Tomorrow is my final macroeconomics class!!!! I’m beyond pumped about this!
Now that that's out of my system.... I have my first exam on Thursday night (HUMA) after which I will get my big research paper back! Yikes! I don’t have any exams next week so I will finish my last 2 online classes and prepare for that exam which is the following Tuesday. I signed up for an exam/professor specific economics “tutoring” session with this guy who (as a PhD in economics) is supposed to be a genius at teaching the stuff. That’s the weekend before I write that exam and it’s “guaranteed understanding or you don’t pay” so I thought it was worth a shot instead of crying over my notes for weeks trying to teach myself the material. Even if it’s not as great as I hope, it’s only $40 so it’s worth it to me if it’s going to help at all. So, but the 21st I’ll be done everything for this semester and have 1.5 weeks before summer term starts. Can’t wait!
I haven’t totally made a decision about returning to school. I want to, and I’m registered for summer semester so MH and I will have to discuss finances etc before I make my final decision. I have until the week before class starts to make up my mind, so we’ll see. I’m trying to stay positive about it.
Maybe I'll win the lottery?? Hey... it could happen!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Good News....Can You Believe It???
I TOLD you I wasn't as negative and whiney as I've been coming across lately.
We finally got some good news about my father-in-law! He was back in yesterday for a scope and CT – scan and was told that it looks like the cancer is isolated to the tumor and hasn’t penetrated the lining of his esophagus yet. If that’s actually the case, it means removing the tumor itself, and that’s that! We don’t have the results of the CT yet and the Oncologist still wants to do tests of his own- but the doctor said he was more confident than ever that it had been caught earlier enough to not be a major problem. Hooray!
Now we just have to convince him to quit chewing his damn tobacco and maybe we won’t have to worry about this again! According to tall the research I’ve done, the leading causes of this type of cancer are (and I’ll “check” the ones that affect my FIL): chewing tobacco-check, excessive alcohol consumption-check, excessive spicy foods/poor diet-check, excessive consumption of hot drinks- not really, chronic acid reflux -check. Yeah… so as you can see, he’s basically working against himself. I hope that the fact that he was so lucky this time will wake him up enough to quit the chew. It’s disgusting anyway.
Moving on….my Aunt B is at home! She’s not back to work yet and needs someone (my other aunt) to stay with her, but the doctors think she’s out of the woods and on the mend! She has major liver damage and will have to make some changes to her (already fairly healthy) lifestyle, but she’s going to be fine. Double hooray!
Both Aunts with breast cancer are undergoing precautionary post-surgery radiation and are doing very well. Triple hooray!!
Finally having some positive news about our families has really lifted some of the tension that's been hanging out in our house lately. It's really nice to skip the panic attacks every time the phone rings or my blackberry vibrates.
We finally got some good news about my father-in-law! He was back in yesterday for a scope and CT – scan and was told that it looks like the cancer is isolated to the tumor and hasn’t penetrated the lining of his esophagus yet. If that’s actually the case, it means removing the tumor itself, and that’s that! We don’t have the results of the CT yet and the Oncologist still wants to do tests of his own- but the doctor said he was more confident than ever that it had been caught earlier enough to not be a major problem. Hooray!
Now we just have to convince him to quit chewing his damn tobacco and maybe we won’t have to worry about this again! According to tall the research I’ve done, the leading causes of this type of cancer are (and I’ll “check” the ones that affect my FIL): chewing tobacco-check, excessive alcohol consumption-check, excessive spicy foods/poor diet-check, excessive consumption of hot drinks- not really, chronic acid reflux -check. Yeah… so as you can see, he’s basically working against himself. I hope that the fact that he was so lucky this time will wake him up enough to quit the chew. It’s disgusting anyway.
Moving on….my Aunt B is at home! She’s not back to work yet and needs someone (my other aunt) to stay with her, but the doctors think she’s out of the woods and on the mend! She has major liver damage and will have to make some changes to her (already fairly healthy) lifestyle, but she’s going to be fine. Double hooray!
