Miscellaneous

I know it's been a while since my last post and I have no excuse. I think of things I think will be fun to post about but apparently my follow-through is . . . lacking.

Anyway, I've been having some weird dreams lately. Like the one where I walked in my front door in time to see someone coming in my back door, uninvited, no less. I started screaming hysterically and my viscious, killer-attack lab, jumped into my arms. It must be true about acquiring super-human strength when adrenylin hits because, under normal circumstances, I can't lift my dog, much less hold him in my arms (he weighs 90+ pounds and I have no upper body strength). Meanwhile, the would-be burglar ran up to me and apologized because he'd meant to have my house cleaned out before I returned home, then he promptly ran into my bedroom. I followed him (still screaming) and carrying Max. Apparently I was going to throw Max at him if I came back upon him. I opened the closet door (who knows how since my hands were full) and woke up.

Another dream had to do with Dancing with the Stars. I had the dream Monday night so it was before the final show where the winner was announced. They were at the part where they let the third place person go and announced the top two dancers. I was backstage listening when they announced a shocking twist and announced that I was in the top two! And it was a huge shock because I hadn't danced before but apparently there was a "call-in" vote (like a write in vote but with the phone) and enough of the viewers "called me in" so that they had no choice but to place me in the top two. (It was very overwhelming and unexpected and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that phoned me in. :o) ) The last thing of the dream I remember is hoping I could live up to the expectations when I did the last competitive dance of the season.

Speaking of DWTS, I'm glad Nicole won - she deserved it. And let me just say here that it pisses me off that everyone is saying she had an advantage because she's a dancer. Um, Evan was a dancer too - he just did it on skates!!! I don't think either had an advantage over the other - possibly over some of the other celebrities, but not each other. Oh, and her free style? Did she go the safe route and dance 'her' style? No, she continued outside her comfort zone and she rocked it. Like I said, I'm glad she won, she deserved it!

Moving on . . . I'm thinking of taking a class this summer. It's been a long time since I've taken a class over the summer but I haven't completed a course since last spring (had to withdraw last fall when I went to Arkansas and didn't register this semester because I'd just gotten home when classes started). I'm thinking about taking Astronomy. It starts in a week and a half and runs through the first week of August. Since that conflicts with the RWA conference, I sent the instructor an email asking if it would be a problem if I missed the week of the conference. He responded back effectively saying no and signed his name. It was the first I'd even paid attention to his name. He signed "Dr. Talent". Can I seriously take a class from someone named Dr. Talent? I'm thinking no.

And on the subject of the conference, I'm really torn. We were supposed to be on a vacation freeze through July so I had to get special permission to take the week off. They were reluctant to give me an answer but I forced one from them in January, at which time I made arrangements for my dogs. I want to go because it's the 30th anniversary and I think it'll be good but at the same time, I'm not motivated to go. Meanwhile my bosses still think I will be out that week.

Anyway, that's some of the stuff that's been going on here. How are things with you?

Expensive Reading Group

I've always wanted to participate in a reading group where a book that will be read is determined, followed by a book discussion. I did that a little bit online over at RWA Online but I've always wanted to do the face-to-face kind of discussions.

Then a few days ago it hit me. I AM doing that. It's called school! The instructors decide what books we'll read and then we have to come back and discuss them the next week.

It just goes to show that there is something to the old adage that you should be careful what you wish for because while, in theory this is what I wanted, it wasn't exactly what I had in mind. ;o)

Bad Blogger

Yes I know I've been a bad blogger. I've been trying to prioritize my time and between school and work, other things have fallen by the wayside. Like my social life, and my blogging. And the sad thing is, I feel like I'm failing at everything. I've been studying my tail off in my geology class and I'm still not doing well in there. The instructor keeps changing his mind on how he's going to calculate our grades and I'm beginning to worry that getting a B may be an optimistic dream. I'm currently working on accepting whatever grade I get in that class because I know I've done my best and that's all I can expect from myself. It's hard to accept, but I'm working on it.

