Saturday, April 16, 2011

I even wrote my draft.

I made myself a little schedule today and thought, "How in the hell am I going to manage all this?"  And yet, I did.  Because I am awesome.  All the laundry is not put away yet but I have to leave myself something for tomorrow, right?  I was excited to learn that tomorrow is not, in fact, Easter.  We have a whole other week to go, so I've got plenty of time to buy some eggs and find the styrofoam chick with its head chewed off just like a real Peep and all my other Easter stuff.  I even had time to paint my toes.  I am pleased with myself.

Arrrgghh

It's finally gone forever.  The free pedometer from the Student Health Center that had no grippy clip has fallen off for the last time.  I tried turning it so it would be inside my pocket, I tried wearing it on my pocket, my belt, and the edge of my pants but at least four times a day anyone in my vicinity would hear

CRACKclatterclatterclatter  "Goddammit!"

I was on a walk with the girls and it must have fallen into the grass somewhere with barely a thud.  Well, good riddance.  I'll go get one that has a pincher that stays tightly clipped to my pocket.  I already had 2000 steps before the walk and now I have to guess?  Stupid pedometer.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Past My Bedtime

My excuse for writing a blog right now is that I have to take my shot at ten o'clock anyway.  Of course, I could be preparing my snack or getting in jammies but I felt compelled to come write.

What's so wrong with writing now?  I got up early.  I made it to work on time.  I kept circling around my very rough draft until I was able to actually work on it.  It is probably the most coherent draft I have ever brought to a workshop.  I got verbal jabs from my dickhead boss and didn't stab him in the throat.  I drove to school and jockeyed for a parking spot at the meters.  I stalked the lot and lost a spot to a pudgy frat boy.  I waved and said thank you.  But then I got a spot so it was okay.  I even got to class on time.  Today was workshop day so I got 2.5 extra credit points just for showing up.  I was invited to join a group, which is always nice, but it consisted of a very old lady and the girl who doesn't know what a dildo is.  Don't look at me like that, it was in the book we just read.  I got to offer suggestions and corrections to the dildo girl's paper (What else do you want me to call her?) that she responded well to.  We had a good discussion about her paper.  The old lady was lost and trying to get us to tell her how to do the Works Cited page in MLA style.  The teacher invited her- again- to worry about that later and talk about the paper.  So that was obnoxious and a waste of time but then I read my paper and they both laughed at a lot of it.  Whew!  They both had some helpful suggestions but when the teacher came by, dildo girl (I feel bad for this now) told her she should collect my paper now because it was done.  :D  Yes, I know, I'm an asshole.

So after class I skittered on home, parked, and found one of the maintenance guys at my window.  He's always been nice to me because I pick up after my dogs but today he was not happy.  Apparently Chris has been running over the sprinkler head and this guy has had to replace it twice.  Next time we have to pay for it.  Now, wait a minute.  There is no separation between the asphalt and the grass- isn't that usually what a curb is for?  Second, the sprinkler is right at the edge of the grass halfway down the parking spot.  Ours are the first two spots on this side and Chris has to park in the last spot because the van is very long.  To add to the fun there's a big stupid orange broken down truck parked in the towaway zone behind us so it provides an obstacle to parking straight.  When I told Chris he said, "What sprinkler head?"  Exactly.  Why replace it and not warn us?  If he doesn't know it's there he'll just keep running over it!  They can shove it.

I took the dogs out to potty, came back in, changed my shoes and took them for a walk.  Halfway down the block I realized I didn't have a toy for Jasmine and I'm not secure enough to bring her to the dog walk without one so we went back and then started the walk over.  We played at the dog park for a little while and I don't even remember the walk home.  Once we got back I got the oven going for dinner and desperately tried to finish The Hunger Games before I had to leave again.  I finished the book and dinner with 7 minutes to spare.  I changed into sweats, packed my bag, and drove off to the Mindfulness training.  We started with yoga exercises and I promptly crashed.  I stepped out and felt really intelligent for packing emergency juice and granola bars.  When I stepped back in it was time for the body scan so we laid down on our mats in the "corpse" pose (lovely) and I had to constantly redirect my attention to what I was supposed to be doing.  Can you imagine a nonstop day like this and suddenly you're lying on the floor focused on nothing but your breathing?  I tried many times to get my attention back but my brain said "Fine, you want to relax?"  I woke up when the instructor rang the tiny gong bowl.

The class ended past 9 and I drove home and took the dogs out.  I pulled the laptop out of my bookbag and settled in on the couch.  Riley came clicking down the hall and I heard her go into the Pickle Parlor. "Are you looking for me?" I asked.  She speed clicked into the living room and flopped on the couch next to me.  She is currently waiting for me to stop typing and rub her belly.  She made huffy noises through most of this blog.

So now it's 10:22 and my alarm has been going off every five minutes since 10, reminding me to go take my shot.  I am worn out and I do not know if I am going to work tomorrow, as it is optional.  I'm not setting my alarm, that's for sure.  I am wrecked.  But I finished my April book (YEAH!) and of course it's a cliffhanger so I'll have to find the other two now AND I wrote a rough draft that is in really good shape AND I dragged myself to this class tonight even though I really wanted to blob instead.  Tonight I remembered to congratulate myself because even if I haven't been practicing at home much, it is still quite a feat to show up to these classes as busy as I have made myself.  Doing these exercises at all is a feat- going to this class is a feat and as the instructor said, it is going against the grain.  We're practicing being instead of doing.  It is harder than you might think.

AND for my final note: I already took the pedometer off but today I marked 11,741 steps.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Ah, I remember reading for fun!

