« January 2005 | Main | March 2005 »

So today's field trip was to Trinity Episcopal Cathedral and this one I loved. I wish I could find a website that had photos of the interior of the church because this was the most beautiful place EVER. Built in 1865 out of Santa Cruz Redwood, there's just no words to describe it. Plus, the service was very enjoyable and the people there were very nice. This was a much better experience than the catholic church we went to last month.
Anyway.

Not Part Two, but I think you'll like it

Buffy has a boyfriend, and they went to the movies last night. You can read about it here.

Guess Pischina's Test Grade

Me: My teacher *still* hasn't posted our test grades yet!
Scott: What, you think you didn't get an A???
Me: No, I *know* I got an A, I just want to know how *big* of an A I got!

Catie already put her guess in, how about the rest of you? What do you think my score was?

I realized this week that I haven't cut my hair since school started last August, as a result it's halfway down my back and I have to wear barrettes just to keep it out of my face. Somehow I get away with this even though I'm 38 years old. But I wanted a change.

So this morning I took off 6 to 8 inches, it's right to my shoulders now, and I trimmed my bangs and dyed it a dark Chestnutt brown.

I LOVE it.

No, no pictures, I'm too lazy right now. Or really just too busy with school. Anyway, gotta go study.

Saturday at the Library, again

Ya know what, there's something I just love about updating from the school library computer. I guess it feels like I'm doing something I'm not supposed to be doing. I should be doing research. Ah well, I've been here 2-1/2 hours. I want some Taco Bell.

Miss Buffy came back from her birthday snowboarding trip yesterday. She took lessons with her friend and apparently Buffy was "the bomb". She had a fantastic time.

The best thing is, Miss Attitude seems to have been left in the snow. Nice. I wonder how long until she finds her way back home?

OOH! OOH! I know! I know!!!

Tonight I go to Science and give a little presentation on a nonprofit environmental group and then we take another test. Should we take bets on what my test grade will be?

;-)

In the last two days I've completed three very short research projects, one presentation, studied Chapter 5 for the EnviroSci test tomorrow, written four essays for Psychology and kept up with my reading and discussions for Huck Finn and A Doll House.

And feeling Great! Like Wonder Woman!!! Where's my golden lasso?

yeah, time for be- zzzzzzzzzzzzz.......

Oh, so you guys ARE out there, eh?

Well. I can honestly say I was not expecting any type of debate or ruckus caused by my comment on Extreme Home Makeover. Heh. And Hee.

That said, T-Man Sam you are very welcome here, and I always enjoy your comments. Always. Also, Everyone was correct in their own comments. Also, being 38 myself, I remember when Bob Barker was my hero and I think my age is what jades me to these emotional displays and I also hate product placement. More than most people.

But I still believe this show is different. Like Mocksie said, I don't care about product placement on this show and I don't care if the EHM people have fake tears - and I'm kind of doubting they do. I don't believe the families are being exploited because a) they wrote and asked for help themselves, and b) they get a much needed place to live out of the deal, and believe me, you can exploit me all you want if you're going to give my family a beautifully furnished house when I am living in a house that's flooded with sewage. (Not my house, this week's family, heh)

These families aren't just needy and on hard times, they NEED these houses. The fact that they don't need so much house (and inside goodies) doesn't matter because the show gets most of this stuff for free. It's donated. And when a company donates so much stuff they deserve to be recognized for it. So that's fine with me.

And yeah, Ty's hot. Ever so hot.

And yes I love the Queer Eye shows and all the makeover shows (excluding The Swan and any surgery type makeover). I've always loved those kind of shows.

And yeah, our health insurance stuff sucks. But we're living with a president half of us didn't vote for. So whatever.

Okay, off to work. You guys continue to fill up my comments.
:-)

Does everyone else watch Extreme Home MakeOver? If you don't, well, I guess it doesn't matter whether you do or not, what matters is that the show exists.

This reality show is everything Married By America and... Gawd, I can't think of the names of some of the worst reality shows I've seen. But this show is everything they are not. Critics have cried that Reality TV is ruining television, and overall, they're right. Most of the shows are crap. Most of the shows have no purpose other than to make the executives money. Shows like Survivor and The Apprentice are at least mildly entertaining, usually, and if you want to watch The Bachelor and think these people are really going to live happily ever after then be my guest. But when was the last time you saw a television show that was just for helping people??

