Birthday Wishes, Stomach Bugs, Fellowship News, Tutor Demo, Starting School, and Little Boys Who Want to Start School

These past few weeks have been erratic, heartbreaking, and a huge still undecided whirlwind.

First, on the 18th, we accepted a position at TTUHSC for Pain Fellowship!!! 

Second, Nicholas turned 5 on the 19th!!  We planned for him to have a birthday party at Legacy Play Village at 10am on Sat, Aug. 22.  Grandma and Grandpa Ozuna drove to visit, and we had all the food bought (thank goodness I chose to do sandwiches and not pizza) and everything was ready.  The morning of the party, Nicholas threw up twice!!!  He was so broken hearted.  Luckily, he had gotten a Nintendo DS for his birthday from Grandma Spencer and played it all day.  He took a nap around 9:30am that morning, and by 12:00pm, he was laughing, running and playing again.  Basically he was out for the count just long enough to miss his party.  I guess we can relish in the idea that someone got to spend the morning at the table we reserved on our $50.  Oh, well…stuff happens.

We have rescheduled his party.  He’s excited, but the poor boy has had to wait a whole week and a half past his birthday.  I think he thinks it will never get here.

In other news, I got my Infinity Online Math Tutoring demo up, finally.  WHEW!  I am learning all about working with Windows “Crazy” Maker…and how everything has to be in this nice and neat order or it doesn’t recognize it. 

I did 2 tries on my first podcast today.  I am going to offer free podcasts on areas of math where students have trouble.  My first one is on adding and subtracting integers.  So far, I am having to trouble shoot the fact that my talking is much faster than my video…I guess I’ll be at it again trying to make this work.  No converting problems this time…just recording problems.  Hopefully I will get this troubleshooted (troubleshot?) and know what settings work best for my delivery on camera.  Im really excited about doing this and hope that it will also help to bring people to my website and get the word out on my online tutoring.

Nicholas started school this week!  He likes it more and more everyday.  I plan on writing a post with pictures on this soon.  I just haven’t been bitten by the writing bug lately.

Christian was NOT happy about having to stay home while Bubba was at school.  Everyday he asks to go sit down and color when we go to drop Nicholas off at school.  Everyday he expects to wear his backpack on his back and go pick up Nicholas at school.  Everyday he tells me, “Mommy, I go to school!”  Poor guy doesn’t understand “You get to go in 2 weeks.”  He also doesn’t understand that his school will NOT be Bubba’s.  I guess we will cross that bridge when we get there.

Another Ozuna Family Week

We’ve had a great week!  Grandpa Mason came to visit and left today.  I’ve got some pictures I will load up later.  The boys thoroughly enjoyed having Grandpa Mason to play with this weekend since Ed was on nights.  Mommy loved that Grandpa Mason was here to play! 

Mason and I went and played Tennis on Saturday in the heat of the day.  I lasted for about 40 minutes before having to seek out shade.  I don’t know how he does it.  I’m a heat wuss. 

We also went out to eat with Mason at Furrs.  Christian ventured out and tried sweet potatoes.  He liked them, but still only ate a couple bites of dinner.  On Friday we had Edamame again (soy beans in pods for those of you who don’t know what that is).  Nicholas ate about 10 pods all by himself!  (Wahoo for a green veggie crossing his lips!)  That’s the second time in a week I have served that to him successfully. 

We saw Ed as much as possible.  He was able to go eat at Furrs with us, but he slept most of the day and then left to go to work shortly after waking up. 

Grandpa Mason got Nicholas and Christian some presents for birthdays.  He brought Talking Live Elmo.  Elmo tells jokes, stories, sings and dances…and Christian LOVES him!  He thinks it is funny when Elmo “bites” his finger (he puts his finger in as Elmo closes his mouth)  Nicholas received an Optimus Prime Transformer!  He is very excited about the gift and has been playing with it nonstop.  He can completely transform him both to a truck and into Optimus Prime all by himself!  He was so excited!

Exciting news this week:  Christian started pedaling his own bike petals!  We are planning on buying a new bike for Nicholas for his birthday, so Christian will soon has his big brother’s bike.  He rode Nicholas’s bike last night and was able to pedal it completely one time (even with the seat setup on the highest setting).  He’s getting to be such a big boy!  Also, he will now eat turkey lunchmeat and hotdogs!!!  That is a huge step forward.  On the funny side of that, he calls it all “Bake”= his name for bacon.  It is because I told him that it tastes like bacon or sausage that he tries it.  Funny kid!

