TGIF - not ready for Monday!

I am so glad it's Friday but I am hoping the weekend will not speed by. I have a midterm Monday that I really, really am nervous about. It's for my senior level class and we have a midterm, a final and our research paper so there isn't a lot of room for mistakes. So I'm anxious to say the least. This weekend is going to be studying, all the way.

I got a quiz back today that I thought I completely bombed. It turned out, I made a high B. Not too bad. What I don't get is that the week before, I thought I had done really well and made a C. I just can't judge. The cool thing about these weekly quizzes in this class is that two are dropped at the end of the semester. So I can still do well. My first three were all A's so I'm not worried. It's just that I can never gauge what my grades will be. I'll think I'm on top of what we are studying and that my responses on my quizzes are complete and then they aren't. Trial and error I suppose.

12 days until we leave for CO!!!! I can't wait!!!!!

Have a great weekend!

Canceled Classes! woohoo!

I love it when classes are canceled. It's like a snowday for grownups. Even though I have tons of stuff to do, it's a major stress reliever. So while I'm not glad that one of my professors is missing due to a death in the family and the other has a sick child, I sure am happy for the time to work on my other school work. But of course, I'm taking some time to blog. :)

I am so excited about our trip to CO. I just cannot stop thinking about it! Even though we are going on this trip to see family, it's still a vacation and we are going to get to do fun vacation things. This is the first trip we've been able to do this. We will be there exactly 2 weeks from today!!!! I can't believe it! But I've got plenty to keep me occupied so the time will probably go fast. Sitting around and eating bon-bons makes the time go quickly - right Auntie C? :)

I don't know if anyone who reads this watches American Idol but this is my time of year. I love AI. Perhaps this is because in my fantasy world I am an accomplished celebrity singer and have multiple platinum albums. In the everyone else's reality I am a student/nanny who lives vicariously through the top 24. The boys last night were more than disappointing, excepting of course David Archuleta. This boy is it. He is what pure talent looks like in human form. And he's only 16! I cried... literally cried...during his performance of John Lennon's "Imagine." It was phenomenal. They should just go ahead and hand him a recording contract and take him out of the competition. He seems so sweet and good natured which adds to his likability. Of course, it's hard to know how people on TV are in real life so this is just the observation of a viewer but I really, really like him.

I'm taking the Aussie out of my top 3 favorite boys because I didn't like his performance last night or his performance last week. Two weeks in a row is too much. He has musical ability, no doubt. I mean, he can carry a tune, and has a certain stage quality that makes him likable but I just don't think this competition was the place for him. So I am replacing him with David Cook. I like him, especially since he's a word nerd like myself. He's good also which puts him in my top three boys. As for my other pick - Jason Castro - hey, he's super talented and has excellent stage presence. And he scores major points for being an Aggie!

Tonight the girls perform and thank goodness for DVR because I have a lot of school work to do. Which I should be doing now....adieu!

Is it spring yet?

Just when I think that spring is springing forth, it withdraws. On one day the temperature will reach almost 80 degrees and the next, I could be needing to bring in my plants to save them from freezing. This is playing major havoc on my allergies, not to mention our air-conditioner. It will be hot in our house one day and the next we need heat. I'm not looking forward to this month's utility bill.

Our weekend was really good. We had the Texas State Sacred Harp Convention in College Station and had a good turn out. I even got some leads for my research project in a place I would have never expected. A lady from Wisconsin was down and happened to over hear my complaining that I hadn't found concrete resources and had found several dead ends. She happened to have a whole list of people I could contact and said I could use her as a reference. And the contacts she gave me are good, reputable scholars which is much easier to site than an enthusiast. It's unfortunate because sometimes a history enthusiast will have better information than a scholar, but because their work isn't published, it doesn't hold as much weight. It's rubbish but I didn't make the rules. Soon I won't have to worry about it anyway since I will graduate!!! Then I can move onto my own studies, whatever they may be. I'm a bit discouraged about school this week and am ready to finish. Big time...

