Everyday Life

Categories Everyday Life

Dork Mode

Leave a comment by

“They” say that form follows function–and I tend to agree. But sometimes functionality is far from “formal”. Sometimes, it’s downright dorky.

I couldn’t decide what to wear this morning. What should I wear when I’m still not sure about seeing people? What should I wear when my stomach is still roiling but I just CAN’T wear pajamas for yet another day?

Warm, I thought. So I put on a pair of leggings. I pulled a dress over top.

Ugh, I thought. But I was too cold to take the dress off. I pulled a skirt over top that.

Oh my, I thought. And I gave up on trying to look nice. Fleece snowflake laden socks complete the ensemble.

It’s not like I’m planning on seeing anyone anyway. Why not go into full dork mode?

Categories Family & Friends

One sick clan

Leave a comment by

When I started throwing up last night, my first thought was to panic. You see, I teach a food lab—and I was afraid somehow I’d managed to have a case of food poisoning in my lab.

This morning, relief (from my anxiety, not from the ickies) came in the form of an e-mail from my aunt. My cousin and another aunt had the throw-ups last night too.

The e-mails just kept pouring in. My cousin Danny has it. A cousin and uncle have it. Penny’s e-mail intimated that Alice, Sarah, Byron, Adam, and Sharon had it before the funeral.

So apparently we all got it at the funeral.

The sick counts keep rising. I added my name to the roll. Then Daniel added his. An addendum reports that Joshua has it too. Martha wrote that she hasn’t thrown up yet but stayed home because she’s feeling icky. Dad wrote in that Tim and Grace both have it. The last report has come from my aunt in Illinois. Her husband and son have it too.

Basically, we’re one sick clan.

If you think of it, pray for us as we recover. And pray for protection for my grandparents and mom (who is currently staying with Grandma and Grandpa). The last thing they need is this nasty little stomach flu.

Categories Everyday Life, Following Christ

A Weekend in Review

Leave a comment by

The Daughter’s of the King ladies retreat was this last weekend, and it was fantastic.

The weekend was themed on Beth Moore’s Get out of that Pit. We watched some of Beth’s videos, heard from the book, heard teaching from the book, had small group times discussing the concepts found within, and had some personal time with God.

I’d already read the book, but the retreat was still pretty powerful. Especially the personal time with God. We had several questions to think through and pray through–but the great part was when God started talking. He told me what my pit is: self-PITy. He said, “You’re so busy longing for something different, something else, that you aren’t seeing what I’ve already given you. And, paradoxically, this has kept you from attaining your deepest desires. Wallowing in self-pity over how things HAVEN’T turned out as you expected is keeping you from enjoying the abundant life I have for you now and from anticipating the abundant life I have for your future.”

Yikes! But it’s so true. Knowing is half of the battle. Now, I’m daily practicing the steps Moore discussed for getting out of the pit: Cry out, Confess, Consent. And by God’s grace, I’m on my way out of the pit.

Apart from the wonderful time with God, I had a fantastic time with my girls. We swam Friday night–and stood in the shallow end of the pool singing all our favorite kiddie songs: “He’s a Peach of a Savior”, “I’m in the Lord’s Army”, and “The Hippo Song.” We cracked ourselves up with each different version–and decided that we were having so much fun that we NEEDED to share it with others. So we sang for everyone at our break Saturday morning.

On Saturday, we made leaf door hangers–one for each of us and some extras for the Thanksgiving baskets we’ll give out last month. I painted quite a few. I took pictures of quite a few really good ones–but somewhere between the ride home and Sunday morning, I lost my camera. So, I don’t have any pictures for now. (Hopefully I’ll find the camera soon.)

After we returned Saturday night, we had cheesecake at my Mom and Dad’s house for Mary’s birthday. I found a trivia question book that I’d given the family for Christmas years ago. At first I just threw the questions out to a couple of people, but by the end of the night, there were a dozen of us draped around the living room, trying to figure out which of the listed first ladies didn’t have “Smith” as their maiden name.

Sunday morning, I slept in–and then worked in the church nursery during the service. That’s when I really missed my camera. I only had three little kiddos in the nursery, but boy were they CUTE!

We closed the weekend with the movie “New in Town” (which I thoroughly enjoyed.)

Categories Family & Friends

Happy Pictures

3 Comments by

Emily Joy has started hosting a weekly themed photo challenge on her site–and I’m pleased to join in this week.

Emily Joy Photo Challenge

This week’s them is “happiness”–and I can’t think of a happier picture than this one of my cousin and his fiancee dancing.

Joe and Dana dancing

We had a talent show at our family Kolach days celebration–and Joe and Dana did some country swing (musicless) for us.

Dancing with the one you love. Moving to the music that only the two of you know. Present with your family. Happiness.

Check out the rest of the entries at Emily Joy’s photography site.

Update: This photo won first place in Emily’s contest! Thank you so much, Emily.
Emily Joy Photography First Place Winner

Categories Education

I’m home

Leave a comment by

After a jam-packed weekend in Denver at FNCE (Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo), I am now home.

I talked politics with Jeff, spent way too much money on food, attended interesting lectures, got scads of free junk, and even drove the van for a while.

I did NOT jump out of an airplane, talk to a homeless person, drink alcohol, or complain to a waiter (as others in my group did).

