Mama real tired and it has come to this:

I'm wearing a pair of black and fuschia Nike flip flops (HATE flip flops, but there it is) with a dress to work. On a Wednesday. 

I'm wearing a dress. It's a cute dress and would work with flipflops, but this is sort of pushing the limit. I cannot give a single intercourse about it, but somewhere in my flamboyant, play-dressup-daily soul, I have outraged myself.  I'm sure I can quiet that outrage with the thought of comfort during a 100+ degree day.  Or not.

Blogger told me I misspelled fuschia.  Well, you're WRONG, Blogger. Nyah.

CYOOOOT!

These are uber-darlng dog fetch toys.  They are not meant for chewing, but the ideer is the pup has the ball in their mouth and, well, you get the point.  I can see the moustache on Praline.

It's a jungle in there!

Loving everything I'm studying in Microbiology. It's endlessly fascinating, but I'm worn plumb out.  Glad I've only got two more weeks of this.  Made an 87 on my Lab mid-term (YAY!) and 3 points I missed where out of sheer inattentiveness on my part (BOO!), but overall, it is an encouraging upward trend.   Test today went rather well, I think. I expect I passed it.  Fingers crossed, anyway.

Just finished a huge chapter on Protozoans.  Here's a protozoan pseudopodding its slimy way across the field of view.  Amazing what entire wee little funky universes these things are in miniature.  Awe-inspiring.

On second viewing, I'm wondering about the little varmint in the upper right hand corner with the spinny propeller thingie. 

*Knackered*

Normally, a person feels a little rested and refreshed after a weekend.  I've been studying like a fiend all weekend.  We're pretty much doing at least 4 (thick) chapters a week in Microbiology, and tests are coming about once a week.  I have a test in the morning.  Fingers crossed I do better on this one than I did on the first a week ago.  Wednesday was the lab mid-term, and I feel quite confident about my knowledge on that one.  Still anxious, though.  I'm glad I've only got two more weekends like this.  Plumb tuckered out.

The real pity of this situation is that the course is so fascinating and energizing that it would have been great to really delve into this subject over the space of a regular semester rather than in a condensed summer course.

My lab table of 5 has four very strong personalities.  Much ball-hogging and all that. I stay low-key and pretty much keep my mouth shut.  One guy is a one-upper and talks obsessively about how superior his cell phone is.  (yawn)  Another seems a very nice man, but he's type A/OCD and has to adjust everything the person before him touched-- microscope perfectly in focus, but he has to mess with it.  Water running at the perfect rate from the tap, but he has to re-do it, because he wasn't the one to turn it on.  Third lady is a know-it-all and thinks she should be running it all. Mr. One-upper gives Mr. Type A copious amounts of crap for his cell phone. I'm tempted to tell him I use two strings and a can for long distance communications-- but again: keeping my mouth zipped.   Fourth lady is very quiet, pleasant and intelligent.  I'm careful not to let Mr. One-upper bully me into procedural errors, because he's screwed up everything he's touched, so far.  Hmm-- I wonder why nothing grew on our streak-plate, mr. I've gotta stick this hot needle into the sample culture without letting it cool? 

Gosh. I'm tired and venting.  Almost everyone in my class is going into an RN program here or there.  Keeping my mouth shut seems a wise course: you never know when you're going to have to work with someone later.  Still, I wish I'd picked a different table.

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: company pillow!

One of the best things about company coming through town is having a freshly primed, fresh pillow. It's aces for nap time!

Quote of the day:

AEpilot_jim: the bad thing about eating Greek is one hour later you--

Himself: want to invade Persia?

AEj: well, yeah. 

I am in despair. I never cry, but right now, I'm crying.

The Lincoln Memorial was vandalized overnight, splattered with green paint. 

It crystalized for me.  I kept thinking the shot across the bow was the 9/11 attacks, but I think it was actually The Patriot Act.  I think those people who wanted to really hurt us who fueled paranoia tipped a domino that caused the breakdown of the molecular structure and now we are trying to swim up an avalanche.  It's falling apart. The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.  Ugly.  Ugly.

Americans are under ridiculous degrees of scrutiny for merely being Americans.  Just everyday people, living their lives, going about their business, trying to keep the electricity on and having their bad coffee and waving to the neighbors.  Wow.  They're all up to something.  I was thinking how it has come to this and a song popped into my head.  Not sure if it fits the context, because I'm not really thinking clearly at the moment.  Again: I am in despair.  This is not America.



I'm crying because something has been lost here.

    Turning and turning in the widening gyre
    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
    The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
    The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
    The best lack all conviction, while the worst
    Are full of passionate intensity.

William Butler Yeats, The Second Coming

I collected my chariot today.

LouLou is back on the streets and raising hail.

Or, back on the streets, anyway.  Actually, she's in my gravel driveway straddling a piece of cardboard so I can see if she leaky-leaky overnight.  Think of it as a car diaper.

Anyway, the new engine has a considerable amount more power.  There's an odd noise, and at my lunch break I took it back by the garage and the owner drove it around and told me he thinks they and un-squeak that bit - thinks it's related to the brakes.  It's nice to have my wheels and my independence again.  If I live to be old enough to become unable to drive, that's going to be a hard bite to swallow for me.

For now: WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

LouLou rides again

Car should be finished today. She is running. 

Turns out the radiator went bad and that's why she burned up. I'm not thrilled about paying for a new radiator, but I am relieved this didn't happen out of my sheer negligence. It just made me feel crappy to think I might've prevented it. 

I should be able to pick her up at lunchtime tomorry.  No word yet on whether the garage gives an award for the trashiest car interior. 

Intro by The Xx

I'm really digging The Xx, and I think as intros go, this is one of the best:

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: play bow!

I really can't tell you what I'm going through at this very moment,

but it's some grapes-of-wrath type shit. 

I hope my nose isn't broken. I haven't cried yet, though. 

UPDATE

*survived*

Perhaps Himself said it best when he summed the day up thusly:

"That was just all-around...  crappy."

Yes. I feel like I've been shot at and missed and shit at and hit. 

But I am home and snuggling with puppies and the world is set right once more. Thank you for the concern, dear friends!

Happy late birthday to my lovely Papa

Yesterday was Dad's birthday, and both my siblings came to my folks' house. I got to meet my great-nephew for the first time, and he is all lovely baby-softness as one would expect. There was much talk and laughter, and I think Dad enjoyed his day.  I can tell it is gratifying for both my folks to see how wonderfully well all their children get on together. 

Great-nephew ate watermelon in the bathtub, then demanded that the tub be filled with water. Peals of laughter and squeals issued forth as he had his first full-sized tub bath. Cuteness meters pegged. 

Oh, and I ate corn off the cob effectively for the first time in my life. Used to, (pre-surgery) cob-nomming events resulted in a happy-trail of un- or barely-molested corn kernels down the length of the vegetable. Now I can get actual corn wedged in between my teeth like a normal person. Yay!

Earlier in the day, went to a lovely Japanese market in Plano with my lovely niece, where we found her some calligraphy supplies and a set of chopsticks with a case. She is a manga fan, and we picked up a few foods that she'd read about in those comics. Had a generally lovely time and my orthodontist told me I only have to wear my retainers around the click for 4 more months. The bit will be only at night for a year, and then 3 or 4 nights a week for the rest of my life ( or as long as I still care about my teeth being lined up for a proper bite).

Home to meh puppehs tomorrow. Lots of studying for test #1 in Micro Monday v

Wow. Just wow.