This next week we have a doctor’s appointment for me and a dentist appointment for Nicholas.  Eddie will also possibly be going to Maryland next weekend.  We hope to hear something from Cleveland Clinic in Ohio tomorrow.  I’ll let you know what happens, although I don’t know when we will have a final decision on anything…too much is up in the air.

So long for now!

Busy, Busy Month

August is finally here! I’d say it is the month I have been waiting for, but I really didn’t know it was the month I would be waiting for. The thing about this fellowship application/interview business is that we didn’t know when we would know anything. Now it is all starting to clear up.

All I am allowed to say so far is, Ed got an offer from Texas Tech on Friday for a January 2011 spot. He interviewed at Cleveland a little over a week ago, and they finish their last day of interviews on Monday of this next week. They told him that they would notify people of offers in the next two weeks. Ed felt good about Cleveland. He is supposed to be going to Philly this month, but has decided to cancel that interview. I think he’d rather go to Tech than Philly, so he decided to save us some money. He is also scheduled to go to Maryland for 2 interviews this month. The thing is that he is supposed to give Tech and answer around the same time, so it is not likely he’ll be able to interview and get an offer before having to decide. We are still going to go to Maryland and interview, I think--and also enjoy a little vacation. I’m super excited. I have to make sure it is good with my boss with my Avon Admin, but I am sure it will be.

Grandpa Mason is coming to spend a few days with us this next week! The boys are excited about the visit, and so am I! I cannot wait to play tennis with Mason!

Grandma and Grandpa Ozuna are coming to spend a week (most likely) with us for Nicholas’s birthday and so that Ed and I can go out of town. We are excited to have them come. We haven’t yet told the boys because they will ask us everyday until they are here if we mention it now.

Nicholas is having his birthday party the weekend before school starts. He is super excited to have a Transformers party. We have invited a few close friends that he plays with often. We are going to have it at Legacy Play Village. ( I just remembered I was supposed to go pay for that---shoot! I’ll have to call them on Monday).

Schools starts for Nicholas on Monday, Aug. 24th. He’s excited. We went today and got his and Christian’s fall clothes. They are getting so big!! Nicholas is in size 5, and Christian is in 3T!!! Some of Nicholas’s 4T shirts fit Christian. He’s just a big boy.

I have continued working out this week, but I changed up my routine. My muscles are screaming at me (and have been for a week) because of the classes I have been taking. I have been playing tennis once a week (except for this week. I was supposed to go today, but got rained out).

I’m still marketing my online tutoring, but kind of at a standstill until school begins and first tests come back. My goal is to have my first client or two in September. Wish me luck, and refer anyone you come across to my website, http://infinityonlinemathtutoring.com

You all have a nice night! I’m going to bed.

Fellowship, Tutoring, Daily Activities and Birthday Parties

Hello friends (and family)!  It is the beginning of a new week.  I’m sitting here on my 3rd cup of coffee and the boys are watching Dora and Diego on the TV.  I’m due at the gym in about 45 minutes. 

Apparently, Nicholas “wants to do something fun, but nothing is right now.”  He’s been put on the couch because he won’t quick aggravating his brother.  He has definitely learned the art of pushing Christian’s buttons. 

This week is an exciting one.  It marks the beginning of Ed’s big wave of interviews.  He has one on Friday (Texas Tech) and then one on Monday (Cleveland Clinic).  These are both Top 5 schools and he is really excited for getting interviews to both and even more excited that they are so close to each other.  I am not sure if I explained this, but the way this works is that he interviews and they either invite him to a position or not.  Once they invite him, he has about 2 weeks to decide if he accepts or not.  The catch is that he may have other interviews he has yet to go on.  We’ll have to see how all of this turns out.  It’s quite dramatic around our house when it comes to applying for fellowships.  Everything is up in the air for a while.

I get my interview portion on Thursday night (they are not really interviewing me, but they get to know me better) at dinner for Tech.  It’s kind of nerve-racking even for me because I have to be careful not to say the wrong thing while still being pleasant.  I always have a hard time speaking to new people (I get a little quiet).  I never know what exactly to say.

This past weekend was awesome!  The boys and I almost got Daddy for the whole weekend!!  He was scheduled for Trauma backup on Saturday, but got home at 9:00am!  This let us have lots of fun with him this weekend.  The boys went to the park with him, we all went on a walk, we went and played golf and went out to eat twice!!!  Lots of fun!!!  This is the first time in several weeks where we have had almost an entire weekend with Daddy without work.  VERY NICE!!!

Other things we plan to do this week?  Library, Playgroup, Playing everyday at the Falls while Mommy works out (they love this). 

