Stress from everywhere. I am amazed by how one simple little thing can make me smile for so long, but turn everything upside down at the same time. I'm used to the emotional rollercoaster, but being high and low at the same time is weird.
I bought sleeping pills.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Thanksgiving in Review
I should be studying, so I suppose this is as good of a time as ever to update/outline Thanksgiving "break."
Now it's back to the real world... two tests this week, with basketball before and Jax trip after. Hopefully Wednesday and Thursday will pass quickly! Now, if only I could motivate myself to study.
- Watched Tech bball
- Hosted 12 people at my parent's house for Thanksgiving (Mom is out of town)
- Watched lots of football
- Went to Circuit City to get a new camera at 5:30 am
- Was successful but I swear I'll never do that again
- Missed my entire first week of training (whoops )
- Went to my 5 year high school reunion
- which went better than I expected and
- was at C.J.'s Landing, which Kristy always wanted me to go to (but, sorry, Kristy... it was too smoky and not that great!)
- all the girls look awesome while
- all the guys look gross
- and high school would've been better if alcohol had been involved (well, at least on my part since I know most of those people were already involving alcohol, among other illegal activities)
- Watched the Georgia game at Melissa's house with her family (YAY!)
- Have another reason to detest Reggie Ball
- Went out afterwards, which was fun despite the fact that I was hoping for some more fun ;-)
- Got to see Alden and Kaya for the first time in a while
Now it's back to the real world... two tests this week, with basketball before and Jax trip after. Hopefully Wednesday and Thursday will pass quickly! Now, if only I could motivate myself to study.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Opposite Land
I suddenly find myself in opposite land. I am second-guessing my second-guesses.
Things are so crazy I think I actually mentioned "my thesis" today. Weird, right?
Upcoming:
11/22: FWD Project due (I am almost done, I swear!)
11/29: ADM Test
11/30: IPPD Test
12/2: ACC CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!
12/4: ADM Presentation
12/8: FWD Final
12/11: IPPD Presentation
12/11: ADM Project due
12/12: IPPD Report due
Not only that, but I'm the point (wo)man on our Lockheed project and we have several deliverables coming up. And the bazillion other contract projects going on.
Looking forward to GT-UGA and seeing my soulmate Melissa!!! I'm hoping that our souls being in close proximity will help soothe mine.
Things are so crazy I think I actually mentioned "my thesis" today. Weird, right?
Upcoming:
11/22: FWD Project due (I am almost done, I swear!)
11/29: ADM Test
11/30: IPPD Test
12/2: ACC CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!
12/4: ADM Presentation
12/8: FWD Final
12/11: IPPD Presentation
12/11: ADM Project due
12/12: IPPD Report due
Not only that, but I'm the point (wo)man on our Lockheed project and we have several deliverables coming up. And the bazillion other contract projects going on.
Looking forward to GT-UGA and seeing my soulmate Melissa!!! I'm hoping that our souls being in close proximity will help soothe mine.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Road Trip!
I got a ticket for the ACC Championship game in Jacksonville on Dec 2. I am so excited! I probably shouldn't go, since the week after all of my major projects for the semester are due, but I've decided to anyway. It's part of my quest to have normal college experiences, even though I'm technically not in college, at least according to Facebook.
I'm a little hesitant cause they don't usually win the big games that I go to. Or is it that I go to the big games that they don't win? Either way, most of my favorites are going, which means it should be a good time.
And it'll be my ray of light amidst the darkness that is the remainder of this semster.
I'm a little hesitant cause they don't usually win the big games that I go to. Or is it that I go to the big games that they don't win? Either way, most of my favorites are going, which means it should be a good time.
And it'll be my ray of light amidst the darkness that is the remainder of this semster.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Missing My Camera
I have misplaced my camera. I've never lost such an expensive item, so I'm a little distraught. I was in the market for a new one soon anyway, but I still would like to have that one back.
