Well, it’s spring break now. I finally got all of my final papers/projects/exams turned in, and I don’t have to be back in the classroom until March 27!!! However, I very much feel like this is a pause, and not a break. Why?

Well, for starters, I will be working most of the break. The few days I won’t be working are Thursday-Sunday, and that’s because the boy and I are going to Florida to visit my parents. I’m excited about that because I get to see my parents and I will get to be at MY church for Easter (I miss my church). However, it won’t be much of a break because I have THREE doctors appointments while I’m there.

When we get back, I still have a few days off from school left, but I’ll still have work, and I think that my rotation supervisor is going to make me come in to school even though we’re on break. Sigh.

So, I’m not really going to get a whole lot of breakin’ in. Just a pause in school. I can’t wait to be done with this. I’m not even sure if I’m going to get to do any spring cleaning or get my hair cut (like I DESPERATELY need).

Anyone got spring plans or projects?

It’s the Ultimate Blog Party, and it’s coming soon! I invite you all to join me as I party with those crazy moms at 5 Minutes For Mom during their week long blog party March 2-9.

Not only is it a party, but it’s a prize giveaway as well! Just head on over to their blog and sign the guest book (aka, Mr. Linky) by 12pm Eastern on March 8, 2007. If you invite your friends via a post on your blog and put up an invite button, then you are eligible for a prize! Prizes will be awarded on March 9. And if you look at their prize page, you’ll see that there is some great stuff listed! And if you have something to offer, they are still expanding their prize list - you have a month to get on board. What a great way to get the word out about your blog and who you are!

You’ll see the party there, here, and at blogs all over the blogosphere. So come on, and join us! Use this as an opportunity to meet some bloggers that you may not know, and to get your own name out there!

Something interesting I stumbled upon. This comes from Charles J. Sykes, author of Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can’t Read, Write, Or Add.

Rule No. 1: Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teen-ager uses the phrase “It’s not fair” 8.6 times a day. You got it from your parents, who said it so often you decided they must be the most idealistic generation ever. When they started hearing it from their own kids, they realized Rule No. 1.

Rule No. 2: The real world won’t care as much about your self-esteem as much as your school does. It’ll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock. Usually, when inflated self-esteem meets reality, kids complain that it’s not fair. (See Rule No. 1)

Rule No. 3: Sorry, you won’t make $40,000 a year right out of high school. And you won’t be a vice president or have a car phone either. You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn’t have a Gap label.

Rule No. 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait ’til you get a boss. He doesn’t have tenure, so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up, he’s not going to ask you how you feel about it.

Rule No. 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity. They weren’t embarrassed making minimum wage either. They would have been embarrassed to sit around talking about Kurt Cobain all weekend.

Rule No. 6: It’s not your parents’ fault. If you screw up, you are responsible. This is the flip side of “It’s my life,” and “You’re not the boss of me,” and other eloquent proclamations of your generation. When you turn 18, it’s on your dime. Don’t whine about it, or you’ll sound like a baby boomer.

Rule No. 7: Before you were born your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents’ generation, try delousing the closet in your bedroom.

Rule No. 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life hasn’t. In some schools, they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. Failing grades have been abolished and class valedictorians scrapped, lest anyone’s feelings be hurt. Effort is as important as results. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life. (See Rule No. 1, Rule No. 2 and Rule No. 4.)

Rule No. 9: Life is not divided into semesters, and you don’t get summers off. Not even Easter break. They expect you to show up every day. For eight hours. And you don’t get a new life every 10 weeks. It just goes on and on. While we’re at it, very few jobs are interested in fostering your self-expression or helping you find yourself. Fewer still lead to self-realization. (See Rule No. 1 and Rule No. 2.)

Rule No. 10: Television is not real life. Your life is not a sitcom. Your problems will not all be solved in 30 minutes, minus time for commercials. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to jobs. Your friends will not be as perky or pliable as Jennifer Aniston.

Rule No. 11: Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them. We all could.

Rule No. 12: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you’re out cruising, watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his mouth. That’s what you look like to anyone over 20. Ditto for “expressing yourself” with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.

Rule No. 13: You are not immortal. (See Rule No. 12.) If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is romantic, you obviously haven’t seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.

Rule No. 14: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school’s a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you’ll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now. You’re welcome.

I found this meme over at A High and Hidden Place, and it looks like too much fun!

20 Years Ago: (age 2)

My mom read to me allll the time! I’ve been a big fan of books and reading since day one. There’s also a really cute picture of me when I was about 2 1/2. I’m sitting in a big rocking chair, and my little brother is in my lap (he’s about a month old), and I’m “reading” a book to him . . . and the book is upside down.

10 Years Ago: (age 12)

When I was this age, my punishment was getting the TV taken away, it wasn’t being grounded . . . It was taking my books away. I HATED it. Also when I was 12, I started to write a book, which I finished when I was 13. It’s a for real book - think Baby-Sitter’s Club genre. I’ve gone back and read it, and while it needs a LOT of work, I have actually really considered doing something with it . . .

5 Years Ago: (age 17)

At 17 I was a senior in high school, and I was getting so burned out on all the school reading that I kind of quit reading for pleasure. I hated it, because I looooved to read. I just couldn’t do it.

3 Years ago: (age 19)

At 19 I was kind of in the same place as I was at 17. I had tried to get back into reading after graduation, but when I went to college I majored in English and theatre . . . so was reading CONSTANTLY for class. I just couldn’t get myself to read for pleasure.

Last Year: (age 21)

I decided to heck with it about school reading, and every time I had a break from school (fall break, spring break, Christmas, Easter, you name it) I would read about a book a day. I still do that.

This Month: (age 22)

Now I have started grad school, so I’m working at finding a balance between reading for pleasure and reading for class. It’s been difficult. Becoming active in Bookcrossing has helped.

3 Favorite Reading Locations:
- my bed
- outside by the pool at home in FL
- the coffee shop at school

3 Reading habits:
- when I start a book, I will usually finish it in the next 24 hours
- if I’m in public, I HAVE to be listening to music while I read
- I have 2 bookshelves full of books that I haven’t read

3 Things that distract me:
- other people
- movies
- schoolwork

3 Favorite Book Beverages:
- Diet Coke
- cup of coffee
- espresso-y drink from Starbucks

3 Favorite bookmarks:
- my mother makes bookmarks, so my favorites are all beaded bookmarks made by her!

So . . . what about YOU?

Breast pain (mastalgia) is the most common breast related complaint among women; nearly 70% of women experience breast pain at some point in their lives. Breast pain may occur in one or both breasts or in the underarm (axilla) region of the body. The severity of breast pain varies from woman to woman; approximately 15% of women require treatment. Though breast pain is not normally associated with breast cancer, women who experience any breast abnormalities, including breast pain, should consult their physicians.

This post is for the Blogathon 2006! I am blogging for The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. For more information about what I am doing, please click here!