The semester is over...and I'm sick.

I'm SICK. Today was the last day that I had anything left to turn in or do for the semester, and now I'm sick. I woke up with a sore throat, and now the whole head cold thing is starting to happen. It feels more like sinus problems than a normal cold. It just sucks. I've been drinking lots of my beloved orange juice, in addition to various warm beverages to try and relieve my sore throat and stave off this potentially monstrous respiratory illness. I have to be better by the time we leave for Texas, because my mom and grandma both smoke and that will just cause further problems. Well, I think I'm going to go to bed to try and get some rest. More news will be reported when more news occurs.

The end is NEAR....

The end of the semester is near. I'm so....so very relieved. This has been a very stressful week. At this point in time, I only have to proofread my very terrible paper for my Rawls course, and grade five papers. Then I'll be finished for the semester. I worked pretty hard this semester, and I think I will be rewarded with better grades, which is what I was going for. Everyone keeps saying grades don't matter, but those people are the ones making the really good grades. I think they matter in that they give you more confidence and thus make you more likely to participate more in class discussion. I also think they have an effect on faculty perceptions of your abilities. Thus, better grades makes me feel a lot better. Anyway, this is a very boring post, so I'm going to shut up. OH, something kinda depressing before I shut up: I took a quiz that both Michael and my friend Crystal also took, that asked, "What Age do you Act?" Michael and Crystal were both told they acted their exact and respective ages. I was told I acted 29 years old. TWENTY-NINE. That's six years older than I am, or I guess, closer to five and a half. Ye gads. Anyway, I don't know why it depresses me that it told me what I already know: I'm pretty much a stick in the mud, the librarian-like moralizing creature amongst my peers. Oh well.

Okie Dokie

Well, after a long time of no posting, I should have a lot of news, right? Well, maybe not. My life can be dreadfully dull. Michael's parents are staying with us right now, and will be until around the 19th of December. Michael and I will be going to Texas for Christmas, which will be very nice. It may also be a bit hectic, since I have to accomplish a lot of wedding planning/securing of things while I am there. I have thus far purchased two gifts, and two gifts only. I need to finish my Christmas shopping very soon.

Ummm....school is going well enough, and is almost over (one more week before finals begin). I need to get cracking on a paper I have due next Wednesday (the plan is to write three pages a day from now until Tuesday). I may have to go to school over this weekend in order to concentrate on it, because there are a lot of distractions here at the house.

I watched the new Pride and Prejudice movie over the Thanksgiving break...twice. Yeah, I'm a sucker for such things. I am half in love with Mr. Darcy as portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen. A lot of people complain that he makes Mr. Darcy seem shy, rather than proud, but I really don't think that is the case. There were too many scenes where he really seemed very condescending. What IS the case is that his delivery of certain lines was AWESOME. I was able to see why Lizzie would fall in love with someone that first appeared so very rude. Don't get me wrong: Colin Firth was an almost perfect Mr. Darcy, but he had a lot more time to convince us that Lizzie could fall in love with someone that seemed so haughty before (it was a...I think 6 hour long miniseries, right??). Matthew Macfadyen only had 2 hours, so some of Mr. Darcy's traits had to be softened a bit, or we wouldn't have been convinced. Overall, the new Pride and Prejudice was a beautiful movie. Anyway, on to do the day-to-day things, like drink coffee, etc.

Dreams

While I don't have recurring dreams, I do have a recurring type of dream. Of the dreams I can actually remember, most involve me trying to achieve some sort of goal or complete a task, and my every attempt is somehow thwarted. Thus, my dreams are like problem-solving nightmares, which means they are rather frustrating. Last night (or early this morning) I had a dream that I was sitting at a table outdoors with some friends (I can't remember who they were, or where we were), and I suddenly felt someone touching my hair. I look back, and a woman, who appears to be a hairdresser, is cutting my hair. I thought to myself, "Oh, that's right, I wanted to get a haircut." However, after taking maybe two snips of hair, the woman leaves, and I get up to follow her so I can get my haircut finished. Unfortunately, we are in this huge crowd of people, and I lose her. So I think, "Well, I'll just go get one at a salon or something." I go in search of a salon that somehow I know is nearby, and upon reaching it, I find that it is closed, because it is Sunday. I woke up with the feeling of frustration, because in my dream I thought, "No salons are open on Sunday!" I have no idea why I thought that, or even why I didn't think it was strange that a woman just came up behind me and started cutting my hair. Many of my dreams are this way. It's really weird.

