The shock of my life (well, this semester)

Technically, we're on vacation. This means I shouldn't be blogging. I should be eating junk food, drinking wine and keeping my nose stuck in a book. Seeing as I just finished a book, and I can't eat or drink anymore AND I just got great news, I thought I'd share. After waiting 6 days after grades were posted, I finally got to see the grade I've been dreading all semester. It turns out, I freaked out over nothing (totally out of character for me...) I got an A- in nuerosciene. There it is. No other way to say it. I know it's crazy. all this time I didn't care about getting a b in my personality psych class (by far the easiest class I was in) because I was so sure that my neuroscience gade would sour the whole semester! Now I got an A in everything but the easiest class. It just wouldn't be right if I didn't have something to cry about! On the other hand, I can't cry about a B+ in personality psych until I get over the shock of my neuroscience grade!

12/12/07 3 years!

WTF!?

As if it wasn't bad enough that I had a final at 7:15 this morning, my car was frozen solid when I left the house at 6:10 to catch the bus (in the freezing cold). Now, I'm a Phoenix girl. It doesn't matter that I absolutely hate Phoenix and I'm so thankful I got out of there (better late than never). I was born and raised there. I know it's the desert, but it can get really cold when the sun goes down in the winter and occasionally we get a freeze that kills everything. But I never had to use an ice scraper in Phoenix! Because I don't always adapt well to new situations, this is how my morning went.

-leave the house at 6:10
-notice that all the cars are covered in what I think is just a light frost (nothing the wipers can't handle)
-turn the car on and crank up the defrost
-try the wipers to get off the light coat of frost
-cringe at the sound of the wipers scraping over the layer of ice on my windshield
-(I'm stubborn) try the window spray, I know it's not a good idea, but I don't want to get out of the car and I certainly don't want to scrape my windows.
-window spray doesn't work, wait a few minutes, try again...it fails again
-give up and decide that I can see enough to drive to the bus stop...it's not that far
-pull out, drive all of ten feet, realize that I can't see a damn thing
-give up, get out of the car and go fetch the ice scraper

I am not okay with this! But, I better to get used to it because I have two more finals next week. Guess what time they are?!

Despite my freezing morning, it's not all that bad. My final wasn't horrible. It feels good to be done with two classes. I celebrated that final with a delicious vanilla late from my new favorite coffee shop. Starbucks? Never heard of it! The coffee shop on campus makes amazing drinks and I have yet to be disappointed, unlike at that other place

To top it all off I got a great compliment on the bus ride home. It was the perfect kind of compliment, where the giver wants nothing in return. Apparently, I smile at strangers (a lot). I don't realize that I do it, but more than person has pointed out that I flashed a big smile without provocation (it's even gotten me into trouble). Maybe it's nerves. It doesn't fit my personality at all. I'm not good with strangers. I don't make friends easily and I usually avoid new social situations. For whatever reason, I flashed a big goofy grin to a stranger on the bus today. His response was, "What a smile!" I laugh nervously and manage to utter a "thanx" while I worry that I just initiated a conversation with a complete stranger on the city bus. In my head I punish myself. What was I thinking?! Why did I do that?! But it turned out okay. "No thank YOU," he says. And then he sits down and doesn't bother me for the rest of the ride.

B for 'bout freakin time!

That's right ladies and gentlemen, all that cramming finally paid off! I got a B on my neuroscience midterm and that's before the curve! This snappy little section of the mesencephalon SAVED MY ASS! That's right! The best part is that it's the section that really kicked my ass on the last midterm. Of course, I don't think that was my fault really. We hadn't covered it in class at all and then BAM, there it was on the last mid term. It was just like looking at a picture of an object from another planet. I had no idea what the structures were, so I left it blank. So did nearly everyone else in my class and that's why we got nearly the same image on the next midterm. Apparently, I'm one of very few who saw this one coming. I nailed it, and if I hadn't, I wouldn't be writing about getting a B on my midterm.

Speaking of which, this is a little embarrassing for me. I'm not a "B" type of girl. At least I wasn't, until I started going to school full time at a university. (And who has time to study when you have a fun boyfriend and two fun dogs?!) Really my mom beat me, or threatened to, when I brought home a B. B was for better bring that up to an A, in my house. Sorry, mom, this was one hard earned B and I will take it with pride! Wish me luck on the final!!!

An Intro

When I walk down the street with my best friend I never know what to expect from others who see us together. We've received all different kinds of responses, most of them are hurtful. Many people cross the street or turn around and head in the other direction. Some have even called out hurtful things. This may sound like a scene from the 50's. You can almost picture a white and a black walking down the street together back in a time when it was considered "risky" behavior. Or maybe it's present day and my best friend is a female and we're mistook for lesbian lovers. Neither situation is the case. In this story, my best friend is a female, but she's also a pit bull. I'm the lucky owner of a 7 year old rescued pit bull. I'm an average American woman, in my mid 20's and she is just your average dog. Neither of us deserve the judgment cast upon us by so many people. Unfortunately, this passing of judgment is being taken to another level by state and local governments. Many people are attempting to outlaw all pit bulls. Under many of these laws I would have to move or allow them to euthanize my best friend. A pit bull ban would effect many responsible dog lovers just like me. It is not a solution to any problem.

