Dear Diary

Life is good.

I had a great holiday! Chris and I went home to MD to spend Christmas with our families. We spent the day with my dad and stepmom the day before. I wish I could get up to see them more. Christmas morning we opened presents with Chris's family, then he stayed there while I went to the big family gathering at my mom and stepdad's house. Later that night, after all the extended family had gone home, Chris came over and we opened the rest of our presents from my family. I'm not really a materialistic person, but I got some kick-ass gifts! Most exciting was the LOTR box set, which I specifically asked for, and which I spent about a week watching (along with all the accompanying documentaries). I also got a bird feeder from my mom-in-law, and five of the field guides from the Audubon Society. I can't wait for spring!

Chris left the day after Christmas to come home (he had to go back to work), but I stayed for the rest of the week and visited all my friends. Most exciting was when my sister and I spent an evening over in Woodbridge, hanging out with a friend from high school we hadn't seen in about five years. He had my junior yearbook, which I spent a delightful hour browsing through, remembering a lot of good times I had completely forgotten about. It was surprisingly liberating, to realize how different high school actually was from the way I remember it. I also got to spend a day with Fletcher, which also doesn't happen often enough. I miss you, Puck! I even got to hang out with my little brother and his friend Jake, both of whom have turned into incredibly well-rounded and interesting young men. They're 15 now, and both pretty mature for their age. I seriously wish I could be around more often.

Two days before Christmas, Chris was changing the oil in our car when it popped out of gear, rolled off the ramps, down a hill, and into a tree. That's all she wrote - no more Echo. I was heartbroken...I bought that car three years ago, with three miles on it, and I thought I was going to have it until it died. Well, I guess I did, huh? I just thought it would be another ten years or so before it gave up the ghost. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries, although it ran over Chris's knee and and he scraped up his back on the gravel. He limped for a few days, then he was okay. The insurance company paid for a rental, so we were able to go home and see our families, and Toyota financed us for a new Scion. You know, repeat business and all that. Not a bad car, when it's all said and done, but it does have one major drawback...it's white. I can't STAND white cars! But oh, well, beggars can't be choosers, and at least I have power windows and mirrors now. Can't really complain about that.

I got a job last week. I'm working full-time at the hotel right up the street from my house. Not a bad job, really, but I don't think I'm going to be full-time for long. I have almost no time to do my homework, and this semester I absolutely cannot afford to screw up. Why, you ask? Well, I had an admissions appointment today with a counselor from VT, and she told me that as long as my mid-semester grades are anywhere close to my grades from last semester, I'm in. I'M IN!!!! I'm going to Tech in the fall!! WOOOOOHOOOOO!!! :) That's very exciting (duh). I can't tell you how glad I am to be back in school. I actually got depressed after New Years', because I was so bored. I was sleeping 14 hours a day. Not cool.

My mom drove me home New Years' weekend, and my sister and brother-in-law came with. They only stayed overnight, but I got to take them on a short hike up to Wind Rock, which is on the Appalachian Trail, and it has a great view of the mountain range. Even in the wintertime it's breathtaking. The road up to Wind Rock also goes through Mountain Lake resort, the location where Dirty Dancing was filmed. Mom thought that was pretty cool. I took them around campus, and showed them downtown Blacksburg. I'm so glad my mom finally got to come and see where I'm living now, and where I'll be going to school. It was always important to me.

It's snowing here. Not much, and there's a bastard of a wind chill, but it's nice to see snow again. We had an ice storm a few days ago, and the ice was so thick on the pine trees in the yard that the lowest branches were almost on the ground. It all melted the next day, but not before we got out there and took some pictures. Hopefully we can get them developed soon.

School isn't much different from last semester, since I'm taking the same classes. One new teacher, a few different class locations, and my history paper this semester is on Andy Warhol. That's gonna be fun, I'm sure. My backpacking class doesn't start until mid-March. I can't wait!

I guess that's about it for now. It's good to be back.

:)

It's that time again....

Like most of you, I haven't had much time for blogging lately. Actually, I haven't had much to blog about, until recently. But I find myself sitting in front of the computer, most of my housework done, my inbox cleared, the animals fed, my husband at work, a cup of coffee next to me, and I realize it's a perfect time for reflecting. And so, I will attempt to get down on paper (sort of...) a summary of recent noteworthy events, and thus preserve them for posterity.