Stuff

Well, it has been a while since my last post, so I thought I would take a break from the dizzying whirlwind that is school, and post something. I've been BUSY. Lots of reading and writing and a little bit of grading. I'm trying to be a better student this semester, and thus far it has worked. I have been a lot better with keeping up with the readings, but I don't know how I'm doing grade-wise because I have only recently had to turn anything in. I do know that I am contributing more in class, so that's a marked improvement from last year. Michael and I have begun our pre-marital counseling (as required by Episcopal church, or at least by my uncle, the priest), and that is going well enough. I have so much to do concerning the wedding, but I keep putting it on the back-burner, at least until around December. Anyway, since I really don't have much to report, and I feel guilty because I'm not doing something school related, I am going to shut up now.

Now I just SOUND sick

Well, I'm really not still sick, but I still sound sick. My voice has gone through several phases: there was the Demi Moore phase, which turned into a Kathleen Turner phase, and for several days now it has been the Stevie Nicks phase. I've been singing Fleetwood Mack songs whenever I'm by myself, because my singing voice is so AWESOME right now. But seriously, I'm starting to wonder if this is permanent, because I feel pretty good, yet my voice isn't better. I like Stevie Nicks and all, but I miss my own voice.

I have been too depressed to post much lately. The Hurricane Katrina disaster just...horrified me. I can't say much more than that, because I just get too angry and sad.

Michael and I are addicted to Lost. It's really sad. We, too, have fallen victim to the "What the hell's in the hatch?!" fever. We watch entirely too much TV. Especially for graduate students. By the way, Michael deserves some major congratulations, because he passed his prelim! He really worked hard, and was rewarded for it. I don't take my prelim until next semester, and I'm pretty much terrified. Well, I had better stop posting and do some reading, so that I can continue to fool these people into thinking that I actually belong in grad school.

Sick.

I've been sick for the past couple of days. It is Michael's fault. He had a scratchy throat and general sluggishness on Saturday, and I came down with those symptoms on Sunday. On Monday, mine got a lot worse, and I took some medication and slept a lot. On Tuesday, I experienced the runny nose part of the illness. This morning, I woke up with Demi Moore's voice. Not fun.

End of summer progress report

The end of summer vacation is finally upon me, and after considering the summer, I decided to report on the status of various projects and things that I may or may not have discussed on here.

First, readers may or may not recall that I was going to teach myself Latin. That didn't happen. Big surprise there, I'm sure. I'm hoping that being back on a schedule will prompt me to actually study it this semester, at least a chapter a week.

Second, I had hoped to do some research on the problem of evil. I started out very well at the beginning of summer, as I diligently printed out some papers I found online, and I read maybe.....some of one on the way to Texas. Upon my return from Texas, I didn't look at the papers even once, except to move them to a folder when I was trying to organize the quagmire that is the computer room. This progress report is looking pretty bad.

Third, I wanted to read a book on Leibniz over the summer. After about the fourth chapter, I gave up due to lack of interest and a conviction that I was crazy for starting such a project on my own in the first place.

Fourth, I wanted to reorganize the computer room/office. I actually did that, and it is working out fairly well. I rarely lose anything, and the biggest problem we were having (filing away important papers and shredding personal papers or junk mail that could be used for identity theft) is something we are doing a better job of keeping up with.

Fifth, I wanted to develop a consistent exercise regimen and get a little more fit. I was actually fairly successful with that, which is crazy, because I thought it was my most ambitious goal. Usually I work out a week and then give up, discouraged because my workout is difficult to complete or I get too sore. Actually, it is only in the past two weeks that I have started losing any weight. Before that, I was only changing my body composition: losing fat but gaining muscle. Thus, no real change in weight. I have gone down a size in undergarments, and I don't get as winded going up and down stairs or walking across campus. I still sweat like mad, but I think that is more due to the heat and humidity. I guess I did pretty well on this one. Well, I can't remember any other project I wanted to do.....and this is a long post, so I'm going to shut up for now.

Wedding Invitations...AAAHHHH!!!!!!!!

