Bullet Points!

 Things I did for the first time this week:

• Travel to a work conference
• Sing karaoke (Love is a Battlefield, in case you were wondering)
• Almost faint during a Jazzercise class

Things I learned from these experiences (respectively):

• LOTS of things about:
• helping undocumented students attend college
• iPhone apps that can help me with my work travel
• ethical practices in higher education admissions
• awesome things happening at other colleges in the Northwest, and
• mummies
• Knowing the words and/or melody to a song are not prerequisites for singing it in front of 50 strangers.  Awesome dance moves, however, are crucial.  Check, check, and check.
• I am in terrible shape/have low blood pressure/have a subconscious aversion to "On the Floor" by JLo (which my conscious self enjoys quite a bit)/need to go to the doctor

Things I did this week, but not for the first time (along with an approximate number of times I have done each of these things before)

• Had dinner at Red Robin with my sister Lisa (10-20)
• Drove across the state of Washington, round trip (40-50)
• Stopped at three different gas stations in Ellensburg so as to acquire the perfect assortment of travel snacks (at least 5)
• Spent a meal surrounded by awesome niece and nephews (not enough)
• Spent a meal with my parents (way more frequently in the past 9 months than in the preceding 2 years!)
• Made s'mores in the drizzling rain (I grew up in the Northwest, so pretty much every time I have ever made s'mores)
• Pulled several totally disgusting items out of my dog's mouth (feels infinite)

In other news:

• I am really enjoying our new church here, and hoping to attend a membership class next month
• Travis and I can't quite agree on how much to feed our puppy, now that she is really not a puppy anymore and definitely not growing up anymore (though she will most certainly continue to grow out, according to Travis, if we keep feeding her at the current rate)
• I have had several realizations lately, one of which is that my mom was my age when my parents adopted my oldest brother.  He was 14.  They also had two toddlers.  
• Today at church a woman asked me where I got my hair, and I said "my mom."  She then instructed me to tell my mom "thank you," for giving me such lovely hair.  So this is me telling you "thank you," mom!
• My headaches have been very mild the last month (maybe 2 bad ones a week), so I am, once again, cautiously optimistic.  At the very least, I am grateful for the peace and rest these little headache reprieves provide.  I was planning on signing up for a workshop on living with chronic conditions this summer, but it's hard to know right now if I'll need it.  Here's hoping I won't!  
• That said, we all know that I tend to blog less when I am headaching more, and blog more when I am headaching less, so here's hoping for some consistency in the coming months!