The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Well, I seem to have made it to the finish line.  All my assignments are turned in (some over a full day early!), there are no exams, I'm registered for classes, and I just have one bit of paperwork left to do that I can't do yet because I'm waiting on an email.

This semester has been a hellbeast.  I got sick last week from stress and spent 3 days on the couch, hacking my lungs out and trying to keep down the French onion soup I made from Thanksgiving turkey stock.  (It's surprisingly good with turkey stock instead of beef/chicken!  I may have to do this again.)

Last night one of the Croatians I met working on the Gnalic project a couple summers ago had his going away party - he's been here for the semester studying ship construction - and I went and had quite a good time until 10 pm when I started feeling depressed and bleak.  I left soon after and snuggled on the couch at home in my fuzzy sweatpants, but still felt bleh and went to bed by 11:30 pm which is extremely unusual for me.

This morning I slept in (thanks to a bunch of nightmares that kept me awake in the wee hours) and it was only when I was trying to eat that I realized I was dizzy and nauseated...and sick.  Again.

Despite that, I've worked at my nonprofit job, gotten my online healthcare account set up and my first month's premium paid for, sorted out some crap with my student account, submitted this pay period's time sheet, had lunch, fed the birds, and taken out the trash.

It's appropriate, because I feel like trash.  I may call out of tonight's meeting because infecting people right before Christmas is not good karma.  Plus going out in what is likely to be low 50s high 40s weather after the sun sets with blustery wind isn't going to make me any better, and I need to run errands in Houston tomorrow AND I work the closing shift tomorrow night so I need to be top of my game or stuffed with Dayquil, take your pick.

Somehow I've managed to be quite ahead of the game in some things - I have every last Christmas and birthday gift I needed unless I can find something for my cousin's little girl (been looking but haven't fallen in love with anything) and some catnip for my kitty.  AND they're all wrapped and under my tiny Christmas tree which makes me way too damn happy for my own good.  My entire apartment is tidy, and it's even fairly clean (I scrubbed out the sink night before last, which again, is unusual for me), AND it's decorated for Christmas (thank you, Big Lots/dollar stores everywhere).

Of course, there's plenty of mending and vacuuming and swiffering I both could and should be doing.  But I might just wrap up and lie on the couch and let my poor, swollen head lie back on some soft pillows and with my eyes closed...

Just 9 days til I'm home with my family again!!!

Finals Crunch

Well, it's the first Monday of my two-week finals hell.  Technically, it's a week and a half, since my last paper is due on December 16, but it'll feel like two weeks...or worse, it'll feel like two very long days that just won't end.

I've gotten a LOT done today - did two hours of work for my nonprofit job, sent some rather urgent emails, enrolled in health insurance (huzzah! ...very expensive huzzah, but still), registered for classes, did a sinkful of dishes, took out the trash, and I just now have French onion soup simmering away and it should be ready in 20 minutes or so.  (Had to make it - I need nice warm food to comfort me through finals week, plus although turkey stock made from my Thanksgiving turkey bones will last well, it doesn't last indefinitely.)

I have work from 5-10:30 tonight, and a presentation tomorrow afternoon that is nowhere near ready so I really need to be busting ass on that but damn if I just can't settle down to focus!!  I mean, I've gotten it started but it's just not progressing.  So I'm hoping a few minutes here will herd some of the cats loose in my head and I'll be able to work after I press "publish".

I'm really upset because I was washing one of my pretty IKEA serving bowls and chipped it when it slipped out of my hand and hit the sink.  It's such a tiny chip I hate to throw it away, but I know I can't serve food in it.  Would it be acceptable to keep wrapped candies in it?  It's really a very small chip.  I hope IKEA still makes them anyway.  I'll see when I go to Houston after finals are over to get my parents their Christmas biltong.

Ugh.  Still having trouble focusing.  Perhaps a brisk walk around the building will do the trick??  I can't wait til I'm finished with classes FOREVER!!!!!

Misery

I'm almost certainly ill right now.  I think I'm getting worse.  It doesn't help that it's cold in here - at least I have my mini heater.  I put my throws around my lap, and put the heater underneath (like a giant skirt) and turn it on for two-three minutes.  Then my legs are toasty warm for at least a quarter of an hour if I don't get up to get water.  And hopefully the short bursts of heat won't make my electrical bill hell.

I have three big projects left.  One due this Friday (I work from 11 am onward so I have to turn it in early in the morning), one due the next Friday, and one due the Thursday after that.  I need to get up early and go in to campus to get part of the first done on a campus computer. 

I really feel awful.  I need to work on my projects but my head is killing me.  I wish I could call out of work for two weeks to get all this stuff done.

I think I'll go to bed in a little bit.  I can't get much work done with a nasty headache.

Frustrated

I've had a hell of a day.  Miserable.  Did some painting.  Meant to start working on my new dress but somehow I couldn't.  Table's all set up and ready for me to start cutting and pinning and basting but somehow I just can't get myself in order.

I have to get up early tomorrow and get stuff done.  I hope I actually get it done.  I've been a mess these past few days, but somehow when other people point that out I want to punch them.  I think it's because they act like they've never had a single problem in their entire lives and it's just me being a failure for struggling.  I hate them.  We all have problems, own it, you bloody cowards!

People make me sick.  Maybe once I sleep I'll feel better.  Maybe once this semester is over I'll feel better.  37 days until I get to be with my family.

Midday Grump

I overslept like woah today and it ruined all my plans for today.  I made it to campus in time for class (will start in a few minutes), and even brought an armload of books to return to the library, so those are tiny positives.

But I NEED to get a massive load of work done in the next week and I feel quite ill at the thought of it.  Thanksgiving will spell me a breather in some ways, but not enough.  Plus I don't get to be home with my family which is an instant bummer anyway.  PLUS I work on Thanksgiving (volunteered because I felt guilty that if I didn't work, a coworker who DOES have family they can go to wouldn't be able to...plus I wanted the holiday pay so I could afford my Christmas tree), AND I apparently have to work Black Friday too!  I was told I get my choice of shift, but the schedule is being made up today and no one asked me yesterday so I assume I await the store's pleasure.  Gah!

After class I need to run home, put down my stuff, grab other stuff, download some papers to my tablet, rush off to do some errands, and make it to the Scholarship Meeting in a timely manner.  Meeting will be fun - at least, it usually is - and then I have to rush home and begin work on my nonprofit job, because, $$.

OH and I got confirmed as a presenter for the SAA's today!  So that's good...except I need to book 3-4 nights in a hotel now and the rooms are $200/night so I'm desperately trying to find 2 more roomies (got one locked down already thank goodness) to make it somewhat manageable.

Class starting.  Oy.

Monday Blues

In the most excellent news, I have turned in my major project for my GIS class - I just have to do one more project and then I'm done with that class for the semester.  Huzzah!  AND there's no more lab so I don't have to get up at 6 am on Mondays anymore.  Triple huzzah!!!

It was still a hard day though.  It was gloriously stormy and windy (but didn't rain on me) which was gorgeous, and makes me want to write fiction almost incurably.  I was so tired when I got back after lab I conked out for an hour, but then I settled down to working at my nonprofit job for a few hours before going to my retail job for the closing shift.

I'm rather grievously upset about something that happened today at work.  Ten minutes before I got to go on break a woman asked me to help her find a shirt for her birthday party in some South American country farm soon.  So I helped her until 5 minutes into my break when a coworker came by and I handed the lady off to her so I could get off my poor sore feet for a few minutes.  (My nice new Crocs were making life much easier, but I do have plantar fasciitis and some rather nasty blisters which are seriously painful.)  I take my 15 minute break and then go back on the floor...lady dismissed my coworker but asks for my help again, so I spend the next 45 minutes going through damn near every pair of pants in the store, and all the bright shirts with three-quarter sleeves that I can find, before she disappears into the dressing room.  She spent at least a quarter of an hour in there and my bladder was bursting so I ran to the bathroom.  I came back and saw her walking away in the direction of the bathroom, figured she'd be back...ten minutes later I go into the dressing rooms and all the stuff is left in the dressing room she was using.  I hung it all up on the return bar, and started putting back the stuff she hadn't asked my opinion on but left the two pieces she had been really interested in there.  Store closing rolls around...lady has just vanished.

Now, I know you're thinking, "Well it's your JOB to help people pick clothes."  But...I spent over an hour of my night trying to help this lady and she didn't even accord me the courtesy of saying, "I'm not going to buy tonight," or even clean up the dressing room!!  I'm not a bloody serf!!!  I'm not a robot!!!  I'm a HUMAN BEING WITH A SOUL AND EVERYTHING!!! 

Blah.

But I did over 7 hours of work today plus class.  That's something towards the bills - you won't BELIEVE how high my electricity is this month considering I haven't used my AC at all.  I'm very and extremely cross about it.  May unplug my wax burner.  I'm kind of over it since it seems to evaporate so slowly I never get to put new wax chunks in and the nice smells do not get to happen.

