Sunday, January 30, 2011

Me against the Ants

So Trish recommended I get Raid bait (that four pack dome thing) which I have strategically placed along the baseboards of my room.  I sniffed one, it smelled somewhat of peanut butter? not bad at all, I'm sure the ants would agree with me as it lures them closer.  I saw an ant not long ago on the bait, walking in tiny circles really slowly like it was drunk.  I think it is dying...i was hoping it would find its way back to its colony.  I joked with Trish how maybe she(the ant) doesn't know how to get back home, and that sometimes drunk people don't know how to get home too lol.  But really, the ants are sort of annoying.  At least so far I've only found one on my bed since the bedframe elevation, but I've also found a clump that have died in my humidifier...for some reason they were really thirsty? and then drowned.  one managed to get into the water source thing...

Speaking of water-problems.  My roommate wanted to clean her bathtub as sometimes water would accumulate during the shower and I guess the surface of the water would leave marks on the tub...well...when the water wouldn't go down as she attempted to clean it, she decided to fill the tub up in the hopes that the weight of the water would clear the clog...yeah, it doesn't work that way.  Too late for draino.  Well, she had to take a shower in my bathroom and hopefully maintenance comes soon...we are pretty sure it's because her hair clogged the shower.  I should teach her how to use draino once this is over. And how to not let hair clog it so much.

And, when I was at Giant Eagle the self-check out machine hates me and refused to accept any of my cards.  Neighboring cashier was of no help, and only seemed really impatient with me, and sometimes would just stand over my shoulder making sure I was doing things right...it's not me, it's the machine.  I told him I'd try a different machine, he didn't look convinced it would work and just walked away.  I went to a different line...yeah, it works.  It's not me or my cards.

As I was coming home, once I got through the gates there was a man with a large old brown van parked in front of the dumpster, making it hard for traffic to go through.  Dumpster-diving? something like that, truck had stuff.  I am skeptical that he lives here. Way to go gates :P, good thing my roommate has recently been locking the entrance door consistently, because I do not know when she leaves most of the time so I end up finding the door cracked open or unlocked...seeing as our "security" gates clearly do not keep people out, I'd feel much more secure with the doors locked...especially if I am sleeping, or in the shower.

I am having trouble studying -- clearly...

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Evolution of Smile

This morning was terrible. I didn't really sleep, didn't feel good yesterday or this morning, and was just generally overwhelmed with school and dreading oncoming midterms that I don't know how I am going to prepare for.  So yeah, day did not start out well.  Went to school, had two hours before class...didn't really get anything done because May wanted to go over random biostats stuff and was talking to herself, which on any other day would be very funny, but today I was just overwhelmed and was upset I couldn't concentrate.  Of course, it's not her fault at all and if anything it's my own because I have the choice to move to a different seat or tell her to just shut up :P, not that I would do that...or would I...seeing as we do that to each other all the time...and she punched me a bunch of times over random things, like not paying attention.

Class, dragged on and on and on, literally.  Epi ran over 15 minutes. Again. As usual. ugh....I feel like the more I am there the more confused I get.

Then the SPHS meeting.  It was rather informative, May and I got tunnel Wendy's as we did not think there would be enough pizza available...turns out later, more pizza came...Oh well.  Wendy's was good anyway.

Biostats also dragged.

i am dreading my exams.

Then went to MattressFirm, got bed frame, managed to fit in my car, then went to Target to get some errands done.

Got home, set up my bed (minor trouble as i was a little tired at this point), but am very excited with the results!!! and I have a new Ottoman/Storage thing. It is cute. I have my extra decor pillows and two blankets in it. YAY!

Made myself a burger with leftover ground beef. Delicious. Baked lots...

It started out as a terrible day...and I had planned to bake some for Josh's care package I will send tomorrow...then the box didn't look quite full enough, and Baking was making me happy so i wanted to continue........ I hope he doesn't get fat from this...but I guess we can get fat together, cus somebody's gotta help me eat these!

So,
smile 1: got an awesome parking spot.  Was waiting on this one car cus it looked like she was leaving, but another lady knocked on my window and told me the car I was waiting for had pulled in not long ago and I should try to find a different spot.  i thanked her, and just then I spotted a truck just one aisle down, on the corner, pulling out. I TOOK IT. Of course it took a few tries to get in because I had to make a U-turn just to get into it, I'm not sure if that makes sense...but trust me, it was necessary...maybe not as many tries as I took, but I wanted to make sure I was in the spot straight making the most of minimizing my chances of getting hit by passing cars as it was on the corner.
smile 2: bed frame! yayyy!!!
smile 3: baking!
smile 4?????

