First Freeze!

Okay, I suppose 38 degrees isn't quite freezing, but it's close. And I'm sure it was colder than that at 2:00 this morning, or something like that. But it was 38 degrees at 6:00 this morning, and I had a thin layer of ice over all my car.

We had rain Thursday evening, all day Friday, and into Saturday afternoon. It was glorious. I don't think the lake's any higher, but the duck pond is certainly full.

Had my test today. You know, the test. The running was hard. I officially find it hard to keep up with 11- and 14-year-old boys when they're running. The rest of the test was better. I kept well hydrated, but my nose is still dried out and tickley. Yes, tickley. That I'm-about-to-sneeze sensation. I've had it since about 10:00 this morning. If I breathe in too heavily through my nose, I sneeze. Kind of irritating, no pun intended.

Inka got an early walk today, and apparently it's been too long since her last walk, because she messed inside the house, as I've just been informed. So I'm off to clean that up, and then I'm going to bed. I'll sleep well tonight!

!Que Increible!

Silly internet doesn't like to have diacritics on letters, so I couldn't put the proper accentos on my Spanish.

As I tried to fall asleep last night, I had an epiphany: "incredible" is something that is so amazing that it doesn't seem possible. It's not credible. It made me wonder how often we use "incredible" in the proper context. So, here are some of the first things I think about when I think "incredible."

The Incredibles: Okay, yeah, I'd say that Mr. Incredible is rather incredible. Mrs. Incredible/Elastigirl ... yeah, it's rather incredible to be able to stretch like that. JackJack is incredible, too. The jury's still out about Violet and Dash.

The Incredible Hulk: That movie was so incredibly boring that I can't get myself past the 20 minute long opening credits.

The Incredible Voyage: Some scifi/fantasy movie (from the 80's?) that involves going inside a person's body, I think. Magic School Bus is so much better.

And for good measure, here's a few quotes that involve "incredible":*

"I can believe anything, provided that it is quite incredible."
- Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

"To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable."
- Aaron Copland

"The thing that is incredible is life itself. Why should we be here in this sun-illuminated universe? Why should there be green earth under our feet?"
- Edwin Markham

"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."
- Carl Sagan

"The power of the mind is an incredible thing, one that can never be underestimated."
- Mia Hamm

"Even against the greatest of odds, there is something in the human spirit- a magic blend of skill, faith, and valor- that can lift men from certain defeat to incredible victory."
- Walter Lord

*Thanks to http://www.quotationspage.com for being an awesome engine for quotable quotes.

Have Yourself a Merry Unlit Christmas

I had my first bout of nerves today in ... I don't know how long. It's been quite a while. If you don't know what I'm nervous about, it's my test. If you don't know what test I'm talking about, well, too bad for you. You'll probably find out sooner or later. Maybe. Who knows?

My performance on this third Hearing Sciences test wasn't that great. I didn't get the grade I was hoping for, let's put it that way. I'm hoping to really ace this next test so that I can maybe get a B+ in that class.

Put the Christmas tree up yesterday. Or rather, I tried to put it up. The tree itself is up, but since it's an artificial, pre-lit tree, there were bad bulbs to sort out. Four sections, count them, four, were out. I have two of them resolved. The third I went all the way through and didn't find a bulb that lit the strand, which means there are probably 2+ bad bulbs in that section. The fourth section is the top of the tree, and I haven't bothered with that yet. All this translates to my not having decorated the tree yet, let alone having assembled my gingerbread house.

Of Making a Feast into a Vegan Meal

Both Thanksgivings have been eaten, and each went successfully. My mom made some "tofurkey" for my big brother's gf. Don't ask how that works, I don't really know, and I refused to touch the stuff. The vegan stuffing was good (you could tell it was vegan, but it was good), and my dad said the vegan pumpkin pie was not bad. I stuck to the classic stuff.

On the plus side, I got to talk with the gf about SLP stuff. It was fun and good, and she was excited, and liked the description I'd given of the voice class I'm taking. I even photocopied for her the article I presented on last Tuesday. Hopefully she'll come back ready to talk about more, because I love being able to talk with her about it. The rest of the family thinks I'm loony. My dad even cut short the discussion about ASL classes while we were still at the table.

Last Sunday and this one I've been helping my church with a ministry called Angel Tree, which delivers Christmas parents to kids that might not get any because their family is in prison. It's wonderful seeing all the packages coming in, and I'm good at sorting. The people who volunteer every year are great and make sorting all the more fun. I won't be able to help next weekend, but the weekend after that all the gifts are gonna be loaded so they can be delivered. Exciting stuff.

Starting to plan my courses for next semester. They're sill funky and quite dispersed throughout the day, and they'll interfere even more with my karate schedule than they have this semester. Le sigh. One of the classes, a lab, I can take only on Friday, and that doesn't make me happy. That means I'm making an extra trip down the hill for that one class, and I won't have any day free of classes, aside from the obvious weekend.

My dad has started a blog. Seriously. It's only, like, his fourth blog he's had (including one he tried to create that would just hold my mom's resume). Actually, he's started two blogs in the last week. One is supposed to be more for his Christmas newsletter stuff, the other one is for his ramblings and rantings, which I think will be profuse considering the fact that he now gets to sit in front of the TV all day with his computer. Only thing is, he's just as inept at his blogs as he is at his email.

Tis the Season to be Cleaning

Tomorrow is Wednesday. That means, since it's the Wednesday before the fourth Thursday of November, it's a day for cooking and cleaning. I hope I get to peel the potatoes. I like peeling potatoes, as long as I don't need to do them 365 days a year. But 3 days a year is a good trade off for mashed potatoes with butter, sour cream, garlic, and all sorts of other goodies.

We're having a friend from church come over on Thursday, and my older brother and his gf will be coming on ... Sunday. From what I know, we won't exactly be having a proper Thanksgiving-type meal on Sunday, especially given the fact that the gf is now vegan.

Speaking of family and holidays, my grandma is apparently going to be coming down for Christmastime. Keep us in your prayers: the last time she came down, she locked herself in the guest room for the day because she felt we weren't letting her help enough around the house. Oh, and the day when I was thinking of starting on my ceiling ... that's the day Grandma's supposed to arrive.