I'm tired now.  Going to try to write for the last half-hour before bed.  If only I could publish a book and earn some money!!

Hiatus

So I haven't posted in awhile.  Life got kinda crazy what with working two jobs, full-time classes, gym, etc.

I haven't been to the gym in awhile.  I was just scheduled 5 days in a row at my retail job (sucks to that, by the way, I'm pretty mad about it) and I simply can't bear going to the gym after being on my feet and in so much pain for 5 hours or more of the day.  I average about 1,800 steps per hour there.  UGH.

Then yesterday I wanted to go, but I hurt my back (I was walking across my bedroom!!!) and didn't want to risk permanently disabling myself.  Today it still hurt really badly, although it's much better now, so again, didn't go.  I might go tomorrow and just do the stationary bike for a bit.  That shouldn't hurt my back, right?

I'm also pretty mad at Sling TV right now because it's just not working and it's driving me nuts.  I want to watch my football!!

Anyway, I have work to do.  Hopefully I'll be able to write here a little more!

Office Politics

Feeling extremely blah today.  I had to miss not one but TWO awesome lectures in the department due to work, and I'm missing the reception held for the guest lecturer right now because of the presentation and essay I have due this week.

Spent most of the day on campus, going to class and working.  Getting pretty cheesed off at my prof too, because he missed class again today, and the instructions for the final project are flat out WRONG in some places (and it's a HUGE project and all has to be done on campus, which is going to make my life ten times harder than usual - and it's due November 17th!!!), AND we have to be on campus for our second exam and do GIS during the exam.  I am so unimpressed I can't even think of a good non-swear word to describe just how cheesed off I am right now.

Work was fine.  I'm pretty stressed, so it was hard to sit through a meeting like that where we only spent an hour talking about "urgent" stuff and the other hour was spent going around the circle and talking about our individual responsibilities.  I tried to relax and enjoy it, but it was hard.

Came home, went straight to the gym.  Gym was pretty good except for a bunch of jerks making life difficult by cutting in on circuits, yakking away like there was no one listening, and staring at me until I wanted to scream.  I got an hour and ten minutes in, although that was only because I stopped looking at my watch and forgot what the time was.  I only meant to spend 50-60 minutes there.  Oh well.

Came home, showered, ate leftover paella from last night.  Should definitely have enough for the week, I think.  Re-running the dishwasher because there's cruddy particles from the last washing.  I think the little cap that holds in the soap tablets is broken too.  Grr.  Hopefully it still cleans alright...

Now I'm trying to bust ass on the presentation because that's for Wednesday.  I'm sore and miserable and just want to go to bed.  I'll go at midnight though.  Being THIS stressed, not getting sleep will kill me/get me sick faster than just about anything else.

Working it out

Today was one hell of a day!

I hit my snooze button way too many times, to start with, and then I somehow made it to class on time.  Class was fine, although I kept getting distracted from the lecture by the fact my professor wears his clothes at LEAST one size too large for him and I was mentally kitting him out in much more size-appropriate clothing in colors that didn't make him look washed-out.  Maybe working retail IS my thing?  Heh.

Had lunch, and then I went to the library and got even more books for another presentation that's due in a few weeks but I wanted to get started on early.  Went to my second class, which was pretty fun today, but I was hungry and mad for some reason by the time it ended so I hit up the campus convenience store for a bag of chips which was a BAD idea.  Turns out it was a 500 calorie bag of chips!!!

Walked across campus to wait for my meeting and spent a nice half hour spacing out with my tablet on my lap.  People give me filthy looks if I'm lounging waiting for meetings without a book or a tablet because they seem to find it offensive that I can entertain myself by "thinking".  So, I engage my tablet as a defense/deflection mechanism. 

Took the bus home, but was diverted and had to walk an extra block and a bit because they've closed off the bus stop corner.  REALLY?  This had better not continue tomorrow.  Although I think I'm driving tomorrow because of work.

Got home, changed, and went straight to the gym.  Spent 35 minutes doing cardio and 20 doing weights, then had to stop and come home because of Remote Job.  Stupid work, interfering with my gym-love!!  I forgot how much I LOVE working out though, so glad I can afford this membership again.  When I updated my Garmin Vivofit and MyFitnessPal it turned out I've walked 13,707 steps today, and between that and the exercise I have burned enough calories to compensate for EVERYTHING I've eaten today (even those chips), and have 53 left over before I hit the limit I set in order to lose a pound a week.  And I didn't even record the 20 minutes I spent doing weights!

Although, I might not be able to afford it if it continues to be THIS hard to do work every day.  Only did 1.5 hours today although I keep meaning to aim for 2.5 and do 2 as a "minimum".  I'm going to spend a few minutes writing novels before bed in the hope that one day I'll have enough published novels to bring in an income and I'll only have to work ONE job at a time.

I'm planning to get up at 8 tomorrow, go to the gym, come home, do my daily Remote Job, go to class, go to work, and then go see Crimson Peak with one of the girls in my department.  Let's hope I get that all done! 

Being Responsible

I was leaving a party Saturday night (more on that later) and checked Facebook on my phone.  Saw a bunch of posts about a major crash at 436/434 (some big roads near where my parents live) and got concerned, so I called home with my bluetooth hands free thing as I drove home.  They were fine, thank goodness.  They asked where I was calling from - I guess I sounded funny hands-free? - and I told them I was leaving a party to go home and work.

I complained, "How LAME does that make me, leaving a party early to go do work?"

Mom said, (approvingly) "I think it sounds very responsible and grown-up!"

Me: "I don't WANNA grow up!"

Mom: "You're 27!"

Me: "...still don't wanna..."

I still hate growing up.  But I got my homework done and turned in this morning, went to class (got two homeworks turned back and I got a 93 on one and a 98 on the other!!!), got a bunch of books for this presentation next week, went to my scholarship meeting, was VERY BAD INDEED and got Chinese food on the way home, came home and ate, had my glorious hour of Agents of SHIELD, and then did an hour of work.  I wish I'd done two, but there's just no way I could have mentally or physically handled it.  As soon as I finish this I'm going straight to bed.  I'm bringing a book, but I honestly don't think I'm going to read anything.  I overslept by two hours this morning and STILL I'm exhausted and can't work one second longer.

This is me being responsible and taking care of my body.  Because, any way you cut it, my body and my health are way more important to me than grad school.

Monday Funday my ***

I'm exhausted.  I always say this, don't I?

Well today, it's deserved.  Slept through my first alarm, only woke up with my second alarm at 6:30 so I was late for the bus and caught the later bus and JUST walked into my classroom as the minute hand clicked to 8:00 am on the dot.

Really difficult lab today, but I managed to finish it in 75 minutes and leave while all my classmates were still struggling with an early step.  Once again, thankful for the fact I've taken two years of GIS before this.  Class was less interesting, but I was SUPER relieved to learn that the prof had a personal emergency on Wednesday and didn't make class so I didn't miss anything while I was out sick! Huzzah!

Then I went home, ran to Wal Mart for some craft and Thanksgiving supplies, stopped by HEB for some rolls, went home again, had tuna on a roll for lunch (heaven!) before prepping dinner and putting it in the fridge. Did some tidying and then went to my training meeting at my new job, which I am going to call The Retail Job from here on out.  (I decided this while reading their social media policy.)  I'm going to call my uni job The Remote Job since I do almost all of it remotely.  So that'll be amusing.  After I was finished with training for the day, I went to Planet Fitness, just like I vowed I would as soon as I got a second job, and signed up for a membership.  I don't think I'll have time tomorrow (homework all morning, class in the afternoon, then a scholarship meeting, and then my blissful weekly engagement with Agents of SHIELD at 8 pm), but I'm planning on making time Wednesday.  This will also give my ankle a little extra time to stop hurting so damn badly. 

I came home, popped dinner in the oven (two turkey thighs and two potatoes cut in half - I only ate half, the rest is now in the fridge awaiting another busy night) to bake and settled down to two hours of my Remote Job.  I have resolved to do at least two hours every day if humanly possible, preferably 2.5 so that I get as close to the maximum of 20 hours/week as possible so I can earn enough to pay all my damn bills. The turkey was done in an hour and a half so the last half hour of work was considerably more pleasant, as I sat there, eating, going through the article line by line trying to decide if any more of the data could possibly be coded.

Then I took a short break and got started on my stats homework.  Actually, I've just looked at the clock and it's nearly 10:00 pm and I finished work at 8:30.  Have I spent that much time on my homework?  Maybe I fainted on the couch and didn't realize it...

Which brings me full circle.  I'm bloody exhausted.  I'm going to finish this stats problem and then stop for the night so I have a hope in hell of my brain shutting down at midnight when I go to bed.  And I'm only getting up at 8 am tomorrow!!!

At least the apartment is almost perfectly clean.  I still need to scrub both sinks.  Maybe tomorrow.  Or never.

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it before, but I am in LOVE with this series.  (Although, major nonny-boo-boo to the people in charge for changing the intro music for season three.  Shame on you!)

I have just found out today that they're developing a MOVIE!!!

