Emi's Journal

Where else do you have snow, rain, and sunny all at the same time? Oh yeah, hail too.

All while I'm driving to Les Schwab to get my snow tires off, of course.

I'm trying something this term. I'm setting goals. Actual written goals, in a notebook, that I hope to use for daily progress updates. We'll see how it goes. I almost want one of those silly wall charts that I had as a kid where I kept track of all my chores and stuff. Actually, that's not a half bad idea….. Do those still exist?

Anyway, these goals range from getting on track with my iron, working out at the gym, and climbing, to doing homework at least 30 minutes a day (regardless of how long until it's due), cutting back on sugary snacks, and eliminating my late night snacking habit. Some goals are effective immediately, some are going to take some time. But maybe putting it in writing will keep me in line. I really want one of those silly charts now….. I'm a visual person in that respect. If I have something that I have to check off, maybe it'll keep me on track better. I like filling things in. Maybe I'll just make a spreadsheet to stick in my notebook, but I think I should do something visual. I'm strange like that.
 

Teresa spurred this goal setting thing. I'm hoping we can keep each other on track. We share a fair number of goals, so we should be able to do some of it together. Best friends stick together, after all.

Now it's late and I need to go to bed. I need to get up early and toss my tires in the car before I go to school, so I can get them changed tomorrow afternoon. After the first of our Dixon workout sessions.
 

Here we go. Onward to new adventures!

I decided that rather than importing posts to notes, which annoyed me because then my posts existed in several places, I would try a plugin that shares my posts on facebook for me. And that means I should probably go ahead and install the facebook connect plugin so that if any of my friends actually felt compelled to comment, they could do so with their facebook account. Though you can just type your name in now, and that works just fine…. Whatever.

Mostly I just want to see if this actually shares my post the way I want it to.

If I don't do this now, it will never get done. So here is the rest of our spring break happenings.
 

Wednesday: Took off from Monterey and headed to San Fran. Got to San Fran with time to spare, so stopped off to take pictures of the Golden Gate. Then up to the Marine Mammal Center, where we made lunch and hung out until our tour time. I stretched out on the sidewalk in front of the vans, and basked in the sun for a bit. It was slightly more entertaining than watching Sheena rock out in the other van. Only because I was getting into the best part of Watchers, which is the best book ever.
Got the tour of the Mammal Center, complete with very vocal baby elephant seals. Which were adorable. Then back over the Golden Gate to get checked into the Hostel. We then walked to China town, and some dinner and dessert. And the discovery of a little cake shop that confirmed that I could never live in San Francisco, because there are amazing little cake shops like the ones in Japan… So I would eat cake all the time.
After an entertaining stop at public restrooms with automatic doors ("Can I push the button???"), it was back to the Hostel where I curled up with my book and headlamp, and read for a bit. Then sleep. Listening to the pouring rain which lasted the night.

Thursday: Rain let up for a bit. Lots of people took off in the morning to do more exploring. I grabbed my book. Made it through another quarter of the book.
Finally got everyone back around 11, got checked out, and hit the road. Followed the rain up north, to the Redwoods. Stopped in Eureka briefly, but otherwise a straight shot. Made it to Prairie Creek around dinner time. Set up camp in the drizzle, then tried to get a fire going. Didn't work out too well, but it was enough to make dinner. Hung out for a while, then crawled into our tents. It was raining again. I read until I couldn't read anymore, but was so close to finishing my book……

Friday: Finished Watchers in the morning!
We decided to drive to Fern Canyon, rather than hike there. It was an 11 mile round trip, which would have been fine except that Fern Canyon is very very wet, and I warned them that they would likely be hiking back in wet boots. So we decided to drive.
Hiked Fern Canyon, watched the elk at the trail head for a while, then went down to the beach. Some wee considering hiking the 5 miles back to camp, but we got hungry and decided not to.
Drove back to camp. Many made lunch, and there was a lot of talk of naps. But then some of us decided we were walking to Big Tree, and many got up to join on that excursion. We made it to Big Tree, and couldn't decide which one was Big Tree. We did find the anatomically correct tree that my mom told us about. Many enjoyed that…. We then split up and hiked around some more. I led a group along Cathedral Trees Trail. That was pretty cool. We hiked back to headquarters, and back to camp. Those that stayed behind had a fire going, which was exciting. More hot dog for dinner, and apparently I was the only one not sick of them….. And lots and lots of marshmallows. And a shoe drying party.
Finally got cold enough that we all went to bed.