I just love this show more than words can say. I love Ty Pennington, of course, but most of the other people on the show seem pretty real too. At first I used to scoff at the workers' tears week after week, but ya know what? I think they're real. And if they're not? I don't care. Because that family will still get the house that they need.

That's all. I just wanted to say that. Because I don't care if this show makes TV executives billions of dollars. The fact is they are contributing something really good to this world. And I hope the show continues for many years.

I was accused of being an OverAchiever today.

As if that's a bad thing.

I *scoff* at you, Brad.

Don't get me wrong, I love Brad, but I still scoff at him because... So what? Hi my name is Pischina and I've been an Overachiever all my life. Get used to it.

New Discovery

This has caffeine. Oh Yes it does. I need to get to bed. I am wide awake.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO delicous though.

I hate the wind, but I love Scott

The wind is howling like CRAZY right now, and we all know how I feel about the wind, right? I hate when it's like this when I have to go to bed, I won't be able to sleep!!!

And I miss Scott already. I am really really happy that he is coming over Tuesday, and I'm also REALLY happy that he's already feeling better. Four straight days of no inspections and his body is finally getting a chance to heal. He's going to take a full week to be completely lazy (not easy for him) and then just take it easy the other 3 weeks. It makes me happy to see him feeling better.

Sad for Spike

Ya know, it's really hard to be a parent and read in your son's blog about something that has made him so sad. I know he'll be okay in the long run, but it really hurts to hear how he is hurting. It sucks to be a teenager, but it sometimes hurts to be the parent of one.

"Constantine"

We saw it, and I'm glad we did. It was really good. Not in the "Top Ten Movies of All Time" category of good, but it was an enjoyable movie, no major holes in the plot, a good story, and some really great characters. Plus, the angel Gabriel was HOT. Yes, I recommend it.

I got a 97% on my chemistry test, which is the hardest chapter we're having in Environmental Science, so the rest of the semester should be easy. It brings my grade down to a 99% but can't complain about that, eh?

We're reading Ibsen's "A Doll House" in World Literature - a play I have loved since reading it in high school.

We're reading Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" in American Literature, one of my favorite books of all time.

We're on to Ecology in Environmental Science - Easy.

Studying neurons and Alzheimers in Psychology, pretty interesting.

And History is history, we're up to about 1900 now. It gets much easier as we get closer to present times.

So. Looks like I may be able to pull of 16 units after all. I'll have two classes over the summer, Creative Writing and Women in Literature. That makes twelve classes in one year. Pretty good, eh???

Starting in the fall I'll only have three classes for each of two semesters. I cannot believe I only have two semesters left after this one. I have accomplished a LOT. And it's going so fast.

Of course, my writing here and in the diary has suffered, but in the end I will be better off. I'm learning so much, and just the feeling of accomplishing so much, it feels so good.

Scott and I are going to see Constantine in just a couple minutes. I'm suffering from a pretty bad cold, but it's finally going away. Scott is taking a month off work because of... I guess I haven't mentioned that yet, right? Well, he's been diagnosed with osteoathritis, and a hip replacement is being recommended. For someone who had practiced martial arts almost his entire life, this is devastating news. But he's trying to get himself better without a hip replacement. I hope this month off does him some good, I think it will. So that's what's going on with us.

It's a very rainy weekend here in Aptos. But we're keeping each other company and having a nice time. I hope you all have a good weekend too.

School and Scott, what else?

I got a 97% on my chemistry test, which is the hardest chapter we're having in Environmental Science, so the rest of the semester should be easy. It brings my grade down to a 99% but can't complain about that, eh?

We're reading Ibsen's "A Doll House" in World Literature - a play I have loved since reading it in high school.

We're reading Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" in American Literature, one of my favorite books of all time.

We're on to Ecology in Environmental Science - Easy.

Studying neurons and Alzheimers in Psychology, pretty interesting.

And History is history, we're up to about 1900 now. It gets much easier as we get closer to present times.

So. Looks like I may be able to pull of 16 units after all. I'll have two classes over the summer, Creative Writing and Women in Literature. That makes twelve classes in one year. Pretty good, eh???