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/miss-fishers-murder-mysteries-to-be-a-movie-filmed-in-the-uk/story-e6frfmyi-1227336789720

This must happen.  It must, it must, it must!!!

People In Charge, if you're listening, here is one ardent fan: I will buy a ticket to this movie.  I might even buy two and go twice!  Or thrice!  (Is four times quice?)

I love this show, I love Essie Davis, and Ashleigh Cummings, and Hugo Johnstone-Burt, and especially Nathan Page!  Heck, I can't not mention Richard Bligh and Travis McMahon and Anthony Sharpe!  I would wish this show to go on forever but I know it must end someday.  Hopefully, not for the next five or ten or fifteen or seventy years though.

Stages of recovery

Well, I made it to class today.  That's something!!  I didn't really understand much (or anything) going on, but a few of the formulae I tried in R worked, so I suppose that's good.

I slept in til about 10 and then decided a warm shower would be good for me.  Spent the rest of the morning on the couch, doing some paperwork.  Went to class, somehow made it home in one piece, and now I've been going through my hotmail inbox, message by message.  Deleting all the junk, reading all the good ones, and wincing at all the credit card statements.

My shoulder has started hurting again and my ankle was pretty bad at a couple points today.  I desperately need exercise, but how can I with my whole body ganging up on me?  Perhaps I'll go for a walk around the building in a little bit and see if my ankle doesn't hate me afterwards.

Ugh, started sneezing again.  I'm trying to drink one cup of green tea a day to see if it helps me lose weight and stay healthy.  Why couldn't hibiscus tea be the good guy??  I love hibiscus tea!!!

Sick Day

I'm sick today.  I'm also getting in a progressively foul-er mood as the day goes on which is making the lying still and doing nothing even more intolerable than usual. Not that I dislike relaxing; but when I have classes and meetings and work and Stuff To Do, being sick doesn't make me exactly happy, especially with a phlegmy frog in each lung.

Had a bunch of people tell me that I shouldn't date til I'm done with grad school because I clearly don't have time for it unless I plan for casual sex or an illicit relationship with a married man.  Frankly, I call bullshit.  If grad students are supposed to be working as hard as I do (or harder), why the hell ISN'T there a nice, sensible, responsible guy with a decent sense of humor out there, one who can only afford a few hours a week here and there to hang out together (meals, walks, watching tv - basically decompressing from the hell that is grad school) and eventually really bloody care for each other, the same way that's all I might potentially have time for?!  Why do you have to have three or four dates a week to be SERIOUS DATING PERSON?  Why is it somehow my fault that I'm too "limited" in not being available on school nights for socializing?  I'm so mad right now.  It's not bad enough I'm one of about four people in a 50 person department who isn't married/engaged/in a long term relationship, but somehow I'm suddenly a bad person for A) wanting a relationship and B) not being willing to give up my grad school degree to find one?!

I am so sick and tired of being judged, and even more so, being judged and found wanting. 

Fishcakes

Hell of a day.  Early morning classes, always grump me out.  Got home, ran out to take care of some spontaneously-inspired-by-misfortune errands, got back, started cooking and doing homework.  Got the pasteis de bacalhau finished (they're basically fried cod cakes) although I didn't use enough egg (stupid small vs large egg issues) and a lot of them lost substantial parts of their mass.

Went to the dinner meeting and had a pretty darn good time.  Everyone seemed to like the pasteis de bacalhau, especially my prof who spent some time in the Azores and specifically asked for them when I said I was going to make bacalhau for the dinner.  (Not that I wasn't happy to do it, even though my apartment now reeks of fish!)

Now I'm doing work for my first job (bleeeh I'm having a hard time with it) and feeling rough about all the crazy I have to do tomorrow.  I simply can't face most of it tonight because I'm exhausted.  My ankle has been bugging me again too, which is infuriating.  11,297 steps is a hell of a lot, so it's not surprising my ankle really sore right now.

Also pretty bummed that Will Grier got himself suspended for taking some stupid OTC supplement and Steve Spurrier announced his retirement.  Oh well.  Back to work.  Blah on grad school.

Being silly

I should've gone up to bed at 11 like a good girl.  Instead, at 10:50 pm I put on an hour and ten minute episode of Rosemary & Thyme and I'm about to dig into some ice cream just because I can.

I'm so tired.  I had a long day, one of those days where if you know me you know that I'm in a tizzy.  I cleaned the stove (top, not the inside.  I have not yet been off enough to clean the inside of my stove), the inside of the microwave, the sides of the fridge, the sink, the bathroom, my toilet, my bedroom and most of the living room.

I got a little work done too, not enough, and some writing, although again, not enough.  Tomorrow should be a reasonable day in work done...I hope.

And now, having jinxed myself with that last statement, I'm off.  Nighty night all.

oof

I've had a hell of a week.  So much so that I can barely remember what's happened.  I know I went to class, my meetings, did homework, cooked, cleaned, studied, slept a little, and drank a heck of a lot of water.

Yesterday I had a job interview.  On the one hand, I really need it and really hope I get it.  On the other hand, if I do, I won't be able to use the store's customer coupons as long as I'm an employee, which is going to cost me a TON of money when I have to buy my clothes and presents elsewhere.  Yesterday I went shopping there before my interview (a sort of "last dance" thing in case I do get hired and can't use coupons anymore) and got $70 worth of clothes for $17 - and if I'd bought it elsewhere it would've cost me $411!!!  That sort of savings is HUGE for me and I won't be able to do it if I get hired.  Oh well.  There are worse things.

Today might have been the worst start to a Saturday ever. I got up at 7 am so I could leave at 8 and see the opening performance at Ren Fest. Leave on time, but my Garmin took me to middle of nowhere. I tried the alternate location I'd programmed in it only to realize (three minutes away) that I left my ticket in my apartment. So I had to drive all the way back and then drive BACK to Ren Fest.  Over two hours of driving for something that should've taken 40 minutes tops.  Grrr.

I had a very nice time at Ren Fest though.  Didn't buy anything except beer and food (I got a sausage on a stick and it was quite tasty - much spicier than I expected!), because I'm going twice more and I want to just look around until I'm perfectly sure I REALLY want something and am willing to shell out my increasingly precious dosh for it.

There was a flask I agonized over, but it was $130.  I mean really.  Do you know how much beer that is??  There's just no way I could justify buying that.

I left around 3:30 because I was feeling quite ill.  I should've worn my shady hat, even though it wouldn't have exactly "gone" with my dirndl, or spent more time in the shade.  I came home, had a burger, and went up to bed.  Two hours later I still had a headache, despite my nap, so I took a pill and put an ice pack on my head.  I'm feeling MUCH better now, thankfully, because I wanted to enjoy my Saturday night.  I didn't last week because I got sick, and I hate it when that happens!

Anyway, Gators are playing, and doing reasonably well, although they're making me nervous because of some stupid things, like not wrapping up a tackle and letting the guy get five more yards and a first down after contact.  So I'm going to end this, watch them, and maybe get more ice for my head.

Sunday Funday

Had a pretty great day today!

Slept in for a start, it was great.  I went to the shops - the dollar store (Halloween decoration), Stein Mart (two shirts and a pair of earrings for $9!!), filled up my car ($1.86/gallon!), Jo-Ann's (findings and thread to make a necklace), and the bigger HEB so I got BOAR'S HEAD HEADCHEESE which just made me so damn happy.

Came home, had a nap, (after a headcheese sandwich, of course), then studied/took my GIS test (only got a 19/20, I'm pretty pissed, I want to know what question I missed!!!), and made bacon-wrapped jalapenos for dinner.

I'm now chilling with a beer and CSI:Cyber (giving it a second chance since I no longer have BBC America and have nothing better to watch on Sunday nights) and being torn between doing actual work or writing a novel.  It's Sunday...that's my free time, right???

Anyway, here's the Halloween decoration I got:

Isn't he the cutest?!  I might keep him out all the time instead of just at Halloween.  I mean, loosely speaking, he counts as "nautical" decor, right??

That's enough for now.  I have two hours to do whatever I want, and that means it's prime reading time...for at least an hour, anyway!

When you win some -

It's as well to remember that you lose some too.

Today has been quite a good day.  The Springboks won, the Gators won (and are undefeated), the Aggies won (and are undefeated) and Orlando City won too!  Tomorrow the Minnesota Vikings and Benfica play so I'm hoping my (their? our?) luck holds.

I went to Michael's (because I had a coupon) and got a bracelet rack (black velvet), three strings of beads, two tubes of artist quality acrylic paint, a tiny canvas, and a six pack of oversized autumnal "tealights" all for $33.14 - but I had a gift card from Christmas so I only paid $8.14!  How is that for a steal?!  I got a coupon too, so I'll use it to buy some more paint.

I painted a little today, and cleaned (although I still need to do the bathroom and vacuum.  I HATE cleaning bathrooms and vacuuming!), and ate leftover mini cupcakes and did the dishes and watched football and grilled some chicken and even got some work done.  Not enough, but when does a grad student ever get enough work done?

