I’m feeling very pouty.  Technically, it is summer time.  Summer is defined by the second you put your pencil down on the last final of the semester.  When that last bubble is filled in on your scantron sheet – IT IS SUMMER!  I guess I could call it “pre-summer” because the kids are still in school through the end of the month.  Selfishly, I don’t care.  MY summer began end of April.

If I could add music to this post I would – it would be the “SCHOOL’S OUT FOR SUMMER” song.  That’s the anthem but the visual looks more like the ending of Grease.  (If you know me, that makes sense.)  It’s all hopeful and happy and relieved.

What it isn’t – me sitting at my desk in my office for HOURS every day working on summer homework.  That is totally not summer.  That is the summer of someone in summer school – not the summer of a student who doesn’t have a single class until August 27th.  However, that appears to be the summer of a Nursing student at Shepherd University.

The to-do list is long and tedious and long and expensive and long.  I don’t want to be sitting here working my way through a book on drug calculations or reading through my third medical terminology textbook in 2 years.  (Not because I didn’t pass, but because I took Med term I and II at a different school and one of our assigned summer readings is another medical terminology book.  Oh.  Joy.)

So I feel pouty.  I want to be out having fun.  I’d like to spend the whole day laying in bed doing nothing but sleeping and watching girl TV – AND NOT FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT.  It is just not possible for me to sit down and do something without feeling like I should be doing something else.  At this very moment, I know I have laundry that I could be doing, I could do the counters in the kitchen, the floors need to be mopped and waxed, my bathroom could be tidied up, I have a medical terminology chapter I should have done today and it’s getting close to my bedtime.

I need to try acupuncture, aromatherapy, or something.  I am sure to be completely bald by May 2014.  (I may be bald, but I will still be 32.)

You are an astronaut. Describe your perfect day.

January 33rd, 2056

Today was far from perfect, or even good. I finally made it out. I didn’t think I was going to make it – I’m pretty sure they let me go to send a message to other systems – but I don’t care about their motives. I made it out.

They invaded Earth 14 months ago. It was a sad day. Everyone knew the day was coming, the day that we would be invaded by other life forms. As every sci-fi movie and book predicted, they wanted our water. We didn’t have much left. What once covered over 75% of our pretty planet, is now only about 40% water. At first everyone screamed global warming/climate change – but then we discovered foreign life living in the core of Earth – and their population became so large that they started using noticeable quantities of OUR water. Anyway – we all know the story. They were living in what we thought was a molten lava core – and then they called their home system and told them they were ready. That they had enough to begin the invasion. And when the rest showed up on their galactic battleships, it was all over. I lost my family. I lost friends. I lost everything and everyone that I loved. But today, I start the future.

It took me a while to scrap together pieces here and there, but I managed to make a single pilot vehicle. Small enough to evade their technology – but fast enough to get the hell out of Dodge. (WTF does that mean anyway – where/what is Dodge. I think everyone assumes it is a comment made about shoddy rubbish POS vehicles made in the 1900′s-early 2000′s. I think it may actually have something to do with a place – as in a town. I guess I’ll never know. . .) And the best part about me escaping Earth – I have a bag full of frozen embryos – male, female, all races. I’m kindeve like a sci-fi Noah’s Ark. Shit. I am Noah’s Ark – nothing kindeve about it.

We knew the end was coming and we had finally perfected freezing and then thawing embryos. It was kept a secret – the public couldn’t know about our “population starter kit.” There would have been a massive world-wide freak out. We didn’t want to explain how we chose embryos and how they were obtained. Sometimes you have to delve into the grey area to improve society. It was incredible actually – what we were able to do with technology, how small we were able to make everything, the technology used to contain and maintain millions of viable embryos and the technology needed to bring them to life. When it became evident the end was very near, I got chosen and I was protected and I was hidden. Me and the starter kit.

One by one my protectors were tortured, murdered, slaughtered, or disappeared. It had been months since I had contact with another human being. I knew it was coming and I had been rationing the food and supplies they brought. I went out at night and scavenged for more. I built my ship and programmed coordinates for a system that is supposed to be an ally. I was told that they are also a “starter” planet – made from someone else that escaped impending doom.

I have to go into hibernation now – I am not scheduled to arrive until 2102. Hopefully, that will be enough time for the reverse hibernation (a very slow process that actually reverses aging) to make me young enough to be able to nurture and support new human life. A few embryos at a time.

So today is a good day. As an astronaut, an American, an ORIGINAL inhabitant of Earth and – most importantly – a WOMAN – This is the day that I start a new history for the people from Earth.

1.  What can happen in a second.  You can:

• fall in love
• fall out of love
• take your first breath
• take your last breath
• make someone’s day
• ruin someone’s day
• sip a delicious cocktail/wine/beer
• swipe your debit card
• cross a line

2.  The worst Thanksgiving dish you ever had – Sadly, I made it.  This past year, I ventured out and wanted to make all new side dishes. I wanted to introduce MY family to a dish that could become OUR family tradition.  The corn souffle was not awesome.  The andouille corn bread dressing was horrible.  It could have been decent but I was so put off by everything else that I had cooked/baked – that didn’t turn out well – i was just done.  The dressing took the longest to make but it just wasn’t good.  On paper, it sounded delicious – it my mouth, it made me gag.  Even smelling it made me gag.  That’s what I get for venturing away from mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and sweet potatoes.

