I'm A Big Kid Now

Well, I'm a car owner anyway. It was officially mine on Saturday, but I was finally able to get to the Johnson county administration building to have the title and registration switched to my name today. It's the first thing, other than my computer, that I own that cost over $200. I doubt my computer is even worth that much anymore. The insurance is now in my name too. Now if I can just get myself a job with benefits I will got from a big kid to an adult. I think that's kinda how it works anyway.

A little better...

I am slightly less overwhelmed now. I got my last lab report back and I had the highest grade in my class and it was my best one yet, so that made me feel better. I also got a second interview for the job I had the phone interview for this afternoon. I heard one of my exams tomorrow isn't going to be too bad either.

I feel pretty overwhelmed right now. Next week is finals, which is probably where the majority of my "overwhelmedness" comes from. On top of that is the whole graduation ceremony thing. I really don't want to go. It is totally meaningless to me and I can't even afford my cap and gown! I had to borrow money from Josh to pay for them. Actually I haven't gotten them yet. Tomorrow is the last day to buy them, so I guess I will get them then! I half want to not buy them so I can't walk. I am going to walk across that stage for my mom. I also have to figure out how to deal with the whole family issue. I still don't know what I am doing! I guess it's lunch with dad and grandpa and dinner with mom and sis, but I haven't even wanted to think about how that's all going to work out, so I haven't.

I also have two job interviews. One is a phone interview on Monday morning and the other is Thursday afternoon. I would be more excited about them if I knew whether or not I will have a job at the lab I currently work in after I graduate. Dr. Smith hasn't gotten back to me on that yet, and a couple of the women at my lab have been bugging him to get me hired. I don't know if I will be able to work after graduation! I am a student employee and once I graduate I am no longer a student and can no longer be an employee. I don't know when my next pay check will come because I may be unemployed in a week!

I just want this week to be over.

Check this out!

$6 and 6 hours

That's how much and how long it will take me to do 4 loads of laundry. I even had to dry one load twice! Thanks to Tacia I had enough money to wash my towels too. I was putting off laundry until I paid all my bills but I ran out of socks. I think it has been about 3 weeks since I did laundry. I know the last time was before Thanksgiving. I can't wait to live in a place that has it's own washer and dryer! I started at 6:00 and the last dryer load should be done a little before midnight. I should have saved some for tomorrow night so I could go to bed now.

Snow!!!

This is realy snow. Not that big, wet stuff that is practically rain and smacked me in the face as I walked to class. I don't think I am ready to drive in this stuff yet.

Who knew...

that flicking coins to make them spin could entertain 3 people for several hours? I am still not very good at the one-hand technique.

I am finally going to be doing some new stuff at work! I will be helping one of our reasearchers with PCRs for genotyping. Finally I will be learning a useful laboratory skill!

Lemme know what ya think!

This is in reference to Study Break Rant

She called me today and decided she wanted to put whatever is going on behind us and "forget it all happened". Sounds fine, but then I started thinking it could just make everything worse. The following is an e-mail I am considering sending to her. I am afraid I might start screaming if I try to talk to her about what I am thinking and I would probably say things I will regret. So, for both our sakes, I think e-mail may be better. I am at such a loss as to what to do, that any thoughts and opinions would be appreciated. Her roommate and I are frustrated and don't think pretending it never happened is going to solve anything. I am trying hard to to attack her or blame it all on her, no matter how much I feel it is all her fault. Though, I probably didn't help by not doing anything to imporove the situation.

I am all for putting everything behind us. But I have done some thinking and I do believe we need to figure some things out before we pretend nothing has happened. We are mature adults, so I don’t think playing pretend is going to help our situation.

First of all, if you feel I am verbally attacking you for any reason, I apologize. It has never been my intention to badmouth or judge you. I don’t want every one of my comments make you feel like I am attacking you or your actions. I have been told some of my comments have bothered you and in each case he mentioned, they were intended to be innocent comments. I know I can be sarcastic and make harsh comments at times, but I don’t intentionally verbally attack or judge. I am sorry if my comments seemed otherwise, but you have to let me know if something I say bothers you. I want to be able to carry on a normal conversation without having to worry about how I state things. If we can clear the air in that regard, I think the awkwardness and frustration may clear as well. If I have seemed quite around you lately, it is because I have been trying not to say something that may offend you.

Also, I occasionally need to vent about what is bothering me in my life. I feel as friends, we are allowed to do a little venting to each other. I have listened to your work, social, and financial woes for several months, and all I ask is that you reciprocate and let me vent about mine. When I talk about what is bothering me, I am not trying to compare my problems to yours or trivialize anything that has happened in your life. I feel everyone has a right to vent about something bothering them, no matter how insignificant or important it may seem to the listener.

When it comes to our relationship, I believe we both have our defenses up right now. I don’t know about you, but that makes me tense and I have a tendency to get unnaturally nasty and make some stupid comments intended to provoke. We are very different people with very different outlooks and goals. There are bound to be problems and misunderstandings. We may never be like we were before, but I don’t want the awkwardness anymore. I have been uncomfortable around you for several months and I haven’t known how to fix it. I admit there were times when I thought a good yelling match might be the only way to fix this, but I don’t want to damage my karaoke singing voice :).

The pumpkins look great! We still have one to carve. I toasted the pumpkin seeds and they are quite tasty! I also made chocolate chip bars, which are also quite tasty! I will post pics of the pumpkins when I have them. I really should have done some studying last night, but the pumpkins were much more fun!

Pumpkins!!!!

I am going to carve The Cheat on my pumpkin. Josh is coming over tomorrow night and we are going to carve our pumpkins. Ah! What am I doing! I should be studying! Why does the internet suck me in everytime I should be working on something?! I have two exams next week and a lab report!! One exam I really have to do well on. Techinically, I need to do well on all of them. Anyway, gotta go make some more hot chocolate... I mean study.

Finally!!!

Usually Josh is the one showing me new things such as movies, music, TV shows, restaurants, stores, etc. But last night I introduced him to Strong Bad Email from HomestarRunner.com. I have a set of DVDs with 100 of the cartoons. After one failed attempt to get him to watch them on Friday night, I put one of the DVDs in while he was playing Doom on my computer. When he stopped for a little bit, he caught part of one of them and thought it was funny. Saturday night, after watching Doom, we went back to my place and he decided he wanted to watch some more of them. After we made it through the first disc we started on the second disc. This morning we finished the second and third discs. He is now addicted and wants to go as Strong Bad for Halloween. Randal and I would talk about Strong Bad at the Nest on Occasion, but Josh never seemed remotely interested. For once, I got him interested in something new instead of the other way around!

More pretty pictures!

Finally a quiz for which Amanda and I can't have the same answer!

Your Birthdate: January 19

Your birth on the 19th day of the month adds a tone of independence and extra energy to your life path. But at the same time, it poses a number of obstacles to overcome before you are able to be as independent as you would like. The number 1 energy suggests more executive ability and leadership qualities than your path may have indicated. A birthday on the 19th of any month gives greater will power and self-confidence, and very often a rather original approach. However, a somewhat self-centered approach to life that may be in conflict with some of the other influences in your life. This 1 energy may diminish your ability and desire to handle details, preferring instead to paint with a broad brush. You are sensitive, but your feeling stay somewhat repressed. You have a compelling manner that can be dominating in many situations. You do not tend to follow convention or take advice very well. Consequently, you tend to learn through experience; sometimes hard experiences. The 19/1 is a loner number and you may experience feelings of being alone even if you are married. You may take on a tendency to be nervous and angry.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

You Should Get a MFA (Masters of Fine Arts)

You're a blooming artistic talent, even if you aren't quite convinced. You'd make an incredible artist, photographer, or film maker.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

Cheese Pizza

Traditional and comforting. You focus on living a quality life. You're not easily impressed with novelty. Yet, you easily impress others.

