Oops, I procrastinated again. Well, sort of.

I had actually written out a schedule as to how to "manage" my homework this weekend. I'm just a little off track. *eyeroll*

I had planned to get my retrospective essay done for my W131 class. I did, at least, get that finished. I still have to revise my strong response essay, and I don't imagine that will take more than an hour and a half. I had also planned on starting on my political science midterm essay today. That didn't happen.

What did I do today? I cooked and wrote my retrospective essay.

I made cold pasta salad with tofu (recipe for those that are interested), chili with canned tomatoes from our garden, and frozen waffles. :P I was hungry.

Here is the homemade mac & cheese recipe I gave to mammothali

Homemade Mac & Cheese

1 can of cream of mushroom soup (standard size; not sure what that is off hand)
1/2 c milk
1/2 tsp mustard powder (your choice, but i use actual mustard)
3 c cooked macaroni (we all know we don't actually measure that out)
2 c shredded cheddar or depending on how much you like cheese
1 c french fried onions or cracker crumbs
1 c chopped onion
ground pepper to taste

~Cook macaroni and drain. Preheat oven at 400F.
~In a casserole dish, blend soup, milk, chopped onions, mustard & pepper. Stir in macaroni & 1 1/2 c of cheese.
~Bake for 25 minutes, then stir.
~Top with french fried onions or cracker crumbs and remaining cheese. Bake until cheese is melted and golden.

classes

I had my meeting with Dr. R. yesterday. It went how I expected. No big deal. I just can't miss class anymore, and I need to study a tad bit harder and not let outside stuff have an effect on my school work. He was pretty understanding about it, and we reviewed my exam. I think he wanted to throw pencils at me. I second guessed myself on some stupid stuff, and I didn't get adequate notes for the day that I missed when I had that cold/flu bug thing. I've realized how crappy some of the other students' notes are. They only write down what he writes down, and that doesn't cut it.

I spoke to my writing instructor yesterday about my second paper. We weren't "graded" on the first two papers, but completion was a part of it. We have to revise one of our first papers for our midterm, and I wanted to use the paper I had gotten back on Tuesday for that assignment. I felt that it was the worst of the two papers, and I could probably do a signifigant amount of revising on it. She felt the same way, as well. I got that out of the way and went to my sociology class.

I'm doing fairly well in that class, I think. I've made C+'s and B's on the tests, and gotten perfect scores on all of the quizzes and homework, for the most part.

Political science is going okay. I haven't heard about my midterm yet, but I still have a take-home essay part that I need to work on this weekend. I'd better make this one good! I did, however, lose the article that we are supposed to use for that assignment, but I got a copy of it. I lost it somehow while cleaning, which isn't very surprising to me. It happens.

I'm in the process of scanning notes for a classmate. While I appreciate her e-mailing me notes for the day that I missed, they just don't cut it. She sent me an e-mail last night asking when I'd get to it. Well, unlike you, I show up to class and I've had midterms all week. My priorities are my school work. You're on the bottom of the list. The thing is that I've spent almost 45 minutes scanning, compressing, and e-mailing these fucking notes. It's not like I'm able to take my ibook with me this semester and just e-mail you a .doc file. Gimme a break!

I want to sleep!

I'd really like to sleep now, but all I did was tossed and turned. I don't know what's going on. A few days ago I was so tired I almost fell asleep knitting at 7 pm, and now I'm yearning for my body pillow and some shut eye.

I've had this dream twice in the past two weeks. I don't know what it means, and I'm not exactly sure if I want to know. I dreamt that I took my second geology exam and got another bad grade on it. I then sought out a study group in my class. The students I was studying with were two girls that I graduated from high school with that I didn't really speak to very much. Then they get all snarky with me by questioning my intelligence and making smart ass comments like, "So I guess now we're you're friends when you want a good grade." What?

Maybe it's because I feel ridiculously stupid about the grade that I got. Most of you know or at least vaguely know what's been going on, and I'm thinking maybe that has something to do with it. Hell, I don't know. I do know that I will be meeting with my prof. tomorrow morning to discuss it. He wants to check my class notes and the essay that I wrote for the test (that was discarded along with everyone else's). My notes are over the top. If that's one thing I'm good at, it's note taking. He's going to take one look at my notes and tell me the same thing he did last semester, "There should be no reason why you didn't get an A." I can hear him saying it already. He knows what's going on. I informed him the minute we found out about Adam's Mom, but maybe he's forgotten. I'm not asking for any kind of leniency, but maybe he can understand where I'm coming from better. Fuck all. I don't know.

And that chick from the geochem lab never e-mailed me back after I e-mailed her twice. Dammit! Maybe I'll just e-mail her boss again.

