List A - What I Love Most About Being Home
1. I have more time to write.
2. I can sleep in.
3. I have more time to practice on my pennywhistle.
4. I can actually sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee.
5. I can go outside on beautiful mornings, instead of being cooped up in a classroom.
6. I can wear my sweatpants.
7. Chores do not feel like a burden, since I don't also have homework and assignments to tend to.
8. I have time to daydream, to read poetry, and to just be, without having to do anything.
9. Whether I'll find time to do my homework while I spend the weekend at David and Jen's is a non-issue.
10. No homework!
List B - What I Miss Most About School
1. My classmates.
2. My English teacher, Mr. Brandon.
3. My supervisor, Mrs. Martin.
4. Walks across campus during breaks.
5. The art studio.
6. The tutoring lab.
7. The library.
8. The piano.
9. Tutoring.
10. A roasted chicken breast sandwich from Subway and a cold Dr. Pepper.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
The Post Without A Title
...Because I was too lazy to think up a clever title.
You know you're out of school when you view doing laundry not as an unavoidable hindrance, but an intriguing challenge. Today I did ALL the laundry in the ENTIRE house - washed, hung out to dry, brought into the house, folded, put away - all except for folding two loads. Mom took on one herself (even though I promised her that she wouldn't be doing chores now that her summer classes are underway) and I delegated Sarah to fold the other. One thing that makes laundry days interesting here - we have no clothes dryer. We have a clothesline, and on rainy days, we hang up clothes inside the house. I did a great deal of griping about it during the winter, especially when I had to hang out clothes when it was cold outside (I always had to wear gloves.) Now that it's spring, I actually - dare I say it - enjoy hanging clothes out to dry. Today was especially nice. It stayed mild, windy, and sunny all day, and I had my secret weapon: an MP3 player, which makes the process ten times easier. It's amazing, the sense of pride and accomplishment you can get from doing all the laundry for a family of six in one day - without the convenience of a dryer. (Actually for a while we had no laundry basket either - just these horrid small round hampers - but I put my foot down, so to speak, and Mom bought a nice big basket.)
My other great household triumph today was coffee. I finally perfected a coffee treat recipe I've been working at for a while, which consists of coffee with cream and sugar, cinnamon, and a few other spices. I made some cups for myself and for Hannah and Jesse today. They have since been insisting that I sell the recipe to Starbucks. I'm calling it St. Nick's Coffee, since it takes like a Christmas drink.
Well, it's 44 days until my summer class starts. Without Sarah Jo to drive me to school at that time (she'll be married by then) it's finally time for me to grit my teeth, grab the wheel, and DRIVE MYSELF TO THE DARN SCHOOL ALREADY. I got new glasses and renewed my driver's permit, and was pleased to learn that when you're over 18, the graduated licensing program no longer applies to you and you can get your license whenever you want. With this permit, I have to be with a licensed driver at all times, so I need my license before the 25th of June. (I can't very well take my parents to school.) Now, I have driven around a couple of times since getting my permit, but not enough to be again skilled enough to drive long distances. So I'm getting murderously serious about it now, and I told Dad as much after dinner. He agreed that I need more practice, and he said that he would let me drive more, starting tomorrow, if nothing comes up. I want to drive as many consecutive days as I possibly can, preferably every weekday. I vow before my Internet audience that June 25th will not catch me without a license.
I am determined to lose weight before the wedding. Enough said.
This weekend we are going to see Prince Caspian! I wish we could be there for the premiere on Friday, but Elijah has a football game early Saturday morning. But no matter - one way or another, we're going to see it! Finally, three years of waiting are about to be paid off! (Thank goodness I won't have to wait as long for Dawn Treader.)
My paycheck from working in the LAC is supposed to come at the end of this month. Thank heaven, because I desperately need new clothes. I'm still wearing t-shirts from two years ago, and I only have like three outfits that I would wear in public. Maybe Sarah Jo will go shopping with me...? We haven't been out shopping since that one time in the winter when she hit that lady's car.
Signing off.
