Bad Morning

This morning I woke up and glanced at my clock. I knew it couldn't be right so I went to my computer and turned on the screen to check the time. A feeling of horror washed over me as I realized that my bedside clock was, indeed, right. I had just overslept by, not thirty minutes, not an hour, but a whopping hour and forty-five minutes.

I humbly went to the phone and dialed O&S's number. Wayne answered with a cheery hello and I went straight into my confession.

"I have just overslept big time" I said, meekly. "I just woke up."

"Well, I kind of wondered," he said, "I just thought to myself, 'She doesn't do this often, but she sure must have done it this time. She must need some extra sleep.'"

I told him that a phone call would really have been in order and he just chuckled and told me to take my time and get there when I could.

I felt drugged all morning long and didn't really feel awake until after noon. I may have to implement the two alarm system that I was using several years ago.

I really don't enjoy humble pie. At all.

The end of the semester is in sight. And it's high time. I've had about as much as I feel I can handle in some of my classes, my English class in particular. I've finished both of the big essays in that class and only have one more in-class essay to go and then the final. The in-class essays are just awful. Just fifty minutes to write an essay that makes sense...that is simply not in my nature!! I could spend more time than that just thinking about it, much less write it in that time. I've still received no grades back on any of the homework. I've received grades for 3 quizzes and one on a rough draft on the first essay and that's it. Last night I actually got a chance to ask Mr. C how I'm doing and he thought that I'm doing fine. I guess "fine" is open to interpretation. I'm down to having to attend that class only two more times. PTL!!

My music class continues to be a wonderfully homework-free class. If I can make at least a 78 on the next test, I won't have to take the final. We've spent a lot of time recently, watching films of musical performances. Mr. G usually turns out all the lights and we watch it in the dark. I've had moments of extreme sleepiness and, while I've never gone into a full sleep, there have been times when I lost full consciousness for a few seconds. Several of the times that I was so extremely sleepy, Mr. G was sitting right across the aisle from me. It would have been disastrous for my head to hit the table with him right there. A guy that sits right behind me has had the audacity to go to sleep and then to start SNORING. He's just lucky that Mr. G hasn't caught him at it. The only major hurdle that I anticipate in this class is to get a good enough grade on the next test to eliminate the final.

My health class doesn't meet this week, for which I'm grateful. The next time we meet, we have a test and I'm not looking forward to it. It's pretty important that I do well on all my tests in this class from here on out if I want to make an A because I managed to bomb the second test. Fortunately, Mrs. W offered two extra credit opportunities to bring that grade up 4 points but it definitely was a wake-up call. After next week's test, I think there is only one more test, the final, and it's not comprehensive, which is a relief!

I really didn't think I'd ever say this, but I actually kind of enjoy algebra (for now), now that some of mental blocks have been destroyed. I still have my moments but the glee that I feel when I've finished a problem and check the answer in the back of the book to find it's correct... it's great! To see that I can take a bunch of numbers and letters and exponents and other miscellaneous symbols and work them to come up with a correct answer gives me a great sense of accomplishment (I'm not sure what for though, it's not like I'll ever use it). I just don't see how there can be a class another level up with more of this stuff. It seems like we've covered about all that there could be to cover.

I'm done with classes for the week and only have to work tomorrow yet. Then two glorious extra days off before reaching the weekend. Maybe I can catch up on a few things over the extra long weekend.

Sump Pumps

Well, here it is, 3:55 in the morning and I am disturbingly awake, although the bright screen is assaulting my eyes. I woke up around 3:15, just as awake as if I'd had ten hours of sleep when, in fact, I've had less than three. I had been half awake for a bit before fully waking up. I lay there for a bit trying to figure out what my problem is. I didn't really have to go to the bathroom and I wasn't terribly thirsty. What else is there to wake up for at 3:00 in the morning?

I decided that maybe I should go use the bathroom and get a drink, then maybe I could go back to sleep. I went to the bathroom out in the hall and I heard the indoor sump pump kick on, and thought mildly in passing that it must be raining pretty hard because it doesn't usually come on unless it's raining too hard for the outside pump to keep up. And then less than 30 seconds later, it kicked on again. And then again. Uh-oh, trouble in paradise. I grabbed my trusty Dewalt flashlight and went outside and moved the manhole cover to the side and peered down into the depths. Sure enough, the water level is quite high. Something must be wrong with the outside sump pump. Sigh.

Now what does a person do? Do they wake Dad up? Do they wait until morning? Can anything be done at 3:20 in the morning?

I woke Kris up and asked her what she thought that I should do. "I forget about sump pumps," she said. I'm not sure what that meant. She finally said that she thought that it would be better to wait, after all it's only 4 hours til Dad is for sure up. So I went back to bed and tried to go back to sleep but somehow, there is no sleep to be had. I can hear the faint rumble of the sump pump kicking on and off, every 30 seconds. I guess my fear is that it too will quit and then there will be water in paradise.

I turned on my CD player and I can still hear it. So here I am and it's now 4:15. I've set my alarm to go off around 5:30; maybe I'll call Dad then.

I'm sure Kris is over in her room just sleeping away. How annoying is that? Responsibility really stinks sometimes.

By the way, it's really chilly outside.

I could try to work on my homework but somehow...that might wake me up too much. Grrr And I'm beginning to feel half sick to my stomach now. I guess I'll go try the sleep thing again.

Pets or Children?

This evening I had a health test. I think I might have done okay, maybe a high B or low A. After I finished my test, I checked over every problem a second time and came across a true/false question that I knew was false, and knew it was false the first time around, but for some reason marked it true. Now how much sense does that make?

After the test, Mrs. W went straight into lecturing on STDs, contraceptives, reproductive systems, etc. Half-way into the lecture she paused for a discussion on things to consider before deciding to have children. (If anyone needs any counseling in this area, maybe I could be of service now.) One girl said how some people will try getting a pet first to see how they do in taking care of it before deciding on whether to have children or not. Another girl took it a step further and said that she's heard that you should start out with a plant and, if the plant survives, then you step up to a fish. If the fish survives, you get a cat. If the cat survives, you can then get a dog. If the dog survives, maybe you are ready to have children. Ridiculous!!

After she was finished with her spiel, a Bosnian guy at the back of the class raised his hand to make a comment. He asked if we had ever seen the bumper stickers that say something like "My child is an honor student at Franklin Elementary." We had. He then went on to say how he had seen a Cadillac Escalade that had a bumper sticker on it that said something like "My poodle is smarter than your honor student." "That is not nice!" he said in his slightly accented English. The teacher asked whether he thought that maybe it was meant as a joke. "I don't care! It's just not nice," he said passionately, "Why, if I had a child, I'd probably...well, I'd probably rear end them or something!" It was rather funny, but at the same time, it was one of those "awwww" moments. It's not often that you hear a young man being fiercely protective of a child that he doesn't have.

Life has really gotten hectic. I've had so many little stories that I've wanted to write but couldn't because other things demanded my attention more. I really shouldn't be writing even now. I've got to rewrite my first draft of my persuasive essay, plus submit that same essay with research inserted. And then the following week, I'm supposed to have a compare/contrast essay to submit. And the week after that, the portfolio is due. It's simply frightening and overwhelming. Kris & I periodically check in with each other, comparing our busy little lives, trying to outdo each other in how busy our lives are, how much homework we've got to do, etc. Makes us feel better.