I stayed home from class today; wasn’t feeling up to driving anywhere, and also felt kind of sick/tired/unmotivated this morning after I got up and got ready to leave. 
Yesterday I had a group meeting for a project that we are doing in my management class, and I also attended an info session about the Johnson & Johnson case competition that is going to be coming to school in the spring. Last year one of our teams placed 3rd in the national competition held in New Brunswick, NJ at the J&J headquarters, beating out larger schools like Penn State and coming right Rutgers U. and Illinois State. I was selected amongst other people who are felt to be some of the best performing students, so that is a pretty cool feeling. I’m not sure if I am going to participate yet, but it was strongly suggested since it is a great resume addition- regardless of whether or not my team continues on into the finals. We’ll see what happens there…
#58
What kind of good news do you want to get today?
I want to get my management test back that I took on Monday, and I want to see a good grade on it… because I think I just failed the finance exam I had last hour. It was hard… :( Update: At least I’m not the only one who had problems! The class as a whole seemed to have difficulty with the test! Also, I got an A- on my second management exam- the same grade as the first test. Yes!
#57
What do you want in a PERFECT bedroom?
I would want a big (but organized and tidy) bedroom with a queen sized bed with perfectly coordinated bedding and nice lighting; a really cool closet with a lot of space and a mechanical rack that rotates my clothes around (similar to the one Cher had in the Clueless movie, if anyone saw that); and a big bathroom with a big jacuzzi tub and shower… not too much to ask for, lol. 
Time has been just racing by and the end of the year is going to be here before we know it. I can’t believe that we are into the second week of November already and that Thanksgiving is about three weeks away. I only have 12 days of classes before finals and Halloween was just about two weeks ago- wow!
I didn’t do anything too extravagant for Halloween, just chilled with my better half at his place and had a relaxing weekend. After the blowout after-Halloween sale, the crew and I packed up the Halloween store last Tuesday and Thursday, so that is officially over for the season, and my cousin had an after-Halloween party this past Saturday. The party was great. I made homemade spinach and artichoke dip and a tray of brownies with cream cheese frosting (tinted orange with black sugar sprinkles, of course…) for the occasion and we had some other yummy h’ors d’oeuvres, too. The dessert pastries were the best part, if you ask me, and somebody made some really good homemade sangria- yum. 
My guy and I stayed over and walked into town the next day, then I went home and studied for a few hours for the test I had yesterday which I think went pretty well.
Right now I’m attempting to study for Spanish. Basically, this Spanish class that I am taking now is comparable to some high school- or college-level English literature classes that I have taken in the past- only it is completely in Spanish and, therefore, can be an even bigger pain in the ass. We have a test tomorrow and there is a lot of material to memorize. The test covers 9 stories that we read and 2 movies that we were required to see. For each, we have to know the name of the story/movie, the author/director, and the country of origin for the author/director. We also have to identify significant quotes and some other information from the stories/movies, and write a few short essays on important themes from the stories/movies.
In addition to the test, we also have an essay outline due tomorrow for our 5-7+ page essay which is going to be used as our final exam grade for the class. Frankly, I have no idea what I am going to write about yet and probably won’t even turn in the outline tomorrow; I’ll probably turn it in next week and pray that some other people in my class do the same. There are about 7 or 8 other people in my class, and I know for a fact that a few of them are currently in the same boat as I am with not knowing what their essay topics are going to be yet.
Since this Spanish work/studying is going to suck up a majority of my time this evening, it’s a damn good thing I took a little bit of time to review for my finance test last night, since I also have that test tomorrow. Thankfully, the test is going to be composed of math and basic financial analysis problems, and the formulas are provided. Here’s hoping I don’t screw up and apply the wrong formulas to the wrong problems… ugh.
1. Name something you like with pumpkin in it.
Pumpkin is amazing in so many things. Pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin bisque, pumpkin rolls (pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, rolled up like a jelly roll)… yum.
2. Name an orange food you like.
Sweet potatoes. I love eating them baked and topped with butter, brown sugar, salt and pepper.
3. What’s your favorite color/flavor of licorice?
Twizzler has all sorts of different “rainbow” flavours now that are pretty yummy, but I am still fond of the regular cherry variety.
4. What’s your favorite hot beverage at Halloween?
Coffee, but then again that’s something I drink year-round. I can’t say that there is a “seasonal” beverage I drink during Halloween.
From: Four Foods on Friday
My weeks have been pretty damn busy. To recap: I’ve been going to school Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; tutoring on Mondays and Wednesdays after classes, generally from 5-7pm*; and working at the Halloween store Thursday-Saturday, sometimes Tuesday**. I can’t say that things have been completely sound financially and with school. I’ve been stressed about money, particularly with loans to pay for the rest of tuition, and stressed about doing well in my classes despite not having all of my books. I can’t say that things are slowly getting better, either, because they don’t feel that way; nothing has been resolved with money and I have tests piled on top of one another that I’m worried about. All I can do is deal with the shit and work it out as it comes, I guess.
Despite how busy I’ve been, I’ve been trying to be more active at school with clubs and organizations. I ran for a chair position in PBL-FBLA and was elected again; however, I decided that (with everything else that’s been going on) it would be best for me to drop my position rather than put in less than 100% effort and dedication. I’ve also been attending the Fall 2009 “rush” events at the Phi Sigma Sigma house at school. Who knew that I would be interested in the Greek life at college? 
I actually have been interested for a while, but never took the initiative to find out more until this semester. I was surprised to find out that Phi Sigma Sigma’s philanthropy was The National Kidney Foundation. Since my mom is affected by renal failure, it would be amazing to be apart of a sisterhood which supports the NKF and hosts periodic events/drives/fundraisers to raise awareness for the NKF and renal disease/failure. Not only that, but the sisters that I’ve met so far were so friendly and I’d definitely like to make some new friends.
One thing I have been satisfied with is my relationship. After a very rough start in early-2009 with a few adverse dating experiences, I finally found someone who appreciates me and is worth my time, effort, and compassion. I have been seeing this person since about May and made it “official” about a month or so ago, something which I am very happy about. 
I hope things continue to go as well as they have been…
That’s about all I have to say right now.
*My Spanish professor from last semester recommended me to be a tutor for the peer tutoring program that my university offers free for students (it’s worked into tuition somehow.) Tutors at the university are paid $8.65/hr, which is not all that great, but at least it is something for right now until I can throw ads in local papers and try to tutor some students independently at a higher rate. A friend of mine independently tutored German and made about $50/hr. Not too bad.
**They cut our pay this year. It sucks because I put in 150% effort all the time when it comes to helping customers, resetting the displays in the store, etc. At the same time, I’m still fortunate to have the seasonal job again this year. It is still better than nothing, and I still like the job and the people I work with.
General | 
13 November 2009 1:41 pm | 
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