You know you're out of school when you view doing laundry not as an unavoidable hindrance, but an intriguing challenge. Today I did ALL the laundry in the ENTIRE house - washed, hung out to dry, brought into the house, folded, put away - all except for folding two loads. Mom took on one herself (even though I promised her that she wouldn't be doing chores now that her summer classes are underway) and I delegated Sarah to fold the other. One thing that makes laundry days interesting here - we have no clothes dryer. We have a clothesline, and on rainy days, we hang up clothes inside the house. I did a great deal of griping about it during the winter, especially when I had to hang out clothes when it was cold outside (I always had to wear gloves.) Now that it's spring, I actually - dare I say it - enjoy hanging clothes out to dry. Today was especially nice. It stayed mild, windy, and sunny all day, and I had my secret weapon: an MP3 player, which makes the process ten times easier. It's amazing, the sense of pride and accomplishment you can get from doing all the laundry for a family of six in one day - without the convenience of a dryer. (Actually for a while we had no laundry basket either - just these horrid small round hampers - but I put my foot down, so to speak, and Mom bought a nice big basket.)
My other great household triumph today was coffee. I finally perfected a coffee treat recipe I've been working at for a while, which consists of coffee with cream and sugar, cinnamon, and a few other spices. I made some cups for myself and for Hannah and Jesse today. They have since been insisting that I sell the recipe to Starbucks. I'm calling it St. Nick's Coffee, since it takes like a Christmas drink.
Well, it's 44 days until my summer class starts. Without Sarah Jo to drive me to school at that time (she'll be married by then) it's finally time for me to grit my teeth, grab the wheel, and DRIVE MYSELF TO THE DARN SCHOOL ALREADY. I got new glasses and renewed my driver's permit, and was pleased to learn that when you're over 18, the graduated licensing program no longer applies to you and you can get your license whenever you want. With this permit, I have to be with a licensed driver at all times, so I need my license before the 25th of June. (I can't very well take my parents to school.) Now, I have driven around a couple of times since getting my permit, but not enough to be again skilled enough to drive long distances. So I'm getting murderously serious about it now, and I told Dad as much after dinner. He agreed that I need more practice, and he said that he would let me drive more, starting tomorrow, if nothing comes up. I want to drive as many consecutive days as I possibly can, preferably every weekday. I vow before my Internet audience that June 25th will not catch me without a license.
I am determined to lose weight before the wedding. Enough said.
This weekend we are going to see Prince Caspian! I wish we could be there for the premiere on Friday, but Elijah has a football game early Saturday morning. But no matter - one way or another, we're going to see it! Finally, three years of waiting are about to be paid off! (Thank goodness I won't have to wait as long for Dawn Treader.)
My paycheck from working in the LAC is supposed to come at the end of this month. Thank heaven, because I desperately need new clothes. I'm still wearing t-shirts from two years ago, and I only have like three outfits that I would wear in public. Maybe Sarah Jo will go shopping with me...? We haven't been out shopping since that one time in the winter when she hit that lady's car.
Signing off.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Sushi Is Not Always an Acquired Taste
Explanation of title: Today I tried sushi for the first time. It's Sarah and Gabe's two-year anniversary, and they went to a Japanese steakhouse of all places, where they ordered sushi of all things, and they generously allowed me to eat some of their leftovers. Not sure what everything was, but it was certainly tasty! People say that sushi is an acquired taste, but I liked it right away. Now I wish I could go to a sushi bar, but that's unlikely.
Anyway, today was my last day of school. WHOOT! Until after Sarah's wedding, I don't even have to think about RCC anymore! All my finals are finished, all my papers graded, all my LAC timesheets signed, all my financial aid forms processed. And -- surprise -- today I found out that I'm getting an extra scholarship for English class this summer. YAY!
Now I have more time to devote to writing (if only I could do it on my own computer, though.) And today I took on the Story-A-Day challenge at FM. So we'll see how that turns out.
Bad news: Paramnesia is currently in the middle of a dreaded purpose crisis. You know, when you ask yourself why am I writing this and you don't have an easy answer? Not good. This endangers the entire project. Gavin, Kelsey, and Mara are sitting on the edge of their seats, biting their nails...
Good news: Because of the purpose crisis, I can now focus more on the Homeland trilogy, which is more meaningful and rewarding to me now than it was two years ago. And the political intrigue I've been layering into the story is really keeping me hyped up. Two years ago, I would never have dreamed of putting politics in a fantasy story, but now, my story line has more humanity and more versimilitude. It's almost beginning to remind me of the Star Wars prequels, actually -- how the political threads of the story are so intricately braided into the more mythical, spiritual threads. They coexist, they're symbiotic, without one, the other lacks depth. The two storylines in Homeland are becoming more and more connected and meaningful. Moral of the paragraph: Don't dismiss politics in fantasy stories -- it's awesome!