Saturday: Woke up to icy tents. And Steller's jays. It was cold, and hard to get people to get up. Hard to get myself up. But we finally got camp packed up, and headed home. Straight shot up 101. Stopped at Bandon to go to the West Coast Game Park. Depressing…. Don't go there. Baby leopard was cute, but otherwise depressing. Many mangy critters, a bloody goat, and a very attention starved donkey (how it was attention starved is a mystery to me, but it definitely had some sort of attachment disorder). Not to mention big cats in small cages, an elk with some major antler issues, and lots and lots of screaming kids… And I'm not talking about the goats there.
All the way up 101 to Newport, and then over 20 and back home. Tired, and all getting a bit grumpy, it was good to be home. Got everything put in Nash that needed to go in Nash, dropped off the vans, and it was officially over.
Got home to Pokémon SoulSilver, which I was quite excited about. Spent the evening playing, watching Netflix, and moving things around my apartment (orkin had come to take care of my termite infestation, but moved all sorts of stuff to weird places).

Sunday morning I stayed home and played some more. And watched some more Adam-12 on Netflix. Then I went over to Monmouth for dinner and to get Ret. He was excessively cuddly for the rest of the day. Which, once returning home, was spent playing Pokémon and watching Adam-12…. Except for the hour I spent watching NCIS and doing Free Step on Wii Fit+.
 

This morning came too soon. I'm proud of my accomplishments this break. That trip was a big responsibility, and I pulled it off with help from my friends. The Monterey trip was my baby, and I finally got to see it pan out. With minimal drama, I might add. I think everyone had a good time, and I know for sure that I did. Part of me wishes we had more time….. The other part of me is glad to be home. A little longer at home before classes would have been OK though. Now it's back to work, but for school now. No more spring break. Not until next year, at least. It's a big load off my mind, and it feels good to know we pulled it off.

Onward to spring term. And the adventures ahead.

It is now Wednesday of break. It has been a great trip so far. Here's a bit of a synopsis….
 

Saturday: Up way too early, to head off to Nash with a couple people. Loaded up the vans, and headed out. Almost left a driver behind. Long drive to Sacramento. Went to Sonic for lunch. Almost left the Voyager card at a gas station. Made it to Sacramento, and stayed at a cheap sketchy hotel. Had dinner at a burger place with an awesome waiter.

Sunday: Drive down to Pinnacles in the morning. Make lunch, get into our camp site, set up camp. Bought a stuffed condor and a stuffed bat. Went on a hike with a guy from the condor crew. Almost didn't make it….. It's hot in California. Made it with many many stops. Saw a condor. He looked like a hole. Climbed up onto some rocks. Went down and looked at the condor again. It stood up, and I'm the only one that saw it move its head and look straight at us. It looked away when I got Teresa's attention.
Went back to camp, made hot dogs and marshmallows (not together), went to a condor presentation, and got to sleep in my beloved tent.

Monday: Pack up camp, head to Monterey. Checked into Hostel. Walked down to the wharf. Lunch at a delicious place, where we watched a pair of sea otters out the window. Checked out a bunch of little shops. Walked back along Cannery Row. Went to an awesome rock shop. Got a dinosaur. Discovered a delicious frozen yogurt place, and Christina shared one with me. Back to the Hostel, reading party and attempt at a fire, shower, bed, book…

Tuesday: Aquarium! Brought a random person from the Hostel with us, because he seemed cool and we could get a 13th person in free. Lots of cool happenings at the aquarium. Watched the Outer Bay feeding, watched the Kelp Forest feeding, fell in love with Kit (the baby sea otter). Met an albatross. Cool sea horses. Mola mola!
Then presentation at NOAA about the Marine Sanctuary. I thought it was really interesting. Then a bread bowl of chowder on the wharf, and a free plate of kalamari. And back along Cannery Row. Watched Up on my computer. Then book.

Wednesday: That's today… And all I've done so far is eat a waffle and write this. We are off to San Fran this morning. I think I'll have internet tonight, but we shall see. Then it's off to the Redwoods, back home, and back to school.

So here we are again. Day 2 of cram time. Let's see where we're at.

Biochem this morning was, well, not too stellar. No surprise there. Time will tell what the curve lands me. I'm hoping for the best, preparing for the worst.

Today was a mix of Spring Break prep and cell bio studying. I'm almost all packed for spring break, which is good, and cell bio, well, that's somewhat of a lost cause I'm afraid. Did the non-graded assignment for my free points, but was confused by a fair bit of it (things I couldn't find in the notes or the book….). I did some reading, but some reading doesn't get me too far. There's a little overlap with biochem, so that may work to my advantage.