I last remember using it at the Malloy's house. I was taking pictures of Colin while he was doing his Science "Expo" experiment (alka-seltzer rockets) that I was helping him with.
But, mostly I miss it because I wish I could've take a picture of the tv screen last night. While flipping through Comshitstic's guide, I noticied showtime was playing The Passion of the Christ.
Immediately followed by what I'm sure is an oscar winning movie entitled Amy's Orgasm.
My Mom and I enjoyed a long laugh.
I last remember using it at the Malloy's house. I was taking pictures of Colin while he was doing his Science "Expo" experiment (alka-seltzer rockets) that I was helping him with.
But, mostly I miss it because I wish I could've take a picture of the tv screen last night. While flipping through Comshitstic's guide, I noticied showtime was playing The Passion of the Christ.
Immediately followed by what I'm sure is an oscar winning movie entitled Amy's Orgasm.
My Mom and I enjoyed a long laugh.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Results
The wonderful wonderful Mark Taylor will not be the next governor of Georgia. Instead, the citizens of Georgia have elected to keep as governor a man who has passed laws to make himself richer (quintessientially republican) while reducing Hope scholarship. I've said it once, I'll say it again. Don't mess with me and education, particularly paying for it. Without Hope me and a college education might not have happened. It would benefit Georgia to continue to attempt to educate the many young people of this state.
Fortunately, it seems like Georgia is an anomaly and most other places in the country are flipping. It begs the question, why is Georgia bucking the trend? Lucas believes it was rigged, and that is certainly a possibility. It probably is more likely due to the closed-mindedness, backwards, antiquated notions of many Georgians that I know (my father included). Can we say that this surprises us, from the state with a hunting and fishing amendment (which passed at 90%)? Seems like the little flag to get conservatives out to vote worked. Way to go, politics.
The only state in the nation. Wish I could say I am surprised. Way to go, Georgians.
I am so sad. But not nearly as sad as I was when Bush was re-elected.
Here's to the Senate going the same direction the House did (woohoo!)
Fortunately, it seems like Georgia is an anomaly and most other places in the country are flipping. It begs the question, why is Georgia bucking the trend? Lucas believes it was rigged, and that is certainly a possibility. It probably is more likely due to the closed-mindedness, backwards, antiquated notions of many Georgians that I know (my father included). Can we say that this surprises us, from the state with a hunting and fishing amendment (which passed at 90%)? Seems like the little flag to get conservatives out to vote worked. Way to go, politics.
The only state in the nation. Wish I could say I am surprised. Way to go, Georgians.
I am so sad. But not nearly as sad as I was when Bush was re-elected.
Here's to the Senate going the same direction the House did (woohoo!)
Suffrage for Livia
Today was a big day (see also: upcoming post on surgery post-op).
I voted for the first time ever. I became a citizen last year, and sure I could've voted in the primary (but I didn't/still haven't got my voter info and thought I wasn't registered!)
I was very emotional and excited. This was surprising, because even as recently as the beginning of college I was very apathetic about politics. I was apathetic because I disagreed with everything. Now everything I disagree with makes me so upset that I have no option but to get up and try to do something about it, be it trying to get people to vote, getting those who don't usually read up on news and politics to do so, or just getting out and voting myself.
I went to a church up the street (from my parent's house in Dunwoody, where I am registered, ) which is kinda funny because my neighbor across the street votes at the high school and my dad votes at another church because he never changed his address to our new one (even though we've lived here for almost 6 years.)
My dad has been bugging me about this election for a few weeks now. A Bill O'Reilly watching, Rush Limbaugh listening conservative republican, he and I don't generally see eye to eye when it comes to politics. This morning as I was leavning, he told me that if I voted Democrat then he would leave me out of his will. I did anyway. I think it's funny that he's thinks the way he does, because he's not a rich old white man and we came to America for all the "freedom" that you get here, which includes making up my own mind and voting for whoever I want. Plus, there's not much in his will anyway (it would probably be a little better if the whole republican thing were working out for him.)
