Freaking Out!

It's the last day of 2006.

And I am spending the day freaking out.

This stupid Q test. Just 4 days away now. And I am not ready. Not at all.

And this whole holiday season has sucked. I wish I could have gone home for Christmas to see my family and I wish I could be down in Virginia with my friends tonight.

It was super nice to see Anna & Gorgeous yesterday! They stopped by on their way down to visit BF-Kimmy & the BF-in-law, who have an exciting New Year's Eve party every year!


But, seeing them was bitter sweet, because they left for the party, and I stayed here to study some more ....


I am conflicted about the test. I want to do well, because everyone wants me to do well and I want to please them; and because I gave up my winter "break" for studying; and because I want to get a phd, teach college biology, and do awesome research. But, at the same time, I have NO motivation to study. I can only read and write and study for a few hours before I just start crying and have to take a break. It's just too much for me at this point.

I just hope I know ENOUGH.

Please keep me in your thoughts/prayers/mediations these next few days.
I could use a bit of luck!

Oh, and enjoy your New Year's Eve! I am lucky in that I have the BEST boyfriend in the whole wide world, and he is giving up his New Year's fun to hang out with me while I study some more.

There will surely be some champagne involved!

Merry Christmas!

Taking a little study break to share my christmas joy!

All of the pictures are my first "practice" shots with my NEW CAMERA!

Yes, Ry, the best guy, gave me a kick-ass new digital camera!!

I may have been mentioning it to him daily since my old camera tried to kill itself during a ridiculous hike in the deserts of West Texas!

YAY for the new camera!
(And the 2GB memory card Ry won me on eBay!)
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And did I ever show you the BEAUTIFUL necklace Ry gave me for Christmas?

He couldn't wait until Christmas and he gave it to me after our awesome trip to Buffalo and our Black Friday adventures!
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The tree with all of our wonderful gifts from my parents!
Notice the comfy pjs, the cozy flannel sheets, and (sigh) Ry's new Met's blanket!
******************* Flannel Sheets -- I put them on the bed this morning!!
(After a nice washing at Dancing Fish & V's house!)
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Here's our favorite ornament on the tree!
Ry & I got it in Buffalo at Thanksgiving!
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Do my parents know how to have fun?
I think the beer-pong table set may come in handy for the Superbowl & Birthday Celebrations!
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Mom & Dad got me this awesome ornament with Santa riding an orca with a little dolphin friend!
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Speaking of whales, Dancing Fish found these awesome bookplates for me at One Good Bumblebee! They say "Don't be a blowhole. Return this book to:"
Seriously Cool.
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My labmate N gave me this cool green necklace and Hamster Grrl had spoiled me with lots of fun stuff -- a veggie steamer, mitten-shapped post-it notes, and a fridge-pack of Diet Coke!! WOOHOO!
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The Southern Yankee always amazes me with her Martha-Stewart-Skills and sent me this beautiful hand-made christmas decoration that looks perfect on my blue dresser (that is serving as a mantle this year!).
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Thanks family and friends!
I was completely sad about not being able to go home for Christmas this year, but all of the cards and photos and gifts helped to lighten my spirits!

And spending time with Ry and his family was nice too
-- though nothing can compete with a Sneks family Christmas.
Those of you in Buffalo know what I mean.

Here's a picture of the Sneks family house that I took last year.
(I know it just looks like the house is on fire ... gives you an idea how many lights are up!)

Hope you all had wonderful holidays with your family & friends!!!

Christmas, in the Christmas City

Well, it's Christmas Eve Eve and Ry and I are going to celebrate our own little Christmas, here in the Little Town. We have lots of presents under the tree from my family and cookies and chinese food to eat!

I wish I were home in the Snowy City with my family.

Stupid Q exams. I have less than 2 weeks to cram everything into my brain, so 15 hours driving back and forth to see my family just didn't seem like the wisest choice ...

Back to studying ...

The final Harry Potter!

Hello, my name is Sneks, and I am addicted to Harry Potter.

It's not like I run a Harry Potter Fan Site.

Or constantly check them.

Maybe just a weekly visit ...

And so what if I own all the books and movies.

Read and viewed multiple times.

Today I read some very exciting news -- the 7th (and final) book has a title!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Sounds scary.

A title means that pre-ordering can start soon!

