part separately. I am kind of excited about it because it will relieve some of the headaches I have been having as of late, but at the same time, apparently freckled face red heads "puff up like chipmunks" when they are healing. That is going to make Super Bowl Sunday interesting, but hey if the headaches are going to go away, then I am all for it. Bring on the extractions. 

My First UCF Basketball Game

Knightro giving high-fives to the fans

Now that's pretty cool

UCF Team during a time out

Ricky and I at the UCF vs Memphis Game

At one point we were winning and I have proof (this was the score at the half)

Tonight Ricky and I decided that we needed to go to a UCF Basketball game. I attended UCF for 5 years and I never once made it to a basketball game. UCF was set to play Memphis who is in our conference and they were trying to make this the game of the season. Granted, we weren't expected to win much less score very often, but Ricky really wanted to go to this one. I have never really been a huge basketball fan and to be honest, I don't even know all of the rules. BUT I will say that tonight I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The atmosphere is totally different than a football game in that it is constant movement. There is always something going on (Unlike our boring football season). Since I really don't follow basketball and I really don't know all of the rules, Ricky would fill me in if something exciting or strange happened. Most of the time, I would just wait to see how everyone else reacted so I could cheer or boo appropriately. It was just a fun atmosphere to be in . The Arena is supposed to hold 9,500 fans and today broke the record at 9825 approximately. So much for fire codes I suppose. It was just nuts. 

The best part was the fact that they gave the student section these posters that had spirals on them and a paper clip. Whenever Memphis went to make a penalty throw the student section would spin the spirals. I was getting dizzy watching it and I was on the opposite end of the arena. Apparently it worked because they missed a great deal of penalty throws tonight. 

In the end UCF lost, but considering it was supposed to be a blow out game and we only lost by 7 points (73-66), I'd say we made a fairly decent showing. It was a fun game and although I don't understand basketball, I think I would be interested in going to a game or two more often. 

So It BEGINS!

2 stresses down and hopefully no more to go. Over the past week, I have had a few thins on my mind that have been stressing me out. One was the fact that I didn't know if I was going to get my book on time for my Thursday class (its an elusive little guy.. more to come on that later) and the fact that I couldn't sign a promissory note (MPN) for my loans. Well, I got an email today from Financial Aid telling me that because I have my loans through the same company and they are from the same university, I have an active MPN on file already. I didn't realize this, but apparently they are good for 10 years...I know crazy right?

BUT even with the stress...It's official.. I had my first grad school class this evening... and it was great.. granted I got to work in the comfort of my own home, but it was actually a pleasant experience. This class is essentially offered half online and half face to face instruction. I really don't mind that structure because EPI was fairly similar. We had assignments and discussions we were required to do online and then we would meet once a week in class. The only difference for this class is that since it is an entire semester, sometimes we meet in class and sometimes we don't. With EPI was only had a class for about 5 weeks so it had to be both simultaneously all the time. From what I can tell about this class so far it seems like it is going to be a very informative class. There is a good amount of analytical thinking involved so I will be able to to wake a few brain cells who have been on vacation for awhile and get them in the groove again. 

Tomorrow I have my K-12 Instructional Materials class for the first time. I am very excited about that class as well. I received my book in the mail today so that is one less thing I need to stress over. It is a very hard book to find.. no one carries it anymore and although the syllabus said something about possibly ordering the book in class, I like to have all of my ducks in a row as they say. Fortunately, I found a brand new copy of it on Amazon and was able to order it without any problem (I just didn't know if it was going to get here on time) Even after all of that worrying, it still got here in time and I am a happy camper. 

Under normal circumstances, I will have 3 classes a week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, but since classes started today, I will have my first Studio Experience class next week. I just can't describe how excited I am to be starting up grad school (something I never thought I was going to be able to do) and I am looking forward to the challenges ahead. I will definitely keep everyone posted throughout the semester as things continue to go on, but as for right now, so far so good.  

Happy Birthday Carol!

Ricky and I @ Carol's Birthday Dinner

Ricky and Carol.. yay!

Carol opening gifts before dinner

Yin Yang Fondue

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROL!

