4th week of second semester

hello!
how is everyone doing? finally back in the groove of school/work from christmas? i know that im not...
last semester, when i would be able to sit and read the paper everyday, i never thought anything of it. now, i am lucky if i have time to stop and read the front headlines of one paper! aahhh! i dont remember being this busy last semester! the teachers waste NO time getting back into the swing of things, and more!
have you ever been in a situation where you need the feedback/approval of someone, even though you dont even want them to be involved with anything that you are doing? hm... that didnt come out very clear, let me explain: i just got back from english discussion class (which i HATE every week. but, today, the teacher tried to make some lame comparison between a sandwhich and a correctly-written paragraph, so at least we got sandwhiches :) and i got my first paper back from him. his comments were so rough! i mean, yes, he is just telling me what i can do to become the better writer, and i appreciate that. i do! but, sometimes i feel that a teacher's comments dont really help that much, that sometimes all they are doing is pointing out the things that we did wrong, as opposed to the things that we need to "work on." i dont know if that makes sense- basically, this is me trying to write out my frustration. at least he cant grade me on my blog entries! take THAT prof. johnston.
other than school, school, school (that darned media class is SO much work- time management is key), i havent been up to too much lately. last weekend (as in, a few day ago), i went downtown to a local theatre (i actually played there when i was in "soul revue," the funk band, last semester) to watch the bloomington PRIDE festival. now THAT was interesting. im pretty much "gayed" out. 5 and a half hours of condensed media was PLENTY for me, let me tell you.
this coming weekend, there is a chocolate festival at the bloomington convention center. now THAT is something that i am looking forward to putting my time into! im told that the way it goes is, you pay for the ticket to get in, and then you get to explore 4 floors of chocolate displays! and by displays, i mean eating booths! yum! how easy- a flat fee for as much time as i want in a chocolate house? its seems like some kind of willie wonka dream or something...
im getting over a cold-like sickness that i had last week. it was pretty bad for a few days there (had to miss fencing- i was bummed. we have a footwork test tomorrow- hope it goes well!), but after living on sudafed and not doing much but laying around and watching movies last weekend (oo- what a bummer, right?) i am feeling back on top. the tissue box is becoming a little less of an extension of my body these days... :)
the weekend after this one coming up (as in, the weekend of february 11th <--- yay! finally, we are to february! let the winter pass on- let the end of school come my way!), my family will be coming to visit me! yay! we will try to get basketball tickets (can you believe that they are already all sold out, except for random single seats? i guess it just goes to show how popular basketball really is here at IU. i still dont get it....), by scapling, and if not- we can just hang out! i cant wait. after they leave (*sniff*), i will only have 2 more weekends in february and then it will be march will lead to spring break and my birthday! yay! my birthday this year, actually, is the last day of spring break- im so happy that i will be able to spend my birthday at home! also....
although i dont have all of the specifics of the trip yet, trophie and i will be going to chicago for the first few days of our spring break! yay! (she, actually, has two weeks for spring break, the dog.) i cant wait! even though its just for a few days, i think that it will be great for both of us- its weird not seeing her everyday! im used to seeing her every single school day since 1st grade! aahh!

so, there you go! there is a brief overview of everything that i will be doing for the next few weeks. of course, every free moment i have will be devoted to schoolwork (unfortunately) and sleeping. the weather these days is pretty blah. once in awhile, we will get treated with some kind of beautiful day of 55 degrees, but other than that, its about 35-45 and possibly sunny, but mostly cloudy. 'tis the season, i suppose.
hope that all is well with everyone. hope to see some of my family in cinci when i got back for the very beginning of my spring break to see kara's musical (yay!), thanks for driving me back, auntie kathy. keep up the good work (GOOD work?) with school, and lets all hope for spring together! ciao

-a

my classes....

