This semester is not as easy as I thought it would be. My classes are fine, easy even...but the Microbiology TA position is kicking mu butt!! I am so tired every week. I just about get back to normal and the week starts again, and I'm back to "running the lab".

In other news, I will be graduating in December...walking Spring '11. I have no idea what I am doing about grad school...my possibilities have suddenly opened wide, so I have a lot of researching and planning to do.

That's all for now.

S

Comment Moderation

I have set this blog to moderate comments for now. There have been several anonymous comments that have porn links inbeded in them...and that is really not okay with me!

This and That

This is Bagheera (think Jungle Book for pronunciation). "Bags" joined our family 7 days ago. A co-worker of D's had to move and could not keep her. She is about 3 years old, solid black with not even a spot of another color anywhere. Her eyes are in fact yellow, not gold, but yellow. She is also pretty big...17 lbs. While she looks like a big meanie, she is a very sweet girl. She follows me from room to room, joins me when I go to bed taking a spot near my feet since by my chest is Baby Boy's spot (no "discussion" about that, she just did it), and she loves belly rubs!

The only problem we seem to have is she doesn't like the treats we give the other kitties, she likes HERS (a different brand). That is easily dealt with though.




In other news, school starts tomorrow. I have 15 units, but I actually think it s going to be an easier semester. I have 8 units (two classes) of Sociology electives, 4 units of lower division Biology (last lower division Bio!), and 3 units of Biology Practicum (TA for Microbiology). The practicum is an easy A...help in lab, grade lab practicals and lab exercises, run open labs (around my schedule, not their's), and run study reviews if the students want them (my schedule again). The lower division Bio is gong to be a LOT of review, and taught by my Bio adviser...which is cool. The electives for Soc...well, one of them I really want to take (and planned my life in order to make it work), the other fit into my schedule. Not so excitedabout that second one, but I think it will be a good one to take for my future plans (Society and Aging, fits with nursing), and I think I have the Prof figured out. Don't particularly care for her teaching style, but I hear that this class is better because it's her "area of passion"...we shall see.

So...the big thing going on right now...I've reconnected with a couple people that were (are) improtant to me, from early childhood. One of them I have not seen in around 37 years...keep in mind I just turned 41 this month! The other one I have seen twice in tat same time perod. There are two more to reconnect with...and I will be doing that in person in August...if not sooner in email. This is a HUGE thing...and I will write more and in more detail on the other place.

S

Long Overdue Update

I haven't posted for a while...no one has! School has been very busy, and other things have interfered as well.

I had the flu...it was very nasty and I am still dealing with the effects of it. Since I was actually ill in October...still having effects now is pretty dramatic. Please get the H1N1 vaccine if you are in any way able to!

School is going okay...a bit overwhelming, but it always is at the end of the semester. Currently I have a 2-3 page news analysis and a take-home final for Intro to Social Work, a 3-4 page (single spaced) research paper, a lab exam and a final for Biology, and my final paper for Sociological Methods Seminar, remaining to complete. The last one is the one that is the most stressful. This paper is for a semester long research project involving 8 hours of participant observation in a setting that I chose. The paper will be somewhere around 30 pages, with all the formal elements of a paper being submitted for publication.

I do want to say that I absolutely HATE my Social Work class! So...Jade, I will not be going into social work! :P I'm sticking with nursing as my end goal. I did go to a graduate school forum that people had to be specifically invited to. The invitation was based on GPA, and potential to succeed in graduate school. A faculty member had to submit students' names and then students were chosen to go. The forum was for all of CA and was at UCSC. While I was there I spent a lot of time talking with the Dean of Advanced Practice Nursing from UCSF. UCSF is now my first choice school. Cross your fingers everyone.

One last thing....

I have not heard from or seen any sign of a specific dear friend, her blog is even gone. Emails have gone unanswered, her cell phone is disconnected, and I do not have a land-line number. I am hoping a few of you will know who I am talking about, and maybe know something...she was friends with a few of you as well (Jade, Mamabeak, Kate). I am worried about her and miss her very much. I will be sending out an xmas card as I do have an address, but I would really like to hear from her, or at least know what is going on.