My two early classes tomorrow have been canceled, but I still have the option of going to school for ASL. I'm not planning on it; I'm tired. I might even not get up until 8:00 tomorrow morning.

We picked up the paint for my room on Sunday. I'm happy to have the paint, but it won't be painted for a while. See above note about Grandma being in town when I want to be working on my room. However, if I can manage it, I'm gonna sneak into my room some tomorrow and do some more cleaning in there. Who ever guessed that cleaning would be so therapeutic and purifying?

The Shin Bone's Connected to the Knee Bone

Blogging early tonight, because I want to go to bed and get some sleep. Someone asked me yesterday if I'd been up late at night studying a lot, because I looked like I hadn't really been getting any sleep. Such a confidence booster. Even so, I didn't feel overly tired. Such sensations are reserved for Tuesdays.

I tweaked a muscle a bit in my training. It's a muscle that runs along the outside of your leg, from your knee on down your shin. Said muscle is very involved in, say, pointing or flexing your foot. Trust me, if you've done something to this muscle, you'll feel it. Going up and down the stairs today, my knee felt as if it'd rusted over. So it's some Tylenol, more ice tonight, and lots of stretches. That way I'll still be able to compete in the tournament on Saturday, and sort Christmas presents for Angel Tree on Sunday! And people say I don't keep myself busy.

Just over a week until Thanksgiving. I'm already making plans for my gingerbread house, which is not to be baked/constructed until the day after Thanksgiving at the very earliest. I think the Christmas tree will have to wait until, oh, December 3rd or so. I might be just a wee bit too tired to do anything about it before then. The big question is, do I use sour Skittles on my gingerbread house this year?

All the Leaves are Brown

I've been told that as a grad student in my major, I'll learn what the definition of negative time is. I'm thinking I might be there already. 9 days before a test, I'm already studying. I never study for tests. Never. Until I started this year. There's just so much to learn.

I'm also on my way to one of the biggest tests of my life in karate. It's scary and exciting and exhausting. I apparently tweaked my knee on Saturday, and it's still a little sore. I'm back up on my trying to jog, too. I've been jogging fairly regularly on the treadmill, except for today because I didn't want to push my knee. I've been instructed to eat, drink, sleep, and breathe karate for the next three weeks. Which I suppose leaves learning my coursework at school solely by osmosis.

Meanwhile, the weather is changing again. We've had drizzle twice in the last three days, and most of our trees (excepting palm trees) are bare of leaves. Although, that might have something to do with the Santa Annas a couple weeks back.

Blogs will probably be getting fewer and farther between. At least for the next four weeks or so. By then I'll be done with finals, and I'll be able to relax by painting my room, or some other such thing.

The Ejection of a Voiceless Alveolar Stop

Got my car back tonight! The difference between my car and the other one is like the difference between a hotel bed and your own comfy bed. That's on the familiarity scale, the comfy scale, and the scale of it fitting you well.

Test in phonetics tomorrow. Vowels of English and consonants of the world. Should be fun. I especially look forward to using diacritics, like aspiration or dentalization, on the test. Nothing better than pressure to throw off a transcription. I just hope my headache goes away by then.

Just across the hall from the room where I have Phonetics Lab, there's an Italian class that gets out just before my Phonetics Lab starts. One of my professors from last semester is in that class, as is one of the students from that professor's class. I found out today, though, that one of the singers from my voice class is there, too. For a school with 35,000 undergraduates, I sure see people I know a lot.

The Road goes Ever on and On

Last night on my way home from karate, my car's "check engine" light came on again. It's been alternating between off and on for the last week or so. After it came on last night, it flashed again and went steady again. And then it flashed, all the way home. During this time, the car started to rattle/complain whenever I tried to accelerate, my gas mileage went down the drain, and my car smelled hot when I got home. So we dropped it off at the shop last night for work today: faulty/malfunctioning fuel injector. 3 hours of labor. 1 unhappy driver, who still doesn't have her car back.

And I got to drive the car that my brother would be driving if he had his license, but he doesn't have his license yet. I'd forgotten about the, erhm, characteristic sounds that the other car made. Sounds something like this: "pbbbbtbbbbpbbbbtbbbb." Repeat ad nauseum. And the radio says "ptoobptk" every time you try to turn it on. But the heater does work, even if the gears are broken in the driver's window.

To Blog, or not to Blog

Just to let y'all know, the fact that I don't blog on some days doesn't mean I don't want to. It means I'm tired by the time 10:00 pm or so rolls around. When was the last time I blogged? Who knows. I don't feel like looking at the date because, umm, I'm tired. Seems to be a constant this semester. Although, today I feel pretty good in general, because I enjoyed my Friday. Ate a leisurely breakfast, took a bath, went on the treadmill my dad bought years ago at someone's moving sale, read, and went to karate. I even got candy at karate.

Halloween was awesome, too. Honestly, what other day can you see Cinderella and Captain Hook walking to the bus stop together? I also saw a clown driving out of a grocery store parking lot. Then, in the commons, there was Snow White, her step-mother, an evil fairy, a dude in a pink bunny outfit (the kind your grandma used to make you wear for Easter; I think he must have lost a bet), a prairie woman, and a couple of Asian kids whose costumes I couldn't quite decipher, but they were still cool.

I went walking around a random neighborhood with one of my friends on Halloween night, in our matching-ish costumes. Awesome stuff. Although, I found out I can't back up properly in her driveway at night. Normally I'm great backing down driveways, but this one just isn't very user-friendly at night. Thank goodness there's not a whole lot of shrubbery around.

I got a 93% on my last Hearing and Speech Sciences class, whee! The class average didn't change much, which is sad. Sad for other people. Of course, there's no curve, so my being two standard deviations away doesn't help me that much. But I still feel good. Now I almost have a B+ in there. I think my presentation in my music class went well yesterday, too. Now I just have to study for a test Tuesday, a test Thursday, the Writing Proficiency Assessment on Saturday, make flash cards for this next unit of Hearing and Speech Sciences as we go, practice karate like there's no tomorrow, finish an afghan, sew a nightgown and an apron, write a reaction to a Deaf Awareness Day I went to, write a response to a technical article for my music class, all by the middle of December. Oh, and I still have no idea what to do for over half of the people that I need to get Christmas presents for.

