All I can hear I-me-mine I-me-mine I-me-mine

So. My laptop is broken. Well, it is not working correctly. I think if I take it to be fixed, then it should be ok. It is the hardware that is messed up, not the software, just so I don't have to hear any of the "OMG get a mac" comments. Keep those to yourself, thank you very much. Anywho, it couldn't have come at a more imperfect time for me: my first paper is due next Monday. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue. I would do the paper at my leisure on Sunday afternoon/night, getting up to proofread it and then I'd turn it in. However, since my laptop is broken and my roommate is out of town, I have to come to the library to do this. Also, I now will have to pay to print, which sucks, because I just bought a printer, paper, etc so that I could print from the leisure of my home (not that I need to print this paper, I believe it is to be turned in online). Another issue is this weekend. I will be in Chicago on Friday but not Saturday or Sunday. This is the dilemma of all dilemmas, as I now have to write my paper somewhere during this week. I guess it is my choice to not be in Chicago for the whole weekend, but I think that I don't need to be here other than Friday (Whoo-hoo, Lola's 21!)
Oh but also, on top of this, I have a test on Wednesday. I don't think it will be very difficult, but I do think that I am stressing about a lot of things (the laptop, really) on top of this. Speaking of, I think I will study for my test at McDonald's. I am having that for lunch because I feel like it.

Everyone's watching to see what you will do Everyone's looking at you

Today is Tuesday. I am excited. As soon as today is finished, it will be Wednesday. And so on and so forth. Really, what I'm writing about is the weekend.

I really only see my boyfriend during the weekend, since he lives kind of far away from the city. He occasionally comes in for important things, such as baseball games, my birthday, harry potter, etc. I'm not complaining; I know I would love to see him everyday all day 24/7, but that's not possible. But, this is how life is. And I'm ok with it for right now, there's not much I can do about it.

But this is not what I wanted to write about. It's that I wanted to write about the weekend. The weekend is such an interesting time. I think in college, or any school age, you really take it for granted. Sure, it's a break from your week, but it's not like you stayed in every night in college. NO. Some days you only had three classes, some days less than that. Looking back, the weekend was just a time to do nothing and to take a break from your week. Not to say it isn't the same, weekends are to take breaks. But the point of the weekend evolves as you get older. At this age, it's to not be at work for 8 hours a day and to have free time during the day to yourself. In college, when it was nice out, you sat outside between classes. When you work, if it's nice out, you look at the weather from your window. Maybe you can step out for lunch, but that's only an hour max. It's different. When it's not nice during the weekend, you get upset, because it was nice during the week and you couldn't enjoy it. As we get older, the weekends are going to turn into getting to spend quality time with the children, your husband/wife, cleaning your house. I just think it's very interesting that it is so different from what age group you are in.

That said, I wish it was Friday soooooo bad.

Just a midnight train going anyyyyyyyyyyyywhere

It's fall, so that means tv. And while I will be in class my main tv days, I am EXCITED because I have dvr and cable and everything is going to happen to me and I won't have to make tv choices. YES!

New Shows I will watch:

-Glee. If you have not seen the first episode yet and you like musicals/pop music/show choir, go to iTunes, hulu or fox.com and watch it. I'm pretty sure those are all the free, popular venues. The first new episode comes on tomorrow and I'm SO EXCITED.

-Melrose Place. I love Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, even if she can't act. I also like deliciously awful tv shows. From the first episode tonight, I already hate one character and love one character. And there is never enough Ashlee Simpson-Wentz.

-Flash Forward. This is not on yet. But it looks awesome and sci-fyi

-Vampire Diaries. I heard it was good.

Tv Shows I already watch:

-Gossip Girl
-Top Chef
-Real World
-Real Housewives of Atlanta/whatever season it is
-Mad Men
-Project Runway
-Lost when it finally comes back on for it's last season
-Brothers and Sisters
-True Blood but it's ending soon

wait. do i really not watch anything else? that can't be true, but I guess I just can't think of what else I watch. shoot. I promise I am not only a reality show girl, but apparently I can't even back it up. Sadface.

(This post is brought to you by Thai food, Melrose Place and red wine.)

I wore the time like a dress that year

Where to start? I haven't posted in awhile, not since my last library book was due. And guess what? It's still overdue. Lately, I haven't had the motivation to get up and go to the library, which is really ridiculous because it is not far away. In fact, it's a lot closer now that I'VE MOVED.

So I've moved to Wicker Park. I love our new apartment; it's smaller but cozier, and it finally feels like somewhere I want to live. Not to say that I didn't like my old apartment, because I did, but I didn't help make it the way it was. Kate and Molly had it set up the way they wanted at the beginning and I just moved in, but with this apartment, Molly and I put things where they needed to be, with help from Patrick. He was really a great help in the move and went above and beyond what I expected of him. It is very nice to have someone so wonderful in my life; I could never have asked for anything more. I know, kind of cheesy, but how I feel. And also, have you EVER heard me say anything of this sort? The answer to that is no, for sure.