First, and most important....today was the deadline for final grades to be posted, and as expected, I ended the semester with a 4.0. As for that chem class I've been sweating all semester, ironically, I had the highest grade in the class - 99.4%, and anyone with an A was exempt from the final. I don't think I've ever had a 4.0, not even in high school...maybe for one quarter, but never at the end of the year. I'm only halfway through this year, but next semester I'm taking the second half of the subjects I just took, so I'm not worried. As an added bonus, even though I went into this past semester with the solitary goal of learning, I managed to make a few friends on the way, and even had a couple nights of study group at my house during finals week. We even had a bonfire here a week ago...a small affair, but fun and very laid-back, a good way to relax and forget temporarily the stress of math and science. I'm so glad I'm not living in an apartment anymore!

Christmas is only five days away. Chris and I are heading home on Sunday, and he'll be coming back here on Tuesday...back to work for him, say sorry. I, on the other hand, am in a unique position to stay at home for a few extra days and come back next weekend. It's so exciting!! Not only will I get to see my best friends whom I haven't seen since August (that means you, Fletch, I can't wait!), but my mom is bringing me back and staying overnight. I'll get to show her the town, and the VT campus, where I'll be going to school in the fall. It's nice because when I was at DePaul, Mom never got to see the campus...and when I was in high school and looking at colleges, she went to see a few with me. Besides, it's so beautiful here, I can't imagine anyone coming here and not being happier for it. My sister might be coming as well, which would be awesome!

I know I've been saying for months that I'd get some good pictures of Mojo up here...well, these aren't good pictures, but they're pictures, dammit! :)

Remember how small he was when I brought him home in August? No? Okay, here ya go:



It's been four and a half months since then, and he's growing so fast!



He's gotten a lot more red, even though he's a little dull right now...he'll probably shed in the next week.





That's about all I have for now...the computer's so damn slow right now anyway, what with all the shows Chris is downloading, I've been working on this post for about two hours, and I'm hungry! Happy Yule, everyone!

Whew!

No more finals - I took my last two today. Grades by Wednesday. 90% sure I made straight A's for the semester. Had a nice gathering here a few nights ago - more about that when I've had some recovery sleep :) I promise, I will post all about school when I get my final grades.

:)

Thanksgiving, and other things

I registered for my spring classes today. Second semester of everything I'm taking now - biology, chemistry, calculus, and US history - plus an added bonus...a class in backpacking! Since my goal after finishing college is to hike the entire AT with Chris, this seems like a great idea. Give me the necessary background and all that. If I have an A average in my chem class by Dec. 11, I will not have to take the final. Since it's the only one I'm worried about, this bodes well for my chances at a 4.0 this semester, which bodes REALLY well for my chances at successfully transferring to VT next fall.

Thanksgiving was....interesting. Not bad, but strange. It's hard to explain. As I become an adult, I'm having to reevaluate my relationships with family, and reinterpret our interactions. A lot of issues to deal with, issues that I've never even fully articulated to myself, let alone tried to deal with. I think, given time, everything will work itself out. Some things right now, though, still seem awkward.

I'm not ready to have a dog yet, especially one that only wants your undivided attention 24/7. Yet that's what we were left with when Andy left for Cali. Don't get me wrong, I love this dog (and, since Thanksgiving, so does my family). He's smart, beautiful, and attentive. I just wish I had more time to give. As much as I'd like to have my own dog, raised from a puppy, I won't even consider it until I know I can give it the time and attention it deserves. Since I'm not planning on having kids for another few years yet, I don't think this will be a problem.

I have an appointment to give blood in about ten minutes. I may come back and add to this, I may not. We'll see how the rest of the day goes.

:)

P.S.

I got an A on that Chem test, by the way. Not only that, but my average (pre-test) was an 85%. Looks like I might make it through this semester with A's and B's after all!

