Again?!

Last Wednesday was my first day as a tutor in the Learning Center. I was more nervous about it than I should have been...it actually was easier than I had previously imagined that it would be. I only have 3 scheduled appointments each Wednesday, and I may get some "walk-ins" here and there, but I only had to worry about those 3 that first day.

The students that I worked with were all really nice: one was kinda quiet, but she at least talked to me; the second one seemed like he wanted to write down everything I said and stick it into his paper; the third was almost unresponsive at the beginning (like maybe he was nervous or something), but he warmed up quickly and we ended up generating some good ideas for his paper. I just hope that I actually helped them and that I didn't totally confuse them and ruin their assignments!

I finished there at 4 pm and headed out to the van. I then realized that I had left my lights on...all day. I had gotten to campus a little before 9 and didn't get out to the van until a few minutes after 4, so the battery was dead, needless to say. To make a long story short, I got the battery jumped, but I still couldn't get the van to stay started, so I ended up having to call a tow truck and get it towed back to my house (after having Jake drive back to campus to try and get the van started). When we got it back to the house, my Mom got it started by turning the key and giving it a little gas (which I was afraid to do because I didn't want to flood the engine, because that would be the last thing I need!).

So, the van started, after I was stuck on campus for an additional 3 hours! Obviously I didn't get any of the reading done that I had planned on doing, and I wasn't able to go over to Jake's house for "crochet day." But at least the van is still working...it just needs the fuel filter replaced because it sat for over 5 months without being driven. That experience just made me want to get my own car even more than I did before that day.

First day

Today was my first day working at the Learning Center. It wasn't as bad as I had been imagining that it would be. I hope that I didn't screw anyones' paper up, but I only had 3 appointments, so that's only 3 out of like the 200 (or so) that are taking that class, so that's not too bad, right?

I've only got 3 half-hour appointments each Wednesday (and that's the only day that I work). And I'm scheduled here for 4 hours, so I basically have 2 1/2 hours to do whatever. I'll have to remember that next week and bring something along to do instead of just sitting around. I hope that I don't get any walk-ins next week...I'm not ready for that!

Overall, today hasn't been too bad, except that I -still- can't understand my Stats prof, and that makes me a little worried about my grade in that class. Everything seems relatively easy in there so far, but we haven't had any tests yet, and those are what worry me.

I've got a lot of reading to do for tomorrow (3 long-ass, boring chapters) and I doubt that I'll get them done before my class tomorrow (at 8 am), so oh well. Hopefully I'll at least get that started tonight, but I know me, and I know I love to procrastinate.

Well, it's almost time for me to go home now. It's kinda been a long day, but maybe it just feels that way because I was kinda stressed about screwing up the papers of my appointments. Now that I've done it a few times, I feel a little more confident, but I don't think I'll ever be a pro.

Later, gators!

Ugh...

Well, today was my first Monday of the quarter, and I really don't think I'm going to like them very much. The day started out great because I heard "Bohemian Rhapsody" on the radio before I got to campus, and I was actually able to find a parking spot in the actual parking lot and actually get the van into said spot, which is amazing! But that's pretty much all that was great about the day.



From 10:20 to 12:20, I was in my Stats class. The time seemed to go pretty quickly, but then we had to head to the computer lab to work on this "Minitab" program that we're using for the first 4 weeks of the quarter, and I didn't enjoy that. We had used it the first day of class, so I had an idea of what we were supposed to do, and thank goodness I didn't have any problems/questions because I don't think the prof would have ever gotten around to me!



I had an hour to get lunch and eat it, which is plenty of time (usually). I got over to Reed Hall and the cafeteria was pretty much packed. I was in line for about 15 minutes before I even got up to the counter to order my food...that's pretty bad, even for our cafe. The food wasn't bad, so at least there was something positive about the experience.



From 1:30-4:30 (basically), I was in the Chem lab working on our first lab. That took forever! The prof told us that we may get done with the lab in like 2-2 1/2 hours, but that didn't happen. If we wouldn't have had to wait on one of the "stations" to open up, it wouldn't have been so bad, but there weren't enough to go around. Then we had to wait for the hot plate to cool off before we could put it back, and then the stupid key didn't want to go into the drawer so that we could lock up. Stupid key!



Right now I should be doing the Lab Report on Carmen so I can get that turned in so I don't have to worry about it. I should also send myself a copy of my Introductory Speech for tomorrow and look for something to use as a visual aid. All I want to do is go to bed!

Fall '07

I have officially been to all of my classes now. After attending the first class for each of them, I have come to one conclusion: this is going to be a -long- quarter!

