"The Point of No Return"

Aw, the end of another weekend and the beginning of another week. Let's see, I've got 2 down and only 14 more to go. Not bad. Today I spent the day catching up on some studying that I had neglected. It's funny how no matter how much I tell myself I wont', I always put off studying for the week until Sunday. It always starts on Thursday night when I think, "Well, I can take a break tonight and make up for it tomorrow afternoon." Which on Friday always turns into, "I've got two whole days to work, I can take the night off." This gives way to "No one does work on Saturday." Finally come Sunday morning I think, "Damn, what was I doing all weekend?"

Well, I'll tell you what I was doing this weekend, I was watching movies. I went to see two. That's amazing for me considering that the last movie I went to see was The Village I think. I know, I know, I should get out more. Anyway, Friday night I went to see White Noise. If you're not into cheesy horror movies, you probably wouldn't enjoy it. Since I am, I thought it was okay. The movie could have been better and more scary. I've heard of EVP, which basically is a way of supposedly recording voices of the dead, and there are actually some scientists who believe in it. I think if they would have made the storyline a little more believable, i might have enjoyed the movie more. As it was, I liked up until the last 20 minutes or so. I didn't really like the ending, but I won't ruin it by explaining.

The other movie I saw was Phantom of the Opera. I loved the movie. The acting was that great, but the singing was amazing. I didn't really like Christine because she always had the same facial expressions. But, I read that all of the actors (except Minnie Driver) did their own singing so I have a little more respect for Christine because she was a great singer. I thought the Phantom was perfect. He had the right emotions and eerieness (is this a word?) about him. Of course, I cried, but only a little. I heard someone else who said they bawled like a baby.

Well, my medicine is wearing off so I think it's time for some NyQuil and bed for me. Yep, I'm sick again and this time I can't blame it on the rugrats who, by the way, are also sick. I wonder if somehow the germs could leak through the phone.

addictions

So, yesterday I decided that I was going to bake a cake for no reason. I had high hopes for this cake. It was one of my favorite cakes (white with strawberry frosting). Well, the cake doesn't look so pretty. It didn't exactly rise. I don't know what went wrong, but I suspect it has something to do with my oven. Later last night, I decided to bake some chicken. Well, said chicken started smoking. Not just a little smoke. Oh no, it was like I'd but a fog machine in my kitchen. It's cool at a bar, not so cool in a kitchen. I thought maybe it was the marinade I put on the chicken, but I went to a friend's to finish baking the chicken and it didn't smoke. So, I think it was just the oven. By the way, the cake tastes delicious. It just looks kind of pathetic.

I was very productive this afternoon (I'll explain why later). This is unusual for me since I tend to like to nap in the afternoon if I don't have class. Today though, I went to a coffeeshop and got a good 3 hours of studying in. Of course, that also means I got a good three cups of coffee (gotta thank the roommate for getting me a gift certificate so I don't have to pay for it). Obviously, I've fallen off the wagon. I'd been so good too. I had only been drinking decaf or half-caf, and it showed. I was a little antsy during my afternoon lab. It was actually quite funny. I was bouncing around as I was poking through the intestines. My TA thought I was dancing (we know that wasn't happening). One of the "assignments" I finished this afternoon involved analyzing my performance last semester and coming up with a set of strengths and weaknesses. Tomorrow I have to share this list with my advisor. This assignment was hard. Have you ever tried to think about your strengths and weaknesses? That's hard enough, but now I have to tell a man that I admire that I procrastinate too much and don't study for Histology because I don't like it. That should be an interesting meeting.

All of this productivity was spurred by the fact that my favorite "guilty-pleasure" show starts tonight. That's right. My name is Janet, and I am an American Idol addict. Speaking of which, I need to get back to work because my show starts soon and I need to finish my list of weaknesses. Hmm, I think I just thought of a new one...

Stupid Italics

So, I've been having some blog issues. For some strange reason, pretty much my whole blog is in italics. Not sure how that happened or how to fix it. Oh well, hopefully the new bizarre formatting doesn't bother anyone.

So, I've finished my first week back. It was actually not too bad. I knew what to expect this time, and I've been pretty good about not letting myself get too far behind. I've also acquired my favorite smell too. It had been so long since I'd been in the lab, I forgot how much the smell sticks to me. It's especially strong now because the abdomen is so juicy.

I haven't only been studying since I got back. I went to the "boat" Saturday because my friend wanted to try her hand at the slots. I think she's bad luck because I lost $40 this time. Not cool! I think that I will not be returning. It's funny. I enjoyed the boat last time when I won, but this time, not so much. I guess I should have quit while I was ahead.

Well, I think I'm going to go bake a cake. I went grocery shopping, and they had cake mix on sale and for some reason I felt like cake.

5 Questions

Well, I started classes today. It's funny how I was kind of looking forward to it, and then the first class was with my "favorite" Physiology professor and I remembered why I hated going to class. I'm not feeling very creative today so I thought I would answer some questions from this book that I have called Think Twice by Bret Nicholaus and Paul Lowrie. Hopefully you find this interesting. Feel free to leave your answers if you like.

