One more week!!!

This upcoming week is the last week of classes! Then exams are the following week, but I only have 2 of them. I have already completed my 3 online courses. So now I can concentrate on Accounting and Economics.
Mom is coming out for graduation, but I think it was just a ploy to see Ainsley because she's coming out for 5 days...graduation is only for 1 hour. ; )
Alex will be here too. He's coming out to hang out for about a week. Casey already bought baseball tickets for while mom and Alex are here.
I've already applied for about 6 or 7 jobs back in NC, but nothing has come through yet. But I'm gonna keep trying. I sent over 2 more yesterday, so we'll see. I'm just ready to get back to NC. The YMCA out here can't take me on full-time because of budget issues, and I'm ready to get back to life where I have a home instead of an apartment.
Ainsley has become MUCH more active, which is wonderful to see! You can't help but smile when you look at her. But I think she's going to be confused later in life. Casey and Erin have decided to start calling me Uncle Bob. I think it's because Ainsley is speaking in single syllables right now, so I'll just have to break her of that when she can say more than one syllable at a time.
I'm also contemplating going back to NC sooner than I originally planned. The reason for that is because I have submitted applications/resumes only back in NC, and I want to be available if an interview comes along. I'm sure that some companies will do a phone interview, but I'm sure they will eventually want a face-to-face interview. And if I'm not in NC, then it's gonna cost me a plane ticket each time they want one. I don't know, still trying to sort everything out. I hate to give up the job here at the YMCA because I know jobs are hard to come by, but it seems like it makes more sense to go back to NC.
Anyway...just wanted to update what's been going on, and also just talk about some things that are on my mind.

Drop day...

Well, I'm officially in the home stretch. "Drop day" was last Thursday. This was the last chance to drop a class without it showing up bad on my transcript. Of course, if I had dropped any classes, I would have had to attend one of the summer sessions, or take another semester. Since I didn't drop any, I will be done in under a month. I told myself I just wanna pass all of these classes and get out. But, truthfully, I want to more than "just pass". If I can make 4 "A"s and only 1 "B", I can keep my GPA high enough to stay part of Phi Theta Kappa. So that's what I'm concentrating on.

I found out I have to drive my car back to NC in July, if I'm still living in Texas. My inspection is due in July, and so I have to get that taken care of. It will work out ok, because then I'll have a car while I'm out there for a couple weeks. Then, I'll be heading to Wyoming with my brother-in-law and a couple others to see George Strait in concert. I'm also planning on taking a little mini-vacation for a few days while I'm in NC. I think I'm heading to the mountains because the beach will just be too busy. Plus, it's not the same with what they've done to Myrtle.

A little of everything...

Well, spring break ended a couple weeks ago now, so it's back to my regular routine...up at 5, work out for about an hour, come home and get cleaned up, go to school, go to work, come home and work on homework. The first day back to class from spring break, I had a test in Accounting. I needed a 95 or better to bring my grade back up to an "A". I got a 94.6, so I'm hoping he will round up. Of course, there are 2 more tests to be taken, so I can always bring it up further.

I was over at Casey and Erin's on Sunday, and I was on the floor playing with Ainsley. I took a minute to look at something on TV, and I felt Ainsley start climbing on me and standing up while she was holding on to me. It took me a second to realize, but I noticed she wasn't holding on to me anymore, and I didn't hear her regular "thump" when she lands on her tush. So, I turn and look at her, and she's standing up by herself balancing! I started talking to her telling her she was such a big girl standing up by herself, and Casey said that she had started doing that. I asked him for how long, and he said just for a few seconds. Well, she ended up standing there for about 20-25 seconds!

It's so amazing to watch her develop. The background on my Blackberry is the first picture of me holding her, and I remember she was so small and helpless. Now she is getting bigger by the day, and also becoming more fearless. Makes me wish the family was closer so that I could see C.J. growing, and Rylee and Brayden when they get here. I have submitted my resume to a few places back in NC for jobs when I get done with school. Maybe one of them will work out so I can head back that way.

I've started planning for graduation, so I will be picking up my cap & gown next week. Mom is going to fly out for it and spend a few days, and Dad is checking to see if he can get off work. I originally didn't care to do it, but mom said she would like to see it. So, on May 14, I will be officially graduating with my 2-year degree in Accounting. I can't wait! I'm ready to get back to the real world...get another house, maybe a new car or motorcycle, or maybe a couple horses if I can find a place with some land. We'll see what comes around!

Spring break...

Well, it's half-way through the semester, and everybody knows what that means....SPRING BREAK!!! I've got BIG plans for this week. So far, I've worked 18 hours the past 2 days, and I'm heading back in to work again this morning. I usually work in the afternoons, but since I don't have class I thought I would get work taken care of in the mornings. Plus, I told a certain little someone that I would be there when her mom came in to work out this week. I missed her yesterday though, because our staff meeting ran over. Sorry Brookie!!! 3 year olds bounce back pretty easy, so I don't think she'll be too mad at me.

