I hate Michigan

For more than a few reasons. Go check this out:

Michigan Government Shutdown

Irony

Here's the deal. I have a major biopsychology test coming up on Tuesday. I've had this professor before and his tests are killer. By killer I mean that in the past I walk into the test feeling confident, finish the test, feel that I got at least a B, get the test back and find out that I didn't do as well as I had hoped, study like crazy for the next test, and still get a lower grade than I expected. Then there's this test. I'm not feeling at all confident going into this test. For the first time in my college career, I feel that I may not pass a test. I've studied like crazy, gone over the notes, written practice essays, etc. etc. etc. Now for the ironic part of the situation.

Test coming up = need a good nights sleep so I can study hard and have a crisp, clean mind to remember the information.

Stressed about test = Not sleeping well

Tired = more stress because I'm not retaining the information

Stressed about not retaining information = Nightmares about test

Nightmares about test = more stress about not passing said test

So, I find it a bit ironic that the more stressed I am about getting a good night's sleep in order to study for this test, the less sleep I actually get.

Yeah, irony sucks.

Why I Don't Make Lists

Friday's List-(aka: how my day was supposed to go)

8am-10am & 11am-12pm: Class

12pm-3:30pm: Clean & grocery shop

3:30-5:15pm: Work

5:30-6pm: Eat dinner

6:30-10:30pm: Work

11pm: Sleep

Friday's Real List-(aka: How my day actually went)

8am-9:45am & 11am-12pm: Class

12:30pm-2pm: Clean

2pm-3pm: Sleep

3:05pm: Phone call about babysitting

3:10pm: Phone call from dad

3:15pm: Another phone call about babysitting

3:25pm: Phone call about babysitting from same person who called at 3:05pm

3:30-5pm: Work

5:10pm: Get phone call explaining that child will be dropped off with me at 5:30 instead of 6:30. Skip dinner.

5:30pm: No child yet

6pm: No child yet

6:30pm: No child yet

6:45pm: Child shows up

7pm-11pm: Work

11:30pm: Still awake

Dog, Cold, & Other Random Stuff

Dog:

I called the shelter this morning and they had a report of a missing Pomeranian. I connected with the owners of the missing Pomeranian and we determined that the dog was theirs. They came over and got her. So she's back with her owners now :) They were very happy to have her back, I was a little sad to see her go. I got quite attached to the little rascal. I was calling her Peanut, turns out her name is Graham Cracker. Anyway, it ended well :)

Cold:

That cold I posted about on Wednesday apparently isn't a cold. It's bronchitis. Yay. I knew something was up when I woke up this morning. I had been on the mend since Friday and then when I woke up this morning my lungs felt like they were on fire. My chest aches and I feel like I can't get enough air. Blah.

Other Random Stuff:

Ummm....Not too much has been going on actually. It was 83F today. Craziness I tell ya, just plain craziness. Other than that, I've just been taking care of the dog and hacking up a lung in the process. Anywho, I'm going to go crawl into bed. Have a good night everyone.

Look What I Found

I found her while I was driving home from work at 3:30 this morning. I was at a 4 way stop and she just came right up to my car and was really friendly. I figured since she was so friendly that somebody had lost their dog and I'd be able to reunite her with them. Well, after 4 hours of pouring over newspapers, calling the police department, and driving around town looking for lost dog poster, I've had no such luck.

The animal shelter isn't open on Sundays, animal control only operates 2 days a week for 4 hrs. each day, and I absolutely will not put her back on the streets. So I guess now I have a dog--that I'm not supposed to have. Let's just say my landlord is PISSED. She told me I had to get rid of it--I will find somewhere safe for her, it's just a matter of I have to wait until Monday to do it.

I'm thinking about asking my mom to take care of her until May when I'm out of this apartment. I'm just too damn attached now that I cry everytime I think about taking her to the shelter. Maybe it's because she's in such bad shape. The picture doesn't really show it but she's really malnourished, missing TONS of fur, she has trouble walking. She doesn't seem to be in pain. She's resting peacefully right now and she's been very alert today. She won't eat anything, which is worrying me. I'm hoping that she will soon.

Anyways, wish me luck with this one. I'm not really sure what I should do.

Phased Out

It dawned on me today that I'm being phased out of my job. Not that my job is being phased out, but I am personally being phased out. The main reason I'm being phased out? My boss' sister is jobless and pregnant. She needs money, which means she needs a job, which apparently means give her mine. Though I understand the importance of helping family, it kind of peeves me that I'm being swept under the rug after 3 years of top notch care for her daughter.

It didn't start until my charge started school on Sep. 4th. On September 4th I was under the impression that I would be working 5 days a week beginning the following week. On September 5th I got the finalized schedule, 3 days a week. Okay, I can live with that. It made practical sense so I just shrugged it off. Today I find out that I will no longer be required to do overnights. This is what is aggrivating to me. Overnight's add a significant amount to my monthly income. I was told there would be at least 1 overnight a month, meaning there would be at least an extra $50 each month in my budget. Take away the overnights, take away that $50 a month, and now I'm scrambling to rearrange my budget and get the numbers to work.