3.  A houseplant is dying.  Tell it why it needs to live. – (this one is really cheesy and I should be super awesome at this one – this totally sounds like something I would do but my brain isn’t in super awesome mode yet.)  “Listen plant.  You and I have a very long history.  I feed and water you, you give me visual pleasure and clean my air.  I’m not quite sure what the problem is but these brown leaves, these saggy withered ones – NOT ACCEPTABLE.  Yeah, breaking up with your boyfriend sucks but get back in the game.  He was just a stalk of bamboo – you are way too good for him.  You see that English Ivy plant – yeah – the one in the front room.  I caught him checking you out.  You need to perk up – suck up this water and this plant food – and show him what you got.  Go over there and drop it like its hot and make Mr. Skinny bamboo stalk regret choosing a freakin store bought, fake dyed daisy to suck face with.  See – you’re too good for him!

4.  Write Facebook status updates for the year 2017.

• January – I can’t believe we just got 54 inches of snow.  This is way worse that the year we only got 42.
• February – Awww.  Bill and I just shared our 16th Valentine’s day.  And I still have yet to receive a card!
• March – PARKER TURNED NINE TODAY.  Let’s all say it together, in unison, “OH MY GOD!”
• April – STEWART TURNED FOURTEEN TODAY!  Lets all say it together, in unison, “OH MY GOD!”
• May – In 2012, I decided I was going to hang out and be 32 for a while.  Happy 32nd birthday to me.
• June – Bill is freakin 45.  Lol – My husband is almost half a century old!
• July – IT IS SO FLIPPIN HOT and HUMID.  54 inches of snow?  Yes please!
• August – So glad we have a pool.  I’m not sure we would have survived the summer without it.
• September – I had a very long day at work – but I think I made a difference.
• October – I’m a little sad.  Parker doesn’t want to trick or treat this year.  This is a milestone, a sad one.  (like when he grew out of onesies, footed pajamas, toddler sized clothes. . . )
• November – Today is our 15th anniversary.  Who knew we would make it this long!?!!!
• December – Best Christmas ever.  We finally got an English Bulldog puppy. 

I’m not sure if I’m allowed to – but I’m going to!  It’s my blog – hell, they are both my blog!  Let me explain -

Holly and I got these cute books called 642 things to write about.  We agreed to do one page a week (one page could be one topic but some have several topics.)  We write about the weekly topic and then we post it on our shared friend blog -http://traceyandholly.wordpress.com/ -  that we started as a way to long-distance book club but I have since established that I am shit at bookclubbing – mostly because I read too fast and I can’t keep my mouth shut or I’ll send a screen shot of something that I find amusing/dumb/ridiculous/etc and the text around the amusing/dumb/ridiculous/etc sentence ruins the book for other book clubbers.  I kinda resigned from the bookclub.  So the page morphed into a place where we can share our weekly writings with each other.

But I’m going to also post them here.  Mostly because I feel like I should post something on this page but also because I really like creative writing and I think my mom will enjoy reading something that I wrote that doesn’t have to do with bitching about school, the kids, etc.

All optimism aside, and we all know that I am the fn QUEEN of glass-half-full-blinding-optimism – I’m not sure how far we will make it into the book.  I think we will make it through the summer – but once her residency starts and my fall semester (my first official Nursing semester OMG!) starts, it may be forgotten. 

Enjoy it while it lasts!

(If you are interested in having your very own 642 Things to Write About . . .)

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/642-things-to-write-journal-san-francisco-writers-grotto/1107709823?ean=9781452105444

My semester is over and I am totally spent.  Mentally and physically exhausted.

I am kindeve amazed at the brain’s capacity to learn – even at my “old” age. The beginning of the semester presented a challenge because I had to re-teach myself how to take notes and how to study for class.  The classes I had last semester were a joke (in the fall.)  This semester was more like “no joke!”

I will say that I believe that even the hardest of classes can be made easier, or more tolerable (?) if you have a really good teacher.  I had two pretty hard classes – a nursing fundamentals class/a weed out class for those applying to the program and Microbiology.

Nursing was by far the more interesting class.  I was so excited to finally feel like I was FINALLY getting on the right path – and I got to order a stethoscope and actually use it!  However, the teacher was complete shit.  For example, today, when i turned in my final #1 she looked completely pissed off at me as I turned it in.  #2 I asked her about our previous test that she gave back to us last week – she had made 2 grading errors and I asked her if she had a chance to review the tests and make the corrections.  She was so vague and put off by my asking.  I know for a fact that she gave the points to the other classes – why did she have to make it such a big deal and be so horrible about it when I asked.  All she had to do was just say, “if you answered them correctly, then you received credit for them”  That’s not hard.  But her problem is that a bunch of dumb pre-nursing students caught that she had made a mistake.  OH NO.  Heaven forbid she makes a mistake.  She has always been very weird about our tests and our grades.  I think she arbitrarily hands out whatever grades she wants to the people that she likes – and she ON PURPOSE doesn’t want to disclose our test grades with us because if we know our grades, how can she make up our final grade?  I don’t understand it – other than its a game with her.  She puts on these grand FAKE airs – “Oh good luck on your finals. . .blah blah blah” but she isn’t sincere.  If you asked her a question in class, sometimes she would just talk down to you and belittle you for asking a question – and that is if she knew the answer.  I found it hard to respect her as a teacher, as someone that is considered to be an expert in my future profession, and as a person in general.  And all of this is why she isn’t a good teacher.

