Gearing Up

August 27, 2009

It’s settled then: I’ll be taking Philosophy of Race online. It just makes more sense. The course description:

Critical examination of the concept of race and associated concepts, and exploration of the ways ideas about race influence important moral and political frameworks.

Not bad, eh?

I’m trying to tie up loose ends (financial aid has yet to be deducted from my balance due, must send inoculation records to Health Services, buy text for new class, have Student photo ID made) before the start of my first class on Tuesday. Most of it will be accomplished tomorrow morning during a transfer student orientation. I also want to clean out Bluebeard’s Den (i.e. dumping ground for everything I didn’t know where to put while cleaning the rest of the house) before school starts. The bathroom is done with the exception of new curtains; that will be taken care of in the next few days. Look for photos thereafter. I’ve managed to upkeep everything else. I will go into this semester with cleanliness and order.

We’ll see how long that lasts.

With all that must be done, my head feels like this:

spaceneedle

Categories: Random Thoughts.

I’m Here. Sort of.

August 23, 2009

Randy’s friend Trish is up visiting from Tennessee. It was a spur of the moment decision, one which left me scrambling to get the house presentable. One room is still a mess, but I’ve shut the door on it and all is well. It’s like Bluebeard’s den: enter at your own peril.

The various medications the doctor has me on have helped a great deal with the pain as I cleaned. I still hurt, but can function. Unfortunately every med that I’m on lists “dizziness and drowsiness” as a side effect; by rights I should be in a coma. I don’t feel that far removed from one.

I’ve hit a little stumbling block with school. It seems that not enough people enrolled in my Adolescent Lit. class, so it’s being postponed until the Spring semester. I’m now left scrambling for another course to fill the slot. I need a philosophy course still, and found a couple that sound interesting. One is Philosophy of Race and appears to be online. That would in some ways be ideal. I would have 2 classes online, allowing me greater flexibility in time management. I’m taking 5 courses this semester, so flexibility would be nice. There’s another philosophy course that I’m more interested in, though, called Ethical Decision Making. The drawback here is that I would have to drive to school on a Friday night; as of now my classes are on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This would mean having to tack on another day of driving to West Hartford. The class meets from 5:30-9 PM. This is odd for a Friday, I know, but it’s not like I go out very often anyway. Still, I’m not thrilled about the extra drive. I’ve written to my advisor about the situation and am waiting to hear back. In the meantime it’s all up in the air. Not good considering school starts next week! The other thing that sucks is that I bought all of the books for Adolescent Lit. If I don’t/can’t take the class next semester, I’m out the money I spent; schools never pay you as much as you spent when you sell them back. The synopses for most of the books sound really good, though, so I’ll probably just keep them and read them on my own time. In that regard the purchase of the books is no big deal. I got them all used anyway.

Alright, I’m zoning out big time. Randy and Trish should be back soon with the ingredients for the jambalaya I’ll be making tonight. I think I’ll go stare into space until then.

Later!

Categories: College Life, Random Thoughts.

Ears, Nose, Back and Books

August 20, 2009

I went to my GP and said “I thought I’d switch things up a bit; I’m here because of my ears this time.”

I was having sharp pains in my ears when driving over hills, something that can’t be avoided here. As it turns out, it’s not my ears, it’s my sinuses. So now I’m on steroids (there go my Olympic dreams!) and Flonase. My GP asked about my back and leg problems; I hadn’t contacted him after seeing the neurologist. I just needed to take a break from it for awhile, if that makes any sense. So I filled him in and he was very comforting. He knows me, and believes me. He thinks the steroid might help with some of my symptoms in addition to the sinus trouble. He also put me on Flexeril, a powerful muscle relaxant. I was on it once before many years ago after a car accident. I had to drive to school after taking one back then, and the drive went something like this:

“Wow. Look at the leaves. Look at the light shining through the leaves. The leaves are green. The car in front of me is stopping. The light is red. I should stop too.”

It isn’t affecting me as powerfully this time. At least, I don’t think so. I took it about an hour before I went to bed so I don’t know how loopy I was. I wasn’t driving anywhere or speaking to anyone. Which might have been a good thing.

