Hi.

So it's January and I'm sure a lot and not so much has happened since I last reported. 

I guess the big thing that's going on is for the past couple of months I've really been mindful of what I put in my mouth... at last check (about 2 weeks ago) I'd lost 15 pounds or so.  I'm hoping for a big loss next Monday because I've since added beaucoup exercise to my cause.  Yesterday I was on the elliptical for an hour!  Consequently, today my legs feel like they might burst out of their sockets.  I also began training for a 5k Wed night.  No worries, I'm not going to be all hardcore every day of the week like the past two... yesterday was a fluke.  At 30 minutes I felt like I could go forever.  At 40 I questioned my sanity.  At 50 I was unstoppable.  At 55 I wanted to kill myself, but I was way too close to an hour to stop so I did more of a cool down for the last 5 minutes and voila!  Originally I was on the fence about whether or not I was gonna go, then a friend of mine asked if I was going.  After texting her my uncertainty and saying i'd call her in a half hour she said "...K no pressure, just support. :)"  How could I say no to that?  It is so much easier to drag ass to the gym if someone else is dragging ass along with you.

November 1st I received my DIPLOMA in the mail! :D I am a Master, officially.  Huzzah!

My brother moved to California in August and I miss him like whoa.  I am planning a visit out there for April... hopefully I can afford it!

I developed a new strategy with work- any time I get angry or annoyed I fill out an application for something else.  I've submitted a loooooot of applications the past few months lol.  Still nothing.  Sucks.

That's all for now!

Slimmer This Summer Challenge Weeks 8 and 9

Sorry for my brief hiatus... I was crazy busy trying to finish up school. Last week I managed to lose 3 lbs and this week I gained 6!  Yes this past week has been my worst thus far, and I am going to make damn sure it's my last downfall... I don't have school as an excuse anymore... I now have the time I was devoting to my studies to reeeeally focus on my health.  That was painful today though at weigh-in... I felt like such a failure.  But I let that pass and now I am determined to turn my life around!

I also want to apologize... I have like 300 unread posts in my reader... I'll try to get to some soon and comment!  I'm actually busy at work for once and it's kind of nice.

oh yeah and btw, by "finish up school" I mean actually finish.  I can now say I have a Master's degree!! squee!

Weekend (and beginning) in review

This past weekend was chock full of fun and excitement!

On Friday night I can't really remember what I did but it involved going to bed early because Saturday morning I was up at the buttcrack of dawn (otherwise known as 8 am).  We bought tix for Catherine (for her bday last month) to go on a tour around DC of all the different places movies have been filmed.  Cool, right?  Right, we thought so.  She loves movies and is always trying to go be an extra if she hears they are filming in the area.  Here is the tale of our (mis)adventure:
Picked up two of the three ladies around 8:45 and headed to Metro.
Platform said 11 minutes.
Waited 20-25 for said Metro.
Told third lady to hustle so she would make our Metro otherwise she may be screwed.
Third lady gets to platform in time to see the doors have closed.
Get to Union Station to meet up with tour.
Wait.
And wait.
And wait some more.
Third lady shows up, yay!
Tour guide finally shows up and tells everyone to go to the bathroom or get a drink or something and sorry he's late.  (I'm betting he was stuck somewhere on Metro).
Tour guide tells us about some movie things in the station and walks us outside to the bus.
Everyone piles on.
We drive maybe a mile (prob not even that far).
Turn around.
Street closed because of festival.
Also, DVD that is part of the tour experience won't work.
Back to Union Station.
Everybody off the bus.
Kbye.

So what to do?  It's a beautifully sunny day in the nation's capital.  Well, duh, go walk and see what that festival was that was blocking the road your bus couldn't drive on.  Turns out it was the Asian Heritage Festival.  Walked around there for a little bit then took a cab over to SE to Ted's Bulletin for adult milkshakes.  I highly recommend the tomato soup and grilled cheese with the mocha kahlua shake... delicioso!  The place is really cool too.

Then it was back home for a little rest and relaxation before I hung out with Lauren!  We grabbed dinner at Eggspectation and I turned her fears around with that place I think.  Then we saw Bridesmaids!  It was actually my second time seeing it, but I thought it was HI-larious both times so it was all good.  We ended the evening with a little nightcap in my kitchen then parted ways.