I went in, there were no lines, it was relatively easy. I was a little bothered by the whole thing, though. The Diebold logo everywhere made me feel a little sick to my stomach, especially since there was no option to print out my result. I checked my answers over and over. Looked ok, but who knows what happens in those machines.
I put a lot of time reading into the candidates and issues and even printed up my cheat sheet including reasons why to take with me. I recommend the AJC's voters guide. In general I am no fan of the AJC, but I must say they did a great job presenting the necessary info in an easy to browse manner. Much better than opening each single candidate's webpage. At one point Firefox was tired of have 30 tabs open, so thanks AJC.
The offices I spent the most time on were secretary of state and school superintendent. I wanted someone who would guarantee a paper trail. The democrat did but the republican wouldn't come out and say it, although she championed herself for being the only one with a "plan" (that was incredibly vague and didn't have many action items) for voting procedures in Georgia. For school superintendent I went with the liberterian. I know, of course, that this splits the vote from the democrat and that the republican incumbent will most likely be re-elected, but he was the only one who had clear action items that I agreed with and also wanted to make the position appointed so that it could be bipartisan in the future. To run for an office and want to get rid of it? That takes balls. The governor was a no-duh for me. Not only does it seem that good ol' Sonny is a little dirty, he never really made points in debates versus Mark Taylor. Not only that, but he's always been reducing Hope scholarship. Funding for education is a big one with me. Reduce it and you're on my bad side (hear that, Dubya?) I actually did vote for one republican, for the office of labor commissioner. He had it way more together than the other guy, plus he was a Tech grad.
I also considered the constitutional amendments and referendums carefully. Except for the whole amend the constitution "to protect the traditions of fishing and hunting." Seriously? You know you live in Georgia when...
Jen Lee spoke of the election on her blog and mentioned that California recommends voting absentee so that you get a paper ballot. I've been told by others that while this is true, sometimes the absentee ballots don't get counted (although illegal) unless it's a close election. This wouldn't surprise me in this state. So, what does one do? Go the day of and leave the fates to Diebold, or, vote absentee and risk not being counted at all?
All in all, I suppose I'm excited to participate in the government of this country (that sentence was really hard for me to construct without being negative about the government or the direction of the country, by the way). I look forward to doing it in '08.
Except then my vote really won't count, thanks electoral college and red state.
I voted for the first time ever. I became a citizen last year, and sure I could've voted in the primary (but I didn't/still haven't got my voter info and thought I wasn't registered!)
I was very emotional and excited. This was surprising, because even as recently as the beginning of college I was very apathetic about politics. I was apathetic because I disagreed with everything. Now everything I disagree with makes me so upset that I have no option but to get up and try to do something about it, be it trying to get people to vote, getting those who don't usually read up on news and politics to do so, or just getting out and voting myself.
I went to a church up the street (from my parent's house in Dunwoody, where I am registered, ) which is kinda funny because my neighbor across the street votes at the high school and my dad votes at another church because he never changed his address to our new one (even though we've lived here for almost 6 years.)
My dad has been bugging me about this election for a few weeks now. A Bill O'Reilly watching, Rush Limbaugh listening conservative republican, he and I don't generally see eye to eye when it comes to politics. This morning as I was leavning, he told me that if I voted Democrat then he would leave me out of his will. I did anyway. I think it's funny that he's thinks the way he does, because he's not a rich old white man and we came to America for all the "freedom" that you get here, which includes making up my own mind and voting for whoever I want. Plus, there's not much in his will anyway (it would probably be a little better if the whole republican thing were working out for him.)
I went in, there were no lines, it was relatively easy. I was a little bothered by the whole thing, though. The Diebold logo everywhere made me feel a little sick to my stomach, especially since there was no option to print out my result. I checked my answers over and over. Looked ok, but who knows what happens in those machines.