I bought this new shaving cream from Target, I have been looking for it for some time and accidentally found it today unintentionally! It's by EOS, Evolution of Smooth.  But, on the packaging, it says it'll make you smile...and my, oh my, does it ....

it smells SO GIRLY (then again, the pump bottle is HOT PINK), and you barely need any, and it is THE SMOOTHEST thing I have ever used.  I am amazed, and I am now so happy, so clean...major turn around from last night and this morning...

granted, I didn't get any schoolwork done since class yet as I had wanted but...you know, I'm just gonna hafta work extra hard over the weekend. Ugh.

What now? waiting for my last thing to finish baking, cool, put in box with note to seal up to mail tomorrow.

Hopefully do SOME studying...

relax, because I've been so stressed and uptight that I need to just let go before I dive back in.  Take a breather.

From frownie morning to smiley evening. EOS, Evolution of Smile :-)

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

conversation

should I be concerned that the element of conversation is dwindling? does this reflect investment?

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Food made up for busy week of school! yum!

I have never concentrated so hard and so long on schoolwork.  I've been getting as much homework done as possible so I can enjoy my weekend when I go home tomorrow! I was planning on going home today but thanks to "white death" I'm gonna stay in and work on even MORE homework, goody.  I'm hoping to get a little ahead because I anticipate very stressful midterms...very confusing midterms...ugh...

Despite it all, last night was great! went to Restaurant Week at The River Club restaurant for DELICIOUS dinner! I had delicious but interesting salad (there were beets, blue cheese of sorts, etc..yum tho), pan seared escolar (white tuna), and chocolat jeannette (brownies, essentially). YUMMMM. And considering the quality of food? great price.  We had a lot of fun bonding, talking, and just enjoying our meal.  I am pretty happy with this group of friends/classmates and it makes my spending so long at school so much better, and they are amazing people and they all have something about them that they admire.  They're a good bunch of girls, bright, fun, and we are an interesting bunch.  A lot of dynamics.







Julie, Trish, May, Whitney, Taylor, and myself! The fireplace was so warm and this picture turned out better than the other ones (May had issues figuring out my camera, lol.)







Life is good. Busy, but good.


Hopefully the weather is decent tomorrow so I can go home! and hopefully I can get even more homework done tonight, lol.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Are men really more romantic than women?

Men more romantic than women? << LINK

"One study by a Wake Forest Psychology professor even suggested men feel physically better when they're in a relationship. That may explain why men may embrace their partners as soul-mates—they satisfy a unique emotional and physical need that's harder for them to come by. "


"Another theory is that men are more prone to love at first site and falling fast because their brains are hard-wired to have stronger reactions to certain visual cues. In MRI scans, women showed less activation than men in the area of the brain that controls emotions when shown the same visual cues. In other words, when women see something they like, they proceed with more caution."


"But if men are so romantic, how come they've gotten such a bum rap?  It may all boil down to a misunderstanding. “Women relate to words, so they want to hear men say how they feel over and over,” says Orbuch.  “Men relate to behaviors, so they're more likely to show their feelings through actions. In the end, there’s a mismatch between the two.”"


Found this article to be interesting.  Just something to think about.  I'm in between "realist" and "secret dreamer."


what are you?

The Joy of Lists and Relaxation

THE JOY OF MAKING LISTS :)

1. Paper remembers so that we don't have to
2. Satisfaction guaranteed. Crossing off item on list=satisfaction.
3. A list lets you daydream and do something, all at the very same instant.
4. Sometimes just putting a wish on a list makes it come true
5. Lists are the cornerstone of an organized life
6. Lists make the intangible tangible
7. Make a list, keep a journal.
8. The best lists are on paper, even in our digital world. 
9. Lists are cumulative
10. A list prompts an answer.
Although the link to the article is actually for parenting tips and stuff, there's truth in finding joy by making lists! I LOVE lists :), make my life easier and lists can be fun if they're pretty.
Today? Well, I've been on campus so much this week, I sort of want to spend some time for myself.  I guess I can go out today but I've done a lot of errands, been productive, and have more homework I can do.  But, Josh will be here tomorrow and I should probably get a lot of stuff done beforehand. Ah, lists. I made a list today and I finished it all! before long I'll be on my schoolwork list. For now, I'm going to continue binging on movie watching and being a total bum, haha.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Photo Updates and a Fail-Win day


ok so this photo is older, it's from Josh's 23rd Birthday, it was fun.




