Corey asked how I did on the Praxis, so here goes: The Reading part was about as difficult as the Reading sections on the practice tests. This was the first section administered and by far the easiest. Next in line was the Mathematics section. It was way harder than the Math sections on the practice tests. Even though it was more difficult, I am fairly confident I will receive a passing score on both the Math and the Reading sections. The Writing part is a different story. It was so friggin' difficult. Kim (who majored in journalism) took the test with me and even she thought it was really hard. I must admit that I am kind of scared. Considering I need to pass all 3 sections to even be considered for the Master's in Education program I might be screwed. Like I said, worst case scenario I have to put off going back to school until I pass it. I won't receive my scores for 4-6 weeks, so I have to wait quite a while to find out my fate. Boy does that suck. The one thing that is in my favor is that in relation to previous standardized tests (SAT's etc...) I have taken, I have always scored higher on the actual test than on any of the practice exams I took prior to the test day. I really hope that this pattern continues (fingers crossed, knocking on wood etc...). I don't think I have failed a test since grade school and the prospect of doing so is really upsetting to me.

In other/better news my health is improving slowly but steadily. The incisions are healing well and I had the sutures out last week. The place where they put the actual patch hurts, but that is due to the fact that it is stapled to my inner abdominal wall. Woudn't it be funny if they stapled it to my outer abdominal wall instead, and I was walking around with a mesh patch the size of an index card stapled to my crotch? What a beautiful image. The total heailng time is six weeks or so, so by my birthday I should be feeling back to normal. That will pretty much be the best present in the world. For me one of the worst parts of the whole experience is that I lost some weight. I basically was unable to eat for a little over a week and surpisingly enough it had the effect of causing some relatively minor weight loss. I say 'minor' in relation to most people but for me 5 lbs or so is a lot of weight to lose. Fortunately I am starting to gain some of it back.

Hope all is well out there.