Some extremely HUGE news is that Makiko went home yesterday!!!!! Praise God! She was released from the hospital a whole month early! I know Melissa and Hai are very happy and probably very nervous. Please keep them all in your prayers in this transition. I am praying that Makiko will continue to grow and be healthy. What a blessing she is. I can't wait to see her! Which brings me to....

WE ARE GOING TO COLORADO FOR SPRING BREAK!!! I am so excited I cannot contain it. I am ready to go to the airport this minute! I don't know how I'm going to wait 2.5 weeks! It will be so wonderful to see Aunt Steph and Uncle Ricky. The last time we saw them was Oct. 2006 when they came down to visit. I haven't seen Melissa since she moved Christmas 2003. But what is so great about my relationship with her is that it doesn't matter how long it's been since we've talked or seen each other, it feels like we never parted. My relationship with her is so special to me. But also, I get to see Elizabeth who I haven't seen in who knows how long. It seems like she was barely in high-school when I saw her last. And now she's grown and 20 years old. Steven and I are so excited to get to take this trip. I've been needing to see them for a long time. How am I going to make it through 2 more weeks of school?! Oh yeah...read, read, and read. sigh....

It's Friday!!!

I am so glad today is Friday. It's been a busy week with Bro. Jimmie's funeral, school, work, and my dad-gum foot hurting. I haven't mentioned this in my blog but for two and a half weeks my right foot has been hurting when something touches or squeezes it (like a shoe), and it's been painful when I have to walk very far. I have an appointment today to see the doctor because it seems to be getting worse. Hopefully it is something that will be easily fixed. I seem to always be having some kind of issue like this.

It's American Idol time again!!!!!! Thank goodness for DVR. I would have missed all of the shows this week. I skimmed through the boys' performances on Wednesday night and did the same for the girls last night. I haven't watched the results show so I've been avoiding articles on the yahoo front page.

Here are my favorites so far- I hope none of them have been cut. That would be sad.

Girls: Brooke White, Amanda Overmeyer (LOVE her), Seyesha Mercado
Boys: David Archuleta, Michael Johns (although I didn't like his performance this week), Jason Castro

I love American Idol! I'm going to try out for fun next season. I think....we'll see. :)

Have a great weekend!

This week so far has been challenging on several levels. School of course is the main obstacle because I had a test Monday, a mini-research essay (exam equivalent) due this morning, and as usual, tons of reading. I'm keeping up but I've been having to stay up late to finish everything and I just don't do well when I don't get enough sleep. Last night I didn't get in the bed until 12:45 AM and on school days, I'm supposed to leave my house at 6:30 AM and am "supposed" to get up at 5:30. That's at least when the alarm goes off. Some people may be able to do this, but I'm not one of them. I decided I could sleep until 6:00 AM if I got coffee and breakfast on the way to school but unfortunately, my mother decided I didn't deserve to "sleep in." She called at 5:30 this morning. 5:30!!!!! I don't know about anyone else, but if someone is calling me that early, it better be for an emergency. She has a habit of calling my sister and I between 6:30 and 7:00 AM but lately she's been pretty good about waiting until the evening to call when we are home - most likely because I protested by not answering.

But this morning she called at 5:30 - (repeated for emphasis). Chickens don't get up this early. Cows are still sleeping. Our bedroom phone charger is on Steven's side but the phone wasn't anywhere to be seen. Being a very good husband he got up to look for it because I said, "If someone is calling this early, it's probably an emergency." I was thinking that something happened to Daddy or my grandmother since they both have been sick this week. He couldn't find the phone and it quit ringing so I had to get up and go listen to the message in our study. I don't know why it my mom considers it so urgent to call me at 5:30 in the pitch black morning to tell me she has some mail (of the junk design) for me even though she will see me later in the day! No way was I going to call her back for that. It may be rude and I'm sure some reader is saying how disrespectful I am, but for goodness sake, that's just nuts. I am just not in a good mood at 5:30 AM.

On a less selfish note, one of our deacons in our church at Fellowship passed away on Monday. Although I know he is much better off and no longer suffers from the ailments that plagued him for several years, I am still saddened at this loss. He is someone I literally knew my entire life. He and his wife were very special in my youth and are still special in my adulthood. Steven and I sit by her at church and even though he was ill for a while, I know it must be hard for her to lose him. Please keep Sister Millie and their family in your prayers.

