Things I Thought I'd Hate But I Actually ADORE

Lately I've been thinking in lists... Don't know why. Here's one of them:

Things I Thought I'd Hate But I Actually ADORE

1. Sushi
2. Nintendo Wii and DS
3. Young Adult and Middle Grade novels (including The Giver...I didn't read it for years because of the stupid cover, and I finally forced myself and wow...amazing)
4. Writing Conferences
5. Being married (Tell my sixteen-year-old self that I'd get married at twenty, she'd knock you out)
6. Sundresses
7. Reading scriptures
8. Classical writers
9. Lingerie (it makes me feel sexy, okay? So maybe I'm not a Victoria's Secret model, I can pretend!)
10. Flip Flops

And all but two of these I didn't start until after I met Rommel...

Pediatric Audiology Presentation

I go in to Pediatric Audiology, totally stressed out. We have fifty slides, and forty minutes to present them. Then we had a quiz, which means we would only have thirty-five minutes to present, at best. I get one question into the quiz, and what happens? Fire alarms.

Yep. Some little kid set off the fire alarm. No real fire, which means we went back in after five minutes or so. Of course, that means we only had thirty minutes for fifty slides.

It's a good thing I talk so fast.

Here are a few of the comments from the other students in the class. I feel the need to post them, because it is so rare that I get compliments in anything.

"I liked how they elaborated after reading their slide. That to me showed that they had a high level of knowledge on their topic."

Ha! Little do they know I was making everything up!

"I like how they expanded on what was on each slide. I really liked the sign-language video. I found this information very interesting. They were professional, well dressed, and organized. Sometimes they talked a little fast, but it’s understandable because of the time constraint."

That's me, the fast talker. But I got us through everything with fifteen seconds to spare!

"Good balance of reviewing old information and incorporating new information. Included helpful visuals to illustrate information"

Yeah, you see, for someone like me that doesn't pay attention in any of her classes, it was all new information...I'm glad this person had heard of some of it before though...

And from the professor:
"You both did a great job. Content was relevant and your presented material was consistent with college seniors in this major. You went into good depth, given the time constraints, and I think class members received a good review of some information and gained new information and knowledge. Your presentation was well organized, clear, and concise. You defined terms and answered questions well. You both presented very well. Be careful with filler words and reading too much from the slides. You both spoke loudly and clearly. You were both professionally dressed. Overall, great job."

I definitely put in "ums" all the time. It's just the most natural sound when you're clicking for the next slide. But if that's the worst thing I do, I think I'm pretty well off. I'm just glad it's all over.

And I didn't get a parking ticket today! Yay!

Bottom of the Crop, Cream of the Barrel

So we went over that stupid test that I failed in class today. I'm tempted to put all the questions and answers on here, if I could only figure out how the linky thing works. Although I might get kicked out for that...I don't know. I don't think he'd have gone over the test if we weren't allowed to share the notes. Though I get the feeling he recycles questions.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic. The average score in the class was 81%. Two people got 100%. Now, we all know I'm pretty terrible at math, but I'm pretty sure that means that I had one of the lowest grades in the class. Surprise! Not everyone failed. Just me.

To quote Shrek, "I need something deep fried and smothered in chocolate."

Wanting to pay attention in class, and not being able to

So, I failed the Speech Science test. Yep. 63%.

You know, (warning, I feel a rant coming on) I'm so sick of my self-esteem teetering on how well I do on tests about topics that do nothing to help me. These classes are not beneficial to me. They are teaching me nothing that I care to know. Or need to know. I will never need to know whether a FFT would show harmonic peaks or fundamental frequencies or a clown smoking weed with Michael Phelps. It doesn't matter, and I don't care. And I shouldn't have to feel bad about myself because I don't know it.

I think I came closer to a mental breakdown in the Testing Center than I ever have in my life. I know I say that all the time, but I really do mean it. I panicked, I really did. Air raced in and out my lungs at about the same speed as my heartbeat, which rivaled a psycho woodpecker. I was certain that I was going to faint. The words sort of swirled around, I know now what it's like to be dyslexic. I couldn't read, I could barely see, and I was positive that I would fail. Which I did. Self-fulfilling prophecy? Probably. But what else could I do? I had to get out of that place. I answered what I could and guessed on what I couldn't. I've never been a good guesser.

