30 September 2008

work it babayyy

My chem lab let out at 130 today, a full 4 hours before my next class. (Btw, guess who got the highest grade on the quiz today?)

So, I waited around for a while, then decided I was tired of waiting around. The trade off for not going to class was that I had to work out and go over the chapter that was being covered today.

So I got home, grabbed one of Ashley's workout videos (something about a tummy toning dance party) and cranked down the AC. Holy crap man, those videos work you OUT! Especially when you're out of shape and not a fan of cardio. I was gasping for air and sucking down water, lol. I will definitely feel this tomorrow.

Then I noticed that my floor was really gross when it came time to do crunches. My mom fixed the vacuum so that it actually sucks instead of moving stuff around. Clean floors are awesome, and they usually fuel more cleaning, but I made myself stop so I would study and not be up late.

Yesterday evening me and Chris took a walk down Braes Bayou. It was such a gorgeous night and we got a good clip going. He even decided to jog a bit. I think the late exercise kept me up because I could not sleep last night. I will definitely sleep tonight.

I will leave with this: Why is it that cats will ignore you or watch you work out from a distance until you get down on the floor to do crunches or stretch, then they're laying all over you? Fur and sweat is a gross combination.

28 September 2008

tugs

Hello, my name is Jennifer. And I am addicted to ice cream.

In other news, I've done a lot of not thinking about what to do to spice up my life. As in, I haven't worried much about it and am just kinda waiting for something to strike me. What's this? Patience? NO! ...Yes. Maybe? Not so much patience but not knowing what to do... so I do nothing?

Whatever it is, through this "not thinking about it" thing, the same thing has hit me over and over again. I haven't tried to force any ideas, but this is what my brain has presented.

I know exactly what I want.

Like deep down soul-craving want it.

The catch is: there's no way in hell I'm actually going to make it happen. At least not any time soon.

And, to make matters more confusing, I'm not ready to tell anyone about it yet. Because it's absurd. And huge. Life-changing like I said I wanted. And I don't know if people will support it. And I suppose I should let it stew for a while longer to make sure it's what I really want.

Yay for cryptic-ness because people read this blog now! haha

27 September 2008

study candy

Yes, it's Saturday night and I'm studying. I spent all day lounging around with Chris after my study group was cancelled, so now I'm gettin' to it. Almost.

When I study, I like to munch. Usually Hot Tamales or Life Savers. Sometimes Skittles. Something small that doesn't fill me up so I can mindlessly pop them in my mouth.

On today's Study Candy list: Hot Tamales, Rolos, Starburst, White Peanut Butter Cups, Almond Snickers and 3 Musketeers. And a Milky Way Midnite for my mom.

It's the first time I've tried the White PB cups, and they're surprisingly good. I did forget the Life Savers though.

Does anyone else have any study rituals? I'd love to hear them.

24 September 2008

do itttt

As of yesterday, my chem lab partner and I have the same grade in the class. And, awesomely enough, we have the two highest grades in the class. Which is good, because only the 2 or 3 top students get an A in the course, no matter what your grades are like. It kinda sucks that they curve "down." Usually it's the opposite. My plan is to keep this up. I want that A.

On the other hand, my cell bio lab is a joke. I dread Wednesday mornings. No one knows what's due when, or what we need to prepare. And I'm sure the TA is going to be all pissed off that no one knows what's going on, but he runs the class terribly and does not answer emails. I do not like him.

Especially when I ask a completely legitimate question about the theory of the lab, and he lets out a huge sigh as if it's such a huge chore for him to answer it. I swear once I saw him roll his eyes.

It's his job! It's what I am paying a hellofalotta money for. For him to teach me, not to make me feel stupid for wanting to learn.

And it's not just me, or an isolated instance. It's pretty consistent and a lot of people feel the same way I do. I can't wait to write this guy's evaluation.

22 September 2008

save my life

Today I am going to write about Pepto Bismol pills.

If I was

21 September 2008

wild night.

I had a dream last night that in the midst of studying and writing up labs, I missed a day.
In the dream I was suddenly in my lab, but didn't know how I got there. I had to turn in my half-written prelab and report, and I was pissed that even though I knew all the information, I hadn't written it down yet.

And to make things even wierder, my lab partner was not there, and was replaced by Brian. I remember he was wearing a yellow shirt. My TA was replaced by a buxom gym-teacher type lady who was interested in why, for some reason, my lab bench had moved to behind a wall and I couldn't watch her lecture. I don't know...

Then I got really hungry and remembered I had some cake in my bag. Even though it was regular cake, I shoved a piece in my mouth. Then someone (I can't remember who) shook their finger at me for eating it. Then I felt guilty.