Sunday I slept in and did some tidying in my bedroom.  Then I met Cyndi up at the mall then went to Kelly's for a little feast and to watch Mean Girls.  T'was fun!  Thing I was most proud of?  Making it home from downtown DC in 22 minutes.  Not bad, not bad.

Monday I went to work and then worked out!

Tuesday class started up again.  Legal Aspects of Contracting.  I think it's going to be a good class, despite it being 4 hours every week.  After that I was starving so I raced to the pub to hang out and eat with everyone.  Catherine finished a comic that is AMAZING and HILARIOUS and debuted it last night.  A lot of people came out last night.  Special shout out to my girl Lucy who turned 21 at the stroke of midnight! <3

Today I have an appointment then I'm going to work out again... huzzah!  Oh btw, I weighed in and lost again this week!  HUZZAH!  Of course I just ate ice cream, mac n cheese, and an egg roll.... oops.

Allelujah! Praise Jesus!

Shit! I'm going to hell.  Just said the "A" word and Lent is still going strong.

Anyway-- I got some of the best news ever today.  My Tuesday night class, for one, has been canceled! AND he pushed back the due date for our 20 page papers to the 26th instead of the 19th!  So it will be nice to only have one 20+ page paper due that week... haha.

That was from a couple of weeks ago...

So today I figured I really need to update because it's been quite a while.  I weighed in this week and lost 2pointsomething lbs... go me!  In celebration, I went to the gym Monday evening because that class was canceled... I did and I didn't mind because well the obvious is... why am I paying for this?  However, Monday was BE-A-UTIFUL here in the DMV so it was nice to go home with my sunroof open and the radio playing.  Ahhhh.  That beautiful day was not an invitation though for mother nature to pour rain and clouds on us for the next two days, but the sun is back again today so I'll deal.

School-- I finished my thesis!  The best thing?  I finished my thesis a week and a half before it was actually due!  That being said I was able to email it to my prof, who will look it over and make sure all is well before I submit it to her next Friday for real for real.  I even finished my PowerPoint presentation and the abstract!  Go me! 
The fun part is now trying to figure out what I am going to write about for my 20 page paper that is due actually no later than 11:59 pm April 27!  I got a B on the 10 page paper I had due for this class last month, I'm kind of miffed actually because I honestly thought it was well-written.  He pretty much screwed everyone though, so I will just have to deal and work harder on this next one.  I am definitely going to hit up the school's writing center because I figure if I go there and I still get a mediocre grade, I can be like "what the hell do you want from me?" 

There are a couple dates this week that deserve mentioning.  Tomorrow, the 15th, is not only our nation's tax day, but also what would have been my sister's 29th birthday.  So weird to think of her as being almost 30.  What would she be doing now?  No one will ever know, but it's interesting to think about.  The day after that, the 16th, marks the fifth year anniversary of my mom's death.  I still think about her every day and wonder what she would be doing?  Would I be doing anything differently?  Would I have moved out already?  Would my mom still be working at Catholic and if so would she be doing what she really always wanted to do and be enrolled in classes?  All questions with no answers.  I find myself in that predicament quite frequently.  Oh well, I'll just keep on keeping on. 

One last shameless plug-- I am doing the race for hope in DC on Sunday May 1st!  I've almost reached my $1500 goal... so exciting!  If you would like to know more about the race and/or donate you can visit my team page, Team MFB, here!

Have an amazing end of the week and weekend! 

There are never enough hours in the weekend.

I'm still getting used to my contacts... still not a pro at putting them in/taking them out.  Usually I have one eye that's all bitchy and the other is just like, whatever man I can take it. 

I had class Friday night and we were let go after 35 minutes.  Usually that'd totally be a "woohoo" scenario, but gas isn't cheap! That was a waste of my time and money (in more ways than one).  If it weren't rush hour on my way there (and subsequently my way back this time) things wouldn't be as bad, but when I'm not able to just straight move... that's irritating.  Add to that the metric ton of anxiety that's just chilling on my shoulders and you have one very unhappy Cara.  Class that night made me realize how much closer all of the due dates for everything are.  I have TWO papers due the week of the 18th... TWO!  Totaling over 40 pages!  I'm sure I've mentioned this before-- but that's crazy talk!  So, I decided the only way I could possibly get all of this finished on time is to take a couple of days off of work-- all I have to do is grow the balls to go and tell my boss that is what I'm doing.  I don't know why that's so hard for me to do?  Oh well. 