What's Your Pizza Personality?

The job search contiues

I was hoping I could work at the lab full-time, not because I want to do genetic research, but because it would have been easy. I have been messing with my resume and cover letter for about a week now. It's kinda scary to think I have to send this out to people and hopefully get an interview for it. So far I have applied for some RA I positions at some labs, some different positions at IDT and am perfecting my cover letter and resume for a project assistant position at NADS. I really want the NADS position, because it wouldn't involve biology or working over night! It would also be kinda nice to not be on the main campus all the time. I think I have some good references with one of the top surgeons in the country on my list, but I am still kinda freaked out.

It's a posting frenzy in Chelsea's room!

I am a little post happy today. Actually it is technically a new day though I have yet to go to bed because I was working on a lab report. It is the first lab report I have writtne in over a year! That makes me a little nervous. Anyway, I found the techniques we used kinda interesting and we took some pretty cool pictures so I decided to share a couple of my favorite ones with you.

I just want to say that Josh is entirely too good to me sometimes.

Study-break rant!!

I don't deal well with people who are emotionally high maintenance; i.e., I can't stand when a person is your friend, literally calling you her best friend at the time, and then suddenly starts accusing you of things you know you didn't do, then after a few weeks acts as if nothing happened then goes right back to acting as if you are the plague a few weeks later. As far as I can tell, I did nothing to provoke these changes in either direction. I know I have started reacting to this latest change with obvious anger at times. I occasionally let a sarcastic, smart-ass comment slip out, when I can't manage to censor myself. For the most part, I try to stay out of her way and out of conversations with her so I don't say anything I may regret later.

The problem is she lives with a person I tend to spend a lot of time with therefor I spend time at her place on a regular basis. I always feel like I did something wrong I am not supposed to be there when she is around. Her roommate says any mention of me results in a snide remark of some sort and it is often implied that my presence is not welcome at her home. Lately these comments have revolved around my studying in their living room and taking advantage of her roommate's offers to pay for my dinner when we go out to eat.

I practically seethe with anger when I start thinking about her. I do try hard not to, not for her sake, but for her roommate's because I don't want to get between them. Funny thing is, she hasn't said a thing to me about any of this. I haven't brought it up with her either because I think it will just make her more angry with me and I don't want to do that, though I am starting to not care if I do. I know she is emotionally unstable at times, but this has progressed much farther than I thought it would. I don't know how to deal with this situation anymore. I haven't been over at their place more than 2 or 3 times during the last 2 weeks, but her anger towards me hasn't decreased, if anything, I think it may have gotten worse. I am at a complet loss on what to do next, if I should do anything at all.

I love that the major controversy about our football team right now isn't about one of the players getting arrested! Instead the controversy concerns the color pink. It's really rather refreshing. I even wore a pink shirt today, but that was mostly just because I really need to do laundry and it's about all I have that's clean.

I have never thought the pink locker rooms were anything other than a clever and funny tradition started by one of Iowa's best football coaches. It's not homophobic or sexist. At least it wasn't until a law professor decided to make pink paint homophobic and sexist. (I kinda want to leave a comment on that blog.) Would she have the same problem with purple, lilac, or magenta? Maybe magenta because the wrong shade could induce headaches and possible brain hemorrhaging in the players. Did she ever think to ask the opposing teams how they felt about the pink? Am I potentiating the whole pink thing too by writing this? Just see what Google comes up with when you type in "pink locker room". What would she say if they painted the women's basketball or volleyball locker rooms pink? Would that still be homophobic and sexist?

Not only do the non-supporters of pink want to get rid of the pink paint they "want the locker room gone." Isn't getting rid of the locker room a little excessive? Not only will they have to buy new paint but a whole locker room as well! Then she would have to complain about the money spent on building a new room that is only used a few hours a week.

I just looked for her blog and she has apparently deleted it! Interesting...

Josh told me to go to bed over an hour ago now. I should actualy listen to him for once.

Fall is coming!!! So are my exams.

I see highs in the 60's in the forecast!! I want to wear my fall jackets and sweaters and sweatshirts! I actually want to wear my winter coat, but that's just because it is new!

I shouldn't have let Josh come over for dinner after he was done with tkd. I have not been very productive since he left. I have an exam in 15 hours and another starts 27 hours after that!!! I should study. There is so much material.

I think I am going to have to take a day off from work just so I can get some extra study time in. I have three exams and a lab report all within a week. I don't want to study anymore and I haven't even started studying for one of the exams or started writing the lab report. I don't think I will be making it to tkd much this week.

Dr Pepper Lip Smackers are pretty much my fave. But what is even better is giant Dr Pepper Lip Smackers! I found one that is about four times bigger than a regular Dr Pepper Lip Smacker. I should have bought more than one!

Key
------
x = seen from start to finish
# = seen most of the movie in bits and pieces, but never seen in one sitting
? = know I've seen the movie, but have no recollection of doing so

