There is something about the first snow of the year...

all is silent, all is holy...

I heart my "admissions counselor"

And yes, he actually is an admissions counselor, but someone using the quotes seems appropriate, and hearting him is definitely sarcastic.

I got a voicemail from my "admissions counselor" today that instead of the afternoon registration date I had picked and asked off work for, I would need to come that morning. Since I didn't submit an ACT score with my application, I would need to come in to do the compass test, which would place me in the appropriate math and writing classes.

Now let's preface my reaction by saying I didn't really sleep much last night. I'm not sure if it was after effects from the sedation dentistry earlier in the week, or the fact that the cats were throwing a circus in my bedroom, but I got up feeling more than a wee bit crabby.

So when I heard the message that I had to take a placement test to know which ENGLISH CLASS to put me in, despite having a BA in English and an MA in teaching English, and having already explained to my "admissions counselor" at least 2 or 3 times that I'm only doing prerequisites for the MA SLP, I was a wee bit pissed off.

I tried to call him back, but he was not answering my call. So I e-mailed him, and probably with a little too much edge told him I will NOT be attending the morning orientation, and that I don't believe I need to take a placement test, and that I do not intend on taking any classes other than communications disorders classes, and that he could probably assess my math and reading abilities from my transcripts and if not I could fax him GRE scores, but I do not have my ACT score report from a billion years ago...

And he wrote back and said "You are all set to come in for the afternoon session. Since you already have a bachelor's you will not need to take the placement exam."

Wow. What an admissions counselor!

Feeling Crafty

Every once in the while I get the urge to be crafty. It often ends up in a massively screwed-up project, but lately I've been able to actually finish a couple of things, and like the results.

The first was changing out all the hardware on the dressers in my bathroom. You may wonder why I have dressers in my bathroom...well, as I've said before, the lady I bought my house from was crazy, and there is really no explanation for a lot of it. This isn't terribly hard to understand though--one was used for the sink, and the other is just storage. But, I've never been thrilled about the hardware on them, so last week when we were in Minneapolis I bought some new hardware, and put it on last weekend.

Before:

After:

I also have been looking around for a new camera strap, as the one that came with the camera is itchy and generally uncomfortable. Then, I found this tutorial for making a slipcover for the strap.

So I headed off to the fabric store, and came home with a deal--all the fabric you see below (2-3 yards of each) for $20!!! The light green/purple one is even upholstery fabric.

Since my camera is black, I decided the red and black print would look good as a camera strap slipcover.

Here's how it turned out on its own:

And here it is in use (thanks to PhotoBooth)

It turned out pretty decent, I think. It's a little tighter on the camera strap than I thought it would be, but I think it's going to work.

Books and Baby Names

First, a short rant. People, what is with sticking a "y" or two in every single baby name? Seriously, the letter "i" isn't good enough anymore? Too old fashioned? I've been checking a hospital baby roll today, waiting for the appearance of a colleague's baby, and every time I check it, I'm annoyed by all the names with random "y"s. Here's just a short list of the ugly "y" names from the last few days of babies:

Lyncoln
Aryannah
Aryiana
Aaliyah
Darryn

And there is one poor little baby girl whose name is Peterline. The worst part? Her father's name is Peter. I know, it's not a "y" name, but that poor, poor child.

So I'm not finished yet with Acedia and Me, but it's not really been a very good before you go to bed kind of book. It's more of a middle of the day book, and I don't really have much time to read in the middle of the day. So I'm thinking I might save it for the plane at Thanksgiving.

I did read Bound by Sally Gunning and really enjoyed it. It wasn't the best-written book I've ever read, but it was a page turner. It's about indentured servitude, and little did I know Toni Morrison also recently wrote A Mercy, on the same topic. I'm on the wait list at the library for that one.

Right now I'm reading The God of War, which I heard about on NPR. I'm probably about halfway through, and am really enjoying it. I've realized over the past years that I usually pick books with female narrators, but this is an exception. The main character is a young man, I believe somewhere around 6th grade. He has a brother who has some sort of developmental disability, and a permissive mother. I'm not finished with it, but it's promising.

My holds list at the library still includes Jhumpa Lahiri's newest collection of short stories, Unaccustomed Earth. I'm hoping I might also have it for the Thanksgiving plane ride. 3 and half hours from MSP to SJC gives you a lot of reading time. Which reminds me, is anyone else coveting a Kindle? I first saw it on Lois Lowry's blog, and I love it. So many books in one small space! This would make packing for vacation so much easier and lighter. I would never again be over the pound limit on my luggage because I had to bring 5 or 6 books for the week. I'm sure there are flaws and it might be better to wait for 2.0, but wow, it's awesome.

Oh, and one more thing I'm enjoying--JJ Heller. I downloaded her album for free, I think from Jeff's blog, and I love it too.

Good times with the nephews at the Mall of America

Reading the Mall of America coupon book while waiting for our food at Tony Roma's. Mmm, free onion loaf!

Making sure the Gap doesn't have any gum stuck to the bottom of its sweater tables (when we were in the middle of the trip from hell last Christmas, he chewed gum off the bottom of an airport seat)

Making nephew try on embarrassing clothing...Aunty B strikes again!

Blurry but obligatory self-portrait, with breadstick.

I have to go shopping for five more hours, oh no!

So I'm happy about the election, unhappy about the snow (it's snowing), and shocked at a girl I met this week. She's 19, and while I was explaining that for our program she would have a physical and an HIV test, she looked at me and asked me if HIV is hereditary. I was shocked...I said no, and explained that it could be possible for a mother to infect her baby when it was born. She looked at me again, and said "well, then, how do you get it?"

Seriously? I wrote to a friend about this and asked where Pam Stenzel was when this girl was in high school. She went to a Catholic school, but still...are we just not teaching young people about HIV transmission anymore? Or is she an outlier?

So I explained briefly about bodily fluids and blood transfusions (she didn't know what they were), and when I was done, she looked at me and shrugged her shoulders and said "Well, I hope I don't have it!" Me too...

Election Day!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again--I love election day! I love the excitement of it, and really wish it were a day off of work. If it wasn't on a Tuesday night, I'd love to have a big election party with cocktails and...well, cocktails.

But, I have to say, the voting experience in SD is somewhat lacking. I wrote about it on primary day too, but until I started listening to the results tonight, it just didn't put me in a festive mood.

When I live in Iowa, voting happened in a real voting booth. You walked up to the voting machine and pulled the curtain, and felt very much like the great and powerful Oz. You had levels to pull, curtains to open and close, and it very much felt like an event.

When I lived in North Carolina, there was a line to stand in. I'm not usually much for lines, the the comaraderie was very cool. People were lobbying across the street, and I think we voted electronically. Again, it was an event. And both Iowa and North Carolina gave out "I voted!" stickers.

But voting here was not so much the same...There was a small sign that said "polling place" outside, not even as large as a realtor's sign. There were no lobbyists, only old ladies checking names and IDs. The most disappointing part is the paper ballot. Basically you get a clipboard, go into a pseudo desk cubicle, and fill in bubbles like you're taking the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills instead of voting for the president. Oh, and no stickers.

So although I still love election day, election day in SD leaves something to be desired. Maybe next year I'll hand out my own stickers.

PS--When I lived in CA, I voted absentee...lest you think I neglected my voting duties.

PSS--One of my coworkers has never voted, and she's nearly my age. For shame!