Feeling Overwhelmed....

I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately and its really starting to freak me out. I have so much to complete lately and I’m not sure how I am ever going to get it all done. I just want to crawl into bed and hide for a little while.

The end of the semester is coming up and this is the time I start to get overworked with homework, studying for finals, finishing up projects, etc. For my Business Class, I have two internet assignments, Corporate Consent Resolutions to draft, four chapters to read and to complete the discussion questions at the end of each chapter. All due in two weeks. Then I have a professional portfolio and a report to write for the final. Ugh!!! I have four weeks to complete that.

Then of course, I have Unit #5 to complete for Math of Finance, including 3 chapters to read, three quizzes to take, and a final on May 8th.

I also volunteered to be the co-chair of the Education Committee for the Madison Area Paralegal Association. I’ve already started looking for speakers next year and have one lined up!! I’ll be taking over as the chairperson next year and also will be the First Vice President as well. I guess its one more thing for my resume.

Also, I’m completing my paralegal internship. Fortunately I am able to use my current employment for that. However, I have Weekly Reports to complete every week, an Ethics Project due at the end of May and a professional portfolio of all my past work to pull together.
I’m also trying to prepare for the Real Estate Law Class I’m taking this summer. Unfortunately, that will be falling to the back burner for now.

And finally, I start my first CASA case on Tuesday. I am very excited to meet my family, two toddler girls and an infant boy currently living in foster care. I can’t wait to get started but its just one more thing to add to my plate.

Oh wait one more thing. Josh and I are going to look at a 4-unit apartment complex we are thinking about buying as an investment property. If everything goes well, we will be landlords by July 1st.

Now, all the events I have coming up….

CASA is having their large fundraiser on Saturday night. This should be fun; there’s a band, four comedians, a silent auction, and a hors d’oeuvre and dessert bar. Then we have a party we are supposed to go to afterwards but I doubt we will make it there.

Next week, I have a MAPA event and the Lambda Epsilon Chi (National Honor Society for Paralegal Studies) induction ceremony. Thursday is CASA Lobby Day at the state capitol. We get to meet with our state legislators and lobby for funding for CASA. Friday is a Tupperware Party but I might skip that as I’m running the Crazylegs Classic 8k the next morning.

The following week I have Book Club Tuesday night, class on Wednesday, a concert on Thursday, and a birthday party on Saturday.

Woooo- I’m tired just reading this….

What else?

I’m going to the Billy Joel and Elton John concert on May 7th which I’m really looking forward to.
My dad is having surgery on May 7 so I’ll be spending some of that weekend with him.
Girls’ Weekend in the Dells May 15-17. Two good friends are coming down from Minnesota for this so I have to go.
I’m participating in a webinar “The Paralegal’s Role in Bankruptcy Proceedings.”
Another girls’ weekend in the Dells May 29-30 for my sister’s birthday and she’ll slaughter me if I don’t go.
Somewhere in there, I would like to make it to Oshkosh and Green Bay to visit two friends who have both had babies.

I figure I’ll finally get to sleep around July.

I'm so excited!!!

I found out that I get to start CASA training on Thursday nights!!! The classes are from 6-9 pm on Thursday for the next 8 weeks. I had applied for a volunteer position with Dane County CASA last spring but was unable to attend the training because it conflicted with my school schedule. And then, the Executive Director quit her job and they weren't holding any more trainings until they found a new one. Well, they have found a new one and trainings begin on Thursday.
CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates. The volunteers work with children within the foster care system, acting as a go-between for the judge, social worker, foster family, GAL, teachers, parents and the child. These are children where these is a substantiated case of abuse and the ultimate goal is to provide a way to safely reunite the children with their parents. Each volunteer is assigned one child or family if there are siblings. This way the volunteers can act as the "eyes and ears" of the court and are expected to report back to the court on a monthly basis.
Anyways, I'm so excited that I finally get to do this. I've been wanting to volunteer for CASA for years and now I finally have the opportunity to do it.