My tummy is not happy with me today and has been aching all over the place.  I wonder if it's the cupcakes?  I just don't want to be getting sick again!  I've had about three beers throughout the day so surely it can't be that. 

Anyway I feel pretty awful so I think I'll go off to bed.  At least it's gorgeously cool today and I've had the windows open most of the day and aired out my apartment properly.  I hate being sick!  It's Saturday! I should be watching one last movie with a nice brandy or a beer, or painting some more, or reading or writing.  And instead I'm going to bed with a couple of pills and praying I wake up feeling better in the morning.

You really do lose some even when you win some.

And we all fall down!

I'm EXHAUSTED!

Well, the week is almost over.  In good news, I passed my training "with flying colors" and am now a coder for the rest of my time at TAMU!  Huzzah!

But I still need a second job.

Somehow I got my proposal fixed (I realized on Monday that the paper I'd been planning on was TWO THOUSAND years too early for the period we're focusing on in the class) and turned in on Wednesday, and finished my presentation and gave it on Wednesday too.  It was pretty well received, and I'm really glad I did so much reading because everyone had a bunch of questions which I was mostly able to answer even though it wasn't 100% within the scope of the presentation.  Of course, now I want to research Jewish sailors (there seem to have been terribly few), and I must battle the impulse with every fibre of my being.  I just don't have time!

Then I spent all last night and all this morning desperately working on stats and thanks to some help from one of my classmates I managed to get every part of every question completed.  I hope to goodness I get a better grade on this one!!  I don't want to get a B average in this class!! 

Tomorrow there's a department lunch, so I'm going to bring store-bought cookies, schmooze, and then hightail it back here to study for my GIS exam and then take said exam online.  Then Saturday I can begin back to work on my presentation for next week (thank GOODNESS I've done a lot of work on the VOC before so I have resources already) and squishing in whatever thesis research I can.

I had a two hour nap today and I'm still insanely tired.  Which is why I have all this stuff up on my screen and it's not progressing.  I think I'll just reserve a few books for tomorrow at the library and then kick back and let my body relax for a couple hours before bed.  Gotta take care of my body or my work will NEVER get finished!

DAMN

Not much time to blog today.  Class went well, was without my knee and ankle braces and walked just fine, although the stairs were a little iffy.  Got back home, ran out to the bank for laundry quarters, ran to the thrift store for potential Halloween costumes (didn't buy anything) went home again, passed out, then woke up and started in on work.

Got a lot done - bills paid, rent paid, trash thrown out, etc.  But not nearly enough.  Also just figured out tonight that the paper I was proposing to write for my seafaring class is completely the wrong time period (what's wrong with me that it took me a whole month to realize that?!) so I have to research a whole new paper and write a proposal by 8 am Wednesday.  Plus, I have a presentation that is nowhere near finished that's also due Wednesday, and a stats paper due Thursday that I haven't started, and a test due Tuesday 10/6 that I have barely studied for because other stuff keeps getting in the damn way!!!

I'm off to shower now.  Then early bed so I can get up tomorrow and start kicking ass and taking names.  One bit of really good news though: I passed my training as a coder and now I have a job until I graduate! Hooray!!  All I need now is a second job and an amazing 36 hour burst of mental acuity (or 48 or 60, I'm not fussy) to get me through the week, and I'll be golden!

Goodbye, CSI

So I've been watching CSI since I was a senior in high school, which comes to about 9 years total.  Tonight is the very last episode ever!

Luckily I got enough work done that I can watch it with a clear conscience.  I have chicken soup simmering away on the stove and that'll be my week's lunches.  I've been feeling pretty crappy lately which is why I went for the soup.  Cheaper than a doctor, y'know?  I think I'm going to try going without my braces tomorrow.  They're just exhausting, even if they protect me.  We'll see how I manage.

Anyway, I'm quite sad CSI is ending.  I think the original is my favorite, although the early CSI:NY episodes give it a serious run for its money.  CSI:Miami was fun, but I could just never take it seriously.  I didn't even watch the last season.

I have a lot of work to do tomorrow.  But I just have morning classes, so once I get home I'll have a good lunch and read a chapter of fiction, and then get down to work.  Those little mental breaks are the only way I'm surviving this semester's grind.

The soup needs attention so I'll stop here.  I love this apartment - I can watch tv while I'm working away at the stove!

Saturday Night?

How did half the week go by without me blogging?

I'm tired after a long week, but my leg is healing, and the specialist told me my ligaments and tendons are all intact and there's no fracture and I don't need surgery or medication or anything - hooray!  So I'm very happy about that.

I've gotten some work done, but not enough.  Plus today I spent nearly five hours with my friend's cats because she's out of town and I feel sorry for them being cooped up while she's away.  The new one tortures the old one so she has to keep them in separate rooms all the time, which is awkward.

Tomorrow I'm going to go over there first thing and spend about an hour with them before going grocery shopping.  Then I'll come home and start busting ass on work and hopefully it WON'T take twelve hours this time.  I have to make chicken soup too (chicken is defrosting now), and probably some other food as well.  I haven't quite decided what to do for the week's lunches, but I might just have the chicken soup for my lunches...and do crackers, Laughing Cow cheeses, and apples for the days I have to eat on campus.  How I hate dieting!

In gorgeous news, Wednesday is the only day I have to stay late on campus this week!  All the other days I just go for class and get to leave as soon as it's over.  Assuming, of course, that some new project or something else doesn't pop up.

Tonight it's just me, a St Arnold Oktoberfest, and When Harry Met Sally.  Trying to get some writing done since it's "free" time and I desperately need to get new stuff finished so I can try to get it published. Oh, ambition. The things you lead me to do!

I had a run-in with some raspberries...

At least, that's the reason I gave for the knee brace today to a professor who was asking about my injuries.

The knee still hurts.  But I can bend it now, even if not all the way or without pain.  Waiting to see what the doctor says tomorrow. 

I've done a lot of work today, but not nearly enough.  I need to finish my R homework.  I hate my R homework.  I hate it with every fiber of my being, and if I could get away with not doing it, I wouldn't even bother with it. 

It also seriously bugs how people have been acting about my leg.  All surprised and concerned about me walking 3-4 miles a day (today I've walked 3.75 miles according to my tracker, I'm not exaggerating) on a damaged tibia, but if I'd stayed home and relaxed (like I want to) they would've been "Are you really taking this grad degree seriously?"  I know they're just trying to be nice and/or helpful...but still.  I'm being honest here, and it bugs.

Grad school in general bugs.  You have to do crazy shit like walk around with a hairline fracture in your tibia and everyone is all, "You're doing too much," and if you don't, everyone is all, "You're just not working hard enough to deserve this."  THERE IS NO MIDDLE GROUND.

I also would probably not be this grumpy and melodramatic if I weren't trying to do my R homework.  But I hate my R homework, grad school bugs, and I need a second job.  Or a winning lotto ticket so I can retire and build a castle and play princess or warrior queen every day, depending on my mood.  And I would absolutely pay Colin Mochrie to follow me around for a day and make me laugh.

Snakes and Ladders

Well, I got bitten by a snake.  Not literally, thankfully, but in this game of snakes and ladders, I just slid allll the way back to the start.

Yesterday I was so excited because I had an email about my dream job, and my doctor thought my knee would be fine.

This morning I got up early to call and arrange an interview...and dream job is filled.  Somehow the hiring people are still contacting applicants even though no positions are available?  There should be laws against that sort of thing.

Then I check my email and see there's a secure message waiting for me from my doctor.  I go look, and the x-rays show there is the possibility of a hairline fracture in my tibia.  GREAT.  Basically, I'm still just going to that specialist on Thursday for further evaluation, but still.

To say I'm bummed out is an understatement.

I called the HEB lady last night and this morning and left messages both times, but she hasn't called back yet, grr.  I called Stein Mart about the job, and the lady who picked up after I was on hold for 7 1/2 minutes said they'll be calling applicants about interviews next week.  Hopefully since I called and made it clear I really want this job, I'll at least get an interview.  I called Suddenlink about internet and thankfully increasing my data WILL only be $10 more per month.  So that's one tiny ray of light in a dark day.

I've hobbled around and made myself a hot sandwich (egg, bacon and Swiss) for breakfast which was a mistake in hindsight because now my apartment smells like bacon which makes me want to eat even though I'm not hungry.  Did all my dishes, took out the trash, plants watered, etc.  Now I need to do homework and I was just staring at the blinking cursor so I came here to write out my frustration.  Hopefully I can concentrate now.

I just want to sleep for the next four years, wake up with my MA, PhD, and a decent job.

Slippery Slope

Well, I've had an "interesting" weekend.

I decided to go grocery shopping Saturday afternoon (meant to go to the movies Saturday night and have all Sunday to work), and made out my list and trotted off cheerfully.  For some reason I turned down the organic food aisle (presumably Fate drew me there) and suddenly I felt my left leg go and wound up on my butt on the floor.  Some genius had left raspberries all over the floor and I didn't see them (looking at the produce rather than the floor, as I normally do in grocery stores), and slipped and fell. 

