Things on my mind...

There are several things on my mind and I want to get some of them out...so I'm going to put them here :-P

1. I'm actually looking forward to writing my last Civil War paper
   
2. I'm ready for Spring Break
3. Reign Over Me is a really good movie
4. I want to write, but I don't know what to write about
5. I had an interesting dream last night...a little strange
6. Tomorrow we have our first shot at severe weather for the year
7. I can't decide if my meds are working well enough or not
   

1. My last Civil War paper actually looks like it will be interesting to write. The last time I was looking forward to writing a paper for a class was this time last year when I had to write one for my class on the American Presidency. That paper was supposed to be 10 pages minimum and it ended up 13 pages I think in the end. I also ended up with an 89% on it, my highest grade on a paper in college :-P This particular paper now also promises to be interesting. "In an essay of no more than 1500 words, explain and contrast the coverage of an important issue or event in any two North American newspapers from the same week during any year between 1848 and 1867. Your newspapers may be from the same place or from different places." I had initially thought to do the Dred Scott decision, but in the end I think I'm going to do the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. I'm also planning to pick one newspaper from the North and one from the South as I think that will give me a more interesting look. Of course, this paper means I'll end up spending some considerable time at the State Historical Society building over spring break (that's where the newspapers on microfilm are)

2. Even though I have nothing due this week and no tests either, I'm ready for Spring Break. I'm definitely ready for a week of no classes.

3. I went and saw Reign Over Me (the new Adam Sandler/Don Cheadle movie) last night with my parents. It's a fantastic movie, funny and heartbreaking at the same time. It also has a fantastic cast - Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle, Jada Pinkett Smith, Liv Tyler, and Donald Sutherland even has a bit part. Fair warning though...it's rated R for a reason - the language is terrible at times. If you can deal with that, you'll love the movie. Oh, and if you're thinking about not seeing it because it's an Adam Sandler movie, go see it anyway. I'm not really an Adam Sandler fan, but I loved him in this movie.

4. I want to write something...fanfiction, an original story, a song, a poem...anything. But I'm not sure what to write. I do have one fanfiction idea rattling around in my head, but I think it needs to simmer some more in my head first I think (I'm that way for a lot of things...a lot of things need to develop and simmer in my head before they can come out well in reality).

5. I had an interesting dream last night. I don't remember all of it, but I do remember some of it. That's unusual in and of itself because I usually dont remember any of the dreams themselves. Most times I just know that I dreamed but dont remember what the dreams were. I dreamed that I was up for three MTV Movie Awards. I also remember that just a few days before the awards I didn't have a date and no one to go with me, so I called my friend Allison (who lives in New Zealand) and asked her to come with me. I remember talking to her dad on the phone since she was unavailable at the time. For some reason I also remember walking around downtown Madison on campus, and then the next minute walking around a really nice hotel that couldn't possibly be located anywhere near Madison. I haven't actually "spoken" with Allison or anyone in her family since...let me think...it must have been December of 1993. Prior to last May, I hadn't even communicated with Allison since we were 11 or 12. *Shrugs* It was just strange all around.

6. Tomorrow we have our first shot at severe weather for the year. They say an isolated tornado isn't out of the question. It's a little early yet in the year for any nasty spring storms. However, it's the right temperature for our usual spring storms. Where I live, we're right on the edge between a slight chance for nasty severe weather and a moderate chance for nasty severe weather. This time of year, it's still likely we'll get some storms and rain out of the deal. For some reason though, I associate the worst storms around here with mid to late summer and then the very early part of fall. In mid to late summer we get the nasty pop up storms that can be VERY nasty, but they aren't the type to redevelop once they move through and it's very hit or miss as to whether you actually get anything out of the deal. Our worst spring storms come when you get warm temps like now and then a cold front moves through that drastically changes the temperature. However, that's not the case this time...there's a front moving through, but it's going to stay relatively warm still. Apparently it's going to stay warm all week and give us a shot at thunderstorms all week too.