Book Review: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Diaz"

Narrated by an old college roommate named Junior, "Oscar Wao" is, among other things, the story of Oscar LaInca - an overweight, sci-fi reading, Dungeons and Dragons playing, "ghetto nerd," whose nickname is Spanglish for Oscar Wilde (meant as an insult, alluding to both Wilde's girth and sexuality).

Although Dominican, Oscar completely defies the machismo stereotype, and given that he lives in the more-than-a-little-rough Paterson, NJ, Oscar spends most of his time in his bedroom where he can safely escape behind his Akira posters, Tolkien and role-playing games when he isn't in the midst of an obsessive and wholly one-sided love affair with some disinterested female. As can be easily inferred from the title, Oscar's life is brief; yet, Junior must span two countries and three generations in order to tell the story of it. He begins by explaining that the LaInca family is said to have suffered from a powerful fuku (curse) earned when Oscar's grandfather angered Trujillo.

Anticipating that most readers may have "missed your mandatory two seconds of Dominican history," Junior explains:

Trujillo, one of the twentieth century's most infamous dictators, ruled the Dominican Republic between 1930 and 1961 with an implacable ruthless brutality. A portly, sadistic, pig-eyed mulato who bleached his skin, wore platform shoes, and had a fondness for Napoleon-ear haberdashery, Trujillo (known as El Jefe, the Failed Cattle Thief, and Fuckface) came to control nearly every aspect of the DR's political, cultural, social, and economic life through a potent (and familiar) mixture of violence, intimidation, massacre, rape, co-optation, and terror...He was our Sauron, our Arawn, our Darkseid, our One and Future Dictator, a personaje so outlandish, so perverse, so dreadful that not even a sci-fi writer could have made his ass up.

The story of the Trujillo-era Dominican Republic becomes the backdrop for Díaz’s tale, which is equal parts coming-of-age novel, historical fiction, and epic family saga that seamlessly weaves hip-hop, feminism, mythology, science fiction and magical realism throughout.

And if I haven't made it clear enough by my rambling and overly long overview, I loved it. Admittedly, it took a little while for me to fully get into it, but was hooked come fifty pages in. I felt two sorts of sadness at the novel's conclusion: one for the sweet, brave, pathetic Oscar, and the other because I simply didn't want it to be over

Resolutions for the New Year

I know that resolutions are a bit cliche and have never made them myself but, since this is a new year, I figured I would give it a try.

Fitness Goals
1) Run a 5k. I'm currently on Week 5 of the C25K program and have registered for my first 5k on Valentine's Day!
2) Run a 8k and 10k.
3) Lose 43 pounds before my high school reunion in June. This means consistently losing about 2 pounds per week.
4) Take a long distance running training class in the fall.
5) Swim lessons this summer. I can't swim very well right now. Hopefully lessons will help. The local tech. college offers adult swim lessons in the evenings.
6) Log 5000 fitness minutes on Spark. This breaks down to 90-100 minutes per week.
7) Run 500 miles in 2009. This is an average of 9-10 miles per week.
8) Do "man" push-ups. No more modified pushups!!
9) Just for fun; do the splits. I haven't done these since high school but my yoga will really improve.

My workout schedule is to aim for 30 minutes of cardio M-F and 15 minutes of strength training at least twice a week. I plan to concentrate on the running and losing weight. Once I get down closer to my goal weight, I will start concentrating on toning and strength building more.

Nutrition Goals
1) Eliminate meat, dairy and all animal products from my diet.
- Read books about vegan nutrition
-No FAST FOOD!!
-Plan weekly meals on Sunday.
-Pack lunch the night before.
-Collect bulk recipes for the week.
-Clear out "bad" food and donate to food pantry. (Although I feel a bit guilty about this; since you can't afford to buy food, you deserve to eat crap?)

