Niels and I returned from Wheeling yesterday afternoon where we spent a very mixed emotion holiday. It all started off well, it was good to be with his family relaxing and catching up.

Unfortunately on the 23rd, Lucky the beloved Black Lab didn't seem well and was taken to the Emergency Vet. The prognosis wasn't good, liver failure, jaundice, and anemia. The vet at the clinic thought it'd be best if Lucky were put down that night. Susan, Niels' Mom, disagreed and brought him home to hang out with the family for one last night. It turned out to be the right decision for all involved. Lucky had a good night and slept with me and Niels for a while. When he tired of us he hung out with Cheryl (Niels' sister) and they took a late night walk.

Christmas Eve morning we all piled in the car and went to the vet that Cheryl took She-Ra to, less than a month ago, to be put to sleep. The vet looked at Lucky, gave us options but said that Lucky's age (12) as well as other factors would work against him in any treatment given. He was super kind, and agreed with us that putting Lucky to sleep was the best decision. Lucky was surrounded by those who loved him when he passed and is greatly missed.


I took this photo on the 22nd, with my camera phone, hence it's a little fuzzy. He kept getting annoyed that I was trying to take his picture, and once this photo was taken he jumped off the bed.

Needless to say Lucky's passing put a damper on the holiday, so we postponed celebrating Christmas until the 26th. We had a wonderful time, but it was subdued without She-Ra and Lucky's presence.

I finished my first semester of graduate school 8pm, this past Monday. I cannot begin to express how happy I am to have a break. It’s been a full semester on so many levels. The day I started working back at the university was also the day we moved into our apartment. Two weeks later Niels started law school and I began school at the beginning of September.

 

It’s been such a transitional time for us. For the past two years we had been with each other nearly 24/7, so it was hard to go from seeing each other all the time to only being able to spend maybe an hour together Monday thru Friday, and a few hours on Saturdays. I had also overloaded my schedule and signed up for 13 credit hours, and quickly realized that something had to give. I was grateful that we were able to financially work it out that I was able to work 20 hours a week, but some weeks was still too many for me to deal with. Taking all those credit hours led to a meltdown two weeks into my semester and I wound up dropping a class. (Which I’m still grateful for.)

 

I was beginning to find the stress of school, work and the transition a little too much, even with having dropped a class becoming overwhelming. I had a couple breakdowns, and after the last one decided that something had to be done otherwise I wasn’t going to make it through the semester. At the beginning of November I went to see my doctor and after an awesome discussion we jointly decided that I should try a low dose anti-depressant. I had thought for a long time that it was a course of action I should have done much earlier. He put me on a low dose of Celexa, to which I’ve fully adjusted. The first two weeks I was bouncing off the walls and feeling like I should be running a marathon it made me so hyper. But since that side affect has stopped and I feel so much better. Even when I was feeling like Speedy Gonzalez I could tell that it was starting to work, there was a calm emerging from the hyperness.

 

I cannot begin to express how much better I feel. My mood swings are no more and there is a levelness that I’ve never really experienced before. And even this past weekend when I was super stressed out because of all that needed to get done, I didn’t have a complete breakdown, I could feel that a freakout wanted to emerge but it didn’t happen and I was able to get done what I needed to done. (Even though Power Point made me very cranky and that crankiness did get to Niels for which I feel bad.)

 

And now the semester’s over, I can’t believe how fast it went. I’m going to relax and do things I want to do when I get home in the evening and actually enjoy my Sundays (which are my big schoolwork work days) until the Spring semester begins on January 12^th.

Just got out of my German final, we'll see how I did. Not feeling great about it but also not feeling bad about it. It's over. Just have to give my paper presentation tonight & I'll be done until January 12, 2009.

Until I can give a proper update on what's been going on, which most likely will come in the next day or two, I give you a new photo of Ginger Katze. She's taken to hiding under the duvet, which whipped us into a frenzy when she first started doing it and we couldn't find her. Note how she's giving me the stink eye for bothering her.

I'm home working on my research paper for my Teaching & Learning class (it's a fancy title for a pedagogy class). Only a few days before winter break begins, and I'm looking forward to it in so many ways.

So until then here's another random photo for your amusement.

I'm to busy to actually write real posts hence the photo posts recently. Here is my morning happiness.


Starbucks vanilla latte, along with my anti-depressants, helps to keep me sane.

This has been my perspective for the past couple months. Every Saturday and Sunday, often week nights too. I cannot wait for the semester to be over, unfortunately it's not going to go gently into the night. I've a project for Wednesday (haven't even started it), and on the 15th I've my German final, a paper and a paper presentation. I'm already looking forward to that drink I'll be having once I get home that evening.

One of my dearest friends is moving to California and cannot take her cat with her, so Niels & I have taken her in. May I present to you Ginger (I like to call her Snaps).


She's super sweet, loves to cuddle and sit on my & Niels' laps and sleep with us at night. (Here she was a little annoyed with all the photo attempts I was trying.)

 

I need to take more photos, I've nothing new to put on the header... sigh.

I should be working on a lesson plan for tomorrow's D&D class, but I'm very grumpy and am finding it difficult to concentrate.

That is all.