Mackerel

The sky was really cloudy today as I drove to class. Not altostratus cloudy, which means rain. It was mackerel sky, which means a change in the weather. At this point, a change could mean anything, and wouldn't that be fun? I just hope that, if it is rain, it waits until Thursday. I do not want to be walking around campus on Wednesday in costume only to be rained upon.

The check engine light came on in my car on Saturday, so I took it in to the shop today. After I waited an hour for the diagnosis (a very unusual occurrence at this shop, they usually get you a diagnosis in 30 min. or less), I finally asked what was up. The computer had said there was a misfire in cylinder 2, but the techs couldn't find anything wrong with cylinder 2. So they cleared the message, drove the car around, and the light didn't come back on. Thanks for informing me, guys.

Today in my ASL class we were practicing descriptions. We were then supposed to get into groups of three. Signer A would say something to Signer B about Signer C, whereupon Signer B would ask Signer C if this was the truth. Upon hearing this "rumor" about themselves, Signer C was supposed to take this and correct the conception to end up with the truth. Sounds decently easy, yes? Well, one of my group members napped during part of the instructions (he works early in the morning, and he says it's easy to fall asleep in a classroom that has no sound), and he told his friend that I was beautiful. Oops, how do I correct his "misconception" without making either of us an idiot? It was funny. :P

I don't Wanna go to School tomorrow, Mommy!

Tomorrow I go back to school. I feel like I've been on summer vacation all over again, except this time I'm not ready to go back to school. Hear me? I'm not ready! I wish I coulda had this Hearing Sciences test last Tuesday. I might be a bit better prepared now, but I've had a whole 'nuther week to worry and stress. Not what I need. I refuse to believe that Thursday is the beginning of November.

I have a project to present then, and I haven't been able to get all the materials I need because there was no school last week. I have a test to take with the University on the 10th (Writing Proficiency Assessment) that determines whether or not I'll have to take more writing classes as an upper-division student. If I don't take the test, I don't get to go to my school next semester.

Because I didn't go to the Study Abroad Fair on Monday at my school, I now have no times when I can have an "informational session" with the study abroad department, and I'm not supposed to be able to meet with a study abroad adviser until I have an informational session. Except, I need to send in my paperwork soonish (I think) to go abroad in the summer of '08.

Oh, yeah, and then there's the fact that I had a week of non-class, and we were already behind in 4 of my 5 classes. Please, just drop stuff from the curriculum, or something. Shorten your notes. But don't pile on extra work!

Anyone wonder any more why I don't want to go back to school tomorrow?

In America

The painting in my mom's bathroom was finished yesterday. The dark green turned out to be a lot ... darker than we imagined, and a bit more brownish, but it's growing on us (us being my mom and me). I also set up a little vignette on a shelf that had a tv there before we moved in. It now has a conch shell, a few classic (old-fashioned) looking books, and one of my dad's nautical clocks. At least my dad likes the vignette. There's a sad little ivy that lives beside my parents' bathtub, and I pulled him out of the corner because I thought he was lonely. However, my mom was free to rearrange things as she liked, and the vine is back in the corner again. I feel bad for him.

The smoke is starting to leave, but now we just have ashes raining down on us. Mom said it drizzled (rain) a little, sometime late this afternoon. Obviously it wasn't anything really substantial, since I didn't notice. I hope it rains more, but then again that's just me.

My dad took a nap before dinner tonight and was disoriented when it was time to eat. There was a quip made about him being "lost in translation," and from that point on Dad kept referring to this or that being "lost in translation." Good grief, it's a running gag. Put that together with my brother's "in America" that he picked up from a Yugi-Oh spoof/parody, and you've got a really interesting conversation around the dinner table.

I walked into a pole today. It's in the middle of my friend's house, kinda separating the living room and the kitchen, I suppose. I never really noticed it before, and then it was suddenly there when I turned around. I thought it was funny.

Painting the Day Away

Not much to report on today. Got started helping my mom paint the master bathroom. We should have taped it last night, but we forgot to. So instead we spent two hours taping it off today. I did most of the taping. I also did most of the painting. Even so, I had fun. We've got touch-up to do tomorrow, along with painting the door to the toilet room (shower, bath, and sinks are separate from the toilet).

We got more smoke and ash up here after the winds changed on Tuesday. It was fun having both smoke smell (we needed to keep the room ventilated) and paint smell while painting today. The dojo was a mess, too, from all the grime that had snuck in during the couple of days the dojo wasn't in use. Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow.

The Family that Sweeps Together

Just a quick update. Nerves have been keeping me on edge, which translates to not sleeping well. My family is fine, the fires are really nowhere close by. Our worst complaints are the effects of the winds themselves. For example, I have seasonal allergy-type symptoms, and my head is constantly hurting.

Along a more fun note, our pool is jade green. Has something to do with the six or seven palm trees there. There's still a bunch of grunge in the pool, but after we spent more time cleaning out there today as a family (I spent over an hour out there on my own yesterday), all the vegetation is out. The winds are dying down, too, so that's a plus. Maybe I won't have to haul felled palm fronds all around the property again for a few more days. We really had about 50 fronds torn from the palm trees and scattered all around the property.

Classes at my university have been canceled through Saturday. I am planning on doing some work for school, but it's so much more fun knitting, or putting the hem into my costume. It's easy to forget that this isn't just summer break. We really see very little smoke, and we're very lucky. I know a couple people who have lost their homes, more who have had to evacuate. I just wish the county could figure this stuff out, after all these years.

A Blustery Day in the Hundred Acre Woods

Fridays are simply not constructive for blogging. Neither are Saturdays. Both tend to be boring, with nothing going on.

Except, yesterday wasn't boring. I watched 6 lovely kids, and I didn't loose my mind. All were almost perfect the whole time, except for the 2-year-old. I had to put my foot down with her. Two of the kids really, really missed mommy at bedtime, but that's understandable because I'm the first babysitter outside of family that they've had in years. By the time that mom and dad got back, though, those same two kiddos were asleep. We didn't break anything (the dvd's were already all scratched up), didn't spill anything we didn't clean up (the last bits of melted ice cream you can never get out of your bowl), and we put away everything we took out. Not bad for over 4 hours with 6 kids, even if they all know you already.