2 in one day...

I rarely post twice in one day but I need to rant and well, here goes.

I cannot stand my last class of the day. It is an English class, which normally I would love. This is so not the case with ENG 265.

First of all, it is a lower-level class of sophomores. I still don't know why I am required to take it. I had upper-level English at A&M, and really do not need to read the "Odyssey" again. I read it in high-school when I was taking college courses. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a know-it-all. I just am beyond this mess.

This brings me to #2. As a professor, DO NOT require that your students READ "The Iliad," and then only talk about the movie. If I wanted to take a film class, I would have. And using "funny" voices does not make you more enjoyable as a teacher. It makes your small minded class laugh but that's it.

Number 3 - Please do not pull lecture outlines from the internet and pawn them off as original. I pay very good money to expand my mind and further my education. Why would I pay good money to hear someone read a lecture from the internet? I could do that myself. And furthermore, if you are going to steal lectures from a website, make sure they coincide with what your students are actually supposed to learn. For example, don't plan to talk about Job and his three friends but your lecture you printed off of "Teaching is EZ" talks about a fourth friend, so you cover it up by blaming the students who are lost.

Number 4 - If I have to haul it across campus and fight 15,000 students to get to class on time, the least a professor can do is walk down a flight of stairs and be reasonably on time. 12:10 is not on time. 12:05 is not on time. Do not make me rush if you are going to randomly decide when to start class. It is disrespectful. Class does not start when the professor gets there. They are late in the same manner that a student is late.

And lastly, why as students are we required to have everything online, yet you can have a professor who doesn't accept work through email? But don't be late with your work or it won't be accepted!!!! It doesn't matter if you live an hour away and are only on campus a few days out of the week. Make the trip and miss work because it's dedication to education. However, if you decide to cancel class for a WEEK, it's ok. No, really...waste my money.

As a soon to be educator, a person raised by educators, a long time student, and a human being, I really despise this behavior. I always feel out of place in these "dumbed down" classes. The students don't want to work and the professor just wants to be "cool." I look stupid when I actually try. It is going to be a long semester in English 265.

Monday again

It is Monday again. I know I should have a better attitude about Mondays but it is so hard. I really, really don't like Mondays these days. I seriously feel I'm "working for the weekend." That's the song that keeps going through my head. It also doesn't help that I had a test this morning. Monday tests are always hard.

I was really nervous about this test. It's the first formal test I've had since I came back to school. I've had essays that are essentially test grades, but this was a classroom test, no talking, timed affair. I have never been nervous about tests before in my life so this was a new experience for me. But once I got into the exam, I realized I knew the material pretty well. I just hope I put enough information in my essay. It was really hard to think with the professor calling out the time very five minutes. I know he was just trying to help but I do better when I can just get it all out. I've had enough experience to know how to plan my time.

Steven helped me study dates last night and that was pretty funny. Even though I'm a history major, I rarely have to study dates because as revisionist historians, we aren't required to know dates, but rather focus on themes, ideas, trends, etc. Most professors I've had say you can always look up a date. It's the themes in history that aren't concrete. But for this exam, 15 points of it was knowing the year that several events happened. So last night Steven was drilling me on these important years. I went to bed saying, "Death of Victoria: 1901, Armistice: 1918, Winston Churchill: 1874-1965!" And then at one point told him to stop drilling because I was going to learn it so much that it was going to get all mixed up in my head. I think I did ok though.

Next weekend is the Sacred Harp singing in College Station. I'm kind of excited about it. I haven't been to a singing in a long time and it's just around the corner quite literally!

Do you know what is frustrating? It's so typical. I wanted a drink this morning from the machine and actually had a dollar in my purse. I rarely have cash so this was good. But what I didn't have was a quarter to go with it. Drinks in our building are $1.25. It's ridiculous. I forgot my water bottle today so I have to wait through two more classes before I can leave campus and get a drink. $1.25! It's crazy. Drinks used to be 50 cents. I even remember getting a drink in front of HEB for 25 cents. The world has gone nuts!