My eyes just dropped shut for the fourth time since beginning this entry. Good signal to go to sleep. Good night, world!
Anyway, today was my last day of school. WHOOT! Until after Sarah's wedding, I don't even have to think about RCC anymore! All my finals are finished, all my papers graded, all my LAC timesheets signed, all my financial aid forms processed. And -- surprise -- today I found out that I'm getting an extra scholarship for English class this summer. YAY!
Now I have more time to devote to writing (if only I could do it on my own computer, though.) And today I took on the Story-A-Day challenge at FM. So we'll see how that turns out.
Bad news: Paramnesia is currently in the middle of a dreaded purpose crisis. You know, when you ask yourself why am I writing this and you don't have an easy answer? Not good. This endangers the entire project. Gavin, Kelsey, and Mara are sitting on the edge of their seats, biting their nails...
Good news: Because of the purpose crisis, I can now focus more on the Homeland trilogy, which is more meaningful and rewarding to me now than it was two years ago. And the political intrigue I've been layering into the story is really keeping me hyped up. Two years ago, I would never have dreamed of putting politics in a fantasy story, but now, my story line has more humanity and more versimilitude. It's almost beginning to remind me of the Star Wars prequels, actually -- how the political threads of the story are so intricately braided into the more mythical, spiritual threads. They coexist, they're symbiotic, without one, the other lacks depth. The two storylines in Homeland are becoming more and more connected and meaningful. Moral of the paragraph: Don't dismiss politics in fantasy stories -- it's awesome!
My eyes just dropped shut for the fourth time since beginning this entry. Good signal to go to sleep. Good night, world!
Thursday, May 1, 2008
In Soviet Russia, Job Works YOU!!!
Title comment: Don't ask. For your own good, just don't ask.
As today, I had no classes or exams to take, I simply worked in the LAC all day. (And I do get paid for that extra time!)
Oh, my. Had a lot to do.
First I printed my April timesheet and signed it. Easy. Then I went to get Ms. Martin an ice tea out of the Pepsi machine. Not that easy, because the machine ate her dollar at first, but eventually the problem was solved.
Then she said, "Will you go clean out those filing cabinets in the back?" and told me how to file the papers I would find there.
Of course I agreed, because I'm a good noodle.
Wow. I swear if you took eighteen oversize-print Bibles and stacked them next to the stack of papers I had to file, the papers would be taller. And most of them weren't stapled, paper-clipped, or sorted into manila folders. Most of them were just loose papers that I had to put in the appropriate drawer. Ever thumbed your way through a stack of papers that was as high as your chin? I'm amazed I never got a paper cut. I started the job at 9:15 and wasn't finished until lunchtime. It would have been so much easier if the papers had already been sorted, but no, as it was, I was bouncing from place to place with papers, something like this.
This one goes into the Commas drawer. This one into Misplaced Modifiers. Ms. Martin, do you want this email from the NCTLA that dates back to 1995? No? Goes into scrap paper. Oh, no, wait, it's double-sided. Goes into the recycling bin. This one goes to Subject-verb agreement. This one is about semicolons? Ms. Martin, there is no Semicolons drawer. (I had to create one.) Recycling bin. Subject-verb agreement. Scrap paper. Subject-verb agreement. Commas. Quotations. Scrap paper. IF I SEE ONE MORE BLOODY PAPER ABOUT SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT I SWEAR TO GOD -- Oh, wait, it's old. Recycling bin. English 070 tests? We have an English 070 course? No? Then how did this get here? Recycling bin. Oh, look, more Subject-verb agreement...Whose file is this? Mr. Brandon's? Then shouldn't it be in Mr. Brandon's office? Recycling bin. Subject-verb agreement?...No, this time is Subject-verb identification. Sigh.
Anyway, the rest of the day was easier. I emptied the closet and the bookshelves, and I microwaved Ms. Martin's lunch in the faculty lounge. That's the first time I've been in the faculty lounge, and probably the last time too. It smelled like wood varnish, had a fridge, a high-tech microwave, and a clunker of an oven that looked like it dated back to the early 1960's and needed cleaning. On one wall, there was a collection of mailboxes, each labelled with the names of the professors that work in the Humanities building. There were two or three letters in the boxes, but it looks like their main function is to serve as a shelf for coffee cups. Curious, I looked for all my teacher's coffee cups. Hopefully I didn't find Mr. Brandon's - in his box was a pink coffee cup that said, "I'LL START MY DIET TOMORROW," and I really hope that wasn't his. Mr. Drake's was absent, as his coffee never leaves his hands. Of course Mrs. Harden, the Earth Mother and Advisor To The Underworld, had not coffee, but tea, a pretty box of herbal tea in front of her teacup. Mr. James's coffee cup was nondescript white. They still have a box set apart for jolly old Mr. Davies's coffee cup, though he retired last semester.
