The Hodge Podge of April

So far, I have to say this month has been pretty good to me, and I hope it continues in that fashion. :)

--There have been some housemate changes. The long-term female renter moved out. My short term female renter will still be here til the beginning of May, and I already have one summer (May thru Aug) new housemate lined up. I will post an ad for a second housemate for the summer but for now have been relishing having solo moments in my house again. I seriously do enjoy meeting the variety of new individuals through renting, but I am SO looking forward to the day when I can truly afford to just live solo again. (Most the time solo...I still expect that I'll rent out some for fun....) This past weekend was the first time in almost a year that I'd had my house to myself for more than two days in a row. The dogs and I soaked it up. We slept with the bedroom door open. I ran around less clad than normal. We.loved.it. :)

--I've been socializing. There was a coffee date with one of my favorite gals and her babe. Easter with my family. My mom's birthday celebration. A late lunch with my original brother-from-another-mother and his wife and kiddos...who I hadn't seen in SIX years. A bachelorette party downtown. A quasi double date night at a new brewery in town. Dinner with another of my gal's and lunch with another friend. A coffee meeting with a former colleague who is trying to help get me hired at one additional local institution. And there's more coming.....I recently ran into a middle school friend of mine after not seeing her for ten years so we're grabbing lunch in a few weeks, there's a repeating girls happy hour, a kayak trip scheduled with a buddy, Dad's birthday dinner, and several other friends who I'm feeling the need to see in the coming weeks also.

--I've been taking care of medical stuff, ie I feel like I've been living at my medical provider. I've had rabies, yellow fever, polio, and mengicoccal vaccinations. I've had three TB tests (one for employment, two for pre-travel testing). I've talked to the travel clinic on the phone several times and have multiple prescriptions and the typhoid vaccination waiting for pick up. I've had routine blood work run and then blood work checking to make sure my MMR, Hep B, & chicken pox immunity is still strong. I got my eyes checked for the first time in 5 years and picked up my new glasses. I have one more rabies shot out of the series to receive and a dental appointment scheduled next month, but then I think I will have most of my medical stuff taken care of until I'm returning from Tanzania. I'm also so grateful for health insurance!

--I've been working. Spring term started and this week began routine grading. I'm teaching three courses online this term and my regular evening course. In two weeks I'll get hit with about 100 assignments, so I'm trying to plan my schedule accordingly. Now that my work schedule has sort of stabilized, I've been participating in more department meetings this term and am on a committee to help revamp one of our courses. This week I also had new employee orientation for the new teaching gig and there will be a three week online training for that job starting on Monday. One morning a week will also become Swahili lessons and meetings with our students for the trip this summer, and I've also enrolled in some community education courses to help increase my knowledge of natural medicine modalities. It's looking more and more like this might turn into a more stable thing...and if it does....well, let's just leave it at that. But I seriously feel so incredibly grateful and blessed. I'm also working at a local chiropractic office one day a week with 6-8 massages on those days...and my aunt just networked a potential other massage option for later on this summer. And over the course of the last several weeks, I've applied to several jobs in and out of state. I'm not entirely sure if I'm ready to relocated, but I'm really trying to ensure that I can meet my financial and professional goals regardless of anything else during the next several years.

There are still lots of other little things going on not noted here of course, but truthfully I've had so many moments in the last several weeks where I'm just in awe of the numerous doors opening and how plans are all sort of coming together. If things continue on the course that they have been, there's a good chance that I can be back on my own financial feet within the next year....God willing...and let's hope He's willing :)

The dogs and I also had two exploration days at the start of the new term and we've had two really good runs within the last couple of days. I got new running shoes and they discovered that the nearby gas station gives out big milk bones....so all three of us are happier ladies. :)

And with that...we're off to bed. ;)