Math Shmath

I started studying for the GRE yesterday. I played some free rice vocab during the day and at night the husband helped me with some math practice questions. Thank goodness he is a patient guy because I had a lot of questions!

The math questions I practiced brought me back to high school and I started remembering a lot of things... not about math per se, but about how much I disliked high school and especially math. Obviously that did not help me solve the math questions at hand. I tend to make math way harder than it should be. Since I learn best by visualizing it helps to draw pictures. However, the GRE is timed so it would be most beneficial to me if I learned how to properly solve equations rather than spend 90% of my time drawing out how many combinations of toppings can be on a pizza.

I now realize that it might have not been very beneficial for me to have my friends do my math homework... oh well. better late than never!

ps... If you folks that took the GRE have any advice for me I will gladly accept it! I am taking it this summer.

Potpourri

Craft-o-rama: Ive been feeling especially crafty for the past week or so. I have been trying to take advantage of the inspiration since I have a long list of things to make. So far I have make a slew of burp rags, 8 coffee sleeves, Easter cards, and some Easter decorations! I still have to finish a boppy cover for a friend and make more hair bows, but I have no doubt that I will be able to finish them before my birthday!

Birthday Time: Speaking of my birthday, it is in 6 days! I plan on making these for Bible Study tomorrow night to start off my birth-week. I am also bringing some strawberries and dip to work on Thursday to celebrate... and the Intern that works with me is bringing her cupcake maker so we can make them here and decorate them too! I am making the icing; there is no room for store bought icing in this girls belly. And when the actual birthday rolls around on Saturday I am looking forward to hopefully seeing my parents and spending the evening at our favorite coffeehouse with friends!

Master Zobrist: The husband and I have agreed that it is financially plausible and good timing for me to go back to school and get a Masters Degree! I am still in the early planning stages, but I am so excited!! My goal is to be able to go to school in Fall of 2012. That would give us enough time to save money and for me to take my GRE and apply. Chances are I would work full time and take classes part time.Of course it is all contingent of whether or not I get in, but I think I can do it! By the way, I would be getting a Masters of Public Affairs with a concentration in Non-Profit Management through IUPUI's School of Environmental and Public Affairs (SPEA). Its all very nerve-wrecking and exciting!

Just Some Thoughts

1. I was Facebook stalking some people from high school and stumbled upon the page of a classmate I really disliked. He was your typical 'popular' a-hole, except he wasn't cute. at all. He still isn't. Anyway, whilst looking through some pictures I realized that he had a child. This creeps me out on many levels... mostly because I still picture him as the jerk I grew up with (we went to school together from kindergarten-high school). He could be different now, but I doubt it. He is probably just a jerk with a kid now. Sorry that I am so jaded... high school was not a pleasant experience for me. College redeemed my view of education.

2. I have not had a house plant die on me yet (besides my herb garden; it got fried one weekend while I was gone). Herman, Peter Parker, Spartacus, and the un-named Aloe plant are all doing well!

3. I tried to make coffee at work today. My co-workers told me that I made great espresso - the coffee was really strong. For the record, I have never made coffee before.

4. I wanted to get mirrors shaped like birds to put in out living room behind the couch. I thought it would be a great idea since the husband has become a birder. Well, I was wrong. He wrote me an email back saying that he hated them (actually it was 'Are you serious?') and that "the descriptions says they are sparrows, but they are clearly swallows." :)

5. Happy 50th post to me!

The Worst of Times

2 Words Folks: Middle School.

Lately, thanks to Meghan McBlogger of 2 Birds 1 Blog fame, I have been thinking back to the most awkward times of my life. And i'm an awkward person all around, so that in itself says something.

I have yet to meet an individual that enjoyed this time of their life. My bff Kassi and I were talking about it last weekend. There are wounds from middle school that took a long time to heal. For me most of those wounds usually had something to do with catty gossip. A big traumatic event in my middle school life was this: 2 people (yes, I still remember their names) decided to make a list of all the girls in the school and give them awful nicknames that centered around their faults. The list got found by some who were one the list, including me. Now I dont remember my nickname, but it had something to do with the cellulite on my legs. I wasnt a skinny girl, but I wasnt huge either. I was, of course, self conscious about my body like every other 13 year old girl. This really helped.

In order to deal with this embarrassment I did what (I assume) all girls did at that age; trash talk the enemies by calling them names in letters to friends. I believe the letter included words describing the enemies as whores, sluts, and I probably dropped the 'B' word too. Im sure I also included something about one of the girls teeth because they were by no means straight. While this was not a good way to deal with my feelings, it seemed appropriate at the time.

My mom would sometimes find my notes in the pockets of my jeans during middle school and would read them. I would get madand she would quickly reply with either 'if you dont want someone to know whats in here maybe you shouldnt write it' or 'then empty your pockets!.' Well, with this particular situation my mother didnt see the note, but a teacher did. He yelled at me in front of the whole class and I cried. He also was the basketball coach and it was tryout season. Needless to say I did not make the team that year (it had nothing to do with my fouling and inability to make a shot... it was all the note).

So I was humiliated twice in a day and ended up in tears in the girls bathroom. Actually, that seems to sum up my entire middle school experience.

While I felt like I was being treated unfairly, I was doing the same thing to girls that were part of the lower social status in school... and I feel terrible about it now. Finally I have the foresight to see that the people I was making fun of were the underdogs in life who didnt have it as good as my family. I now work in the social service sector to help the same individuals I talked about behind their backs in order to feel better about myself and fit in with the popular crowd. Eventually I got tired of trying to impress the popular crowd and began to hang out with kids that I related to better... besides their affinity for drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol. But that is a story for another day.