Less than 4 months til wedding.
Less than 3 months to complete thesis.
Currently, watching a pug dog lick a monitor screen.
Thanks to Suz and Chris for that one. What would I do without you? Maybe my work, I don't know.
Week 1
I was going to title (and post) this entry last week under the guise of "Week 1 = Poop". It mostly was until Friday afternoon. Yes, you can yell at me for only having to teach for 50 minutes three times a week, and attending one class all semester for 75 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But the first week always feels unbelievably overwhelming. This time even more so - because I realized there is a bunch of forms and things you need to fill out to do this whole graduation thing. Doing this requires setting up meeting times with so-called "important" people. But they are so busy the first week or so - that it just seems impossible to get done. I think it felt even more worse because I was unable to get my own schedule nailed down. It finally has gotten worked out - so I guess I'll be able to sleep at night.
But the reason for the delay of "Week 1 = Poop" is that on Friday afternoon I received a phone call asking me if a someone very special should get on a flight to Columbia because they had a 4 day weekend. Now normally my little voice of reason would say - gosh, that is crazy - you know how much an plane ticket will cost this late in the game - quite a bit is the correct answer. Some how the voice of reason didn't even get a chance to talk because out burst high-pitched yes-es faster than a pitching machine at the batting cages. So needless to say Weekend 1 was great. Too bad the rest of the weekends this semester can not even come close to topping that.
Well, now I feel extremely lonely. I dropped Andy off at the airport this morning and I just about didn't want to go into school today. I could just as well not gone, since I was the least bit productive - outside of sort of figuring out how to go about typing my masters thesis in LaTeX. I hope this week I can finish off the lectures through the first exam for my 122 class, and start building pieces of my thesis. Wedding related tasks: I need to sign us up for a Pre-Cana session, write a bunch of emails to people involved with wedding, start gathering up song ideas for the dj, and possibly creating a minute by minute run down of the important day (not that I specifically have those sorts of details...just create a file for me to fill them in). Other than that - I plan on continuing to bite my nails and be super nervous about everything.
But the reason for the delay of "Week 1 = Poop" is that on Friday afternoon I received a phone call asking me if a someone very special should get on a flight to Columbia because they had a 4 day weekend. Now normally my little voice of reason would say - gosh, that is crazy - you know how much an plane ticket will cost this late in the game - quite a bit is the correct answer. Some how the voice of reason didn't even get a chance to talk because out burst high-pitched yes-es faster than a pitching machine at the batting cages. So needless to say Weekend 1 was great. Too bad the rest of the weekends this semester can not even come close to topping that.
Well, now I feel extremely lonely. I dropped Andy off at the airport this morning and I just about didn't want to go into school today. I could just as well not gone, since I was the least bit productive - outside of sort of figuring out how to go about typing my masters thesis in LaTeX. I hope this week I can finish off the lectures through the first exam for my 122 class, and start building pieces of my thesis. Wedding related tasks: I need to sign us up for a Pre-Cana session, write a bunch of emails to people involved with wedding, start gathering up song ideas for the dj, and possibly creating a minute by minute run down of the important day (not that I specifically have those sorts of details...just create a file for me to fill them in). Other than that - I plan on continuing to bite my nails and be super nervous about everything.
Winter Break and What to Look Forward to in 2008
Wow, that kinda sounds like a news segue right before they cut to commercial break.
What can I say about winter break. I feel exhausted from traveling everywhere. It was wonderful to see Andy. I think this might have been one of the longest times on record we were both in the same place at the same time. The apartment he has (we will soon have) is very nice - although it may become crowded real quick when I try to get my stuff in there. I need to think of a way to minimize the amount of things I will bring with me - but that is a thought for another time.
We spent most of our family-free time - out shopping and buying necessary home goods. I almost don't want to go out shopping for quite a while. We bought ourselves a tree and ornaments and in a very short time got the apartment in the holiday spirit. It felt very easy and homey. I didn't really miss being at home too much. I did drag Andy to a couple of masses in El Paso. We even managed to make it through the hour and half long Midnight service complete with incense and hundreds of people attending. He survived admirably - with a couple of pokes and prods from me when we were supposed to sit, stand and kneel. Shush, don't tell anyone, but it is probably the most services I've attended in the past year and half. I have been less then a regular attendee at church here in South Carolina. Christmas Day was interesting - we slept a little late, opened presents, and spent the afternoon and evening at a fellow lieutenant's home for dinner. The rest of the evening I omit at the request of Andy.