Santa Annas have arrived again. The Crest fire started almost 4 years ago today (4 days short of 4 years), and we're experiencing a bit of deja vu over here. However, we've got all our stuff piled in the front hall, just in case we are evacuated. With these winds, you never know.

The winds can create some fun, though. The sunbrella out on the deck today almost flew away. The recycling was blown into the pool. A whole bunch of leaves were blown into the courtyard and Eddy is using them as a blanket. All that aside from the fact that the wind is just plain awesome.

Now that it's past midnight, I'm gonna see if my adrenaline rush has faded enough to let me sleep some before I study myself out of my mind for my test in Hearing Sciences on Tuesday.

Kata Kabuki Time

Had a good workout at karate tonight. We worked All American Form 3 for most of the hour. That's a long, intense kata. Everyone was sweating, and it was only about 70 degrees (at the most) outside. Good stuff.

I'm starting to freak out about the Hearing Sciences test on Tuesday. I've got a jumbo stack of flash cards already, and I've barely gotten into the notes for this unit. Not very comforting. I've been doing good on the homework assignments, but I can't have another low score on this test. My grade is already too low as it is. It must go up! I just keep reminding myself that this next test will have a lot of anatomy on it, rather than crazy physics of sound. It'll only half-involve how sound works, the other half is how it's transmitted. Phonetics I'm pretty sure I can easily get from the A- it is now to an A by the end of the semester. Anatomy, well, that's going quite well, as is ASL. We'll see how I did on the Voice Pedagogy midterm today. And people say I don't keep busy.

The people in my Voice class today were surprised to find out my age. They thought me older, since I act mature. People either look at my face and think I'm younger, or they notice I (generally) act mature, and think I'm older. I've yet to have someone guess my actual age.

My brother got Transformers yesterday. Actually, he got it, but convinced Dad to pay for it, even though my dad thought the movie was going to be stupid and refused to go see it in theatres. Needless to say, he enjoyed watching it tonight, and he wants to watch it again soon when Mom doesn't need to hurry to go to sleep because of work the next day. There's more to that movie than meets the eye. *ducks tomatoes*

User Error: Cannot Access Page

For as long as I can remember, my dad has been filtering his email through Microsoft Outlook Express. All the time. Doesn't check it online. I can't understand Outlook, and I can't stand it, either. For the past 7 and then some years, I've been checking my email online (used AOL before that, which is slightly different from how it works now). Anywho, we (my younger brother and I) got him an email account through Google where the whole family can have access to a family calendar and see what everyone's doing, if scheduled activities overlap, conflict, what have you. It's really very neat.

My dad can't figure it out. He has to log into Google Mail to access it. How hard is mail.google.com to remember? Honestly. Mail, Google. Instead, he'll try going to the standard Google homepage and logging in there. Doesn't work so well when you type your username and password into a search box. Even better is when he tries to use his email address as a website. Yournamehere@gmail.com is not an accurate web address, just in case you weren't sure. I re-inform him on the proper method of logging in to Google Mail at least twice a day. We made this calendar about four weeks ago. You do the math.

In other news, it rained today. Did I not call it, saying that the clouds yesterday looked like rain? CHP reported 108 accidents between the hours of 6-11am today. The road is wet, people. You walk slower on a wet floor, right? Why not drive slower on a wet road?

Inka would have gone out on a line again today if it weren't raining when I left for school. She's come down with cabin fever. She never used to chew papers or magazines before (unless Eddy was around to be a bad influence and the instigator of trouble), but now she'll apparently go into rooms she wouldn't go into before to get things to tear up. I don't care if it's raining again tomorrow: she's going outside for the whole day. Let her freeze. It'll remind her how good she has it sleeping inside, even if we do tend to run the washer and dryer when she's there.

The Rain in Spain

I have been insanely hungry today, and there is no earthly reason why. I've eaten more today than I have any day since this summer when I helped my uncle move and we only ate out for every meal.

Today I got to see my Anatomy test from last week. I got 119 points out of 120, which amounts to roughly 99.6%. I suppose it's comforting to know that I've got phonation down pat if I'm considering a voice emphasis. Also, I don't need to study respiration or phonation much for the Voice Pedagogy midterm the day after tomorrow. For that Voice class, all I'll need to study is the weird music stuff that I don't know because my musical experience is in piano and not solo singing.

I got a lovely 4 hours of sleep last night, and I'm starting to really feel it now, but I know I won't be tired once I go outside in the cold night air to give Inka her walk. At least I'm not getting up until 6:15 tomorrow. Besides, it's pretty and foggy outside. No, I have no idea what my point is. But we've had a lot of fog recently. Today at school it looked like rain, but it didn't rain.

The Study Abroad Fair is on Monday at school. I'll be going so that I can have all sorts of people tell me why I should go to their program. Sounds interesting, no? I wonder if I'll be able to find any summer programs in the Czech Republic. Oh, yeah, someone in my Voice Pedagogy class today called it Czechlosovakia. Get with the program, people, Czechlosovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia years ago, although it was some time after the fall of the iron curtain. I think.

And that's what happens with 4 hours of sleep.

Check Point

Went babysitting again today. Yes, on a Monday. Watched the same boy that I sat on the 6th. He's home this week on suspension. He's 8 years old. I might watch him again on Friday, too, depending on schedules. There were no movies today, just in case you were wondering. I got some of my reading done for my hearing sciences class, then we had lunch. You know you're on the right track preparing to be an SLP when you can explain to an 8-year-old how swallowing works, and draw him a picture.

Middle of the semester is fun. A friend informed me that we have passed the half-way point of how many school days were in the semester, so that means it's officially midterm-type time. There's two quizzes Wednesday, a midterm Thursday, two tests Tuesday, and another test the following Thursday. That makes for all of my classes except for one lab (the other lab is one of the ones with a quiz). I keep my sanity by pretending that I don't really know what's going on, so I review notes regularly. Keeps it all stuck in there. Except for Hearing Sciences (the 7:30 am class). I still don't know what a "click" is, although I think I finally understand how the hair cells themselves work, and I know more about the basilar membrane after doing my reading today.