Lately, my future mother-in-law, Karen, and I have been trying to do some major planning for the wedding. One of the things that will be a bit tricky concerns the invitations. Michael's parents are hosting a reception for us a few months after the wedding in Michigan, for their family and friends who were not able to attend the actual wedding. We are puzzling over how to handle the reception response cards and the wording of the invitations, etc. I've been playing with the settings on invitation sites, and it is surprising how tricky it can be. For instance, one would think that if you just picked the most inexpensive and simple invitation, you will automatically get the best deal. That isn't always the case, depending upon what other things you'll need with the invitation. In my case, I will probably need a response card and a reception enclosure card along with the invitation, and that is where a lot of the companies seem to trick you. I saw an invitation that I really liked, but thought it was a bit expensive. It turns out that the invitation itself may be more than other invitations, but the response cards and enclosures cost less than many other invitation enclosures, bringing down the price considerably. So I'll have to be very careful to make sure I'm getting what I want for the best price. SIGH.

The school is stirring....

I went to the office today because I needed to be advised, and I was happy to see lots of people running around the department. Some of the faces were unfamiliar, but it is still nice to know that very soon I will be getting back into action. I also spent some time organizing my office, like getting rid of old papers and notes and filing away important stuff. I'll get to see everyone on Friday at the department meeting. This semester I will be a TA for Reasoning and Critical Thinking. I'm happy about it because it is a course I haven't assisted for yet, so it will be good course experience. On the other hand, I will have discussion groups again, which can be both good and bad. Discussion groups are good for the students, and good for me, because it gives me some teaching experience and more one-to-one interaction with the students. It's bad because it takes a bit more preparation, and this semester I have set some goals for myself concerning my coursework and language studies. I really want to be more disciplined this semester, and hope to cultivate some good work habits. We'll see how well all that works out.

Movie: The Island

Michael and I went out with some friends to see The Island last night. It was pretty good, despite the science being a bit bogus. However, as was pointed out to me in an argument about such matters, science FICTION doesn't have to be scientifically accurate or even believable. A lot of people have complained about how the movie put in lots of crashes, bangs, explosions, and the like. I actually liked it. A few of the incidents even made me wince. I could have lived without the sex scene in the movie, but hey, it had explosions and crashes, so I guess it needed one of those too. All in all, it was an enjoyable experience.

Slightly bored

I want to go back to school, NOW. I'm ready. All I have to do is buy books, and I'll be set. I'm getting a bit bored around here, and starved to see familiar faces. I miss my fellow graduate students, including the annoying ones. I am also anxious to find out what my TA assignment will be for the fall semester. For my first two semesters, I assisted the same instructor, and it was awesome. He and I got along, and by the second semester I already knew his teaching style and how he liked to grade, so it was pretty easy. This time, I will definitely be assisting someone else, and I am not sure what to expect. Anyway, I'll stop whining.

To dye or not to dye......

I'm thinking of coloring my hair. Nothing fancy, just a slightly darker/different shade than what I already have. This sudden urge is very much connected to the appearance of a coupon in the Sunday paper for the haircolor brand I would want to use. The brand is Clairol Natural Instincts, which I like because it isn't harsh and only stays around for about a month. So if I don't like the color, it can be washed out pretty easily. But I don't know. I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to stuff like that. I think I fear change in my appearance, EVEN if it is for the better. If I change something about my appearance, then even if it turns out well, it isn't familiar, and familiarity equals security. I feel most secure when I appear how I usually appear, even though that may mean being rather lackluster. Maybe I'm just weird.

Where it's at.....

Well folks, this is where it's at. What do I mean? I mean only this: I have deleted my other blogs. This occurred when I realized that I wanted to post something on my blog, but that it would fit better on one of my topic blogs. I had the distinct feeling that no one was visiting those topic blogs, and so I decided to just put EVERYTHING here. I have almost all the links from my topic blogs on the sidebar now, and now all my posts will be from here. Nifty, huh? I'm pretty happy about it. It makes everything pretty simple. I don't know why I ever did things differently.

Anyway, so what did I want to post? Well, as a matter of fact, for those of us who are Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans, Buffy alums are popping up everywhere in shows this fall. Here goes:
Nicholas Brendon will be in a show airing on Fox called "Kitchen Confidential" and it will air on Monday, September 19th, 8:30 P.M. What makes the show really interesting (for me, at least) is that it also has John Francis Daley from the wonderful but short-lived "Freaks and Geeks".

