Sunday, November 27, 2011

Oh, What a Break!, (Late Novemeber, back in 2011?)

A bit late for my normal post I know, but, I survived! The school put on a last minute (to me at least) thanksgiving meal, in which I stuffed myself even though it wasn't quite traditional. I am not the 'turkey police' when it comes to the proper was a thanksgiving meal should go, really, I mean I like my thanksgiving with a banana under the skin (makes it nice and moist, not gross at all surprisingly) but that meal would have benefited from someone taking the thanksgiving off its name. The turkey was good, it was smoked, and with the gravy it resembled a thanksgiving ideal, resmebled. The gravy was really good, and made the stuffing bearable. It was supposed to be cornbread, but had the consistency of bread stuffing, which was odd. The green bean casserole was the worst though. The green beans had no taste, in place of cream of mushroom soup, there was a tasteless sauce, and tasted entirely of red bell pepper. It was really really weird. But that is over, the cafeteria is now open again, and all is right with the world.

Now that the holidays are over, and I have had a nice 3-5 days of sleeping in and occasional homework, it is time to start prepping for exams. I know, December isn't even here yet and I'm am staring finals in the face. This week I have an oral exam in french on Wednesday, a stats exam and a socio exam on Thursday and an art history exam on Friday. Lovely right? So I think its safe to say I will have no life this week with a paper I have barely started due on Friday also.

In about an hour I get to meet my lovely oral exam partner for french. The partner who gave me the wrong email address, ignored me for more than a week, and just now wants to start studying for the oral. I have been trying to get ready for more than a week, but couldn't really without my partner. So now that it is getting closer, it is suddenly a good idea to meet at the library and get our acts together. I am just hoping that we are graded separately. As Asia sang, only time will tell.

On a brighter, happier note, our football team have gotten through the regular season officially undefeated. Next Saturday we face the conference USA champs of the east for the title, then after that I don't know. Hopefully my and my roomie can get $5 student tickets and go before they all sell out. I heard that yesterday all of the regular tickets sold out, and I have a feeling the student tickets will go like hot cakes as well. The nice thing is that it will be at Robertson stadium, so we have an opportunity to go. It will also be on ABC that day too, so you guys can watch too, hopefully.

Oh, knitting, I almost forgot. Lets see here, not much has gotten done. One really cute striped preemie hat, and a good amount done on Vlad. It is a shawl done with my 'reclaimed' plum baby bee yarn from last semester. It is turning out nice, it should though since it is on size 8's. But it is fun, keeps me on my toes.

Alright, that's it for me, school work beckons, unfortunately. But less than 2 weeks to go!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The Wonders of a Shower, or Access to it

These few days have been so eventful I thought I might bring you up to speed before the Thanksgiving slow down.

It all started Sunday night. I make it a habit of going to bed at nine every night during the semester, since I get up rather early and all that. So like a normal night, I went to bed and it was reasonably quite, my suitemates weren't loud, or there at all, and I thought I was going to get a good nights sleep. Well, that wasn't quite the case. They got back around quarter to ten, before I could soundly fall asleep, proceed to make tons of noise, and blast their music. And the bad thing is, they have horrible taste in music. So I don't fall asleep until after 11, which is then followed by waking up in the middle of the night a handful of times. So when the alarm goes off around 5:45, it already seems like it won't be the best of days, especially with the fact it was a Monday. So I was looking forward to a nice hot shower, even lukewarm would have been nice, but God has a nasty sense of humor. So insted of letting me muddle through a shower, I was greeted by a locked bathroom door. My suitemates had locked me out. And so I knocked on our adjoining door, to get it unlocked. After the second knock, I hear them whisper and beds creak, then silence. So I get dressed, go to breakfast, probably scaring everyone I see with my greasy bed head and get back to the dorm. Thankfully the second times the charm and I get my nice shower 3 hours after I wanted it. The day goes rather well, considering the morning.

So that evening I just wanted to brush my teeth and go to bed, forget the day ever happened and count the hours till I can sleep in. No dice. 9:00, suitemates are quiet as churchmice and, we are locked out once more. So I bang on the adjoining door, rather steamed now, but they aren't there. So I throw on my jam jams and ask roomie to keep and ear out for them so we can have bathroom privileges again. Well as per usual, she leaves to go to her boyfriends, and unbeknownst to me, they never showed up. So 24 hours later, it's deja vu, and I am knocking on the door to use the bathroom I paid for again. But luckily for them, their sleep wasn't disturbed since they weren't there. So like yesterday, I was shower-less, heading to breakfast, then heading to my 8:30 class. So after class, really mad, I checked and they still weren't there, so with my patience gone, I head down to the desk, and get someone to go next door and open the door for me. And now, all I can think is, 'why didn't I do this sooner?'. It was painless, a bit humiliating though, but painless, and at the end of it all, I got a shower!

