Fire!

I can hardly believe this quarter is coming to an end. It went as quickly as the summer. Although I believe summer should never end. It was yet another crazy week here in Salt Lake City. The army has a base camp near my home and was running drills and target practices on Sunday even though the wind was blowing extremely hard. It was a red wind day here in Utah. Meaning, no fires! As usual, the army started a fire, but this one got out of control quickly. We were put under mandatory evacuation. It was unbelievable how quickly the fire spread. My sister's family is in the same area, so it was a scramble to get everyone out. You always get asked what you would grab in a fire, but when it came down to it I could not place high priority on anything! I grabbed my laptop, my dog, some clothes, my jewelry and a few important but small things. I was in agony over the thought of my books burning! It was pretty intense, and I was mostly worried about my sister and her kids. Hopefully we can go home soon. The winds keep picking back up just when we think we can go home. This last week also saw my girlfriend with cancer stop the fight with the anxiety of losing chunks of hair in public by shaving her head. She did not have this grandiose moment as some do. She quietly and privately shaved her head and appeared later with the most fabulous wig! God I love her. She bought two wigs and has the hair replacement coming also. The two wigs give her two totally different looks! She looked fantastic and I think it made her feel better to find a new and attractive style. She is kind of regretting going with her natural look for the hair replacement! We also learned that taking claritin before chemotherapy prevent the intense bone ache and fever that comes in the two days after. She did much better this round of chemo and her appetite remained healthy. We joke she is worse than a pregnant woman with her random cravings and eating patterns. A large group of us signed up to walk the three day Breast Cancer marathon next Spring. Barb likes having a physical goal to look forward to. We are going to try and cheat though. They expect you to sleep on cots in large tents! After an entire day of walking we want margaritas and a nice bed! :) I've been asking around on the internet if it is possible to skip the tent and sleep in hotels near each ending point. I finished my paper. I have a few people reading and editing it now. It feels great to have written a paper I am proud of. I have learned so much from my teacher and my fellow class mates. Everyone has been helpful with their suggestions. I also have learned from reading others papers and seeing how they make revisions to their writing. I can say with confidence I am a better writer now than I have ever been before. I also filled my notebook with what I have learned from this class. I will keep it close as I finish school. I have not decided if I am going to keep blogging. I think when I graduate and start working as a professional I might blog about my work and research. Who knows though...writing is therapeutic and even if no one reads it, it has been nice to put some thoughts down at the end of every week. I really was not thrilled about blogging, but have come to see the benefits and potential in doing so...