Two Too Tuesday

From last week's list of things to accomplish, I managed to complete my class preps on time and to groom one out of four cats. Not bad!

Two things I'd like to accomplish this week:

1. Perhaps it was a bit too ambitious of me to think that I could get all four kitties groomed in a single week, so this week the plan is to bathe and groom the beauty in the photo on the left. Hiba is, to put it mildly, a tad less "user friendly" than Maggie when it comes to bathing and drying. However, it is hilarious to watch Hiba, a la Don Quixote tilting at windmills, do battle with the grooming dryer!

2. It's time to start preparing all the necessary paperwork to get our taxes done and with all the recent changes at the business, things are a mess. While it is still early enough in the semester (i.e., before I have to start grading papers and writing exams), I need to begin the arduous task of collecting everything that the bookkeeper needs to close out the books for 2006 and file the taxes. I know that getting the entire task completed in a week is not a possibility, but putting it on my list will at least get me started!

One thing that I'm TOO grateful for:

I am incredibly thankful for yesterday, as it was a lesson in gratitude in a multitude of ways. There is a handicapped student in each of my three classes to remind me that I have no reason to feel sorry for my own maladies.

How could I possibly bemoan a temporary problem with double vision in my right eye after meeting a young woman with Bell's Palsy on the right side of her face so severe that her right eye droops lifelessly and her mouth hangs half opened, slurring her speech. I had a bout with Bell's Palsy several years ago but because I was lucky enough to have caught it early and to have gotten treatment immediately, it lasted only a couple of weeks with no residual effects; hers has been going on for two months already with no end in sight.

And feel sorry for myself because of seizures? Please! At the end of one class, a very nice young lady introduced herself to me and explained that she had to wear a couple of electronic devices at all times because she is juvenile diabetic. One device is her insulin pump and the other is an emergency life alert alarm to be used in case something goes wrong with the insulin pump.

Finally, the bravest of them all is a beautiful young woman in a wheelchair who, after I jokingly told the class that I didn't have to worry about parking problems on campus because I had my own personal chauffeur, quipped that she also had a driver, waited with me for our chariots to arrive and take us away. As we talked, she explained that she had had back surgery just 4 weeks ago and was still in a body cast, that's why her mother had to drive her to and from school. I learned that this remarkable individual is confined to a wheelchair permanently but before she could tell me why, her mother arrived. Meeting my student's mom was especially nice because she thought I was her daughter's classmate! And for that, I am TOOOOOOOOO grateful!

Two Too Tuesday

Because I don't want to be serious all the time, I'd like to start something fun with my blog. Beginning today and each Tuesday hereafter, insh'Allah, I will blog about TWO things that I'd like to accomplish during the week and one thing that I'm TOO grateful for that I might otherwise not pay TOO much attention to.

Two Too Tuesday

Two things I'd like to accomplish this week:

1. Class preps! With the spring semester beginning in just six days, I really need to finish my syllabi ASAP. In an ideal world, I would also prepare all the quizzes, exams, and paper prompts well in advance. Since realism is the name of my game, though, I will gladly settle for three completed syllabi.

2. Bathe and groom my kitties. Persian cats are absolutely gorgeous, but keeping them runway beautiful requires a lot of time. And since time is something that I haven't had much of lately, my girls (that's one of my Champions in the photo) are beginning to look a lot more like alley cats than the pampered queens they know they are. They give me so much affection and attention that it's about time they got some in return.

One thing that I'm TOO grateful for:

When my neurologist gave me the news that she would have to "turn me in" to the Department of Motor Vehicles and I would lose my driving privileges, it felt as though the last of my freedoms had been yanked away. Suffering from seizures was bad enough but add to that the tremendous guilt of becoming a burden to my family, and I felt that I was a walking recipe for disaster. Rather than allow me to wallow in self-inflicted misery, my husband has become my personal chauffeur without a single complaint. His attitude toward the whole situation has made an otherwise frightening and frustrating situation rather bearable, alhamdulillah, and I am TOO grateful for that.