My new baby

The best birthday present ever!!! This isn't actually her (but is the right model and right color). It was too dark outside for a photo once we got her home. We're still picking out a name for her, but I'm in love already. I averaged 56.3 mpg on the way home from the dealer (about 70 miles away).


Did you even know that hybrids come in 5 speed manual?! I didn't, but what a great way to find out. This car is perfect for me. I hate automatics, but I love hybrids!

The best part is that Lilo has her own little spot in the back. We already took her for a ride and she loved it (the truth is she would love a ride even in a golf cart). Her coat even matches the exterior. We left her in there for a quick errand and when we came back we could just see her beady little eyes and wet nose peaking through the rear side window. All I could say to her was, "You look so sexy in my new car!"


Thank you, Michael! I love ya tons!

I love you with all my brain

Forgive me for my absence. I had two midterms this week. One in neuroscience, hence the creepy picture. Neuroscience fries my brain at least twice a month. Why am I taking neuroscience, you ask? That's a great question! With a very long answer. The short version is that it's required and SJSU really screwed me by accepting my application just before the semester started. To make matters worse my prof is an amazing neuroscientist and not such an amazing teacher. Being great at one doesn't say anything about your ability at the other.

I'm actually fascinated with everything I'm learning. I bet that if I understood more than 20% of it, I'd be completely blown away. The truth is, I don't care exactly what happens to every little neuron when I step on a tack, or take a bite of a lemon. Maybe I would if I had taken the prereqs...that's a wholenother story.

All this brain on the brain has really been getting to me. I'm not the type to have trouble sleeping. I'm more the type to fall asleep when I'm not supposed to. Studying neuroscience can keep me up all night. It's keeping Micheal up to. After a good night of cramming before a midterm I can't go to sleep until I recite to Michael everything I've learned. I'd love to say that this is just a strategy, all part of my brilliant study plan, but the truth is I can't turn it off. Just typing this right now has me thinking about all the various action potentials that might be firing off right now. At the very least, taking this class is teaching me that there's a good excuse for every little feeling that I have. It's not entirely my fault that I get depressed, enraged or even apathetic. It's all in my head and I have very little control over what goes on in there!

Bus 1019

To my shock, I was greeted as I entered the city bus for my daily ride home from campus today. It's amazing what your brain processes in such a short amount of time. What? Me? Did that come from the BUS DRIVER?! wtf? wow! I'm impressed. Today I spent some extra time at school, against my will, of course. I don't usually ride the bus at this particular time. Most days I see the same old drivers and they don't speak to anyone unless it's to answer a question or kick a stinky bum off the bus. In fact, they just sit there all fat and cranky. Sometimes I utter a good morning, but usually I just show my pass and walk on by, like I've never seen the guy before in my life.

Not this lady. She looked me right into the eyes as I showed her my bus pass and said, "Hello!" I'm pretty sure she smiled too. It didn't stop there either. This woman greeted someone every time the bus stopped. Even more amazing she honked and waved at the hot dog vendor on the side of the street! Apparently I should ride her bus more often.

Kudos to the woman who drives around the bus freaks (I can say that, I am one!) all day and still has such a friendly personality. She may not realize it but, she is doing herself a favor as well. More than once I've seen some crazies start causing trouble on the bus. This woman knows everyone by name and would simply have to turn around and say, "Joe Schmoe, Don't make me turn this bus around!"

Jebba Louba

5 months is a long time if you spend everyday with someone. How do you not become attached? At least once a day I look into that adorable face and think to myself, "there's no way I can let you go. You are so mine!" Then I remember that I made a promise. If I keep a foster, I can't continue to foster other dogs. Raw deal, if you ask me! Okay, I actually made up that rule. But, if I didn't we'd have a farm and Michael would probably be long gone by now. So, someone is coming to look at Jeb today. I have mixed feelings. They live in an apartment and don't have approval from their landlord yet. Those of you who know what it's like to own a pit bull, know that it becomes damn near impossible to rent a home anywhere. All of a sudden everyone hates you. You get this a lot, "Pit bull?! Like one of those fightin' dogs?! No, I can't have a viscous dog running around here." I'm getting off the topic, but let me just ask one question, if I was running a dog fighting business do you really I'd call you up and ask if I can rent your property with my one pet pit bull? Probably not! This will continue as long as the majority of the world gets all their information from the news. Back to Jebba, will he get adopted today? Not likely. But there's a good chance we're driving him to a good home in Oregon this weekend. Stay tuned for the next episode. . .

This is me...

I'm a simple girl in a complicated world. I strive for the simple things in life. I'm a t-shirt and jeans kind of girl, except on date night. I'm a teacher and a student and a pitbull foster mom. I'm close to my family and consider my good friends part of that family. My dogs are numero uno. Everyone else can take care of themselves.