Saturday I watched my godbebe all day.  She's so cute, but she was getting over being sick and was still congested... oh and was teething again.  My friend Catherine came with me, she's super fun.

Myself, Maddie, and Catherine.  That's not a black eye, it's her hair circling her eye!

Maddie had a lot of fun with Cath and her iPhone cuz she has sweet games.

Saturday night (after a mad dash to the mall and a quick nap) we went up to Baltimore for a surprise birthday party for our friend Sean.  It was sort of kiddie themed-- there was a s'mores cake (delicious- had no idea that could be done), decorate your own cookies, brownie, cupcakes, etc.  Oh and pin the beer on the Sean!

This frighteningly looks just like him.  Sean's gf went to art school, I think one of her friends did this.

Of course it had to be Natty Boh-- considering it's Sean's fav since moving to Charm City.  Speaking of which, this is the view from their pretty fly high rise.

Baltimore! Sorry for the shitty quality- taken on iPhone 3G.

Sunday I slept til 11 or 11:30!  It felt MARVELOUS and I declared the day "me day."  I was supposed to take care of all the things I needed to do which sounds redundant, but whatever.  All I really ended up doing was laundry, buying a baby shower gift, and grocery shopping.  I did however cook a fabulous meal for myself and my friend Danny.  His gf is out of town right now so I figured he might want a home cooked meal lol.  Ok and I have to admit I was a tad lonely, but whatever it worked out!  Haha.  Hung out with him, our friend Shan came over, drank a couple of beers/watched TV, I kicked them out and went to bed. 

That's all for now, have a great week everybody!

Eye can see!

So I went to the eye doc yesterday after work and let me just say that he was nothing short of amazing.  Every step of everything he did, he explained what he was doing and why.  It was so informative and awesome!  I actually found out that I am neither nearsighted nor farsighted, I just have the astigmatism.  Basically, my cornea is misshapen so when light goes through it doesn't reflect correctly out so it causes the world to look blurry... along with that blurriness comes terrible headaches and other things for straining the eyes and the brain to see clearly.  When all was said and done, I got my contacts!  I am a little jittery putting them in and taking them out still (ok maybe bc it hasn't even been 24 hours), but I love not having to wear glasses-- I can see everywhere I look, there are no smudges, I'm not self-conscious (well, one less thing to be self-conscious about haha), c'est magnifique! 

And I just figured out why my eyes are constantly burning out of my skull by the time I go home everyday... the fricken brightness on my monitors was almost all the way up!  Woooow, I'm special.

I have class tonight-- ze capstone!  Have to have my powerpoint presentation figured out, it can only be 3 minutes long... I don't think that will be too hard.  Hell I'll even barter with other people who want to take longer-- I'll give the run down of mine in 1.5 minutes. 

That's all for now!  Have a nice weekend!

Status Update

Sorry I've been off the scene for a minute.  I went to write so many times last week and just didn't.  Don't know what that was about.

So I weighed in today, and I gained 1 point something... honestly I think that's pretty good considering I drank myself silly on thursday, ate crap on friday, drank more beer on saturday/ chowed down on the PASTA BAR that was at my "little sister's" 21st birthday party.  Danielle, who I went to the condo with a couple weeks ago, is the mother of this girl... like I said they're all like family to me.  Oh and then Sunday I ate a jr. bacon cheeseburger from Wendy's and later some fries.  So yeah, a one point something gain is not too bad.  I'm still having a difficult time staying motivated... sometimes "being skinny!" just doesn't cut it.  LOL.  I need to get my ass back in the gym, was doing really well til I couldn't take the pain from my herniated discs.  Excuses, excuses... I'm going to be in pain forever, I need to just deal with it. 

As for school, my 10 page paper (technically no more than 12 no less than 8 page paper) has stuff on the eighth page, haha.  I obviously need to add more to it, but that will be a challenge considering i am having a hard enough time keeping my eyes open right this moment and I have class tonight.  Crap, I forgot to read... it's not like we've had 5 weeks or anything to read this chapter... yep, ridiculous.  I better have gotten an A on the midterm, though I doubt it.  *fingers crossed*  Then all I have left this semester is a 20 page paper for the Tuesday class, a final for the Monday class, and I need to finish my capstone paper.  This semester of 3 classes that I thought originally would make me suicidal hasn't been SO bad.  Ok back to the paper that's due tomorrow-- haha.  Umm, yeah.  Whatever y'all know I will get it done.  I always do.  I just hope it's up to this guy's standards... which I can't really tell.  What's weird is after reading through most of it the other day I was kind of like "wow, this is a good paper!" which I'm usually never like.  But, who knows?  Maybe it will earn me that A I so desperately want. 