On the flip side – my Microbiology teacher was amazing.  This was by far the hardest class I have ever taken.  It was some of the most abstract hard to understand concepts ever.  The genetics part was brutal but once we came into Epidemiology it became very interesting and mildly less abstract.  He covered so much material and he covered it very very fast.  His tests were all short answer – no multiple choice or even fill in the blank.  And we had him for lab.  I spent at least 10 hours a week with him and my lab partners – just for that class.  We met four days a week – 2 days for lecture and 2 days for lab.  (nursing only met once a week for 3 hours.)  It was intense and it was a lot of material.  But HE made all the difference.  He really wanted his students to succeed and he didn’t need to send out fake ass emails trying to convince you.  He was available for office hours if you needed help, he responded to emails quickly.  He could tell when the class was getting lost, confused, or bored in lecture and he adjusted.  He was probably the best college professor I’ve ever had.  He seemed to have more respect for students that he knew were trying hard.  He had a real interest in the subject, he really knew a lot about it because he could answer any and all questions presented, but at the same time, you could tell he enjoyed being an educator.  I have never worked so hard for a class – I’m probably going to get a B.  I needed an A on the final to maintain my A in the class – and I don’t think I managed an A on the final.  So It’s a little disappointing because I worked so hard – but I know I earned it.

SO ANYWAY – my torturous semester is over.  I made it.  It was the longest fast semester ever – it makes sense if you think about it.  Next fall I officially begin the nursing program and I am a wee bit scared. 

We had a full weekend of running errands, cleaning, yard work, homework, and celebrating Stewart’s birthday.  I got all excited about getting my page back up but I haven’t really posted anything!

I have managed to find time to read the Hunger Games and Catching Fire.  Both of which are really good – very fast reads.  My movie experience with the Hunger Games left a lot to be desired – mostly from my own inner equilibrium and less from the movie.  But I will be hesitant to go see the next one – for fear of running to the bathroom to vomit 20 minutes into it.  (I am so weak!)

My semester is also winding down.  Finally.  This has been long but fast (?) and very crazy.  I get a lot of crap from people for keeping a planner/agenda/calendar that is NOT digital.  I tried it and it just didn’t work for me.  I need something I can shove bills in, write little notes on etc.  If I were giving an acceptance speech for having completed this semester, I would thank Bill and then my planner.  In some ways, I am so 1990′s!

Last semester, I took 2 classes.  One class met twice a week at 8am and the other met twice a week at 6pm (and it had a lab).  This semester I have 4 classes.  I am at school four days a week; on tues and thurs, I have to go to school come home and go back to school.  Also, on tues, I have class from 9am-9pm.  It makes for a very long day.  But I made it – I got my letter – so I guess I have two more super fun years of this to look forward to.  (I will not miss having classes in the evening.)

My desk always looks like it is fighting a losing battle against, binders, papers, post-it notes, flash cards, and various cables and electronics.  I keep trying to clean and organize it and once a month I find myself trying to clean it up because it is too messy for me to study.  It’s kindeve that time right now.  I need to get it all cleaned up because I have finals next week.

And after finals I plan to do nothing but sit in bed and catch up on television shows I couldn’t make time for.  Seriously, the first week of May, I am going to do nothing.  And I am not going to feel guilty about it – actually, I will and my doing nothing will probably only last a day or two before the guilt sets in.

I just need to make it to 11:00am on April 26th.

I got my acceptance letter.

I’m so excited and relieved and concerned about the workload for the next two years.

But at least I can finish up this semester knowing that I am working towards something. 

Is it possible to organize yourself into confusion?

I have all of these pretty little folders and dividers, and all kinds of pretty things to help me keep everything all sorted out.  I am the queen of making a binder for class.  But I think I may have just organized myself into confusion – or I have too much stuff to organize in the first place.  Lets go for that.  I’ve always been uber organized, so it couldn’t possibly be me lacking in organizational skills.  It’s obviously too much stuff!  That sounds good. 

Ok – so I’m back.  Again.  Starting over.  I’m sad I lost all of my old posts – cause I had some really good ones!  but GoDaddy.com kinda screwed me and I don’t want to pay $150 to get them back.  And to make it easier for me to make changes to the theme and such, we are now hosting it with WordPress.

I will post again.  A real one soon!  I just spent 1 hour and 42 minutes sorting this out with Go Daddy and now I am too tired to be creative and/or funny.