Ramble, Ramble.

When I wake up from a midday nap, my face is flushed. And it stays that way for hours. It's very annoying, especially when I need to go somewhere after a nap, and I look constantly embarrassed. Ack.

I hate when my boyfriend works the evening shift, because then I'm left to my own devices from 2pm till he gets off work at 10 or so. Today...it's homework to make my week easier. And to make it so that over Memorial Day weekend, when I'm visiting with my boy's family, I won't have to worry about the fact that I'm not doing homework.

My paper for my project is almost done. I'm waiting for comments from my advisors, which I suspect won't come till Monday anyway. Which is when it's due, so that's always helpful. At any rate, I'm calling my project officially done from my point of view. Unfortunately, one of my advisors is very adamant about writing publications about everything, so I think she'll be bugging me to write a manuscript about what I've found with my project and it's clearly not at that point yet. Ugh. Don't get me wrong, it would be cool to have a publication, but I just don't want to work on it.

I spilled lemonade on my keyboard on Thursday. This is particularly upsetting because my computer is a laptop, so I was pretty concerned about short-circuiting my computer. Luckily all I managed to do is mess up my space bar, which is probably because I don't know how to put it back on the right way. Oops.

I guess I'll get back to homework now. I have to read a bunch of things for history so that I can take a quiz on Tuesday. And study for a midterm. And prepare for a presentation. Sounds like a lot, but in all honesty I'm not that worried about it.

Academic Update.

My grades for 2 of my 3 midterms are in, and surprisingly (or not) they're both As. A 96% in anatomy and an 80% (which became an A) in my MSE class. The second is what I'm most happy about, as it means I don't have to take the second midterm.

In looking at my calendar of academia, I'm going to be so swamped soon. I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel for my senior project (May 9th is the final presentation and the final paper is due May 21st). I'm almost excited for summer classes because it means I won't have a project looming over my head as I have this whole school year. It sucks because I'm starting to make some headway, and see where I need(ed) to go, which is a slightly (who am I kidding, entirely!) different direction than the project aimed for.

I'm happy though, because I've been told by three different people (my department adviser, the guy who helps me with the cell culture, and the guy who runs the metallography lab) that I'm doing more work than other people. And of course there's the mantra that must keep all grad students going: "It's research, that's what happens." In the end, I think I have a wealth of "what not to do" and "what to think about doing"...at least enough to make it look like I've done more than just fail at doing what I set out to do. Urgh.

I can tell I'm getting stressed again (or shall I say, more than usual?) because my upper lip is twitching nearly nonstop.

Crappy Day...

Today has been a lame day so far, which is saying a lot since it's only 10:36am. Guh.

1. I had to get up early. After a full night of weird dreams, I just didn't feel rested enough to get up.
2. When I turned my computer on, it freaked out. I had accidently changed the date last night while I was trying to find out when a certain date was. This resulted in my computer having a hissy fit about a number of things.
3. I locked my keys and phone in my apartment. The door is locked automatically, so I can't get them until the office is open later and I can get a spare key. Unfortunately I won't have time to do that until 3:30 at the very earliest. I'm just hoping the office is actually open.
4. I had to RUN to catch the bus this morning. For the campus bus, there is no "schedule" per se, other than "every 10 minutes". I hate running. It makes my lungs burn a fiery death. Thank you, years of living with my grandparents smoking.
5. The guy I was supposed to meet with this morning to help me with my senior project was late.
6. And to top it all off, I have to see a cadaver later. Actually that doesn't bother me. It's the intense smell of embalming fluids that gets me.

I suppose my day hasn't been that bad. But it could be a whole lot better.

It's over!

Winter quarter is finally over. All in all, I liked my classes this quarter, even the MSE ones that I thought would be boring. The only dark spot in the quarter was the very very stressful time when I was cramming senior project work into my schedule. I've gotten one grade back so far (A), and I'm a little sad that it didn't up my GPA any. The rest are yet to come in, but as per usual, I'm checking obsessively.

It's beautiful in Columbus right now. And so was yesterday. Of course, when I got home it's going to be yuck.

After my final this morning, I went to the grocery/liquor store with the boyfriend. I've been craving a mojito since I had one at Applebee's over the weekend, so I wanted to get the makings for those now that I'm on break. It was my first time inside the liquor store. I did not realize what all they carried at the liquor store. Dang! I still won't go there very often though.

Tonight we're going to get Indian food for dinner. Super yum! Tomorrow I'm heading home for a little over a week. Yay!

No Good, Very Bad Day.

Today I just feel defeated by school. Yesterday I spent ALL day working on my senior project, trying to get usable results for my poster. As is the usual, it didn't work out as I had planned. I was going to go work on it today, but after I was on the bus to go to the lab, I realized that I had accidentally left my samples sitting on my counter. Since the bus service doesn't run as frequently on the weekends it takes a long time to get where you're going. Thus I gave up working on it today and will have to work on it all day Monday. Luckily, one class is already canceled and I don't feel that bad about skipping my other one.

This whole experience makes me glad that I decided against grad school. I like doing research, but it's very slow and frustrating for the most part. Senior project would go a lot more smoothly if a) the faculty involved made sure the materials were in place before we started, and b) we had fewer classes to allow us the flexibility to work on our projects. I understand the point of the project is "real world design/research experience", but at the same time it's causing undue stress (not only on me, but on my classmates as well).

I'm optimistic that I'll get results...eventually. Unfortunately it doesn't appear to correspond with the imposed timetable that I have. At least I'll have everything I need at the beginning of Spring quarter and I can devote time to getting results instead of just prepping everything.

I'm just so frustrated, with no outlet and no end to frustration in sight. Looks like my upper lip will never stop twitching. All of my frustration with my senior project is compounded by the fact that I have 2 presentations in the next week (both are with a group), a group paper, a group lab report, homework times three, and the poster session for my project. I hate how everything piles up right at the end of the quarter.

Would you like some cheese with that whine? Why yes, I would.

:-(

Two days in a row...insanity!

I think I've developed a Snickers problem. Anytime I go to UDF or CVS, I buy one. So yummy.

I finished part of the prep for my senior project. The whole project is still pretty damn slow moving. I consider that only about a third of my fault. Bah. I'll get results by the end. And if not, blah. Motivation be damned.

Coming home and know that there is cake to eat is fabulous. Cake!