WVA, Nat Geo, and Whale Bits...

I left for West Virginia last night with Danielle.  She is my mom-friend.  She was my mom's best friend and a sort of mentor to me and she and her family are like my own family.  They also own a bangin' condo in the mountains of West Virginia.  So I'm here attempting to write the 10 page paper I have due on the 22nd.  It's proving to be easier thought than done.  I have six pages so far, but kind of a lot of quotations.  I don't know how my prof will feel about that.  A lot have come out of the book we use for class which I'm sure is a big no-no, but I'm so unmotivated.  I've also quoted the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) numerous times, but when your topic revolves around contracting, why wouldn't you?  Or I?  I don't know, I've been writing for several hours, you cannot possibly expect me to use proper mechanics and grammar here and now.  Hehe aww Danielle's asleep on the couch next to me while some weird ass show is on the Nat Geo channel... or is it History?  No, definitely Nat Geo.  They just showed a caterpillar turning into a butterfly and now... crabs?  Idk my bff Jill?

I was in such a funk this week... I could barely get out of bed.  I hate those days.  Oh my... whale penis!  Sorry I have got to stop watching this crazy nature show. 

That's all for now, I am obviously too distracted at the moment.  Wish me luck on finishing this paper... I desperately need it.  Goodnight!

PS- I just watched a praying mantis demolish a monarch butterfly.  I wish you could see my face right now because words cannot describe it.

Some ranting ending with a spotlight on take home tests!

I'm super unhappy today for reasons I cannot really divulge because this blog is public.  And even though I'm pretty sure only one person reads this, I can't help the feeling of big brother watching me.  The long and the short of it is I'm displeased at my place of employment.  I know I need to look for something else, I just need to update my resume.  Moving right along...

I have a rather busy weekend ahead of me-- baby shower Saturday followed by driving to Ocean City for Shannon's birthday then coming back the next day.  March is always crazy, I have known this forever, yet still I waited to work on my papers.  Oh well, I'm hoping to go up to the condo the following weekend to do school and just chill the F out.  I think I deserve it.

Tonight I'm going down to VA to visit a friend who says she needs a friend, I don't think I'll be very good company myself, but tonight I'm happy to oblige.

*Spotlight*
Take Home Tests
Always sounds like the greatest idea ever, but never turns out that way.  After talking with several classmates last night, I have found that our take home midterm for a different class is kind of hard and some of the answers are nowhere to be found.  Fuck.  I should have warned you, I like to cuss from time to time.  Looks like I will be spending tomorrow and Friday night working that out (along with doing laundry and purchasing a shower gift).

Angry-Sad-Defeated-Hopeful

I have a lot to say this post, so bear with me. 

First of all, I would like to recognize the anniversary of the death of my sister.  It was five years ago yesterday that I found her in her room.  She had a seizure, her heart stopped, and could not be revived.  I was a junior and it was the first day of my spring break.  My mom was dying of cancer and I really didn't think life could get any worse-- until that happened.  She was about a month and a half away from her 24th birthday.  Yesterday, I spent the day with my sister's best girlfriends.  It was a little weird, but okay.  We ate baked chicken breast coated in barbecue sauce and mashed potatoes, two things my sister loved.  We drank wine and looked at pictures.  In the morning before that I went to mass and breakfast with my father; the day turned out to be beautiful-- warm and sunny.  It's still hard, but I know she's in a better place.

Switching gears, I got my rough draft back!  It's "near perfect."  Woohoo!  Now I just need to figure out what questions to ask for the methodology section of the paper.  Oh, and contact persons to answer said questions or survey, if you will.  I have a 10 page paper that's due in a few weeks so that will be interesting.  Good thing next week is spring break, hopefully I'll be able to do some research for it and possibly get it written.  I still have to tweak my topic for the 20 page paper that is due two weeks after the 10 pager... eeshka. 