On a completely different note, some of you have asked about the books and authors I’ll be reading for school. For those of you who care:

Major British Writers:

(this only covers the Middle Ages through the Restoration and 18th century)

The Dream of the Rood
Beowulf
Marie de France
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Geoffrey Chaucer
William Langland
Julian of Norwich
Margery Kempe
The York Play of the Crucifixion
Sir Thomas Malory
Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
The English Bible
Elizabeth I
Edmund Spenser
Sir Walter Raleigh
Sir Philip Sidney
Mary (Sidney) Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
Christopher Marlowe
William Shakespeare
Thomas Nashe
John Donne
Aemilia Lanyer
Ben Jonson
Mary Wroth
Thomas Hobbes
George Herbert
Robert Herrick
Richard Lovelace
Katherine Philips
Andrew Marvell
Margaret Cavendish
John Milton
John Dryden
John Wilmot, Second Earl of Rochester
Aphra Behn
Jonathon Swift
Alexander Pope
Eliza Haywood
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
William Hogarth
Samuel Johnson
James Boswell
Thomas Gray
William Collins
William Cowper
Olaudah Equiano
Frances Burney
and selected poems in progress of some of the above

May I say that you Brits have been altogether too prolific, and that I sincerely hope we only skim through some of these?

Adolescent Literature:

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Ironman by Chris Crutcher
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Holes by Louis Sachar
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
The Killer’s Cousin by Nancy Werlin
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

I have already read some of these, as well as The Swallows of Kabul, required for another class. Suffice it to say I will have my nose stuck in a book most of this semester!

Categories: College Life, Random Thoughts, Reading Room.

Spousal Wisdom, or Lack Thereof

August 15, 2009

The contractor looked around the bathroom and said “Wow. You know, this place really turned out nice!” There was an insulting degree of surprise in his tone of voice.

I raised an eyebrow.

“When I was told that you wanted me to build a wall here even though it meant it would stick out past the window, I thought you were nuts. But now that it’s done, it looks really great! The shower works perfectly there, and the shelves were an excellent idea.”

Smiling sagely I said, “See? That’s why you shouldn’t question a lady’s vision.”

I recounted the story to Randy later.

“And that,” I concluded “is why he’s divorced, and you’re not.”

Randy chuckled his agreement.

But, on the other hand…

Randy came home last night with a special edition Time magazine that he thought would interest me because of its focus on how the mind works. He handed it to me and said “I thought you could use this.”

Your Brain: A User’s Guide.

I took one look at the title and burst out laughing.

“Um, thanks.” I managed to say.

The poor man hadn’t paid attention the the actual title of the magazine, so he didn’t realize until then the significance of what he’d said to me. Flustered, he quickly apologized. “I didn’t mean it like that!”

Of course I knew that; it only added to my enjoyment of the situation. It still makes me smile when I see the magazine sitting there.

Unused.

*G*

Categories: Home Improvement, Random Thoughts.

Stressing to Relax

August 13, 2009

Alright, if I’m the type of person who must stress to relax, then I should feel very relaxed soon.

I drove to West Hartford (1:15 one way) to register for classes last night. There was a brief orientation for transfer students (a more in-depth one on the 28th) and then we split up to meet with our advisors. I was the only Psych major there, so I had the professor all to myself. Dr. V is the head of the department and has been assigned as my advisor. After only a couple of minutes I knew that we’ll get along very well. We have many similar interests outside of the field and our senses of humor mesh nicely. We talked and laughed as we reviewed the courses I need to take versus what was still available. I missed the main registration day while I was in Tennessee, and most of the classes have filled up; last night was the last advisement night. Because of this I’ll have to wait to take some of the classes I’m really interested in and which meet education requirements. I need a religion class, and there’s one on Eastern religions; I’m holding out for that. There’s an ethics class I want to take; it will satisfy my Philosophy requirement. I may or may not be able to get that one though because it may not be offered again before I graduate.

The bad news is that I have to take 5 classes each semester this year. That’s a scary amount of work for me, and I’ll admit to being intimidated. One class is online, which will help. Another is mostly review for me, which will also help I hope. I managed to schedule the other 4 so that I only have to drive to West Hartford 3 days a week: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I was doubly lucky in that I was able to schedule the classes back to back, 2 each day. This means that I won’t have to drive in, go to a class and then wait several hours until my next class begins. The scheduling worked out very well.

The good news is that if I take 5 courses/semester this year, I only have to take 4 next fall… and then I graduate! Only a year and half left until I have my BA. Or BS. Or whatever. The latter seems more fitting somehow. *G*

Here’s what’s on tap for this semester:

1. Statistics for Behavioral Sciences. This is the course that will mainly be review, but is geared for my profession and will therefore be beneficial. Statistics is, unfortunately, an important part of psychology once research becomes involved. This is yet another reason why I’m not interested in research.