I put a lot of time reading into the candidates and issues and even printed up my cheat sheet including reasons why to take with me. I recommend the AJC's voters guide. In general I am no fan of the AJC, but I must say they did a great job presenting the necessary info in an easy to browse manner. Much better than opening each single candidate's webpage. At one point Firefox was tired of have 30 tabs open, so thanks AJC.
The offices I spent the most time on were secretary of state and school superintendent. I wanted someone who would guarantee a paper trail. The democrat did but the republican wouldn't come out and say it, although she championed herself for being the only one with a "plan" (that was incredibly vague and didn't have many action items) for voting procedures in Georgia. For school superintendent I went with the liberterian. I know, of course, that this splits the vote from the democrat and that the republican incumbent will most likely be re-elected, but he was the only one who had clear action items that I agreed with and also wanted to make the position appointed so that it could be bipartisan in the future. To run for an office and want to get rid of it? That takes balls. The governor was a no-duh for me. Not only does it seem that good ol' Sonny is a little dirty, he never really made points in debates versus Mark Taylor. Not only that, but he's always been reducing Hope scholarship. Funding for education is a big one with me. Reduce it and you're on my bad side (hear that, Dubya?) I actually did vote for one republican, for the office of labor commissioner. He had it way more together than the other guy, plus he was a Tech grad.
I also considered the constitutional amendments and referendums carefully. Except for the whole amend the constitution "to protect the traditions of fishing and hunting." Seriously? You know you live in Georgia when...
Jen Lee spoke of the election on her blog and mentioned that California recommends voting absentee so that you get a paper ballot. I've been told by others that while this is true, sometimes the absentee ballots don't get counted (although illegal) unless it's a close election. This wouldn't surprise me in this state. So, what does one do? Go the day of and leave the fates to Diebold, or, vote absentee and risk not being counted at all?
All in all, I suppose I'm excited to participate in the government of this country (that sentence was really hard for me to construct without being negative about the government or the direction of the country, by the way). I look forward to doing it in '08.
Except then my vote really won't count, thanks electoral college and red state.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Halloween
This year I got more into it. Thanks to a wig on loan from Will's mom, I went as Hillary Clinton . Will went as a NASA nerd from the 60s. It was a good costume, I stood next to a friend for about an hour before she realized it was me. And many people thought I should cut my hair short or go blonde... yeah, right.
One thing, though. Based on commentary I received, Hillary's got an uphill battle if she wants to be the next president. Many people weren't exactly fans... As one of my buttons stated, I like to think of it this way: Bill for First Lady '08!
Other costumes that I really enjoyed: our friends Kevin and Chris as K Fed and Britney Spears, Peter Barros as Muhammed (he has a big beard, wore a courduroy robe thing, had bottle rockets all over including in his beard and carried a rocket that he kept firing at people), some random people as Bob the Builder and Bob's female friend (I think her name is Wendy... not many people understood this one, I did because I watch kids a lot), Ryan as Indiana Jones, Chet as Richard Simmons, Reuben as Hulk Hogan, J.T. as Jesus (always a classic), Mario, David as the guy who stole his car, Hernando as a Colombian drug lord (who would've guessed?) and many, many others. Good times!
Surgery
Tuesday was my surgery. After a quick meeting that I was useless at at school (can't function when I haven't eaten... in this case, my last meal was the night before at 9pm), I met my mom at my house in Dunwoody. She drove me to the office (it was an office building within St. Joseph's). We did more paperwork, after which they took me back and got me started. It was a room with a leather reclining chair. I put on the gown (open to the back, of course... why do they do that?!?!), the booties, and the hair thing. Wish I had gotten a picture. They started my IV. The woman admitted she hadn't seen my vein. Everyone was extremely friendly. They kept asking me to repeat everything, including what procedure I was having. The let my mom in to get my stuff, then they led me (butt hanging out, IV trailing behind) to the surgery room.
