I have actually really enjoyed my classes this semester. I think this is mostly due to the fact that I have friends in all my classes. Delia and I have Quant II together and then I am in Implementation with Jessica S. and Jessica M. They are all coming over for dinner on Saturday and I am very excited. I am still planning the menu, but am thinking that Richard needs to make some Thai food...I haven't asked him yet, we'll see if I can talk him into it. He has only cooked Thai food once for me...of couse when we were dating.
There is one thing about my classes this semester that I don't like...well, one thing about my Quant II class that I don't like. The PhD student. I don't even know his name, but he is THAT guy in class....You know the one. The guy who feels like it is his job to raise his hand all the time, talk over people, CORRECT THE TEACHER! I mean seriously, you are a 2nd year PhD student, you aren't a Nobel prize winner or anything. I imagine that he wouldn't bother me so much, but I know that he bugs Delia, Andrea and David as well...so anytime he opens his mouth, one of us witll either start giggling, roll our eyes, or mock his comments. I know, I know...so rude! But this guy is really inconsiderate to our professor, who clearly is a new teacher and who struggles a little bit. He drives me bananas. My favorite part of today was when he claimed that buses were the main form of transportation for the entire world. Now, this may be the case, but we are in a class where we are studying statistics and data...Even if he did read that somewhere, you have to take that kind of information with a grain of salt. It was just a ridiculous statement that even the teacher couldn't respond to. Plus, it was just sort of randomly thrown in, like he said it just to hear himself talk. At that point (about 15 minutes before the end of class) everyone was giving this guy dirty looks. PhD guy is totally going to test my patience this semester.
On a more positive note, Hong Kong dates for this summer are set...Richard will be leaving on May 11 and returning August 3rd. I've already started making a list of May and July activities. I'm going to keep myself so busy and try not to miss him like crazy. I'll be leaving on June 2nd and will return on July 4th. I am so excited!
Okay, here is one of my big problems in life. I am not very good at coming up with romantic and wonderful Valentines/Birthday/Christmas/Anniversary gifts for my spouse. From the get go, Richard was 100% better than me at being thoughtful and wonderful. I don't think I gave him anything for our first Valentine's Day together. I am a jerk. He got me my favorite candy on my birthday, a book by one of my favorite authors, and the children's book, "The Saggy, Baggy Elephant" for my birthday (the kids book was a bit of a joke) and we weren't even really dating. I feel like holidays and anniversaries come up so quickly, that I am stuck on February 13th trying to pull together a present for my husband.
But this year, I VOW to be better. I am currently in the process of thinking up something really wonderful and relatively inexpensive for my dear sweet Richard for our love day. (I would elaborate more, but he is sitting right here and he is probably going to read this when I post it as well...blogs can't keep secrets.) I will be a good gift giver in 2007!
I got home late last night from a girls weekend in Texas. My 5 best friends from college finally reunited after not being together for over 6 years. We determined that the last time we were all together was October 2000, right before I left on my mission. Amber was just barely engaged, and Tiffany had moved back to Florida. Now, Tiffany is living in Florida with her husband and adorable son Dylan (pictures will come tomorrow). She is a dental hygienist and her husband just finished law school. I think most phenomenally though, they are home-owners.
Amber is married to Jamie and has an cute little boy named Zac. He and Dylan are two months apart, and it was so sweet to watch them play together. Amber is also 7 months pregnant with her second boy. They live in Dallas where Amber is a hair stylist and Jamie is a history teacher and soccor coach. He thinks we should all call him Coach Ayres. After the way I saw him motivate his team during one of the many games we played (we played A LOT of games. The weather in Dallas was horrible, totally changing the way I think about Dallas)
Cami lives in Dallas as well and works as a stylist/consultant/fashion guru for Nordstrom. She designs their windows and displays in the men's department. I'm sure she has a really great title that I just butchered there, but she is the hippest dresser in the world and has what I imagine to be the best shoe and purse collection for a girl on a budget.
Emmalee and I flew in from LA. Emmalee teaches at a middle school downtown and lives in Pasadena. She is the glue that holds our group together and makes everyone laugh and feel comfortable. It really was almost like no time had passed and we were crazy freshmen living in the dorms again. Especially when Jamie started prank calling people.