2. History and Systems. This is a psych course, and from the title I thought it sounded pretty dry. But then I read the course description and perked up: “An inquiry into the persistent problems of psychology as they have arisen throughout the Western intellectual tradition. This course will systematically examine such problems as: mind-body dualism, the relationship between subjectivity and objectivity, knowledge of other minds, free will vs. determinism and the relationship between the physical, animal, and human orders. This cultural-historical survey will then be applied to a critical interpretation of contemporary 20th century systems of psychology.”

3. Psychology of Moral Development. My advisor teaches this one. “This course will examine moral judgment, emotions and actions. Topics include moral development theory to the real world, and morality and gender. Readings will include fiction as well as psychological research and theory.”

4. Major British Writers. This is the online class and is pretty much what it sounds like. I can’t remember which requirement this fulfills now; I’ve already completed my English requirements. But there was a reason I was taking this. It sounds interesting at any rate.

5. Adolescent Literature. I was really looking forward to this, and still am. But it’s an upper level English course and seems geared more toward teaching. Oh well, I’m sure I’ll still enjoy it. It fulfills one of my elective requirements. “Literature appropriate for junior and senior high school students. Its history, function, value, and criteria for judging on various levels considered.”

Now I just need to figure out how to pay for all of this, not to mention the textbooks. Financial aid only goes so far. But tomorrow is another day, and I think I’ll worry about this then.

Categories: College Life.

Dead End

August 11, 2009

That seems to be it then.

The neurologist ran some tests, saying that he didn’t really expect to find anything. But he did find some anomalies. These he has dismissed as being residual from my drinking days over 12 years ago. Never mind the fact that I’ve never had any sort of related symptoms in the past.

The knees and leg numbness he ascribes to nerves aggravated by sitting cross-legged. He told me to stop. When I tell him that I’m just as likely to get leg and ankle pain when my legs are straight, he shrugs it off. Just don’t cross my legs, he says.

My back, he says, could be a sprain. This was said with great uncertainty.

He has no idea why I’ve got nerve pain in my ankles.

Or tingles across my back and my forearms (new development, not previously blogged).

His advice to me?

Meditate.

Get a massage.

Practice gentle yoga. (This of course ignores the fact that I can’t twist, bend, etc.)

He tells me most of the tingling is probably the result of anxiety. I point out that when this began school was out for the summer and I was beginning to relax. He counters with “You must be one of those people who have to be stressed in order to relax.”

Then how, exactly, is meditation going to help?

He kept contradicting himself. Because he couldn’t come up with an explanation for all of my symptoms, then none of them must mean anything. I should simply follow his instructions and I’ll see that everything will be alright. If not, let him know. But he doesn’t think he’ll be hearing from me again.

I cried all the way home.

Categories: Random Thoughts.

Yes, We’re Still Together

August 9, 2009

Randy’s older sister works at the bookstore with me. He saw her the other day and she had a strange request: she wants me to stop by the bookstore to see everyone.

It seems that people think I’ve left Randy and keep pestering her and Mike (Randy’s best friend, also an employee there) about my absence. Some of you may recall that I’ve loaned my car to my mother while she looks for a new car. In the meantime my MIL has made her spare clunker available to me for doctors’ appointments; it sits in the driveway.

No me + strange car in driveway = I’ve left Randy and he’s got someone new.

Thus illustrating that in a small town, people really have nothing better to do than speculate about the lives of others.

To be fair, many of my coworkers are genuinely concerned about me; they know I left for medical reasons. But the Powers That Be at work don’t encourage visits. I wouldn’t feel right popping in when I can’t work anyway; if I can’t work, I shouldn’t be there. Randy, Pam and Mike are doing their best to quell the rumors. The fact that my mother now has a car of her own and has returned mine to me should help. I suppose people will assume that Randy and I have gotten back together and that he’s kicked out his lover. Well, I certainly hope that if I’ve moved back in with my husband his lover would move out. Knowing me as I do, I believe I would insist on that. I’m just not that kinky.

But they might believe all three of us are shacked up happily together. Stranger things have happened around here, believe me. Ask me about the indecisive spouse-swap (not Randy and I- refer to last sentence of the above paragraph) that occurred here several years ago.

But now I’m gossiping. Tut tut.