7 weeks until a particular day in December. I'm working hard at the dojo, trying to make sure I have everything solidified. I just wish my classes would let me be there more often. How I miss Tuesday night class.

How Many Beers would a Dalmatian Drink if a Dalmatian would Drink Beers?

There hasn't been much interesting going on here. Weekends tend to be that way. I've been knitting and sewing, and I'm extremely pleased with my progress on both. Pictures will come when those projects are completed.

I took a neighbor girl I sit to her soccer game Saturday morning. It rained. She still played. They lost horribly, but it was a good game, and the sittee had some really good moves out there. So I got her a cup of hot cocoa, and then we went to the grocery store, because my dad wanted me to pick up a few things.

Later on I got to pick up my brother from his friend's house. They'd gone to their high school's football game out of town. Because it was out of town, they didn't go as the marching band, so they put blue in their hair and on their faces. In my brother's case, he put red on his face, too (school colors red, white, and blue). From there, I got gas, and went to the same grocery store again, because there was something else my dad wanted me to get, because he'd forgotten it earlier. Sounds like an exciting day, yes?

We rarely keep alcohol in the house. There's just no need for it, since I don't/can't drink, and my parents rarely drink. Mom got some beer the other day to cook with, and after a joke with my dad, put one in the fridge to chill. It was promptly forgotten about until this morning when my dad went to get a soda from the fridge. You guessed it, he absent-mindedly grabbed the beer instead of a soda, and was unpleasantly surprised. He considered pouring the beer into Inka's water dish, but it was full with water. I'm so glad it was. I don't know what I would have done with a drunk Dalmatian.

Sam is still growing very well. I'm afraid that he won't fit in his pot any more in a few months, so I'm thinking it's about time to move him outside. I'm afraid to move him outside, though, because I don't want him to be eaten by the rabbits. The rabbits are without mercy. They will eat anything, especially if it has personal value to you. The gardener says this time of year would be perfect for planting him, but I need to wait until I see the weeds growing again, because that means the rabbits aren't eating the weeds.

90% off Everything!

Every year, without fail, this one salon that's kinda nearish my school offers 90% discounts to girls to come give them a try. It happens in the fall, after we've been in for a few weeks and, supposedly, are missing our hairdressers/nail dressers back home. In case you don't know, I don't do anything fancy with my hair, and I almost never paint my nails. There's no way I'm gonna pay 90% off of anything to get almost nothing done, when I can get my mom to do it for free.

Usually I'm just approached by one of these advertising girls each fall semester. That's not so bad. I had my one about three weeks ago. But then, I was approached twice today while I was sitting with a friend during a break, and after the friend left, I was approached a third time! Leave me alone, girls, I'm not interested. I don't know whether to consider it a good thing that they all want my business, or a bad thing.

Skrounging

I didn't have my 7:30 am class today, so I slept in until 7:00, intending to go to school to see a friend during my normal break. Upon entering the kitchen, I found a note asking me to watch and wait for a fax to come in, and then fax it to another number. So I waited as long as I could before having to leave for class. No fax. Figures. I did take a nap in that interim, though, and discovered that I apparently can't fall asleep in the leather armchairs my parents like so much. So, hard, lumpy couches it is.

I went to a meeting for the Honors Program tonight. It's usually a waste of my time, but we have to go to at least two, so I decided I might as well tonight, since I didn't have the super early class. It was even more of a waste of time than usual: they sent us on a scavenger hunt before the meeting. Yes, you heard me right. A scavenger hunt. I'm so glad I don't need to go to any more meetings until next semester.

I went to the library today before going to the meeting, because I had spare time between class and the meeting. Some 40-year-0ld dude was at the computer next to me, and his voice evidenced that he's probably been smoking cigarettes since he was 18. He kept looking at my skirt (it has eight 2" slits, but it's knee length) for the ten minutes I was in the library. He happened to get up off his computer at the same time I got off mine, and informed me he had voted me for the prettiest girl he'd seen today. Get a life, dude, and someone your own age.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like ... Fall

We have walnut trees on our property. Sounds like a great idea, yes? Apparently we have some odd species, and so the husks stick to the shells until the nuts drop. Our first year we tried to harvest the nuts. The problem was, we picked them off the trees. Because we picked them off the trees, the nuts hadn't dropped from the husks yet. We haven't bothered since. Want to know why we don't pick up the nuts as they fall?

Because of the crows. We must get at least 7 flocks of crows every fall, coming to eat our walnuts for us. They're ugly, they're loud, they make a mess, and they're everywhere. Remember the scenes from Bambi, whenever Man is near? All the birds freaking out? That's what it was like when I took Inka for her walk yesterday morning. There must have been a minimum of 50 crows that took off from our various trees, still quwacking 4 minutes into the walk. Now I understand why Man came to the forest. He was trying to shoot the crows.

Speaking of Inka, she hasn't kept on the bandages I've put on her foot. Yes, bandages, plural. I was supposed to change her bandage yesterday. I did, after I got home from class. She tore it up and spit it out (literally). So I put on a new one. The vet only gave me enough material for two. Well, she worked her way out of that one mere minutes before I got home from karate tonight. And in case you don't remember, she doesn't stay in the cone, either. I tried again last night, after she tore up the first bandage. No luck. I had to rumage through our personal first-aid supplies (my parents keep copious amounts in our house) to find more stuff to wrap her up, yet again. I'm hoping it'll last until she gets to the vet's tomorrow morning. I don't know why she takes off the bandages I've applied, but not the ones the vet applied. I don't care at this point, either.

Free Parking Tips

1. The lines are there for a reason.
   
2. If at first you don't succeed, try again.
3. One well-maneuvered parking job is worth two bad ones.
4. Park by others as you would have them park by you.

And remember, if you're in too much of a hurry to park properly, go home and leave us good parkers alone. Come five minutes earlier next time so you have time to park properly. Also, if someone parked really close to your driver's side door and you have less than 6 inches to get into your car, you can always climb in from the passenger's side.

Tuesday, Tuesday, can't Trust that Day

Earlier today I'd thought of something really witty to put here. Honest, I did. As it is now, I can't remember it. Maybe that's because I did my homework for anatomy lab and ASL tonight. Yeah, that must be it.

