December 10, 2005

*Insert sigh of relief here*

Stick a fork in me, I'm done.

Just turned in my final exam (only 1.5 hours late, but who's counting?) and boy is my brain tired!

This was a busy week, full of final projects and papers and this 'thinkpiece' of an exam. Excellent classes, both of them ... very practical work, especially the end projects. Going into my final project, I had a 99 in my Planning for Technology class. In my Intro to IT class, I had all A's and 2 or 3 A+'s, including two of my 4 final projects. Now I just have to wait for those last two grades to be posted.

Oh, I know I have A's, I just like to see it.

Yes, I'm a grades junkie. If I feel I'm not doing well, I'll just give up and withdraw rather than get a bad grade. If I get a point or two off of a project, I will resubmit. I don't know how I got this way. I was terrible in high school and just did what I had to do to get out of college the first time.

Maybe now it's because I have something to prove. Every perfect score I get is a giant flip of the bird to everyone that said I would bever be good enough. I don't even care of they know how well I do in school. I know. I'm proving to myself that I am better than they said I was.

I also have more to lose. Every day in school is one step closer to my goal. I don't want to drag my feet, I'm ready to move up, move on.

Why am I so anxious? I don't know. Maybe that's a result of wasting 15 years of my life miserable, stagnant. Maybe because I spent another 5 years waiting for something that, in the end, wasn't nearly what I thought it was. Moving on? Why yes, thanks, I'll have a steaming plate of that.

So, classes are done for the time being. They start again in January. Not even looking at the calendar yet.

Also, it's 5 more days of work until The Break. *EEP!* I'm giddy with anticipation. I have a Tech Ventures thing tomorrow (oops, today) and then I'm all about Christmas and Joy and Love and Peace and SLEEP. We'll head out of town on the 17th to visit T and the 'rents and the cows and (maybe) friends. Visiting T's church on the 18th which I'm really looning forward to. Not to put too much pressure on myself but it's the first time in, oh, 20 years that I've stepped into a church for a service. No worries ... I'll be with my kids and his Dad, watching him and his Mom sing so I'll be in good hands.

Once we come home, it's wall to wall Christmas here ... then T comes down for the rest of vacation. It doesn't get better than that, New Years with the one I love.

In other news ... I've been out of karate for a month now and I've gotten my ass chewed out this week ... I deserved it ... and I will go back, I've just had a rough patch between work and school and bronchitis and ... yeah, Chris, I know, a million reasons not to go. I'll prolly have to put off going back until after New Years. *i can hear it now*

I'm stretching again, though. Lee reminded me that I need it at my age *gee, thanks* and it will help relieve stress, something we have no shortage of around here.

Well, I better get back to baking ... first batch of biscotti is just about done. Making Double Chocolate Pecan and Almond Mandlebrot for tomorrow. Jealous? Oh yeah, you know you are.

Posted by Prosemonkey at 12:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

December 04, 2005

Making progress ...

One class down, one to go. I've just sent in my benchmark project, which is pretty impressive if I do say so myself. I still have to finish my other class, including a 3-5 page research paper on the role of women in computer science (I've got to get a catchier title), a 2 page paper summarizing an interview that I am waiting to come in my email (ANY TIME NOW WOULD BE GREAT, REALLY), a professional webpage about yours truly (gag) and a final exam. Then I will be D O N E.

What an emotional semester. I'm ready for it to all be over.

On a happier note, I finished shopping for T's parents today. I also *almost* finished shopping for T ... it's so much easier shopping for people that aren't attached to you at the hip. Yes, you can take that to mean that I haven't shopped for the kids yet. I know, I suck. Honestly, I was out today, all ready to do some shopping since both the boy and the girl went to their father's house this morning. I barely got to Target and started shopping when I got a call that the girl was on her way back to town to come home. All I had time to do was finish up for T's parents and check out before she was there. I feel bad because I was aggravated and I think I made the girl feel really bad, even though I reassured her over and over that it wasn't her fault.

We went to Old Navy afterwards and did some clearance rack shopping (scored a black velour set for me and a couple of shirts for her), then we stopped by Starbucks for a venti Caffe Americano for me (read: pure caffeine with a squirt of hot water) and a venti Hot Chocolate for the girl (read: high test blend of chocolate and sugar that meant I was peeling her off the ceiling for the rest of the afternoon). I had planned on going into Starbucks and staking out a table so I could work on my papers with a caffeine IV until they dropped the girl off, but you know what they say about the best laid plans and all. Yeah, they get fracked by vindictive ex's.

We swung by the Dollar Store afterwards to pick up some paper she needed for school and some candy (which, of course, we were going to wash down with our caffeinated beverages ... what? is that bad?) Then it was back toward the house with a quick swing through Sonic for some chicken salads.