Andy's parents and his sister showed up for a few days. so we rallied the troops (haha military metaphor) for a couple outings. We visited the White Sands Missile Base to see the museum. I think my favorite was White Sands Monument. I'm glad it was a relatively cool day or else I would have roasted out there on the sand. It was very picturesque (so I took a bunch of pictures and they are up on facebook incase you hadn't seen them). Andy, Trish, and I attended the 2007 Sun Bowl game - well through the beginning of the 3rd quarter. It was a onesided game. :oP We also made a trip out to the racetrack to see some horses run. No, I did not bet on any horses, but I enjoyed watching them.
I even managed to cook a few meals. Mostly staples - chicken and mushrooms, steak and Amanda's brown rice, baked ziti, steak and mashed potatoes, and spaghetti with meatballs and sausages. We found a good butcher that has some really nice meats. Even though all I really know is stick meat in broiler, I'm ready to learn something new. Fun Christmas gift - Entertaining with the Sopranos - which has a lot of Italian recipes that I know of but didn't really know how to make.
I even had some time at home. That was pretty good too. But it also meant getting some wedding things out of the way - setting up the guys' tuxes, and a face to face meeting with the florist. I also got to go a little wedding dress scouting with Beckie who got engaged on Christmas Day (hurray!)
So, winter break recap: I had fun in El Paso, fun at home, and got no work done.
Which leads me to my current stressed out alert level : orange! Moderate to Moderate severe stress building. Watch out for abrupt conversations and the occasional meltdown.
What I plan to accomplish this year - in no particular order:
What can I say about winter break. I feel exhausted from traveling everywhere. It was wonderful to see Andy. I think this might have been one of the longest times on record we were both in the same place at the same time. The apartment he has (we will soon have) is very nice - although it may become crowded real quick when I try to get my stuff in there. I need to think of a way to minimize the amount of things I will bring with me - but that is a thought for another time.
We spent most of our family-free time - out shopping and buying necessary home goods. I almost don't want to go out shopping for quite a while. We bought ourselves a tree and ornaments and in a very short time got the apartment in the holiday spirit. It felt very easy and homey. I didn't really miss being at home too much. I did drag Andy to a couple of masses in El Paso. We even managed to make it through the hour and half long Midnight service complete with incense and hundreds of people attending. He survived admirably - with a couple of pokes and prods from me when we were supposed to sit, stand and kneel. Shush, don't tell anyone, but it is probably the most services I've attended in the past year and half. I have been less then a regular attendee at church here in South Carolina. Christmas Day was interesting - we slept a little late, opened presents, and spent the afternoon and evening at a fellow lieutenant's home for dinner. The rest of the evening I omit at the request of Andy.
Andy's parents and his sister showed up for a few days. so we rallied the troops (haha military metaphor) for a couple outings. We visited the White Sands Missile Base to see the museum. I think my favorite was White Sands Monument. I'm glad it was a relatively cool day or else I would have roasted out there on the sand. It was very picturesque (so I took a bunch of pictures and they are up on facebook incase you hadn't seen them). Andy, Trish, and I attended the 2007 Sun Bowl game - well through the beginning of the 3rd quarter. It was a onesided game. :oP We also made a trip out to the racetrack to see some horses run. No, I did not bet on any horses, but I enjoyed watching them.
I even managed to cook a few meals. Mostly staples - chicken and mushrooms, steak and Amanda's brown rice, baked ziti, steak and mashed potatoes, and spaghetti with meatballs and sausages. We found a good butcher that has some really nice meats. Even though all I really know is stick meat in broiler, I'm ready to learn something new. Fun Christmas gift - Entertaining with the Sopranos - which has a lot of Italian recipes that I know of but didn't really know how to make.