[x] Pirates of the Caribbean
[x] Boondock Saints
[ ] The Mexican
[x] Fight Club
[x] Starsky and Hutch
[x] Neverending Story
[x] Blazing Saddles
[x] Garden State
[x] The Princess Bride
[x] Young Frankenstiein
[x] Monty Python and the Holy Grail
[x] The Meaning of Life
[x] Life of Brian
[x] Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl
[x]Robin Hood: Men in Tights
[x] AnchorMan
[x] Wedding Crashers
[x] Napoleon Dynamite
[ ] Saw
[ ] White Noise
[x] White Oleander
[x]Matchstick Men
[x] Anger Management
[ ] 50 First Dates
[x] Jason X
[?] Scream
[?] Scream 2
[ ] Scream 3
[?] Scary Movie
[?] Scary Movie 2
[?] Scary Movie 3
[x] American Pie
[x] American Pie 2
[x] American Wedding
[x] Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
[x] Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
[x] Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
[x] Resident Evil I
[x] Resident Evil 2
[x] The Wedding Singer
[ ] Little Black Book
[x] The Village
[x] Donnie Darko
[x] Lilo & Stitch
[x] Finding Nemo
[x] Finding Neverland
[x] 13 Ghosts
[ ] Signs
[x] The Grinch
[ ] Texas Chainsaw Massacre
[ ] White Chicks
[ ] Butterfly Effect
[x] Thirteen Going On 30
[x] I Robot
[x] Dodgeball
[ ] Universal Soldier
[ ] Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events
[ ] Along Came A Spider
[ ] Deep Impact
[#] KingPin
[x] Never Been Kissed
[x] Meet the Parents
[x] Meet the Fockers
[ ] Eight Crazy Nights
[ ] A Cinderella Story
[ ] The Terminal
[ ] The Lizzie McGuire Movie
[ ] Passport to Paris
[x] Dumb & Dumber
[ ] Dumb & Dumberer
[ ] Final Destination
[ ] Final Destination 2
[ ] Halloween
[x] The Ring
[ ] The Ring 2
[x] Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
[x] Practical Magic
[x] Chicago
[ ] Ghost Ship
[ ] From Hell
[x] Hellboy
[x] Underworld
[x] Pitch Black
[x]The Chronicals of Riddick
[ ] Secret Window
[x] I Am Sam
[ ] The Whole Nine Yards
[ ] The Whole Ten Yards
[ ] The Day After Tomorrow
[ ] Child's Play
[ ] Bride of Chucky
[x] Ten Things I Hate About You
[ ] Just Married
[ ] Gothika
[ ] Nightmare on Elm Street
[x] Sixteen Candles
[#] Bad Boys
[x] Bad Boys 2
[ ] Joy Ride
[ ] Seven (SE7EN)
[ ] Oceans Eleven(the original version)
[x] Oceans Twelve
[ ] Identity
[ ] Lone Star
[ ] Predator I
[ ] Predator II
[x] Independence Day
[ ] Cujo
[ ] A Bronx Tale
[ ] Darkness Falls
[ ] Christine
[x] ET
[ ] Children of the Corn
[ ] My Boss' Daughter
[x] Maid in Manhattan
[ ] Frailty
[x] Best Bet
[x] How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
[x] She's All That
[ ] Calendar Girls
[ ] Sideways
[x] American Beauty
[x] Almost Famous
[x] Detroit Rock City
[#] Dazed and CDonfused
[#] Mars Attacks
[ ] Event Horizon
[x] Ever After
[x] Forrest Gump
[ ] Big Trouble in Little China
[x] X-Men 1[x] X-Men 2
[x] Catch Me If You Can
[ ] The Others
[x] Freaky Friday
[ ] Ring of Fire
[ ] The Hot Chick
[?] Swimfan
[ ] Miracle
[x] Old School
[ ] Ray
[ ] The Notebook
[x] K-Pax
[x] Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
[x] Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
[x] Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
[x] A Walk to Remember
[ ] Boogeyman
[x] Hitch
[#] The Fifth Element
[x] Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace
[x] Star Wars Episode II Attack of The Clones
[x] Star Wars Episode III Revenge of The Sith
[x] Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope
[x] Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
[x] Star Wars Episode VI Return of The Jedi
[ ] Troop Beverly Hills
[ ] Swimming with Sharks
[x] Air Force One
[ ] For Richer or Poorer
[ ] Trainspotting
[ ] People Under the Stairs
[ ] Blue Velvet
[x] Sound of Music
[x] Parent Trap (old version)
[ ] The Burbs
[x] The Terminator
[x] Empire Record
s[ ] SLC Punk
[x] Meet Joe Black
[ ] Wild Girls
[ ] A Clockwork Orange
[ ] The Order
[x] Spiderman
[x] Spiderman 2
[x] Amelie
[x] Belle epoque
[x] Amores Perros
[x] Y tu mamá también
[x] Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios
[ ] Hable con ella
[x] Mean Girls
[x] Shrek
[x] Shrek 2
[ x The Incredibles
[ ] Collateral
[x] The Fast & The Furious
[ ] 2 Fast 2 Furious
[ ] Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
[ ] Closer
[x] Titanic
[x] Saved!
[x] Bowling for Columbine
[ ] Farenheit 9/11
[x] The Sixth Sense
[ ] Artificial Intelligence (AI)
[ ] Love Actually
[ ] Shutter
[ ] Ella Enchanted
[ ] Princess Diaries 1
[ ] Princess Diaries 2
[ ] Constantine
[ ] Million Dollar Baby
[ ] Envy
[x] Eurotrip
[ ] Malibu's Most Wanted
[x] Big Daddy
[x] Black Sheep
[x] The Breakfast Club
[#] West Side Story
[x] A Christmas Story
[ ] Spanglish
[#] Pulp Fiction
[ ] Sleepover
[x] Evil Dead
[x] Evil Dead 2
[x] Army of Darkness
[x] Labyrinth
[ ] Killer Klowns From Outer Space
[ ] The Seed of Chucky
[ ] Vanilla Sky
[x] Nightmare Before Christmas
[ ] Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
[x] Interview With the Vampire
[ ] The Crow
[ ] Purple Rain
[ ] Reservoir Dogs
[x] Wayne's World
[x] Wayne's World 2
x] 21 Grams
[x] Blow
[x] Edward Scissorhands
[#] Clerks
[x] Beauty and the Beast
[ ] Guess Who
[ ] Monster In-Law
[x] Elf
[ ] Stuart Little
[ ] Stuart Little 2
[ ] Mall Rats
[x] Chasing Amy
[x] Dogma
[x] Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
[x] Beetlejuice
[x] The Last Samurai
[ ] The Amityville Horror
[ ] The Aviator
[x] Romeo and Juliet
[ ] Barbershop
[ ] Beauty Shop
[x] Legally Blonde
[ ] Legally Blonde 2
[ ] The Forgotten
[ ] Confessions Of A Teenage Drama Queen
[ ] Grudge
[x] The Transporter
[ ] The Transporter 2
[x] Three Amigos
[x] Kill Bill Vol. 1
[x] Kill Bill Vol. 2
[x] Blade Runner
[x] Tombstone
[x] Blade
[x] Blade II
[x[ Blade: Trinity
[x] Buffy the Vampire Slayer
[x] The Punisher (2004)
[x] The Punisher (1988)
[x[ Sin City
[x] Dawn of the Dead (2004)
[x] Night of the Living Dead (1968)
[ ] Dawn of the Dead (1978)
[ ] Day of the Dead
[x] Creep Show
[#]Creepshow 2

The new lab space is so nice. We have windows!! We didn't have any windows in our old lab space. It was like a dungeon on the third floor. The view of Iowa City from our conference room is great. I wish I had a camera to get some pictures. It is good to finally be in the new space.

For some reason everyone who doesn't have anything to do asks me. I am the lowly-undergrad-lab assistant and they all look to me when they can't find Carla our lab manager. I honestly don't have a lot for them to do, but that is mostly because I don't trust some of them to do a decent job of some of the things I can come up with so I would rather do them myself. I understand that they don't want to bother Carla because she is very busy, but do they have to look to me. I think I am one of the few people that actually knows where all the stuff is going, but they should be able to figure it out. It's amazing how lost the scientific people can get when what they need to do doesn't require science.

Since I got sick last Saturday I haven't had much of an apetite. I keep losing track of time since both my watches broke and I haven't been getting hungry for lunch like I usually do. That was how I knew it was time for me to finish up what I was doing, eat lunch and get to class. Now I have to get to class!

I have weird dreams when I take naps. I think my nap was too long because I am kinda groggy now. I am not very good at this napping thing.


9:46pm
I think the nap was a bad idea. I was totally out of it during tae kwon do. My body just wouldn't do what I wanted it to. I could barely even remember what I needed to bring with me to class!

So tired... must study... should run tomorrow morning since I have new running shoes... get off the computer... must study... exam Friday... where's my paycheck?... want to eat squash.

Feeling better!

I am feeling better. Still tired and coughing, but not as stuffy.

Acorn squash is so hard to cut. I guess that is why it is considered a hard winter squash. I think I did better this time than I usually do. I was surprised it went so well since this one was bigger than I usually get. I have always baked it with brown sugar and butter, but I think I may try a savory version next time.

Poor me :`- (

Why did I have to get a cold the week I have a quiz and an exam? Yesterday morning I was feeling pretty good, but as the day progressed I got stuffier and my throat go scratchier. Josh was sent home sick from work because he puked in front of a customer and he was looking more pale than he already is. He called me and before he hung up to go puke again he asked me to pick up some Resolve. I gave him some 7-Up and saltines and he finally kept something down. By the time he was feeling better around 9:00, I was barely able to breathe or stay awake. I slept through most of the movie we watched last night. We were a pretty sorry couple yesterday!

Laura keeps asking me to not breathe on her. I keep threatening to lick her door handle and cough on her. That's kinda gross now that I am thinking about it. I doubt it has ever been cleaned.

I just found out my uncle is flying the jets transporting the refugees of Hurricane Katrina. My grandma and mom are worrying about him because of the way people are acting down there. I heard Delta was offering free flights to those people, so I figured he was probably piloting some of those planes. It is so chaotic that it's hard for me to begin to imagine what it is like. Whole towns have been wiped out by flood water and wind!

I want a hamburger!!

