To say the past couple of weeks have been stressful, well would be an understatement.  I have been on such a fast paced schedule for several months now. I suppose it “caught up with me”.  I am now recouping from double pneumonia. Yes, both lungs.  I am finally able to catch a decent breath and talk at the same time. My fever ran the range of low grade up to 103 then back down to low-grade then back up again. A miserable few days. In all I missed 3 days of class. For a typical college, 3 days is rough, but you can makeup pretty fast. When you are dealing with a Career/Vocational College, not so much. First off for each lab missed there is a required 1000 word essay. I missed two labs. I turned those papers in Thursday. If the papers aren’t turned in you fail, no questions asked. I missed an exam as well. I have my Doctor’s slip, so I can retake the test on Tuesday after my final. That is a blessing. I think the biggest whack I took was missing the professional points. That can lower your grade as much as a full letter. So I went from A’s to B’s but right now I will be incredibly happy with B’s (although Arleen prefers A’s). Some miss a few days and are out completely.  I am still in the ballgame so we are happy with that one. So today I am studying for finals and regrouping for next quarter. Thank goodness I have nearly a month away before I go back on the 15^th of January. By that time I should have healed nicely. You know, when your twenty you bounce back so much easier than you do when your fifty. Just takes longer but I’ll get there.  In addition, this next quarter will not be as grueling a schedule as the prior quarters. I only have classes on Tues/Thursday. That does ease the pressure a bit, since I have all the personal stuff going on here with Momma and the house/mining issues.

Speaking of Momma, she is having cataract surgery (phaco’s w/lenses) on the 2^nd and 9^th. I would have rather her had a little additional time in between but that is the schedule . She will be so much happier when this is over. I can only imagine what it has been like for my sweet little momma the past several months. I had no idea, and she didn’t indicate either, that she had such limited eyesight in the right eye. No wonder she leaves the lights on at night, I would too. But thank goodness this time next month she will be right as rain.

MsArleen