Then, there was this truck that pulled up that had TONS of candy on it. The scene was almost like on the Vegas strip (or what I'd imagine it'd be.) There were lights everywhere, music, almost like a carnival. I circled around it, but the only candy you could reach from the ground was gross generic candy. The good chocolate and stuff was all in the middle.

And then, my dad was there and he said that while they were on vacation my mom died. We all reacted like it was no big deal, but in my dream the more it sunk in, the worse I felt. The lights flashing all kind of became surreal and mocking. Then I really regretted getting annoyed with her earlier this week for something stupid.

Then, I was back in my lab and everyone else's experiment was moving smoothly while I had screwed around with the truck full of candy and everything and hadn't even started. Meanwhile, neither my real lab partner nor the replacement Brian was there, so I contemplated going home and taking that grade as my drop grade. The whole time wondering how on earth I lost an entire day.

Then, I woke up and panicked for a minute about what day it was. Today is Sunday, right??

19 September 2008

routine

I feel like my life has gotten too routine.
I've been on the same track for a while now. I'm restless.

I have the urge for a change. A big-ish one. Something that will change the rest of my life almost.

I won't be graduating for a while. That track is long and sluggish.
Can't do anything about that day-to-day drudge.

I like my job. I have been thinking about picking up an additional upbeat part-time job, though.

I don't really have the resources to move or anything, and besides I like living here.

I don't want to cut my hair. Or dye it. My appearance is not what I want to change.

It seems that I'm content with my life, but it has just become routine and dull. And I don't know what to do to spice it up.

A new hobby? party more? re-arrange my furniture?

I don't know. Something will strike me.

Ideas, anyone?

18 September 2008

Neti Pots

Okay, so a little background info.

A few months ago I was in Walgreens and saw one of those neti pots sitting on the shelf. My reaction: eew gross. But Chris said his mom uses one and loves it. Then a few weeks after that Indigo Daisy wrote about hers and I thought there might be something to this thing.

Well, the day after the hurricane hit my throat started to hurt, then migrated up to my sinuses. What usually follows is a week of terrible pain and congestion, and amidst the chaos and no AC, the thought of going through that was too much. The last time this happened I was in so much pain and the doctor found nothing wrong. Off to Walgreens I went. And of course dragged Chris with me while I sat in the aisle and compared prices.

Now, if you google these things, and look up the images, you're going to see some people pouring crap in their noses. Ugh. The pots themselves look like they have hard-ons. I'm sorry, that's just what I see, lol.

Anyway, the first time I used it my brother and Chris were standing there watching because they were curious. I recommend NOT having an audience because it was really hard not to giggle and inhale saline water. Once you get the hang of it, it's a really strange feeling but it's not uncomfortable.

After I used it, I noticed that there was a whole lot less pain back there, and it really did help me breathe easier. I've used it since then, half a packet of the stuff you're supposed to use once a day, and I swear it's cut this sinus thing's normal duration in half.

I think another skeptic has been hooked...

Oh, and here's a video of the tree in our front yard being yanked down my my dad and his hillbilly friends lol

17 September 2008

More Ike Aftermath

We have power here at my house! I was told it was a temporary fix since the circuit and stuff is really old and needs major repairs. But for now... I get to sit here at my desk and write this blog.

Here are some pics from the past few days:

We opened the door Saturday morning to this:


Trees down in our yard


Throughout the weekend all of our neighbors were outside and we all pitched in to help rake each others yards and the guys all had fun with the chainsaws.

When our neighbors got power back, a couple a few houses down made margaritas and we all hung out at our house. I have some pretty cool neighbors. Even though they've all been to the crawfish boil, I've never really conversed with them. Our other neighbors let us use their washing machine. We have others who shared ice. We shared food, beer and air conditioning from our window unit. There were tons of offers from friends to let us spend the night, use their internet and have a hot meal. We are truly blessed.

It seems that everyone helped each other out. In some parts of the neighborhood there were extension cords run across the street from people who had power to those who didn't.

Another thing I noticed was the people at grocery stores, restaurants and gas stations. Even though everywhere was packed, the workers and customers alike were friendly and helpful, not rude. It could have been much, much worse. I heard from Missy and read in the paper that even as far away as Illinois had flooding from the storm.

My dad is in Galveston right now trying to rescue a friend of a friend's elderly mother who is flooded in and trapped. They got on the island because they are certified First Responders. He called and said that it was really trashed down there.

It's really easy to take the simple things for granted. It will be a while until things are back to normal.

15 September 2008

Ike Update

This post is provided by Missy's internet.

So, I had hoped to be able to provide up-to-the-minute details on the hurricane-ness, but the power went out Thursday night and still is not back on at my house.