Fun times with Friend :)  This was with Jocelyn, Jennie, Trish, Brian and Brian's friends at The Big Bang Dueling Piano Bar.  
MPH EPI Cohort :)

Now, this is from Julie's surprise birthday!!! Also way fun, this was actually last night. 

Now on to today.  Well, I'm dumb and I decided to take a mini adventure and experiment with a new route to class...bad day to try it.  Yeah, I don't know where I was but I managed to get to the parking lot at a good enough time to find a spot. Not doin that again...I need to explore.

So there is fail 1.
Fail 2: SAS IS TERRIBLE. ugh, May and I tried every computer in the PHIL lab trying to get SAS to open the dataset...nope, none worked and IT people were not useful.  Professor eventually came later, adn figured out what was wrong...but by then we had to go to class.
Fail 3: Biostats homework was being a pain.
Win1: May gave me a bunch of cut apple pieces. yum.
Fail 4: Epi? awful, I have never concentrated so hard in class just trying to make connections with what the lecture is talking about before...my head hurt, I could barely write stuff down, and I still don't know what he is saying.  I am convinced it is less confusing than it actually sounds in class but that also means the exams will probably be VERY CONFUSING with...just random train of thought.

best win? after all the classes, May and I worked on our SAS homework coming up and pretty much finished it! WIN. WIN. WIN.

I'm going to just revel in the little wins I get because this quarter is painful.  But, I feel like I am finally REALLY learning and feel more "accomplished." haha.

A lot of work left to do but that's alright.

Also, I guess my family is going to China this summer as Dad is going to be teaching there for the summer...except they're leaving in May and coming back in July and I don't get out of class til nearly mid June...so I don't know if I'm going and if I do for how long... Hmmm...

Either way, a lot of stuff going on! This week has been nonstop! a lot of highs and lows but overall, at the end of the day, I am very satisfied with my life...just a lot of stuff to figure out, but that makes life less boring :)

Monday, January 10, 2011

Chinese parenting

Chinese parenting

"Western parents are concerned about their children's psyches," Chua writes. "Chinese parents aren't. They assume strength, not fragility, and as a result they behave very differently.... That's why the solution to substandard performance is always to excoriate, punish, and shame the child. The Chinese parent believes that their child will be strong enough to take the shaming and to improve from it."


"The child may not protest the parents' actions, but that may be because protest isn't permitted. Many Asian cultures teach children not to admit weakness or criticize their parents, Dr. Silverman points out. "So it might be assumed that these kinds of parenting techniques don't impact the child, when it actually does."


"But as a parent, one of the worst things you can do for your child's self-esteem is to let them give up. On the flip side, there's nothing better for building confidence than learning you can do something you thought you couldn't."


Pros and Cons to this but a lot of this is pretty familiar, lol.  I guess this discussed it in a slightly different way than I had understood.  I mean there is a lot more I could say about this, but I don't really feel like writing right now.

Reunion Weekend

Friday I drove up to New Albany to hang out with Jennie, we went to Easton, rented Kick-Ass and watched with her brother.  It was a pretty entertaining movie and we stayed up for hours just talking and catching up.  It was really nice to be reunited and bond, and to just have fun.  I've really missed our face-to-face talks and it's not everyday you have a friendship like that.  I love Columbus and all, but it's just not quite the same - yet.  I am hopeful to develop such friendships soon though.

Jocelyn came up the next day and we had lunch, chilled, went to my apartment, chilled, went to Tuttle, met up with people for dinner, got ready at my apt and then went out.  First, we went to the Big Bang (dueling pianos) which was fun but I was not a big fan of the $6 cover, but the music was fun as was the company.  Had a couple drinks, then we went to Gaswerks.  Music was just ok...it started out pretty ghetto though. Had more drinks, "danced", avoided creepers, and just chitchatted.  Then we headed out, pretty tired, I was feeling a little iffy...took a while to find food...I was exhausted....

Woke up Sunday not feeling very good. Threw up....and instantly felt perkier than I have practically ever felt.  It was really funny...like a few hours of moping and then all rainbows and puppy dogs haha...

We went to Panera (delicious) and briefly to Polaris Fashion Mall.