Tonight Ricky and I went to the Melting Pot to celebrate Carol's birthday. Even though the Melting Pot was very popular in St. Pete when I was in high school, I never managed to get there.  I have to say that aside from the price, it is a restaurant I would like to frequent. Their food was incredibly tasty. We started with a cheese fondue that was mixed with Sam Adams, cheddar cheese, tabasco, and garlic. It was soooo good with the bread and vegetables we were able to use for dipping. Then we moved onto salad which was tasty and then the plethora of protein started to flow in. We had a basic broth to cook our meat in, but the best part was the fact that the dipping sauces just kept coming. They had one called the Green Goddess which was essentially cream cheese and chives... it was sooo good on the potatoes (Ricky was a fan of putting it onto the mushrooms, but we know how I try to avoid the fungus). To finish off the meal we had a chocolate fondue called the Flaming Turtle (go ahead and make the jokes.. I'm sure they were said at dinner tonight). It was essentially chocolate, pecans, caramel and then set on fire. Awesome! The Yin Yang fondue pictured above was a different chocolate selection by one of the other couples at our table. I just thought it looked very cool. 

It was nice to be able to hang out with Carol and Kevin again and equally nice to meet all of their friends who were incredibly nice and genuinely entertaining. I love having dinner with a group of people who can joke and have a serious conversation all at the same time. It tends to be a guaranteed good time had by all and in this case it was!

2008: A Year in Review

Going to Disney with the Tubas

Cruisin' to Nassau

Enjoying the day in St. Augustine

Well I must say this has been an interesting year to say the least.

Ricky has been climbing his way up the corporate ladder at the Golf Channel. This year alone, he has switched positions twice. He went from being full-time in the library as a Media Cataloger, to Customer Service (and producing the daily newsletter) in New Media, to his current position as the Associate Producer of Instruction for New Media (aka golfchannel.com). It has been so great being able to watch Ricky move up in the company. I know that he was getting restless in the library and now he is able to do the kinds of projects he loves to do. He even got to go on his first business trip to Portland to train customer service reps.

As for my climb to the top, I think the most appropriate word is halted. Because of all of the budget cuts in Florida (thank you Amendment 1), teachers are being let go left and right (and every other direction you can think of). So I am still an unemployed teacher who is currently working for Best Buy (again). The good news is that I have been accepted into Grad School at UCF. I am going to be working towards my Masters of Education in Art Education starting on the 7th of January. I am very excited about starting this next step in my education. Granted, I will be racking up a few more mountains of debt with my student loans, but at least I will now have a piece of paper that says "education" on it. For some reason a Professional Teaching Certificate isn't enough. They like to see that degree too. I figure if all goes according to plan, I will be done in 2010. Not too bad if I do say so myself.

In April, Ricky and I celebrated our first year anniversary. We didn't have a lot of money, so we did a 3 day trip to St. Augustine where we stayed in a Bed and Breakfast (Casablanca Inn) facing the river. The weather couldn't have been any better while we were there. It wasn't too hot or muggy. On the first night we were there we were able to participate in something very special. One night a month when the moon is full, the St. Augustine Lighthouse does a special event called, "Sunset moonrise" where you trek up to the top of the lighthouse and watch the sunset on one side and watch the moon rise on the other. They have refreshments and champagne to toast with and you just enjoy the spectacular view. We managed to see it on the best night apparently, because it was so clear, we actually saw the entire moonrise on the horizon. Apparently, that doesn't happen very often. While we were in St. Augustine we also did the touristy things like going to the wax museum, taking a tour of Flagler (which I highly recommend), and walked the city. We did stop at the Golf Hall of Fame for a brief while and ate at the Caddyshack restaurant. They had great food and was a pretty cool environment. Not a bad place to have a themed dinner.

This year also marked a milestone for Ricky's dad. We all went on a 3 day Carnival cruise together. We left out of Port Canaveral and sailed down to Nassau and back. It was a nice little trip with the exception that I did actually need dramamine this time around. On the last 2 cruises I didn't need the medicine because the seas were relatively calm. Unfortunately, the first day was a bit rough, but afterwards, I rediscovered my sea legs and I was fine. This was actually the trip that I finally received my 24k plastic ship on a stick. They are these little plastic trophies that they hand out to winners of different events on board. I actually won a trivia contest. I was so proud. We actually have it displayed in our bedroom. The trip Nassau was wonderful as well. We got off the boat and found a driver named Baron to take us around the island. He did an excellent job and although Ricky and I had done a similar trip the year before, we actually managed to see some new sites we didn't get to see the first time. All in all the cruise was wonderful and I do believe everyone had a wonderful time. And as for Ricky's dad, I think he is a cruiser for life.

As far as housing goes, we moved out of Deltona and back to civilization in East Orlando. We found a house to rent in Avalon Park which in time we are hoping to be able to purchase. We love this house. It is just the right size to the point that we wouldn't need to move when we decide to expand our family. Not to mention, its in a great area and all of the neighbors are extremely nice. We are just taking it all one step at a time though and see where everything takes us.