The hurricane itself was pretty scary, though it did not hit our area as bad because it veered at the end. Still, the winds were terrible, the trees were swaying, and my neighborhood got a LOT of trees and fences down. Our house had two trees land on it, and I'll post pictures later. We spent a lot of time cleaning up and it looks like orderly chaos now since none of the debris has really been picked up.

We had a generator and our water was running, so we kept our fridge cold. Our stove is gas so we were able to cook. Gas stations have lines going around the block, and others are just plain out of gas. That is life here right now. There was an awesome cold front that is coming through that is making life way better!

A lot of our neighborhood has power now, and the street right next to ours had power the night after the storm, so it's kind of frustrating that ours isn't back on. There are scattered areas of town with power.

The thing is, though, I can bitch about not having power but Galveston and Bolivar and Freeport and all those areas got hit WAY bad. There are people who lost everything and we are lucky that we have a house with just a little roof damage. I can't imagine my home being demolished, whole neighborhoods being reduced to rubble. My heart goes out to them.

UH is open tomorrow, but the local schools are not open until the end of the week. I guess we'll see what happens in the next few days.

12 September 2008

Ike

What have I been up to? Preparing for Ike.

We have cases and a 50-gallon drum of water in the backyard, tons of juice boxes and pitchers of water. Batteries, bug spray, food, snacks, trash bags, and a generator that can run an AC unit and a fridge. Candles, flashlights, gas in our cars, you name it and we got it. My mom went out a few days ago before the mad crazy rush to get everything. And our stove is gas so we can still heat stuff and cook if the power and water goes out. Lots of people in our neighborhood have their windows boarded, too. Oh, and of course, we have plenty of booze. Because during a hurricane, there's not much else to do but party.

Of course, Chris gets the urge to prepare last minute. Just like he goes Christmas shopping on Christmas eve, we were in Target last night to get food. Not even hurricane stuff, but groceries in general too. MAN, those shelves were cleaned out! And the gas stations either had lines or were out of gas. I guess a lot of people prepare at the last minute...

My relatives who live in other parts of the country are watching the news and getting freaked out. My great aunt is praying and lighting candles for us in church today. Guess it couldn't hurt!

And I am a little skeptical to get all hyped up and freak out, like everyone does for no reason, but that thing is pretty huge. Way bigger than most hurricanes that come our way. I was shocked when I finally took a look to see what the fuss was about. We will probably get flooding and power outages, and a few trees knocked down. As they say, we're preparing for the worst.

If I lived in Galveston or all of the other mandatory evacuation areas, I'd be out of there for SURE. They showed on the news some people who are staying. They are freaking NUTS.

Here's one of the images:














It's supposed to hit us tonight, but it's already looking stormy and cloudy. Cross your fingers the damage isn't too bad!

10 September 2008

computers and gadgets

You know how I'm always talking about how I need to back up my files? I always back up my school files but I'm talking about pictures and stuff.

Well today Windows automatically dowloaded an update and needed to restart the computer. So I clicked ok, and it shut down... and did not start back up. It was just a black screen.

So I turned it off, then on again a couple times, with just the black screen coming up. The little flickering light on the side of the computer that tells you it's thinking wasn't even working. Shit. In the past I got a new hard drive for 80 bucks and everthing was fine, but at least it started up in safe mode. This... was nothing. Maybe it wasn't just a crashed hard drive but some major system failure.

So I turned it upside down and started it, to see if the little fan was spinning. After a minute it started spinning as usual and making the appropriate clicks and whirrs. I looked at the screen, and we had life!

What followed was a frenzy of flash drives and cd burning to transfer a copy of all important files off of the computer. I got it done, and I have no idea if it will start back up the next time I turn it off, or if that little blip was a sign that it's about to die soon. I just hope I didn't forget to transfer anything.

Tomorrow I'm going out and getting larger external hard drive, to back everything up every time I need to, all in one place instead of on random flash drives and cds.

Most importantly, though, I like this computer! I have all the settings just the way I like them, and re-customizing a new computer would be a PAIN.

We shall see!!!!

09 September 2008

tired tuesdays

I am freaking tired. It wasn't a hard day, just long.

I sat in traffic today for more than half the way home because of an accident. Not just slow traffic, but "stop and go a few feet" traffic. The super annoying thing was that right before I was about to hit the spot where I could have gone a different way to avoid traffic altogether, the radio traffic report came on and it said all was clear. Less than 2 minutes later and 15 miles behind the actual accident, I was slowing down. Grr!

I miss my boyfriend. It's been a week since I've seen him and after a day like today snuggles would be the best thing ever.