On the tutoring front, I have had a couple successes—but still no clients.  Summer is hard for new tutoring clients.  My next door neighbor has a friend who is supposed to call me for this fall to tutor college math.  Also, I went to Nicholas’s school this weekend to help paint and mentioned to her that I was the one who had emailed her earlier in the summer about donating one hour a week to tutor at their school.  She was really nice and excited that I wanted to give my time.  She also mentioned that if I am certified that she hires teachers to tutor in the spring for money.  That would be paying work during daytime hours!  Also it would be really flexible work hours.  I told her I would seriously consider it in the spring. 

I have also started using Twitter (notice the updates in the right hand corner of my blog?)  I’m liking it, but not many of my friends are on it.  Anyway, if you are, let me know!  I’d love to “follow” you! 

Also, we are working on planning Nicholas’s birthday.  Right now it looks like it might be on August 22nd.  He has opted to forgo Safety City in favor for Legacy Play Village (that big park out west of town—he’s had his party there before).  We are looking at morning around 10am since it is so hot.  I need to check on reserving a table, so I will get you more info soon!

Well, I’ve gotten in an ear-full this morning!  Have a great day!!!

What’s the Word?

I’m sitting here on my third cup of coffee, and still feeling tired.  It’s 8 am right now.  I’ve been up since 7:00am when the boys came in chanting “Mommy! There’s a 7 on the clock!  What can we have for breakfast today?”  Gotta love’em! 

This week has been pretty busy for us.  We found out Ed got an interview at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio!  This is great!  That means he has interviews at 2 “Top 5” schools!  (the other one is Texas Tech).  He will have that interview on July 27th, I believe.  This means he is gone for 4 interviews in Late July and All of August. 

He also mentioned that he will possibly be going to El Paso for a one month rotation sometime after October.  We don’t know if he is going yet, and we don’t know exactly when it will be…so here’s to hoping it is in October or after the New Year.  He will also be gone for the whole month of April this year (he’s going to Dallas Children’s again like he did last November).  Unfortunately Christian’s birthday will be during that time, so we are going to plan a late March birthday party for him.

Ed’s 32nd birthday was Tuesday.  We went to breakfast (he was on call that night) to celebrate, and we have been getting the house ready for today’s party.  He  wanted to have coworkers over to celebrate.  I have been cleaning all week in preparation.  We are going to have horseshoes, video games, possibly a poker game, and hamburgers/hotdogs.  We are excited!  The boys will have some kids to play with, and we can all have some conversation.  Since they work together, I am sure a lot of the conversation will be work-driven, but that is okay since it does consume our lives and that is what we are.  Last we checked there would be over 23 adults and about 7-8 kids (not including ours, I think).  I hope we will all fit in our house!!!

I am still working on leads and getting  clients for Infinity Online Math Tutoring.  This week I added some content to my website, called some school districts (I have to call next week when they all get back to school-I was unable to talk with anyone this week), made brochures to have put in cubbies at Nicholas’s old daycare, and struck up a deal with the owner of Jump and Jungle to display my business cards.  I have a huge stack of Jump and Jungle business cards to hand out too. 

Since this Math Tutoring business, plus tutoring on Tutor.com, plus doing admin stuff for Avon is taking up so much time, I have decided to stop selling Avon.  Truthfully, I know I can make more per hour doing these other things rather than selling.  Luckily, since I am in admin, I still have an account and can still order things, so if you need something that you have been ordering, let me know and I can get it for you.  I am not seeking new customers or ordering books anymore, though.  This means I can get my discount still, and order for myself (primarily Christmas and birthday gifts). 

Nicholas and Christian are doing really good!  Christian is very accident-prone.  We are having to be really careful with him when he is sitting at the table to eat.  We are putting 2 chairs beside him on either side to “break” any potential falls.  Unfortunately he fell from his chair head first the other day (we have tile under the table).  Luckily Ed was sitting next to him and was able to grab a foot in the air and “break” his fall so that he did not seriously injure himself.  He ended up with a red mark on his head, but it disappeared a moment later.  I was so thankful that Ed was there, because I would have been rushing my son to the ER and praying he didn’t have a brain injury or split open head injury.  It would have been bad. 

Nicholas spent some time this week learning about consequences.  We have started “grounding” him to his room for periods of time as a punishment when nothing else is working.  I can say that this is seeming to work.  Like most things, I am sure there is an expiration on this tactic, but I guess it will work for a little while.  Hopefully he will start thinking about what he is doing before he does it.  I know, he’s only 4 (5 NEXT MONTH), but he is doing things he knows he shouldn’t.  Hitting mommy because your mad is unacceptable, as is hitting your brother.  He’s testing his limits.  It’s okay…he’s gonna figure it out soon (i hope). :)

I Think I Need a New Schedule + Other Things

I apologize for being somewhat absent for the past 2 weeks.  Everything in my house has gotten dirty during this time too.  I have been working online on my new tutoring business like crazy.  I am getting to the point where I should be able to section off my days again and work a little everyday as opposed to hours everyday.  I am definitely in need of a new schedule.  Those of you who have been reading for a while know that I like my schedules.  I may not follow them everyday, but if I have a working schedule, my house gets cleaned, dinner gets cooked, blogs get written, etc…  You get the idea.