I have been watching a show about hamburgers and now I want one.

Sooo tired. It's only Monday!!! It's only the second week of classes! I need more sleep! Why do I let myself stay up so late?

I can make good lasagna. I have started making my own sauce. It's only slightly cheaper, but I think I like it better. I made lasagna tonight, but then Tacia wanted some ice cream. I realized I wasn't really in the mood for lasagna so I joined her for some ice cream. But of course since I only had ice cream for supper at 10:15pm, I was hungry around 1:00, so ate some of my lasagna. It was good! I tasted the sauce as I was making it, but in the lasagna it was even better. I think I cut my thumb while cooking, but I don't remember doing it! I didn't even notice it until about an hour ago.

This can't be right...

Classes can't be starting today! Where did my summer go? So far there are only two good reasons for me to go to class:
1. I am almost done.
2. I will not be at work the whole day, just for about 4 hours in the morning.

At least I finally have my internet working again. I only have books for two of my classes and only one of them was at the book stores.

I can't believe what we accomplished today. I am exhausted but happy with how it is all going. My aunt and I rearranged and seriously cleaned the laundry room. There were those stupid Japanese beetles everywhere. The floors in there and the kitchen are a linoleum from the 70's and for whatever reason, most likely wax residues, they are extremely tacky and dirt clings to them and is really hard to get off. My aunt and I used ammonia, a Swiffer and some sponges and scrubbed the floor by hand with a sponged while crouching. We then went over it with a Swiffer dipped in the ammonia solution. My feet are killing me. My uncle and cousin removed the counter tops and put in the new ones. They are gorgeous! We did run in to one problem with some adhexive on the walls behind the backsplash. We discovered it was water soluble and with the help of some sharpened chisels we scraped it off in about 3 hours including trips to the hardware store. Jordan and I also trimmed the two hedges in front and to the side of the house.

Tomorrow we have to grout the tile that is being used as a backsplash and plumb the sink as well as clean out the bottom cupboards and replace everything in the cupboards. Jordan and I also need to finish up the hedge. I wish I could be around when my mom gets home and sees what has happened to her kitchen.

I can't thank my aunt, uncle and cousins enough for doing this for her. She has had such a hard year and a half between the divorce and almost losing her job and the stress of having to do the work of 5 people since she is short on staff. I am so glad she is at our cabin and not worrying about work too much.

I am going to shower and put on some clothes not cover in dirt, grime and dust.

I am back from the cabin! I kinda wish I was still there. It is so nice to just sit around, read, swim, go for a boat ride, walk in the sand, play games or watch one of the 4 channels we get on TV.

Actually I am in Eldora right now. Jeff and I made the 8 hour trek from Cass Lake, MN today. It wasn't a bad drive at all. I might have headed back to IC tonight, but tomorrow is the start of the secret remodeling of my mom's kitchen. Well, not a total remodel, (t's only one weekend afterall!) but new counters, sink, faucet, and backsplash. The painting and flooring will be up to her. My aunt and uncle came up with the idea and they as well as my cousin are coming here tomorrow to do all the work, with my help of course! This is a big ol' Victorian house with a '70s era kitchen. The floor is impossible to clean and the faucet leaks. Lexsea has been taking the measurements for everything while my mom was at work and Mom is totally clueless! I am so excited. Josh was going to come help if he didn't have to work, but he is working all weekend but I talked to Corey as I was unloading my car and he is going to stop in tomorrow afternoon to offer his assistance. My mom is going to be totally shocked that we did all this without her knowledge.

9:16pm...

I took everything out of the cupboards and started my laundry. I am currently sitting in a towel waiting for some clothes suitable for sleeping in to dry. I am all alone here, so I can wander around in a towel without any awkward situations arising.

All week I was thinking about what I remember of the cabin from my childhood and have been wanting to write it down so here we go:

Our family's cabin sits on the edge of Cass Lake between Stoney Point and Strawberry Point was built in the 1940's, I believe. It has a stone foundation and the walls are formed by logs of about a foot in diameter. They have been painted brown and the roof is a bright green with a stubbby covered chimne in the center. Inside the logs were naturally weathered while the cabin was being built and subsequently stained. The floors are wood and in the dining/living room a large stone fire place occupies a whole wall. In front of the fire place sits a table made from a wagon wheel surrounded by round wicker chairs and a chandelier also made from a wagon wheel hangs directly above. There used to be two more wheel wagon chandeliers, but they were deemed to dangerous due to their close proximity to the head of anyone over 5'10" and were recently replaced with discrete recessed lights which have greatly improved the lighting on the front porch and in the living/dining area. The original outhouse and garage are still standing and both are in use. Indoor plumbing was installed when I was very young, but the outhouse is still regularly used. They are both built with the same logs and roof as the cabin. Our kitchen still has the bright red hand-pump sitting on the counter though it is no longer used since we have running water. I remember taking baths in a big teal tub while the adults took a swim with a bottle of shampoo and a bar of soap to get clean before we installed a shower, sink and toilet. I just realized, I have no idea what the room that is now the bathroom was used for before it was the bathroom. The whole front of our cabin is a screened porch facing the lake. Windows cover the front and one side while the opposite side of the porch is occupied by a set of double doors made of thick, light colored wood with iron locks and handles. We have a rather large, sandy beach and worn red dock that has been stained and painted several times over the years. It is the only dock we have ever had and I can't imagine having one of those new docks with no gaps to get your toes stuck in when running down the dock. That dock is as much a part of the cabin as the rest of it. The dock forms an 'L' and my favorite part to sit or lie on is the bottom of the 'L' which is the farthest out from the beach. It's rusty, faded and chipped and it creaks and leans, but I don't think it would be the same if we had a new dock.

I was remembering all the ways I tried to get the sand off my feet and flip-flops before heading up to the cabin from the beach. My legs were too short to sit on the dock with my feet in the water so I had to put my flip-flops on the dock at a place I could climb up to out of the water with relative ease. I was never very successful which was why Granny always had a tub of water waiting by the front door for us to dip our feet in before entering the cabin. I usually sleep on the front porch and Papa used to wake me up each morning singing something while sitting at his computer or just wheeling his way over to our bed and telling us to wake up. I often woke up to the sounds and smells of Granny cooking her crispy-around-the -edges-blueberry pancakes, using berries she picked from the front yard. There also the fish fries with fish we had caught the same day and her wonderful blueberry desert with a graham cracker crust and lots of whipped cream.

Bailey, Lex and I used to build big floating islands with all our fun-noodles, tubes, and whatever else we had that floated. We made all sorts of crazy contraptions and would float and splash each other for hours. The three of us would also purposely sink and tip our canoe and try to climb back in. Tubing and knee boarding were also regular activities. I used to think the bottom of the lake was icky and gross because of all the plants and the squishy sand on the bottom as you get farther from our dock so I refuse to go out there unless I had water shoes on, and my sister still doesn't go out without her water shoes. I always thought Bailey was rather brave for not wearing any water shoes.

We used to play in the sand a lot. We built sand castles and dug trenches and collected shells. I remember making a fish and I always wanted to make an enormous sand castle, but never accomplished that feat. A couple years ago Peter, the next oldest of the cousins after me, and I were photographed making a bunch of drip castles while all the younger ones sat around by our fire pit on the beach. One year a bunch of us took the boat to the point on Cedar Island and dug a bunch of trenches and made drip castles. Bailey christened our creation Sandanavia and that area has been referred to as Sandanavia by us ever since.

I used to frantically swim in my white foam flotation device in front of the seining net as my parents dragged it around the dock to catch shiners for the day's fishing always deathly afraid of the dire consequences of getting caught in the net. I am still not sure what the dire consequences were.