1. Picture both of the following in your mind for a few seconds. Which scene do you find more peaceful?
a) an old lighthouse on the craggy seashore of Maine
b) a white, high-steepled church in the countryside of Vermont
I'd choose a. I've always wanted to go to Maine. From the few pictures I've seen, it looks gorgeous. Plus, I love old lighthouses. Not sure why

2. In your opinion, which of the following would the average person find more amusing?
a) the way you sneeze
b) the way you laugh
The way I sneeze. My brother-in-law thinks it's hilarious. I kind of have a high-pitched girly sneeze that you wouldn't expect. Then again, I do sometimes snort when I laugh...

3. If you were given the opportunity to have a one-on-one dinner with either of the following high-profile people, whom would you chose?
a) the pope
b) the president
Surprisingly to some, I would choose the president. Not because I admire him, but because I have questions that I'd like to have him explain to me.

4. In your opinion, which of the following better symbolizes the word happiness?
a) a butterfly
b) a rainbow
I'd say a butterfly because it starts out as something ordinary and becomes something extraordinary. Also because it is free to fly.em>

5.) If you could be either of the following highly publicized celebrity types, which would you want to be?
a) a chart-topping musical performer
b) a popular TV talk-show host
I think I'd like to be a TV host. I'd get to meet and talk with all sorts of interesting people, and my success would be based on my personality/talents not how good I look on stage.

Pre-class rants

I discovered something interesting this weekend. Did you know that most stores only carry backpacks during the summer? Isn't that strange? During the months when most people don't use backpacks, you can find them everywhere. But, break a strap on your backpack lugging around about 30 pounds of books in the dead of winter, and you are screwed. I finally had to break down and go to the campus bookstore. I know that is probably where I should have gone to begin with, but I just hate paying the outrageous prices. Come on, $50 for a backpack is crazy.

New rant: I've really enjoyed the past few days that I haven't had homework hanging over my head. I've been able to go to dinner with friends, clean my apartment, practice yoga, read a book (that I chose), and cook a real meal. I'm realizing that someday, I will have a life. Of course it'll be many years from now, but it's been nice to get a taste what it'll be like to have free time again. I'm jealous of all of those people living in the real world. Everyone tells you that you should be enjoying college because working sucks. Maybe it does, but at least you can come home from work and forget about it. Of course, I don't have to deal with crappy bosses and gossipy, lazy coworkers. I guess nothing's perfect.

I'm watching the movie Clueless. Every girl who went to high school in the '90s knows this movie. I remember watching it, thinking "Wow, they are so cool. I wish I could be like that." Watching it now, I realize that it's so unrealistic and cheesy. Nobody's high school is like that (at least no one I know). But I still love it!

I'm Back!

Wow, I can't believe it's been three weeks already. I feel like I was so busy during my time off, but I honestly can not remember what I did. All I know is that I spent three weeks away from the computer which is actually pretty damn amazing considering my email obsession. Of course now I have about a hundred emails I have to go through and delete.

I spent the first few days of my break in Rockford trying to get acquainted with my future hometown. I think it'll be a good place to live. It's easy to get to (good for my parents) and all of the shopping areas, hospitals, etc. are easily accessible (good for me). Now all I have to do is try to find a decent apartment on my meager budget. That should be fun. We looked at some low-income apartments that were close to the hospital. Granted I qualify for them (sad isn't it) but I'm not sure I want to live in one. They seemed nice especially for the price. They are definately nicer than some of the places I've lived during undergrad, but I just don't know how I feel about living in a low-income neighborhood. I'm not being snobby, I just am not sure how safe it'll be. I'll have to look into it.

I spent a couple of days fattening up at my parent's before going to visit my sister and the little ones. They are as cute and ornery as ever. And of course they were sick. So guess what? That's right, I got sick, too. This was no ordinary cold either. This was one of those lingering sicknesses. It started round about New Year's Eve and I'm finally slept through the night without coughing and/or puking last night. Fun stuff, huh? So I had a fun New Year. I went to sleep at about 9:30, but luckily for me, my coughing had me up just before midnight so I was able to ring in the New Year with my parent's cats. Funny thing is, I'm not really disappointed about not being able to go out. I'm actually glad that I had an excuse so that when I tell people that I went to sleep early on New Year's they feel sorry for me rather than think I'm a loser. Of course, maybe they'd feel sorry for me if they thought I was a loser too. My sickness did give me some time to catch up on my reading though. Of all of the interesting books I read, I had two favorites.

-Sex, Time and Power: How women's sexuality shaped human evolution by Leonard Shlain. Very interesting take on evolution. I really enjoyed it. Probably won't be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're interested in evolution or even feminist's topics you may like it. It's scientific but doesn't read like a textbook.
-The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. Although I'm not sure where I stand on the whole religion/heaven thing, this is a very interesting view on what heaven might be like. Even if you're not into religion, it makes you think about why we are all here. Good if you want I quick read (I finished it in a night).

Well, gotta go finish clearing off all of my junk from my bed so that I can go to sleep. I'm really enjoying the peace and quiet ;)