Thursday, September 28, 2006

School

So school is going good - crazy - but good. I have already had several exams in my classes - one class I have already had 2!! I think I might switch majors (I know, again...indecisive me) because if I do Liberal Arts I think I can graduate in 2 more (possibly 3) semesters...which is sooner than I would with Accounting - PLUS I won't have to take Calculus! WooHoo.

So my question to you is: Is a Liberal Arts degree ok...or kind of seen as the 'slacker' degree??

Sad

So my grandmother had a stroke. It happened Friday early morning ( or late Thursday night, I'm not sure of the exact time). She is doing remarkably well - considering how bad a stroke can be. She only lost movement in her left hand and left leg - which are both doing a little better each day. It kinda made me sad - because it made me realize that they (my grandparents and parents) will not be around forever and I really want my kids to know them and so I am kinda mad that we don't have kids yet - like they are missing out. My great-grandmas (2) and great-grandpa died when I was older (like 12 or so...) so I knew them - and I still have memories of them and being at their house. I fear my children will never have that, and that makes me sad.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

I'm a little calmer now...well maybe not

Ok, so after ceremoniously smashing the mouse and keyboard into the desk...you know, first essay of the semester - I finally finished the essay - it is a bit sub-par, but I was in NO mood to write an essay on Monday so the fact that I actually finished it was pretty good.

So I also had a geography quiz on Africa on Tuesday and I am pretty sure I got them ALL right - depending on how picky the teacher is on spelling...I might have switched some e's and a's around. I had an awesome geography teacher in 9th grade and I knew them all (and not just Africa - the ENTIRE world...he was one tough cookie), it is amazing how many of the countries I knew then don't even exist anymore....hello, Zaire?!
Today Nathan chose to skip his classes, stay home and sleep in our nice warm (winter blankets are on now) bed...funny thing is that I was too tired to tell him to go...I finally drug myself out of the warm cocoon about 12:15, quickly showered and headed off to work. I was exhausted - I felt like I could have slept til next Thursday!

So this morning I checked on our reimbursement $$ from the Navy (for the move) and we are getting like $6,000 LESS than I had anticipated - obviously someone somewhere made a mistake but everyone we talk to just gives us another phone number to talk to someone else...and that just plain SUCKS because that is A LOT of money - the V.A. is also being SUPER slow getting the GI Bill going so we have yet to see any of that money either...yikes.

Well I should go study for my Sociology test I have at 7:30am tomorrow...

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Cut the Crap

ok...so maybe living on the East Coast has ruined me, but if you have something to say to me - say it quick and succinct. Don't blather on and on when one sentence will do....this goes for EVERYTHING....so you can imagine how tough it is for me to write a 2 page essay on a question that can be answered in ONE SENTENCE....I have half a mind to write the following:

Using the Sociological Imagination is simply put as being able to see how you as an individual are connected to and affected by the problems facing society as a whole. I don't need 2 pages to say this. It would be a waste of your time to read and a waste of my time to write.

Do you think my teacher would fail me??

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Crop til you drop

Friday night I had my mom, her sister Kim and my three 'sister-in-laws' (Only one is actually legally related to me) and my new FRIEND (yes, that's right, I made a friend!) Marci over to scrapbook...we started about 8 - had pizza and then scrapbooked until 2am...I only got one page done - I was heloing others - but Marci and Kim and Shanna did really well!

We are going to try and do it monthly which will be fun!

Well I gotta run - we're going down to Nathan's brother's house to hang out.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Spiders in my cereal

I don't know why but I always have a hard time eating cereal out of a box that has already been opened...a lot of the time if I pour a bowl I won't be able to get through it - why you ask?? Because I have this long-time fear that spiders are in my cereal... I have never actually had a spider in my cereal - at least that I can remember, so I'm not sure why the fear exists...

In fact, just talking about it creeps me out enough that I am picking the sugar-covered raisins out of my bowl and going to throw the flakes (a.k.a. spider hiding huts) away, yet again.