About school...

Last week there was a class that I was pretty frustrated with because I wasn't able to turn in my final assignment the way it was suppose to be. I finally got it turned in, and I tried to talk to the instructor, but he was sick the end of last week. So I figured I would just wait and see if he accepts it, what grade he gives me, then dispute it if it didn't seem fair. I checked my grades yesterday morning, and it turns out that he accepted it and gave me an "A". I was pretty excited! And I looked this morning for the other class that ended last week, and I ended up with a "B" in it. I thought I was going to finish with a "C" in that course, but there were a couple homework assignments that she hadn't posted yet, so it brought my grade up.

About being an uncle...

Casey sent this really cute picture of Ainsley to me yesterday, and I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I saw it. She has started pulling herself up on things now, and sometimes she gets to a point where she can't move. She got caught in a semi-split, and Casey and Erin decided to take a picture of her before they helped her out. Check it out...



You can't help but smile when you see this and think about what has to be going through her mind!!!

Have I ever mentioned that I love being an uncle???

School...

So yesterday was a rough day. I got an email through my Blackberry around 11:30 PM Monday night stating that all the assignments for one of my online classes were due by 10 AM Tuesday morning. This was a shock, since as far as I knew they weren't due until Friday. So I only got 4 hours of sleep that night. Then, when I tried to submit them, the website to submit them through wasn't working right. So I had issues with that. Oh well, it was pretty lame. Now I'm waiting to see if the instructor will accept them since they didn't get there the way they were suppose to until about 2 hours after the deadline.

Mom came out to visit last weekend. We went and saw King Tut and got our names written in hieroglyphics. We didn't go a whole lot of different places, because her main reason for the visit was to see Ainsley anyway...it just was convenient that Casey, Erin, and I live out here too! Well, I know it wasn't like that, but it gave alot of laughs to people when I made that little joke. She was suppose to leave Monday evening around 5...or so we thought. We were about to walk out to lunch, when she looked at her boarding pass and saw that she was suppose to leave at 12 noon...and it was 11:50. Needless to say, she wasn't going to make it. We had been looking at the departure time of her connecting flight.

I'm halfway through my last semester, and I can't wait to be done! I'm already starting to look at my options for when I get done. We'll see what happens. I'm also entertaining the idea of getting a new car when I graduate.

No really cool uncle stories this time. The only thing I have to tell is that Ainsley is making little squealing noises now instead of growling. Casey and I have been trying to get her to growl again, but I think it's hopeless.

Ok, I'm gonna try something, and I hope it works. I'm hanging out at Casey's the other night while Erin and Ainsley were out of town, and I get a video message from Kory. She said CJ had been asking about Uncle Curt recently. Somebody let me know if this video doesn't work...



She's showing me Tinkerbell on her card and waiting for a response. That's the cutest part...she's talking to me like I'm going to tell her that I see Tinkerbell. Then, at the end, she asks Kory if my birthday is coming.

I haven't seen Ainsley since she and Erin got back from Florida, but mom is flying out Friday to visit, so I'm sure I'll be over there alot. I can't wait to see her! She is so fun to play with, and makes me smile.

So...

I know it's been a while since I was on here, but I've been trying to get over my depression of the disappointing season the Panthers had. Then, this past week, Duke lost to Carolina. But it's ok, life goes on.

Speaking of life, I have to share stories about being an uncle...since that's why I created this blog.

Casey was out of town last week, so I went over to hang out with Ainsley so Erin could do some stuff. Sunday night, she went to a fireside at church for the soon-to-be 8 year olds about baptism. So Ainsley and I had fun...playing on her blanket, and she would stand in my lap and sit in my lap and hit my stomach. When Erin got home, Ainsley got in her walker (well, she was placed in her walker since she can't get in it yet) and was walking all around. When I went over the other night, Casey said that Ainsley got upset when I left. Erin told me that Ainsley walked in her walker over to the door where I left, stood there for a second, then started crying. Talk about things that make your heart melt!

Kinda like the time that Kory brought C.J. out to Texas with her. C.J. and I spent alot of time together that weekend...playing in the sprinklers (summer in Texas, ya know), riding the E-merge, and watching T.V. When I took them back to the airport to fly back to NC, I asked C.J. if she wanted to stay in Texas with Uncle Curt. Kory was holding her, and C.J. just turned and reached for me!

The point of both of those stories is...I ABSOLUTELY LOVE BEING AN UNCLE!!! I can't wait for May and June when Kory gives me my third niece and Hannah gives me my first nephew!!!