Alyson Hannigan will be in a show airing on CBS called "How I Met Your Mother" on Mondays at 8:30 P.M. Even stranger is that this show ALSO has a former "Freaks and Geeks" cast member, Jason Segel.

David Boreanaz will be in "Bones" which is also on Fox, and premieres Tuesday, September 13th at 8:00 P.M..

Seth Green is supposed to be on a show airing on NBC this fall called "Four Kings" but it is difficult to find out anything directly from NBC about it.

James Marsters will be appearing as a villain on the the WB's "Smallville" this fall. You can read the press release concerning this here.

Exciting times. What's bad is that Alyson Hannigan's show and Nicholas Brendon's look to be airing at the same time. I'm hoping that they will start moving things around a bit after the premieres. Anyway, let's hope these are good shows!

It's been a while....

Wow. It's pretty sad when your last blog entry is about your road being widened. What a gripping life I do lead. I am just completing my morning ritual of coffee and online comic reading. I was inspired to post by the fact that I found my friend Tina has been posting lately (I hadn't visited her page for a week or two). I have been obsessed with my Sims 2 game of late, playing for hours and hours almost every day. Their world is just so much more interesting right now. Plus I CONTROL THEM *evil laughter*. I'm very excited about the expansion pack that will be coming in early fall, called Sims 2 Nightlife. I tend to like the expansion packs mostly for the new objects and building materials. Don't get me wrong, some of the gameplay features are fun too. In the Sims 2 College expansion pack, Sims can now participate in a band experience. Though they can only play one song in the style of either rock, country, or jazz, it is still pretty awesome to watch them begin playing according to their personal skill levels. Anyway, I'm really showing my inner geek with this entry, so I'm going to shut up and go exercise.

Yay for a wider road!

Whoo HOO! I can get to school so easily now it's just silly. My road is OPEN again. It's amazing. I had to go in to school today for my Greek reading group, and it was so easy. I didn't have to go through any bad traffic or anything! I'm always surprised at how excited I get over silly things like an easier, traffic-free path to and from school.
After finishing my Greek reading group, I always feel the need to do more in my Greek education. I can barely translate one sentence in an hour. However, I am getting a little better at it. If I really worked on it, I bet I could start actually contributing to the group. I found a few books on Amazon that concentrate on philosophical Greek, which is what I need. When I have an income again, I plan to pick some of these books up. Michael and I are making plans for the 4th of July, involving a trip to Tom Brown Park for the fireworks show. That reminds me...I need to call up a friend or two to invite them. Anyway, I'd better stop my rambling.

Exercise and road construction

I fell off the wagon. My exercise wagon. I really didn't mean to, it just sort of happened. First, the week in Texas threw me way off...and then when we got back, all the stuff with the movers and everything gave me lots of excuses to put it off. I am happy to say that I have started again today, and that I think I'll get my exercise groove back. This is the first time since I've been back from Texas that I enjoyed my exercise routine again. Every other time I tried it was just annoying and boring. I think it helps that I made a new music playlist on Windows Media Player that has nothing but faster-paced tunes that I really like. I can pipe it in through the sound system, and it really keeps me going.
I haven't griped about it on here yet, but we've had some major road construction going on near our house since February. Due to the most recent detours from this road construction, we have had to take the long way to get to a lot of businesses and even to school for the last month. It sucks. Even with the main detour began in February, it was still kinda sucky, because we had to give our friends directions on how to navigate through these little neighborhoods to make it to our house. The road is looking close to done now, as they have started painting the lines on, and I know that part of the detour will be lifted at the end of June in a few days. I am hoping that they will be done with the entire thing at the end of June, because that would be AWESOME. A straight shot to everything would be so nice.

The house is CONQUERED

Movers. UGH. Don't talk to me about movers. I'm sure not all movers are as bad as the ones we had to deal with, but STILL. Anyway, the house is almost finished. I have reorganized closets and cabinets and somehow found a place for most of the stuff. The house is really shaping up now. This victory did come with some costs: I have lots of scratches and bruises, my foot is hurt, my arms are covered in mosquito bites, and for the past three mornings, I have awoken feeling like a truck both hit and rolled over on me. Hopefully my life will get back to normal.

Movers. UGH.