So along with posting this, knitting alot, getting a cold sore, my therapy for this whole ordeal was some signage. After a whole semester I would have thought they would know which way the lock on our door turns, but apparently not. So a black marker, colored pencils, paper and a pencil, now clears up the complicated process of locking and unlocking my door. It is now rednecked to the door right above the door handle with duct tape.

Alright enough of that, hopefully I can now draw a line under it and move on. We'll see what happens. To end on a high note, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Another Week

As you can see, I wasn't eaten by my art history paper, thankfully, what a terrible way to go (akin to getting hit by a bus or something). The deadline was pushed back a week, but I finished it and turned it in before the original deadline. I had enough stuff to do over the break, and it was finished (knowing me I wouldn't have changed it in the week it would have sat on my hard drive) so hopefully it will get graded soon and I can see how I did.

This was a rather nice week, even after a rather rocky start. Monday I was so exhausted it felt like a Friday and Tuesday was not much better. But on Wednesday two out of three of my classes were cancelled and I got a surprising amount of work done before class at 2:30. Fridays I only have two classes, both of which were cancelled again, so yesterday I had off, and again got a fair amount done. So now if I can get my bunnies in gear I can get my stats homework out of the way as well as my french before the weekend and I can consider it a productive weekend. Not holding out any hope though.

Knitting, ah yes, well it has been two weeks since I started looking for another pattern, and today that search has come to an end. I found a simple shawl pattern with my name written all over it. So hopefully it will take long enough to last through the semester. Dad's vest has one more sleeve edging to go, Justin's sweater is finally done, but the tags are going to wait till I get home to see if it will actually fit or it may be a mad scramble to finish up before Christmas. And atop all that, my preemie hats total climbs to seven.

Busy week on campus here. ESPN's game day came and broadcasted live for the first time in school history it seems. Apparently this is a big deal. Shows how little I know. I guess we have to be 10 and 0 to be recognized as a good team, and as a cherry to top it all off, we managed to beat SMU also, so we are still undefeated. Seemed like a dull game from what the internet was telling me so I'm glad I opted to stay in the dorm this afternoon.

Oh and another tale from the antiquated dorms. Tuesday I was greeted by no hot water. Always a nice occurrence at quarter to six in the morning. Sets the day well I think. And the residence halls association had the great idea not to tell us about this problem before my face was all soaped up and before it was too late to skip the shower. So a freezing half shower it was. Totally killed my Tuesday.

So next week is Thanksgiving, if you didn't already know. And it seems as though my three days off will be filled with a paper for intro to fiction, some stats homework, art history studing, adn french oral presentation studying. Oh and delightful meals consisting of ready to eat, no refrigeration, just add water and zap in the microwave meals. And maybe some fruit that I can swipe from the cafeteria. Lovely right? So as you are gathered around the lovely feast before you, and you go last saying what you are thankful for, and all the good ones are taken, you can think of me and say you are thankful it isn't ramen in front of you!

A simple thing like breathing

Guilty of what you ask of taking my sons health for granted. It started yesturday when I just wanted the school nurse to check Justin's breathing. A feeling of better to be sure than sorry loomed over me. Sure enough wheezing in both lungs. Buckle up folks it is going to be a bumpy ride I thought. I started right away with his breathing treatments and for a while I thought I had caught it in time. By the time he was going to bed I suspected he would be up that night. He had three attacks in the night and with each treatment he wasn't getting any better.

By morning I was just watching the clock tick would you get to 8:00 so I can take Justin in to see the doctor. Tick please you are taking tooooooooo long. Then like an alarm 8:00 I was off with Justin in tow.

No I won't wait he is having an asthma attach.

Smart girl behind the reception desk didn't try to jerk me around just went and got a nurse.

Okay I like the nurses at our Doctors office. They are quick and know their stuff. Breathing treatment with in 5 minutes and they try and measure his pulse oxygen level....toooooo low.

Two hours later, two treatments later, oxygen treatment and 10 games of tic tack checkers ( don't ask how may games I won because I won't tell) later and he is out of danger. He now lays on the sofa sleeping his breathing is labored but he sleeps and I can breath again.

