Well folks, it's all over but the crying. I am finished school, and after my practicum, I will be officially graduated. I'm even getting a graduation picture, just like a real person! Today I went by my school to sign off on my marks and I wanted to bring my wonderful Professor some sort of gift for all her efforts. I was going to get her a plant, but that just wasn't good enough for this wonderful lady, so I ended up getting her a ginormous slow cooker. She loves food, and she is probably one of the busiest people on the planet, so I thought that would be a good idea especially since she has growing teens to feed. We must have hugged and kissed each other a hundred times. It was like we missed each other all ready! But she was gracious enough to give me her personal cell # and e-mail address, promising to remain good pals forever. And I will be keeping in touch with her, as she has single-handedly changed my life. You know how you can pick out just a few people in your life that you know changed the course of your future? Well, she's one of those people for me, and believe me there hasn't been many in my life. I could sing her praises all day long. She really cared about our success, and her job is completely thankless. Some of the stranger types seem to give her a hard time, for no reason, but, if you show up, listen to her and do as she teaches, you can't lose. She is also very musically talented and gave me one of her CD's, on which she wrote all her own music. Her voice is smooth and beautiful. Holly and I were floored. God Bless You, Doc....Don't stop doing what you do. You made me believe I could actually do it and you will forever be my mentor, my model and now, my friend! Love you!
Has it really been that long since I wrote?? Wow!O.k. All the latest that's fit to report. I will be finished school on Friday, May 7th and then have my big exam the following Monday, May 11th. From the 12th until July 3rd, I do my practicum and that's it, I'm done!! I am on the honour roll, can you believe it?? It was a shock to learn that. I never did well in school before, but I really enjoyed this course. I've learned a lot. Now for the fun part...we have given up our apartment for July 1st and will be living up at the 'love nest' for the summer. I really wanted to get out of this town, as I hate it here as does Holly. We are so excited to be up north we've already started packing. I really shouldn't say 'we' as it is Holly who is getting us ready to go. She has been so helpful to us, while I've been at school. She's kept the house clean and made some great meals. I'm very proud of her. She is finally done with high school and is really looking forward to going to a bible school in Toronto in the fall. So, we will be moving to Toronto in September and I know I will be able to find a job there. I know of one place in particular that works with Native men who are alcoholics and since I'm native, I would do well there. They are a new agency and are always looking for people, so that would be great. But there are so many opportunities in Toronto, I'm sure I will find something I like.Holly has also been working on getting her driving license and should have it by July.Life is very exciting right now, and there's a lot of pressure for this final exam. Please say a prayer for me to remember everything as it's worth 70% of my mark. Whew!!Right now my mood is very positive, excited even, and everything is going so well. I feel like we will be starting fresh and living a new life, which always excites me. We all have 'Jazz Wings' over this! I think I'm a gypsy at heart. I have never stayed in one place very long except when the kids were growing up and going to school. I didn't want them to have to adjust to a new school all the time, so we stayed put all through their school years. It was a good decision as now they have friends who will probably be lifelong, BFF's!Everyone in my 'petting zoo' is doing fine except for one fatality. My sweet Heffalump died about a month ago. He first got something called 'Bumblefoot' and lost weight rapidly. Holly began to hand feed him smoothies and oatmeal and we even took him to the vet for some antibiotics. He seemed to rally a bit and gain a bit of weight. But the next week he again lost more weight. I looked in on him one day, and he looked just awful. I picked him up and held him for about an hour. He died in my arms, being petted and talked to which he loved. He tried to squeak for me but barely got it out. I know he was only a hefalump, but I was truly sad to see him go. I loved him very much and if I was feeling down, I would pet him and he'd talk to me and give me wet little kisses. I really miss him. Sleep well, my little sweetheart! I have him in the freezer so I can bury him up at the love nest.Anyhoo, you may or may not be glad to hear I have quit smoking for nearly 2 months. My life is really not worth living anymore, and I still crave it terribly. Everyday I say to my family, 'I'm smoking tomorrow and you can't stop me!', and everyday they reply, 'O.K. Go ahead'. And every day I don't, but I haven't got a clue why not?! Can anyone give me just one good reason why I shouldn't smoke, cause I can't think of one. Everyone says, 'So you won't die.' That's it, that's the reason. Are you kidding me? Do I really want to live longer and be this miserable?? I really can't see any good reason why I can't smoke. But I tell you what...if my Doctor ever says, 'Tory, you have terminal cancer.', I will leave his office, go to the store and get the biggest pack of smokes ever. And I will enjoy every puff...so there! Sigh....Actually, I think it would be so hypocritical of me to counsel addicts while smelling of cigarettes. That is honestly the only reason I quit. Plus Holly kept nagging about some crazy second hand smoke stuff...whatever...brat...sigh...why doesn't she move out?...sigh..O.K. I'm over it...Anyway, I will be able to write more often once I'm up at the love nest, as my summer will be my own. Boy, I really can't wait. Holly and I are going to be alone for a lot of the time as NIA Hubby will be staying with his mother on work days and just coming up on the weekends until his holidays kick in. So, Holly and I are going to go to garage sales, fishing, lots of swimming at the beach and in the pool after dinner. We will be going to the driving range, the farmers market, reading, I will work on my book, and she will continue with her Hebrew lessons. Not to mention I have some books pertaining to different therapeutic measures that I'd like to read before I start a job in the field. I also have several books I want to read for pleasure as I have read nothing but psych books, reports and other technical things for so many months now, I have to get caught up on the Twilight series, at least that's what my girls tell me. Actually, I read the first one and it was really good.Anyway, Holly and I are also looking forward to experimenting with food this summer. She has become very interested in cooking lately, and has learned a lot. We watch the food network together a lot and I answer her questions. So, we've gotten together a bunch of recipes to try out. NIA hubby is mostly a meat and potato's man, so we're going to cook with recipes I don't think he'd like.Well, this was a long post, but I have a lot of stuff happening right now.I hope you are all well. Yes, Forsythia, I will be blogging once again starting in July. Hi Andrew, I hope you're doing good. I will catch up on all your blogs tonight.Take care