So, remember those movers that were supposed to bring furniture to my house? They never came. They finally called last night and said they were coming today. Hmph. Oh well, at least they haven't absconded with all the stuff and called us to ransom it back. I am once again pulling around the existing furniture and stuff to make room for the new stuff.

On a brighter note, I have taken up knitting! Michael took me to Michaels (ha!) the other day while we were running errands around town, because he's sweet and realized I was suffering from a little cabin-fever (it's my own fault, I'm just too lazy to go anywhere). We wandered into the yarn section and I thought it would be fun to learn to knit. I decided to see if I could learn for free by a) looking online to see what sorts of internet sources there were for knitting instruction, and b) going to the public library and picking up books on knitting. So, I have a pair of knitting needles and a ball of yarn, and I've been practicing away. It really can be relaxing, but since I'm a novice and move the needles awkwardly right now, my hands cramp up after a little while. We'll see how this progresses.

New blog and stuff

My wedding blog is up and running, and you can find a link to it under my topic blog sidebar. It's not much right now, but I hope to do things with it like post lots of information concerning my wedding for interested parties. On a funny note, my mom's favorite pasttime is, apparently, getting tattoos with her friends. Not long after I left Texas, my mom began to seek out things to do on the weekends. She and a few of her friends would go out and get either a tattoo, piercing, or both. Since this tattoo parlor apparently has a lot of business, these outings last into the wee hours of the morning, so after being tattooed, pierced, or both, my mom and her friends go to IHOP for coffee and to revel in their new body art. My mom has three tattoos (to date), and last weekend she added to one of them. She has a wonderful time during this strange tattooing ritual, and I am glad that she has so much fun. I can only hope that one day I'll be as cool and laid-back as my mom (but I seriously doubt it will happen).

Pictures!

If you click on the link that is the title to this blog entry, then you can see pictures I have arranged into some albums on a picture hosting site called My Photo Album or something like it. If you like what you see, it's free and easy to use. For those of you interested, the pictures from Crystal's bachelorette party are posted on that site, and I'm going to try and organize all my photos into albums on that site this summer.

Birthday

Today is my birthday. I am twenty-three. As usual, I don't feel any older or any different. I had cake and a few presents with my family and friends on Sunday, June 5, the day before we left Texas. I think I'll get another cake today, because I really REALLY like cake. There's lots to do here in Tallahassee now that we're back. I need to retrieve my fish from a friend's house, as well as organize the furniture and stuff that will be arriving any minute. Goose (my dog) is scheduled to have a teeth cleaning and checkup at the vet's tomorrow, and I'd really like to get my wedding blog page up and running soon, as the planning will really begin now that I have a wedding/reception site reserved. I also need to post pictures of Crystal's bachelorette party and the few I took of the rehearsal dinner and wedding. So much to do and so little inclination to start. Michael and I also need to go grocery shopping, and THAT is something I really want to do. Food is always fun. OH geez...I almost forgot. I need to do a lot of stuff to establish Florida residency. Ugh. Well, enough of this riveting information. I'm off to do some of these things.

Home again!

I am back home! I'm pretty happy to be back, and to find the house is still here and everything is basically the same. It will be a busy week though, because movers will be here tomorrow to unload lots of furniture and boxes into our house. Michael's parents are selling the lakehouse in Texas, and have sent much of the stuff our way. I have to make some room somehow for all of this stuff. Oh well. The drive back was okay, but it rained for most of the trip so that was terrible. As soon as we drove into Tallahassee, the skies opened up for a torrential downpour that hasn't stopped yet. We haven't unloaded the car, and the electricity was out for a little while. I am still glad to be back. The wedding was beautiful, and I'll elaborate more on it when I have a bit more time. For now I'm off to put some pizza in the oven and watch some DVDs.

Texas stuff

Well, Michael and I are in Texas. Michael will be attending a conference later in the week, and we both will be in a wedding next Saturday. Right now we are in Galveston visiting my dad, taking in the sunny beaches. Crystal (the bride-to-be) and another one of the bridesmaids, Ashley, came to Galveston last night, and we had a bachelorette party of sorts, with lots of bar-hopping good fun. Happily, I did NOT get sick. What is pretty freaking awesome is that we went to a bar called Poor Michael's (HA! Michael was our designated driver, so that was very fitting), and they had Guinness on tap. I had one, and liked it well enough. I will post a pic or two later of all of us. Tomorrow we set off for Corrigan to see more family. I'll post more when more happens!

