I'm taking refresher courses...against my will.

The past week had been a week of refresher courses for me.  Refresher courses I did not and still DO NOT want to take.

Refresher course #1 - Intro to Proper Care of the K-9 Species
Anyone can tell you that when you have real children, your furry children get knocked down a notch on the totem pole and start to become slightly neglected.  On Friday, we had a BIG scare with Red.  He woke us up early Friday morning, whining to go outside.  In doggy language this means - I'M ABOUT TO POOP MYSELF, HELP ME NOW!  So, we ran to turn off the alarm and get him out the door.  Well, he didn't make it.  Poor pup.  You can't imagine the amount of shame on his face for the next hour.  For the rest of the day, he wouldn't eat and what little he did eat or drink came right back up.  We just thought he had a normal upset stomach until 8:30 that evening when he had uncontrollable diarrhea again, but this time is was PURE BLOOD.  It was one of the scariest and most pitiful things I'd ever seen.  After an emergency trip to the vet, and a poor experience with that same vet where we had to demand tests being run - the diagnosis was pancreatitis (which can be fatal).  We are very glad we demanded tests because had the vet had it his way, he would've just watched Red die.  It's taken a few days but after lots of meds, a new diet, and lots and lots of love and attention (that he deserved before he got sick) Red's finally starting to act like himself.  When you think you're about to lose one of your furry babies, you are quickly reminded of how much you took them for granted!

Refresher Course #2:  The Science of Waking Up Before 8:00 AM
Since we got back from vacation in NC, Jackson's started waking up between the hours of 6 and 8 a.m. several days a week.  This is HIGHLY unusual and HIGHLY disappointing for me considering he hasn't woken up before 8:30 a.m. (and not fallen back asleep) in months.  At first, I thought it was just due to being on Eastern time rather than Central.  He went back to sleeping in for a few days and then returned to early waking again.  I think the problem is that the sun rises here at about 6:00 a.m now and shines right in his windows.  We bought heavy duty blackout curtains, but it doesn't block out all the light.  Plus, the birds start chirping so loud you can hear them over his white noise machine.  (As you can tell via the shades and the noise machine, I enjoy my sleep and have manipulated my child to be a late sleeper since he was aitty-bitty.)  The first couple times he woke up so early, I could give him milk and he'd go back to sleep for a few hours.  Those days are few and far between now, so I'm having to relearn how to drag myself out of bed in the morning and go to bed at a normal hour.  Neither of which I'm mastering very quickly.  If I had to give myself a grade for this refresher course right now, a C would be generous!

Refresher Course #3:  Every class you've ever had to take in math, history, and science.
On Saturday, I am taking one of the three PRAXIS tests I have to pass in order to transfer my teaching licensure from SC to TN.  The first test is Middle School Content Knowledge - a test that combines math, science, history, and language arts.  I thought it'd be a pretty easy test to pass, but after taking a practice test...I'M TERRIFIED!  The math is NOT middle school math.  There are questions on everything from long division, to logarithms, to matrix algebra.  I don't know about you, but I didn't learn anything about logs until I was a Senior in high school and NEVER even touched on Matrix Algebra.  In fact, it was only when Bryan tried to help me with a question I didn't understand that I knew what Matrix Algebra even was.  The History questions cover the entire history of the world - everything from American History, to developing civilizations, and the history of EVERYTHING ELSE THAT EVER HAPPENED IN THE WORLD!  One question would be about some factory system during the industrial revolution and the next would be about the Tang Dynasty in China.   I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure my History professors in college didn't even know all there was to know about the history of the world in general, let alone one of my middle school teachers.  I did well on the science and perfectly on the language arts portion, so I'm just trying to focus on brushing up on math and history.  Although, I'm not sure it should be called a "refresher course" since I'm learning much of it for the first time.

Refresher Course #4:  Intro to Diet and Exercise
The Friday before I left for NC, I went to get my annual physical.  Despite my begging and pleading that they not, they weighed me.  JERKS! To put it nicely and succinctly, let's just say, I was not pleased with the outcome.  Bryan also got a physical and although his weight was fine, his blood work came back and showed he has high cholesterol.  We were shocked by that and, honestly, a bit scared so we've been trying to kick our butts into gear.  We've thrown out all the junk and are trying to eat healthy foods - lean proteins, no refined sugars, fresh fruits and veggies, etc.  We've also been trying to exercise almost every day.  Although, it's more like a few times a week.  So far, we've been doing ok but we are gradually improving.  I have to be honest and say that Bryan is much better at this than I am.  He is usually the one pushing me to exercise and reminding me to eat better.  My mom used to say that Bryan was the best thing that ever happened to my GPA in college.  He studied all the time, and I wanted to spend time with him, so I'd study too.  Much like in college, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be doing very well in this course either!

In college, taking 4 courses would be considered taking a full load.  However in life, you can't just drop a course.  Too bad!

XOXO