But, in the meantime, I've missed some things in my personal life. For example, a couple of months ago I got an email from my online chapter, reminding me that it was time to renew my membership. At the time I thought "I have time" and did nothing. Next thing I knew, the deadline has passed (the whooshing sound and all) so I guess I'm not a member at the moment. I'm not unhappy with the chapter, I want to be a member - it's just that particular detail fell through the cracks with everything else going on. Never fear though, I'll be back when class is over (a week and a half from now - THANK GOD!!!). In fact, I think I'm going to have a blog party, complete with door prizes. So, feel free to stop by between now and a week from Wednesday but just know, come a week from Thursday, there'll be a party!

Until then...dig up your old party hats, invite your friends to stop by and come prepared to have a good time (no pressure on me or anything!!! lol).

School's out for Summer!

...well, not exactly. I still have one more test tomorrow. I won't call it a final since it's not comprehensive. But still, a test is a test.

I took my final (it was somewhat comprehensive) in Shakespeare Thursday night. She had given us a study guide which would include all of the actual questions on the test. Thing was, you wouldn't know which ones would be on the test you got so you had to study for all of them. There were two questions each on King Lear, Cymbeline and Shakespeare's Sonnets. Each test (however many versions there were) would have one of the two questions from each play/sonnet on the exam. Then there were four essay questions that covered all the material we'd studied this semester. We would be getting two on our exam and would have to write up a five paragraph comparison paper on one of them.

Okay, so I started studying. One of the questions on Cymbeline and one of the questions on the Sonnets covered things I had no idea what she was talking about. I emailed her and asked her about those questions and turns out, the "background" information she gave us in class wasn't just "fluff" information...it was on the test! She pointed me in the direction of how to find out what they meant and what she wanted, which was good. But, it made me not want to see them on the test I got.

Then, Wednesday night I spoke with friend of mine from class and we discussed what we might put on the test for a few answers. She had me doubting what I'd put on that one Sonnet question that I'd had to email the teacher about and one of them from King Lear. So now I had one question from each play/sonnet that I did NOT want to see on my test.

The night of the test we (my friend and I) were talking before class. I said that I had a fear that the two essay questions I was totally unprepared for were going to be on my exam (I was good to go on the other two - well, mostly anyway). She tells me that she's had an epiphany on one of the questions I'm saying I'm afraid will be on the test - and then she tells me what that epiphany is. I can see it but I'm still hoping it won't be on my test.

So, the instructor shows up and starts handing out the tests. I got Exam B. It consisted of the three questions I didn't want to see on my test and the two essay questions that I feared would be on my exam. That's when I had a semi turrets-like outburst and started saying some very unladylike words. I mean, what are the odds of that happening (the things on the test, I mean)?

Anyway, I decided to go with my gut reaction to the questions that my friend had made me question myself on and did my best on the third. Actually, I felt pretty okay with what I'd put down. Then, when it came to the essay portion of the exam, I totally stole my friend's epiphany. I figured it was a very slim chance that she had the same question on her exam - it's very possible that there were only two versions of the exam out there and that one test had the questions I had and the other had all the other questions on it - and even if she did have it on her exam, the instructor knew we were friends and could have figured we'd studied together to come up with the same outline.

I called my friend after class and told her what I'd done. She was totally okay with it, saying if it weren't for my notes that I'd given her, she wouldn't have had the epiphany and it wasn't one of the options on her test.

So, don't know how well I did but I felt okay at the end of the day. I got my paper back (the one I re-wrote a couple of times *sigh*) and got an A- on it. She made the following comments on it:

"Laura - I still stand by my comments that I made at our meeting about how this paper could be improved. In general, it is more interesting to focus on why characters do things, not what they do --and to delve into characterizations. You've certainly done that here; I'm just trying to get you to focus less on what and more on why. In the case of the Queen it is simpler, but with Edmund he is more complex and the paper could explore that more. That said, your writing is, as always, fluent, elegant, and easy to read --and your argument is well-structured -- no small achievement!"

Overall, pretty nice comments. It did, however, make me wonder if I would have gotten a better grade if I'd never gone to see her - that maybe I was somewhat penalized for not quite capturing what we'd discussed - not that I got a bad grade or anything, it just made me wonder. Anyway, I'd also gone into her office prior to the class and asked a couple of questions. I'd told her that I had registered for her fall class already and hoped that wasn't a problem. You see, I've worried about being one of "those" students because I keep asking questions and going to see her on papers and having a different viewpoint/interpretation on the stories and videos we've read/seen. But, she told me that I was one of the best students she'd had all semester and she'd love to have me in another one of her classes. So I left feeling pretty good in general.