Turmoil

I wonder what it is in human nature that makes us always want what we don't have - we seem to think that the 'grass is always greener'...better job, better school, better house, better car, better family, better climate...aaargh.

I LOVE our house - but I miss Rhode Island, now I KNOW that I wasn't 100% happy when we were there - but it seems as though the things that bothered me then have resolved themselves and a whole new set of problems have cropped up...for example: In RI we rarely thought about finances - and I would dare say almost never worried about them. But here money is ALWAYS on my (our) mind(s)...worrying about having enough $ to pay the mortgage and the car insurance and still buy groceries...we still do not have health insurance because it is just too expensive...The Navy still owes us $$$ from our move out (we paid upfront and they reimburse us - and a 2800 mile move is NOT cheap) and the GI Bill hasn't kicked in yet - which has strapped us SO tight...I get wicked heartburn from the whole thing.

Plus - our congregation at church in Newport was awesome...we had so many close friends there who really cared about us...and I miss them terribly. I e-mail back and forth and call, but it just isn't the same. Now here at church we have got a large group of very unfriendly people in this congregation...we even pulled aside one of the clergymen on Sunday and expressed our concern and do you know what he said?: "This actually isn't the first time someone has come to us with this concern."....HELLO!?! Doesn't that send up BIG RED FLAGS?! So right now we hate going to church - and Sunday is the only day I have off (between work and school) so it kinda sucks to dread it...

But on the bright side - I do love being back in school - and I love having a cute fluffer cat to snuggle and a dog to walk and I have the world's best loving-handsome-spider killing-litterbox scooping-put up with all my crap-husband. So I guess I'm doing alright.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

maybe I should lose some weight...

So I was demonstrating a crib to this sweet older woman today and I mentioned our interest free layaway and she said 'you must have yours on layaway now too, huh?' and I told her the one I want is like $1000...and hubby won't let me get it because we don't have any children...then she said - 'well you're expecting though, right?'.....ummm, akward.....

I mean...I'm not fat - and I have lost 21 pounds since January - so it is coming, but I guess not fast enough!

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Recovering from shock

So I made sure I looked presentable for school today. Did my hair - actually matched my outfit - wore cute shoes, perfume, makeup, etc...you know what I'm talking about ladies...

Then I strategically placed myself by the only other people in class I knew (other than him) so I could talk and appear interesting - two cute girls that reminded me of Becky (my Best Friend) and I our first year...so I smiled and chit-chatted a bit, made sure to smile a bunch and NEVER looked directly at him...I caught him glancing my way a few times - made me feel good...so I think I am recovered from last Tuesday's nightmare...

Also - I am loaded up on Midol and using one of those nifty heat patches today (for cramps) so I feel great! Isn't science wonderful!?

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Fate is Cruel

So I started last night :( Bummer, but at least I started, that means I likely do not have a cyst...so needless to say I don't feel too well today...

So after my Economics class I swore I saw Dan - the guy who I 'Dear Johned'...we dated pretty seriously and he actually said to me once that he didn't want to go on a mission if it meant losing me...sweet huh? So it was him...and I was dressed all slobby...sweatshirt and jeans with my hair in a ponytail - because I didn't feel well...I always wondered if I'd ever run into him again...it just sucks it had to be today...so we talked for a few minutes - just small talk..you know 'how are you' type of stuff...

But fate has yet another cruel twist for me...he already graduated but is coming back for a Masters in Accounting...so that means we will likely have MANY classes together over the next couple years...

I found out he just got married and in some strange way that actually makes me feel a little better...I'm not sure why.

Well my International Politics class is about to start - I gotta run.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Just another let-down

It was negative...I just couldn't get it out of my head so I went to Walmart late last night and bought a test...even though I knew it wouldn't be positive, I still had a glimmer of hope...which has now been snuffed out...

Not sure where to go from here - still 2 weeks late and not sure why. Hope it's not a cyst.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Updates!! Updates!!