I even had some time at home. That was pretty good too. But it also meant getting some wedding things out of the way - setting up the guys' tuxes, and a face to face meeting with the florist. I also got to go a little wedding dress scouting with Beckie who got engaged on Christmas Day (hurray!)
So, winter break recap: I had fun in El Paso, fun at home, and got no work done.
Which leads me to my current stressed out alert level : orange! Moderate to Moderate severe stress building. Watch out for abrupt conversations and the occasional meltdown.
What I plan to accomplish this year - in no particular order:
- teach a class
- finish my wedding planning
- write a Master's thesis
- present said thesis and thankfully not have to defend it in front of lots of math professors
- go to a bunch of weddings! :o)
- stay physically fit
- graduate on time
- get married myself
- do taxes
- move to Texas
- go on a honeymoon?
- move to Oklahoma
- maybe find a job
- start a new knitting project
- learn some new recipes
- complete Super Paper Mario
Belated Everything to You!
It's amazing that one can go from awakening in a full house complete with puppy dog, spend 12 hours driving, 1.5 hours eating, 1 hour helping brother unpack, drive 720 miles, and have to go to bed in lonely apartment.
More useful post to come.
More useful post to come.
401
That is just how many days this entire deployment has lasted. I just got a call this evening from Andrew to say he is stateside - not in Texas but stateside nonetheless.
I am relieved - although I am not sure it has fully hit me yet.
I am relieved - although I am not sure it has fully hit me yet.
Golden Compass and 1 week of class to go
Last week of classes for the semester. I can not believe that I have made it this far. It means giving two presentations , wrapping up a semester's worth of teaching, and finally getting the chance to call Andy (not him always calling me - not to mention the time difference gets cut down to two hours). I feel somewhat relieved - not totally but almost there.
I went to see a sneak preview of the Golden Compass last night. The movie was good - so good I did not look at my watch once, actually i was hoping the movie would continue on, but alas it did not. I don't want to say much more since the movie doesn't come out until next Friday - but it was a pretty good adaptation of the book. Leaps and bounds above whoever decided to write the screenplay for Eragon - boy did that turn out a flop. But I will say this - watch for the armored bear fight scene - it is....wow!
Well I should get back to doing a spot of work so that this week doesn't feel too overwhelming.
Oh - Andy is currently in Kuwait and will hopefully be in Texas by Tuesday evening. That is all.
I went to see a sneak preview of the Golden Compass last night. The movie was good - so good I did not look at my watch once, actually i was hoping the movie would continue on, but alas it did not. I don't want to say much more since the movie doesn't come out until next Friday - but it was a pretty good adaptation of the book. Leaps and bounds above whoever decided to write the screenplay for Eragon - boy did that turn out a flop. But I will say this - watch for the armored bear fight scene - it is....wow!
Well I should get back to doing a spot of work so that this week doesn't feel too overwhelming.
Oh - Andy is currently in Kuwait and will hopefully be in Texas by Tuesday evening. That is all.
1.5 Weeks to Go...
that is if you don't count finals week. So what is there left to do
In other news, my parents have yet again gone to Disney World without me. It's very sad. Not that I could really go anyway - seeing as it is crunch time for the semester and my students would be totally lost without me. I do wish I could have gone, take a break from the Turkey Day /wedding break. But they did leave me a very early Christmas present. A navigation system. So that wherever life happens to take me - I can always manage a way home (yes even in the event of a 10 mile back up or construction detour). I was very surprised needless to say. I haven't played with it yet. Hope to do that maybe this weekend. Any ideas where I should go?
On a food related note - I love fettuccine alfredo. I don't ever make it for myself. But I always get huge portions at restaurants. Like all good people - I doggie-bag the leftovers. Whenever I have had left overs - I always threw it in the microwave. Isn't that what you are supposed to do with leftovers?? Not fettuccine alfredo. I have learned the secret. Throw the leftovers in a small fry pan and add a splash of milk and whatever cheese you may have on hand. Heat that up real quick - just like in the restaurant. *You can now commence with the - oh but didn't you know that was what you were supposed to do?*
I don't have much else to update except I want to see the Lights at the Zoo, the Golden Compass, and I just saw the trailer for Sweeney Todd starring the oh so dreamy Johnny Depp. That is all.
