...and so it begins...again...

tomorrow, i go back to school. i've been on break these last 8 weeks. these last 8 weeks have been so fantastic. i got to do a lot of things, like:

• be part of shiv & gar's wedding
  
• go home and spend a few weeks with fam & friends (christmas + new year's)
• puppy-sit russell
  
• hang out with friends in seattle, portland, and LA
• have quality time with God
• start a 40-day fast from all TV (i know...it's torturous)
  
• sleep/rest/eat/read/have a life
• catch up with friends
  
• go to a taping of leno
  
• go to hawaii
• learn fun new games
• go shopping (brick & mortar and online)
  
• get my sunny disposition back
• share at church - audio clip - exo-fast day 20 - i'm the third person
  
• be a person again

and i had to do things like:

• write the first portions of my thesis
• go to class once a week for UCLA (and 1 saturday a month)
• pay my credit card bills...BOO

did i mention that i am one lucky girl with great friends? i'm lucky enough to have friends who willingly came to my school to help me set up my classroom (of course, there was the lure of a free lunch) and just get random stuff done. also, awesome friends timmy and judy found a sewing machine at an amazing price and procured it for me just in case i wanted it, which i did. i am now the proud owner of a singer sewing machine from my favorite store - yep, you guessed it - target.

i'm more excited than stressed about going to school tomorrow. at dinner tonight, i didn't feel any anxiety. normally, sunday dinner is when the anxiety kicks in. i'm going to take this as a good sign. i really, really want these next 4.5 months to be different than the first 4. i want to be different - i want to be more and be better - for both myself and for the kids. wish me luck... we'll see how i am after school...

and i know i haven't posted about hawaii...i really am going to, but it's been busy these last two weeks... so until then, you can read about it from kepi, aka jeff. you'll have to scroll through to find links to pictures from the first 3 days and his commentary.