Statistics 135:
Another math class that I am forced to take before I can graduate. The professor is Indian and I can only understand about every third word that comes out of her mouth. I've heard that the class is pretty easy, even with the language barrier that exists between teacher and students. It's going to be fun trying to keep up with all of the assignments AND try and figure out what the prof is saying. *stab*

Communications 105:
This is the speech class that I've been avoiding since I started college. I'm really glad that Christa's taking the class with me, even if we're not in the same group...it'll still be nice to see a familiar face in the crowd when I'm up there giving speeches. Speaking of speeches, we have a 2-minute one to give the next class...we're supposed to talk about ourselves, but I have no idea to say. We're also supposed to bring a visual aid that represents something in our past (or whatever) and I have no idea what to bring. I'm not looking forward to this class and I don't know if it will help my public speaking skills. Thankfully I've had the prof before and his other class was really easy, so hopefully this one will be the same.

Chemistry 101:
I really didn't want to take this class, but it was better than Biology. When I was signing up for classes, I was looking foward to this one the least of all, but now it looks like it may be the only class that might potentially be enjoyable, and that's pretty sad. It's going to involve a lot of work, but as long as I stay on top of everything, it should be pretty easy (I'm hoping) and maybe even fun. The only thing I'm not thrilled about is the fact that the Final exam is comprehensive, because I would much rather it didn't cover everything from the entire class, but maybe it won't be as bad as I've imagined.

All-in-all, I'm not really excited about any of my classes this quarter, but maybe Chem will surprise me and be kinda fun? At least I know at least one person in all of my classes...that's always a plus! :)

Update

My day didn't start until about noon today (mostly because I couldn't sleep last night after taking a 2+ hour nap yesterday). When I finally got up, I vegged for a little while, then jumped into the shower. I got my hair all washed up and everything, and then got it cut. :) It's not a major change from what it was before, but I have bangs now and it's an inch or 2 shorter than before. I think I like it, but I'll have to play around with it a little before I make up my mind.

When I got back, I had my Mom drop me off out at Jake's house (since she needed the van to take Nick his football stuff today), and we headed out to campus to buy our books. I was able to get my books for less than $150 (mostly because I traded for one book and bought the other online), so I have money left over for gas and to set aside for car payments...yay!

After we spent our small fortunes at the bookstore, we went out to Olive Garden for lunch. I got the Chicken Scampi (I wanted to try something different this time). It wasn't bad, but I pretty much filled up on breadsticks before the food got there, so I was pretty stuffed. Jake and I each got a desert to-go (he got their pumpkin cheesecake, and I got the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake). We're planning on eating those when he gets off work at 10. Mmmmm!

He dropped me off at home and I started running around picking my brothers up/dropping them off. I'm not done yet, unfortunately. I still have one more pick-up, but at least I get a little bit of a break before I have to do that.

School starts tomorrow. I have one class, and then I'm done for the day. I really don't want to go back! I have a feeling that this is going to be a busy quarter...and I'm not looking forward to Chemistry, or my Communications class...or my Stats class. So, I guess I'm not looking forward to any of my classes, and that sucks. It's always nice to have at least one class that might be fun.

Stuff

Well, I went and got some of my things out of my car (or what's left of it) today. I wasn't able to find my Guardian Angel visor clip, which makes me sad, but Mom said we'll look for it again when we go back to get the stereo out.

Mom asked me if it was hard to go rumaging around through the car, and I told her no. It doesn't even really look like my car anymore, except for the color, and that makes it easier to deal with it. I didn't have any flashbacks to the accident while I was looking at all of the damage or anything, which was good.

I'm excited about getting a new car, but I really loved my old one. There are a few things I would change about it, but I had driven it so long that I was used to everything...it almost felt like an extension of me when I was behind the wheel...and now that's gone. But hopefully I can find some cute little functional car, because I don't want a big, awkward, ugly thing, especially if I get to pick it out. I just hope I can find something like that in my price range.

Book List (revised)

Over the summer I was able to read several books and cross them off of my reading list. This is an updated version of my list. It's still really long, but hopefully next summer I can work on it some more. :)

Book List:

Undead and Unappreciated
Undead and Unreturnable
Undead and Unpopular
Undead and Uneasy
The Wheel of Time series (books 4-whatever)
The Dark Tower series
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Sword of Truth series
Eldest (plus any other books from the Inheritance series)
The Dune series (old and new)
The Xanth series
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Dark Elf Trilogy: Homeland/Exile/SojoumDaughter of the Blood series
The Anita Blake Vampire series
The Vampire Chronicles (except for Interview With a Vampire)
Starship Troopers
Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow
A Song of Ice and Fire series
Angels & Demons
The Da Vinci Code (with pictures)
The Historian
The Catholic Girl's Guide to Sex

I wish that I could say that I was able to cross off a lot of books, but it doesn't seem like I read much at all when I look at this list. And I really wish that I didn't have as many series on my list as I do...and most of them have at least 6 books. That's a lot of books!

What next?!?!

Well, I came really close to losing my ferret today. My Mom called me when I was on the way to Jake's cousin's birthday party and informed me that she didn't think he had long to live. So, I was a nervous wreck on the way to his cousin's house, and then Mom called me and told me that he was doing a little better after being force-fed some orange juice and corn syrup.