Pictured above is Justin helping unload popcorn not even a week ago. Funny he is always the first to help. He is a joy to be around.

Never never take the simple act of breathing for granted.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Random Occurrences

Another week done and dusted, and all I really have to show for it is a blog post. Not much on the productivity scale, but at least someone gets to peek into my life. I guess the sad thing is that most of the stuff 'post-worthy' happened before Tuesday was done, making the rest of my week into a non-event it seems.

So to start things off, everyone will be pleased to hear that after my big trip to the Menil collection last week, I am still only 1 1/2 pages into my paper, which is supposed to be 6 pages long. Only good news being it is now due a week later, on the 25th instead of the 18th, which means an extra week of procrastination. The deadline was extended because the antiquities section was closed for renovations, not to open until a day after our paper is due. So the deadline was extended, and I am one of the lucky ones to get in before it was closed. I am going to try to turn it in early, maybe get it graded early, so that I am not writing it over thanksgiving break in my ramen induced sleep coma (cafeteria closed Weds-Fri, so it is cheap food not requiring cooking or refrigeration for me!). That is what my Intro to Fiction paper is for, and finals studying, cause that starts a week after Thanksgiving.

I swear (although I shouldn't) the Christmas season starts sooner every year. It hasn't even gotten close to black Friday, this was last Saturday mind you, and hints of the holiday season was creeping up. It hit me in Kroger's last week that they weren't playing that odd mix of supermarket music, they were playing Christmas music. What is next, after the memorials on 9/11 the cutting of the pine trees? Sorry, getting slightly cynical.

A few random moments from the week, first of all, for the first time, I have actually noticed the ornithological happenings around me. In lay mans terms you could say I saw a blue jay. This is odd in the respect that I don't really know my birds, and don't really pay attention to them, and yet while walking one morning, it kinda caught my eye. Nice way to start the morning, a bright pretty blue jay standing 3 feet away from you, not scared off from the sleep deprived college student standing 3 feet away. Talk about more scared of you than the other way round. And also Murphy struck. I was thinking last week that my headphones have lasted me a good few years, like more than 3, which for me is really really good, and guess what, yup, the left one just upped and quit with no warning. So I tried to struggle through, but one eared music is kinda funky especially when the songs are in stereo and all you get is half the instruments and the intermittent backing vocals. So now I am the proud owner of a pair of $10 neon pink earphones from the bookstore. I would have gone with black like the old ones, or even purple, but all they had were these obnoxious pink ones. They work real nice though, hopefully they will last long like the last ones.

Ah, knitting, yes I have done some. Justin's sweater is as of right now, a sleeve and 9 rows of k2/p2 ribbing away from being done. So what television knitting have I done? Well not much I will admit. I finished 3 preemie hats, my WIP socks finally, and another pair of bed socks. I had some spare yarn from one of the sweaters I made, and I needed a quick project for the bus ride last weekend. I needed a pair of acrylic socks I can wash and wash and wash, so these were it. I finished the body of one whole sock listening to roomie dearest's woes for 2 hours. Don't get me wrong, I didn't mind, maybe too many details in her relationship, but nevertheless, I really didn't mind helping her out, she just needed an unbiased person to help her see the big picture, or at least another perspective. And I must have 'spill your guts' tattooed to my forehead, cause this happens more often than you would expect.

And as a final remark, I shall conclude that out of all the Adam Sandler movies I have seen, and were repulsed by/ disappointed by, I have finally seen one that I actually like. I just finished watching '50 First Dates', a really cute movie that I would actually watch again.

If I don't get eaten by my art history paper, see ya in a week, ish.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Saturdays, What Can Ya Say?

I never thought a Saturday good be so full, and it isn't even midterms or finals. I guess my life so so boring that a bus ride to an art museum is monumental. I have a paper due in two weeks on one of eight pieces in the Menil collection, about a 15 minute bus ride from the dorms. Thankfully this time taking the bus went better than last time. And as a bonus I got some groceries on the way back.

The trip started out a little rocky. I missed the bus the first time by about 30 seconds. With this being the first time I have taken the city bus, and the first time using this route, naturally I wanted to make sire all went well. So the bus pulls up and I am pretty sure its the right one, but to be absolutely sure, I asked the driver if this was the westbound bus. It doesn't establish much confidence in the metro bus system when even the bus driver doesn't know if this bus that he is driving is the westbound bus. All he could tell me is that it was going that way, pointing west. The only thing I could say was that I was glad I printed out a map of the bus route, and knew which way we were going, and knew which way was west. I must have a better magnet in my nose than I thought.