Both Aunts with breast cancer are undergoing precautionary post-surgery radiation and are doing very well. Triple hooray!!
Finally having some positive news about our families has really lifted some of the tension that's been hanging out in our house lately. It's really nice to skip the panic attacks every time the phone rings or my blackberry vibrates.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Weekly To-Do
I've had a sort of brain wave about one way to make my crazy schedule a little bit easier to handle. Yes- I have a blackberry whose calendar and task alert list if full to the brim, yes- I have igoogle with google calendar, also bursting with stuff to do, but I need a way to track more of the mundane stuff that needs to be done. My calendar's are full of actual events etc.... I need a to-do list. So, the plan at least for now, it to start posting a weekly to-do list here.
Lucky you right? Not the most exciting thing to read about? Well, don't worry, I'm not doing this for the benefit of anyone other than myself so feel free to skip these entries all together.
WeeklyToDo: March 29 - April 4
Monday: work, book accomodations for S&B's wedding, grocery store, burgers for dinner, call Dad, study at least 5 new chapters and review first 3 chapters for HUMA exam, read at least 30 pages of HOTM, garbage out- COMPLETE
Tuesday: work, stop at FS to pickup benefits form, pork and sidekick cheater dinner, studying remaining chapters for HUMA exam, read at least 30 pages of HOTM, cancel party plans for the 10th
Wednesday: work, mail benefits submission, class, review all notes for Thursdays exam
Thursday: work, exam, read at least 30 pages of HOTM, laundry and maybe some cleaning
Friday (holiday): Mum's for brunch, clean bathrooms, kitchen, floors, second to last online class, read as much of HOTM as possible
Saturday: last online class, dusting & vaccum, Tara's for dinner (bring dessert)
Sunday: finish HOTM, dinner @ R&C's, start ITTOB
Lucky you right? Not the most exciting thing to read about? Well, don't worry, I'm not doing this for the benefit of anyone other than myself so feel free to skip these entries all together.
WeeklyToDo: March 29 - April 4
Monday: work, book accomodations for S&B's wedding, grocery store, burgers for dinner, call Dad, study at least 5 new chapters and review first 3 chapters for HUMA exam, read at least 30 pages of HOTM, garbage out- COMPLETE
Tuesday: work, stop at FS to pickup benefits form, pork and sidekick cheater dinner, studying remaining chapters for HUMA exam, read at least 30 pages of HOTM, cancel party plans for the 10th
Wednesday: work, mail benefits submission, class, review all notes for Thursdays exam
Thursday: work, exam, read at least 30 pages of HOTM, laundry and maybe some cleaning
Friday (holiday): Mum's for brunch, clean bathrooms, kitchen, floors, second to last online class, read as much of HOTM as possible
Saturday: last online class, dusting & vaccum, Tara's for dinner (bring dessert)
Sunday: finish HOTM, dinner @ R&C's, start ITTOB
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Perfect Fifths- Megan McCafferty
After going through the first 4 books with Marcus as such as mystery, it was really fascinating to get inside his head and get his side of the story. The dual POV's in third person was a really refreshing departure from the journal style of the early books and I found it a much easier read.
The section of strictly dialogue was impressive and incredibly enjoyable. I felt like I was actually witnessing a conversation, rather than just reading about it. The haiku portion was comical on its own and I really enjoyed it as well. It was a nice throwback to earlier JD. I think the different styles throughout really made this book what it is.
I actually really liked and sympathized with Jessica in this installment, which is a difference from the first 4 in which she pretty much drove me crazy. Her growth and maturity really showed and made her much easier for me to like.
All-in-all I was very happy with this conclusion and am glad to finally have some closure for these characters.
**Spoiler alert**:
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I loved that Marcus had been pining for Jessica since their split, and it made me love him more than I had in any of the others books. I'm still no Marcus Flutie junkie, but I understood his appeal a little more after this book.
And THANK GOD Jessica came to terms with her love for Marcus. I think it was important that she come to grips with it on her own and it made it even more believable.