So, one more test and then I AM done for the summer. Margaritas on me! ;-)

Melt Down

Lately I've felt like I've been so behind on everything. I've been walking around with this overwhelming feeling that I won't get everything done and that there's something important that I'm totally forgetting to do. And just let me be upfront right here and now...I HATE those feelings.

Anyway, school is finally winding down but that hasn't stopped the feelings. No, in fact, it's this big ol' reminder that I've left everything until the last minute.

For example, Thursday is the last day in my Shakespeare class. It's the day of the final and the day our portfolios are due. Now, all semester long I've said I was going to work on my portfolio as we went along. When that wasn't happening, I said I was going to catch up over spring break. But as you may recall, I didn't get to much I'd intended to over spring break. Then time kept creeping up and the end started getting closer and closer and I still wasn't doing anything.

All this putting things off came back to bite me in the rear this past week. See, we had a paper due this past Thursday. It was a comparison paper of two works we've read over the last half of the semester. (I chose to compare the villains of King Lear and Cymbeline.) I also had an exam in my government class on Wednesday. The plan was to work up the paper on Saturday and then study on Sunday of last weekend. Well, Saturday I was exhausted and after I went to the grocery store and took my dogs to the vet, I was wiped out and slept most of the afternoon. But I still had Sunday, right?

Who knew it would take all day Sunday to write a freakin' paper! When I was done, I sent an email to my instructor asking if we could meet one day after work for her input. She said we could meet Tuesday afternoon. Perfect! That meant that I could study on Monday AND Tuesday and then do any revisions on the paper Wednesday night, right?

Yeah, it should be so easy. I had also sent my paper off to a friend of mine who had a lot to say about my first paragraph. Don't get me wrong, she was right and I really appreciated the input. But that meant that Monday night I was reworking my paper. I did, however, take time to type up about half of my notes for the test on Wednesday. I figured I was still good though because I would have Tuesday evening to study for the exam still.

Then I met with the instructor. She liked the paper and said I was a good writer but she really wanted to challenge me and she basically asked me to rewrite everything except the thesis paragraph and the conclusion - essentially the entire paper...by Thursday! No pressure or anything. I told her my main concern with that was that I could rewrite it and be totally wrong in it and then submit something worse than I'd already given her. She said she'd take into consideration the work I put into it. Not greatly encouraging but it is something so I said okay.

I still planned to study Tuesday night but when I got home I started thinking that there would be no way I could rewrite an entire paper in one evening (Wednesday - after the test) so I worked on typing up the rest of the notes for the test during Dancing With The Stars (so hated to see Marlee go) because you don't have to devote all attention to the TV when it's elimination night and then turned my attention to the paper. I worked on it until about 10:30 and was really tired so decided to send the revisions to my instructor to see if I was at least on the right track of what she was hoping to see.

Oh, but what I forgot to mention was that Monday night/Tuesday morning, I woke up about 3:00 a.m. panicked that I wouldn't get everything done. I finally crawled out of bed around 4:00 a.m. and started working on my portfolio for the class because this weekend I need to prepare for the final and I wanted as much time available for that as possible. I worked on the portfolio for about two hours before I started getting ready for work, doing the questions for Julius Caesar and working on the questions for Measure for Measure. Then Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, I woke up around 2:00 a.m. I crawled out of bed around 3:00 a.m. and read over my notes a couple of times before work.

When I got to class that morning to take the test, I knew I was so screwed. This was the first section that I hadn't read the book materials before the test and the first section that I wasn't "getting" during the lectures. I also spent less time on reviewing my notes than I usually do. Regardless, I decided to give it my best shot. But I was so lost. I decided to make decisions as to what certain things meant and went with those "assumptions" throughout the test so that at least I'd be consistent with my answers. Turns out that might not have been the best idea. We reviewed several policies and theories and I paired a couple together and answered them based on the assumption I'd made only to find out that not only did they not mean the same thing, they were exact opposites. Yeah, so not good. Needless to say, this isn't going to be my best test score. In fact, I'm kind of dreading getting the grade back.