I just read another couple chapters of The Hunger Games and I'm really starting to enjoy it.  I'm already 1/4 of the way through and I bet I'll have this finished way before the end of the month.  Hell, I may get halfway through today!  It is nice to sit and get absorbed in something that has absolutely nothing to do with school.  I feel calmer than I did earlier, if that isn't completely obvious.

I did get onto UNR's website- I guess I was confusing the computer or something.  It really didn't like the way I was trying to do it, though that's usually the way I go.  But whatever.  I haven't heard anything back from the guru yet but I looked at my saved list of potential classes and I think I know what my schedule will be.  Provided- of course- that I can do more Book Arts.  My teacher is confident that the guru will work something out.  I will sign up for three other classes today and hopefully I will hear back from him soon.

Now back to the book.  :D

Whiny whiny whiny...

Somebody's perfume is giving me a headache.

This morning I went to Book Arts, talked to the teacher and found out I might be able to take the class again in the fall.  He asked me about registration and I realized that my appointment to register is... today?  I checked my email (on this fine handy laptop) and was relieved to see my appointment is not until 4.  Then I tried to check the schedule online to see if Book Arts would jive with my schedule but UNR's website was not behaving.  I wrote an email to the head guru at Art Department asking pretty please can I just take Book Arts instead of Painting or Sculpture.  I set type for the title of my book, proofed it and skittered off to the student union for the first meeting of Nrgy, this fitness program I joined.  Everyone got a free pedometer and an explanation of the program.  I am wearing the pedometer now and I have to keep reminding myself to stop jiggling my leg.  I just finished the homework that's due in... half an hour even though I couldn't get onto the library website to access real journals so this grade will not be pretty.  During my next break I'll be wrangling my creative essay into something less of a derailment so that I can go to the workshop tomorrow and earn extra credit.  I will also try to figure out how to dump the lienholder off the Dodge with DMV and Progressive, eat lunch, do a ten minute meditation, then undo all the stress relieving when I attempt- again- to get onto UNR's website.  I may give up and read The Hunger Games.  Speaking of which, did they cast Jennifer Lawrence because she played essentially the same character in Winter's Bone?  Not that I've seen that.  Or read The Hunger Games.  That's just the impression I have so far.

I will probably tap my leg ceaselessly through Art History and not pay attention.  At home I will eat dinner and try to remember to practice my yoga for Mindfulness.  I will plan to go to bed early and won't, plan to put together everything I need for tomorrow and wont.  I will sleep like shit, snooze through my alarm and be five to ten minutes late for work.  At work I will promise myself that I will work on my creative paper and won't.  I find I am way less annoyed to go to school on Thursdays because I am escaping work early.  Tuesdays it just feels dumb to drive over for one class.

And right now I should be packing up my shit and heading to class.  Oh man, do I want lunch.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Damn you, diet fairy!

I am at the student union.  I just waited in the long-ass line at Port of Subs because I decided that I wanted to savor avocado today.  There was this poster on the wall showing the different sizes of subs *not actual size.  They are all smaller on the poster so that you'll say, "Hey, I am WAY hungrier than that."  By the time I got to order their poster had convinced me and I ordered a medium.

Maybe twenty seconds later I can move up and look at my sandwich through the glass.  Hmm.  That looks like an awfully small medium.  Maybe I'm just measurement challenged.

"And what would you like on your small number four?"

Ah, damn.  Okay, well now I can get a Pack Meal: chips, soda, and a cookie.  I tell the kind sir at the register and start digging through the cookies.

"Do you have..." I start to ask.

"No chocolate chip today," he says.  "All we have are raisin and white chocolate macadamia."

Foiled!

What did you expect, there's a month left!

Will this work?

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No.  Dammit.  Well, go look at it.  It's funny.

I was asking my teacher questions in Book Arts this morning.  He was showing me examples and trying to help me.  Suddenly I've got the resident bitch laughing at me.  He looked at her and she apologized.  Yeah, you jerk.

I'm on a break and I'm trying to find enough motivation to start writing my paper.  I have almost two weeks but the draft workshop is Thursday and I would like the extra credit for attending.  Plus it's a crafty and much appreciated way teachers keep you from procrastinating.  Last time I had other things to do that I had procrastinated on so I didn't have anything written for the workshop.  I really did like the measured pace of writing my paper over several days so I'm trying to start this one today.  Being able to walk away from it is invaluable.

The fake Patch Adams- otherwise known as the counselor who wouldn't go away- is sitting nearby in the cafeteria.  Much like the bitch in Book Arts, I cannot wait until I never see her again.

I'm still coming up with ideas for the book and I'm really excited about some of them.  I need to hash them out with someone but this will be a busy week.  Lots of reading to catch up on, response due tomorrow, journal due Wednesday, draft due Thursday, proposal draft and book mock up due Monday.  Sheesh!  I'd better get going.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Procrastination

It's too nice outside to be doing homework.  I should be sitting in the grass and sunshine reading Patrick Rothfuss's new book and drinking Kool-Aid.  Garrett made me read The Name of the Wind when he was here.  When I finished it he told me that the new one wasn't out yet, making me yell "Arrrgghhh!"  Now it's out and I would rather not buy hardcover.  I read online that the paperback will be another 9 months or so.  Arrrggghh!  I checked Borders and they said I could get it for $17 and change.  They said it's in stock and I've got a coupon for 33% off so we stopped by to get it on our errand trip.  It was in, it was hardcover, and it was thirty goddamn dollars!  Boo hiss.  The coupon is also valid online so I'm going to try to get it there.  Frickin $30.  And yes, I checked the library.  They don't have it.

I'm going to go get my family phone calls in, clear the fridge of dying food and attempt to clean my office.  Then- sigh- I will do my homework.

Oh but for those not on Facebook:

Porch pet meeting:


Chris wearing my raisin box after lunch


Ah, that's fun.