He has since eaten a little bit of Ming's wet cat food and had some cheese off of Mac 'N Cheese, and we've been giving him water to keep him hydrated. When my Mom told me she thought he was dying...I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. I mean, I haven't had him as long as I've had my cats, but it's still been long enough for me to get attached to him. I just couldn't fathom the idea of coming home and not having him be there...never to see him scamper around and chase after the dog...never to have him run up the stairs and hide gummy bears in my closet again...I just couldn't handle that.

I'm so glad that he's better now. We're keeping a close eye on him and I keep checking him every once and a while to make sure he's still breathing. We're taking him to the vet tomorrow, just in case he needs some antibiotics or something, and hopefully the vet will tell us what happened. I just hope that I don't have to deal with this again for a while!

The silver lining...

Up until yesterday, I had no idea if I would still be working in the Advising Office or not. Before I appealed to have my Work-Study reinstated, I told my supervisor that I hadn't gotten it, and apparently her boss went ahead and interviewed and hired another person to cover my hours. I understand why they did that, but I just wish they would have waited a little while before doing it. She told me she would call me back later Tuesday and let me know what her boss had decided after she talked to him.

I didn't hear back from her until yesterday, which is what I had expected would happen (because I know how long it takes her to get around to things...especially when she has her own personal things to get done..at work). She informed me that I will still be working there in the Fall, and that I will only be losing 5 hours a week (which is great, because I didn't think I'd be able to afford car payments only working 10 hours each week!).

So, with that job plus my 4 hours a week in the Learning Center, I'll have a total of 19 hours, which is pretty good, and I'll definately be able to make payments and still have a little spending money left over. I was really worried about that since Christmas is only a few months away, and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to afford any presents for anyone. I think that as long as I space the shopping out a little and don't spend too much money all at once, I should be okay. :)

Fantastic!

So, I went to King's Island with Jake and his family today. It was pretty different from last year's trip. For one thing, we didn't make it there for the company lunch, so we stopped at a Bob Evan's somewhere along the way and had some food. We actually got to the park around 2 P.M. (and we left around 10:30-11). It took us a little longer to get there because we missed our exit and had to turn around.

Jake and his dad were up front (his dad drove), while his mom, sister and I were crammed into the backseat. It's a good thing that I'm comfortable with his family (at least the females, anyways), otherwise that might have been extremely awkward!

When we got to the park, we basically went straight for the White Water Rapids ride (after getting through the metal detectors that get angry if you have a tin of mints in your pocket). After that, we mosey-ed over to the Italian Job ride. That was actually better than I remembered it being last year. I still didn't like the fact that it went from 0 to 800 mph in about 2 seconds, though...not a big fan of that part.

After that, we stopped by the bumper cars on our way to the big log ride (not sure what it's actually called). They were fun, but I had trouble finding anyone I knew to bump into. I think they were all behind me. And when I finally did find someone, they stopped the ride...skanks.

The log ride was pretty fun, even though I was kinda scarred to get on it. They basically stick you into this big log that could hold up to 20-24 people, and they don't give you little bars to lock yourself in with, drag you up into the air about 50 feet high (that's about how high it felt, but I'm not sure about the actual height ;p), and then drop you down what can be best described as a big, curvy slide that has water running down it. When we reached the bottom, we didn't get that wet (at least our backs were dry, for the most part), but Jake decided that we should stand up on the bridge that hangs over the part of the ride where they splash the water up after coming down, and we got completely drenched! It was great! I even talked Jake into sticking around so we could do it again. And then we rode the ride again, and stood on the bridge one last time...it was great!!

By this time, it's about 6-6:15 or so, so we decide to head over to the entrance and start browsing around the shops and whatever. While the other 3 were taking a smoke break, Jake and I popped into a nearby shop and looked around for a bit. I found this green and white tie-dyed hoodie that I really liked, so I grabbed it, and Jake bought a necklace with a pirate coin on it (pirates are his thing right now, I guess).

I wanted to pick something Spongebob up for my Mom (probably to add to her Christmas presents), so Jake and I dashed over to the Nickelodeon store and I bought her a set of 4 cups that have Spongebob, Patrick, Gary and Squidward on them. I'm sure she'll love them, and they're something she doesn't have already.

We found the others after our excursion into Nick Land, and then headed over to the exit. Before we left, Mary had us pose in front of the "King's Island" sign at the head of the park so she could take a picture. I also grabbed a cup of Dip-N-Dots before we left (some sort of tropical flavored ice cream, but it was pretty good). Then we headed back to the car.

We stopped in Tipp City and went to the Frisches Big Boy there. The food was pretty good, but we were all pretty hungry and would probably have eaten almost anything. Jake's sister and I each got a slice of their deep-fried cheesecake to-go and we all headed back out to the car. We finally got back to their house around 10:30, and I was so glad to get out of the car!

All-in-all, it was a really good trip. The weather was so much better than last year's, and the lines weren't too bad. I hope that next year we get to do more rides and maybe have time for a little more shopping. :)