Sunday, July 27, 2008

the beginning of the end

Only one month until classes start.  And boy do I have a lot to do in that month!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

allergies, boys, and grad school

Whew.  I've had a wild few days.  The boy finally started talking to me again, and he apologized for taking out his frustration on me earlier this summer.  I appreciated the apology and am glad he still wants to talk.  I miss him very much.  In talking to him earlier today, he told me he's off work till Saturday and bored out of his mind, but when I asked him about getting together, he said things were too crazy and he couldn't drive out of town.  I wish he'd understand that I need to save all my money too but I believe seeing him is worth spending a bit of it.  It wouldn't be so bad if we met halfway.  Hopefully things will get better in August.

I went to the allergist this morning to have an allergy evaluation - that wonderful procedure where they scratch your back with a billion different allergens and see what happens.  Well, nothing happened.  And when they did the under-the-skin test on my arm, nothing happened.  So I'm not allergic to anything.  I'm not surprised since even poison ivy doesn't bother me.  However, I did find out I have asthma.  It's not bad, but it is enough to mean I'm clinically asthmatic.  I have to use an inhaler twice a day for a month to see if that does anything.  I never thought I could be asthmatic.  But it does explain why I can't breathe as well when singing and why my frequent bouts of bronchitis are a minimum of three weeks in duration.  I guess I'll know more in a month.

I've registered for the GRE.  Exactly one month from today, I'll tackle the test that will largely determine where I go to grad school.  Between now and then, I get to study study study.  I've got the books and will be doing practice problems for the next few weeks.  Hopefully I'll do well so I won't have to take it again.  This fall's gonna be wild enough as it is.  I'm also still in the process of picking grad schools.  I've found about 10 that I like, but I don't know if I'm done looking or not.  My GRE score will help determine that.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

update

It's been a few days, but life kinda got crazy on me.  It was wonderful to have a long weekend of no work and to have the 7th & 8th off from the lab.  However, the usual daily grind began again on Wednesday.  It wasn't a bad week by any means.  I'm a little excited about Monday because we have 5 families coming in and I get to test all 5!

Mom and I've been doing a lot of yardwork lately, so I'm sleeping really really well.  The yard also looks pretty good, too, since we've put in some new flowers, weeded a couple beds, trimmed back some wayward branches and done a lot of watering.  There's still quite a bit to go, though.  I'm hoping that tomorrow Dad and I will successfully install a french drain so that we don't have quite such a runoff problem.  If this one works, we're gonna get at least one more.  However, getting Dad to do much of anything these days is rough.  I was amazed he helped us water everything tonight.  Granted, Mom and I were the ones pulling up trees and such, but hey.

I'm still trucking away at trying to narrow down my grad school options.  Additionally, I still need to take the GRE, choose an empirical thesis project, finalize a HoScho thesis topic, and prepare for comps.  Ugh.  I though summer was supposed to be a break!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

a big surprise

Josh came home!!!!!!!!!!!!  :)

He completely surprised us and showed up a few minutes ago. Of course I'd gone to bed early, so all I heard was Mom shrieking. I went downstairs and found out that Mom and Dad were sitting on the couch talking and reading when all of a sudden the door began to creak open. They apparently sat and stared as the "burglar" swung open the door (see how prepared they are for a real break-in!) and in walked Josh! He drove all afternoon and evening to come see us for the long weekend.

the start of a tiny break

I don't have to work tomorrow.  At either place.  Hallelujah!  I love what I do, but I'm exhausted.  I'm thrilled I get to sleep in tomorrow and that I have 3 days of weekend, plus 2 mornings off next week.  However, on Monday I'll go to the ENT and probably find out when I'll have my tonsils removed.  I'm not looking forward to that procedure, but I am looking forward to not getting sick anymore!

I don't have any big plans for the weekend.  Perks of not living near any of my college friends, I guess (and of a certain boy not wanting to talk to me for an undisclosed amount of time).  I do hope to get some work done on my scrapbooks.  I've got to get my Costa Rica one done before I forget all the details!  Since today was payday, I'm also hoping to get a bit of shopping for me done.  :)