School, Health and Halloween

Well, Raven is in school and the first week was interesting.  We tried very hard to get some sort of routine going, but with my work schedule it just isn't possible to get anything concrete.  I will be very glad when school is over for me and I am able to get a more regular job, even if that job requires me to work graveyard shift.  At least it will be something more stable.  At least, that is the hope. But, I can say that she is finally able to get to and from school without help.

I could not do much of this without Falcon's help.  He has been there for me whenever I have needed him.  Whether it be an ear for me to vent to, or a body to wrap weary arms around, or to help me smile with his silly jokes.  He and Raven get along really well, and even though I suspect that she tries his patience once in a while, they have really started to bond a little.  At least, that is what it looks like to me. 

I am so close to finishing this degree that I can almost taste it.  Only two more terms after this one, and I will be so very ready to not have to do homework everyday.  I am grateful for a week's break between the current and next term.  My work schedule has also tripled as of this week, at least for the next three weeks, so getting everything done, spending time with Raven AND having some personal time is going to be difficult.  Falcon has got to be one of the most patient men I have ever known, and he has had to remind me occasionally of where my priorities actually lay and that he cannot be at the top of the list no matter how much I want him to be, right after Raven, of course. 

Health has to come first.  So far, I have been able to maintain somewhat free of colds and such.  I usually get really sick at least once per year. I hope not to this year.  Next comes Raven.  And then comes homework.  THEN comes Falcon.  Well, yeah. That seems kind of harsh, but as long as everyone/thing on the list gets their turn, then I'm good with that.  Raven has also been very understanding about homework and such that I have to get done before we can spend time together.

I will say that I have been putting some things off until the next day in order to spend more time with my family.  On Friday night Falcon took Raven and I to the Reno Ace's ballgame and we watched them beat the Vegas 51s.  It was a good game.  I hadn't been to an Ace's game for several years.  Not since I lived here last time and the park was not downtown at that point.  I had a really great time, but of course came home to a mound of homework that didn't get finished.  It doesn't matter to me. I need to try to keep balance in order.  I fear that the balance is going to become unbalanced this coming week.

Work has been going well even if it has been slower for me. I told my boss that I am not willing to work nights or weekends because I am not willing to pay for daycare for this job.  It is so chaotic that working at night would mean high daycare fees and I don't even want to get started with weekend rates!  So, for me the hours have been sparse, which is good for getting homework done, but not so much so for the pocketbook.  Lame, isn't it?  We work like dogs to make money, but don't have the time to spend it.  Or we have lots of time on our hands and no money to spend.

I do have my favorite holiday coming up soon.  Halloween.  For most of the nation it isn't considered a "holiday", but for me it's also Nevada Day.  I remember getting October 31st off every year from school because it's the day Nevada became a state.  I guess the powers that be have decided to mutilate this day into a three-day weekend like Labor Day (Why the heck do we celebrate that anyway?) or Memorial Day.  But otherwise, it's the most awesome time of the year.  Get dressed up, take Raven trick-or-treating.  Remember ancestors who have passed on.  It is Day of the Dead time after all.  When I lived in Reno last time, we threw a huge Halloween party. I live on that same property, and I am considering having another party.  Who knows, though.  We'll see.

My birthday was on the 29th.  It was a decent day.  I went to karaoke with Falcon which was nice.  I don't usually celebrate my birthday, but when I do, it's usually going out to sing.  I think next year I am going to throw a huge party, though.  It's a milestone birthday, and I want it to be excessively awesome.  Falcon's birthday is coming up in less than a week. I want to do something really awesome for him, but the thing I wanted to do isn't going to happen because I have to work on the night that it was going to happen.  Soooo... I don't know what's going to go down now.  He doesn't really like big parties, and he doesn't like surprises, but neither of that is going to stop me from attempting to do something sweet.

I suppose that is it for now. 

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