A great ending.
Monday, March 22, 2010
FML
Our roof is literally falling off of our house. We knew it would have to be replaced within a couple of years of buying and now that we’re in spring # 2, we’re starting to see shingles in the backyard. So, it’s time to have them replaced.
One problem- we’re broke. Like… totally broke. I have a very strict budget that we follow every month and when all the bills are paid, school savings put away, groceries purchased and there’s gas in the car we have $100 left over for incidentals/debt repayments if we’re lucky. I’m 7 days into this month’s budget with $66 leftover. Unfortunately, that doesn’t buy or even make payments on a roof and even if it did, I don’t want to eat up what miniscule incidental budget we have with another payment. What happens when we need the oil changed or a new furnace filter??
The only solution is for me to quit school and take on a second job. This will free up the money that I put aside every month for tuition, the extra money it costs in gas and parking to get down to school as well as whatever extra I make at the second job. That will pay for a roof pretty quickly. But now, I feel like this last school year has been a colossal waste of time and money that now has me $2500 more in debt for nothing plus all the money I paid into out outside of what I borrowed. More importantly though, I feel like a failure. People make this work all the time, and I can’t do it. It’s going to be totally embarrassing to have to tell everyone that I had to quit.
My plan right now is to finish this semester since next week is the final week of classes, and then start looking for a second job to start end of April when my exams are done. Hopefully I’ll have the money I need to do the roof by the fall… the windows are going to start needing replacing soon so I’ll probably keep the job to do that and/or pay off some debt (which we have a ton of).
I think I’ve decided that I should probably start looking for another full-time job as well. I don’t want to leave my current one, but I haven’t had a raise in 3 years and it doesn’t look like they’ll be starting to hand them out any time soon (wage freeze) so I have to make the change for myself. Cost of living increases, plus we’ve bought a house in that time, and I’m still on the same salary… it’s not good.
Where does my husband play into all of this you ask? That’s a whole other story. He works full-time but his job pays next to nothing (it might as well be minimum wage). I’ve been begging him to look for something else for about 5 years now, and if he didn’t want to get something else to at least consider taking on a part-time job. He says “ya ya ya” and is all in agreement but never acts on it. When I ask him about it lately, the response is “find me something”. Don’t get me wrong, he has picked up a lot of my slack at home since I returned to school (he makes my meals, does a lot of the cleaning, shovels/mows the lawn, does the garbage, does the laundry) but unfortunately, none of that brings in more money. I’d rather have to make my own meals than be sinking financially. Actually- when I think about it, he’s even getting lazy about some of that stuff now too. It’s starting to put a lot of strain on our relationship. I don’t know if he feels it yet, but I certainly do. I know it will be hard for him to find something else since we only have 1 car and I need it to get to work and school, but it can be done.
I know everyone is going to say to sit down and talk to him about it again, but I've been doing that for years, and more often as this winter is coming to an end because I knew the roof would have to be done, but nothing ever happens. I've had my hopes up several times when he says "yeah- you're right. I really need to find something else" and then nothing. I'm done waiting. If I want it done, I just have to do it myself. So here's me giving up what I want, to get what we need. Not good - I don't know if I'll be able to get over this.
One problem- we’re broke. Like… totally broke. I have a very strict budget that we follow every month and when all the bills are paid, school savings put away, groceries purchased and there’s gas in the car we have $100 left over for incidentals/debt repayments if we’re lucky. I’m 7 days into this month’s budget with $66 leftover. Unfortunately, that doesn’t buy or even make payments on a roof and even if it did, I don’t want to eat up what miniscule incidental budget we have with another payment. What happens when we need the oil changed or a new furnace filter??
The only solution is for me to quit school and take on a second job. This will free up the money that I put aside every month for tuition, the extra money it costs in gas and parking to get down to school as well as whatever extra I make at the second job. That will pay for a roof pretty quickly. But now, I feel like this last school year has been a colossal waste of time and money that now has me $2500 more in debt for nothing plus all the money I paid into out outside of what I borrowed. More importantly though, I feel like a failure. People make this work all the time, and I can’t do it. It’s going to be totally embarrassing to have to tell everyone that I had to quit.