I used to love fishing. We bought a pontoon boat so my grandpa could easily get his wheel chair onto a boat and do what he loved. I remember pushing him down the dock and always getting caught on that one section that stuck up above the others and how he always laughed and made funny sounds as we worked our way over the bump. Papa would call "her fishy, fishy, fishy" and he alway caught the most fish. They were either runts or the biggest fish of the day, but he always had the most. I eventually got good at catching the minnows in the bucket and hooking them on the hooks. I could even take the fish off the hook without getting cut by the sharp dorsal fins.

At night we play games such as Scrabble and work on puzzles. We only receive 4 1/2 channels on our TV so we have to entertain ourselves. One of our favorite games when we were young had something to do with pigs. After some quick research, i.e. Google, I think I have figured out the game is called PigMania because our version is probably from the 70's and now known as Pass the Pig. We always giggled at "makin' bacon".

This week we played only one game of Scrabble and did the usual puzzle as well as read and watched Big Brother. Last night we went gambling. You only have to be 18 in MN to gamble so all of us could go. We all went in with $5 and all of us but Bailey lost everything. She actually ended the hour with $26. She basically won back what the rest of us lost. The best part of it is, Bailey had no idea what she was doing so she just pushed buttons. My mom didn't get it either so I tried to explain to her how a slot machines worked, but I don't think she ever really got it. Lex, Bailey, and my mom decided to go back again before they leave.

It is no 11:00 so I better get to bed so I am ready to work bright and early tomorrow. I think they will be getting here around 7:30am!

Is anyone good at setting up a home network? I just bought a router, but can't get it to work. I can't seem to get my cable modem working either. I don't what is going on. Nicole took the router and we have been having problems ever since.

Is anyone completely disgusted by my reading list yet?

We might have internet after today! Nicole took the router so we have been without internet for the last week.

I am helping at a Kindergym camp at the Iowa City Gym Nest this week. I basically get to make sure a bunch of 3-6 year olds don't injure themselves while playing on the gymnastics equipment and I get paid!

Nicole has moved out. Tacia has moved in! It's great having a roommate that works at Pier 1 and knows what's coming in and what's going on sale and has a discount. Amanda joined us for the weekend! I make good lasagna according to Amanda and good homemade frosting though Josh thinks it's too rich "in some places" (whatever that's supposed to mean)! I am pretty much running the tkd camp at the Gym Nest because I know Ashton is going to bail on me some day. I am back at work and will probably be here kinda late since I was at the Nest all morning. I should do some work now that I am here.

I finally finished HP last night and now am ready to discuss it!

Your Power Color Is Red-Orange

At Your Highest: You are warm, sensitive, and focused on your personal growth. At Your Lowest: You become defensive and critical if you feel attacked. In Love: You are loyal - but you demand the respect you deserve. How You're Attractive: You are very affectionate and inspire trust. Your Eternal Question: "Am I Respected?"

What's Your Power Color?

You Are a Chick Rocker!

You're living proof that chicks can rock You're inspired by Joan Jett and the Donnas And when you rock, you rock hard (Plus, you get all the cute guy groupies you want!)

What Kind of Rocker Are You?

Green You are a very calm and contemplative person. Others are drawn to your peaceful, nurturing nature. Find out your color at Quiz Me!

The Completely Pointless Personality Quiz

I was dissapointed to learn that my car is not compatible with the newly available E85 fuel. It's better for the environment and significantly cheaper. Most of the vehicles that are compatible are trucks. Those of you with Ford Rangers may want to check it out, but it may not be all that beneficial because there aren't any suppliers around here; most of them are in western Iowa.

I have read the first chapter of the new HP book. I read it last night right after I finished the 5th book. I was going to run last night after helping Shauna celebrate her new job, but I was sooo tired and had such a nice headache that I decided sitting in bed drinking water and reading was a better choice.

My bus comes soon, so I better get ready to go play with other peoples blood!

find your inner PIE @ stvlive.com

I have the new HP book but have yet to do more than open the box it came in, pull it out and see how many pages it has. I actually still need to finish re-reading the 5th book. I was too tired this weekend to even think about reading.

In the middle of May I had a few money problems and a friend practically forced me to borrow the $120 I needed from her. I haven't had enough money to pay this person back until now because I finally got my first paycheck for working full-time today. I have always been intending to pay her back as soon as I had the money to do so, but now she is upset with me. I don't think it is solely because of the money. I actually think it has very little to do with it. Recently she accused me of being controlling and judgmental towards her. I don't see myself as either controlling or judgmental, but rather the exact opposite of both andthe people she was telling this to agree with me. She has other things stressing her out right now and I believe that has a lot to do with what she is upset with me about and she is just using me as a way to vent her frustrations about these other things. I am sure there is some basis to what she is saying, but I think she has exaggerated it.

I would really like to pay her back and intend to as of tomorrow, but I don't want it to seem like an apology for things I don't believe I need to apologize for or that I am paying her back now because I am feeling guilty and want to get back on her 'good side'. Along with a check I have filled a gift bag with abot $20 worth of items I thought she could use and enjoy as a kind of interest payment as well as a'thank you' for her generosity.

Am I wrong to not want to give this all to her now because I don't want her to think I feel guilty?

I can barely stand to be at work today. I am so sick of this job. I do the same stuff everyday to keep this lab running and get paid the same per hour as the high school students working in the lab for the summer. I can't even make $1000 a month if I work 40 hours a week, which is all I am allowed to work. I thought I would learn a lot working in a lab like this, but I haven't really learned anything that will help me in my future career. I have probably made a few good contacts, but I don't want to work in a lab so I am not sure how much good they are going to do me. I am seriously thinking about looking for another job. One that pays better for sure. The one thing I really like about this job is the flexibility of my schedule, but I know I am spoiled and should get used to the idea that being able to set your own schedule is not the norm. I have no money in my savings account and about that much in my checking account and my rent and bills are due soon. I am so sick of having this same problem every month. I found a job where I can work 20 hours a week and make about 2/3 what I can make working 40 hours a week here. After I graduate I don't even know if they will offer me a full-time position here as an RA. I don't know that I would be any happier at another job right now, but I am frustrated with this place.

I have an iPod!!!!!

My sister called my on Monday to tell me my iPod arrived. I was confused because I didn't even know I was getting an iPod. My mom and I had talked about it, but I told it wasn't necessary, so I didn't think she actually bought me one. She got it using one of our friends educators discount. He ordered iPods for Lexsea, me and hopefully himself and possibly Corey. I know Corey was there because I could here him talking in the background when my mom called me.

The one I got holds 4GB and is green! My mom even had my name put on it because it was free. I personally would rather not have my name on it, but I am not paying for the iPod so I won't complain too much :p

I am going to look at fun accessories for it now!

Check this out. Shawn showed it to me at work yesterday and we were probably annoying everyone with our laughing!!!
Triumph vs Star Wars

I was going to post, but I don't think I an organize my thoughts enough right now to write anything coherent. I was going to complain about my dad, but I am not even sure where to begin. I just got an email from him which made me realize he knows nothing about my financial situation. He says he will help me when I need it i.e using the credit card to by gas and groceries, but then when I do, he complains about not having the money to cover it. I know where much of his money has gone over the last year so I don't feel bad spending a little of his money to get by. Maybe I will get into the details later, but right now I need to get back to work.

I wish I had money! (at least $200 anyway)

I really want an MP3 player. I am currently looking at this one. I can't decide between green or purple. I don't know why it matters since I can't afford one anyway. It has this thing so you can listen to it in your car. I will have a new car soon that has a CD player so I won't have to listen to the radio all the time, but an MP3 player would be so nice. I like these better than iPods because they have FM radios and the radio thing I just mentioned as well as playing more of the audio formats I am used to and it comes in colors I like better. They seem pretty much the same otherwise.