Today, I will be getting my schedule in order. 

 

Other things that have been going on?  Yesterday I played Tennis (my first game ever) with a neighbor friend of mine.  She and I have kids that are around the same age.  Our husbands graciously watched our children while we went for about an hour or so to play.  I had SO much fun!!!  I haven’t ever really played.  Mason taught me some things about how to hold the racket and swing and such when I was around 11 or so?  I took a lot from that.  Also, I discovered that tracking the ball and swinging in Tennis is much like tracking and hitting the ball in Softball.  I played softball from the time I finished T-Ball as a small kid until I was 14.  That part comes naturally to me.  The part that is hard for me is not blowing the ball out of the tennis court.  This takes major concentration on my part.  I’ll continue working on it.  Ed and I think we may have found that “thing” we can do together as we get older.  We both agree that we will get some lessons as soon as we can afford it.  I cannot wait!!!

 

Christian got a hand Xray this week!  Yep, his hand got shut into the hinged side of our screen door for the entire time I was taking out the garbage.  Apparently Nicholas decided to help me by shutting the door…unfortunately he didn’t make sure little brother was out of the way.  Poor guy!  His hand had no broken bones…but he is still bruised up.  The swelling is down now.  I am noticing that when I take out the trash now, there is a 5 foot minimum distance between Ernie and the back door.  I guess he learned a valuable lesson. 

 

I discovered Bert Nicholas still needs naps!  He was enrolled in a camp this week at a Jumpy-Bouncy Place (you know those establishments, right?).  He went everyday from 1pm-4pm (well, except for Friday—he got grounded Friday and couldn’t go).  Needless to say, Bert loved camp---I liked it (nice quiet afternoon), but hated the fact that he was on his worst behavior EVERY DAY this week.  Friday afternoon was so much better. 

Ed had yesterday off (the 3rd of July).  I went and played Tennis in the morning and Ed took the boys to play golf.  After naps, we went to the Falls to enjoy the 3rd of July celebrations.  Nicholas and Ed swam.  Christian and I played ball and looked around.  The boys ate too.  I then went and did an Avon Appointment and picked up Uncle Chien’s Chinese food (YUMMO!!).  Ed and I ate when I got home.  The boys went to Angela’s to play with Nora. (Will, her son, was visiting his grandma).  The boys came home and went to bed while I cleaned house (or got a great start on it). 

Today, Ed works till 7:00pm.  Same schedule tomorrow too.  The boys and I have to get a birthday present for a party we will go to tomorrow.  I need to make that schedule I mentioned earlier, and I am going to work on the house some more.  I decided to not sell Avon anymore, so I need to clean that stuff out from my cabinets.

Have a wonderful 4th of July!!!!

 

Oh! One more thing!  Ed has a fellowship interview in Philly now.  So our fellowship interviews are: (in order of dates so far)

-Pittsburgh (he did that one in June)

-Texas Tech (July 24)

-Philadelphia (Aug 4)

-U of Maryland and John Hopkins in MD (week of Aug 11)

 

Wish him luck!!!

Weekly Update

Hey everyone!  Here is to another weekly update of your favorite family!!! ;)

This week has been a big one for me…and a normal week for both the boys and Ed.

We have had two days with Ed this week as he has been post call and sleepy on two occasions.  This is always nice for the boys as they get to see Ed after he gets some rest and it is still daylight!  We celebrated Father’s Day on Sunday with breakfast and cards.  The boys and I went to make crafts for him and we will pick them up today.  Unfortunately, even though we went on Tuesday of last week to make them, they were not ready until Today.  So, after working out, we will be picking up our “presents” for Daddy.

We also tried to go to Safety City this week.  Ed looked it up on the computer and their website said they were open now at 10:30am.  So, off we went with the boys’ bikes in tow.  Unfortunately, when we got there, we were informed that they were not open because they were having camps for 2 weeks.  This was, of course, after the boys saw what they were going to be doing, on their bikes and riding up to the place.  DRAMA!!!  We ended up at the park instead. 