I graded papers, collected CPEUs (Continuing Professional Education Units), schmoozed with UNL alums, saw some of my internship preceptors, watched the unfortunate football game, and slept on Dr. K’s floor.

I attended a great session on mindful eating (more on a B3-RD post later), and an almost worthless session on blogging (it was created for someone who had little to no awareness of social media). I learned about nutrition for kids with Asperger’s and about the development of the American Dietetic Association’s Evidence Analysis Library. I cleared up a question about high fructose corn syrup (look forward to this one on a B3-RD post) and collected an awful lot of simply thick (I’ll probably post about this too–even though it’s unlikely to be useful for you personally.)

All in all, it was a good conference. I enjoyed the intellectual stimulation, the company, the food, the room, the drive (except maybe the drive back). But now I’m pretty much pooped.

Categories Education

Just call me Super-Grader

1 Comment by

In my frenzy of studying for the dreaded, now-completed RD exam (Thank you, Jesus!), I put off half-a-dozen-hundred “lesser” things.

But now that the exam is over (and I’ve passed! Man, I just can’t get over my excitement–at least, not yet!) Anyway, now that I’m done with the exam, I need to get those other things done.

Top on my list of things to get done immediately if not sooner? Grading papers. As of yesterday evening, I had 40 lab reports and 40 lab quizzes still to grade. Now, I’ve got 7 lab reports and 25 lab quizzes left to grade.

Which means I’ve graded 33 lab reports and 15 quizzes in a little more than 24 hours (and still managed to teach a lab, eat something ;-), read a bit, and get SOME sleep.) Yep, you can just call me Super-Grader!

Categories Education, Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Three Days

1 Comment by

Today, I’m thankful…

That I have just three more days before my RD exam

For those of you unfamiliar with the process of becoming a Registered Dietitian, I’ll give you a quick summary. First, a RD-hopeful must complete a qualified Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD). I completed mine in December of 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in Dietetics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Second, a RD-hopeful must complete a qualified internship including at least 900 hours of supervised practice. I completed my internship at UNL just this last July. The final step in becoming a Registered Dietitian, then, is passing the Registration Examination for Dietitians (or RD exam). This is our version of med school’s “boards”.

The RD exam is a computer-based test that will test my knowledge in five critical domains of dietetics:

  1. Food and Nutrition Science
  2. Nutrition Care Process
  3. Counseling, Communication, Education, and Research
  4. Foodservice Management
  5. General Management

The potential scope of this exam is perhaps best illustrated by the list of references the board recommends potential RD’s review prior to sitting for their exam. The list is twenty-two books long. I own just five of those titles, but that alone is over 3000 pages of information. The texts I own that are analogous to the other suggested references are just as long. So imagine a test that could cover up to 13,000 pages worth of information. Of course, the test won’t be that long. I’ll have a minimum of 125 questions and the test will take somewhere around four hours. But still, I have no way of knowing what information might show up on my exam. Which means I need to review it all (Hah!)

Needless to say, this is slightly stressful.

So today I’m thankful that in three days the stress will be over. The results are scored immediately, so I will know Sunday evening whether I’m an RD.

And, presuming that I pass, I’ll be ready to accrue some CME (Continuing Medical Education) at FNCE (Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo–the American Dietetic Association’s National Meeting) next weekend.

Categories Education, Simple Sunday

Simple Sunday: Skipping

2 Comments by

Simple Sunday icon

~Thankful for (almost) guilt-free skipping today. With one week to go before my RD Exam (and 60 lab reports to grade), I knew I needed to get down to business. So I skipped the Sunday school prayer hour, choosing instead to spend some time in the Word at home. And I skipped the Precinct meeting of the Republican party (Mom and Dad will have to catch me up later.) And I skipped Life Chain (Probably the second time I’ve missed it since it began.) And I’m currently skipping a movie night at church.

I don’t feel bad at all. I spent some hard-core time with my MNT text–and am feeling much more prepared for my exam.

I’d never even thought of skipping. I don’t skip things. Especially not church things. Or political things. I go. to. everything.

But yesterday, my Dad told me that I had “permission” to not attend the precinct meeting–and it suddenly hit me. I don’t HAVE to attend everything. Not right now, when I’ve got too much on my plate already. I don’t have to attend things just because they show up in the church bulletin or in my mailbox.

Thankful for the realization–and thankful for all the work I managed to get done on my quiet day while everyone else was attending the stuff I skipped.

Visit Davene at Life on Sylvan Drive for more Simple Sunday posts.

Categories Everyday Life

As a driver, I’m far from perfect.

1 Comment by

Everybody makes mistakes while driving. Everybody does dumb things– sometimes by accident, sometimes by design.

But when you decide to run a red light and almost hit the person across from you who’s clearing the lane? Don’t you dare honk at them.

You’ve just officially gone from dumb to idiot.

I often choose to not get riled over traffic issues–getting cut off, having someone in front of me who’s not paying attention to the road, whatever–by reminding myself that I’ve unintentionally done the same thing. And by reminding myself of how embarrassed and remorseful I am when I’ve done such a thing–I just wish I could tell the driver I cut off how sorry I am. It serves me well to assume the best of the drivers around me. I stay calm, my blood pressure stays low. All is well.

But when someone disobeys the law and then has the audacity to get upset at the ones they could have killed in their recklessness? There’s no excuse for that kind of behavior.