I blame Josh for getting me thinking about these things again; he has been looking at them. Do you think I can convince him to buy me one? He was talking about getting a digital camera (which I also want) and then letting me hold on to it since he has his sister's if he really wants one. Do you think I could convince him to do the same with an MP3 player?

I am really going to need one in the fall when our lab moves to a new building and we are all in one room. My bench is going to be right in the middle of the room, so I will hear pretty much everything going on in the lab. Currently we occupy several rooms, each with their own radio. I don't know how we are going to handle 6 radios in one room. I have a feeling everyone is going to be walking around with headphones. Some people already do! Who wants to donate to the 'Chelsea MP3 Player Fund'?

I have been drinking a lot of carbonated water lately. It is better for me than pop, and I am sick of drinking plain water all the time. I have already had two cans tonight and am thinking of having another.

I made some excellent creamy, cheesy spinach pesto and chicken pasta tonight and some coffe flavored chocolate chip cookies last night. They aren't too bad either!

Is it weird that Josh called me two times yesterday and the calls were 12 hours apart: 11:17am and 11:17pm?

Well, Sunshine asked for the revised version of my paper for my Greek Civ. class so here it is.


Women Against War

Euripides in The Trojan Women and Aristophanes in Lysistrata explore the consequences of war. The focus of each play is the affect war has on the women and how they respond to a demanding situation. However, the women are characterized in entirely opposite ways. Even with the same topic and group of focus, Euripides and Aristophanes take their respective plays in completely different directions yet come to the same conclusions about the ramifications of war.

At the time these plays were written, Athens and Sparta were about 20 years into the Peloponnesian War. When The Trojan Women was written, Greece had just captured Troy. It makes sense that these two playwrights would choose the backdrop of war for their plays. However, it is the portrayal of the women that is really the core of these two plays.

Euripides uses tragedy to give the audience an idea of what the women of Troy had to deal with after the capture of their city. Pretty much everything bad that could happen to these women did. Their husbands were killed and left without proper burials, their children were taken from them, and they were assigned to Greek men as concubines and slaves; some were even killed. These women are powerless to defend themselves against the brutality of the men.

Hecuba has lost almost all the people important to her as well as her city and home. She has “no limit to [her] misfortunes. They are beyond number” (The Trojan Women 56). Her husband and children are dead, her daughter-in-law, Andromache, is enslaved and her grandson is thrown off the walls of Troy. One of her daughters, Polyxena, is killed on the tomb of Achilles and her other daughter, Cassandra, is chosen by Agamemnon to be his concubine. Andromache, widow of Hecuba’s son Hector, is another woman focused on in The Trojan Women. She is grieving the death of her husband and fearful her fate and the fate her infant son, Astyanax. Her grief only increases when he is thrown off the walls of Troy and she isn’t allowed to openly mourn his death. The horrible things these two women face encompass what has happened to all the women of Troy. Their lives and futures are rife with tragedy.

On the comedic side of things, we have the women as portrayed by Aristophanes in Lysistrata. The title character, Lysistrata, calls together the women of Athens as well as Spartan women with an idea she thinks can put an end the war. They have taken over the Parthenon and are striking against sexual relations with their husbands. These women have obtained power through cooperation and their husbands’ sexual appetites. Lysistrata knows that if they “want to force the men to make peace, [they] must renounce…sex” (Lysistrata 145).

These women are suffering as well. Their home lives have been disrupted because their husbands are not around, but they are not helpless. These women have banded together to get what they want. They have a strength that the women in The Trojan Women do not possess: strength in numbers. It was very unusual for women to have this kind of power handed to them by men at this time in Greek society. This play is an example of the role reversal of men and women in ancient times.

The Athenian and Spartan women are waging their own battle against the Peloponnesian War. Waging war is generally the masculine thing to do. As with the actual war going on, this fight against a war is a power struggle, but instead of being between two cities it is between the two sexes. It seems less war-like because it is centered on sex and there are men walking around with erect phalluses much of the time.

Even the goddesses involved in each play are as opposite as comedy and tragedy. In The Trojan Women, the women have Athena on their side. She is quite upset with the Greeks for defiling her temple in Troy, especially after helping them take the city. In Lysistrata the women have the backing of Aphrodite for their sex strike. In one play we have a goddess of war and in the other a goddess of love. Both goddesses are upset with the men and their disregard for the women in their lives. The gods don’t approve of a war so why should the women.

At the beginning of a war, no one really knows what the consequences are going to be. It is not known how it will affect people not fighting the war, like women and children. Around 400 BC it probably wasn’t up to the women whether they should go to war or not. Their input wasn’t important to the men making those decisions. How war affects the women was probably not taken into consideration when the battle lines were drawn.

In The Trojan Women we see women and children suffering at the hands of the invading army. The women are being raped and murdered and their children are being killed all because of a war they did not have input on. Even though the war is over they are still suffering. Everything in their lives has been disrupted by a war that probably could have been prevented. The men are using their power over the women to hurt them for a war they had very little to do with.

In Lysistrata we see women on both sides of the war dealing with the difficulties of living in a country at war. The men have disrupted their home lives by going to war. They are worried about losing their husbands, and they are living in poverty and dealing with the corruption of their government and the hostility of the Greeks. The women in both plays have lost all sense of domestic normality. They aren’t happy with their current situations, and the men don’t have a clue until they lose something they have taken for granted. Lysistrata believes they are “ruin[ing] Greece’s towns and slay[ing] her men” for no reason (Lysistrata 186).

Euripides and Aristophanes take their respective plays in entirely different directions, tragedy and comedy respectively, yet have the same conclusions about the ramifications of war, especially on the women. Because of wars, people are dying, living in poverty, being treated unfairly, losing the people they love and the powerless are taken advantage of. Euripides and Aristophanes have demonstrated these things in their plays through the women of the time. The women handled their situations very differently but they showed the usually neglected side of war. They showed there is not always a victor in war because of what war does to the people at war even if they do win. They also showed the wars did not benefit anyone. Everyone involved suffered in one way or another. Whether it was becoming a slave or being denied sex, everyone suffered.

I just downloaded the song from the HP picture commercial, I have over half my paper written, my exam and presentation are done, my toenails are teal (to match my new shirt) and my fingernails are purple and sparkly. I am feeling pretty good considering I have only slept about 10 good hours in the last 2 days.

Does anyone else think it is crazy that the new pope is 78? Do they not want him around very long? If they don't want him around long, why did they elect him in the first place?

If you are bored, here's my paper so far. Remember that it is just a rought draft and incomplete. It's also probably really boring, but I did get to use "sex" and "phallus" so it can't be all that bad.


Women Against War

Euripides in The Trojan Women and Aristophanes in Lysistrata explore the consequences of war. The focus of each play is the affect war has on the women and how they respond to a demanding situation. However, the women are characterized in entirely opposite ways. Even with the same topic and group of focus, Euripides and Aristophanes take their respective plays in entirely different directions yet have the same conclusions about the ramifications of war.

At the time these plays were written, Athens and Sparta were about 20 years into the Peloponnesian War. When The Trojan Women was written, Greece had just captured Troy. It makes sense that these two playwrights would choose the backdrop of war for their plays. Even with the war in the background the portrayal of the women is really the core of these two plays.

Euripides uses tragedy to give the audience an idea of what the women of Troy had to deal with after the capture of Troy. Pretty much everything bad that could happen to these women happened to them. Their husbands were killed and left without proper burials, their children were taken from them, and they were assigned to Greek men as concubines and slaves and some were even killed. These women are powerless to defend themselves against the brutality of the men.