But back to the paper, I'd sent my revisions from the night before to the instructor to be sure I was doing the right thing. Her comment was that I was on the right track but... Doesn't matter what the "but" was, only that it meant more work was involved in what I was doing. Ugh!

I worked on the paper until 11:00 that night (Wednesday), sent it to a friend and then reworked it more at lunch before printing out what I ultimately submitted Thursday night. I have no idea if I gave the instructor what she wanted or if what I wrote was more than crap. But then I got to class and she handed out the study guide for this upcoming Thursday's final. I totally freaked out and had a meltdown, right there in the classroom. I got that overwhelming feeling like you can't breathe and came thisclose to breaking down crying - which I'm sure the lack of sleep had nothing to do with.

Anyway, I decided to take Friday off to relax and then spend the rest of the weekend working on the portfolio and final prep. I can do that, right? But then last night I decided to start on the questions again. I pulled up the last saved version of questions (each story is getting its own file). It was Julius Caesar. I was kind of confused because I was pretty sure I'd finished those that morning I woke up so early. But then I opened it up and only one and a half of the questions has been answered. I had a little panic attack. It didn't become a major, full-on panic attack until I realized that the question and answers in this file were to Measure for Measure. I'd used the template for Julius Caesar on Measure for Measure only, instead of doing a "save as" when I was done, I just saved OVER the file and all the work - the two hours worth of work - I'd done! Let's just say it was not pretty. And although you'd think that writing up the answers the second time around would be easier, it wasn't. And it didn't sit well to have to spend time redoing something I'd already done when time has been an issue for me lately. But I redid them last night and worked on Measure for Measure.

I finished those up this morning and am about half way through King Lear. Then I'll only have Cymbeline and the Sonnets to work through before I devote myself to the final exam prep.

I can do this...right?

Winding down

I worked more on my midterm (which is due tonight) last night. I had done a draft of it over the weekend and decided to take one last look at it before I turned it in. I had hoped I would read it and think it read better than it had over the weekend. Instead my reaction was "I was going to turn THAT CRAP in??? And I redid everything. But I feel better about what I've done now. There's more of an analysis (as is requested) than a retelling of the story. At least I think there is. I may take one last look at it today at lunch but it's a good bet that what I have now is what will be turned in. So keep your fingers crossed that it's what the instructor is looking for - and that it's good.

I also worked a bit more on my term paper. I think I have a good opening hook, so to speak, on it and I think I have a good close for it. (The first part is written but the close is just in my head - so far.) I also (hand) wrote up the analysis for everyone that responded to my survey. Interestingly the pro-lifers are much more sympathetic to the pro-choicers, most saying they don't judge those who have abortions or who are pro-choice. The pro-choicers, on the other hand, came across as angry about anyone who didn't share their points of view. Is that all typical? I don't know but that's the snapshot I got. Only one response caused me to have a negative reaction, and that was someone who said it was cruel to force someone to have a child that was deformed or handicapped. I'm sorry but not having a "perfect" baby isn't a justification for having an abortion in my book. Aborting a child for those reasons, to me, is what is cruel. Of course I didn't respond to the person saying that because the point wasn't to get into a debate with anyone and I appreciate her honest feedback. But that comment didn't sit well with me.

I'm having a test next week in the government class (same day the paper is due) and will have three acts of another Shakespearean play to read next week so I'm still feeling a bit overwhelmed but I think we're in the home stretch.....

Interesting development

Today I went back to the old grind. Had class during lunch and something interesting happened. The young gentleman (and I do mean young) that sits in front of me stood up at the end of class, blocking me from leaving the room and proceeded to tell me he's writing a book. When we finally left the classroom, as we walked out, he told me all about it and how he came to have the idea and how it all played out.

Now I should tell you that 1) he's never initiated a conversation between us before. He will respond if I say something to him but he's never initiated a conversation - he seems quiet and shy. and 2) I've never told him that I write.

I just thought it was kind of interesting.

Where else would it be?

The other day I had a doctor's appointment. It was the third in a series of appointments I'd scheduled. Thing was, I got to work that day and the appointment wasn't on my calendar. I knew I was supposed to be there around lunch time but I didn't know the exact time. So I went digging in my purse.

