hell week

So this week is my first week of school.  I'm a proud student of the California State University system.  I'm only taking 3 classes - one of which is a math class.  College Algebra, to be exact.  And yes, it's scary.

It's been at least 10 years since I took a math class, and at the time, it was statistics because I just couldn't get the college level mathematics.  College algebra is a prerequisite to accounting which is required for my major, and it wouldn't hurt to brush up on my math in any case.

I enrolled in a T-Th night class just so that I wouldn't have to be going to school 4 or 5 days a week.  Tuesdays daytime classes were easy-peasy... Tai Chi and Physical Conditioning, both of which made me real excited about the idea of losing weight being mandatory in my life.  Then I get to the math class at night.

The instructor seems college student age and he talks pretty fast.  He admits that he's a math guy all the way, so please excuse his misspellings... already something to bug me about, for all of you who know how I like to correct grammar and spelling.  Then he pretty much whizzes by the exercises since it's all supposed to be review anyway... you know, y=mx+b type of stuff... and that kinda stuff is supposed to be flying out of my butt already.  He briefly asks if he's going too fast, then says, "I don't like to repeat myself so if you don't know it, just read it in the workbook."  "You guys get this, right?  Ok, I'll keep on going."

Oh. My. God.  Scary shit.  I'm thinking, I'm the only idiot here who cannot follow this dude.  This is a nightmare.  I'm completely screwed for the semester.  Then today, I have a revelation.  I can look for another section!  Find a different teacher!  And I found one. :)  She may teach Mondays and Wednesdays, but if she's easy going enough, I am willing to go to school every day of the week since it would be worth it.  Anything's gotta be better than speed-talker.

So I attend class tonight with hopes and dreams.  I ask questions about the instructor to the early students waiting to get in.  Already they were responsive and definitely willing to help... unlike the dudes in last night's class.  I mean, they might've been helpful had I shown up to class early or on time... but there was no way to tell last night.  But the students tonight were conversational and more than willing... definitely more easy going.  That's the vibe I got from them.

Then there's the teacher.  Accented from eastern Europe... a woman... and in the beginning, she's very scary.  Strict, and insistent upon convincing me and another adder that we will not pass the class since she spent an hour and a half on Monday telling everyone that if one person spends more hours doing homework, that person will fail.  Yeah, scary.  But as time passed, she actually was very funny.  Sarcastic. Typical European humor.  Gotta be able to catch it quickly.  I got her.  And I loved her.   She took the time to review EVERYTHING, not asking whether we were familiar with it or not.  And she gave little personal anecdotes, just enough time for me to catch up on my note-taking or to understand what I was jotting down.  Yeah, she's the College Algebra teacher for me.

Did my first homework assignment tonight.  Took a while, and I'm beat.  In the next entry, I'll talk about how I rode 9 miles today.  Yay me!

About Blogging...

So what's the deal about blogging?  How much of myself do I share with the public?  My late friend Julia used to be real private about her life, then she moved to Korea and went completely public.  She wrote about her life from boys to work to the food she ate to the pictures she took, and she was really good at it!

She kept all her friends and loved ones up to date about her life, and she was so honest with herself that it was like she never left.  She was exactly the same person in writing as she was in the flesh, and that was the beauty of the things she shared with us, especially her photos.  She really had a great eye for all things beautiful, and equally had the mind to describe it.

Sadly, about a year after she passed away, her website dorkyfresh.com finally got taken down... and now all of her life in writing is lost.  We lost her to cervical cancer in 2009 and not a day passes that I don't think of her.  In many ways, she is the inspiration for this blog.

me w/Julia at our campsite in Yosemite just after high school graduation in 1993

Coughs, knitting, and apple pie

I am in the midst of snot and coughs all around me.  My man, my kids... all oozing goo out of their noses, sneezing and coughing, sheets of Puffs with Vicks all about the place.  I've got a bit of a runny nose myself but not as bad... or maybe I'm just fooling myself.  I refuse to accept the cold coming into my body, and maybe that's what's keeping me strong.

Kingsley has been coughing for two days and it's not pretty.  We tried everything from honey, lemon, lemon-honey, lemongrass, ginger, coconut oil, fish oil & honey, honey & garlic, Delsym cough syrup, Halls lozenges...  Ibuprophen.  The cough prevails.  It's 1am and I got all dressed up to take him to the ER but my spirit told me to call the Nurse's hotline and seek their advice.  Long story short, his breathing is fine, no stridor, no croup... just a nasty cough, and no need to visit the ER tonight.  Could probably just wait till the daytime.  Not even a fever, thank goodness.  Tomorrow I must get a thermometer and maybe some elderberry syrup for him to take.


I'm on a new knitting project - 4 days in.  Just when I thought I had graduated from scarves, I found a bit  more challenging one - a Whimsy scarf with a bit of lace and a little cable.  Here is the link if anyone is interested.  It's turning out pretty cool!  I'll post pictures soon.  I can't wait to finish it and block it (something I've never done before) to see what the finished product looks like.

I got tired of crocheting 4 berets in a row and although crocheting is usually prettier and faster, I started getting conscious of all the twisting my wrist was doing.  At least I can switch hands when I knit.  I taught myself how to knit with both hands dominant - continental and English style - with hopes of being able to avoid purling but really I just need to get that dislike of purling out of my head because it's really not that bad.


The collective subconscious of this household is pro-apple.  In one day, three different occupants of this house bought apples - lots of them.  And since they aren't being eaten quickly enough, I decided to make apple pie.  Found the recipe online (of course) and gave it a go.  It took about 4 hours to make from beginning to finished product... with dinner, diaper changes, and coughing kids in between, but it turned out pretty good.  I tried not to knead the dough too much, as I wanted it flaky but really, I don't think I put enough water.  All in all, the filling was delicious, and the crust could use some work.  Next time I'll use the food processor to mix it up first.

Wow, what a long day!  I'm ready to hit the sack.  Goodnight!