So, yeah, I had to move around a lot today. My feet hurt.
I wish I could get to my writing. But the power adapter for my laptop has busted, and I can't order a new one until next Thursday. Grrr. I guess I can write without my material, but it's complicated. Reading a little of what I've already written is what gets me ready to write more.
At least my laptop is my own again. Mom and Sarah just bought brand new Dell laptops, so they have no need of mine.
Thank God for flash drives.
As today, I had no classes or exams to take, I simply worked in the LAC all day. (And I do get paid for that extra time!)
Oh, my. Had a lot to do.
First I printed my April timesheet and signed it. Easy. Then I went to get Ms. Martin an ice tea out of the Pepsi machine. Not that easy, because the machine ate her dollar at first, but eventually the problem was solved.
Then she said, "Will you go clean out those filing cabinets in the back?" and told me how to file the papers I would find there.
Of course I agreed, because I'm a good noodle.
Wow. I swear if you took eighteen oversize-print Bibles and stacked them next to the stack of papers I had to file, the papers would be taller. And most of them weren't stapled, paper-clipped, or sorted into manila folders. Most of them were just loose papers that I had to put in the appropriate drawer. Ever thumbed your way through a stack of papers that was as high as your chin? I'm amazed I never got a paper cut. I started the job at 9:15 and wasn't finished until lunchtime. It would have been so much easier if the papers had already been sorted, but no, as it was, I was bouncing from place to place with papers, something like this.
This one goes into the Commas drawer. This one into Misplaced Modifiers. Ms. Martin, do you want this email from the NCTLA that dates back to 1995? No? Goes into scrap paper. Oh, no, wait, it's double-sided. Goes into the recycling bin. This one goes to Subject-verb agreement. This one is about semicolons? Ms. Martin, there is no Semicolons drawer. (I had to create one.) Recycling bin. Subject-verb agreement. Scrap paper. Subject-verb agreement. Commas. Quotations. Scrap paper. IF I SEE ONE MORE BLOODY PAPER ABOUT SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT I SWEAR TO GOD -- Oh, wait, it's old. Recycling bin. English 070 tests? We have an English 070 course? No? Then how did this get here? Recycling bin. Oh, look, more Subject-verb agreement...Whose file is this? Mr. Brandon's? Then shouldn't it be in Mr. Brandon's office? Recycling bin. Subject-verb agreement?...No, this time is Subject-verb identification. Sigh.
Anyway, the rest of the day was easier. I emptied the closet and the bookshelves, and I microwaved Ms. Martin's lunch in the faculty lounge. That's the first time I've been in the faculty lounge, and probably the last time too. It smelled like wood varnish, had a fridge, a high-tech microwave, and a clunker of an oven that looked like it dated back to the early 1960's and needed cleaning. On one wall, there was a collection of mailboxes, each labelled with the names of the professors that work in the Humanities building. There were two or three letters in the boxes, but it looks like their main function is to serve as a shelf for coffee cups. Curious, I looked for all my teacher's coffee cups. Hopefully I didn't find Mr. Brandon's - in his box was a pink coffee cup that said, "I'LL START MY DIET TOMORROW," and I really hope that wasn't his. Mr. Drake's was absent, as his coffee never leaves his hands. Of course Mrs. Harden, the Earth Mother and Advisor To The Underworld, had not coffee, but tea, a pretty box of herbal tea in front of her teacup. Mr. James's coffee cup was nondescript white. They still have a box set apart for jolly old Mr. Davies's coffee cup, though he retired last semester.
So, yeah, I had to move around a lot today. My feet hurt.
I wish I could get to my writing. But the power adapter for my laptop has busted, and I can't order a new one until next Thursday. Grrr. I guess I can write without my material, but it's complicated. Reading a little of what I've already written is what gets me ready to write more.
At least my laptop is my own again. Mom and Sarah just bought brand new Dell laptops, so they have no need of mine.
Thank God for flash drives.
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