Starting in the fall I'll only have three classes for each of two semesters. I cannot believe I only have two semesters left after this one. I have accomplished a LOT. And it's going so fast.

Of course, my writing here and in the diary has suffered, but in the end I will be better off. I'm learning so much, and just the feeling of accomplishing so much, it feels so good.

Scott and I are going to see Constantine in just a couple minutes. I'm suffering from a pretty bad cold, but it's finally going away. Scott is taking a month off work because of... I guess I haven't mentioned that yet, right? Well, he's been diagnosed with osteoathritis, and a hip replacement is being recommended. For someone who had practiced martial arts almost his entire life, this is devastating news. But he's trying to get himself better without a hip replacement. I hope this month off does him some good, I think it will. So that's what's going on with us.

It's a very rainy weekend here in Aptos. But we're keeping each other company and having a nice time. I hope you all have a good weekend too.

Guess who I've been talking to on the phone at work????

STACEY STILLMAN!!!

She's buying a house and we did work there and I had to discuss work related stuff with her, all the while thinking "I KNOW this is that Stacey, I KNOW it! How many Stacey Stillmans are there in the Bay Area?" And our inspector confirmed it.

Wow! The Diary Survivor winner finally (sorta) meets a Real Survivor!

Awesome!!!

So it's Saturday and I needed to do stuff at the college library so here I am reading my psych book and studying. I let the kids loose to do whatever they like on this BEAUTIFUL sunny Saturday. You have no idea how gorgeous it is here today. I so love that the college is right next door to our house too. I should bring my camera next time so I can take a picture from the library balcony and you can see how gorgeous the area I live is, and also you could probably see my house! Anyway, kids deserve to be let loose once in awhile. I'll be home at 2:30 and they're instructed to be back by then too to check in. The cats are playing outside too. Everyone is happy. I hope the weekend continues like this - I hate feeling so wonderful and then having a bomb dropped on me... but I'm going to try to keep this positive feeling until something happens to make me feel otherwise.

Also, remember my Environmental Science test? I got 102.8%!!! How that works, I don't know. But the score says I got 36 out of 35 questions correct. I don't remember how many questions there were. But whatever, that's an A if I ever saw one!!!

So I took my Science Quiz and I think I did well, if I missed everything I wasn't sure about I probably got about 85%. But I probably got some of those right. Then we moved on to our Chapter with the atoms and other non-sensical stuff, and we got to pair up and do ALGEBRA problems together and then some lab experiments. I got paired up with Hai, a vietnamese guy who I really liked. I was literally banging my forehead against the desk as my brain tried to implode while doing these algebra problems (and then spent time rubbing the spot where there'll be a bruise tomorrow, heh), and then I compared them to Hai's. Some of the answers were different so I immediately started marking mine wrong. Then Hai would check with his calculator and my answers... were the RIGHT ones. And we did more together and our answers were different... and mine were the RIGHT ones. Every single time this happened I had to bite my tongue to stop from exclaiming: "I can't believe I'm beating the ASIAN guy at math!!!" But we were laughing hard together anyway. "I think you're a plant," I told him, "Put here just to boost my confidence." We also had fun with our retarded experiments, measuring colored water. The worst, most non-fun part was converting Farenheit to Celcius and vice versa. Which of course I better figure out pretty quick so I'll be able to measure after Canada takes over the US, hee.

Anyway, I should know my test score by tomorrow, hopefully.

Also... LOVING my teeth. Never thought I'd say "I love my fake teeth" but since these are permanently cemented in they seem pretty real to me. And my teeth actually fit together! and don't hurt any more! And I ate a cookie and really chewed it! And even some caramel! and carrots!

Yeah, I've been trying a lot of foods I haven't been able to eat in the last year. Teeth problems suck. Fixed teeth Rule!

Okay, gotta get ready for bed.

Oh yeah, STILL NO STUDENT LOAN has arrived!!!!!! It's a week late! I still need to buy two school books! AAAAAAAAAGH! And I need food to feed two teenagers over the weekend! Please, Student Loan Gods, bestow upon your humble student a check tomorrow, PLEASE!

I learned in science tonight that all of Canada's population is about the same as all of California's.