I started in the middle zippered thing because that's normally where I'd put something like the business card size appointment reminder. I pulled everything out of there (except for the feminine products) and laid it all on my desk, going through each thing, item by item. It wasn't there.

I repeated this process with the two main pockets of the purse, followed by the minor pockets and even my coin purse/wallet. Before it was all over with, the entire contents (with noted exceptions) of my purse had been splayed out on my desktop. And no appointment reminder was found.

I started thinking maybe I'd imagined that I'd had an appointment. So, knowing the office was still closed but that I'd get voicemail, I called the doctor's office. I said that I thought I'd had an appointment and could someone please let me know if I did, and if I did, what time I was supposed to be there. And I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Yet no one called me. So somewhere between 11:00 and 11:30 I called the doctor's office again. Someone would surely be there by then and answer the phone. Again, I got voicemail. Frustrated, I left the message that I had thought I'd had an appointment but I didn't know what time it was supposed to have been so if I DID have an appointment, I was cancelling it because I didn't know when it was and I didn't want to waste my time by going on the wrong date/time. *sigh* (I later received three phone calls telling me it was scheduled for 12:30 but by then it was too late for me to go.)

I should tell you that I've gotten into a bit of a routine where my schooling is concerned (this really is related to the blog topic...honest). See, if I get to my government class before it starts, I work on Shakespeare homework. And if I get to Shakespeare class early (which I almost always do) I...read for pleasure (bet you thought I was going to say "work on government homework" ;-) ). So, two days after my missed doctor's appointment, I get to my Shakespeare class and whip out the book I've been working on since early January (it's a good story by a good author...I just don't have much time to read for pleasure these days) and out falls...you guessed it, my doctor's appointment reminder. *mental forehead smack!*

I'd been reading while waiting to see the doctor at my last appointment and had the book with me when she gave me the appointment card. And I obviously put it in my book (which I'd had with me the day of this last appointment...just didn't think to look in it).

So, I continue to put (and find) things in the oddest of places. Not that I'm disorganized or anything..... ;-)

More Miscellany

Well, Slime Boy (the probably married man that asked me out) got let go. He was supposed to work until the end of the month but his agency informed us they were pulling him because he wasn't showing up. Someone from our group (not me) said they we were okay with him still coming back because we had things for him to do but supposedly the agency said no - that this wasn't his first time to pull this kind of thing. Oh well, guess we're not going to make it to lunch after all.

As for school, I went to my first "big girl college" class on Thursday. If I haven't shared it here, I'm taking a class on Shakespeare's works. I missed the first class because I hadn't been cleared to register until this past Tuesday. They had been assigned to read the first three acts of A Midsummer's Night Dream. We (and by "we" I mean "they" - since I hadn't read it yet) discussed it Thursday night. I was surprised by the enthusiastic participation in the class. That's not typical of what I remember about classes and certainly not what I'm seeing in my Government class. However, it did occur to me that Government is required so that people are not there because they want to be, whereas there may be some in Shakespeare that don't want to be but, for the most part, people are in it because they want to be. Therefore the people in the Shakespeare class would be more enthusiastic. In any event, I'm enjoying both classes so far. Although...I do have to turn in an assignment for the Shakespeare class on Thursday and I have three more acts to read...

This past week at work was very hectic. A co-worker of mine was out sick with the flu so I had to step in and fill in for her. Which normally isn't a big deal except that she has several people in her group traveling to Saudi Arabia this next week - and that requires a business visa. And that requires a lot of work and coordination to pull it off. There was a last minute addition to the team going and there is so much you have to do to pull it together. I sent off the request for the required Letter of Invitation the traveler needed Wednesday morning. Thing is, that's Wednesday evening for them and their weekend is Thursday and Friday, which meant they wouldn't get my request until their Saturday morning. Since we were told that if the consulate didn't have this traveler's package by 10:00 am on Monday, he wouldn't be going, I went in to the office yesterday so I could work the issue if it wasn't in my inbox. I had nothing in my email so I started shooting off emails because I knew they were no longer in the office. I provided them with my home phone number and email so that they could send it here so that I wouldn't have to go into the office today. I worked for a couple of hours (since I was there anyway) and then came home. I woke up this morning and didn't have an email from them. Shit! I went into the office, hoping I had email there. I'd forgotten to set my alarm so I didn't have time to do anything (like shower!) before I went in, if I needed to contact them when they were in the office. Again, there was no email. I wasn't certain of the time difference but I started making international calls like crazy and freaking out when all I got was voicemail. I left messages, leaving my work and home numbers begging them to call me and let me know the status of the request. About ten minutes later I got a call. Come to find out the letter of invitation had gone out their Saturday afternoon, only they hadn't copied me on the email. Fortunately they forwarded it to me so I was able to put together what I could...now the traveler just has to provide the rest of the documents. Meanwhile, someone else traveling to the Netherlands had a letter of invitation and it wasn't even needed! LOL Just a busy week.