Last night, I took the boys to another park for an hour and we also had Sonic treats while we were there.  This was nice because I have been working a lot on the computer this week and we all needed a break.  We fed the ducks/geese (who came within inches of us and were completely unafraid), we rode our bikes and played on the playground equipment.  We played Red Light, Green Light and Tag…and some other games as well.  It was a lot of fun!!

Ed is post call again Wednesday…and not on call again for the rest of the month!!!  He has Sunday off this week, so we are excited about that! 

Oh, other big news!  Ed was awarded his interview for the Pain Program here at Texas Tech for next month!!  We are excited as there were some silly people that were misleading pain fellow applicants by saying they had already extended their invitations over a week ago. 

Lastly, I have been really busy and working on a new company I am starting.  As you know, I have been tutoring online for a company for a year now in the evenings.  The software we use is interactive and we talk back and forth with students by typing.  For this, the company charges students about $30 per hour or more.  After researching a bit, I found out that most tutors in our area charge between $20 and $50 an hour for math tutoring in person.  I have decided to start a company that I am calling Infinity Online Math Tutoring.  I will be offering math tutoring for grades 6-12 in basic math, algebra I & II, and geometry.  I will also offer standardized testing help and homework help.  I hope to extend this one day into a tutor-broker company, but for  now it will just be me doing all the work.  The nice thing is that I will be one of the only available tutors in our area as it is a new concept, AND students can access me and be tutored from ANYWHERE since it is done completely online.  This opens up my market to anyone in the world, as long as they can do it in the hours I offer. 

Wish me luck!!  I am really excited about this and think this might just be my calling.  I will be sure to post my website once it is published so you can all check it out.  If you know of anyone that might need tutoring services, keep me in mind and tell them about it. 

Residency Graduation, Parent’s Night Out, Fellowship Interviews and CPE Classes…OH MY!!

We are puttering along this week.  I feel like we are moving along a little more slowly than we did last week.  Ed went to Pittsburgh for his interview on Monday.  He returned today and had really good things to say about their program.  The earliest we might know anything about this program is July 30.  His next interviews that are scheduled are coming in the second week of August. 

The boys and I are preparing for Father’s Day.  We cannot say much more than that, but we are having fun. ;0) 

Nicholas and Christian are learning about gardens and flowers and bugs this month with me.  Last week we planted beans in clear plastic baggies so that we could watch them grow.  This week we have one of them growing…I think the other 3 revolted.  Nicholas gets so excited when he sees them.  Everyday he says, “Look Mom!  Our seeds are growing!!  Come look!!” 

Ed bought the boys some “heavy duty” water guns today.  They went to the store while I was at my Avon meeting.  Personally, I cannot wait for a family water gun fight.  All I can say is Ed better watch out! ;0)

On Friday we are attending the Graduation for the 4th year Anesthesia residents.  They always have a dinner and give out awards and announce the new Chief Resident for the Anesthesia dept.  I am excited about going this year.  We have gone every year since Ed started residency.  The idea that we are almost done is wonderful.  It’s nice to see what the current residents will be doing and see where they will be residing after they finish.  It is amazing to think that this time next year, Ed will be done with his residency!!  YAY! 

The boys will be going to Parent’s Night Out at our fitness center.  They will feed them, entertain them, and provide lots of fun games.  I think they will enjoy it.  This will allow me to attend the graduation.  Ed is on call that night, but they are allowing him to go in at 10pm and attend the graduation. 

I started my CPE classes tonight.  I finished both of my assignments and am about to hit the hay.  The classes are on creating Video Podcasts for the classroom and on Teaching math to 4-6th graders.  I need the hours to maintain my Texas Teacher’s certification.  These two classes are 6 weeks long and will give me 48 hours.  I am taking them through TLC. 

Well, our update this week is pretty uneventful.  I am lacking my usual cheerfulness, because I am tired…I think.  A good night of sleep will do me good!!

Love you all!

Fellowship Interviews

Well, Ed has now received 3 invitations to interview for Fellowship positions. The kicker...they are all in the North East!! So far we have:

-University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
-Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD
-University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD

Apparently there are 8 spots in Pittsburgh and something like 4 or 5 spots in both Hopkins and U of Maryland.

It looks like Ed will be heading up in June for the Pittsburgh interview so he can make it to the early selection (they do their interviewing and hiring in 2 waves, so our odds will be better if he attends the early interviews). I believe he is trying to do both Baltimore interviews in August.

Friday he is heading out to Miami, Florida to present for a Conference (he calls it GAARC--I am not sure what that means). We will get him back Sunday night only to start work again bright and early on Monday. The next weekend he is on call...so I guess we will see him again sometime in mid-May. Poor guy! One day his schedule will be nicer.