Now for fat camp-- and I hope I don't offend anyone with that term.  I stole it from a friend of mine who is also doing WW.  It's a funny name for something I try and take seriously.  I'm really happy because I've finally been getting myself to the gym.  And something happened to me the other night.  I'm tired of being sort of looked over I guess by the opposite sex.  As vain or shallow as this sounds... it sucks.  What sucks even more is when I'm out with my "hotter" friends and they're all getting hit on and I'm just there.  Anyway, it might not be the best reason to get healthy, but if it kicks my butt to the gym then I'll take it for now.  It feels good to work out and eat healthy, but I feel almost like I've gained weight the past couple of weeks.  It's extremely frustrating.  The good thing is that instead of giving up, I keep pushing forward.  

Lastly, I'd like to say a big CONGRATULATIONS to my friend-sister Lauren for completing a marathon yesterday.  I'm so proud of her!  One day, we will run a race together I just know it! 

Have a great week everybody!

Quickie

This past weekend was crazy, awesome, and of course too short.  Katie and Cyndi came from Long Island to visit!  Cyndi's moving back!  All is right with the world!!

I've decided to walk the Race for Hope- DC which raises money to help the fight against brain tumors.  Obviously I've talked about my mom dying from brain cancer 5 years ago, but I don't remember if I mentioned this or not-- my friend Cyndi's nephew (who is all of 3) has been battling brain cancer since age 1.  He's maxed out on radiation.  He is adorable-- I saw a video this weekend of him demonstrating "The Situation."    At first, I was going to just do this solo and quietly solicit donations from people, but once a couple of my friends heard I was doing it they either donated right away or pounced and were like "i want to do it with you!"  So, I emailed the people today and was able to turn my one person show into a team!  So far it's a two person show!  LoL.

I did absolutely no school work this weekend!  The rough draft was due Friday and that's when my extent of school ended.  This week is pretty sweet though-- no classes except for a possible one-on-one this Friday or next about my paper, which I think I need because I feel like my paper is a HOT MESS. 

I've been tracking!  But more on that later! 

Weekend recap and other things

So, it's not exactly how I pictured it in my head, but I received a flower at work!

 

 This really nice man at my ww meeting gave one to each of us ladies yesterday.  So cute!  And definitely put a smile on my face for most of the afternoon.  Speaking of fat camp, I stuck to my goal and tracked 4 days last week.  So far this week I've tracked yesterday and today.  Oh, and I gained .6, but I'm not discouraged as that was probably the chinese food I gorged on Sunday night.  That was totally worth it though because my brother and I spent time together.  See, he is 13 years older than me and we've not always gotten along.  Since the deaths we've become a lot closer, but we still keep our distance at times (happens when you live with someone I feel).  But Sunday night I picked him up from work and we hung out and went grocery shopping together-- I was in desperate need of healthier food items.  It was getting kind of late though so after I spent about $100 on healthy stuff, I ordered Chinese food for us... a bit counter productive maybe, but I was tired and not in the mood to cook.  We ate food and watched TV together then went to bed.  A perfect evening if you ask me.  

Since I went into Sunday night, I should recap the rest of my weekend:

Friday-- went to class, came home, ate, watched tv, was in bed by 10:30!  

Saturday-- post office (finally mailed the CD for the music exchange... oops), pedicures with Heather, followed by Chipotle and watching my little peanut! 

That would be me and my goddaughter, Madeline.  She's getting her 2 year molars so that's why she's a bit drooly on the shirt... that and oh yeah she's a baby.  

After watching her, I went home and talked with my brother for a little while (conversation which led us to make plans for the next day) which was super exciting because we rarely make plans with one another.  We're both just super busy.  Then I went to Corner Pub, hung out with some of the usual suspects, went to Shannon's, stayed up all night and took her to Union Station at 5 AM so she could catch a train to NYC for Toy Fair.  Catherine rode with me and we got McD's breakfast on the way home.  At 6:30 I passed the F out.  Woke up around 11:30 and went to the gym!  Hooray for me! After I got home I resisted the urge to take a nap and got to work on my rough draft (finally).  Mary came over to do work a little later and we ended up gabbing til she had to leave.  Then I left to get my brother and you know the rest from there.