By the time we got home, it was 4 and, umm, yeah, I had wasted the entire day. So here I sit, plugging away, listening to Christmas music non-stop (hey, whatever works) and creating web pages, just hoping to get done. *ack*

Posted by Prosemonkey at 12:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

December 01, 2005

On Integration ...

As the semester winds down, I'm noticing how mentally tired I am lately. I realize now that one of the reasons I don't have a chance to do anything that is truly innovative here at school is that, since I've started working here, I've been in school. Ok, I actually had a year off so that is not exactly true but, during that year, I was trying to turn this media center around and get things set to right.

*have I always talked like this? How did the local colloquialisms become such a part of my vocabulary? Yesterday, I actually said I had to have a 'come to Jesus' meeting with someone that was having an attitude problem. Wow ... I'm feeling the urge to go out and 'bang a U-ie' just to reassert my Bostonian roots.*

What I wonder is ... how do people do it all? How do they have time to be innovative and current and grow both personally and professionally and not have their head feel all explodey?

Continue reading "On Integration ..."

Posted by Prosemonkey at 11:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

November 23, 2005

A good sign ...

I have today off. It's been forever since I took the day before Thanksgiving off. Actually it’s been since I was unemployed since I did this. I was very lucky to be able to take today off. Why did I take today off? Traveling? Cooking? No. Homework. I've got projects to finish and no time to do them. I was all set when I learned I could take the day off to do nothing but hunker down and knock out the rest of my class.

Then Friday I heard it. A LOUD thumping under my car. It sounded to me like the muffler was falling off. It only happened when it was very cold out, though, so I thought maybe something was loose, something that, at normal temperatures, would fit tight but in the cold would shrink a bit and cause air to get out. It was too late Friday afternoon to make it across town so I took it Saturday to my Toyota Dealer … Greenville Toyota, to be exact, whose praises I will be singing later. After putting it up on the lift, the mechanic motioned for me to come see what he saw.

There it was, an inch long rip in the side of my exhaust, and the dangling piece that was once attached to it. Not sure how that happened. All we can figure is that I hit something and I'm thinking it was a piece of tire that bounced up on one of our late night highway drives. Luckily, the car is under warranty and here I sit, on my morning off, waiting for the exhaust on my pretty baby to be replaced.

Which brings me to the singing praises part. Driving across town this morning, I said to my daughter "You know, it would be good customer service if they offered wireless internet access there. In a restaurant it's nice but in a place that you have to sit and wait?? How much happier their customers would be if they could make good use of their time."

And lo and behold, they have it. *angels singing*

And what am I doing with my time? Procrastinating Blogging.

If you build it, they will come. Whether they work or not is another thing.

Posted by Prosemonkey at 08:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

November 16, 2005

No Frackin' Way!!!

Ok, I know I've mentioned here how lucky I am. Today just tops them all.

I'm at work this morning, dragging my bedraggled ass because I've made myself sick over everything lately, and feeling really sorry for myself. I told my assistant I needed to go home at noon ... she starts calling for a sub, I call my principal to let her know and settle in at my desk to write up a sub plan.

As I am wont to do *only, like, a MILLION times a day* I checked my email. A message from T, subject 'Woot!'. FIRST THING that popped in my head was that he was excited about his XBox 360 coming but, when I opened it, I about fell out of my seat.

He got us tickets to see INXS.

*Oh JOY!!*

We watched Rockstar this summer, both eager to see one of our all-time favorite bands perform again, both torn because Michael wasn't there. Would we still love their music? Could anyone replace him? The answer to the first one is a resounding YES! The second one, can JD replace Michael ... no, he can't nor would I want him to try ... but he can help them find a new sound and get back on top.

T knows how I feel and he's totally sold on a new INXS. No need to be sorry, babe. Did I want JD to win? No, I couldn't stand him and I was actually angry when he won ... still working that out, silly as it sounds. I wanted Marty to win and I used that as an excuse to be angry ... but now I think I just didn't want Michael to be really gone. How do you move on from that? How do you replace his talent? You don't. You reinvent.

I'm getting the best of both worlds, a dream come true. I get to see INXS live ... AND I get to see Marty live. MARTY! I was so excited about that prospect that I forgot he would be performing Trees, my absolute favorite original song that came out of Rockstar. Yeah, I like Pretty Vegas, too, T ... I just hate to admit it! You know I'll be singing along!

Wait ... I actually get the best of three worlds ... I get to see all of that with T, the only person I would want to see it with, the only person that understands how I'll be feeling that night and why I want so desperately to fall in love with them again. It's ok, we'll be together and we'll fall in love with the new incarnation together, I just know it. Maybe we'll both have closure over losing Michael. I think our torn strange addiction to the show this summer proved that we need something. We're actually doing the adult thing ... a date-like thing ... hopefully staying overnight since it's 3 hours from here. I may get my hotel wish after all.

BUT WAIT ... that's not all!!!!

Continue reading "No Frackin' Way!!!"

Posted by Prosemonkey at 11:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)