Oh, and in other work news, I posted for a job that I really really want and they called to schedule an interview!!! I really suck at interviews so I asked a friend for some tips and she sent me to monster.com, which has some good tips. However, it suggests you ask the interviewer questions about themselves (because everyone likes to talk about themselves). I don't think I can do that. It says it's good to ask that when they ask you if you have any questions because interviewers hate it when you say you don't have any questions - that they've covered it all (which could explain why I suck at interviews, considering that's usually what I say to that). Anyway, if you have any interviewing tips or possible interview questions, please tell me. The interview is Tuesday and I really want to nail it!

Well, Eight Below just came on and I think I need to turn the TV off, since I bawled like a baby when I saw the TRAILER! Yeah, that wasn't at all embarrassing or anything.

So, what's new with you?

Schooling

Well, there have been a couple of changes that have taken place since my last post. The next day I went to work and called a friend and told her I'd registered for the classes. She was excited for me but then asked if I had my two-year degree. I do, so she told me I shouldn't be taking any more classes at the junior college because they won't transfer.

So, I called the "real" college (as my boss calls it, and which makes me want to bitch slap him) and turns out, she's right. I spent THAT morning at UofH (the "real college) trying to register. Long story short, I wasn't able to register that day (or yet even) because it takes a couple of business days to get in the system. Okay. But I did learn that, as I said, I shouldn't be taking any more classes at the junior college (JC). Except for government (it's considered a sophomore class but it's required for UofH). So, I went back to the JC and cancelled all my classes and signed up for government. I signed up for a Monday / Wednesday class during lunch, since the UofH classes would all be at night. Plus, the instructor I wanted only teaches during the day.

Monday was the first class. We spent the entire class going over the syllabus. Being the kind of girl I am, I read ahead. I got to this one point and it was like I had these little people on my shoulders. Not so much an angel and a devil (although one was probably a devil's advocate) as just thinking the situation through. I'll call them RS (right shoulder) and LS (left shoulder). The conversation went something like this.

LS: Crap! We have to write a term paper. I don't want to write a term paper!

RS: Uh, hon, you're an English major. You do realize that there are LOTS of papers in your future, don't you?

LS: Ugh! You're right. (thinking) I wonder how much of my money I can get back if I walk out now and forget the whole thing?

Anyway, for now, I'm waiting to hear back from the UofH to see if (something about being out of school for more than seven years may be a problem) and when I can register for classes. I figure, if nothing else, I'm getting the government requirement out of the way.

I'm also debating what the paper will be on. It has to be on a public policy or law. He gave us list of acceptable topics (others have to be approved by him to be accepted). The list includes:

Capital punishment
Electoral College
Affirmative action
Abortion / Assisted Suicide
Teen Court
No child left behind
Prayer in public schools
Space Exploration

Right now I'm leaning towards the electoral college (since it's an election year), teen court (because I'd never heard of it before), abortion (because I have strong opinions on that), and (although I'd forgotten it until I whipped out the list just now) prayer in public schools (because, again, I have strong opinions about that). Someone at work suggested stem cell research funding, which I think would be a good topic but I'd have to get approval first so I don't know about that one.

What do you think? Thoughts or suggestions on the topics? Please feel free to throw out more topic ideas too! I'm all ears!

Big Day

Last semester I was so jealous because my friends, Ellen and Kristen, went back to college. I've been thinking about it for a long, long time now but I've just never seemed motivated enough to go through with it.

Until now.