The reality of it is that I need about 50% to get a C. So it occurs to me now that passing cell bio is a more reasonable feat that passing biochem. So if the magical academic fairies work to my advantage, maybe I can pass both? Boy, that would make my day. I'd take C's in both if I got them. Neither is on my "must retake for good grade" list. They're both on my "consider retaking if I have time and feel like upping my GPA a little bit" list. Well, maybe not biochem. Unless I get a D. I won't accept a D. But I am very unlikely to retake biochem. Unless I have to.
 

So about 12.5 hours from now it'll all be over and I can move on with my life. Might take me an hour or two to overcome my depression from the cell bio test, but then it'll be full speed ahead for Spring Break, and that's a big deal for me. A week long trip with a dozen students, a trip largely planned by me. Two years in the making.

Oh, and I might be selling 500 mealworms tomorrow too. Either tomorrow or week 1 of spring term. So that's $20 I'm going to put toward a new hide for Mac (because I'm getting tired of the tupperware container). And if I sell more, Indie will get a new branch… Indie might get a new branch anyway. Because I like him a lot. And his tank is kinda boring right now. They might get cool backdrops and vines and stuff too, but that might wait until the summer. When I'm making money.
 

Anyway, I guess I'll head to bed now. Watch some stuff on Netflix for a bit, to wind down. I'm hooked on a cop show from the '60s…. It's goofy, but I like it.

I acknowledge that I should be studying now. I also acknowledge that for my mental health I need to step back for a moment, debrief, and get my head back in the game.

This term has been a doozy. 11:30 AM on Friday cannot come soon enough. Two classes down, with two to go. Biochem final tomorrow. Cell bio final on Friday.

I have been pessimistic all term (unusual for me), but I strongly believe the chances of me passing both are slim to none. I just cannot study for both of them. So biochem is my focus. I could live with taking cell bio again next year, especially because by then I'll have the prereqs done. My GPA will take a blow from it, but that'll remedy itself when I retake.

So biochem is my focus. That's settled. So I have read through all the highlights, and have to make my notecard. I am emphasizing the new material, even though I continue to struggle with the old material. I have 7 pages to copy over of new material, then I will revisit old material (I did read through the highlights already). If I have time. Not all of the highlights need to be on my card, at least. I have classified things into "code blue" (high priority) and "code yellow" (lower priority), because those were the highlighter colors that were working……

That being said, I think I'm about ready to get back to it. I will go until I crash, and hope for the best tomorrow. I am barely at a C- in the class right now, but I'll take a C- if that's what I get. I might even seriously consider rolling with a D, but we'll cross that road if we get to it. As for right now, a notecard is calling my name, much to the dismay of my wrists. Break out the icy hot and back to it, Em…..

So this weekend I had to go to Eugene for more medical stuff. Ugh. I am getting so sick of it… No pun intended.

I got a new neurologist, who basically said that the whole muscular dystrophy thing was a "tangent". He wants to do the NCS/EMG again so that he can test some other nerves and stuff…. Thinks carpal tunnel is still near the top of the list of likely causes. So I guess we're back to square one. And I'm back to Eugene next weekend……. Ugh.

He also went ahead and ordered X-rays to rule out any structural weirdness. One more thing to knock off the list…

I also had an appointment with an oral surgeon on Friday. They'll be taking out my wisdom teeth in June. I only have two, which is nice. They're still going to use IV sedation. Which is OK by me. If they're in there cutting apart my teeth, I don't want to hear it…
 

So that's the latest in this little saga of my life. Oh yeah, and there has also been a break in the alien saga. Apparently my apartment aliens are caused by termites. So orkin is hopefully going to end that saga for me. It would be nice. It'll be a pain to get everyone out so that they can take care of it. If they're making me leave for four hours, there's no way any of my critters are staying. I'm thinking I'll even move the mealworms out to storage for the day, because I don't want to lose my population.
 

Speaking of losing, that reminds me. Cam died. My evil little gecko. Yeah, she was evil. So it's not too sad. But it still kind of is. I'm mostly sad that I don't have a breeding pair of geckos anymore. But that's probably a good thing in the long run, so that's OK.
 

So… That's the latest, I guess. Finals will be coming up next week. The OSU FW kickball game is this week, which I am excited for. There's all sorts of goings on right now. I'm just trying to keep up now. I'm glad my finals are late next week…. Gives me some time to figure out what's going on.