Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Remember the Alamo?

It's a mission in Texas wherein was fought an epic battle. Every one died. Well, not every one. The women and children were left alive and allowed to go home. I know this because my family, niece, and brother went to San Antonio last weekend and took a tour.

It also happened to be field trip day. I now begin my diatribe concerning field tripping children. They are beastly. And I have found that all that their chaperones do is watch them climb on exhibits, run down the halls and shove people out of their way. Fifty chaperones means fifty people watching punks in the assigned t-shirt color make everyone else miserable. I almost decided to start pushing back. Diatribe over.

Anyway, from there we walked around the riverwalk. Very exciting.

We decided to make this trip a camping trip and we camped on Mustang Island in Corpus Christi. It was very windy. One of our tents poles snapped causing us to retire that tent. Oh well, it served diligently for almost three years.

The next morning we went and toured a battleship called the "Lexington". It was hot, smelly and awesome. It was even more awesome because my brother, a world war II history fan, shared "nerdy trivia" around every corner. I loved "nerdy trivia".

We swam some, we toured some, we sun burned lots, we came home. I can't wait to do it again.

Oh, one more thing. The second morning of our trip, we took our delicious and nutritious poptart breakfast with us to the beach. Mr. D thought it would be fun to feed the winged rats which only encouraged them to harass us. One particularly bold seagull decided he was not waiting for handouts and snatched an ENTIRE poptart from Eeny's hand. After the initial shock, she burst into tears. I have taunted her with "seagulls stole my poptart!" every day since.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Schooooools out for summa...

Sing with me! Schooooools out for eva. Not exactly. I still have a milllion years before I'm done but at least I have something to do.

My final final last night (that's right, I said final final) was 200 questions. No, they don't make a scantron with two hundred answers. You have to use two scantrons. Anyway, my exam had 200 questions and was comprehensive. Do you know how hard it is to dredge up sixteen weeks worth of information? It's a head compressing event.

Here's how it went down. After I answered question one (correctly, I hope), my thought was "only 199 questions left." After question two, "only 198 questions left", and so on until I completed the test. I can't remember most of what the questions were but I do know that I can count backwards. Little victories, see.

Then there was my Philosophy exam on Monday. I know I got at least two right. I know you're all thinking "Two?!" in a panicky mental voice so calm down. I'm sure I got more right, I just KNOW I got two.

See, question fifty-one only had one answer. Fifty-two also only had one answer but just in case that was too hard, Professor had written just under that "NO MISTAKE-The answer to question 51 and 52 is A." I had to laugh. When I got home I sent an e-mail to Professor, thanking him for the extra points. Then I asked him how many people will miss them anyway. He hasn't answered.

So now, I am free to focus on my next book. And I have several other books to write as well. I'm so excited! On a side note: It's been about four weeks since I sent my manuscript in. I'm hoping to hear back by August at the latest. Wait patiently with me. Uh, wait patiently for me.

Friday, May 6, 2011

If April Showers Bring May Flowers, What Do May Flowers Bring?

Pilgrims.

So it's May and I only have three more exams until classes are over. Fortunately, my kids had a school break this week. How does that work, you ask. Well they're home schooled. I have them on a six weeks on/one week off setup. This has worked out really well. Since they had the week off, I was able to focus more on my studies.

However, home schooled children are just as bad as public schooled children in that they all know the words to the "I'm bored" song and it isn't long before they start to sing it. My oldest started Monday. But she was quickly singing a new tune after I sang the "I'll give you something to do" chorus.

At any rate, this was the week when I could devote more time to study. It also happens to be the week where I ran out of steam. I just can't force myself to do any more. So I worked out a little compromise with myself. I would study for a time, then take a wee break. Sounds like a good plan right? Well, as my mother always said, the path to hell is paved with good intentions.

Now just to be clear, I have an A in all three of my classes and even if I bomb all three of those exams I'll still walk away with B's. Right now B is okay with me, but I studied. On Tuesday and Wednesday.

Monday and Thursday, I looked at my books. Then I spent the day cross-stitching and watching X-Files. Don't judge.