That is the name of my class. Quantitative Analysis II. We got out very early today, so I am a fan of the class so far. Richard keeps telling me how much fun econometrics (the subject of Quantitative Analysis II) is and how excited I should be for my class. During the introduction, my teacher kept talking about how much fun econometrics is as well. I tried to think fun thoughts today, but I am struggling to imagine that it is going to be fun. I opened the first chapter today and felt a little scared. There were lots of equations with summations and Beta's...that is scary stuff to me! Sometimes, when I think back on my high school days, I am so suprised that I actually took classes like AP Calculus. The thought of doing calculus now is so terrifying. My math score on the GRE barely qualified me for my masters program. I guess it just goes to show you, if you are working on something, like calculus, everyday (like I was in High School) it becomes easier. I'm not going to start working on calculus everyday, but maybe this could apply to other parts of my life....hmmmm... :)
I finally got around to making Richard take pictures of my finger nails for the "before" shots. I'm kind of ashamed at how short and stubby my fingers looked. Maybe the camera adds 10lbs to your hands too :)
First shot...man, my hands look chubby. :) I don't think this shot gives the full effect of how sad my nails look right now.
I think the close ups capture it a little bit. Lots of redness around the nail and they are also really short too. A bad combination. I read an article about how to keep from biting your nails. It suggested things like playing with Silly Putty to occupy your hands or to get fake nails. I don't know about the fake nails. I remember the one time that I did put them on, I pried them off about 2 hours later. It felt strange, like I was looking down at my hands, but they were someone elses hands on my body. Bizarro. Anyway, here are the before shots. I'll update in a week or so
Today was Richard's first day back at school, and I start tomorrow. There is something exciting and hopeful about the first day. Classes have the potential to be really amazing and interesting. Walking around work today and watching all the students, I could sense that they were feeling that excitiment too. I do enjoy the first day. The feeling usually wears off during week two though, which is kind of depressing.
Finally, I wanted to post about one thing that I love about my husband Richard. He has many talents, but one I really admire is that he can peel/carve pineapples. Do you carve pineapples? I don't know. The point is, that before I met Richard, I never knew anyone who could do that. It was mighty impressive the first time he did it. I love fresh pineapple. Canned pineapple has nothing on fresh pineapple. Richard comes in handy when I am craving fresh pineapple. I love him for that reason
This pineapple is going to be my snack for after class tomorrow. I am looking forward to it very much!
So far, the nail biting goal is going okay. Just okay. My big problem is the time at work, I just get so bored and stressed at the same time. I have no idea why, but nail biting can be so relaxing. They do look okay, but I do need to get better.
I was very excited on Thursday to see Nancy Pelosi be sworn in as Speaker of the House. I am not crazy political, but the fact is I love that a woman is the Speaker of the House. It makes me really glad that I live in a world where women have equal opportunities that men have. I love that my daughters could grow up to be the Speaker, or even the President. I am also really happy that the Democrats are in power in the House and the Senate. I am hopeful that this will lead to a positive change...it is already starting out well, the Dems are looking to enact the rest of the suggestions from the 9/11 commision and have commited to some real ethics reforms like cutting out "pork" spending."
Richard and I have also committed to changing our diet. We went to Costco tonight and got a lot of yummy good food-such as whole grain pasta, brown rice, and loads of fruit. Richard is pretty convinced that we can do this. I'm a little more skeptical, but I know that I need to be more committed if we are actually going to do this. I have a weakness for sweets.
One BIG resolution that I would like to keep this year is to stop biting my nails. I know, I know...I have been biting my nails FOREVER. I think probably since I had teeth. It is a disgusting habit. Currently, they are not that bad. No blood or anything. I think I am going to try to chart my progress on the blog. Maybe if I record the progression, I will feel some accomplishment and want to stop forever.
I have grown out my nails twice in my life. Once, in college, because my friends didn't believe that I could. I grew them out for three months. I felt like I was constantly taking care of them and hurting them. The second time I grew out my nails was for the wedding. You know, all those up close hand shots and stuff :) Unfortunatly, it is true. There is a picture of Richard and my hand holding the temple door. I know...SO CHEESY! But it was Richard's aunt who took the picture and it was the first day I met her AND she has a very dominating personality. How could I refuse.
Darn, I don't have a picture of the "hand shot" on my work computer. Maybe I'll post one tonight.
Back from Christmas in Italy. It is very nice to be home, but wow...was 8 hours of work today ever hard! At about 3:00 p.m., I kind of lost it and "puttered" for the rest of the afternoon. It will be better tomorrow. I am sure.
I tripped and twisted my ankle on the way down the stairs to get the laundry tonight. OUCH! Richard got me an ice pack for it, and now I am sitting here with ice on my foot. He was very sympathetic and took very good care of me. He even offered to get me crutches. I don't think it will come to that.
So now we have an ice pack just like the one pictured above. I like the look of it. I am sure it will come in handy again as well. Richard and I seem to trip a lot