Some people helped me (thank you, Man-Whose-Name-I-Didn't-Get and Family-That-Got-The-Manager-For-Me!!) and eventually I was standing again (if shaky) and gave HEB my information.

I managed to get my groceries without crying too much (I was in shock...I HATE being in shock!), and got home to my knee brace and spent the rest of the night on my couch, feeling grumpy that I was missing the movie I wanted see so much.

Sunday I worked my ass off from noon to 12:30 am and was nearly in tears by the time I got to shower and go to bed.  And then I couldn't sleep!!!  But I got up at 6:30 am (half an hour later than I needed to, but oh well) and missed the first bus to campus, but managed to get a seat on the second one.  Made my classes (some of my classmates commiserated over my knee, which I thought was very sweet of them) and then got some lunch at the MSC before going to the doctor's. 

The doctor was very nice indeed, and he THINKS my knee is ok but he scheduled a follow-up with an orthopedic specialist on Thursday, got me a new knee brace, and sent me downstairs for x-rays.  The entire visit cost $109, and I'm hoping I can get HEB to cover at least part of this.  My friends have been telling me to sue, but I don't know if they really think I could get "a jet and a tropical island" or if they're just joking.  I'm perfectly sure I couldn't get anything like that out of a big corporation like that!  But a couple hundred bucks to pay medical care is a mere nothing to them and I hope they'll help a girl out.

Tomorrow I have to call Suddenlink about increasing my data rate, arrange an interview with my dream job (got an email today telling me what to do, hooray!), call HEB again (the woman called me when I was in class but she never picked up the three times I called her back), and send some emails regarding my thesis and classes.  I feel like there's other things I need to do.  Oh well.  I'll get it all done somehow.  (I hope!)

No More Red Wine

Well, I'm bummed out.

When I was 15 I could drink gallons of red wine, no issues. As the years have worn on, I've begun to gravitate towards whites and blush wines, but still enjoyed a glass of red. This summer I had red wine twice and puked both times, although I thought it was because I had been drinking beer all day and followed dinner/wine with liqueur. But last night I was at Opera Night, had two glasses of red during intermission, and not a drop of alcohol else since the beer with dinner the night before, and I developed a migraine, then barely managed to make it home and across the living room to the kitchen sink before hurling.  I managed to take an ibuprofen and aspirin, then went to bed, praying to either sleep or die, whichever was quicker.  Woke up feeling MUCH better, thankfully.

Apparently you can totally develop wine (and dark beer??) sensitivities at any age and my girlfriends have been warning me about either their or their husband's issues, which range from no reds, or no wines with sulfites, to any wine drinking leading to vomiting and terrible headaches, or "a few sips" leading to LOCKJAW.

This sucks.  I no longer want to grow up.  I disapprove of this situation, and am only gloomily happy that they all say they can cook with wine and feel no ill effects. My coq au vin is safe...for now.

Halloween begins!

Went to the dollar store today to pick up a few little things and was set afire by all the Halloween, harvest, and Christmas(!!) stuff on sale. 

I got what I needed, came home and did some cleaning, went to class, came home, went to Wal Mart to get an ankle brace, then came home again.  I got some work done and then decided it was time to goof off, and started cutting and sewing my Halloween costume.  I'm SO excited about it!!  I've gotten the shoulders and one sleeve fitted, and would've done the second sleeve but my shoulder was hurting so badly I had to stop.  Tomorrow I'm going to make the time to fit the second sleeve and hopefully the hood, and maybe even finish the side seams!!  (I kind of doubt I'll get that far, I have a lot of work to do.)  Then I'll have to hem everything and then strengthen all the seams as I only have them with running stitch right now, and I'll have to go back and do backstitching on everything, as small and strong as my fingers and temper can manage.

I'm taking this moment to thank my mom for teaching me how to sew and make up clothes, and my father for teaching me to get what I want in the most affordable and sensible way I can.  I got the fabric for $15 (thanks to a very generous coupon!) and I've had the needles and I bought the thread ages ago and I don't remember how much it cost, but since I have it, I'm using it.


The mask will probably happen next weekend.  I want to make a pouch too, and that's going to take some work and planning, I think.  I've certainly never tried anything like it before!  But I've given myself a lot of time, and I think it'll all be ready and in good order for Halloween.  Yay!

Ouch

My shoulder is still killing me.  I took ibuprofen and everything and I still ache all over.  I walked over 12,000 steps today on a sore ankle, I typed all day with a sore shoulder, and I'm exhausted.  I had class all day, and meetings, and I'm just in a foul mood at this point.

I still need to do a lot of work, but not tonight.  It's time to relax, and watch the newly-released season 3 of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries and let my nerves loosen.  I really hope a good night's sleep will make me easy and my body relax and heal.

DAY = MADE

I was about to come on and write a bleh post about a long, difficult day..and then a notification popped up - TED ALLEN from CHOPPED tweeted me!!!!!  And I didn't even tweet him first!!!

https://twitter.com/TheTedAllen/status/643973501964189697

That's the link.  Not sure how long it'll last, but THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED!!!

*dances*

I DID have a long, bleh day.  Worked my ass off on stats, hurt my shoulder, went to class, applied for more jobs, went to training, came home, ate leftovers, and now I'm watching Chopped for an hour before getting back to work.

It's the little things in life!!

The Attention Paradox

Isn't it amazing how the minute something gets REALLY important to you, it becomes progressively more and more difficult to focus on it?!

Today after class I went to the Aggie Employment Office and the guy told me I was doing exactly what I needed to do, which was kind of disappointing, because I was hoping for some secret inside track to a decent job (i.e. not humiliating a la fast food, not gross a la fast food, and not absolute minimum wage a la fast food).  On the plus side, he did check, see that I am eligible for Work/Study, and put me on the waiting list for Work/Study funds which will make me more attractive to campus employers.  So yay for that?

Came home, ate, and passed out.  Woke up boiling hot and sweating all over, terrified from some nightmare I couldn't even remember.  Maybe that's why I'm having such a hard time focusing right now.

I DID apply for three more jobs, and will apply for another tomorrow (have to apply in person, bleh), and I've signed up for this website that pays you for your photographs - that is, if someone buys it to use as a stock photo or in a media campaign.  I must go out and find a botanical garden to get a lot of that sort of thing.  Wondering if I can afford some sort of model for person stock photos?  I could always use myself and a remote/timer.

I have some stats homework but I can't figure it out so I've put it aside until tomorrow morning (due tomorrow afternoon), hoping that a decent night's sleep will sort me out.  I've read that worksheet four times and only in the past ten minutes has it begun to make any sense whatsoever.  I'm so dozy right now I had to look at my planner three times to make sure today is the 14th.  No good state to be doing homework in!

In crappy news, I'm going to have to up my data cap on Suddenlink (only found out at 6:30 pm today so I'll call them tomorrow morning), which is going to be MORE money every month.  My email said it's just $10/mo.  This had better be true.  But if I don't up it, I'll start getting fined for exceeding the cap, so I'm going to pay one way or the other.

And finally, I have developed a GIANT zit right in the middle of my face and it's driving me insane because I touch it every time I rub my eyes or scratch my nose and it's big and ugly and I feel like everyone is staring at me!  I'm 27.  This is supposed to be OVER!!!  Okay.  Time to use this "free" time for some research and writing.  Oy.

Hashtag Exhaustion

I'm BEAT.

Been working like crazy all week, and my only time off was yesterday, when I still managed to get 400 photos edited and some paperwork done/emails sent off.  Worked my ass off all today too, and just sent off the goods.  Now I need to do the dishes, shower, and get to bed.

I did have one nice thing happen though - when I got home from grocery shopping this morning I saw the cutest little roadrunner bopping around the complex!

He wasn't too keen on me getting a photo of him, but he was just too cute!  Later, when I was grilling, some cardinals and bluejays kept flying down and then disappearing as soon as I stepped out the door.  I wish they would realize I'm trying to be their friend - I mean, I do put food out for them all the time, and try to take their picture, and I have no designs on grilling them along with my chicken thighs!!

At least the weather has cooled down and I can have the windows open right now.  It's really gorgeous and I love having the fresh air in my apartment, instead of stale food smells.

I really need a job.  I've been applying here, there, and everywhere, and nothing!  I'm going to make some follow-up phone calls and emails tomorrow after class.  Mom has agreed to help me for October if I can't get both ends to meet, but I NEED a second job (and goodness knows, maybe a third) ASAP.  And to publish a book.  It's only been a week since I sent off my  novel so I have to wait for three more before I send it elsewhere.

It's the Jewish New Year tonight.  I was invited to some services but I couldn't go because of the work.  Sigh. 

Also, I found that the Metropolitan Opera has a streaming service you can access through Roku and I'm DYING to get it, but it's $15/mo which works out to nearly $200/yr and I just don't have that...not while I have Netflix and Amazon Prime and I'm not shuffling those off.