My plan right now is to finish this semester since next week is the final week of classes, and then start looking for a second job to start end of April when my exams are done. Hopefully I’ll have the money I need to do the roof by the fall… the windows are going to start needing replacing soon so I’ll probably keep the job to do that and/or pay off some debt (which we have a ton of).
I think I’ve decided that I should probably start looking for another full-time job as well. I don’t want to leave my current one, but I haven’t had a raise in 3 years and it doesn’t look like they’ll be starting to hand them out any time soon (wage freeze) so I have to make the change for myself. Cost of living increases, plus we’ve bought a house in that time, and I’m still on the same salary… it’s not good.
Where does my husband play into all of this you ask? That’s a whole other story. He works full-time but his job pays next to nothing (it might as well be minimum wage). I’ve been begging him to look for something else for about 5 years now, and if he didn’t want to get something else to at least consider taking on a part-time job. He says “ya ya ya” and is all in agreement but never acts on it. When I ask him about it lately, the response is “find me something”. Don’t get me wrong, he has picked up a lot of my slack at home since I returned to school (he makes my meals, does a lot of the cleaning, shovels/mows the lawn, does the garbage, does the laundry) but unfortunately, none of that brings in more money. I’d rather have to make my own meals than be sinking financially. Actually- when I think about it, he’s even getting lazy about some of that stuff now too. It’s starting to put a lot of strain on our relationship. I don’t know if he feels it yet, but I certainly do. I know it will be hard for him to find something else since we only have 1 car and I need it to get to work and school, but it can be done.
I know everyone is going to say to sit down and talk to him about it again, but I've been doing that for years, and more often as this winter is coming to an end because I knew the roof would have to be done, but nothing ever happens. I've had my hopes up several times when he says "yeah- you're right. I really need to find something else" and then nothing. I'm done waiting. If I want it done, I just have to do it myself. So here's me giving up what I want, to get what we need. Not good - I don't know if I'll be able to get over this.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Hoping for Rain
My big research paper is due in class tonight. I finished it on Tuesday, actually Wednesday morning at about 1 am, thank god. I plan to re-read once more today on my lunch break and make any last minute tweaks and changes. I’m actually looking forward to class tonight, although I have to admit I usually do with my Thursday class, but especially tonight when I’ll put the paper in my Prof’s hands and never have to think about it again (except the nerves and jitters waiting for a mark which I probably won’t get since we only have 2 lectures left after tonight). It’s been hanging over my head since September, so it’s beyond satisfying to have it done. I’m going to celebrate by stopping by the library tonight after class (I don’t care that it will be almost 11pm) and returning all my reference materials. I also finished my final 2 case study submissions for my OB class last week and did well; I actually got bonus marks on one!
So, what does all this mean? It means that this weekend I’m going to crash. Yes- I still have online classes to do, and yes, exams are coming up in a couple weeks, but I’m exhausted and am going to take advantage of this weekend to ignore everything that has anything to do with school. We’ve got tentative plans for Friday and Saturday night, but I’m almost debating cancelling. I just want to sleep and get a little reading done. It’s funny because I’m always saying I’m bored and want to have busy fun-fun-filled weekends and now that I have one planned that I can actually participate in, all I can think about is sleeping.
The forecast is calling for rain this weekend and while most people are angry about this because it’s been beyond gorgeous all work week, I’m looking forward to it. I would feel so guilty lazing around if it was beautiful outside, but if it’s rainy I’ll get my cleaning and grocery shopping done and spend the rest of the weekend watching the rain and reading. Perfect.