Other Goals
1) Make a dent in the credit cards. Pay approximately 200-300 dollars per month towards debt.
2) Get my paralegal certification after graduation this spring.
3) Apply to bachelor's programs.
4) Get through the books in my To Be Read Pile:

*These are books I actually own, just have not read yet!*

Atonement: A Novel
His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass)
The Russian Concubine
Twilight
New Moon
Eclipse
Breaking Dawn
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister
The Glass Castle: A Memoir
The Imaginary Girlfriend
The Undomestic Goddess
Snow Falling on Cedars
Nineteen Minutes
The Tortilla Curtain
Love in the Time of Cholera
Promiscuities : The Secret Struggle for Womanhood
The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living
Salem Falls
The Pilot's Wife
The Poisonwood Bible
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
A Separate Peace
Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women
Lord of the Flies
Miracles Happen: The Life and Timeless Principles of the Founder of Mary Kay Inc.
Picture Perfect
Paris Trout
The Pearl
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction
A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines
The Mermaid Chair
Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker
Step-by-Step Sewing Course: Essential Techniques for Making Over 150 Creative Home Projects
Change of Heart
How the Pro-choice Movement Saved America: Freedom, Politics, And the War on Sex
The Last Lecture
Gilgamesh: A New English Version
Wideacre: A Novel (Wideacre Trilogy, Book 1)
Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey
Martha Stewart's Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
On Writing
Bel Canto

In Memory

This pic demonstrates

just how short grandma really is.

Today is the 5th anniversary of my mother's death. It doesn't get any easier. My therapist suggested that I remember the good things about our relationship and not to dwell on any last regrets.

My mom and her two sisters

as bridemaids for my aunt Dawn

My favorite memory of my mom was at my grandparents' house for Christmas Eve. Every year when I was growing up, my mom and her sister would pile me, my sister and our two cousins in to the 1978 Ford Ltd. that we called Urma. We would make the one-hour drive to Mukwango every year and usually it was snowing. The four of us would drive our mothers insane, I'm sure.

Mom and Charlie

The one that sticks out most in my mind, I was a little older, I believe about 14 or 15 years old. It was a family tradition to play some game, usually one that required us to sing and generally look like idiots.

Mom

Anyways, this year, as usual, my mom was winning. And being quite the sore winner if I recall correctly. So someone threw a paper plate at her. That one plate turned into an all-out paper plate war with just my mom, sister and myself making up one team. It was us against the rest of the family.

Sue, Janet (my mom) and Patty

I don't remember who won that fight. I'm sure it ended when someone got hurt.

Here's to you, Mom. I miss you so much.

*Sorry the pics are so small. This was the best resolution I could find.

Running

I ran for the first time in over a year today. I found a beginning running program on www.coolrunning.com and I was a little wary of trying it. But I did and I found it much easier than I thought. I warmed up for 5 minutes and then ran for 60 seconds and walked for 90 seconds for a total of 30 minutes. It was great! I felt very awake and motivated afterwards. I plan to reward myself with a long soak in the hot tub after my stepdaughter, T. goes to bed!

November 19- This Day in History

Today is my birthday and fortunately I still like them. I'm now 28! Next year will be the last birthday I celebrate EVER!!! I am NOT turning 30. Anyways, since today is a special day (to me, at least) I thought that I would share some fun facts about November 19 (from Wikipedia).