Inka's been really good about swallowing her antibiotics. After the first two doses I gave her last Thursday, she's swallowed every one on the first time. I've also been giving her large pieces of bread surrounding each pill, but whatever works. It's only until next Saturday or so. Yeah, Saturday is the last day. The inside of my car is starting to look like it's been snowing in there from all the hair Inka has left behind. Sure, I could vacuum, but I don't feel like it.

Why do Tuesdays have to be so long?

As the Dog Pants

Went for a walk/jog this morning. Doing that Couch to 5k thing I mentioned before. Well, I'm horribly out of shape. I got seriously lightheaded before I was done, so I stopped early. I'm going to do this again on Wednesday, though, and Friday, and keep going as best as I can, even if I don't hold to the rate at which they think you should be able to progress.

After my exercise this morning, I called the vet's to see when I should bring Inka in. Yes, they wanted to see her paw again. Either that, or they wanted to see me, but I think her paw is significantly more interesting. The vet is still proud of her keeping her bandages on so well, and he put on this stuff (layterm "tough skin") that's supposed to help, um, toughen up her skin around where the talon was removed? I get to change her bandage on my own Wednesday and put more of that tough skin stuff on. She currently has a green bandage, but she'll be going back to blue on Wednesday. I'm excited to see what color bandage she'll have on Friday. Is this sad and pathetic? Sometime when Inka was climbing into or out of the car today, she apparently stepped on the button that turns on the seat warmer. When I was driving to class this afternoon, I couldn't figure out why in the world it was so hot in my car. Imagine me, AC on, windows down, and seat warmer burning it's way through my epidermis. Okay, at least through my jeans.

I have lots of projects coming up in school. Well, not so many, but it feels like a lot. A significant amount of homework, and there's a project for ASL, not to mention the tournament I have on Saturday (karate, not school). No laughing at me; I just might snap. My brain seriously seemed to stop higher-level processing at around 8:07 tonight. I was at the dojo, practicing tournament katas. Not a good combination, just in case you were wondering. Oh, and I have not yet started the two projects I have due in November for my voice pedagogy class. Is it Christmas yet?

Out with the Old

Ever looked at your room and known you really need to clear things out? Well, I have that coupled with an intense, building urge to paint my room. It's been white since we moved in. White. Before we moved, I'd been allowed to paint my room a shade more green than white. After thirteen years of flamingo pink and ABC wallpaper. Paint is good. It's good for the soul. Maybe that's why the bathroom is now the color of a kiwi's flesh (the fruit, of course).

Well, my bedroom isn't in shape to be painted. And I have this old shelf I've been wanting to remove from my room for a long time. Saying "a long time" is an understatement. I got the thing when I was in 5th grade. It's an ugly, white metal shelf that I used when I had a bunkbed so that I could put down the book I was reading without having to climb out of the top bunk. This thing had long outlived its purpose, and yet it remained in my room, filled with junk. It is no more. Now my dad can use it, for putting his own junk on. But it's not in my room anymore. You don't want to know what color the carpet was under that, after seven years of not vacuuming. It's since been vacuumed, and you can't tell that there was a big, ugly shelf there before.

Next to go was an old laundry hamper full of odd pieces of fabric remnants. Now, I have some fabric remnants that are perfectly fine, but these are the gaudily shiny fabric remnants that I apparently convinced my mom to buy when I was younger. Probably somewhere around 5th grade. They were tossed, and that pointless old laundry hamper is no longer in my room, either. Next to go will be the cat-shaped cd rack mounted on my wall.

I also cleaned things out from my closet. Didn't really start to make a dent, but I found many interesting items. Lots of bank statements from 2005 (the year I graduated from high school, when Social Security paid me to finish high school). Papers from 2005. Powerpoint notes from this last spring semester. Lots of things from Oceanography. And a pair of shoes I don't think I've worn since my sophomore year of high school. I'll pick up my clothes before I go to bed, too, to compensate for the pillows and stuffed animals going back on the floor (they reside on my bed if it's made, on the floor if it's not). I've already filled my trash can to overflowing, and most of another trash bag. Once I have the room to a more-than-satisfactory state, I'll take a picture, and there will be a picture when I'm done painting, too. Don't know when I'll paint, between 18 units, karate, chauffeuring, knitting and sewing, cooking ... I sound like a mom, don't I? Yeesh. :P

How to Prepare for a Tournament

Good Ideas:

• Practice your kata multiple times a day
• Practice your kata to an inspirational piece of music
• Review your kata mentally, seeing yourself perform your kata flawlessly
• Practice the facial gestures you want to use to communicate the mood of your kata
• Practice sparring
• Get advice from your instructors on adjustments you can make to your kata or sparring style

Bad Ideas:

• Misperform a technique in your kata and injure yourself
• Wait until 3 days before the tournament to practice your kata
• Delay deciding on your weapons kata
• Don't ask for constructive advice
• Spar a black belt

The Airway is Shut

How can a year go so fast? It doesn't seem like summer's over yet, but Monday is going to be October. I don't know how that happened. I've had my first tests in all of my classes so far this semester. Well, I've decided that I'm probably not going to try to be an audiologist in addition to being a speech-language pathologist. At least not if I would have to regularly deal with the physics of sound. That is, *ahem* apparently not my forte.

I did much better on the test for the anatomy and physiology of the respiratory system. Especially in comparison to the rest of the class. I suppose an audiologist might be able to get away without having to do conversions for sound stuff. However, I'd be rather scared if the SLP treating my child didn't know that another name for the "airway" is "trachea." How do you get away with that? How could you not know that? The trachea was just about the only thing discussed in the 2.5 hour Anatomy lecture every Tuesday.

Inka got a new bandage on her paw today, but that was about it. The vet was impressed she'd managed to keep her bandage on (as am I, believe me). Her new bandage is blue. And she behaved herself rather well in the car, too. I only had to half-push her in. On the way back from the vet's, she barely even begged for attention. She just sat curled up like a cat on her 101 Dalmatians towel on the passenger seat. There is some white hair in my car, though.

