Yay, Monday!

"Who cheers for Monday?" you say? I do! I do beacause it means I survived the past week and weekend.

The following is a list of the great number of very time consuming things I had on my plate last week:

*Host 5 friends who stayed to lead our...
*Nightly church activities (revival meetings) from 6-8
*Scrub house from top to bottom for guests
*Finish writing a 10 page rough draft conference paper...or at least 5 pages...
*Spend at least an hour in the school library doing research for said paper
*Write a story on the upcoming Halloween activities on-campus (having to track down several sources)
*2 homework assignments, 2 labs, 3 quizzes and a test for my online biology class AFTER watching 3-4 sections of macromedia lectures on the computer (rinse and repeat: I have to do this every week)
*Read a journal article for a quiz--whoops! I managed to miss this one. Got a big fat "zero" on that quiz.
*Try to figure out why my youngest daughter suddenly hates school and cries everyday. Consoled daughter while reinforcing the idea that she cannot be a pre-K drop-out.
*Gently remind oldest daughter to do her reading and practice her violin
*Wash laundry
*Gather necessary booths, decorations, supplies and manpower for church's Family Fun Festival
*Finish making daughter's ruby slippers for her Dorothy Halloween costume
*Mail client portrait orders
*Order new client portrait orders
*Order winter coats for children
*Try to find dresses for children--with no success
*Decorate church for Fun Fest; monitor children
*Wash more laundry
*Try to monitor my calorie intake as I have been doing a lot of "stress eating" (wonder why?)
*Research & post a topic about "pseudoscience" on my biology class bulletin board for credit
*Have I mentioned laundry?
*Attend eldest daughter's basketball games--2 day tournament
*Try to work out a plan for Thanksgiving with cousin in Arkansas
.....and I'm sure I'm forgetting much more.....

Sadly, I have to repeat much of the activities again this week!!!!

The Weirdest Thing I've Ever Done at 8 a.m.

(At home, that is...)

I just spent the past 10 minutes counting individual grains of rice for my biology lab (I'm taking an online biology course).

Just in case you've ever wondered, 5 mL of rice has 272 rice grains.

A Special Thanks....

...to all my friends who decided to do as badly as I on our midterm!

When I got my test back with a red "79" written at the top, I felt like tearing up a bit. It's been a long time since I've felt the sting of a C!

Yes, I know that C is "average" & really nothing to be whining about....unless, you're a perfectionist like me! (I swear, school has really brought it out in me. I allow myself one or two incorrect answers as acceptable, but beat myself up for anything more than that.)

Anyway....thanks to all my pals who sensed that I may not be up for the test task and decided to bomb along with me. For your generous actions, I was able to bump that 79 up to a 99!!! Whoo-hoo!! God bless the curve!

Back to the Grind

While I did spend a lot of Fall Break actually working on school assignments, I did find time to go shopping with the family, sleep late, visit with some friends and veg out in front of the t.v. a time or two.

I am a little ahead on my online biology assignments for now--I still have to read (or at least skim) 6 boring chapters, but I'm pretty satisfied with my progress.

All of this "trying to get ahead" business is due to two things: I have a very busy week (non-school events) and I have to have that blasted rough draft for my conference paper by Thursday!

This paper (this CLASS) is making me age prematurely, I tell ya. I spend countless hours online reading journal articles and reading thick books by my bedside trying to find decent material to cite in my paper....with very little results.

Tomorrow I am planning to skip a class and spend an hour and a half in the library doing research. Thank heavens for the nice reference librarian who pointed me to several specific books, even going so far as to give me page numbers to check out. BLESS HIM!

Sianora, Alarm Clock!

So, I may have to spend my fall break doing homework and research, but--by golly--I sure do love the fact that I don't have to wake up to an alarm clock! Sweet relief!!

Midterm

It's {kinda} hard to believe that it's midterm already. Luckily, I only had one actual midterm test and it wasn't too painful (just time intensive).

Fall Break officially begins for me tomorrow, but I'm really kind of aggravated because I can't afford to just kick back and enjoy the break. In my one very challenging class, I am already supposed to have a rough draft of a conference paper started.

I don't.

I spent a good part of the weekend doing online web searches and scrounging through tons of academic journal papers to find reinforcements for my thesis to no avail. So, I imagine I will also spend a great deal of Fall Break researching.

I just hope I'm not expected to work over Thanksgiving Break. That's a deal-breaker for me.

Late Night

I decided that last night would be a "stay-up-late-and-get-things-done" kind of night. I didn't even use any caffiene to make it through, but I'm defientely relying on it today. I ended up staying up past one although I knew that I had to be up early for a 3 hour long photo shoot today. I did get something accomplished--I wrote two articles for the student newpaper--but it seemed like I should have gotten more completed. I really thought I would have spare time to be writing a chapter for that (ugh) book that I have to write for Advanced Composition. But I didn't. And I don't care.

Today, I just wish I was a coffee drinker.

Good Day

This is what a good day would be like:

*I start the day with a nice slice of homemade bread

*I pass a state trooper while speeding and NOT get pulled over

*I get to school on time despite a late start

*My husband takes care of some deliveries that would have otherwise been stressing me out all day

*I get my first test back & I made 100%! Yahoo!

*All of the people that I've been trying to contact for a week for a newspaper article FINALLY get back in touch with me so I can finish on time

*My toughest professor who rarely finds anything without fault writes things like"Great Job!" and "Well Done!" on my paper and uses it as an example in class

*I almost reach my goal of making 10 of 10 on my current events quiz

*The temperature outside stays around 81 degrees with a nice, autumn breeze

THAT would be a good day. I had one today.

First Test

Thursday was my first test. Retraining myself to study and to think about testing as a whole was a little strange. When the teacher said, "You won't need a scantron," I thought to myself, "I haven't thought about a scantron in years!" And when I sat down to study my review questions, I became increasingly aware of my inability to focus on one thing for a long period of time.

Though I had studied some at home (meaning, the best that I could even though a 5 year old was asking me a million questions as I looked up definitions), I was lucky enough not to have to be in class before the test, so I checked out the library for more study time.

While there, I discovered another wonderful thing I had forgotten about: study rooms. If you've never seen a study room, they are like little closets with one tiny window & a door so you can lock yourself in and study without interruption. Only problem was that these study rooms had open tops, thus not being particularly sound proof. Oh well...I got to study quietly nonetheless.

My test was multiple chioce (I LOVE multiple choice tests!) and the best part was that it only took me 15 minutes to finish! I love it when I have spare time between classes! I rewarded myself with a sandwich, tater tots & a drink from a local drive-in. Hope I don't take too many tests this semester....the calorie count will kill me!