Who has not made an appearance in this post/weekend?  My father.  Why?  He's started dating someone.  My mother died five years ago.  I'm happy for him.  Any reservations I have about him dating has nothing to do with my mother and everything to do with me.  Selfish?  Perhaps, but I'm working through it.  Change is an adjustment. 

I sent in the topics for my other two papers today and got the OK on one and have to tweak the other a little. 

Getting Over Hump Day

Coming up with a topic for a paper about contracting is not that easy.  Coming up with TWO topics for TWO papers both having to deal with contracting is a nightmare.  Ok, in reality it's not that bad, I just don't know which direction I want to go in.  I have a 10 page paper and a 20 page paper.  Last night I threw out the idea of subcontracting and teaming to my professor and he loved it!  So I guess that will be my 10 page paper.  I would love to just copy my 25 page paper from the Capstone and use it as my 20 page paper, but that's not allowed.  I'm trying to determine if it's even worth it to make the two similar to save me some research time... hmmmm???  Speaking of the Capstone-- that rough draft is due next week... AHHHH!  I still never made that damn schedule for myself and now we are well into February. 
Banana Break
Sorry I was starving and I'm finally back in fat camp again, counting points plus values and whatnot... all fruit is FREE!  Which is amazaballs.
Anyway, back to school.  I don't feel so overwhelmed, not yet anyway.  I really feel like I should be overwhelmed.  I still find myself waiting til the last minute to do stuff, but I'm surprisingly okay.  I do need to try to stay in this weekend some and work on the Introduction section of my research paper because I would rather not be scrambling next Thursday night trying to make my rough draft as damn near perfect as possible.  I don't need that stress. 

OH!  I am glad all of my Valentine's Day plans are solidified.  First, I'm going to go to class.  Next, I'm spending a romantic evening with Catherine and Mary!  And by romantic, I mean we are going to make dinner, play Wii and/or do the Dirty Dancing workout DVD, drink champagne, and probably gossip about everyone we know or just talk about the boys we aren't dating at the moment-- that makes more sense.  I'm fairly apathetic when it comes to Valentine's Day.  I'm not really bitter, though I've always wanted to receive flowers at work... from anyone!  That's kind of random, but there ya go... my feelings on V-Day... random, and not chock full of singles doom. 

Untitled

Ugh, it's Monday and I didn't sleep last night.  I just remember tossing, turning, waking up, and looking at the clock.  Have already downed one sugar free Rockstar energy drink, may need to get a second one.  

The weekend was nice, though I did not do a whole lot in terms of school.  I did do a crap-ton of laundry (finally).  I really need to get back on that doing laundry every week thing because having to spend 4 or 5 hours at a time on it is annoying.  Ooh!  Saturday I went to the Newseum with Catherine and Mary which was really really cool... I've lived here my whole life and have never been.  I really enjoyed the exhibit of all the Pulitzer Prize winning photos-- really really cool.  After we spent several hours there, we went to an early dinner at Carmines, a family style Italiano ristorante, which was really really good... mmm yum!  Sunday was when I did laundry/watched a marathon of Murder, She Wrote.  Also?  The Superbowl-- I wasn't really rooting for anyone, maybe leaning more towards the Steelers, but not particularly upset that they lost.  With the exception of maybe 2 or 3, the commercials were weak sauce.  And Fergie cannot sing live and whoever was in charge of sound for the halftime show was probably fired on the spot.  I mean I feel bad judging one's musical talent-- obviously she has something because she is making money and I am not, but it was what it was and what it was was bad.  But the visual part of the whole thing was cool... oh and can't forget Usher... mmm yeah.

I don't really know what my purpose is with this blog.  I'm really trying hard not to be all emo with it.  I guess I'm doing a fairly decent job at chronicling my graduate school adventures.  As far as maintaining a healthy lifestyle, probably the only healthy element of my life right now is me going to therapy once a week.  I did join that cheaper gym though, and as soon as I'm done being a woman this month (which really sucks when you're on blood thinners BTW) I'll actually go. 

This week I've got two more articles due.  Next week I have one article and my rough draft due... which will be a crisis all on its own because I feel like I virtually have nothing for this paper.  I feel like none of the articles I've found have really related to my "research problem" which is a problem all on its own.  Oh well, I'll figure something out.  It's just a rough draft so it doesn't have to be anywhere near perfect. 

Roller-coaster!