• 1095 - The Council of Clermont, called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land, begins.
• 1493 - Christopher Columbus goes ashore on an island he first saw the day before. He names it San Juan Bautista (later renamed Puerto Rico).
• 1794 - The United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign Jay's Treaty, which attempts to resolve some of the lingering problems left over from the American Revolutionary War.
• 1816 - Warsaw University is established.
• 1847 - The second Canadian railway line, the Montreal and Lachine Railway, is opened.
• 1863 - American Civil War: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the military cemetery ceremony at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. - good to know, I never knew this!
• 1881 - A meteorite lands near the village of Grossliebenthal, southwest of Odessa, Ukraine.
• 1916 - Samuel Goldwyn and Edgar Selwyn establish Goldwyn Pictures (the company later became one of the most successful independent filmmakers).
• 1941 - World War II: Battle between HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran. The two ships sink each other off the coast of Western Australia, with the loss of 645 Australians and about 77 German seamen.
• 1942 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad - Soviet Union forces under General Georgy Zhukov launch the Operation Uranus counterattacks at Stalingrad, turning the tide of the battle in the USSR's favor.
• 1943 - Holocaust: Nazis liquidate Janowska concentration camp in Lemberg (Lviv), western Ukraine, murdering at least 6,000 Jews after a failed uprising and mass escape attempt.
• 1944 - World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the 6th War Loan Drive, aimed at selling $14 billion USD in war bonds to help pay for the war effort.
• 1946 - Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden join the United Nations.
• 1950 - US General Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes supreme commander of NATO-Europe
• 1955 - National Review publishes its first issue.
• 1959 - The Ford Motor Company announces the discontinuation of the unpopular Edsel.
• 1967 - The establishment of TVB, the first wireless commercial television station in Hong Kong.
• 1969 - Apollo program: Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean land at Oceanus Procellarum (the "Ocean of Storms") and become the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon.
• 1969 - Football player Pelé scores his 1,000th goal.
• 1976 - Jaime Ornelas Camacho takes office as the first President of the Regional Government of Madeira, Portugal.
• 1977 - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel, when he meets Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and speaks before the Knesset in Jerusalem, seeking a permanent peace settlement.
• 1977 - Transportes Aereos Portugueses Boeing 727 crashes in Madeira islands killing 130.
• 1979 - Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the US Embassy in Tehran.
• 1984 - A series of explosions at the PEMEX petroleum storage facility at San Juan Ixhuatepec in Mexico City starts a major fire and kills about 500 people.
• 1985 - Cold War: In Geneva, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time.
• 1985 - Pennzoil wins a $10.53 billion USD verdict against Texaco, in the largest civil verdict in the history of the United States, stemming from Texaco executing a contract to buy Getty Oil after Pennzoil had entered into an unsigned, yet still binding, buyout contract with Getty.
• 1988 - Serbian communist representative and future Serbian and Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic publicly declares that Serbia is under attack from Albanian separatism in Kosovo as well as internal treachery within Yugoslavia and a foreign conspiracy to destroy Serbia and Yugoslavia.
• 1990 - Pop group Milli Vanilli are stripped of their Grammy Award because the duo did not sing at all on the Girl You Know It’s True album. Session musicians had provided all the vocals. - Oh I am so proud
• 1994 - In Great Britain, the first National Lottery draw is held. A £1 ticket gave a one-in-14-million chance of correctly guessing the winning six out of 49 numbers.
• 1996 - Lt. Gen. Maurice Baril of Canada arrives in Africa to lead a multi-national policing force in Zaire.
• 1997 - In Des Moines, Iowa, Bobbi McCaughey gives birth to septuplets in the second known case where all seven babies were born alive. They would go on to become the first set of septuplets to survive infancy, with all seven alive in 2008.
• 1998 - Lewinsky scandal: The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee begins impeachment hearings against U.S. President Bill Clinton.
• 1998 - Vincent van Gogh's Portrait of the Artist Without Beard sells at auction for $71.5 million USD.
• 1999 - Shenzhou 1: The People's Republic of China launches its first Shenzhou spacecraft.
• 1999 - In Istanbul, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ends a two-day summit by calling for a political settlement in Chechnya and adopting a Charter for European Security.

I also share my birthday with some cool people:
1917 - Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (d. 1984)
1933 - Larry King, American TV personality
1938 - Ted Turner, American businessman
1939 - Tom Harkin, American politician
1941 - Tommy Thompson, former U.S. Governor of Wisconsin
1942 - Calvin Klein, American clothing designer
1942 - Sharon Olds, American poet
1961 - Meg Ryan, American actress
1962 - Jodie Foster, American actress