Oh well.  I have my windows open, Standards/Vocal Jazz Radio playing on Pandora on my tv, and it's time to clean up that kitchen, do the dishes, and get ready for bed.  How I loathe early rising!  On Mondays most of all!!!

The Many Labors of Labor Day

Today has SUCKED.

I was good and went upstairs last night at 11:20 pm, and was showered and in bed by 11:50 pm (a minor miracle, let me assure you), and I slept pretty well, all things considered, but I still had to get up at 6 am (alarm rang right in the middle of a GORGEOUS dream that I have written down and will eventually turn into a murder mystery) and drag myself into clothes and then downstairs and get myself fed and out the door by 7.  I somehow managed to get out by 6:50 (still not sure how I managed that) and the first bus of the day came by at 7:10 and I got to my building by 7:24 for my 8 am class.  Oh well.  Better than being late!

I got into class early (it's a lab and you pretty much just work at your own pace) expecting to get in, get done, and get out so I could go doze on a nice shady bench, but the assignment didn't post until 8:00 exactly, grr, and THEN the system was running so slowly and screwing up so hard I had to restart once and close all my programs and start over multiple times.  I finished an assignment that would normally take me 25-30 minutes tops in AN HOUR AND A HALF.

I did sit on a bench for ten minutes getting my filtered Vitamin D for the day.  But then I went to lecture and virtuously took paper notes again in an attempt to stop myself from getting distracted by Facebook in class...lecture was boring, and I was so zonked by the end of it I didn't stop in the lobby and check my email like I'd intended to see if there was a training meeting notification.

Took the bus home, had a gorgeous homemade ham and Swiss sandwich, and then conked out for two and a half hours.  Got downstairs, checked my email and found out I'd missed the departure luncheon for my favorite prof, which was held at lunch today.  I am SO angry!  Partially at myself for not checking my email after 6 am or before 3 pm, but mostly at them for choosing a luncheon on such a STUPID day.  I know I'm not the only one who had a ridiculous, exhausting weekend after a ridiculous, exhausting week.  Why not have it on Friday??  Or even Wednesday??

That wasn't the last bomb my email held for me - my job has finally chosen a day for training, and of course they chose the least convenient time for me, late Tuesday evening.  Then I check my next email and the scholarship group I'm a part of has suddenly changed their minds and we're not meeting on Fridays now, but Tuesday afternoons.  I emailed them explaining the training situation, but I don't know what's going to happen.  I'm really cross about all of this because I look like a major flake and that is SO not the damn case!!

Finally, after applying for a much wanted assistantship nearly two weeks ago, I sent a polite follow-up on Sunday after I didn't hear anything back before then, and today I get her reply, saying oh I can still apply, she's interviewing this week!  I nearly cried from vexation, but attached all the appropriate paperwork again and politely asked her to let me know if she needed anything further.

I was so mad I went to Stein Mart and found two very appropriate and grown-up business casual tops, in leaf green and dark blue, and a nice blue shirt for class, all for $18, and picked up an application too.  I really don't want retail, as I need to be able to travel as necessary for my degree work, but it's beginning to be a case of beggars not being choosers!

So now I need to get all my research homework done, and then as much of  my presentation for Wednesday as possible because now unless I drag my laptop and a mass of heavy library books to campus with me, I won't have any time at all on Tuesday afternoon to work on it as I planned!

And I expected such a simple, quiet week, where I could edit my pictures from this weekend's concert and post them and have a lovely time sleeping and eating like a normal human.  Ha!  Famous last words.

First Friday

It's the first Friday of the semester and I'm already a mess.  Freaking out over money (going to have to take well over $1,000 out of my retirement savings to pay my credit card which DESTROYS me, but hell, I'm a grad student and this happens right?  It sure seems to happen to all my friends!), my new job doesn't start til next week at earliest, and I haven't gotten a second job yet despite all the applications I've sent in/filled out/etc.  I NEED that second job but OH how I want a campus job!!  Preferably an assistantship!

I also need health insurance but I'm reluctant to pull that trigger until I'm 100% sure an assistantship won't happen. Will probably force myself into it next week.

Today I slept in (let's be honest - I turned off my alarm, turned over, and slept on like the dead.  Insomnia bit me so hard Tuesday I only had a couple hours sleep, and although I slept for nearly 6 whole hours Wednesday I was still dying most of Thursday), and found that my freezer had popped open and stayed open about 4 millimeters all night.  Now I'm petrified for fear what my electricity bill will be this month!  At least I won't use much electricity while I'm on campus working all the time.

Then I took my bike in to the bike shop.  I broke a brake on Wednesday swerving to avoid some ******** who decided walking in front of a cyclist going full-tilt around a corner was a good idea, so I found a bike shop and drove my bike there.  Had such a hell of a time getting it in the back seat (I swear some of my upholstery is ruined and I have no money for a carwash or anything) I caved and bought a bike rack for the car (it's a very nice one, and reasonably simple to set up), so my total came to $86.  GAH.  But I NEED my bike, and this way I can take it to get fixed when I need to, or, as is more likely, now that I've dropped the $$ on the rack I'll never do anything that I can't fix myself, and it'll be useless.

Then I came home and put some money into my credit card and had a minor freakout over it, but let's face it, those savings are there for emergencies.  I was sufficiently freaked out I up and sent my novel to another big London agency.  Will it EVER get taken?  I might just wait 4 weeks instead of the usual 6 to send it to someone else.  I have some very rude words mentally stored up for the industry that is constantly rejecting my work but publishing illogical, un-literary pap like Twilight.

Now I'm taking a break from struggling with my homework (I MUST finish and turn in this one assignment before I go to Austin this weekend!!) to write this, and then back to that essay.  Once that's done, I'm going to set up my powerpoint for my presentation on Wednesday and then I'll give myself an hour or so to work on a different novel, the one I plan to self-publish and try and get my nom d' plume out there.

Okay.  Back to that essay.  I can DO this! 


...I hope.

Sunday "Run"day

I feel like I haven't stopped moving for days!  This is not entirely true, but I am pretty tired. 

I spent the first part of my summer at my parents' house, house-sitting while they were away, and trying to get some work done once they got back.  It was a very hard summer for me.  I lost my job (laid off due to funding, at least, not fired), and with it went my tuition waiver and my health insurance.  My grandmother, one of my best friends, and my beloved kitty Echo died within the space of a month, and I was all alone when Echo was really ill, which only really showed on a Friday night so I could only take her to the vet on Monday morning which I'm afraid hastened everything.  Then, as if all that weren't enough for one summer, my hard drive up and died on me, after I had foolishly not backed up my work for two weeks, causing me to lose everything I'd done for my new thesis, and over 11,000 words of fiction.  My novel got rejected again too, and I'm getting quite tired of the silence - I'd really prefer a polite rejection letter so I could KNOW to send it to someone else instead of just waiting for six weeks, breathlessly checking my email every morning just in case I got "the letter" each particular morning.

Then I drove back to Texas from Florida, spent two days trying to sort out my schedule and my school year (some paperwork I had sent in before spring finals had only been partially processed so I had to deal with that before I could register for classes) without any internet, because I had seasonally shut it off to save some money.  Then, I drove out to Hawthorne, Nevada to work on an excavation.  I spent two weeks there before the boat died and the excavation was changed all round from diving-only to ground-only.  I couldn't handle the walking due to my knee issues, so I drove all the way back to Texas two weeks early to try and get some work done.  Basically, I drove nearly 6,000 miles in a month.  Alone.

I've applied for a couple jobs, but as I only have one part-time job right now, I need another one, pronto.  I'm pretty upset because one really  nice job sounded like a sure thing and then BOOM radio silence.  Not cool.

Today I have been cleaning and prepping my food for the week. I have now prepped my week's worth of strawberries, green onions, white onion, parsley, hatch chiles and have ham and bean soup simmering away on the stove for my week's lunches. Excess ham (I got nearly 8 lbs for $12!!) is in tupperwares in the fridge for breakfast ham omelets, and I have four chicken leg/thigh combos waiting for me to marinate them and then grill them once the sun starts to set and it's no longer 98F outside in full sun.  I have a pineapple that I want to grill too, after the chicken comes off, and I'm wondering if I should brush it with honey to help the caramelization?  I'm a little low on honey, but that's ok.  I won't need it for anything else that I'm planning on making this week.

I think next week I'll buy some lemons and put lemon slices in my Brita water jars.  I hear it reduces cravings and helps you burn fat.  I hear the same about mint too, so I may buy a bunch and keep some in my water and some in a jar for next week.  I do have chocolate mint growing on my windowsill, but I only just planted it and I'm not ready to harvest it yet.  The oregano did flower...I think I'm supposed to pick those off?  I'll look it up.

Oh well.  I should go stir my soup and marinate my chicken.  Hooray for Sunday Runday!

Kindle Update

I have been searching for my kindle ever since I came back after Christmas - everywhere! I asked my mom to check my room at home, and my sister to check her apartment, I tore my own place apart twice...and I have just found it innocently reposing inside my goddamn suitcase!!!!  Oh well. At least now I don't have to spend $100 I don't have on a new one.