This week has not been very productive in the world of school.  I skipped class Monday night because my chest was hurting (from puking Saturday night I'm almost positive).  I skipped class Tuesday night to go to my friend Keith's dad's wake, and Wednesday I skipped work to go to the funeral.  And yes, I needed the whole day, not just a couple hours, trust me. 

Keith was happy a few of us were able to make it to the funeral and told us not to worry about going to the cemetery, so I didn't.  Instead I went to the cemetery where my mom and sister (and grandmother, grandfather, and great-grandfather) are buried.  However, I am a dumbass and did not factor in the 6 inches of snow that would still be covering the grass from the previous snowstorms we've had.  So I sat in my car, and honestly, felt nothing but frustration.  So I got in touch with my friend Catherine and met her and her co-worker/friend Diana for lunch in Burtonsville where they work.  That helped get my mind off things and was really yummy (we ate Afghan). 

When I got home instead of doing homework or laundry or something productive, I totally took a nap.  After that, I went to therapy (you have two family members die within 6 weeks of each other and tell me you don't need it) and actually was able to get a lot of things out and realized just how much I've been holding in for a week or two.  Crazy.  People-- it is ALWAYS better out than in. 

Tonight I am left with two article summaries to do for tomorrow night's class.  It's not ideal, but I'm trying not to beat myself up over it since I've been on a roller-coaster of emotion and stress.  I just hope I can find relatively short articles, because I can't take anymore 30-50 page ones. 

My friend Lauren wants to know what I'm wishing for.  Right now it's sunshine, warmth, and brains.  LoL

SnowMyWhaaaaa?

Alright this snow storm definitely does not hold a candle to last year's "SnOMG" or "Snowmageddon," but it definitely takes the cake for worst traffic disaster in the DC Metro area in a looooong time (that's my unofficial report).  I have friends who have been on the road for HOURS with no hope of being home any time soon.

Luckily, today was a sick day for me so I haven't had to deal with any of it.  I'm just thanking my lucky stars that I have power and hope that it remains on.

Since I am now able to use older articles for my research paper, I downloaded a bunch earlier that I need to weed through and make sure I can actually use them.  What I really want to do is watch Fantasia and Beauty and the Beast that I just ordered and received from Amazon in the mail a couple days ago.  Sigh.  I'm trying to remain a devout student however and am answering the chapter review questions that we have to turn in.  In the meantime, I'm praying for a snow day tomorrow.

I also realized that I have not posted any pictures since the Redskins game I went to back in September or October and that's no fun.  So enjoy some of these gems from New Year's Eve!

Some of my bestestes. Jessica, Heather, myself, and Meg

This kid is like my little brother.  I <3 him!

Carlos looking faaaabulous!

My college bestestes! Mary, me, Cyndi, Catherine.

Mother of my godchild... love this woman!

Danielle is like my second mom.

Yeah, I'm goofy and I love champagne!  Poppin' bottles!

So All I Have To Do Is Ask?

I spoke with Professor Xanax (as my friend Kelly has so lovingly nicknamed her) over the weekend.  Really I almost feel bad for posting this because she is actually a lovely woman, she is just extremely calm and I don't know that she has ever been upset ever-- which isn't always a bad thing.  Anyway, I told her it was taking an act of Congress to find an article in a scholarly journal that wasn't more than two years old for this damn research paper.  So, she told me to use older articles that I am finding... SWEET!  Because I literally spent HOURS this weekend searching for articles that would work. 
1. That can be very daunting.
2. That can be very discouraging when you don't find anything after spending so much time.
3. Now I will be burning the midnight oil once again this week trying to get the summaries done on time... luckily our class is canceled for this Friday so we have until midnight to email our assignments for the week.

I promised my friend Heather that I would make a legit schedule for myself for the rest of the semester, once I do that I'll try to figure out how to post it on here.

OH! So I went to the third class Performance Based Contracting last night and I think it's going to be a piece of cake.  We have a midterm and final that are both open book/note/neighbor what have you.  And an in-class project?  No idea what that means or entails, but I'm SO THANKFUL there are no more papers to add to the Spring semester from hell pile.  And I remember when I thought last summer was hell.... sigh.

Fat Camp is postponed til further notice... I have been eating everything in sight the past couple of days... no idea what's going on with my body... it's probably trying to be a woman.  I am giving up my work gym membership and going to sign up at this other gym near my house that's only $10 a month.