And then I realized on the walk to the museum that I don't know where the bus stop is for the return trip. How stupid could I be? Usually I am a prepared person. Usually I have triple checked every detail that I may need for the contingency plan of the contingency plan. But the air of calm that surrounded me this morning blinded me to that rather crucial part of my outing. Good thing I happened upon the logic of the Houston metro system. I had this brilliant thought while walking around, if the westbound bus stops on one side of the street, and the route is just reversed, than that means that the eastbound bus stops at a similar spot on the other side of the street. What an amazing thought. It's amazing what a nice fall day, a mile walk, and the need for a way home will produce.

Talking of epiphanies, I found a Kroger. It was the oddest thing, I was walking, keeping and eye on my surroundings, making sure I don't get totally utterly lost, and realized that I was passing behind a Kroger. I had been trying to figure out a way to get to a grocery store, and here was one literally staring me in the face. Kinda weird. The only downside was that I was walking all around the surrounding areas looking for a bus stop afterwards with two shopping bags off odds and ends looking like a tad bit of a dork. Although I have been told I don't need two shopping bags of stuff to do that. Then since I just finished going on a 'school trip' to a museum, I just had to watch To Sir With Love. A sacrifice I know, but someone has to do it!

On to other subjects though, I finished my pair of socks last night. Turned out real nice, for my first pair. Justin's Christmas sweater is under 2 inches away from getting ribbed and sleeved. And Dad's vest still hasn't been forgiven from the grave offense it committed. After I finish Justin's sweater I will take out the front and lower the v-neck. I still can't face it, and as mentioned before, necessity can do marvelous things.

Just before I fell asleep last night I had the oddest thought. For some reason I was thinking about jello. I had the thought that it would be awesome to cover everything in a room and have an all out jello fight. Like food fights in the cafeteria, but with jello. Don't ask where that came from, but still, wouldn't that be fun?

Oh, I never said how the Menil itself was. For the assignment I had to look at the antiquities, basically Aegean, Hellenistic, Roman and up to about the 18th century stuff. Nothing much to interest me. But what was really cool was the surrealist stuff. I don't know why, but I really like style. Much more interesting than bits of bronze or stone carved into terrible representations of the human body. It bored me in class and it was no better in person.

This week should be a little less stressful. But this is only Saturday, who know what could happen when classes commence again on Monday. Professors can have a nasty sense of humor.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Routine Shake Up

Well, as you guys can see, it isn’t the weekend, but I am posting? I know, it is a Thursday, although I keep wanting to think it is a Friday. Always a terrible feeling, especially waking up on the Friday morning thinking it should be a Saturday. Well enough philosophy for one post.

Back to the original thought, it is a Thursday, and I am posting, why you may ask? Well my roommate wanted the room for an hour, and I didn’t have any homework per say that I could bring to the library, so here I am with no internet, a laptop and a sock on the needles (see Mum, I am knitting on it) needing something to do. For a library that is supposed to encourage students to study and research and use its resources, its wireless internet is terrible.

On the knitting topic, I can now proudly say that I finished both of Mum and I’s knit a longs before she did. Both Out of Cheese and the blue shawl are off the needles, and I am finding myself needing a pattern for my 3 skeins of plum Baby Bee. I had an idea for a shawl pattern, but after reading the pattern I had second thoughts. So it will be off to Ravelry for me. I am open to suggestions for a top or shawl...

Hmm, what else, other than a French exam yesterday and a sociology test today, which in under a half an hour I will see how bad I did. The material was on stratification and poverty, nice and boring stuff that doesn't lend itself well to remembering. Especially when it is joined by vocab and partitive articles and the ever present masculine vs. feminine problem. So thankfully my psych stats test is next week, otherwise I would be a puddle of grey matter.

Both my roomie and me have come to our breaking points. As of now there is a towel duct taped, binder clipped and safety pinned to our air conditioning vent. It is currently in the 50's and 60's outside, and today especially very windy so the last thing we need is an igloo for a dorm room. Now that Out of Cheese is done, I have another blanket for my bed, and I have to say, it couldn't have been bound off at a better time.

I don't know if I shall post like normal over the weekend, events may not be worth reporting. Or I may have lots of odd occurrences to fill a post. So stay tuned for more!