Okay, NOW it's Easter

I had a lovely day!  I want the weekend to have about six more days, too bad that's impossible.

I got up late, opened the Easter box Mom sent me and dived directly into the cotton candy.

 

My mom is the best ever!!  Of course, I'll take weeks to get through all this, and now I won't have to buy chocolate, hooray!  I did drop all the jellybeans, which is terribly sad, I only got to eat one or two.  I guess I save on the calories, but sigh, I do LOVE jellybeans!

I spent the rest of the morning writing - I've done nearly 2,000 words today which is good, but still no reply about the manuscript I sent off a day or two ago.  I wish I could rewrite my sci-fi novel and self-publish it to earn a few silver shekels and get my pen name out there , but every time I start reading it I don't know what to do or how to change it - I revert back to the 13 year old I was when I first wrote it!

In the afternoon I had a nice nap, fed the birds, watched them eat their Easter feast, put my own Easter dinner on, and turned on the tv.

 

My Easter dinner was roast lamb shank with garlic cloves and rosemary, pickled beetroot, olive oil and black pepper asparagus, roast potato, homemade bread, dipping oil, and Mulderbosch chenin blanc.  Very yummy, although the Mulderbosch REALLY needed to breathe.  I couldn't drink it at all at first, but then after twenty minutes or so it was lovely.

Then the second terribly disappointing thing of the day happened - I wanted some ice cream, so I went to the freezer...and it wasn't there.  I checked the reciept, and I'd definitely bought it, so I checked the fridge and the freezer again.  Wasn't there.  Frustrated I ran to the car, and sure enough, there it was in the trunk.  Thank goodness it was still sealed and I don't have to spend a fortune getting rotten dairy product cleaned out of the boot!!  I tossed it in the trash and was terribly disappointed, because I'd really had my heart set on chocolate ice cream with the strained strawberry leftovers from making strawberry liqueur yesterday.  

Instead, I had a few marshmallow eggs that Mom sent me and watched the Masterpiece Sunday lineup.  Call the Midwife had me weeping buckets, Mr. Selfridge actually shocked me for once, and Wolf Hall was horribly meh.  Maybe it's because I despise Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, and haven't the least interest in Cromwell.  I'll keep watching, but it's really weird storytelling so far - I ran upstairs to the bathroom for a minute and I come down and the wife and children have died of a disease they didn't have the night before, but the husband didn't? 

I was going to be good after Wolf Hall and sat down to write some more, but got frustrated and did the dishes and now I'm watching a Poirot.  How I wish I could write for a living!  Maybe one day.

Saturday Shopping

I spent most of today running around shopping. I went to Stein Mart first, since I had a bunch of coupons.  I got a couple pairs of earrings that may or may not become presents in the future, and one absolutely fabulous hat!

Isn't is a fabulous hat??  The pin is removable, which opens the hat up to all sorts of sartorial possibilities.  A diamante starburst so that I can glitter my way down Park Avenue in sundress and sandals?  A white flower for the beach?  Blue feathers with red sparkles for the Fourth of July?  Also, the department store price was $44, the original Stein Mart price was $25, and between the sale it was on and the coupon I had, I got it for $15!!!

Of course, when I got home I realized I own neither hat stand nor hatbox so for now, my fabulous hat is residing on the railings that surround my loft.  I'll post a picture later.

When I got home I found a box waiting for me - my antenna arrived from Amazon!!  It was so exciting to see it!  I unpacked it, but left it at that for a few minutes, because I didn't have any Command strips to hang it up with.

Then I made a grocery list, being careful to remember that I need to start emptying fridge and freezer now, and then went out to the grocery store.  They had 1 lb boxes of strawberries for $0.97 each!! (There was a polite notice saying that if you bought more than 4 the price would revert to the "normal" price so that all the customers could get a fair whack at them though.)  I only bought 2 because I have a few strawberries left from last week.  I'm going to turn one box into strawberry liqueur and turn the other box into dessert.  The boy at the meat counter was very nice indeed, and chose me the smallest lamb shank he could find since I'm not inviting anyone over for Easter and didn't want to spend too much money.  The sign said lamb cuts were $12.68/pound so I didn't want a big shank that could give me several meals, but it turned out the shanks were $6 a pound so I spent much less than I thought I was going to.  Hooray!  I"m still glad I got a small one.  I love lamb, but eating pounds and pounds of it really isn't good for you.  Poor little boy at the counter though, he said he's never eaten lamb in his life!  I immediately launched into a spiel about lamb chops and shanks and olive oil and rosemary and curly yellow squash and green salads, and he seemed interested.  I hope I have passed on good food gospel!

Once I had put the groceries away I got very irritated because I realized I had forgotten to buy Command strips at the store, so I ran out quickly to Big Lots. I stopped at Ross first and got myself a lovely shirt (which funnily enough came with a pretty necklace attached) for $12.  I'm very happy, I could wear it to school or in the afternoon, or even out at night in a casual place like College Station.

So I ran into Big Lots, feeling a little irritated, despite the new shirt, and was brought up short when right there towards the entrance were BAGS OF HERR'S KETCHUP FLAVORED CHIPS!!!  They were $2 each, and eight whole bags were sitting there, looking tantalizing, so I bought four of them.

Aren't they lovely???

After that I came home, put up the antenna, and tested it out.  ABC isn't turning up which is VERY irritating.  I looked on the website and now it seems you can only watch the full episodes online if you subscribe to a cable service?!  Which is such BS, they're supposed to be BROADCAST tv, FREE tv!!  I'll hold off on canceling until I leave, I think, and then when I get back just move the antenna around and pray I can get ABC.  The internet says I should be able to get it, dammit, and I want my Agents of SHIELD, Castle, and Forever!!!

Anyway I've reconnected my cable now, and since there's nothing on tv right now I'm watching Netflix.  For dinner I'm going to have the lovely eel sushi I bought at the supermarket this afternoon, and I have a gorgeous grapefruit that I'll have for dessert.  That reminds me I have strawberries to cut up.  I wonder if I should make cornbread muffins for tomorrow?  They're not terribly Easter-y but I need to use up my dry goods so they don't get wormy.  I also got asparagus, so my dinner tomorrow will be roasted lamb shank, roasted rosemary potatoes, asparagus, and pickled beetroot.  Oh, and maybe cornbread muffins.  Not terribly special, but it'll be a good meal all the same.

Mom sent me an Easter box and it arrived yesterday - she gave me strict instructions to not open it until Sunday morning and it's tempting me awfully!  But I'll be good.  I do have some marshmallow eggs she sent me in my Spring Break box, I can eat those.

I tidied the entire apartment again today.  I sometimes think I clean too much, but there are worse things.  I do need to vacuum more, but I hate doing it so I don't, not enough.

Inspector Morse has ended so I suppose it's time to go do the dishes and cut up those strawberries.  Maybe I'll even start the strawberry liqueur!

Happy Easter!

Okay, so today is only Good Friday and not actually Easter, but that's okay.

I didn't give up anything for Lent, but I never do.  I did, however, start putting out seed for the birds again, and a few weeks ago even handcrafted a feeder out of a bright green plastic bowl (3 for $1 at the dollar store) and some jute (1 roll for $1 at the dollar store).  I haven't caught anyone but the squirrel eating out of the feeder, but dozens of birds flock to the old tree stump where I spread seed as well.  I can see them both clearly from where I sit on my couch, and it's so much fun to see birds hopping and playing, and hear them chirp and sing.

I spread  some seed out when I got home half an hour ago, and not five minutes later a pair of cardinals (I think they're mates, one is brownish so she must be female and the other is bright red and most likely male) appeared like magic and had a light lunch.  I got some good pictures the other day and posted them on facebook.

I guess they'll miss me when I go home for the summer!  I can't wait to do it though.  I miss my parents, the kitties, the house, the pool (!!!), and I love how much money I save by shutting up the apartment and putting my utilities on hold.  Even if it IS a huge pain in the butt to carefully remove anything and everything valuable and haul it to Florida with me.  I worry most about my guitar.  I'm always so nervous about it warping when I drive in all the heat, especially in summer!  Still, other than my computer, camera, and guitar I haven't anything much valuable and those all come with me in any case.  My costume jewelry isn't remotely valuable but it comes too because I wouldn't dream of being separated from it :D

Plus, I always have management check on my apartment regularly when I'm gone, so I'm sure nothing bad will happen.  I mean, what kind of criminal wants a bunch of textbooks, my winter clothes, and a cupboardfull of toilet paper?

