Author Archives: Laura
Preparing for Christmas
This is a bit of a weird Christmas season. There is very little snow, and it is warmer than normal. I also see my children growing up and spending less and less time at home as we attempt to pull together a holiday celebration. Earlier this week, I finished my Christmas shopping and got most [...]
Grad School and Being a Mom
I had a very busy semester and a difficult experience with my youngest daughter the past few months. I just finished my last semester of coursework. That really should have happened a couple of years ago in my old Ph.D. program, but I have now really finished. However, this semester was 12 credit hours rather [...]
Whoa! A flash flood that tore up my neighborhood streets
Heavy rain hit at 3:30PM on Tuesday. A total of 1.37 inches fell in my neighborhood during one hour. This not only overwhelmed the sewage system. This created buckled roads and a sinkhole under major road intersections right around my home. My home is locked in a neighborhood locked with only a couple of ways [...]
It is sometimes difficult to be a Mom while being a doctoral student
Lately, I have been very worried about my youngest daughter. She is struggling with some important life decisions, and she has pulled away from us and becoming more dependent on her girlfriends. This has stressed her out and caused her to be a bit grumpy once in a while at home. In fact, it became [...]
Time to work in the garden
Now that I have a little free time, I am working in my garden again. My garden is a favorite past time that has been oft neglected as a graduate student. However, most of my time has been spent working with the vegetable garden getting it prepared and planted. I now have to water it [...]
Kayleigh’s Ragnar 2011
My oldest daughter turned 19 years old two days ago. It is almost hard to believe it has been that long since I first became a mother. But I am so glad I am a mom to three wonderful kids. It is my favorite role, and I love spending time and talking with my children. [...]
What does advertising really do to our self perception as beautiful women?
I am fortunate to be in a graduate study with a couple of women who study what media has done to destroy women’s self perception. They say that the term ‘beauty’ has been redefined to a look that is impossible to achieve. They have a great blog about their research and their presentations at Beauty-Redefined.net. [...]
Aaaaah! Low vitamin D, again?!
My joints are so achy. I am miserable and suspect that my vitamin D is low, again. This problem is so vexing for me because I do not feel comfortable going outside to get a huge dose of sunshine. I had 50 cancerous spots burned off my hands, arms, and face a couple of months [...]
My preferred Vitamin D pills
My favorite vitamin D3 pills are found in the organic supplements section of a Kroger grocery store. They are called “Naturally Preferred Vitamin D3″ (1,000 IU). These are wonderful little pills because they digest easily and work like a charm. I have also been noticing the sustained popularity of my vitamin D blog posts. In [...]
Good grades and lots of rain does not equal a weeded garden
I completely avoided my garden during the Spring because I was so busy with going to school full time (as a doctoral student), advising part time, and being a mom as much as possible. The garden and house were way down on my list of priorities. However, once I quit my job and finished the [...]
