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