:)

My current state of academics

I had a brutal (although not as bad as I expected) chem test this morning. I think I got at least a C. I came home after the test, I think I was at school for about an hour and 15 minutes today. I'm skipping math class. The teacher always puts the notes up on the Internet. I'm also skipping a history test, but I have two opt-outs for tests I haven't yet used. There are two tests left after this one, and I only have to take one of them, since I took the first two. It's a nice system. There's a paper due in that class in about two weeks, which I still have to get seriously started. My topic is Levi Strauss, and I think I'm going to title the paper "The Birth of American Fashion". As far as I know, I'm getting an A in history. I've gotten A's on the first two tests and the three quizzes I've taken, and we're only required to take three of each, so unless I seriously screw up this paper or the final, I should have an A. Same for math - pre-Calc this semester (Calc next semester), and both tests have been A's so far. I took my third math test on Monday, and should get it back this coming Monday. Pretty sure I got another A. I've gotten A's on my first two biology tests, although I haven't gotten the third test back yet (took that on Tuesday), but I'm also pretty sure I got an A, and I'm maintaining an A in lab, which is 25% of my grade. I'm also maintaining an A in my chem lab, which might save my overall grade. Today was the third chem test. I got a 68 on the first one and a 90-something on the second. I've gotten A's and B's on the quizzes. I've been trying to find time to catch my professor in his office to see what my current grade average is, because the last day to withdraw from a class is Monday. I have to pass all of my classes with at least a C and maintain a 3.0 in order to guarantee my transfer to VT. Let's see, what else? I have an Internet research project on global warming due next week for my bio lab, and I think there's a lab quiz. I need to read ch. 40 in my bio book, since that's what we started going over in class yesterday. We've started taking notes for Test 4 in history, so I could go read them over, since I plan on taking that as my last test. We're learning about the Era of Good Feelings, Market Revolution, etc., starting right after the War of 1812. Fun stuff. Sometime this afternoon I'll look up those math notes, copy them into my notebook and do the homework for that section (should be 7.2). And chemistry? Maybe I should check my syllabus and see what we're studying next. You know, get a head start.

"Life Update" is so cliche...oh, well.

I have a history test in about 45 minutes. I'm sooo bored right now, but I don't want to study for anything else I should be studying for, in case I get confused :) I'm sitting in the school library, listening to Pandora (custom personalized internet radio, if you haven't tried it, get on over to Pandora.com and go crazy!) and reading up on all the blogs I've been missing. You know who you are! School's taking up much more of my time than I expected. Not more than I can handle, but my casual forays into the blogosphere have become rare. I'm doing well in all my classes, except chemistry, but one bad test grade isn't the end of the world. I took my second chem test this morning, and I feel pretty confident about it. Besides, if I have to withdraw, I can always take it next year. See, VT has articulation agreements (guaranteed transfer admission) with several of their colleges, and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is one of them. That's the one I'm shooting for. All I have to do is take the required courses for an AA in Science, pass each class with at least a C average, and maintain a 3.0. That's not nearly as stringent as I was expecting, considering how fierce the competition for transfer students is in general. Turns out taking Bio and Chem in the same year is going to free up a lot of class time for next year. Maybe I can take physics for fun. Is physics fun? I don't know, I opted out of taking it in high school because I wanted to take AP Bio instead. That was DEFINITELY fun.

Went to the Tool show in Pittsburgh Tuesday night. I had to miss some classes to do it, but it all worked out. Now, I'm not a huge Tool fan (although my husband is), but this show BLEW me AWAY. What a great experience. If you're thinking to yourself, "I don't like heavy metal," think again. They're SO much more than that. You just have to look deeper.

Anyone heard of the Funky Meters? Yeah, they're before my time, but last Friday George Porter, Russell Batiste and Eric Stoltz (The FM minus Aaron Neville) played a show at the Lyric Theatre here in town with special guest Steve Kimock. You know, the guy who retaught Jerry how to play guitar when he came out of his coma. We got lucky on that, he's not playing the whole tour. Like funk? You'd have LOVED this show.

Next up? Flaming Lips sometime in October. My husband takes care of the details...I just show up :)

I feel good. Until next time....