I don't know what that means, just thought I'd share.

Watch out or I will BITE you

And I finally have my permanent bridge! My little fake teeth, all shiny and white and beautiful looking are now permanently cemented to my other teeth, and I didn't have to have any shots and she only hurt me a little (well, a lot but only for a few seconds) and it will never come out and I can chew better and brush my teeth harder and I am just really really really happy it's all over and I never have to go back.

Because I will never ever EVER go back to that particular dentist office again.

Got more bad financial news today, one step forward, ten steps backward, but whatever.

Scott is asleep sitting up in the chair next to me, I wish I had my camera handy...

Tomorrow I go to the dentist to get that permanent bridge put in... I'm sure it will involve lots of waiting, and lots of time, but hopefully no more shots. I'm not really too hopeful though, but I cannot wait to get the permanent bridge in, I hope it fits in real well, and I hope it allows me to eat without worrying this temporary thing will break.

Thursday evening I will be back in Science lab, taking my first chapter test...

And then FRIDAY! And the WEEKEND! Hurray!

Our first chapter test in Environmental Science is on CHEMISTRY and my head is spinning right now with ions and protons and acids and base, exothermic, endothermic, molecules, organic/inorganic, enzymes, respiration.... AAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!

So sleeeepy

I think it's funny that I volunteered to help drive the kids to the Catholic church and it never even occurred to me that I would probably have to actually attend the service myself. Heh.

Did not like it. No offense to Catholics, REALLY, I just really love my own church. This particular church was very noisy, crying babies and talking and playing children, even the adults were all talking to each other through the whole service. It gave me a gosh darn headache. No one was paying attention, not that they had to because everything seemed to be on autopilot - we visitors didn't know what we were doing, but everyone else knew when to chant back "and also with you" and "So says the Lord" or something like that. No one had to think about anything or pay any attention, it was just the same old thing they did every Sunday in church. In contrast to my church which is very quiet, just a nice hour of quiet meditation and some singing, and a nice, informative sermon that gives us something to really think about and sometimes even changes our lives.

Every religion has something for everyone, I'm not knocking the Catholic church or traditions, I just know now that I really really love my church and it is definitely the right one for me.

Hopefully Buffy doesn't bring lightening strikes to the church

6:04am on Sunday and I'm already up and showered and dressed and drinking coffee. Buffy's confirmation class is visiting a Catholic church today and I'm one of the drivers. NEXT week she has to feed the homeless - which means we have to be at church at 6:30 am!!!

Anyway... Off I go...

Oh, also, did I mention that the school bookstore refused to buy back ANY of my books?? Because they all had new editions out now. Even my almost brand new $120 Oceanography book!

So I put them up on eBay and Half.com. Already have a $10 bid on my history book.

Bastards.

I could use a new white jacket anyway.

Okay, I'm now certifiably insane. I've decided to keep all 16 units.

I do have until February 24 to give one up, but I think I can do it.

Heh.

I'M BACK!!!!
I wasn't hiding out, my stupid internet connection took a dive, AGAIN right before school started. This seems to be a trend. Another bowl full of thick fudgy brownies served up to Computer God at work and he fixed it in five minutes.

So I'm back.

Tonight I go to my first "real" class, I have an Environmental Science lab every Thursday evening. The class itself will be online, but the lab is at school.

Yay School!

Site
Diary
Running Diary
Pictures
Guestbook
Pischina-Ku
books

Recent Entries
Another new church
Not Part Two, but I think you'll like it
Guess Pischina's Test Grade
My Extreme Hair MakeOver Edition
Saturday at the Library, again
Snow Bunny in the Winter, Beach Bunny in the Summer
OOH! OOH! I know! I know!!!
Phew!
Oh, so you guys ARE out there, eh?
Extreme Home MakeOver

Categories
Blogger Idol
Books
Computer People
Diary Update
eBay
Family
Food
Friday Five
Happy!
Health
Interesting
Kids
Lara Croft
Movies
Music
News
Nothing Special
Old Blogger Entries
Pets and Pets and Pets
Politics
Quiz
Reasons for Love
Recipes
Running
School
Scott
Site Maintenance
Sports
Television
Vehicles
Work
Writing