Not looking forward to the annoying TA in my cell bio lab tomorrow. The experiment looks cool though. We shall see how that goes.

Ack, it's only Tuesday!...

PS. I hate it when people use the phrase "the one" when talking about a significant other. For instance, today someone told me, "My wife is awesome. She's the one."

First of all, no shit she's the one. You married her. I kinda assumed that.

Second of all, I think the reason I don't like it is because it's so overused, typical and cliche. That phrase carries so much baggage and implication. Let's deviate from the norm a little bit, people! Especially when it comes to something so individualized as love. Yeah, we all love but we all love differently. No one feels that same love for that same person quite the way you do. But for some reason everyone feels obligated to use the traditional cookie-cutter expressions of love.

That, and I hate hearing about people whom I don't know that well gushing over how in love they are. That is an extremely awkward position to be in unless you know the person well. Then it's not so bad.

For the record, I am never calling anyone "the one." Unless I say it with finger quotes.

07 September 2008

perspective

Oh, how I love the wise advice I always get from Missy. I swear, she sees life through the eyes of a seasoned old woman but still looks like she should get carded for a lottery ticket. And her empathy is amazing. Of course, she's always been that way.

Thank goodness for that fateful day our sophomore year when she was sick eating cheerios on the sideline during dance team practice and I asked her if they were honey nut or regular.

Because, not only would I not have this sudden change in perspective, but I would also be out a lot of great memories, shenanigans, San Antonio experience, enchiladas and general Missy-ness.

So. About this change in perspective. It surprises me because I am usually a double-checker when it comes to making sure I'm being understanding. I see now that lately I've been too critical, too paranoid, and not confident enough.

--Which is even more of a shocker to me because I have never been like this. I do have my reasons, but I think it's time to let those reasons go. I'm only hindering myself and sabotoging what may come if I keep holding on to the past and being scared.

I think it's time to let go and trust him. Not just a little bit, but all the way. He shouldn't have to keep trying to redeem himself when he already has. I can't keep holding this over his head or things will never change.

Who needs a therapist when you have Missy? Her rates are way cheaper-- a latte or a cheese plate every now and then pays the bill!

06 September 2008

note

Today was (un)officially Little Old Lady In Wheelchair day at the mall. I saw like 10. It was great.

I hope they went and got nice comfy white cotton panties and snug little socks like my mom wants when she's old.

05 September 2008

TOTAL DOUCHEBAGGERY

You know, I'm a little pissed off.

Because I keep getting $93 bills from the gastroenterologist I saw a while back. Apparently my insurance didn't cover all of the $281 bill.

Now, normally I take responsibility for my bills. But I'm really freaking pissed off that I get a bill for $93 after that bullshit "appointment." On top of my $40 copay which I thought was a complete rip-off to begin with. Let me tell you about that appointment.

I get there, wait until 20 minutes after my appointment time until he sees me. Oh, wait. Until one of the nurses comes in, asks me some questions, and I sit there for a couple minutes until he comes in. He talks to me for, seriously, less than 5 minutes. I wanna say 3. He suggests an upper GI endoscopy and leaves. Doesn't even ask me any different questions from what the nurse asked me, which he had already read off of a piece of paper. Nothing genuine, nothing that even seemed like he wanted to make a patient feel like he gave a crap. My thoughts as I was walking out: "What a total douchebag."

And now I have to pay him $31 for each minute of his precious douchebag time.

Let it go to collections.

02 September 2008

new

The sky was gorgeous when I was driving home today. One of those skies that you have to force yourself to pay attention to the road and not look up at the great sunset.

What a long day! I spent a lot of it with my lab partner in the library during the 4-hour break between lab and class. And what do I do when I get to know a new person? I analyze them.
I can tell he's one of those people that makes friends with people instantly. Just one of those personalities. I think I'll be able to work with him well because he knows how to act in a lab and actually get the procedure done right and accurately. So many lab partners I've had have NOT been like that. What a relief.

Finally got to talk things over with the man and I think I overreacted. Sort of. Some things I feel are justified but I do have to stop jumping to conclusions.

Either way, it's in the past and I feel good about it now. He = much hearting.

Gotta finish this pre-lab and then I'm off to BED.

01 September 2008

i don't get it

Hey, I remember this feeling.

You know, the one I said I wouldn't put myself through ever again?

The one that put me through long, confused hours of heartache?

The calls that remain unreturned, the questions that were never answered.

The "say one thing, do the opposite" syndrome.

The overall feeling that somehow it's okay for him to act like this, and I need to be understanding.
Fuck that.

There is absolutely no excuse for this. It takes five minutes to pick up the phone and make someone feel like maybe they're not a piece of shit.

I knew this would happen again.