Blahbity blah blah.

Teh Madisonnnnnn

I woke up and realized I needed a walk. So, I got myself ready, and of course, Madison was ready to rock 'n roll. Got her harness and leash on, and I realized I'd kind of not been paying much attention to her with being in the midst of midterms. I decided to take her over to the For The Love of Dogs, A Dog Bakery for some treats. Of course, Madison sniped biscuits out of the pots of treats they had sitting around. I spoke to the owners for a bit, and they were very cool and very helpful. They make their own treats in their kitchen, and also carry lots of dog toys (and cats, too!). I bought Madison 1 lb. of dog treats (one of every kind), a mini frisbee since Adam and I would like to frisbee train her, and a sponge type thing that will hopefully remove the cat hair from my car. They also offer vet services one Sunday each month. Their package prices aren't that much cheaper than our current vet, but I'll have to speak to Adam about that. The thing is, is the woman we bought Jaeger and Stoli from tends to call the vet clinics occasionally to make sure their shots and everything are up to date. So, it's probably in our best interest to stick with Dr. Schnarr, and I trust him with my furbabies.

As I was leaving, Madison was peeing in the yard. The woman downstairs was coming home, and made a comment about Madison. Something along the lines of "Oh, I guess she finally decided to piss in the yard." Then she rolled her eyes. Look lady. I do the best that I can, and I clean her piss up within reasonable capabilities for it being on the sidewalk. I'm sorry you don't have 3 whole feet for your fat ass to waddle on. Excuse me. If I have to hear you hog call your grandchildren that tear up my garden, you can deal with a little piss. Fair enough? Let me remind you this is also the same woman who called the landlord over a piece of poop on the sidewalk that was the size of a quarter. I am not exaggerating. This was several months ago, but it was cleaned up as soon as we realized it was even there. Give me an effin' break woman.

Today is over! YAY!

I didn't have my geology class this morning, nor will I have it on Thursday. However, I need to go visit Dr. R. to talk to him about my previous test score. Twasn't good and very unlike me. With the recent events, I'm sure he'll understand, and I've been doing better with coping with the stress of school and family.

My first class for today was my W131 class. I really started to think I disliked this class, and I still do. I don't dislike the class itself, but I really don't care too much for the other students. Imagine that...

So, I got to class at 11, and as I was walking to that class, I realized I had forgotten my inhaler. It's been almost 3 years since I had a full blown asthma attack, but as most asthmatics will tell you, when you realize you don't have your inhaler, you start stressing and can't breathe, generally. It's like a minute case of separation anxiety. It's a crutch for me. I must have it with me at all times no matter what. I figured I'd be fine throughout the day. After that class, my back starts getting stressed, and my chest begins to tighten. Great. I really needed to stay after class to talk to my instructor about my last paper. I didn't have any complaints, but I plan on using that paper for my midterm that is due next Tuesday. I have to bring in a rough draft on Thursday, but most of that is irrelevant to the rest of the story.

I decided to hurry home. I live about 7 miles from campus, and on a good day, I can make it home on New York St. in about 10 minutes. I had no problems getting home that quick. As soon as I open the door, guess who's there to greet me...Madison. Apparently I had forgotten to lock her crate when I left earlier in the morning. Luckily, she didn't destroy anything or make any kind of mess. I locked her up and e-mailed my sociology prof. to tell him that I would be there no later than 1:30 which would cause me to be a half hour late to class, but I didn't want to totally blow off the class.

I got back to school and in the building at about 1:15. Sweet. I was 15 minutes earlier than expected, and I didn't seem to disrupt the class. Finished that class, and it was onward to political science for my midterm. Oh joy.

The midterm was about 14 questions and a choice of 3 topics to write as an essay for the in-class portion. Not too shabby. We had to pick 10 of the 14 terms to define, and extra credit consideration would be given to the extra 4. Well, I got 9 of them. I got really confused on the last 5 for some reason. I think the events earlier in the day jumbled my brain. I studied those terms all weekend. Oh well. I have a take home essay due next Tuesday, so I'll have to make the very very best of that.

I got my research paper back from my prof. He really liked it. I found out some other stuff that I could do to the paper that I didn't do in my initial rough draft. I got a lot of really good information from various sources on the internet, as well as from Shiva and the Indiana Geological Survey.

I was really dreading writing that paper, but I'm really getting into it. I'm glad I decided to take that topic rather than another, honestly. I guess at least if I totally fuck up on my midterm, I can fall back on my research paper. I still don't like the idea of only being graded on the midterm, the research paper, and the final with no kind of study guides or any other tests prior to the other two. Nine chapters for a midterm was rough. I think it would have helped a little bit had we had a test previously to use as a kind of guide to work with. Can't win them all, I guess.