Shifting gears, here’s a medical update: I do not have an alien baby growing inside me, but I do have gallstones. That has absolutely nothing to do with my back and leg troubles; it’s just a bonus.

I’m exploring my options at the moment, trying to avoid surgery. In the meantime I still have to go to the neurologist on Tuesday. Maybe he will find an alien baby implant. I mean, c’mon, aren’t we being a little Homo sapien-ist in assuming that the baby would be implanted in the abdomen? Maybe they give birth in the big toe or something.

I guess that’s all for now. As you were.

goldmates2

Categories: Creativity Expressed, Random Thoughts, Tales from a Bookstore.

Let’s Recap

August 6, 2009

It began with what seemed to be a hamstring pull. Went to the doctor (GP) who sent me to physical therapy (PT).

After a couple of sessions of PT, we figured out that the trouble was with my back, not my leg. Adjusted PT accordingly.

After several weeks of PT there was some minor improvement, but not sufficient. PT sends me to an orthopedist.

Orthopedist runs some tests. X-rays and MRI come back normal. I’m referred to a neurologist, and blood is taken to test for Lyme and Ehrlichiosis. We wait.

(In the meantime I’ve developed rash/hives not unlike poison ivy, but that’s impossible. This may or may not be related)

Blood test results come in. It’s not Lyme or Ehrlichiosis. I’m still to keep my appointment with the neurologist on Tuesday, but now must go back to my GP for further examination.

Back I go to the GP, who is now stumped. I’ve been his patient for 23 years and for the first time while working with me he must resort to pulling out the Physician’s Desk Reference (PDR). He pours over it for a long time. Asks questions. Pours over it some more. Makes guttural noises. Takes my blood pressure. Mutters. Takes 3 more vials of blood for a full work up. Makes me move in various ways to locate pain. Ponders whether or not this is a reaction to a medication I’ve been on. But which one? Takes me off Detrol. Sets me up with an ultrasound of the kidneys and abdomen. Takes urine sample (I take a moment to feel sorry for the assistant that must handle bodily fluids) and sends me on my way.

Had ultrasound this morning, which meant I couldn’t eat or drink anything after midnight. Which meant no coffee this morning. There have been no mass murders yet, but there was a close call with a pedestrian who stepped behind my car as I was backing up. She knew I was backing up, but stepped in the line of fire anyway. I didn’t hit her, tempting as it was. What would have been the point? We were in the hospital parking lot; she would have received help right away.

But I digress…

I had the ultrasound. The tech didn’t run from the room yelling “Code Blue” or screaming for a doctor. I take that as a good sign. We also checked for implanted alien babies, but that test came back negative as well.

So once more I sit here, waiting for results, wondering just what the hell is wrong with me. Other than the obvious, of course. *G*

monkprofile

Categories: Random Thoughts.

New Meaning for “Port a Potty”

August 5, 2009

I just watched a commercial in which a couple is entwined while floating along in a rowboat. They lounged on the bottom of the boat, smiling happily at one another.

It was a commercial for a stool softener.

Question: Who takes a stool softener before meeting a lover for a romantic tryst in a rowboat?

gator

Categories: Random Thoughts.

I’m Your Little Ray of Sunshine

August 3, 2009

Alright, enough of the depressing stuff. There’s nothing more I can do until I get some test results and see the neurologist. There are plenty of other things to worry about, and I’ll get to them. I just don’t feel like it right now.

Not that I’m going to be all sunshine and light. Hello… this is me we’re talking about.

My bathroom is nearly complete. The molding is going up, the baseboard heater cover has been replaced (thank the Home Improvement Powers That Be- this change alone makes a huge difference!) and, only slightly less important: the plumbing works.

Let’s all take a moment and do a Happy Dance. After the work is finished, of course, because premature celebrating might lead to pipes bursting. You know how jinxes go.

Hm. That sounded vaguely- and unintentionally- naughty. Enough of that.

I have decided to start posting photos from my trip. Actually, I’ve already done so. I know that many of you are too busy or disinterested to follow the links to Flickr; I’m saving you the trouble. There are some shots I’m really proud of, and you will see them. Those of you who did go look said that you loved them. Well, if you love them you won’t mind seeing them again. Besides, I withheld some photos to surprise you with. This isn’t one of them, but he cracked me up. Hell, if I hadn’t recently changed avatars already, I might have used this instead.

C’mon. If you were stuck in a zoo with people staring at you all the time, wouldn’t you stick your tongue out at a few of them, too?

tongue_out