:)

All you touch and All you see

I'm sitting in the library on campus between classes. I got out of Chemistry class early today. My professor graded our first test with the wrong answer key, so needless to say he was a little preoccupied and only gave us a few notes. Apparently we're ahead of schedule on our notes anyway. I have a "homework quiz" in Pre-Calc this afternoon. As long as I have all the assigned homework done before class at 1:25, all I have to do is copy the work from my notebook. It's almost done, but not quite. I have to say I'm surprised how easily all this comes back to me. Not just the subject matter, but the study habits. I don't remember being this organized the first time around, but ever since school started I've been able to sit down (almost) every day and put a little time into my studies, even if it's just reading over the notes from last class in order to be prepared for class the next day. I have a 5-page paper due in November for my U.S. History class, and an independent research project due I don't remember when in Biology. I already have topics picked out for both, and I don't even have to give my Bio lab professor my outline until Thursday. I'm writing my History paper on Levi Strauss. You know, the guy who revolutionized blue jeans by putting little metal rivets on the pockets. (He didn't actually come up with that idea, one of his distributers did, but he put up the money for the patent and they became partners.) I think it's going to be fun. I love having over an hour between classes! It gives me time to get all my work done and still have some left over to come and talk to all of you. I know I haven't been posting as much as I used to, but to be honest, I don't feel as much need anymore, because I don't have as much on my mind, relatively speaking. I'm sure you don't want to read my internal dialogue on how biology and chemistry interact based on the interconnected and occasionally contradictory notes I'm getting in each class, or how much unexpected fun I'm having learning about the daily life of the colonists from 1700-1750. There are a lot of details about colonial life they don't teach you in high school! I'm slowly settling down into my new routine, and slowly growing into my new home. Life is...pretty good. Everything outside of school has seemed to fade a little, in a way. That's such a good feeling. I've been waiting five years for this.

There's so much to learn.

:)

Hoorah!

I'M HOME!!!!!

It's not really home until you're sleeping in a real bed again.

So much has happened in the last week, it's hard to remember it all, but I'll give you the highlights. We left Florida Friday night last week and drove all night to Buford, SC to stay with some friends. While we were there, we went down to Savannah and walked along River Street, something I've been wanting to do for a while. It's so beautiful! And as an added bonus, both candy shops on River St have free samples of homemade pralines! Yummy! We left Monday morning to head up to VA, thinking we were going to be able to move into our house, but the guy that just left wasn't out yet, and the landlord wanted to have someone come in to shampoo the carpets, so we were stuck in a hotel room with three people, a dog, and a carful of stuff for two days. But, we got to start bringing in our stuff on Wednesday, and the moving truck showed up early Thursday morning with the rest, everything present and accounted for, and nothing broken. Some of it is still out on the porch (I have a porch!), but the important things (bed, kitchen, sound system) have been set up, and the rest is just details. We'll be unpacking all day today, and probably tomorrow. If we can get it all done, we're leaving on Monday morning to spend some time with our friends and family over in Maryland and the D.C. suburbs. What's a 5 hour drive when we've been 17 hours away for the past year and a half?

On another note, my corn snake is healthy, happy, and not nearly as stressed as I worried it might be. I set up its home last night and fed it, thinking it might not eat from the stress of all the moving, but it had that pinky down in less than five minutes. A good sign, and it's calming down rather quickly. As soon as I get it to a vet and it becomes a he/she, I will name it and put some new pictures up.

I drove up to NRCC in Dublin on Tuesday to turn in my Financial Aid paperwork and pay the balance on my tuition. It's a very pretty campus, and not that far away. I'm definitely looking forward to going to school there.

There's so much time, and so little to do...wait, scratch that, reverse it...

:)

$137.80

That's the total amount due on my 2006-2007 tuition. The rest? Financial Aid! Got it in the mail today. Wanna know the best part? IT'S ALL IN GRANTS!!! AHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go dance naked around a bonfire in homage to whatever gods just smiled on me.

:)

Why don't we have free college like the rest of the world?

I filled out my Master Promissory Note for a Federal Stafford Loan today. I'm mailing it first thing tomorrow. This should be good news, but let me tell you why it's not.