Hecuba has lost almost all the people important to her as well as her city and home, Troy. Her husband and children are dead and her daughter-in-law, Andromache, is enslaved and her grandson is thrown off the walls of Troy. One of her daughters, Polyxena, is killed on the tomb of Achilles and her other daughter, Cassandra, is chosen by Agamemnon to be his concubine. Andromache, widow of Hecuba’s son Hector, is another woman focused on in The Trojan Women. She is grieving the death of her husband and fearful of the fate of herself and her infant son, Astyanax, that is until he is thrown off the walls of Troy and she isn’t allowed to openly grieve his death. The horrible things these two women face encompass what has happened to all the women of Troy. Their lives and futures are rife with tragedy.

On the comedic side of things, we have the women as portrayed by Aristophanes in Lysistrata. The title character, Lysistrata, called together the women of Athens as well as Spartan women with an idea she thought could put an end the war. They have taken over the Parthenon and are striking against copulating with their husbands. These women have obtained power through cooperation and their husbands’ sexual appetite. Now these women have some power.

These women are suffering as well, mind you. Their home lives have been disrupted because their husbands aren’t around, but they are not helpless. These women have banded together to get what they want. They have a strength that the women in The Trojan Women do not possess: strength in numbers. It was very unusual for women to have this kind of power handed to them by men at this time in Greek society. This play is an example of the role reversal of men and women in ancient times.
The Athenian and Spartan women are waging their own war against the Peloponnesian War. Waging war is generally the masculine thing to do. As with the actual war going on, this war against war is a power struggle, but instead of being between two cities it is between two sexes. It seems less war-like because it is centered on sex and there are men walking around with erect phalluses much of the time.

I can't study anymore. I am reading and not comprehending. I have an exam tomorrow that I don't feel at all prepared for. I have been staring at this stuff since about 5:00 and I don't feel like I really got anywhere. Too much information and too little time. I wish I had been able to start studying earlier. If I hadn't been so worried about my presentation today, I may have been able to get a little mroe studying in. I have so many other things to do this week, that I just want to get this exam over so I can focus on them. With 40 pgs of Plato to read for a quiz on Friday and a paper due on Friday and biostats homework to do an the Gym Nest to go to on Thursday night, I am left with a lot to do tomorrow night. Maybe I will try to get up early and study some more.

Friday night was more fun than I have had in quite awhile. First we went to Davenport to retreive Josh and Shauna's bikes and eat some excellent wings with their parents. Shauna's friend Ryan joined us. We got back to North Liberty around 10:00 and decided we were going to go to Bob's Place, a bar in North Liberty, if they had karaoke. When we walked in everyone stared at us. I guess we aren't that bar's usual patrons. Well, there was karaoke so we decided to stay.

Josh and Shauna wouldn't sing but they forced Ryan and me to. I ended up singing 3 songs including Flashdance (What a Feeling) because Josh never saw my original performance. While I was singing that, the three of them got up and started dancing. It was hard not to laugh while I was singing, especially when Josh decided to slide towards the stage on his knees. That was after I had already sung Sweet Dreams and was told by an older guy that I had a nice voice and that he was going to sit in the front row for my next performance, which he did. He had even asked Josh if he could tell me he thought I had a nice voice. Ryan and I sang a duet that I didn't know very well, but no one seemed to mind.

Later we gave up on singing and just focused on our dancing. Josh dragged me around the dance floor a few times while singing. He and I somehow ended up singing along with You're the Inspiration to eachother.

We left when the bar closed and then stayed up listening to music and eating tater tots until about 4:00am. It was so fun, but I was so exhausted Saturday that I kept falling asleep on the couch after 7:00. Funny thing is, that doesn't even cover half of what happened that night!

We also went to Sahara on Saturday, which was excellent. Sorry I missed your call Tacia! My phone died sometime Saturday night, but I don't think I would have been up for going out anyway. I was in bed by 9:00.

Well, that is about all the break I can take from my homework right now. I have been working on a presentation since I got home at 6:00, minus a couple phone calls from Josh and my mom. It looks like I will be getting a new car. Well, not new, just different. I am going to miss the purple car. I am really only attached to the color of it.

Sometimes I get sooo sick of the people at work. They are always makeing messes and they never clean them up. As the lowly undergrad it is left up to me to take care of the messes everyone else leaves. I change bench paper and wipe up spills and wash all their nasty smelling dishes. When one of the carboys is leaking some solution all over the floor, no one tells me or makes an attempt to stop the leak or even put an absorbant pad under the leaking spigot. I get left with puddles on the floor.

We have a room that is just plain nasty. We pour gels used for looking at DNA. It has all sorts of nasty chemicals in it. There are a bunch of baths for soaking the gels in and I am in charge of changing them. One of them is NaOH (sodium hydroxide). It's a nasty and strong basic solution. Last Thursday I spent most of the day cleaning that room and the baths containing NaOH. I even wiped up the dried NaOH on the floor by the bath. That meant I was crouching for about 20 minutes with a sponge in my hand while wearing a hot lab coat and latex gloves. Not the most comfortable position. I get to work on Monday and notice a trail of dried NaOH leading from the bath. I am a little upset. On Tuesday I notice a puddle in front of the bath. I try to be optimistic and tell myself it isn't more NaOH solution but rather water or something not so nasty. Today I go in there and notice the wet spot from yesterday has turned a nice shade of white, indicating NaOH solution was spilled and dried in that spot.

My boss knew I had cleaned it all up on Thursday and when she noticed the mess today, she was also upset. We know who made the mess and she is going to talk to the person. I then told her my plans to do some other stuff that is not really my responsibility to take care of, and she said she would help me. At least I know she appreciates what I am doing in the lab even if no one else seems to have a clue.

Now that I have taken two tests and read about Oedipus this week I should clean my room so I don't have to deal with the mess next week since I have another test as well as a presentation, paper and reading for Greek Civ and home work for biostats to worry about.

I didn't fall!

I went rollerblading (I know I should say "inline skating", but no one says that) for the first time in probably at least 10 years yesterday. When Josh asked if I would go with him I figured he just wanted to see me fall on my ass, very gracefully of course. He kept telling me I would be fine since we went ice skating a year ago (our first date) and I didn't injure myself. I didn't fall or run into anything!! My only problem is with stopping. Probably because I am afraid of not being able to stop in time when I get going kinda fast so I tend to freak out about it. At one point Josh had to grab my hand because he was afraid I was going to roll into the street. I have pretty good rollerblades so I tend to get going kind of fast without even trying.

We didn't go very far because we ran into some bigger hills we didn't feel like tackling and Josh had already gone for a 4.5 mile excursion Thursday. He skated from North Liberty to the mall on the bike trail. He called me a little before 5:00 and asked if I could pick him up at the mall on my way to the Gym Nest.

I think I am going to run to Target today to see if they have any cheap bike pumps and tires. I need a new front tire desperately. I would like to take my bike to a shop, but I don't want to pay for it. It needs to be looked at, but I am only going to resort to that if I have to. I did just cut myself while I was messing with my chain, but that's what I get for shifting incorrectly. I was trying to put it on the two big chainrings. Chains don't like to do that. Especially ones that are old, slightly rusty and in need of grease, like mine.

My rant...

Ok, here it goes. I am going to rant:

Bras are insanely expensive. Why do we have to invest so much money on something that we women pretty much have to have. If you want to get a decent one that fits and the underwire won't start poking you within a month, you have to pay at least $30. A bra that fits correctly is soooo hard to find. I found one that was decently priced at under $10 and fit me well, but within a few weeks, the little bit of padding in it had shifted and was looking lumpy. I tried to shove it back in to place without success. A few months ago I finally broke down and bought a good one. It cost me almost $40, but I almost think it was worth it. No weird shifting of padding or sliding around during the day and I can actually stand to wear it all day. the thing is, I wear it pretty much everyday. I would really love to get another one, but I can't afford it!
End rant.