Nifty internet things

There are lots of things that are nifty to do on the internet. Just when I think I'm tired of it, and there's nothing more I can do or nothing more I can think of to surf, Tina manages to send me a new thing to do. The latest thing is Rojo. I just signed up for it today, and it is a neat thing where you can keep up with news by selecting your interests and a group of sources. If you have any contacts in Rojo, you can share news stories easily. Another nifty internet thing (also suggested by Tina) is Stumbleupon. With a Stumbleupon toolbar on your browser, you can "stumble upon" other sites based upon your interests, reviewed by other users. You can also stumble sites to friends. It is a fun thing, though I don't use it as much as I should. So, if you're bored with the internet, try some of these things out!

Rum is still not my friend

I once had a bad experience with rum. Really bad. Ever since that experience, I have not been able to enjoy drinks with rum in them. It is POSSIBLE for me to drink them, but it is not pleasurable in the least. After the third or fourth sip, I start to shudder. I am amazed at the strength of my learned aversion to rum. It only took one bad time to effectively ruin my experience of that particular beverage. Even though I know how the aversion works, I am still amazed. I thought perhaps it was only the particular mixed drink that I had when the bad experience occurred (rum and coke), but no, it's the rum. I wanted a pina colada tonight, and Michael was gracious enough to go out and get the stuff, and come back and make it. I had a few sips of it, and realized that I wouldn't be able to drink the stupid thing. My stomach was saying, "OH no. Not that stuff again. Not going to happen." Ugh. Which probably means that vodka is ruined for me as well. Double ugh.

Fish Babies

Want some fish? We have tons now. Michael has an aquarium with several fish in it, and one of them just gave birth. We just thought it was a very chubby fish. The mother is a dalmatian molly, and apparently was impregnated before Michael bought her. She had TONS of babies. Lots. I looked up information on her breed, and how to care for the babies, etc., and found out that she may have even more babies. Apparently, they can have two or three batches of young out of one insemination. YIKES. I'm hoping she gave birth a few times before Michael got her. We bought a little tank to isolate the little fish in, and hopefully they will be okay. We also bought some weird liquid food to give them. The whole thing is interesting, but I wonder if many of the little ones will survive.

Rudeness

Sometimes I can't believe how mean people are to each other. I was walking back to my car from Dodd Hall (home to my office at school) when I saw an exchange in a parking lot that left me a little angry. A guy was apparently waiting to pull out of a parking lot in his vehicle, and his window was down. A female driver was approaching the parking lot to pull in, and did not use her signal. The guy leaned out of his window and spat out, "Way to use your signal DUMMY" and it was loud enough for me to hear even though I was across the street and there were cars going by. I felt my nose wrinkle in distaste at this odious person, and my brows lowered into a threatening and irritated glare. He sped off, oblivious to having caused my ire, and I walked along, pondering the situation. It isn't that I am so serene myself that I never get angry when other drivers do that same thing, but I certainly don't lean out of my window and CALL them dummies. I may think that very thing to myself, but I don't verbalize it. I have even said such things to myself within the confines of my enclosed car, but I am never so vocal when I think others may hear me. I mean, when you think about it, it's such a little thing to berate someone about. I am not saying that the other driver was in the right, but it certainly didn't merit the epithet issued from the extremely impatient driver. If he just would have left off the "dummy" I think I would have been much less offended. Perhaps there should be a push to be more courteous? Maybe he should have said, "Please use your turn signal!" Maybe I'm just a wuss.

Raccoon.

Last night (rather, very early this morning) was VERY strange. Around two-ish, my sleep was disturbed by the sound of Michael walking around the bedroom saying, "Did you hear that? There! Do you hear that?!" I immediately thought we had some intruders in the house and wondered why he wasn't on a phone, but Michael went to the window and said, "THERE! There's something on the roof! Look!" and I groggily got up and peered blindly out the window, then remembered to get my glasses. Just as I was looking out of the window again, Michael turned on the light and pointed to the roof, saying, "Look! It's a raccoon!" and I finally saw it. Michael beat on the window shouting "GO AWAY," etc., and I wondered how he had heard it in the first place. After he scared it away, he said the sound of scratching on the roof woke him up, and he couldn't get back to sleep. I have NO IDEA how he heard this, when he seems to sleep through TONS of other things. Especially since the very loud dehumidifier was on when I was brought into the situation. Anyway, it wasn't a nice way to wake up. Stupid raccoon.

