Midterms……AAAAHHhhhhh!!!!!!

ok, ok. I have failed miserably at my goal of updating this weekly, but I’m trying. Let’s see if I can catch you up since the last post. The past few weeks have been crazy busy preparing for midterms: 3 are done, and I still have 2 more over the next 2 weeks. Most of my time has been spent studying, but I have allowed a little time for fun too. A few weeks back we went to Cowboy’s dance hall for the Chris Caigle concert, and I got to ride the mechanical bull! 

I’ve also had a bit of misfortune – About 2 weeks ago, my car got hit while I was driving home from school. It was raining, and the lady behind me tried to stop, but she hydroplaned into the back of my car   😦

My car is fixed already, but my body is healing a little slower. My neck was bothering me pretty badly, and I was getting headaches everyday for a while, but I’ve been to physical therapy a few times now, and I’m feeling a bit better. Hopefully I’ll be able to work out again soon.

Grad school is in full swing!

     Well, no more complaining about being bored!  School started on July 2nd, and this is the first time I’ve had a chance to sit down and update the blog! Even though grad school is pretty intense so far, I am really enjoying it. It’s kind of been like trying to drink form a firehose, because we are taking in so much new information everyday. My classmates are great, and I’ve already made quite a few friends. We try to go out at least once a week to unwind and decompress, usually on the weekend. It helps to keep us sane through another intense week of classes.

     Last night we went to this great place called 20nine restaurant and wine bar. My classmate Natalia’s husband just got a job as the head chef there. The food is excellent and so are the wines. I had a great time and can’t wait to go back. Check out their website at  http://www.20ninewine.com/

     I am very happy to report that I found a great coffee shop near my house to study at. I have a really hard time concentrating at my house, because there are a lot of distractions. In DC we always used to go to this great place called Common Grounds, and I didn’t think I would ever find another place like it. This new place, Java Connection, is a little smaller, and a little nicer, but it is a perfet studying evironment for me. AND, it’s only five minutes up the road from my house. It’s perfect!

     I spent most of my time this weekend cleaning up around the house, but yesterday I also went shopping. I have been here in Texas since April, and had still not made it to the mall to buy some new summer clothes. SO, after I finished my housework yesterday, I went up to the Shops at La Cantera, this great mall near my house. I ended up spending a little more than I had planned, but I really needed to update the summer wardrobe, so it’s ok! 🙂

     Well, I think I have spent enough time writing this entry and avoiding my homework, and I still have to mow the lawn too, if the grass ever dries from all the rain! Anyway…time to get studying!

update…but 1st a little venting…(Sorry)

Okay, so I know it’s been a while, I apologize. I’ve been really busy lately getting started with school. It’s been a little frustrating, because I’m busy sitting in the classroom all day, but we’re not really doing anything yet. These first 2 weeks are orientation, so it’s a lot of babbling about policies, etc… But even worse than that,  we had to do some diagnostic tests for  homework to see where we are at regarding algebra, writing skills, and using Excel, Word, and Power Point. If we did well, we were not supposed to be required to sit through all the tutorials.  Yeah right! I have spent the past 2 days just trying to stay awake!  I can’t wait until our real classes start.
 
 
Sooooo, here I am, bored out of my mind, sitting through a high school algebra review (When I only missed one question on the diagnostic). Which, might I add, I find quite commical….since we had to score a 1050 on the GRE to get into this program!!!!!!!   Thank God we have laptops in the class so I can sit here and draft this blog entry instead of falling asleep!  Unfortunately they have strong restrictions on what websites we can access from the classroom. I can not chat, blog, or go to Myspace!  It has been quite an adjustment to sit at the computer and not be able to access any of my frequently visited sites. Oh yeah, no you tube either!  I can’t even search on craigslist! I can check my gmail, but the gmail chat is blocked. Hmmm, does anyone know any other sites that are fun to search/visit that might not be blocked?????  I think I might just start playing solitaire….  Would it be too blatantly obvious that i’m not paying attention if i just bust out the book I’m reading on leadership? 
 
Well, now that I’m done venting about my frustrations, let’s see if there is anything noteworthy that has happened in the past few weeks…
 
We have made a lot of progress on the landscaping. (see house pics for updated photos).  We pulled a lot of shrubs, added a small stone wall in front of the window, and created a flowerbed along the driveway. It was a lot of work, but I am really pleased with the finished product. Eventually we’ll put flowers in front of the window, along the fence, and on the right corner of the driveway, but probably not right away.
 