I think it's funny that I study all day about holocausts, wars, tyrants, and crusades, but I think the world has gone crazy because a drink is $1.25. haha....

Finally Friday

I am so glad today is Friday. I've been waiting for Friday since Monday. This has been the toughest week since I've been back to school. I honestly feel it is because I didn't have the weekend to reboost. I use the weekends to get the house organized for the week to lessen the chances of chaos in the week but that didn't happen last weekend because I just did not have the time. Another thing of course is that my work for school this week was heavy.

Now the week is coming to an end. I still have a lot of work to do this weekend but at least I've shaved off a big chunk of it. I'm turning in two of my essays today and that leaves the weekend to study for a test on Monday and begin readings for next week. At least I like what I'm doing. I would just say to people entering college, don't leave all of your content area to the last. It makes it really hard when you are in nothing but all of one kind of class. By far I think this is my hardest semester. The summer will be tough because of how fast classes go, but I won't just have only history classes or only english classes. Then in the fall I'll do methods which are a different kind of intensity, and then student teaching in the fall. And then.......GRADUATION!!!!!!!! sigh....that's what keeps me going. I should just keep a sign on me that says "Remind me about graduation." Then I'll remember why I'm going through all of this on days like today.

On a different note, Valentine's was a flop. I said a different note, not a better one! We are going to try again today. It was mainly my fault because I have had so much school work this week. But I think we are going to go out tonight and Steven mentioned something about my favorite sushi place so I'm getting a little excited. It's slightly on the pricy side so we only go there on special occasions. And even though Valentine's was technically yesterday, in the Deardorff home, yesterday did not exist. :) That's how rough the day was.

However, like uncle said at church this past Sunday, "I was sorry I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet." I actually used that in one of my essays. It fit nicely with the book of Job we were analyzing. That's a whole other blog for another day. Let me just say, I'm glad that I can maintain what I believe and work it into what "they" expect me to say.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!!

Happy V-day...early

Happy Valentine's Day! I am a day early but I probably won't get to post tomorrow so I'm completely within V-day etiquette. Not that I really think there is any, but whatever.

Steven was sick yesterday and stayed home from work today so I don't think there will be any major Valentine's Day celebrations for us. We did go out last year and had kind of planned to do the same this year but, it looks like we may just be staying home. This probably is better anyway because I have a first draft of an essay due Friday. Still, I was looking forward to not having to clean up the kitchen after cooking. I like the cooking part, just not the cleaning. Oh well.

I don't know what is wrong with me this week but I have been tired every day. I'm taking vitamins so I don't think it's a deficiency. When I wake up I feel like I could use another 3 or 4 hours of sleep and stay that way all day. I just can't wait until the weekend. It's just one of those weeks.

My sweet cousin got to have her first bottle last Friday. This is a major milestone. She looks so sweet and precious. I just wish I could go see her. She's such a sweet blessing.

Spring break is just around the corner and this is keeping my spirits up. Last year Steven and I couldn't do a thing because #1 - Mama broke her nose the first day of the break, #2 - Mema had a stroke on the last few days, and #3 - Steven lost his job with that dumb security company. But this year we both get a break and we may actually get to do something! I would really like to go camping. This of course will have to be discussed with the husband. I think it would be fun! We haven't had recreational excursion since our honeymoon. It would be really nice. Anyone have any good places for camping?

Very short weekend....

I don't know about anyone else, but my weekend was way too short. I hardly got anything done it seemed. Maybe it was because there was so much to do.

My mom asked Steven and I to come help her clean out her garage on Saturday but I had so much reading to do this weekend, I just really couldn't. My sister and her husband did go Saturday to help but no one ended up cleaning the garage, so it was ok that we had other things to do. So Sunday after church we all worked to help sort out the mess.

There were several boxes of old toys from when my sisters and I were young and it was really neat to go through all of the old Barbies and baby dolls. We had to split up a lot of the toys and it was interesting to see that we still fight over the same things today that we fought over as kids. There was a "fur" coat for Barbie that we used to argue over who was going to get to use on their Barbie and we had a mini-spat over who should get it. I mean - I do collect Barbies after all, so I feel I had a very valid argument. But unlike in the old days, we compromised and really enjoyed going through our old stuff.