Replying

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so tired

I woke up at around 8:30 today. I had to get my oil changed at 11, and I haven't slept past 11 since this summer. I knew I didn't need an alarm clock to wake up. As the day went on, I kept feeling so tired. I took my polisci book and notebook with me while I got my car worked on. I lost interest after about 45 minutes, and I was mildly distracted as well. I came home, let Madison out, studied some more, and before I knew it, Adam was home. Talked to Adam for a bit, and I eventually just passed out on the couch. I thought that by having a nap that I'd be good to go. After we ate dinner, it just got worse. I even put on some tea to try to wake me up. I don't want to go as far as to drink coffee at 8 pm, but I'm almost debating it. I knit for a while and had my definitions in my lap. I almost fell asleep knitting and studying. I'm almost to the point where I want to just go to bed. I haven't felt this tired for a long time. What gives? I've been sleeping 7.5-8 hours a night, which is the suggested amount of sleep for someone my age. Not to mention that I can barely sleep past 9 am these days. Grrrrrrr.

mammothali, I'll get that mac & cheese recipe to you tomorrow! I didn't forget about you.

Why did I do that?!

Adam wants to get another Basset once everything is a tad more settled in our household. We both decided that we want a lemon & white male as a playmate for Madison. We've even come up with a name. Well, I came up with a name.

I just looked at GABR's site. They have a lemon & white submissive male basset on there.

*facepalm*

Knitting for Christmas

I'm broke, and it's my own fault for not working. This I understand. Depending on my class schedule next spring, I may try to find a part time job working at a craft store of some sort. Why? I figure dealing with old ladies is better than dealing with screaming kids during seasonal work. I had mentioned to my Mom that maybe I should get a seasonal job during my long Christmas break, perhaps maybe at Target or something. She did it while she was in college, but then I remembered how bitchy holiday shoppers really can be. I'm one of those. I don't take it out on cashiers, but I'm always a woman on a mission. I know exactly what it is I'm looking for and where it's located in the store. Other shoppers get in my way, and this makes me cranky. Not even 24 hour stores like Wal-Mart or Meijer are immune to this even at midnight. So, since I have a slight "surplus" of yarn (not that would match to anyone's stash who may read this), I thought I would make gifts this year. I'm almost finished with Adam's scarf, and he already knows about it as it's a little hard to hide a 1000+ yard skein of blue yarn from him, and I admittedly knit in front of him. I'll probably be making hats for others (my Mom included), but I have no idea what to make for my Dad. He's a difficult man to even shop for, let alone knit something for. I asked him if he needed a new winter hat. Of course the answer was no, so now I'm stuck. Maybe I'll just make him some apple butter. He'd like that, but he never eats anything I make. I know it has a lot to do with only eating poultry and occasionally fish, but I don't see that apple butter would pose this problem. Who knows. It's only mid-October.

And my list from Friday is almost complete, almost...

clean - I got as much done as possible. It seems like I kept doing more dishes than anything.

study political science - This I am almost done with

put new tags on my car

go to goodwill

blanche and can tomatoes

get my oil changed on Monday - at 11

laundry?

shop for new living room chair?

transport Louie and Hope

Today - Blarg

Well, it seems my headaches from last week were contageous. Adam called into work today and went back to sleep. He's been complaining of headaches for the past couple of days. I'm sure it's just a sinus thing, as I'm sure mine was as well. I was hoping to have the house to myself today so I could study, but it's no big deal.

I'm going to start studying for my political science midterm. I honestly have no clue where to start. I've already defined all of the terms at the end of the chapters last weekend, but obviously there's more on the test than just definitions. My prof. handed out a less than adequate study guide, imo, on Tuesday. I'm not sure if I mentioned how much of a waste of paper it was previously. The only thing that is written on it is "1/3 of the test will be counted as an essay, 1/3 will be defining terms, and the last 1/3 will be short answer." Yeah, that's nice, but could you provide something a little more particular to study? I mean, if that's your idea of a study guide, you must not have been teaching very long. While in class on Thursday, everyone asked about the material on the test. So, he said we'll review at the end of the period. During much of the 75 minutes we were in there, he told us how to prepare for a test. Look honey, this ain't freshman orientation. So, we got around to the "review". Flipping through the nine chapters that we need to study for and telling us the subtopics in each chapter isn't a review.

I cannot afford to fail this class, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. He keeps telling us that no one should receive a failing grade whatsoever. Being that I'm off of academic probation the first time since my return, I'd really prefer not to be put back on it.

I'm scared. =\

On a sweeter note...

I just realized that I will officially be a sophomore in the spring. Sweet.