I guess more than anything I'm just frustrated with the situation. I run a tight budget as it is-(if you made $3 an hour you would have a tight budget too)-and when you take away $350 of my $8000 pre-tax income, it hurts. Not hurts as in, "oh darn, I can't go buy a video game" but hurts as in, "electric bill or phone bill?"

After number crunching for a few hours, I came to the conclusion that it just isn't going to work. That $350 is necessary in order to just pay for the necessities. So I took on another job. It's a night job, for a friend. She has 3 kids: 8 yr. old girl, 6 yr. old boy, and 21 mnth old boy. The hours are 9pm-4am on Friday's and Saturday's. It's $7 an hour.

Add to all of this that come November-(boss' sister is due Nov. 8th)-I will be on call for the November overnight because the sister will not be able to do it. In addition, I will be working 5 days a week for the entire month. Then in December, if all goes as planned, I will be dropped back down to 3 days a week and no overnights.

Sorry for such a disjointed post tonight. Bless your heart if you read all the way through it. I just needed to get a few things off of my chest this evening, so thank you for reading.

Homework

Okay, so I'm not used to having homework assignments. I really haven't ever had that many homework assignments while in college. Usually it's, "here's the syllabus, keep up with the readings, show up on test day." My professors have never said "read chapter 4 for Tuesday, that's your homework." Now, in one of my classes, we have a 'homework assignment' every Thursday that is due the following Tuesday. Last Thursday the assignment was this:

2 parent chicken's both have NN genotypes. They have 2 chicks. Diagram successive genotypes for the next 4 generations to have both chicks produce 2 offspring each who both have nn genotypes. In addition, you cannot 'marry' both chicks to 2 rooster's who have identical genotypes.

Go ahead and try it, I dare you. This Thursday's assignment is:

Write a short essay-(4 page minimum)-explaining, in scientific AND laymens terms, why the action potential of a cell will only move from the soma to the terminal buttons, not the other way around, in a fully functioning mammal of your choice. Include figures, diagrams, and any other methods you deam fit. Include a title page and a reference page written in correct APA format. Site all sources.

There goes my relaxing weekend. So, who wants to explain this to me? Anybody??? Anybody??????

*hack* *cough* sniff* *sigh*

Ah yes, the annual fall cold. The fall cold that signals to the world that the germ factories are in tip top shape after 3 whole months without victims. I'm talking about schools here people, from college campuses to nursery schools...it seems that everybody is sick.

Yes yes, I know. It happens every year, I should get used to it. But I never will, and every year I will complain about this annual fall cold.

How To:

The following is a page straight from my charges' invisable book.

How to piss off your nanny & get in lots of trouble:

1. Ask if you can have candy for an after school snack.

2. Throw yourself on floor and start thrashing around while screaming at the top of your lungs when your nanny tells you 'no.'

3. Watch your nanny walk away from you and your thrashing, tantrum throwing self.

4. Get up and run into play room because you're mad at your nanny.

5. Pick up your child sized chair from your art table.

6. Find nanny in kitchen washing dishes.

7. Throw chair at nanny.

8. Miss nanny and hit window.

9. Break window.

10. Run away to your room because you know you're in big trouble.

Outcome:

a) Call to your mother at work from very pissed off nanny.

b) A day in your room, by yourself.

c) No snack.

d) A very angry mother when she gets home from work.

Weather in the North

For those of you who asked if I was joking about the snowflake thing, the answer is no. It's not uncommon for us here in Northern Michigan to trek through snow on Halloween, in fact, many costumes are made to fit over snowsuits & are advertised as such.

Case in point: Today's high is 53F. Tonight's low is 40F. Tomorrow's high temp is projected at 70F. This is the weather we deal with, and the reason why it's not uncommon to see trees that are still green with snow on them. They just don't have a chance to change colors and fall to the ground before the snow falls.

Another interesting fact for those of you in the southern parts of the USA is that the only month we haven't had snow here is August. Yes, it did snow on the 4th of July a few years ago and yes, we did still have our annual parade and fireworks :) A little snow has never stopped us before and probably won't ever stop us in the future. In addition, it isn't unusual to see snowmobile's parked in the school parking lot. They are much more versatile on snow than most vehicles and many people own them anyways so why not? That old joke about how you know you live in a hick town if there are tractor's in your school parking lot? Well, we don't have tractors, we have snowmobile's.

Enjoy your warm weather, I know I would :)

News From the North

The first snowflake of the season was witnessed by Jen at approximately 8:45pm on Tuesday, September 11th 2007. This snowflake was a rabid beast who made it's way through blistering winds, hail, and horizontal rain to claim it's place on the wet sidewalk beneath Jen's feet. The snowflake promptly melted once it hit the pavement but that little snowflake hung on to it's frozen dear life long enough to land on the pavement.

The next snowflake sighting will be coming to you after the fact from Jen's wonderful blog, Child Wrangler 2.

I Do Have To Say...

This only working 3 days a week thing is kinda nice. I have this wonderful thing called free time. This week I was kind of excited about it, excited at the idea of having a few hours to do nothing but play video games, paint, & just generally lounge around. Now that I'm at the beginning of the next week, I'm left wondering, where did that elusive free time go? It seems that it was gobbled up by homework. Hmmmm....