And I don't really know if it was motivation so much as, I had to poop or get off the pot (so to speak) because today is the last day I can officially register (there's Saturday but not only will it be a living hell for those who wait until then, I have plans for Saturday). But anyway, I made a snap decision I raced over to the college before I could change my mind...or think about it too much.

Anyway, I get to the college where I'm handed a number (475) and told to wait until my number is called. I whip out a book (Erica Spindler's Copy Cat) and start reading. I don't get very far when they call me back (well, along with a gazillion other people). We are directed to sit at some tables until our number is called (still 475). I pull out the book again. Again, didn't get too far until we're all called again, where we go sit at some different tables.

A man asks us all if any of us need to fill out an application or filled it out before they got there. A half dozen people raise their hands. He tells them that it doesn't matter what number they have, they can go straight to the back of the room for help. I mutter under my breath, "well that bites". The man then says to the group "before you get all upset, that's not the direction you want to go in. Those people are going to be here all night!"

Then he says, "is there anyone here who has not taken a class at this college in the last year?" Well, it's been four years since I took a class so I raised my hand. "Are you sure?" he asked. "I'm positive," was my reply.

He handed me an application and told me to fill it out. Now, normally I'm pretty quiet and say nothing but sometimes, things just come out. "Does this mean I'm going to be sent to the 'crappy, all night' line?"

"Yeah, probably shouldn't have mentioned that part yet," he said.

Crap!

So, I fill out the paperwork and head back to the "crappy" line, which only had two or three people waiting in line. Really not that bad.

Well, until I got my turn. First there was a problem with the computer and then with my file. I was there a good twenty to thirty minutes. I was then sent to another line where someone could tell me where the next line I needed to stand in was. Only the person wasn't there. Fortunately there was only one person in front of me. I was asked what I wanted to sign up for and I told her so she told me to head to "scheduling".

Hmm, I wanted to go to counseling to be sure I was signing up for what I really needed. But, like a good girl, I headed to scheduling (passing the parking pass guy and the cashier along the way). When I get there I tell someone that I really want to talk to a counselor first, so they send me to counseling, which is past the cashier and parking pass guy (PPG). The PPG asks me if I want to get my parking pass as I go by. I tell him I'm not quite ready for that yet...I'll be back.

I get to counseling where they give me a number (15) and tell me to have a seat until they call my number. Then they called out 3. I pulled out my book and started reading again. A good thirty minutes later, I was finally called back. I told the counselor that I wanted to confirm what I needed to transfer. Long story short, the requirements have changed. I do still need the two sciences and history but now I need another government, philosophy and possibly a computer competency class. UGH!

I look at the schedule and decide on environmental science, history and introduction to world religions (philosophy). She gives me the numbers and sends me back to scheduling. I go back past the PPG and the cashier to scheduling. I have help inputting the classes to register myself and get in the science and philosophy class but am told the history class is full. I'm going to need approval from the head of that department to be able to get in. K. Where are they?

I'm sent back to the lobby, past the cashier and PPG (who tries to give me a parking pass again but I tell him...not yet...soon though). I find where I'm going, only to have the department head not there. So I wait until he returns. Turns out it's an instructor I had a hundred years ago for government. I LOVED this guy. Anyway, we chatted for a few minutes and he okay'd me to take the class.

I head back to scheduling (past the cashier and the PPG) and have the full classification overridden. Yea! So I leave there and head for the cashier. I get in line and I'm looking at my schedule.

You know the history class that I had to get special permission to get in? It was the wrong class! It wasn't the one I meant to sign up for!

I get out of line and head back to scheduling. The helpers in there by this time are no doubt thinking I'm too stupid to be in college or figure I started taking classes right out of high school and it's taken me this long to get this far. And even if they don't, I feel like an idiot.

I confirm that I can change the schedule (so soon?) and cancel the first history class that I registered for and sign up for the one I meant to sign up for.

I head back to the cashier (who asks me if I'd cancelled a class or something? Uh, yeah.) and pay for my classes before I visit with PPG and get my parking pass and then going back to my old government teacher and letting him know that I don't need the exception for the original class after all.

I got back into my car and headed home. Only three hours after I'd gotten out of it to start this process. Classes start Monday and I'm wondering...did I do the right thing? LOL