They introduced me to everyone in the room. They made me get on the table, which was challenging since I was trying to not have all the clothing fall off. The anesthisiologist (sp?) was nice, he was talking to me about Tech football. He said he was a Tech fan, and I asked why, and he said because he's always lived in Atlanta. I thought about Melissa and commented how most Georgians root for Georgia, and he confirmed that he was a Tech fan and a Florida fan which makes him anti-Georgia. He said he was going to give me drugs that would feel good and tucked my Iv arm in next to me.
And that's the last thing I remember. Next I was waking up in another room with a window looking out on all of metro Atlanta from up above. Except my eyes were really blurry, not only from the lacking of glasses/contacts but from some stuff they had put in there. The nurse said the doctor had explained it to me, didn't I remember? Nope, after lack of food and a bad night's sleep the night before, I slept like a baby. Best nap ever.
They waited for me to be more or less coherent. I could feel pressure in my face and noticed that I couldn't breathe out of my nose. I drank a gatorade, changed, they put me in the wheel chair and sent me on my way (not my first time in a wheel chair, though.)
It hasn't been too painful. Mostly it just feels like bad sinus days, where I get awful headaches and have huge pain in my face. I've been able to eat semi-normally, although nothing hot. Lots of chapstick and saline have helped to make it all more comfortable. I think everyone, including myself, is surprised by how normal I look considering my face is full of stuffing. I can function semi-normally, except I become exhausted and light-headed after about 45 minutes of being upright. Might be something to do with the lack of oxygen.
Tomorrow I return to the doctor to get the packing removed. This won't be a happy time. I'll be on a double dose of pain killers, but awake for it all. Yummy yummy.
I've enjoyed the time to slow down and rest, but know that I will pay for it for the rest of the week. My friends have been great about checking in and making me feel loved, and I can't say that I'm surprised about who has contacted me or left well-wishes in some way and who hasn't.
Mostly I'm looking forward to re-joining the land of the living. See you all on Wednesday!
They introduced me to everyone in the room. They made me get on the table, which was challenging since I was trying to not have all the clothing fall off. The anesthisiologist (sp?) was nice, he was talking to me about Tech football. He said he was a Tech fan, and I asked why, and he said because he's always lived in Atlanta. I thought about Melissa and commented how most Georgians root for Georgia, and he confirmed that he was a Tech fan and a Florida fan which makes him anti-Georgia. He said he was going to give me drugs that would feel good and tucked my Iv arm in next to me.
And that's the last thing I remember. Next I was waking up in another room with a window looking out on all of metro Atlanta from up above. Except my eyes were really blurry, not only from the lacking of glasses/contacts but from some stuff they had put in there. The nurse said the doctor had explained it to me, didn't I remember? Nope, after lack of food and a bad night's sleep the night before, I slept like a baby. Best nap ever.
They waited for me to be more or less coherent. I could feel pressure in my face and noticed that I couldn't breathe out of my nose. I drank a gatorade, changed, they put me in the wheel chair and sent me on my way (not my first time in a wheel chair, though.)
It hasn't been too painful. Mostly it just feels like bad sinus days, where I get awful headaches and have huge pain in my face. I've been able to eat semi-normally, although nothing hot. Lots of chapstick and saline have helped to make it all more comfortable. I think everyone, including myself, is surprised by how normal I look considering my face is full of stuffing. I can function semi-normally, except I become exhausted and light-headed after about 45 minutes of being upright. Might be something to do with the lack of oxygen.
Tomorrow I return to the doctor to get the packing removed. This won't be a happy time. I'll be on a double dose of pain killers, but awake for it all. Yummy yummy.
I've enjoyed the time to slow down and rest, but know that I will pay for it for the rest of the week. My friends have been great about checking in and making me feel loved, and I can't say that I'm surprised about who has contacted me or left well-wishes in some way and who hasn't.
Mostly I'm looking forward to re-joining the land of the living. See you all on Wednesday!