AHHH!

I am an IDIOT. Obviously. I wrestled with a Greek translation for about half an hour yesterday, and for several hours today. What did I get for my foolish, misguided pains?? SEVEN SENTENCES OF DRIVEL. Why? It's certainly not Plato's fault, it is MINE. Two semesters of Greek, and yet I can barely translate any real texts. I know I learned things, but...this is so very difficult and frustrating. I MUST get better at this, or I will scream in AGONY from the time wasted on learning Greek. I need a punching bag.

The feeling of accomplishment

Well, I went to school today to do some research (I hope to update my philosophy blog concerning this research), and I feel like I really did accomplish something. I looked up articles, then printed out as many as I could access. I also checked a book out of the little philosophy library to read. Hopefully I will actually read all this information, so that this isn't just a way to pass the time. I always feel really good on the days I go to school. I think I must be very reliant on habit. Or maybe I'm just weird. I'm beginning to develop a summer weekday routine, which seems to go like this:
1. Receive wake-up call from Michael at 8:00 A.M.
2. Actually get out of bed at 8:20 A.M. to make coffee, eat cereal for breakfast and read comics online
3. Do light housework (clean kitchen, pick up wayward clutter) around 9:30 A.M.
4. Work out on treadmill around 10 A.M.
5. Shower around 11 A.M.
6. Specific chores/errand-running, etc., or just plain laziness and sloth

I AM actually getting some things done. For instance, I have worked on my website, put up some shelves after staining them, and reorganized the kitchen and office. Plus, I'm surprising myself with the whole exercising thing. Usually I stop this nonsense after about 3 days, but I've been pretty consistent for about a week and a half. There are, however, things I should be doing that I'm not as consistent about, like my Latin (only doing a chapter a week instead of the planned two thus far), and Greek (haven't translated a word). Ugh.

Ugh. Swimsuit Season

If hell exists, then for women it is surely a place where you have to shop for swimsuits for eternity. I tried shopping for a swimsuit today, and thus experienced a little bit of hell. Movies and magazines have taken their toll on me. I can't be pleased when it comes to me in a swimsuit. I never find a suit where I look in the mirror and say, "Wow, I look good!" Instead, I think, "I don't look horrendous," and then the longer it stays on, I begin to think, "Oh, wait. Yeah, I look horrendous." I don't know why I bother. As body-conscious as I am, it's not like I'll go swimming anyway. BLAH.

New Haircut

I cut my hair short today. It's awesome! I updated my profile picture to show it, but I don't know how much you can really see from it. Even so, just click on the profile pic and you can see sorta how it is. Anyway, I love it, and it's great!

Summer Uselessness

Well, it is the second day of my official break from school, and I feel USELESS. I hate this feeling! What is even more confusing, is that I was looking forward to this break so very much. Before the break, I thought, "Yay!! Months without a paper being due, without having a mountain of reading, and without grading student papers! I can't wait!" And now I feel weird. Like I should be in my office, feverishly translating Greek. I almost feel melancholy. I think that is the danger of becoming acclimated to so much activity: when it is gone, you feel useless and depressed. It isn't as if I'm just sitting around doing nothing either, as I make out these careful schedules of my time in an attempt to feel like I'm really accomplishing something. I clean, I exercise, and I complete little projects around the house that I never had time for before. I even schedule in time to do scholarly work, like learning Latin and translating some Greek. Before long, I plan to schedule in time to work on a paper topic I've been thinking about for a long time. Even so, with all this activity, I still do not feel right. I think I'll have to go to the office at least once a week. This SUCKS.

Not responsible for that last post

I did not make that last post. It was made during an attempt to show people my blog at a party, and so...yeah. I would delete it, but it is sorta funny. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Wow, I think I like OJ

Sometimes I like to drink orange juice. It is yummy and juicy and wet. My throat gets dry, and then I have orange juice. Thank you.

--Rachel Roden

Starting over

Well, I'm trying to start this blog over again, because I want to really begin utilizing the features of this blog page. I hope to eventually make this into my main homepage, so that my family and friends can keep up with me easily. Anyway, here's hoping I actually come through!