First of all, this is the first time I've had to do any of the financial paperwork myself. When I went to college back in '00, my parents took care of it. So, every time I think I have everything taken care of, and I call the Financial Aid office to check the status of my aid, they tell me, "Oh, wait, you need to fill out this form, and print out this form, and we need this additional paperwork from you, etc, etc...". It's very frusturating. Second, since going to college this fall instead of next spring was kind of a last-minute decision, I already know that my loans are not going to come through until after the deadline for tuition payment (Aug 4). I'm only responsible for around $1000, it's only community college and they finally granted my application for in-state tuition (yay!), but I'm probably going to have to pay that out-of-pocket and get reimbursed my the loans. They should have my FAFSA processed within the next two weeks, so I'll know how much of it the school is covering, but my tuition is due three days after I move, for crying out loud! We're also getting reimbursed some moving expenses by the military, but we won't get that money or Chris's last paycheck until sometime in the later half of August, since we're taking terminal leave and moving two weeks before his official seperation date. So, we're going to have to pay for our move (gas, food, etc.) out-of-pocket as well.

On the flip side, though, we have only 17 days until the movers come and pack up all our stuff. Can we say, AAARRGGHHHHHHHHH! (that was a happy one, not a frusturated one...)



I love you guys. You keep me sane.

Can't sleep

I know the mind uses down time to go over things, but it sucks when you're trying to sleep. Here's what's on my mind.

*I have to clean my whole apartment in the next week. It looked good a month ago, but ever since the horrible sunburn incident (tomorrow will be 4 weeks), it all went to shit. Not much time to clean when you're focusing on trying to walk. I can't seem to motivate myself to get up early enough to get anything constructive done, and when I sleep in I just don't feel like doing anything. We have friends coming to visit next Thursday. Gotts get motivated.

*Bonnaroo is coming up in about 4 weeks. I hope I get the weekend off. I've asked for it in plenty of time, but a few days ago we get this post at work that "too many people are asking for weekends, summer is the busy season, we need you all here, blah, blah, blah." If they don't give me all 5 days, I'm going to quit. I've been looking foward to this for too long, and the tickets were too expensive to give up. I hope it doesn't come down to that, I really like working where I am (in a pet store, for those who don't know), but I don't need the job. It's just extra money and something to do.

*Going back to college has me excited and worried at the same time. I stll have to file my FAFSA, just waiting on a few financial figures, and I still have to call and argue with the Admissions department about my in-state tuition. I was a Virginia resident when I left, I left because my spouse had military orders to leave, I still have a VA driver's license, and I'm registered to vote. My car's not registered in VA because it's still in my stepfather's name first, since he co-signed the loan for me. That's getting taken care of by the end of the week. On the other hand, getting back into academia is something I need to do, and getting back in the mountains again is something I look forward to harder every day. Life is going to change completely in a matter of months.

*I hope we can manage all the recreation and planned purchases and still have enough money left over to move and get started in Blacksburg. That comes first, of course, I just hope we don't have to give up anything else. Depends on how much money I make between now and moving day (and how long I keep my job).

*I miss my friends back home. After we moved down here in February last year, we went back in June, then I went back in late October. 4 months and 4 months. It's now been 7 months since we've been back, with 2.5 left to go. I have a few friends here, but I don't get to see them as often as I'd like, either because schedules don't work out or because they live far enough away that it's difficult to find time. This is not the right environment for either of us.

Well, I've finished my cigarette, and told my story. Maybe now I can get some sleep. Goodnight, and may the Goddess smile upon you all.

Guess what happened to me...

Say hello to the new college student!

Last week, I was accepted into New River Community College in Dublin, VA. Today, I registered for classes. I'm taking US History, Pre-Calc, General Biology, and Chemistry. I haven't been to school in 6 years, so taking refresher courses (I took Calc and Advanced Bio in high school) seemed prudent. Since I registered before all the high schools let out, I managed to get a SWEET schedule! Get this: Monday, Wednesday and Friday I have classes from 9:05 until 2:20. Three classes, with an hour between each one. Tuesday and Thursday I have one class from 9:30 until 10:50, and each day a lab from 11:15 to 2:15. Chem on Tuesday, Bio on Thursday. I'll be home by 3, so a part-time night job is a distinct possibility. We move back to VA at the end of July, and classes don't start until 23 August, so I'll have plenty of time to check out the campus, hang out in town, hike, camp, visit friends and family, and generally settle down before I have to start studying. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am! I've been looking forward to this for almost two years. Plus, if I can get straight A's, I may be able to transfer to VT in the spring, instead of having to wait until next fall. I don't know what I did to get such good karma, but whatever it was, I hope I keep doing it!