I got my notes done quickly in class last night so I left early. I was tired to the point that I was actually starting to feel sick, so when I got home I made a quick salad (followed by an entire sleeve of saltines) and was in bed just before 10! I was so excited to have a really solid night’s sleep. ….and then the phone rang just after 11, waking my from my glorious slumber. It was my husband, requesting a ride home from the bar where he was celebrating St. Patty’s with some buddies. To be fair, 11 is normally when I would be getting home from class so he didn’t think I’d be sleeping… but I’d been talking to him on and off all night via text and he didn’t say a word about need a ride (otherwise I wouldn’t have gone to bed). I was pissy because that morning he had woke me up at 5:45 for a ride to work when I had only been in bed for 4 hours. But I went and got him anyway because he had to work early and it would take too long to walk home. I pulled up to the lights next to the bar just as they were going green and of course there were cars behind me waiting to go…. and my darling husband decides to continue his conversation on his way to the car in super slow motion. This caused me to starting spitting fire because the people behind me were getting pissed I wasn’t going on the green. I literally pointed and yelled “get in the effing car… the effing light is green.” He got in apologizing up to and down, and I just ignored him and drove him home in silence. Our friends probably think I’m a bitch, but I blame my behaviour on pure exhaustion. Of course, by this point I was awake and it took forever to get back to sleep even once I got back in my bed. Coulda killed him. He’s a smart boy though- he didn’t bother to wake me up this morning for a ride to work. He got his hung-over ass out of bed early enough to walk the 10 minutes down the road to his workplace. This some consideration probably saved him about 4 days in the dog house.
Maybe I’m just not safe to talk to at all until I get some sleep.
So, what does all this mean? It means that this weekend I’m going to crash. Yes- I still have online classes to do, and yes, exams are coming up in a couple weeks, but I’m exhausted and am going to take advantage of this weekend to ignore everything that has anything to do with school. We’ve got tentative plans for Friday and Saturday night, but I’m almost debating cancelling. I just want to sleep and get a little reading done. It’s funny because I’m always saying I’m bored and want to have busy fun-fun-filled weekends and now that I have one planned that I can actually participate in, all I can think about is sleeping.
The forecast is calling for rain this weekend and while most people are angry about this because it’s been beyond gorgeous all work week, I’m looking forward to it. I would feel so guilty lazing around if it was beautiful outside, but if it’s rainy I’ll get my cleaning and grocery shopping done and spend the rest of the weekend watching the rain and reading. Perfect.
I got my notes done quickly in class last night so I left early. I was tired to the point that I was actually starting to feel sick, so when I got home I made a quick salad (followed by an entire sleeve of saltines) and was in bed just before 10! I was so excited to have a really solid night’s sleep. ….and then the phone rang just after 11, waking my from my glorious slumber. It was my husband, requesting a ride home from the bar where he was celebrating St. Patty’s with some buddies. To be fair, 11 is normally when I would be getting home from class so he didn’t think I’d be sleeping… but I’d been talking to him on and off all night via text and he didn’t say a word about need a ride (otherwise I wouldn’t have gone to bed). I was pissy because that morning he had woke me up at 5:45 for a ride to work when I had only been in bed for 4 hours. But I went and got him anyway because he had to work early and it would take too long to walk home. I pulled up to the lights next to the bar just as they were going green and of course there were cars behind me waiting to go…. and my darling husband decides to continue his conversation on his way to the car in super slow motion. This caused me to starting spitting fire because the people behind me were getting pissed I wasn’t going on the green. I literally pointed and yelled “get in the effing car… the effing light is green.” He got in apologizing up to and down, and I just ignored him and drove him home in silence. Our friends probably think I’m a bitch, but I blame my behaviour on pure exhaustion. Of course, by this point I was awake and it took forever to get back to sleep even once I got back in my bed. Coulda killed him. He’s a smart boy though- he didn’t bother to wake me up this morning for a ride to work. He got his hung-over ass out of bed early enough to walk the 10 minutes down the road to his workplace. This some consideration probably saved him about 4 days in the dog house.
Maybe I’m just not safe to talk to at all until I get some sleep.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Baby Jenny Turns 1
Today, baby Jenny, our youngest pup, turns 1. Happy Birthday Jenny-Bear!
The day we brought her home- May 23 2009- 10 weeks old
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