In other news, strange stuff was happening to me the last couple of days. I was at work writing on little tubes for DNA. I was copying info from a packet of papers. Every time, except once, that I dumped out some tubes, I had exactly the same amount as was on the page. The one time I didn't have enough I had one extra. I told Shawn, the other lab assistant, about it and then I couldn't do it anymore. Then when I was doing my laundry tonight, I went to the door to see if my laundry was done and as I opened the door the dryer stopped. I have never been able to figure out how long the dryer takes because it takes so long that I tend to forget about it.

Apparently, I am not supposed to go to tae kwon do class any time soon. Last week I was sick (I was sent home from the Nest on Thursday because Josh thought I was going to pass out). The week before that I had a huge test, quiz and homwork, and now my neck is so sore I can't turn my head. I must have slept funny. My neck does this every few months and it always takes a few days if not a week to feel normal again.

Another link about my family! This was the topic of discussion at Easter.

I have been thinking about taking some more math classes, mostly statistics, because I have been looking into biostats programs, and if I want to get into one I need more math classes. While I was looking at some of the course descriptions on ISIS I saw one of the classes is using a book written by my great uncle. On Saturday we found a book at the book store in Pella that was illustrated by his son.

I wish I had an idea what I want to do after I graduate. I feel like I don't even know what I am interested in anymore.

I ate too much. I hate it when I eat too much.

One year ago...

Is it strange that I can remember almost everything that happened to me on this date one year ago? I guess not considering what kind of a day it was (see 3/21/2004)

It's hard to believe all that happened to me on that day only a year ago. I am again wishing I had another spring break to look forward to. I can't say this one was very relaxing either. Considering I worked for most of it and St. Patrick's Day ended with me pushing on of Josh's cousins to the ground and somehow refraining from hitting her because she is his cousin. Trust me, it was justified, and most people wished I had hit her. I started to notice the bruises from that exciting hour Friday night. I will get into those details at some point. Just be glad you missed out.

Right now, I need to read Euripides' Trojan Women and finish my Guinness. If I am still awake I may try to read for Cell Bio since the test is Friday as is the quiz over Trojan Women. Does anyone else have boxelder bugs crawling all over?

I wore flip-flops today!!!

The weather was sooo gorgeous today. I wore sandals all day long. Josh said my feet were ice cold, but I was quite ok with it because I was able to wear flip-flops without my toes falling off for the first time probably since September. I can't believe it is supposed to snow tomorrow. There is something wrong with it being around 70 one day and then snow is predicted for the next day. I guess that's just what you get living in Iowa. I think I need to find a grad school somewhere away from here.

I made a quiche!!

I made a quiche tonight. I made it tonight so I could have something other than frozen waffles for breakfast tomorrow morning. It is way tasty and so easy. I put spinach, mushrooms and cheese in it. I think I may add more cheese next time. I decided to eat a piece tonight because it smelled so good. I have never made a quiche before so I am quite happy that it turned out so well. I am finally getting tired, so I think I will cover my quiche and head to bed. I took Wal-Mart style Tylenol PM almost 2 hours ago and I am just now feeling sleepy. What's wrong with me?

I did something to my knee last Friday night at TKD and it still isn't feeling the greatest. I think I am going to take tomorrow night off to let my knee and my bruised foot heal. I kicked the bag wrong once and have been paying for it for almost 2 weeks now becaue I keep kicking things and the bruise doesn't get a chance to heal. And I have a paper cut.

The Pop vs. Soda Page

The Pop vs. Soda Page


What do you call it?

I have a puppy!!! Well, not really... but isn't it a cute beagle?

Did anyone else watch American Dad or The Simpsons last night? I thought they were both pretty bad. We even had to stay up late to wach them because the stupid Super Bowl, which we didn't even watch, ran late as football games usually do. I was really hoping American Dad would be good since it is from the people that make Family Guy. I guess not everything can be good.

In other news, I went to Pella on Saturday to visit my grandma, who recently had surgery on her shoulder, and hang out with my cousins. We wandered around downtown Pella for awhile and I got a cute greet and silver ring. I died Lex's hair yesterday and she's thinking she may want me to do it again in a couple weeks to make it darker. It's already a lot darker, but she liked how dark it was when it was wet and it made her want it even darker. I almost want to be a brunette, but then I think how much I like my blonde hair and get over that pretty quickly. I think I make a good blonde.

I have been soooo tired lately and for some reason, not able to sleep more than 6 hours. I am really tired during the day, but at night when I want to go to bed, I am not sleepy. It makes no sense!! I can't seem to sleep in either. I have my first exam of the semester Wednesday night, so I want to get some sleep before then.

Look!! It's me... kinda.

This is how I wasted my time tonight!

My last post didn't really make a whole lot of sense. Probably because I wasn't able to get all I was thinking about into words.

This last week has been really weird for me. There is a lot of stuff going on with my family, much of it to do with the divorce, and also something completely unrelated to the divorce.

My mom is having major problems at work right now. I can't really disclose any details, but it stems from an incident a few months ago with one of the kids she works with. She is the campus director of a group home for troubled teenagers. She is a social worker and therapist and provides treatement to those kids. She again, has had to hire a lawyer. Her professional reputation and her career are on the line. She currently is restricted in which of her normal duties she can perform at work. The thing that really bothers me is that it wasn't her fault. She's the boss so she is the one that ends up getting blamed for incidents like this one. They had to find someone to blame and they decided on my mom. Not only is this all emotionally stressful for her and the rest of my family, but it is financially taking a toll on us. We don't have the money to hire a lawyer, especially if she loses her job. She is now unable to do all the stuff she planned to do on the house so at some point she can sell it. It is all really bad timing.

The other issue is my parents divorce. I learned many of the details behind it tonight. I had pretty much guessed most of them, because I was there the whole time. What I learned was more than I was expecting. I knew what my dad had done, but I just didn't know the extent of it or how it all started. It was kind of disturbing and made me rather angry and disappointed with him. This has been really hard on my sister. She is a lot more emotional and sensitive to everything than I am, and it's affecting her experiences here at college. She has been very depressed and confused since before she started school.

At least I am caught up in all my studying right now. Well... all except for the 3 biostats problems I have due tomorrow. I should get those done so I can read Iliad and drink tea in my warm, cozy bed.

I used to think how boring and "normal" my family seemed. We never travle to fun places and never do anything out of the ordinary. So much has changed in the last year and the last few months and days. Maybe we are more normal than we were before when I thought we were normal.

I hate winter weather!!!

It took me about 5 minutes to get from my car to the front door of my building tonight. I had no problem driving from the Nest to NL or from NL to my apartment. The hardest part was getting from my car, which is right outside my bedroom window, to the steps of the building.

Sorry it has been such a long time since I have done any posting. I haven't had a whole lot to write about, but I will give you an update.

I have learned how to crochet hats now so buy me some yarn you want made into a hat and I will make it. For those of you that requested a hat to match your scarf, it is either done or almost done. I will try to remember to get them to you at some point. Josh gave me a really nice purple tweed coat like this one only a different color. I need to make a hat and scarf to match it now.

Yesterday I sold the extra Butters doll I bought for $51.00 on eBay. I think I paid about $16 for it including shipping. I am Matt's new hero.

I also got myself a new phone. The reception in my apartment is better and my mom says it sounds better on her end as well. I am quite happy about that. My old phone was driving me crazy.

I think that's about all I have right now. I should start planning something for my birthday so if anyone has any ideas, let me know.