7. I have an appointment with my pdoc over spring break to look at how my meds are working. I'm having mixed feeling as to how effective it really is. I definitely know it's working because I can tell when I've forgotten to put the patch on in the morning. However, I'm constantly comparing my meds to how well the adderall was working before the side effects got me. The adderall really helped me concentrate and realize when I was getting distracted. But the side effects got me and that was that. Gah!

So that's what's on my mind today. I also decided I was doing absolutely no studying today. Of course that means I'll have to study tomorrow but I'll deal.

Scheduling...

I just looked, and the course timetable for the fall comes out on March 19th. As I'm a senior and I have lots of credits, I'll more than likely end up registering on April 10th. As of right now, I have absolutely no idea what I want to take. As it'll be my last semester, I definitely don't want to go crazy and kill myself with homework. Of course, I thought I was doing that this semester, taking only 12 credits...only to end up with 14 cuz two of the classes were mis-listed as 3 credits instead of the actual 4 they are. And, of course, the idiot I am signed up for 4 humanities classes. However, I can't see myself really taking anything other than humanities classes. There really aren't any classes that interest me that don't fall into the humanities division. Hmm...

ARRRGGGHHHH!

I hate having carpal tunnel! It reared its ugly head again this weekend. I woke up Sunday morning with my left wrist bothering me. It got bad enough that I got out the brace after church on Sunday. I had hoped that wearing it yesterday would negate needing it today. However, I didn't get that lucky. It was bad again today so I have the brace on again today. I'm sitting in lecture now, learning to type again while wearing the brace. Of course, typing on my laptop with the brace is not exactly easy. I would love to be able to wear the brace and not have to type tonight, but I have a paper on the History of American business to write tonight. In theory, I could write it out by hand tonight and type it up in the morning, but that's an option I'd rather not consider.

Tomorrow I have a midterm and a paper due, but after that, things slow down :) It means that Thursday morning I'll be able to paint some more of the wooden items I bought at Michael's last week. I like painting the wooden objects - it's easy, fun, and more than a little relaxing as I can listen to an audiobook and paint and generally not have to think.

I'm ready for my brother to leave for his trip to Florida. He's headed to Florida with his girlfriend over her spring break (his spring break is the following week). They're gone for I think 10 days, but I don't know that for sure. I *think* they leave on a Friday and get back on a Sunday. It will be a peek into what next semester will be like as it'll just be me and my parents around the house. It's hard to believe that I have just one more full semester left and then I graduate. Oh, and never graduate in December, at least not at Wisconsin! I graduate like the 16th or so and then have finals the next week! Gah!

Hmm...maybe I should give my wrist a rest and stop typing . . .

I really should have known better . . .

Honestly, I should have known better than to take four Humanities classes in one semester. Five weeks or so into the semester and I'm drowning in reading and homework. I'd love to be able to not read some of it and do well, but it's all relevant and important. Three of the four classes are actually really interesting, but I'm still drowning in homework. The four classes I have are:

• PS 417 - The American Judicial System: one of the interesting classes, but a fair amount of work, especially now with an exam on Monday, Oral Arguments on the 5th, only to be followed by starting on the 5-7 page term paper
• Hist 247 - History of American Business: Another of the interesting classes. I've studied American politics and American history and now I'm looking at how business fits into that picture throughout the history of America.
• Hist 333 - The Renaissance: This is the less interesting class. The professor makes up an outline for lecture, and then completely doesn't follow it. There is no structure to her lectures and that means I inherently get less out of them. The book she assigned for the class is actually really interesting, but lecture sucks. Thankfully, my only grades are exams where she gives us the possible questions in advance
• Hist 393 - The Civil War Era, 1848-1877: This is the most interesting of my classes and the most work. The professor is really good and so are the readings he has assigned. There are a lot of assignments that are meant to make sure we're reading, but the assignments add to our understanding of the period, rather than just checking to see if we're reading.

Unfortunately, Im going to spend a majority of this weekend studying, plus I have a lesson to prepare for Primary. Gah! At least it'll be a good weekend to stay inside, with the weather being warm enough to rain, but just cold enough that it could sleet if it wanted to.

Giggly

Im so giggly tonight, probably because Im trying desperately to postpone the inevitable and classes in the morning. I have about 20 minutes before I have to turn out the lights and try to sleep.....