Anyway, we moved (and aren't finished unpacking) and I started grad school. I was waiting until I finished my first week to give a thorough run-down of my classes and I feel like I have enough information now. I started having panic attacks last week before I officially went to any classes because I read the syllabus for one of them and it's just so intense, but I know I can do it. This is what I actually want to be doing, not just what I found interesting. Not that I'm knocking on psychology, because I love it, but I don't know if I ever actually saw myself as a therapist. Anyway, here are my classes:

The Exceptional Child: About Special Education, psychology and children. So far, I don't know how I feel about this. I just got the book in the mail today so I haven't read any of the chapters yet, but I can say that this class is interesting. The professor brings irish soda bread and candy during break for us for a snack, but I have difficulty paying attention in class. there are 50 plus students in the class, so it's kind of a big change. We do in class assignments in groups and he goes over every chapter in power points. It just seems a smidge easier than I would have thought. But I guess I can't complain.

Educational Psychology: I never took this class at Knox because it was kind of difficult to get into if you weren't an Ed major. It will be interesting, since it is covering my past school learning and my future school learning, so that's good. I'll learn a lot. It's an awkward online class, which I didn't really want to take. I've never taken an online class, and I can't see how I will learn anything without direct instruction from the teacher. So far, it's like "You read the chapter, then have a discussion on the discussion board." Uhm. I don't know, it just feels kind of like a jip, like I'm paying myself to teach me this subject. It's just sort of unsatisfactory for me.

Middle School Thought and Curriculum: WOW. This class' syllabus is the one that made me cry/panic. It's very intense, with a clinical portion where I have to go and observe for 15 hours in middle school. There's a lot of reading and I don't know, her syllabus is just very intense and in-depth on what teaching standards each subject we learn relates to. Already we have to read a bok by next week, which I am currently int he process of reading and I actually am really into it, so that's good. Within the first class, this professor had me 95% convinced that I want to teach middle school. No joke. I know I had mentioned it before and I was on the fence about it, but she has me very, very close. I have requested for observation to be placed in either a Spanish class or a Social Studies class, so those are the ones that I am most interested in. I don't know what she said to me, but I'm very excited about this class. At least if there is a lot of work, I can be dedicated to it in that I really enjoy the subject matter. I completed the homework for this class taht I have today last Friday. That's how excited I am about this class.

I don't really have anything else. The weeks are flying by. How is it already September? Feels like just yesterday it was January. Where did 2009 go?

Pretty Young Thang, you'll be there for me

So today is the week that I have been dreading. It is the week I a) start graduate school and b) move from one apartment (Goodbye Humboldt Park) to another (Hello Wicker Park!) I am actually excited about both of these things, but to have them both happen in one week. Well. I am just not prepared. It's just so much. Do I have everything packed? Do I have books? Will my boyfriend stop complaining about not wanting to help me move? Can I gather enough strength to move class before my block of 4-9:30 classes on Thursday? Can I still play Rock Band 2?

Too many questions, not enough time. Today I went to Ikea to get stuff for my apartment, since at our last juncture, Kate took the kitchen table and chairs with her to Atlanta. Which is fine, because she bought it. So we got new ones today and I, finally, got a bed frame, so that I no longer have to sleep on the floor. Do I still need a box spring? Yes. A Desk? Why, half yes (Molly has one, I have to see if I like it. Really, I want that combination bookcase/desk thing that ikea has, but that will just be too big for my room, probably.) After Ikea, we came home and packed up clothes and things that we won't need for the rest of the week and put them in the new apartment and waited for Ikea to deliver our furniture, which came within two hours of the allotted four hour wait, which I thought was very successful. Then we came home and now I want to pass out. It's only 8 o'clock. I also woke up early though.

Anyway. This is life for this week. However, tomorrow is hump day meaning two things: an overwhelming sense of dread that I'm not done with everything and an overwhelming sense of almost relief, as the week is half over.

Work All Day All Night, Trying to get fly

The red velvet cake I was talking about in the last post was a success!! I would post photos, but they didn't come out as glamourous as I would have liked, because of poor lighting/old ass camera, but rest assured it was delicious. Quote from Patrick: "It's like eating a slice of heaven. Best red velvet cake I've ever had." Quote from Patrick's Mom: "It's one of the best ever. And the frosting! I love it."
So all in all, a success.