In light of this discovery, I have come to the conclusion that the less busy I am, the worse my time management skills become. I mean, when I was working 40 hours a week & taking 15 credits last semester I was on top of it all. The house was mostly clean, the laundry was done weekly, all homework was done on time-(for the most part)-and I showed up to work on time every day. Perhaps a busy schedule forces one to use their time management skills that they didn't know they had.

So, I'm left pondering. Do I schedule my free time accordingly? Or do I just go with the flow and try to enjoy it as much as possible? Thoughts anyone?

Breathe

If you know me at all, you know that I despise being told what to do. Oh sure, it's created a few conflicts-(okay a LOT of conflicts)-in school, with friends, family, and various other people throughout my life. But it is who I am and it's one little part of my life that feel in control of. Which is why I am seathing at my doctor right now. I went in for a simple prescription refill, that's it..just sign a few papers and I'm good to go. But no, she brings up my weight. Now, I know I'm fat. Everyone who sees me knows I'm fat. It's no secret, I'm not oblivious, and I'm CERTAINLY not stupid. Long story short, she put me on a damn diet. Gave me a bunch of pamphlets on the foot pyramid, eating fruits and veggies, eat less & exercise more. All that stupid stuff that I already know.

Now I know I need to lose weight. I've known that for a long time. I'm glad that she's a thorough doctor who goes over everything and acts as though she's generally concerned for my well being. What I hate is the fact that I'm being TOLD to eat a certain way, exercise a certain amount per day, and what kind of exercise I need to do. *sigh* I'm mad. Plain and simple, I'm mad. I'm mad that in 3 months I have to go back for a 'weigh in.' I feel like I have a big sign on me that reads:

"Fat cow slimming down, stare at me"

yeah yeah yeah, I know it's irrational and stupid and childish and immature. But I don't care. I don't like being told what to do...and now I'm being told what to eat, when to eat, how to exercise, when to exercise, blah blah blah.

I'm gonna go sit down and eat my apple now, because I can't have ice cream AT ALL. Blasted diet, stupid doctor. Someone needs to develop no calorie ice cream, cause dammit I want some!

Needed

I came to the conclusion today that I like to feel needed. I like feeling as though somebody, somewhere, sometime needs me to do something for them. However, I don't like to be the one who needs things. That being said, I'm feeling quite un-needed this month for the following reasons:

1. I'm not needed at home. I live by myself & at the end of the day, coming home just doesn't appeal to me. Granted, when I lived with my ex, coming home didn't appeal to me either. It would be nice to occasionally have someone waiting for me when I get home. Someone who is happy to see me just because they are, not because they need me to cook dinner, clean, take the garbage out, etc. etc. etc.

2. I'm only working 3 days a week this semester. This was short notice--as in, I found out yesterday. Now being told that you're only needed 3 days a week is fine. The money thing isn't an issue, but the problem is it could turn into a "I don't need you to work at all" situation. My boss assured me that it's nothing I did, it's just the circumstances right now with her family.

3. I'm not needed for tutoring, group projects, or anything else related to school. I attribute this to the fact that most of my school friends moved away last year after they graduated.

Maybe this is just a new chapter in my life. Maybe I should take advantage of the free time and do something that I want to do. It just feels weird, that's all. In the past 7 years many people have called me when they needed help. I enjoy helping when I have the ability to do so. I never went out and looked for ways I could help, I just helped my friends when they would ask me. Thing is, I had a lot of friends who needed help with a lot of stuff. So now here I am, feeling un-needed. I guess I will be learning to go out and find ways in which I can help others. It's a new direction in my life and quite frankly, it's a little scary.

September Update

Just a few things going on in my life:

Foot: The bone in my foot has completely healed. The sprain is almost healed, it aches from time to time but overall it's back to normal.

School: School starts for me in 2 days, and I am more than ready. Case in point, my backpack is already packed with my books, pencils, pens, calculator, highlighters, & notebooks for day one.

Friends: I've seen a number of my friends over the past few weeks. 2 of them came up to visit and I went to see 2 others who live an hour and a half away. The 2 I went to see are expecting a baby in 3 weeks. It's a girl and they are very excited! Her name is going to be Marina Lorraine. I will post pictures when she's born.

Work: Work is going well. My charge goes back to school tomorrow. I have a rant about the public school system around here and their lack of organization. I will save the entire rant for another day. Papers were recieved by parents-(emergency contact papers, health papers, what teacher the children have been assigned too, lunch menues, etc.) on Friday. School starts on Tuesday. The school isn't having a "Meet & Greet Your Teacher!" until September 11th. It really doesn't make sense to me considering school starts on the 4th! It should be an interesting week, if nothing else. I'm picking up my charge from school on Tuesday, yet I have no idea where her classroom is.

That's about all I can think of. Have a great week everybody, and Happy Labor Day!

The Cross Rock

I recieved this from my friend Jason today. He carved it himself. The picture really doesn't do it justice, it's absolutely beautiful. Enjoy!