i realized that i didnt REALLY talk about my classes this semester: my classes are pretty good- i have a few that i REALLY like and a few that are just OK, i suppose. i am taking an english class because it fufills i think about 3 requirements that i need, just in that one class. i dont really like it yet, but, oh well! nothing i can do about it. im taking psychology- good so far but the teacher is kinda boring. hopefully the material itself will keep it interesting for me. im taking a media class (THIS is where the big work-load is coming from) but im also taking the honors component to the class as well. so, the class itself is SO much work, then i have ALL of the honors stuff to do for it too! yay! now for the great classes- im taking a class called "homer sapiens." yes, homer. its a class that studies animation and the simpsons in our culture! its SO cool and the teacher is SOOO awesome. the first day we met him, he told us NEVER to call him "mr." or "professor" or anything because he felt that if he needed to be addressed with some kind of verbal elevation above everyone else, that he wasnt doing his job. how cool is THAT? we cuss and fight and shove in that class- its so great. AND, last but DEF not least- im taking fencing! its so great.
how did everyone's exams go? i suppose you will be hearing about how they went soon- i hope that you did well!
this weekend has been COMPLETELY crazy. and, when i say crazy, i do NOT mean in the good way- i mean in the IM SWAMPED WITH HOMEWORK way. i swear, if all of the school weeks are like this, i dont know what im going to do! so much reading....
guess what comes today at about 4:45? MY FRIDGE AND MICROWAVE!!! yay! my room will finally be complete! im so excited.
see everyone in march! try to suck it up through this HORRIBLE (i am HATING it) weather. love all of you- ciao

-a

im baaack!

hey everyone!
sorry that this was so long overdue. lots have happened since my last entry. i had exams which mostly went all right. i had my first panic attack during my math one, but somehe brought my grade up from a 52% to a 76% from the exam- hmm... i guess those 4, 8-hour studying days, back-to-back really paid off.... anyway, that week was very hectic but all in all it finally went by.
then, back at home for break (WOOHOO!), i continues my job at GAP. (which, for anyone who didnt know, i had gotten over my thanksgiving break.) it was enjoyable at some times, i do admit. the people there were all VERY nice and helpful, bt somehow, folding the same stacks of clothes for 8 hours a day starting to get boring. imagine that! so, as much as i put up with it over christmas break, i am hesitant to continue it over summer break. hopefully, if everything goes as planned, i will get a job at a camp in westerville called "camp mary-orton" (spelled something like that) that is only a day camp, except for one evening a week where the kids and counselors sleep overnight. it pays pretty well (so im told), and it would be outside all day, which i have never considered work. hope that works out!
break was pretty great overall. seeing all of my friends was great as usual, but christmas really topped it all off. i hadnt seen some of my family members in months and months and seeing them over christmas-time was great. everyone from my dad's side- i missed you all so much! thank you all for a great christmas break. over the break, i successfully saw a MILLIONE movies, a million being: brokeback mountain (see it! i know you will love it), memoirs of a geisha (same- you will love it. although, if you have read the book, as i have, prepare for a lesser story. still not bad, though), harry potter (3 times!), the family stone, and one more that i am forgetting at this time, but i know that i saw one more. i saw almost every single person that i had hoped to see and more- the benefit of living in a small town! i was driven back to IU by a crazy girl from deleware. i swear, the spedometer never dipped below 85 more than twice. but, hey, thats OK with me, i guess- the faster out of the car with her, the better?
today, i discovered a couple of new restaurants that i think i will come to love. i was on my way back from walking WAY across campus to a teeny tiny bookstire that, of course, was the only location for some books that i needed to get, and i walked past a little catering shop that is also an international market. i ended up eating it a VERy quaint turkish cafe. half of it is carpeted with low tables where one has to take of his/her shoes and sit on cushions. the food was excellent and all of the people who worked there were extremely personable and outwardly very kind. i cant wait to go back there- i think that i am going to make it a place where they know my name. kind of like the indiana version of pe-king. (a local chinese place in grandview, for all of you who arent familiar with it.)
classes have been pretty good so far. i have always been one to like "the first day of school" which, in college, is more like "the first WEEK of school," so everything so far has been fun. its after all of the new stuff wears off that it starts to be a drag, you know? haha. psych is a great class so far, although, the teacher is a bit mental. my english professor practically does stand-up comedy while he is teaching. (today, i laughed so hard, i cried- that was nice.) my SIMPSONS class today was awesome- enough said. i officially start actual fencing on thursday and i cant wait for that.
hope all if going well for everyone out there and hope to talk to each of you soon! until then, i will be busy with school. ciao!

-a