I wish I could feel some inspiration to write. That would soothe me, I think.

I'm kind of tired of titles

Do I have anything to talk about today? Not really. I changed one of my other blogs to a book review blog. See, some editors said that you need to have a blog if you want to get published. Well, I have three, but none of them had anything to do with writing. So I changed one of them to be a book review. Should be interesting. I don't know if anyone will read it. But no one reads this one, either, and I don't let that stop me.

I've been daydreaming an awful lot today. That probably makes me sort of weird. I have all these imaginary conversations, and then, when I have a real conversation, it just doesn't compare.

Listening to some of the things that people talk about in my language disorder classes make me realize that I would be a terrible speech-language pathologist. Good thing I learned early on that I didn't want to do that. And listening to horror stories about lawsuits in my audiology classes make me realize that I don't care about the ear enough to do a really good job on anyone. Good thing I'm not going to do that either.

However, hearing about how the economy is going to get worse before it gets better makes me realize I should have chosen a major that would help me to get a job. I wish there was something about me that makes me invaluable to the work force. *sigh*

Parking Tickets Must Die

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I got a parking ticket on Friday for doing a good deed. Wrong zone. Stupid BYU parking police came five minutes (literally!) before I got to the car.

And today, I got a second parking ticket. This time, it's because BYU refuses to provide enough parking for all the students, forcing me to park on the street. I checked to make sure that it wasn't a red zone, but unfortunately, due to the snow that covered everything, I failed to notice the sign that was too covered up to read anyway which said that I was in a no parking zone between 8-4. I was just trying to go to a class that I hate anyway. Thanks, City of Provo. Everyone knows you hate students, well guess what. If we all disappeared, you would die. We're the reason this ridiculous little city functions.

So now, all the money that I've been diligently saving for Rommel's birthday on the 9th will now go to paying parking tickets. Yeah, I'm not going to lie, I was crying when I got that second one. I have no idea where the money will come from now. My meager paycheck has already been cut down because of all the holidays I was forced to take (Stupid New Years. Stupid MLK day. Who decided that these were holidays? And who decided that people can't go to work on holidays they don't believe in?). And I'm still trying to recover from tuition and books and Christmas. I've taken every opportunity to try to come early and stay late at work, and yet still, the nickels and dimes are not adding up.

I know, I know, it's not about the money, it's about being together, and it's the thought that counts, blah blah blah. But he works so hard to take care of me, and he does so much for me, and this is the one day of the year that can just be all about him. We don't have to deal with families or friends or Hallmark or commercialism. And I don't have anything to show him how much I love him and appreciate him. And the reason why? Because BYU and the city of Provo have no mercy.

I really need something to cheer me up. I wish I had some See's Candies.

I think I have the beginnings of a headache

So I had nightmares all night about my stupid lesson tomorrow. It was awful. And then I got up and looked at all the notes that I made on it already, and I hate them all. They didn't work out so well in the dream, and so I'm convinced they won't work now. Irrational, I know. That's the way my brain works.

I'm pretty sure I'll do the stupid, cliche Jeopardy thing. I just can't come up with anything else. I'm not cut out to be a Sunday School teacher. It's so...fact-based. And when you put a bunch of BYU students in a room with a bunch of facts, they just want to screw them all up. *sigh*

I finished reading Shannon Hale's The Goose Girl today. One of my new favorite books of all time. I loved it. She has such a melodic rhythm to her writing, it really does feel like you're lying in a warm bed, hearing your mother read you fairy tales. I can't get the book out of my mind. It reminds me of the first time I ever heard Sleeping Beauty or Rapunzel. I feel like a kid all over again, just waiting to become a princess. I want to be a princess.

And I don't know why Princess Academy got Newbery Honor and this one didn't. It really should have, it was better than Princess Academy. Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but The Goose Girl is a hundred times better.

Everything I see today seems to be talking about pie. I want some pie.