In other momentous news, I'm finally giving up cable.  I mean to do it soon, definitely before I leave for the summer, but I can't decide if I should cut it right at the end of April, or do it in the next few days.  My bills have been going up horrendously - they were originally $85 a month, and just recently they've been getting worse and worse, slowly at first, but this past month I paid $110, or something similar, and next month will be $126!!!  Internet by itself (which I MUST have) is about $50 a month, maybe a little more these days, so what I mean to do when I get back in town is order Sling, which is a streaming tv service!  Between that and the digital in-home antenna I've already ordered from Amazon I'll get all the channels I want but three, and for a total of $25/mo ($20 for the basic package and $5 for the add-on sports package) I'll be saving bucketloads of cash.  I will miss Houston PBS (out of signal range here, blah), TLC, and BBC America dreadfully, but there are worse sacrifices to make.

My German has been going well lately, my tutor is pleased with me, and shows me so by loading me down by ever more tests and quizzes to take.  I'll be so glad when I pass my proficiency exam and can stop taking tutoring!  Of course, then I'll be up to my eyeballs translating documents all the time, but at least I can do that whenever I want and my Thursdays will stop being so long and tough.

This summer I must work on Portuguese though, because I'll be home and Dad can teach me.  I have a set of CDs that I haven't even opened yet, but I'll try to get started.  The sooner I can become re-fluent in Portuguese the better!

I'm not sure what bird this is, a nuthatch maybe or possibly a wren?  I've really gotten out of touch with bird-watching and bird species, which is a pity, but I really don't have time for much these days.

Bluejay here is SUPER wily.  I can never get close to him!!

I believe this guy is a collared dove. He's a sweetie and I see him and his friends around all the time, cooing and nibbling seeds cautiously.

One of the luckiest shots I've ever taken!  That's the male cardinal I mentioned earlier with him.

And the female cardinal!  I have one shot of them together, but it's not really a good one.

Getting it done (I hope)

Trying to completely finish a project tonight that's due Thursday because tomorrow is going to be a seriously horrible day.  Like, almost as horrible as my average Thursday.  When I get out of work Friday and my spring break "starts" (going to be going in to work Mon-Wed to rack up some hours) I'm going to be SO happy.  It feels like my spring break is going to be one long nap...I literally don't have the money or energy to do anything else.

Oh well.  Back to work.


...




Is it Friday night yet?

Snoozy Sunday

It's a cold, gray and rainy day outside.  All I want to do is curl up on the couch with my thermal sleeping bag, a box of cookies, and a mug of hot chocolate while I watch Netflix.  Knowing how cruddy I'll feel over the week if I don't do my chores is cold motivation for doing them.

Still, I've done my laundry.  Need to make a loaf's worth of French toast for my week's breakfasts, and a big batch of curry for the week's lunches.  I really ought vacuum and mop but I don't think I'm going to.  And then there's the little matter of homework!

I'm so tired.

The (As Much As Possible) Perfect Saturday Night

And by perfect, I have to tag with the following asterisks:
    Perfect for being alone
    Perfect for being single with nary a date since early December
    Perfect for being broke

Now that we've gotten that out of the way.

I woke up at 9:30 this morning, yelled downstairs to my Amazon Echo to play NPR, listened to the tail end of Car Talk and laughed all the way through Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.  Then I stayed in bed until noon, daydreaming about a beautiful  pied-à-terre in Ft Lauderdale that I would paint bright white and floor with oak.

Got up, went grocery shopping, stayed in my budget, even though I got a pizza - still it was only $3.  Not bad, considering.  Came home, cooked the pizza, and spent the afternoon writing.

Spent the evening watching movies until 9 pm when I turned it all off, lit candles and played NPR so I could hear their big band music hour.  Now I'm watching Laura with a bottle of cheap white wine, and when it's over I'll watch more of Amazon's new Prime Originals series, Bosch.  I'm enjoying Bosch a lot more than I expected - Titus Welliver is absolutely perfect as the lead (Harry Bosch), and the writing is fabulous.  I like the other characters, but only Jaime Hector, playing Bosch's partner Jerry Edgar is really making an impression on me.  Maybe once I finish the series the rest will mean more to me.

Next door keeps opening and closing their French windows and it's driving me nuts - plus they're banging on the wall and I really wish I could call the cops and have them charged for "being annoying".  I hear Snooki was arrested for that once, but I think they only have that in New Jersey.  Oh, and now they're vacuuming.  Great.

Anyway, back to the movie for me.  Why pay for all this entertainment if I don't use it, hey?

Public Semi-Service Announcement

I ache all over.  My back hurts.  My shoulders hurt.  My legs hurt.

And I want junk food.

That is all.

Sweet

After a long, difficult day - which had two "endings" as I had to go out again in cold, gross rain and wind after I got home (oh, toilet paper, you're so necessary it's almost scary) - it feels so good to sit down on the couch with a brand new candle burning.  Even if I have to do homework.

* and cook dinner.
* and clean.
* and prep for tomorrow.
* and the temperature is dropping 30 degrees overnight.

The Writer Life

Novel got rejected again, and I sent it off again.  I know Harry Potter got rejected 12 times (and only got picked up when it did because the agent's daughter read it and blackmailed him into accepting it), but I do feel a little faint of heart sometimes.

Sitting back with ice cream and  Miss Fisher's Murder Mystery right now.  But once it's over I'm going to make my week's curry for lunches, and fill out some conservation forms, and if I have time, do some extra research for a paper.  I might go to bed early - I spent a lot of last week in bed sick, and used up all my spare energy going out with friends in Houston on Saturday.  I'm so awfully tired! 

Seriously, if Vogue were to call up offering me $32,000 a year as their regular photographer I'd be out of here so fast you wouldn't see my dust!

February Bulletin

- It's cold. 
- My ears are killing me.
- Lots of homework. 
- Horribly sleepy. 
- Long day tomorrow. 
- Novel rejected again.


Maybe if I do all my homework (somehow) and get to bed early (HA HA) it'll feel almost as good as chocolate.

Key word, almost.

First Week Blues

Well, first week of classes is almost over.  I'm tired, cold, and have spent almost all day with wet socks.  I carefully wore my "black" sneakers (they're mostly white, but have black trim, rather than my Asics, which I call my "green" sneakers - once again, white with trim) because they've always been waterproof.  I've even accidentally stepped in puddles in them and came out fine and dry.  Today, they leaked and leaked and leaked!

I only just made it into my first class on time.  Class wasn't bad, although I volunteered myself to do my first presentation next week so I  have to kick my ass into gear this weekend.  We each have to do four presentations and I got three I REALLY wanted so I really ought not be sad I didn't get the VOC one, but I am a little cross about it.  I'm all the more cross because the girl who took is has never studied the VOC and doesn't know anything about it, whereas I've written papers and done a project on VOC ships - and she knows!  It's a very small department and we all know each others specialties.  But whatever.  That's life.

Then I worked for a bit, had lunch, and drove myself out to to Riverside for conservation class.  We got to take x-rays!  It was so much fun!  I could even take more myself, but I don't know whether I will or not.  Don't want to waste precious time and resources.  My prof approved one of the two objects I bought to cast, and showed me how to fix the second one so it'd cast better.  He even said next week I can bring in my Holy Grail and get the sticker on the bottom (it says "You chose wisely") fixed so I can wash it and use it - only for water, of course!

After class I stopped by World Market (quite the mistake from my wallet's point of view) and got some hurricane glass jars for my upstairs ledge, then the dollar store for some candles, and Target, with some idea of finding a throw to keep myself warm without turning on the heat.

What I actually got (after being IMMENSELY strong and putting back the $7.50 DVD of X-Men: First Class that I wanted so much) was a $0.75 pair of flip flops and this pair of boots:

They were originally $35, but I got them for $10.50!!  Isn't that so exciting?  I needed something to be comfortable, warm, and waterproof, and $11 is a steal.

When I finally got home, some jerk had parked in my usual spot, but I finally got to take off my soaked jeans, socks, and shoes and change into my fuzzy-lined sweatpants, wrap myself in my dressing gown, and make a nice warm dinner.  Now I'm lying here, watching Death in Paradise, taking a mental break from reading/writing thesis stuff.  Have to go in to work for 4 hours tomorrow, but I'm taking the rest of the day for myself after that.

First day back

In point of fact, I didn't need to go in to work today, since it's technically a national holiday, but I wanted to go ahead and get some damn work done.  It was difficult, getting back into the groove of going through deeds, and I swear the handwriting is even harder to read now, but I at least got a little done.

I had an interesting last week of "vacation" - spent most of the time on the couch, trying to write, coughing occasionally, and battling a nasty bout of insomnia.  I'm pretty tired right now, after having trouble sleeping last night.  It would be so glorious to sleep through the night, no nightmares, no waking up sweating, no tossing, turning, and aches. 

My ears have been bugging me again too.  I wonder if I should bother with a doctor or not.  Sometimes I just feel like giving up on trying to be and feel better - been complaining to every doctor I've ever had for my entire life about my ears, and here we are, 27 years later and I still have sore ears that pop and crackle and iffy hearing.

Attempting to eat healthier, and reduce my impact on the environment (read: more local, less meat, less dairy) also sucks.  I haven't noticed the slightest bit of improvement over the past week, and people say you can lose a pound or two a week if you're really trying.

Oh well.  A grad student can't sit around blogging all day...no matter how much she would enjoy it!