We have also made a few improvments inside as well. We re-painted Jay’s bathroom, and put up a new mirror and light fixture. I also bought a new plasma screen tv, and a bigger entertainment center to go with it. I love it!  The next inside project is to find a dining room table, but there’s not really a big rush on that.
 
Titus is doing well. The school had a picnic the other day and so I got to bring Titus with me. He had a blast!  It’s been a while since I’ve been able to take him anywhere (besides walking around the neighborhood), so he was super excited!  He behaved so well too! He let all the little kids pet him, and he didn’t jump on anyone. I was so proud of him! 
 
School starts next week, and at this point, I can’t wait! 
 
 

Vacation!

Well I decided to take a little more time off before school starts. June 18th is the official start date, but the first 2 weeks are orientation, classes will actually start in July. Once they do, I won’t really have the opportunity to take time off until the holidays, so it was now or never.  Soooo….I am on vacation for 2 weeks. Yay!

 So far I am enjoying it, and trying to balance sleeping in and fun with getting some of the large projects completed around the house.  On Monday Jason (my roomie) and I went shopping for various project supplies and items we still needed for the house. One of our stops was Best Buy. I was perusing the DVD section looking for a few clearance DVD’s to expand my limited home collection when I looked up and realized that Tim Duncan was standing next to me. TIM DUNCAN, the power forward from the soon to be NBA championship team, the Spurs. It was really cool, I just looked up and said hey, and kept on moving. I didn’t want to disturb the poor guy, he was just out trying to find a good video. I was mostly caught off guard by how tall he is – at 5’4″ I was felling pretty small next to his 6’11” athletic frame.  I kinda felt bad, because as people in the store were noticing him, they’d all go over and start talking to him. He managed to get in and out of the store pretty quickly though. It was cool to see him anyway!

“highlights”

I got some – check ’em out!

 This pic is not the greatest…but you get the idea.

I can’t believe it’s been 2 weeks since I’ve made an update. I have been pretty busy working on the house and the yard too. Last weekend for Memorial Day it rained almost every day here, so my roomie and I spent the weekend shopping for things for the house. I bought a few new pics for the walls and some couch covers to lighten up the living room.

Progress…

…has been made today.

I have finally taken a few pics of my new house! I am so excited to finally be getting settled in. My roomate and I spent the day hanging a few pics on the walls and arranging furniture. Now if I can just get my bedroom in order…

 Check out the “my house” page for additional pics of my house and my “pictures” page to see some of my other photography.

One of these days, I’m gonna get the hang of this…

I have decided that since I’m more far away than ever, and will proabably stay just as busy, I will use this to keep everyone informed of the daily happenings of my life. This is very brief, but I will get better, I promise! 

 

I took this picture when I was out in Cali back in January, I should be posting some San Antonio pics soon.

The Alternative

My only other alternative to posting my thoughts and happenings here was to bombard my Mother’s Inbox with emails throughout the day – when she is supposed to be working.  I think I’m actually really going to enjoy this. Even if no one is out there reading it. I sent my Mom the longest e-mail ever today, and decided that I need to find another way to get my thoughts out if my head. 

This weekend will hopefully be a productive one. I think I’m going to try to get most of the rest of the landscaping done this weekend.  I need to pull out a few of my shrubs,  one is dead, and the others just need to go, there are too many of them. I don’t know waht the previous owner’s of my house were thinking, but the yard is more like a jungle with all of the greenery going on out there. My roomie and I will have to work pretty hard if we are going to wrap up that project this weekend.

In addition to conqeuering the jungle, I’m supposed to be studying for hte GMAT – note – blogging can be a fabulous tool for procrastintion. 🙂  After talking to a lot of the current students in my upcoming Mater’s program, I’m feeling like I should try to do the dual degree. In order to apply for the MBA portion I have to take the GMAT, so I’m going on Tuesday. I’ve been trying to review the math stuff this week, so hopefully I’ll score well enough. If not, then I’ll just do the Master’s in Healthcare and that would be fine too. I figure since I’ll already be in school mode, and it doesn’t really require much extra time, I should go for it. Then I won’t have to go back to school again later, if I decide I want my MBA.

I have been soooo bored at work. My job is getting old really fast!  It’s just so unfulfilling. Until my classes start next month I am working temporarily in one of the offices here. I more or less file papers and make copies. I’ve tried to break up the monotany this week by reviewing for the GMAT, and paying some bills and stuff, but I’m glad it’s only temporary. I think I’m going to take off some more time before school starts. I’m actually looking forward to getting started!