Something that I found interesting was that I have been a historian my whole life. Cruel people call it being a pack rat, but I prefer lover of history. I found letters from friends, some I still know, some I dont, letters from my Aunt Muriel and Aunt Joyce, concert programs, metals, report cards, art work, post cards, certificates, and lots of other things that show different points of my life. The most intriguing thing is when surveying all of it is that almost everything I saved, most of it is history oriented. I found archeology magazines I used to get when I was 10 or 11, bulletins about museum events, mini-books on the mummies of Egypt, and tons of newspaper clippings of events like the death of Princess Diana, JFK Jr., etc. Plus I found old notebooks and papers from as far back as kindergarten. One particularly funny piece was an "About Me" project said, "My parents and Paula and Olivia are important to me. I want: Olivia to have a good birthday but she should not have a boyfriend." Steven thought that was really funny.

There were several things I found that I had wondered where they were. My cousin Angela drew me a beautiful picture of Cinderella just after she is transformed by her Fairy Godmother for a birthday. Thankfully it had been wrapped up and was in very good condition. That's something that has always been special to me. I also found my "drowzy beanz" that I used to carry around with me. She's in pretty good condition too, just needs a good wash.

So even though I didn't get as much done of the things I felt like I really needed to work on, it was really neat to take a look back at happy times as a kid. But now I have a lot to do this week and I'm already, even though it's only Monday, ready for the weekend. Isn't that typical?

Positive Reinforcement

Today I got a very nice surprise in my 8 AM class. My professor asked if I had received her email and I unfortunately didn't check my school email so I had to tell her no. She asked if I could meet her in her office during her office hours and I said sure. I was very nervous because that sounded really bad and of course I always think I'm in trouble in these kinds of situations. She did tell me not to be worried though so that was good. :)

The first part of her email was to ask if I would mind analyzing a painting of Sam Houston for the class since I worked at the museum for several years. This was on the spot and I told her I wasn't sure because I know more about the homes and the family than about the artifacts. It turned out that the painting she brought up on the projection screen was the very famous painting of Sam in his Indian blanket, holding his cane and hat. So that wasn't hard to analyze at all. I feel like I pointed out some very good things and my professor seemed pleased.

Well, during her office hours I went up to meet her as I was instructed and what she wanted to talk to me about was great! She likes an idea I brought out in class on Wednesday about women's suffrage and she thinks it's a very original idea that would be an excellent topic for my graduate work. That's when I thought - let's back this train up. Graduate school?! In my early days of education, that was always my goal. I wanted to go all the way and get my PhD. But circumstances haven't been great in my undergrad and it's only been in the past few months that I've felt back on top of things. The new goal was to just finish my bachelor's degree. So it came as a shock that she thought I would go on to grad school.

We talked about it for a while and she said I definitely was smart enough (I was pleasantly floored. I've never heard a professor say something like that!!!), and that if Steven and I could manage it, Sam Houston even offers a master's degree in history online. So I could teach and do graduate work. I don't think she knows it, but my professor has renewed my desire and confidence in education. It's so nice to feel successful!

This may seem like a small thing, but to me with the things I've been through, this is major. To have a professor want to meet with me privately to discuss my educational future AND to give me the compliment of having an original idea in a field of very unoriginal themes is huge. Not only that, she complimented my recent essay topic saying it is not only interesting but different. TWO compliments of originality in one meeting!!!! What a great day... :)

This semester I am much more vocal than I've ever been in classes. I am contributing and discussing whereas I used to listen, take notes and move on to my next class. So now I'm thinking that if I had just found my voice earlier, maybe I would have felt better about myself in school. The good news is, it isn't too late. I still have good opportunities.

This week flew by. I'm so glad tomorrow is Saturday though. Saturday mornings are my favorite times with Steven. Especially when we don't have to go anywhere. We can relax and enjoy being together. Even if we have work to do around the house, we always take some time on Saturday morning to just be together.

Have a great weekend!

To market, to market, to buy a...nice cabbage?