This year has also been a big year for all of our friends and we were fortunate to share in their milestones with them. We welcomed 4 new babies into the world (Kendal, Cameron, Carter, & Raphael ). They are all so precious and wonderful additions to this world we live in. It has been so fun during the past year to watch them grow. I just can't believe how big they are all getting. We also joined together as several of our friends said their vows and become husband and wife. Our warmest congratulations to all of them and we wish them the best (Ashley & Mark, Chris & Amanda, Bryan & Ashley).

Over all, this has been a very successful year. We have seen new life brought into the world, new foundations created, and have been able to spend another memory filled year together. We just want to send the warmest holiday wishes out to all of our friends and Ricky and I are looking forward to all the new and exciting adventures that 2009 will bring.

Feel the Rhythm... Oh yeah!

I know the video is a little long (about 3 minutes or so) but I couldn't stop recording part way through the song. It was too amusing... at least I find it amusing. 

Happy 2009!

Stitch wearing his New Year's shirt

Ricky & I at Carol's house

Carol, Kevin, and Alan playing Wii

Ricky decided to have a little taste of Santa's Butt.. you heard me..

Ricky & Stitch enjoying each other's company

Happy New Year! 

I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by. So many amazing things have happened that it amazes me that we all made it through in one piece. (But more to come about 2008 later)

Last night, Ricky and I went to our friend Carol's house for a little get together for the holiday. It was nice to be able to see Carol and Kevin again since we haven't seen them in several years. We headed out to Port Orange after I got off from work later in the evening and got there around 9:45 or so. As we were arriving, they were setting up the Wii to play the new Raving Rabbids TV Party Game. Now I have sold this game to many many happy customers, but I had never gotten the chance to experience this game because we don't actually it. I will say this though.. we will own it soon. I found it to be so amusing and I didn't even play. I was just an observer. The game is compatible with the Wii Fit board for certain functions and on one of the games, you actually steer with your bum. You are riding a yak down a hill and steering your journey with your butt. It was great to watch! Even more amusing that that game was the Shake it Up game which involved dancing to make the moves in the screen. Ricky especially got into this game and I just couldn't resist getting that video. 

Once it got close to midnight we took the brick of fireworks out into the empty lot next door to Carol's house and watched the show. After our fireworks were done, Carol was making fun of the little fireworks from the other houses saying how mediocre theirs were in comparison to ours. It was marvelous. 

It was a great night and I hope everyone stayed safe and enjoyed their festivities. Here's to teh new year and all that goes with it. 

(More to come soon.. I have a nice long blog with an overview of our 2008 to be posted soon!)

I have to park where????

So in case you are wondering, it takes 20 minutes to walk from Aquatica to the entrance of Seaworld. Now I know what you are thinking... Why, oh why do you have this random information and why are you sharing it with us? Well, I recently experienced this 20 minute hike because on Tuesday of this week, I actually had to park at Aquatica to go to Seaworld. Ricky and his family headed over in the morning while I was at work. I had received several messages from Ricky telling me that the park seemed crowded, but I wasn't too worried. I was getting off of work at 1pm so I figured by then it may clear out a bit. 

So after I got off work, I headed to Seaworld and aside from the fact that there was an insane amount of traffic going through downtown Orlando, I made decent time getting to I-Drive. When I got off the exit, there was a little traffic, but nothing out of the ordinary for this time of year. The problem came when I finally go to the entrance and there were pylons blocking the driveways to the parking lot. On a huge traffic sign the words "Seaworld lot full, proceed to Aquatica for Parking." My immediate thought was.. "What??" I still wasn't too concerned because I figured they were going to shuttle us to Seaworld so it wouldn't be so bad. So I park and go to the aisle for the shuttle... no I take that back.. Mears bus... and there is a line that stretches across the entire length of the parking lot. The official parking people said it was going to be about an hour wait to get on one of these buses. Excuse me? An hour wait in the Aquatica parking lot at 2 in the afternoon.. no thank you. So I asked the nice police officer where the sidewalk was and I walked all the way to Seaworld. Fortunately, I knew where I was going and apparently I looked as though I knew what I was doing because I had multiple groups of tourists following me. It was much more efficient. 

Needless to say, I eventually arrived at the park and can honestly say i have never in my life seen that many people in Seaworld. It was ridiculous. We did get to ride on the Polar Express which was quite fun. I love the fact that they completely change all of the facades in the Wild Arctic ride to make it feel like a completely different experience. To top it off, I was even able to watch the video this time because it wasn't as jerky. I didn't even feel queasy. After the ride we decided to head out since it was still incredibly crowded and had a very nice dinner. 

So in case you ever need to walk to Seaworld, just make sure you set aside 20 minutes and you should be good to go.