Now a few fun facts about me!
I love driving, I think because I'm really good at it-- it's hard to come by good drivers these days.
I have had 3 surgeries on my ovaries... the last one ended up in removing my left ovary and fallopian tube (yes, I can still have children if I want them)
You know I'm drunk when I get really chatty and hyper-- I'm generally a more quiet and subdued person

Happy Chewsday! 

This Break Brought to You by...

PROCRASTINATION!

I swear it will kill me one day, or maybe just seriously maim me.

Since my head is about to explode I figured now is as good a time as any to update!  First let me start off with the fact that I had an A-mazing dinner last night with my good friend/sista from anotha mista Lauren who was in town on business and made room to spend a little time with moi on her last night.  We ate at Lebanese Taverna and indulged in some delightful conversation and Maggie Moo's after.  Yes, we did eat ice cream when it was 30 degrees out... in my car, with the heat blasting.  Don't judge.

I really need to make a schedule up for myself.  I honestly thought that I had done a lot of my work for tomorrow this past weekend.  In reality, I pretty much didn't do anything but decide again what topic to go with.  Oops.  So here I sit, trying my best to understand this article from a Public Law journal about small businesses and contracting-- with a ton of jargon that may as well be written in Greek.  The reason for this tiny break is because I have been Googling said jargon to try and make sense of this article that may actually not be useful to my paper at all, but seeing it's the 11th hour, I will have to make due and just add that tidbit to the end of my summary.  Back to the schedule-- I think I've been putting it off because I have yet to go to my third class which starts next Monday (after the add/drop date might I add) which means I am screwed if I was thinking about dropping one of the three classes due to realization of insanity and A. getting my money back and B. without it showing up as a big ol W on my transcript.  I'm pretty much balls-to-the-walls-ing it this semester.  Third class or not, I need to get my ass in gear on this seminar class.

My proposed schedule:
Tomorrow (Friday night): class from 6:10-8:40
Saturday: 12-whenever I drop: library time
Saturday night: Possible outing if and only if I have gotten said ass into gear
Sunday: 12-5 reading and possibly writing and preparing for Tuesday's class (so reading)
Monday: class
Tuesday: class
Wednesday: 5-10 more reading and writing
Thursday: 5-10 more reading and writing or whatever else I have to do

Hopefully I can stick to this because God knows I need to. He also knows I have trouble sticking to schedules like this... I pray for discipline!

Ok, I really wanted to be done by 10, but it looks like it's going to be more like 2 at this point.  Positive energy is always welcome. 

Must Keep One Resolution

I resolved to write more.  I haven't had a moment to physically write in my journal so I will blog.

I called my professor tonight in crisis.  We had to turn in proposals for our papers yesterday and mine was a hot mess (or so I thought).  After about five or ten minutes she had me totally calmed down and was able to help me keep the topic I want to write about, just spun it a little differently so it is more positive and more researchable-- yes I just made that up get over it red squiggly line.  I desperately need to create a schedule for myself and STICK TO IT.  Seems to be the only way I will survive this semester. 

As for all other areas of my life?  I gained some weight over the holidays, but hopefully I will be back to the gym despite the incessant pain running down my leg.  Work is a whole 'nother story-- I have a new supervisor-- 'nuff said. 

Since I have put in quite a bit of time today for school I am going to reward myself with a little trip to the pub. 

PS-- I'm a part of a music exchange and am so excited to give and receive!

Spring Eleven

I went to my first class of the semester last night and this definitely will be my most challenging semester of all.  But I still want straight A's.  Goodbye social life, hello library! 

Yesterday's class, Fed. Contract Management and Administration, consists of a text that's Bible thickness, a professor who reminds me of a slightly more neurotic Jerry Seinfeld (in a good way), and papers the sum of the page numbers equaling anywhere from 25 to 40 pages.  I realize, folks, that I am in grad school, and that people in grad school have to do research and write papers, etc.  Bare (or is it bear?) with me for a second.  Even though I have only attended one of three class I am taking so far this semester I do know that in my next class I will have a 25 page paper/project, several journals, drafts, and articles I'll have to read.  As for the third class-- I have no idea what to expect at this point. 

When I figure out how I'm going to work this and get everything done, I will let you all know. ;)