- Teaching -
create 3rd exam and the final exam;lots o'grading - Applied Math -
problem re-writes, case study write up, one more presentation about my case study - Fourier Analysis - a presentation of my choosing
- Graph Theory -
two problem sets, a final exam - Masters work - a humongous pile of papers t
o readand start making sense of
In other news, my parents have yet again gone to Disney World without me. It's very sad. Not that I could really go anyway - seeing as it is crunch time for the semester and my students would be totally lost without me. I do wish I could have gone, take a break from the Turkey Day /wedding break. But they did leave me a very early Christmas present. A navigation system. So that wherever life happens to take me - I can always manage a way home (yes even in the event of a 10 mile back up or construction detour). I was very surprised needless to say. I haven't played with it yet. Hope to do that maybe this weekend. Any ideas where I should go?
On a food related note - I love fettuccine alfredo. I don't ever make it for myself. But I always get huge portions at restaurants. Like all good people - I doggie-bag the leftovers. Whenever I have had left overs - I always threw it in the microwave. Isn't that what you are supposed to do with leftovers?? Not fettuccine alfredo. I have learned the secret. Throw the leftovers in a small fry pan and add a splash of milk and whatever cheese you may have on hand. Heat that up real quick - just like in the restaurant. *You can now commence with the - oh but didn't you know that was what you were supposed to do?*
I don't have much else to update except I want to see the Lights at the Zoo, the Golden Compass, and I just saw the trailer for Sweeney Todd starring the oh so dreamy Johnny Depp. That is all.
3 Weeks to Go...
To-do update:
On a side note: I got this massive killer headache on October 25th. It has slowly diminished in intensity but lately I feel as if it is coming back. i know I am stressing about the end of the semester. So many tiny little things I need to get done before the end. I feel it coming from my shoulders (it's where i store all my stress.) But I also think I am happy, excited, nervous and who knows what Andy coming home. Going to my friend's wedding this weekend is sort of putting all of this into perspective for me. This will be me in exactly 6 months - to the day. But I haven't yet figured out a way to release any of this energy into something good. Reading just makes me more nervous - but it is exactly the thing I need to do. I hope that exactly a month's time when I get off the plane and see Andrew that all of this will just wash over me and I will feel better.
I'm back to watching the AMA's and avoiding reading.
- Teaching -
create 3rd exam and the final exam;lots o'grading - Applied Math -
problem re-writes, case study write up, one more presentation about my case study - Fourier Analysis - a presentation of my choosing
- Graph Theory -
onethen one more problem set, a final exam - Masters work - a humongous pile of papers t
o readand start making sense of
On a side note: I got this massive killer headache on October 25th. It has slowly diminished in intensity but lately I feel as if it is coming back. i know I am stressing about the end of the semester. So many tiny little things I need to get done before the end. I feel it coming from my shoulders (it's where i store all my stress.) But I also think I am happy, excited, nervous and who knows what Andy coming home. Going to my friend's wedding this weekend is sort of putting all of this into perspective for me. This will be me in exactly 6 months - to the day. But I haven't yet figured out a way to release any of this energy into something good. Reading just makes me more nervous - but it is exactly the thing I need to do. I hope that exactly a month's time when I get off the plane and see Andrew that all of this will just wash over me and I will feel better.
I'm back to watching the AMA's and avoiding reading.
4 Weeks and counting
Wow - only 4 more weeks to go. It has been crazy this past week. My constant headache has continued - I know probably to the amount of stress I am created for myself. Awful. I know. But I did manage to get a few things knocked out.
Just keep swimming!
- Teaching -
create 3rd exam and the final exam;lots o'grading - Applied Math - problem re-writes,
case studywrite up (I only cross out half because I have half of it done), one more presentation about my case study - Fourier Analysis - a presentation of my choosing
- Graph Theory -
onethen one more problem set, a final exam - Masters work - a humongous pile of papers to read and start making sense of
Just keep swimming!
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