This week, I, like Alisha, have been getting myself ready for the new school year. The new graduate school year. I feel very important saying this. If you had told me three years ago that I would be going to graduate school this soon, I would be suspect. I'm not really sure what I thought of doing for a real job as a junior in college, but I don't think I would have ever thought about being in grad school, for education, no less. There I was, thinking about being a Psychology star (year right) and preparing myself for a life of spanish speaking. On the bright side of this carrer change business (I must interject to say that I have always wanted to be a teacher and just got sidetracked for five years and am now back where I belong), every class I took as an undergrad, with possibly the exception of Place and Time in Jewish and Israeli Thought and Ceramics, will have an affect on me becoming a teacher. Psychology is important in every trade and market, which is why I think there are so many different forms of it. Spanish is becoming ever important in this day and age, and if I choose to get middle school certified (which I am planning on), I can teach Spanish, which is one of my original, very exciting life goals.

I don't know. I'm excited and I'm scared. Going to Loyola is different; at Orientation for the School of Education, no one sat next to me. I didn't meet anyone. No one talked to me. When we broke out into individual groups by program, I sat down next to someone's stuff and when they came back in the room, they moved away from me. This has never happened to me before. Usually, when people first meet me, we talk. I make a joke. They laugh. They decide in their head that they want to be my friend. And then bam! It is done. The fact that this is not how it is is strange for me. Maybe people don't make friends in grad school. I don't know. It was depressing. On top of that, my money is getting pretty low. So much so that I can't buy books until Tuesday or Wednesday. I have class on Wednesday. I have reading due on Wednsday. This has never been my life. So it's all just different.

But really, I'm not complaining. At least I don't think I am. I am happy, I am hanging out with people and enjoying my time off and watching my boyfriend play softball and eating good food when I can. So it's still all good.

Today we will be cooking

I started this and now have to start again because Firefox froze. Thanks.

Last night, I saw Julie and Julia with my mother and sister. I thought the movie was adorable. If you don't know what it is/don't follow movies religiously like I do, it is based on two true stories; one about Julia Child's life in Paris and the way that she worked on getting her cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, published. The other is about Julie Powell, who in 2002 blogged about cooking all 524 recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. WOW. I am secretly jealous, but not really. Making all of the recipes I'm sure was difficult, and I think the only thing I'm jealous about is having the prowess to finish something as daunting as that. And also, to get to eat French food. Because. I love it. Anyway, the movie was really cute. As a child, I used to do a spot on impression of Julia Child and I enjoyed watching the reruns of her show. Also, the fact that she is SUPER tall is amazing as I am tall as well. The movie also made me want to read the two books that it was based on, which I ALMOST bought at Barnes and Noble the other day with my father. The only thing that stopped me is that they only had the movie covers of the novels. I hate movie covers. But that's a story for a different day.

If you don't know me (and, perhaps you don't), I am really into food. I love food. Eating for me is an experience that cannot be replaced with anything else, even if it is money. Eating brings me intense joy, and while I sometimes have the not-hungry disease (when I am not hungry), I make myself eat something, anything, to help bring me out of that issue and return to being hunry. But the downside to this is that food costs money. Food costs energy. And food costs time. Since I have not been working while waiting for school to start, I have been cooking. Usually, I bake. I am a baker. I have only really ruined one baked good in my life, and it wasn't even ruined. It was the summer of 2007 and I made red velvet cupcakes. 48 of them to be exact, a double batch. I didn't have enough red food coloring and I cooked them a smidge too long, so they came out a weird red-brown color. Some of them were more red than others, but all in all, not the vibrant red that you usually see. It was disappointing. However, they were delicious and moist, just not the right color. My cousin and his friend would eat about five a day, and they were gone pretty quickly. Still, it is my biggest baking failure to date. I am thinking about going back to baking. I don't do anything during the day except look for part time jobs and watch tv on dvd or on the internet. And I got all caught up yesterday while at my mother's house. So I found a recipe online that I would like to try. To be honest, I can't write what it is because it is going to be a surprise for my boyfriend, who has kind of stopped lurking on this blog (lame), so I can probably tell you anyway. (It's a red velvet cake). It's his favorite. I know, I am really lame. But it's also one of my favorites.

I secretly follow food blogs, and I read Bitten by Mark Bittman at the New York times online all the time. When I had a job, it was one of my favorite things to read to waste time during the day. Food blogs make me jealous that I'm not doing some thrilling cooking in my life, but I have been trying. I have made two Giada recipes, one tyler florence recipe and my Ina staple that I kind of change everytime I make it. those are my favorite Food Network Chefs. I like Paula for watching; I think I would secretly hate half of the food she makes, because she uses too much not freshly made mayonnaise. I hate mayo unless it's freshly made and you may be wondering, where did you try fresh mayo? And the answer is, my host mom in Spain used to make it. And we would eat it on EVERYTHING including vegetables and calamari and it was the most mayo I've ever eaten in my life. And I plan on asking for the recipe, although that might be a smidge more difficult because of the metric conversions. But I'm going to try it.

Man. This has kind of made me hungry. Fortunately, I haven't eaten yet and fortunately, I have a fully stocked fridge and pantry with lots of food for me to eat.