Finished!

My last final to complete my career diploma in Medical Coding and Billing consisted of 12 projects -- making records, filling out insurances, scheduling appointments, writing business letters, etc -- and a three page research paper. It was a miserable experience. Every time I thought I was finished, I discovered another "job" that had to be completed or a typo in a paper I thought was finished. And I had a limited time to complete it. And as I printed the final copies of all my work, Scout decided to entertain herself by attacking each paper as it came out of the printer, resulting in large holes, itty bitty teeth marks, and several re-prints. And the post office couldn't get there "overnight" even if I paid the "overnight" price. And I was late for work because it took so long to get it mailed. BUT I found out yesterday that, the paper was on time, I received a grade of 96, and my career diploma is complete! I am so glad it's over. There is more work to do to get certified and complete my degree, but the first step is finished. Yay!!!!

If ever there was a bad kitty.........

then here she is!

She has a talent spilling drinks, scratching unsuspecting people's feet, climbing on the curtains, attacking the printer, attacking Princess's tail, watching television, and staring at herself in the mirror. But, she's only a kitty! Maybe one day she will learn to behave. I have my doubts, though...........

My Old Kentucky Home

Last week, I rented Elizabethtown, a movie filmed in Elizabethtown, KY, starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. I can't really recommend the movie -- not really great and language issues --but it sure made me miss Kentucky. I think that is the main reason I wanted to see it. I wanted to see KY again.

None of us were thrilled to move to KY ten years ago. I cried and Mama cried. This town was pretty much all we had ever known. And to this country girl, that big city in KY was HUGE. There were all the stores, restaurants, and tourist attractions that you could think of. There was too much for one place to have. The traffic was ridiculous and never could you go anywhere without hearing a siren. When we made our visits back home, we would all breathe a sigh of relief at the slower pace, the ease of small town life.

Well, ten years changes things. I don't know for sure where I consider home anymore. When I lived in KY, I considered this place home. Now, when people ask me where I'm from, I automatically say KY. People could never understand my Southern drawl in KY. Now people here can't understand me. And I miss KY. The country was so beautiful. Rolling green hills, thoroughbred horse pastures, blooming Bradford pear trees in the spring, scarlet leaves in the fall, snow and ice in the winter. Watching the movie, I recognized the KY river bridge I drove over a hundred times at least, the rocky cliffs along I-64, the wildflowers, and the brilliant green foliage. The land here is so flat. I had never even noticed it before. There is nothing but fields and a few small grocery stores. Nothing to do. No stores. Buying a pair of shoes involves a 100 mile round trip drive. The same three restaurants over and over. I miss the big city, with all the traffic and the fast pace.

I miss the gorgeous parks.....

The stone fences...........

the sunsets............

even the snow and icicles.

Ten years in KY, and I didn't get to see half the things I wanted to see or visit the places I wanted to. It isn't likely that I'll go back anytime soon, if ever. But that place I hated so bad in the beginning became a second home to me. Those ten years almost seem like a dream now. I am right back where I started ten years ago, older, hopefully wiser, but still in the same little town. And the tables have turned. Now I wish I could see the rolling green hills and bumper-to-bumper traffic of KY. And I cried a little watching Elizabethtown.

New Music

I splurged last week on something that I normally don't buy -- sheet music. Not really exciting new to anyone else, but I was excited about it. :) Since I don't take lessons anymore, I never learn any new songs, and I was just completely tired of the same repertoire of music that I have been playing for about five years now. I knew I wouldn't have time to learn anything hard and my hands can't handle a lot of tricky stuff anyway, so I tried to think of what I would really enjoy playing. The answer I came up with was music from my favorite movies. It's already familiar to me, and it's just fun to learn songs that you hear in movies over and over again. I wanted to learn Bella's Lullaby from Twilight, so that was my first choice. The rest of the score is really just variations on the same theme, though. Then, I saw the score from the Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightly. Now Colin Firth will forever and always be Mr. Darcy to me, but the music in this version is awesome. I love the titles of the songs, too -- Daydreams, Stars and Butterflies, The Secret Life of Daydreams, etc. The music is a little harder than I thought it would be, lots of twos against threes in music lingo, but I can't wait to learn it. And last, I happened to see a solo of My Father's Favorite from Sense and Sensibility. It may well be my favorite of all of it. So, I cannot wait to learn my new music. And, hopefully, our house is going to sound like a Jane Austen movie! :)

Last Final!!

I have officially packaged up my final project for my medical coding and billing career diploma!! It was rough. Twelve projects, which involved creating medical records, writing business letters, creating patient brochures, data entry, coding, etc, etc, plus a three page research paper. I thought I would never survive it, but it is finished. It may not get a good grade, but it is finished. I am so excited. I had planned to finish this in nine months. That didn't happen. But, it only took 15 months, and I am over halfway to an Associate Degree! Yay!! Now I can take a deep breath, slow down, and relax a little.

Blog Award

Kaitlyn at I Stand Redeemed gave me my first blog award!! Thanks, Kaitlyn!! :)

It's a new dawn, a new day, a new decade......2010

Just two days ago, we celebrated the beginning of a new year. It suddenly dawned on me today, that, not only is it a new year, it is a new DECADE. Ten whole years have passed since we welcomed in the millennium with excitement and apprehension. Were computers everywhere going to crash according to Y2K? Was an asteroid going to land on the earth? It's been quite a decade. Do you remember the New Year of the new millennium? Surprisingly enough, though I couldn't tell you for certain sure what I had for lunch yesterday, I remember ringing in the year 2000 clearly. It was our first new year in the state we had just moved to, approximately 600 miles from where the rest of our family were celebrating. We were living in a tiny apartment and I was 14 years old.



It seems like a long time ago now, but these ten years have gone by in a blur. And a lot of those years were hard. There were good times and bad times. There were lots of milestones along the way. I turned sixteen, got my driver's license, graduated high school, won awards for my artwork, and got my first job. I went to professional tennis tournaments, played the piano in competitions, entered art shows, and taught myself to quilt. I read more books in those ten years than I probably ever will again for the rest of my life. We brought Princess home in 2001. My baby cousin Kati was born in 2002. I saw several of my friends and cousins get married and start families. We lost my Grandma in 2004 and Grandpa had open heart surgery and became ill for months that same year. The whole country will remember September 11, 2001 and the war that has followed.

Last year was a very hard year. I've lost both my Mama and my Grandpa. And the year ahead will not be like any of the years before because my Mama won't be here. But I am hoping that though this year and this decade are coming on the heels of the hardest year of my life, that somehow, though different, they will be good. I hope to finish school this year and get a better job. I hope that I will accomplish some of the things I have always wanted to. I hope that I will find time again to do the things I enjoy and just remember to enjoy life in general.

I trust that God has a plan for me. He has been with me through all the difficult days. Even the days when I've had meltdowns and temper tantrums, I know He never forsook me. And His plan is better for me than any plans I make for myself.

Right now a new year and a new decade is before us. I have a wishlist of things I hope for, a list of goals that I want to accomplish, and a list of random things I'd just like to do. Well, they aren't physical lists, but I have the lists in my head. I hope that ten years from now, I will be able to look back and see that some of those things really have happened. Or maybe I will be able to look back on better, happier days than I even imagined for myself. I don't know. I do know that this is the beginning of a new decade, a new stage of my life. I hope this will be a good year. And I wish everyone a happy new year!

When I left Queen's my future seemed to stretch out before me like a straight
road. I thought I could see along it for many a milestone. Now there is a bend
in it. I don't know what lies around the bend, but I'm going to believe that the
best does. ~ Anne of Green Gables