Steven and I have discovered two diamonds in the rough this week. Actually the people I work for told us about them so we really cannot take the credit.

Since our finances have balanced out and we've recovered from last years disaster of unemployment, we have been buying a lot more fresh vegetables and higher quality of meats. Unfortunately eating healthy costs more and when you are lacking in funds, hamburger helper and hot dogs are your diet. Now that we are buying things that are better for us, we are realizing that the quality of produce in our HEB is iffy and they don't always have what we want. For example, last week they had no fresh spinach and the tomatoes were expensive and overly ripe, and an onion I bought was rotten in the center when I cut it open.

Well, the lady I work for sometimes asks me to start dinner for them and yesterday she wanted me to start a roast in the crock pot but she was out of onions. She asked if I didn't mind getting one and that it would be easier to go to the "Farm Patch" because taking the triplets to a grocery store is hard. I, being new to town, had no idea what the Farm Patch was so she gave me directions and the kids and I headed out after breakfast in search of an onion.

Let me tell you... This place is AMAZING! It's a local produce market in every sense. All the produce is locally grown, it's excellent quality and wonderful prices!!!! And it's a really cute market place. Everything is in a covered area but it's open on both ends so if feels like it's out doors. I couldn't pass up a cantaloupe for Steven and myself because they looked and smelled so good. I was so excited about this place that Steven and I went after work and got lots of good things. We got a nice big cabbage, some new potatoes, corn, onions, and even some yummy honey that was harvested locally. They also sell locally made tortillas. You can get 20 flour tortillas or 50 corn tortillas for $1.50! They also had pure sorghum syrup and I think I may have to get some next time. It's a really neat market and very clean. Steven and I have decided that from now on, that's where we will get our produce.

Another great thing we found out about is the local meat market. Sam (my boss), gets all of her meat at this place and I've been noticing what good quality it is. I assumed it would be expensive and not in our budget so I never asked about where she bought it before, but yesterday when I was making the roast, I noticed the price had been written on the paper and it was very reasonable and cheaper than meat that Steven and I looked at in HEB. So again, I asked her about it and she told me where it was and we went there after work as well. It was so neat too. It's almost felt like stepping back in time when we went to these markets. It made us much more conscious of what we were buying and it was a lot more fun!

Sam is from College Station so she knows all of the best places. This has been invaluable to us. They've helped us so much since we moved. I really feel like God provided them for me in more ways that just a paycheck. Liking the people you work for isn't a given and it's most certainly a blessing when not only do you like them, but they show you how they appreciate you as well.

So since the roast I "crock-potted" for their family smelled so good when I left yesterday, I decided to make one for us at home. Lately I've been putting the crock pot my sister gave me to good use. It's very handy on school days when I know I'm going to be tired in the evening. This is the first time I've made a roast for us to eat so...we'll see how it goes!

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming....lalalala

I just love "Finding Nemo." :)

Last week was a bust. I got the flu and was out of commission for a few days. I'm feeling a lot better now though. I still have a slight cough and my ears keep popping but I'm back on track! I played catch up over the weekend with school work so I am a-OK in that arena. For now....

The weekend went fast! Steven and I went to breakfast at the Kettle on Saturday morning and it brought back a lot of memories. The one near where we live is really nice and has lots of rustic decorations and John Wayne memorabilia. It's pretty cute. Steven even ventured to say that their food was better than Denny's. This is major because Steven LOVES Denny's. In fact, we had our first date at Denny's in San Diego. aww....

After our breakfast we did a lot of errands. We both got hair trims, we got new tennis shoes, went grocery shopping, and took care of some bills. The grocery shopping took the longest because we were out of absolutely everything. We even had to buy ketchup and mustard. Condiments seem to be the things that indicate whether we are low on stuff. We filled up the largest cart at HEB, if that's any indication. The good news is, we don't have to go back for a while!

The rest of the weekend was spent reading and researching. I am starting my senior research for my Civil War class. The topic I've chosen is broadly music of the day. I always tend to study music and I think it's because music is so much a part of my life. I love music so much because it tells us a great deal of what is going on in the world. You can literally see history in music. It's so exciting. Aren't you excited?! :)