The Next Houdini

How many times a month can I blog about my dog? Well, every day, if I really want to. I believe I've mentioned before how great an escape artist she is. Well, I didn't post this story last night, since I didn't want it to detract from the rest of my talk about Tennessee. On Sept. 19, she broke free of her leash/collar that I'd put her on before going to school. By breaking free, I mean she snapped the clasp. I got her three minutes before I wanted to leave, and I didn't have a chance to clean up her bloody front right paw. Luckily Mom was on her way home, so a quick phone call assured that the princess wouldn't have a muddy paw all day. That evening I took a look, in between packing, and it appeared that she'd managed to make cuts in the innermost long talon on that paw.

Flash forward to when I get home from Tennessee. She's walking on the paw okay, but it's looking like despite our cleaning efforts, she did get an infection. By Wednesday, Mom had enough, and took my princess to the vet on Wednesday. Enter a neon-orange bandage on her paw (looks like a cast, but cooler), antibiotics, and one cone. We all know how good dogs are at finding the medicine in their food, so I won't comment on that. But this mutt can get out of the cone. I've made the fool thing as small as it will go, and she still slips it off. I have to manipulate her ears to get the cone to slide on, but she manages to get it off. Dad tried to put it back on after he got home from work, and he said she had the cone off in two minutes.

I get to take her in tomorrow for the vet to look at the paw again, see if the infection had traveled very far up into her paw. Tomorrow you might be regaled with the tale of how hard it is to drive when she's begging me for attention during the whole 15 minute trip to town. Won't that be exciting?

If you have not already done so, please do so now.

I know, it's been a few days since I've updated. Really, I've been tired all that time. Tennessee was awesome, but it throws off my sleep schedule, and anything that throws off my sleep schedule gives me migraines. Guess what I started getting Saturday afternoon.

The seminars on Saturday were great. I participated in 5 sessions that day: 2 of 3 sessions with Bill "Superfoot" Wallace (I was worn out by the time that his third session took place that day), ground fighting, women's self defense, and tai chi. All of them were very well done, very informative, exhilarating, and effective (I have the bruises to prove it). That evening at the banquet a black belt from our dojo received her 6th degree. It was a surprise for her, as it was for nearly everyone else. As a matter of fact, a couple of the highest ranks had decided on it the night before. I think that was without the input of her husband, too, who was the highest rank there at that seminar. If you know them, you know who I'm talking about.

I bought a book of Sudoku for the flight back home. Let me just say it's a good thing my professors put notes up online, because I wouldn't be able to get everything down if they didn't. I'm not saying I don't take any notes, I just wouldn't be able to get every point. Now I can at least write down the points I feel I need to emphasize.

There are multiple factors for why I was still so tired upon returning from Tennessee. One of them is the fact that my sleep schedule was thrown off, which brings in number two, the migraine. A third factor is the pressure point I had demonstrated on me Friday night (I could still feel its effects on Sunday and Monday). Fourth is the slight cold I caught on the trip, and fifth would be the two tests I had yesterday. After that I had a quiz today. All of that makes for a very tiring week, and I'm not surprised I've been out of it.

I'm going to start running. It's actually a walking/jogging program that's supposed to help one get up to jogging/running 3 miles (5k) in about 9 weeks. It's called Couch to 5k. Go figure. It looks doable, so I'm gonna do it. One of the students who got his black belt over the summer told me about it. Google it if you're interested.

The flight home from Tennessee was fun, as I'm quickly finding out every karate-related event tends to be. Taught one of our black belts how to play Go Fish (he's from Venezuela) in the terminal, then I learned how to play 21. After the dynamics of Go Fish, though, 21 seems a little ... simple. The other blackbelts on our trip were surprised by the intense dynamics my roommate and I had every night on the trip, playing Go Fish and watching HGTV. I napped on the plane until snacks arrived. I spent the rest of the trip taking pictures of clouds (actually, my roommate for the trip had taken them, since she was in the window seat), doing some of the puzzles in my Sudoku book, and taking pictures of sleeping black belts that will never be circulated, under certain pain of death. It was still funny, though. We had lots of turbulence we went through/around on the flight. The flight attendant even went down the aisle three or four times, passing out drinks. The strange woman on the other seat in my row (besides me and my roommate) had a white wine the first time he came down the aisle and didn't wake up until the flight was basically over. The best part, though, was probably when the pilot came on the intercom and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, if you haven't already done so, please do so now."

You have been Thwacked

Did more shopping today, since there weren't any karate events until this evening. I found something each for my mom and my dad, but since my brother actually told me what he'd like, he's harder to shop for. Go figure.

I worked with escrimas tonight. Very little can match fighting with sticks. My partner was a yellow belt, and I think she felt intimidated by me. I don't know why. I didn't get thwacked at all tonight until I was at the banquet, and a particular callous I have on my right wrist was pointed out to an instructor who's big on pressure points. Said instructor got excited and showed me exactly how I can use that callous to hit a particular pressure point. I know exactly how it feels, and he didn't even thwack me hard.

Tomorrow's the real deal camp. The first hour of the day is stretching. Doesn't that sound like fun? Stretching with an undefeated middleweight sparring champ. At 9:00 in the morning, which is 7:00 on my time.

Flying High

Traveling today was really easy. For me. Some people in our party didn't have as easy of a time, but all turned out well in the end. Once we got into Tennessee, we checked in and went to O'Connors for dinner. I had chicken tenders, french fries, and potato soup. That soup was wonderful, with lots of cheese in it. In case you don't already know, cheese is good. I had leftovers that I brought back to the fridge in the hotel room.

After that we went to the mall for about an hour and a half, before it closed at 9:00. I got a pair of shoes. Really my first pair of designer shoes. I like them. A picture will be posted after I get home.

Got back to the room, talked with my roommate some, and after we'd settled in to watch HGTV we had a knock on our door inviting us to go to the Waffle House. Apparently, the Waffle House is really big around here. It's like McDonald's, with one on every corner. So, at 11:00 pm in Tennesse we went and ate a waffle, taking pictures of our food, and we got special Waffle House commemorative hats, and the ladies in the next booth over were able to surmise that we aren't from these parts.

There are two computers here in the hotel lobby, so after getting back from waffles, my roommate and I came to check email and such. My roommate was singing Mission Impossible as we went down the hall, and she's a fully-grown mother of two. I now will rarely have fear again that I'm far too random.

Avast!