I love school!! I have loved being back on campus the last few days... :) Although I am generally the oldest one in all my classes and I am older than one of my teachers...he he...

I decided to drop my calculus class - mostly because my teacher can hardly speak English and all the other sections of the course are full...so I will wait until Spring semester...I am not racist or anything I just find it hard to concentrate on learning CALCULUS (yuck!) when I am trying so hard just to understand what my teacher is 'actually saying'...

Even without calc I think I will have a busy schedule - my Economics teacher actually told us on the first day that he didn't expect anyone in the class to get above a 90%...talk about discouraging...and my International Politics/Relations teacher warned us about the work load and suggested strongly that we consider that and drop the class if necessary...so I think I will still be plenty busy.

Having a laptop in class has been SO great...I can take much more efficient notes now because I can type faster than I can write! I just have to make sure to get to class early enough to sit by a power outlet so my battery doesn't go dead!




Work is ok...I just wish I didn't have to work at all...maybe someday...or maybe I could work somewhere where what YOU do is valuable and important to the organization - you don't just clock in, sell/make stuff and clock out..



I am slightly worried...I am almost 2 weeks late and I haven't taken a test yet because it would be not so good to be pregnant right now because we have NO health insurance...and I worry that it is positive and I will lose the baby again - I don't have any symptoms except EXTREME fatigue, which could very well be from starting school this week...to give you an example of how tired I am - I came home from school Tuesday and thought I would take a quick nap before doing homework - I fell asleep at about 5:45pm and woke up Wednesday at 8:30am...that is some sleep! And I slept SOLID the whole night, which is rare, I usually toss and turn. I wondered if anyone else out there had NO symptoms but was actually pregnant??



I miss Rhode Island...simply put. I miss the friends we made and restaurants we used to eat at and our congregation at church there and the smell of the air and sound of the harbor at night...all of it... I was having a really tough time Sunday and at one point a woman came and sat next to me and asked how my new job was (I was shocked anyone actually even remembered) and how we were liking it - I could barely hold back the tears when I said we were having a hard time adjusting...we both have family here but we have no friends - well we have met one couple at church, but they are not close friends (not yet, hopefully eventually)...no one we can call to go to a movie or come over for dinner...and it is not for lack of trying - we just don't fit in the normal 'mold' for couples our age here...we have no kids where most have at least 1...and they all congregate together and we feel excluded...also several things that should be happening at church aren't...the leader of the Men's group has yet to introduce himself to Nathan - and we should be having monthly visitors - both for me individually and for us as a family - and none yet... I was trying to schedule choir practice and I made an announcement that we would rehearse right after church and a couple of women 'ganged' up on me and said they had always practiced at 4:30 and that's how it would be...I reminded them that I sent a survey to all interested choir members to find out the best time to rehearse...and I went with that - well one woman actually had the audacity to say "We have children to get home and get settled after church, you don't understand" - If I wouldn't have been choking back tears at that point I would have quipped back something like: "I'm sorry, I don't understand, maybe if my baby wouldn't have died....." I don't know what else to do here to try and feel included...a lot of our neighbors are Mexican - and they keep to themselves - so they act like we don't exist...we'll pass them on the sidewalk when we walk Besta and we'll say "evenin'" or "mornin'" and they will just turn around and act as if we said nothing...and then all the non-Mexican families in our neighborhood seemed to have their little 'clicks' and we are not invited...any advice?

Besta

We got our dog last Friday - his name is Besta. I mentioned before that we got him from my brother - he has 3 and the city where he lives only allows him to have 2...so he needed a home for one and we took him...he is so cute and we finally got around to getting some pictures taken of him...part of the delay was that he is SO hyper we couldn't get him to hold still enough for a picture...

Here he is:



We had him outside last night playing and Nathan took a break in the hammock - well Besta wanted to join him - poor thing can't jump that well so Nathan had to help him into the hammock...





We sure love our puppy!