S

A Few Pictures...

I got back from my trip the night before last...I was so exhausted that I slept very late yesterday, then took a nap as well, and went to bed early! I feel much better today.

This picture is a shot of Solvang. We had a lot of fun there. I got a pair of hand painted Swedish clogs...very cool.




















This is the rock at Morro Bay. I was unprepared for the cold there. We were on our way to Pismo Beach...where we had reservations to stay the night. I had packed capris, and sandals...and was wearing...shorts and sandals! I ended up buying a pair of sweat pants. They are cool though...grey with Morro printed on them (bay is printed very small on the second "O").



















This one is the view from our balcony at the hotel in Pismo beach. The hotel was right on the beach as you can see. We left the glass door to the balcony open and listened to the surf and birds all night long. We also took a walk to the end of the pier after dark...seeing all the lights on shore was very nice. Seeing the absolute, complete blackness out to sea was not so nice! In fact, it was a bit opressive and scary...my Aunt thought so too. It seemed like there was substance to the darkness, like it pressed on you...probably because it was foggy, not "just" dark.



















This cool guy and his buddy were hanging out on the pier. They were HUGE!! As tall as my hip. But pretty friendly. One of them (we were told by a fisherman) would snap if you got too close, but the other one would walk right up to you and nudge at your pockets and hands...looking for fish to eat.

All in all we had a good time. There was a fire not too far from my Aunt's town that started on Wednesday or Tuesday night. The helicopters were loading up fire retardant in her town, and there was a little bit of smoke, but mostly the smoke was blowing inland. Seeing our Aunt's and great- Aunt was great, we got some good pictures. Seeing the father was pretty good too. I think not seeing the mother would have been better, but it wasn't horrible.

S

I've been back in classes for 2 1/2 weeks now. It's going okay. My classes aren't particularly hard, just a lot of work/reading. Unfortunately, I am going on a trip and will miss one full week of classes...so I have to keep up on all the work, AND there is something due the week I will be gone in every class. So I have to do that work early, and turn it in early. A little overwhelming.

I have some exciting news! I was elected President of the honor society I was inducted into last spring! How cool is that?!?

S

School starts a week from today. In the past I have always been very, very full of anxiety in the couple weeks before the start of the semester. Right now I am anxious...but in a different way. I wish school was starting today! This has been one boring summer! Raine came to visit twice...that was good...her second visit we went to the county fair...this was fun. Raine's visits have been the highlights of the summer. We have basically done nothing at all. No Bass lake this year, Diana started a new job at the end of April...so no time off to go do things...AND...an empty house 5 days a week. Of course there is also the money factor...never enough of it! Sooo...pretty much all I have been doing is reading, and little projects around the house. I have managed to stick with the most critical parts of the schedule I made...getting up, eating, some house work, and going to bed on time. However, I now have to re-adjust my schedule for school...getting up at 7 am won't work when my ride leaves at 6:45 am!

So this time next week I will be at school...probably not in class though, because my first Wednesday class is a lab, and they won't have lab before the first lecture. This will give me time to track down my Bio adviser though, since he is the instructor for that class/lab. Hopefully the rec center will be open, because I will have a very long time until my official first class...it starts at 2pm.

Today I am waiting for the mail to arrive...it's the earliest possible day for my financial aid check to arrive. If it comes today, I have several things I need to get for school...most notably...MY BOOKS!! I like to have them at least a few days before classes start, so I can get the first chapters read...if I know which book we are reading first when there's more than 1 book. Fortunately, there's only 1 Bio book. 1 of my other classes is taught by my Soc adviser, so I can email her and ask which book first. The other class, there is only two books...I may just skim the first chapter of each.

Anyway...I am bored...there's no one ever online anymore...I'm out of leisure reading material again...my house is pretty clean...laundry is done...my office isn't clean but I've already been working on it and needed a break. So...that's my current life in a nutshell!

S