I've heard tell of a wench what owned a Dalmatian. Now, this was no normal Dalmatian, for that dog could be shyer than a sea-sick horse and have more energy than a hurricane. The Dalmatian had a spirit as free as a summer breeze, and very little could keep the Dalmatian at bay. One after another, the Dalmatian would break the bonds placed upon her and roam as she saw fit. They say the wench still wanders the land, following behind the Dalmatian, searching for something strong enough to keep the Dalmatian in her place, but until then the wench is forced to live her life in futilely restless days.

Canniballistic

Ever had dinner prepared before it was time to eat? All that needed to happen was for someone to turn on the oven and stick it in. I did that today. Wanted my dad to stick it in the oven after I called saying I was out of class. With the time the oven took to heat plus the 60+ minute cook time, it should have been ready about 30 minutes after I got home from school. I got home, and the uncooked dinner was sitting on the counter. Hadn't been anywhere near the oven yet. Remember, Tuesday is my day that I'm on campus for 11 hours. When I get home, I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I'm quite often cranky. If I expect dinner to be ready, dinner better be ready. So, here I am, an hour after I got home from school, and dinner should be ready in another four minutes, but I know it will be another 5 minutes minimum to get my dad and brother to the table, even though I told them 6 minutes ago that it was 10 minutes until dinner.

On a more positive note, I saw my high school choir director at my university today. Let that thought run through a couple of times: one of my high school teachers, studying at my university. He's going for his master's in business. He only has 12 units this semester, lucky duck.

~~~~~

Almost forgot, I took a couple pictures this morning of the lake. It was pretty and foggy. The temperature outside when I woke up this morning was 51 degrees. Because of the setting I had to use on the camera, the pictures are a bit blurry, but I think they're still rather lovely.

Gag me with a Spoon

Something I forgot to mention before, although how I could have forgotten, I have no idea. My brother forgot to take his salsa in with him to school on Friday. He didn't bother trying to bring it in today for half credit. I think I'm going to make him eat it, with a spoon. I will sit there as he has to eat the whole container of garlic-flavored tomatoes.

I'm almost completely ready to go to Tennessee. Mainly packed, but I don't know what to pack as far as nicer clothes (for banquets, and then church on Sunday morning). Packing a gi is easy, it just takes up a lot of room if you don't want it to wrinkle too much. :P I keep checking the weather for Tennessee, too. It's supposed to be high 80's, and for a bit it looked like there were going to be thunder storms while I was there, but they look like they'll be much later (Wednesday, instead of the weekend). Don't get me wrong, I love a good thunderstorm, but I don't want one when I'm visiting a city for the first time. Speaking of weather, I had fog coming home from karate tonight. How weird is that? Fog, in September, in SoCal. I thought it wasn't supposed to arrive until February?

Doggonnit

I love my Dalmatian. I really do. But to say that she's high-strung would be putting it mildly. Within the last four months, she's broken nearly all the lines we've had tied out so that our dogs can be outside without leaving the property. So the last couple of days she's been in the courtyard during the day, while she still gets to sleep in the laundry room at night. Talk about spoiled. Eddy was in the courtyard with her while we were at church today, and the two of them managed to find a box of old newspaper and tear nearly all the paper apart. After Eddy left the courtyard, Inka climbed up into the planter boxes and took a nap in my mom's ice plant-type plants up there. Dad told Inka he might send her to Tanzania.

Speaking of dogs, the both of them are about 8 1/2 now. At least, that's what we think. Eddy, of course, was rescued from a junkyard, so we're not positive on that one. The point is, though, that Eddy seems to be greying around the muzzle, maybe some on the neck, and we think he might be starting to get some arthritis. Don't they usually get arthritis onset somewhere around 10? And can you tell whether or not a Dalmatian is starting to go grey?

Mail Gene

I'm getting ready to go to Tennessee next week for a karate seminar. I'm excited. I'd like some pocket money, so I asked my parents for a few odd jobs I can do around the house. Mom asked me to clean off the kitchen counters, clean the kitchen, and to clean up the master bath. So I did.

See, I had been sorting the mail into these folders toward the end of the summer, since it has a tendency to get super bad. If it were my mail, I'd be able to toss things right away. But it's my parents' mail, so I just sort, and try to make it as easy as possible for them to throw things away. When I started classes again this fall, though, I wasn't home anymore when the mail came, so it's been multiplying on the counter. So I sorted it today. I even arranged the fruit prettily in a bowl in the middle of the eating area of the counter, to emphasize the fact that I'd cleared it off.

Then my dad got home while I was at karate, with today's mail. It just sat there, so I sorted it when I got home. And then my dad pulled out all the junk that's been gathering in the living room and proceeded to sort it. On my clean kitchen counter. Mom's gonna be really happy to see that when she gets home tomorrow.

Salsa Mix

I have an advanced algebraic equation for you to take a look at:

(1 brother + 1 college-aged sister)/(1 mom working out the house) + log(Spanish III assignment) = garlic-flavored tomatoes

In case you couldn't follow my astoundingly impressive math, my brother got an assignment (last week?) to make salsa. Simple enough, right? He told Mom he needs ingredients. Her work schedule was changed, and somehow the proper ingredients never made it home. The salsa is due tomorrow (I remember when I had this assignment, too), so once again, it's sister-mom to the rescue. What did I use? That's a good question. Get a load of this ingredient list:

• canned, diced tomatoes
• garlic (thank goodness we actually had the real, fresh stuff)
• dried cilantro (from a bottle, no chance to get the real stuff)

But wait, it gets better. That was the end of the correlation between suggested ingredients and available ingredients (we did have an onion and some bell peppers, but since they were eligible for observation of microbiology in action, I decided they should be tossed, instead of tossed into the salsa). The rest, well, I basically pulled it out of the spice cupboard, and if it smelled like it might work, it went in:

• basil
• onion salt
• salt
• pepper
• white pepper
• wasabi (just a dash)
  
• a the stems of a few leaves from my sage plant, Sam

And now you know how to make garlic-flavored tomatoes. We're hoping that the salsa will have a chance to let the flavors merge overnight. If his class doesn't like it, well, I'll just toss it. If I want garlic-flavored tomatoes, I'll make spaghetti.

The best part of this is, though, that my dad still doesn't know we even made salsa tonight, or that it was even an assigned project.