Shopping has not been very successful lately at all, but that may be a good thing.  I plan on going home this week and maybe coming back to Columbus this weekend to see Jennie one last time before she leaves for like 7 months.  Need to work out those plans with Josh soon to figure out if he wants to spend the weekend here so we can go shoe shopping and so he can see Jennie before she leaves too.  It sounds like a pretty good plan cus I would like to see my family for a bit, and I want my hiking boots with me...and I don't know when I'll be going home to visit again, we'll see.  I am trying to space out visits and to make the most of my time. Ah, and I need to get a lot of stuff done! and get rid of this headache.  I think perhaps I am developing an addiction to caffeine...I'ma go make some coffee and see if that'll get rid of this...

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

The good and bad of a new year, a new quarter

Yesterday was pretty eventful, class was really easy/boring which is typical of the first lecture.  I found decent parking at 12:30pm for class, and it is in a comfortable enough room.  The professor doesn't always finish her sentences or thoughts though, but I think it won't be too difficult to adjust to.  Went to Target with May after class and bought a new dresser/organizer-extension thing and a couple other necessities.  On the way out of Target bumped into James Fu with his new girlfriend.  I freaked out cus I did not expect to see him in Columbus, but he couldn't talk b/c he was with his girlfriend, maybe she feels weird about him talking to girls? Who knows...

Then i experienced Johnny Rocket for the first time! delicious.

Put together furniture, cleaned, prepped for class...

Today on the other hand, is a whole other story...

Got up early to go to campus (you know, the whole need to get to campus by 8am to find parking issue...) and on 270, actually even before 270, the traffic was horrendous.  Traffic pretty much stopped before and on the exit, and for a while after the exit.  Sitting in the car, listening to the radio, they said that there were two traffic accidents...go figure, I actually got to see smashed cars.  I feel bad for those involved in the accident (don't know how it quite happened) but I was sort of annoyed to sit in traffic like that with 4 lanes trying to merge into one before spreading out again...I think at one point an ambulance was stuck in traffic cus I heard sirens, saw lights wayyyyy behind me but never saw it appear...I think everybody was in the way...but we couldn't go anywhere.  Anyway, parked by the Stadium...felt disoriented and just started walking...thought I was lost...turned out I was going the right direction.

watched some Arrested Development w May in the lounge, and had a lot of class, printer problems, class, class, blahblahblah.

So far none of my courses feel very promising but I'm going to try hard.

Problems...
1) the no finishing thoughts thing
2)notes that can't be printed as pdf files and had to be saved as graphics on desktop and then printed...alternating from separate handouts to be printed...with no projector or powerpoint notes...just these handouts...and a lot of them...
3)not understanding the professor because teaching was new, accent barrier, difficult handwriting, and soft voice, and not much explaining...but I am hoping it gets better because the prof seems really nice and knowledgeable, and there is a learning curve to teaching.
4) SAS program sucks. programming? I am very confused...it is also very far from the class right before it, was one of the later ones to class so Julie and I sat in the back and couldn't see anything...and the class in general feels very confusing and he doesn't look up as he speaks so if you have a question, he doesn't notice you...I am hoping to figure it out soon...probably on campus tomorrow...lots of homework already!

tomorrow? hopefully is much better.  I have a meeting with two professors to hopefully try to find something relevant in terms of work experience for me ASAP, preferably paid. Homework. Buy books that we have discovered we need for class. Class...stuff...

I feel like this weekend will be a lot of catching up but I will see Jennie&Joce (&Vanessa?)...other than that, I will probably be productive in some way...

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Welcome, 2011!

Now I'm back in Columbus and so far it has been good.  I have a list of things I need to get and do, and I am looking forward to seeing Jennie soon this week!

The drive back was much more pleasant than usual, especially now that the throttle body of the camry has been cleaned, the drive is better, and there wasn't much traffic, the weather was beautiful...optimal driving conditions!..well, except the car isn't as clean...

there was a lot of bird poop so before I left Oxford I filled up and cleaned as much as I could off because it covered the side-mirror on the drivers side...so I would have it in my vision...all the time (grosss).

Car still needs to be cleaner though.

I am pretty much unpacked but I need to go to the store again tomorrow

The new year didn't start out that well but it got better,
and for now I just have a few resolutions...

be better with money,
be happier,
study harder,
have more adventures,
find a job?,
and exercise more.

they are all very possible and promising so I am very hopeful.

First day of class tomorrow! ah