(If you want to sign up for email updates on the release of the book, as I did, check-out Amazon.com).

Department Christmas Party

6 hours later ... home from the department holiday party.

How does that happen??

I don't think I said anything too bad ... though Ry did grab me and kiss me and told many people that he loved me.

At least I could drive home on my own accord.

Many drinks later.



All the best to Dancing Fish as she heads to my favorite little town in west Texas.

And thanks to Hamster_grrl and Natalie for wonderful christmas gifts!!

The semester is over! Time for Christmas!

YAY!

My semester is officially over!

I handed in my faux grant proposal this afternoon (after staying up until 3am finishing!)!

And, yes, I used the word ubiquitous. And, yes, I shamelessly cited one of my own stupid little papers.

Now, I will be totally focused on studying for the Qs! 16 days ....

Here's a picture of the beautiful christmas tree that Ry & I put up a few weeks ago!

It's a very full douglas fir and smells amazing.

It just makes me happy about christmas, despite not being able to travel home this year to spend the holidays with my family.

Here's the tree in the light, with all of the wonderful presents my family sent us home with at Thanksgiving! The silver garland was hung by Ry and the ornaments are some green glitter balls we bought together and all of my favorite ornaments from throughout the years!

I convinced Ry that white lights were the way to go and I purchased some of the LED lights this year (despite owning about 5,000 regular white lights -- I am my father's daughter). They save energy and are SUPER WHITE! They're beautiful. The blue LED lights are also gorgeous and I might invest in some during the after holiday sales next week!!

Hope you're all getting into the Christmas spirit too!

pjs and papers

An entire day in my pjs and I am 97% done with my faux grant proposal! I am staying up until it is complete and I am turning it in tomorrow, for sure!

Once this is turned in, I'll be able to be completely focused on the Q's.

Oh, and celebrate the holidays and what not.

Sigh. 1:40am.

Why is it that when sleep would be most helpful, it is illusive?

Congrats Steph & Tim!

Last weekend, Ry & I traveled down to the big city for Steph & Tim's beautiful wedding!

The bride was gorgeous (as always) and she and the groom were so happy!

It was such a nice day, hanging out with my old SJU friends and having a fun time with Ry!
(And it was super-wonderful to NOT be one of the 9 bridesmaids for once!! YAY!)

The bride & groom!

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My favorite picture of the love birds (despite the bad lighting and blurriness)!
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Amity & I, showing off our christmas cheer!
('thryn -- that is still my favorite purse of all time!!)
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Ry & I, dancing the night away!
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Some of the SJU crew!
YAY for free, top shelf open bar!
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Amity & Justin -- the newly engaged couple!!!
(She has the sparkliest ring!)
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Some of us with the newlyweds!
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Another wonderful wedding with my fabulous friends!
I only have a few more lined up for 2006 & 2007!
Keep getting engaged friends -- I love the weddings!

I'm a joyful girl

Actually, I am just one lucky girl.

The final I thought I failed on Monday due to a cold medication-induced haze (and my subsequent lack of studying/remembering anything), I actually passed.

Technically.

I didn't do well, but when the answer key was posted on Wednesday, I had trouble recalling the answers I had written on the exam. Perhaps this was due to a second (or was it third) cold medication-induced haze.

That led to a sleepless night yesterday, knowing that I would be in my office and have to face the professor and the test. I was so saddened by the fact that I had actually failed a test and was going to get a bad grade in the course.

But, this morning, I sat down with the professor and he gave me the test and I actually passed!! I was so happy that I got higher than a 25%! He seemed slightly annoyed that I was pleased with my poor grade, but compared to what I thought it was going to be, I was relieved.

He also seemed relieved that I didn't actually cry in his office and that I didn't hate him.

And that I am very pleased with my B-!

YAY!

B- in Sensory Neurobiology.

Happiness.

Now just a faux grant proposal and 3 solid weeks of studying for the Qs!

Let's hope that my luck holds out.

Silly dolphins ...

World's tallest man saves plastic eating dolphins.

Cool.

Icky

4 boxes of tissues, 2 boxes of cold medicine, and hours of sleep later ... I am still sick!

Ick!

Also, in case you were curious, my professor posted a key to the final I struggled through on Monday (AKA Day 2 of the illness).

I looked at some of the questions and thought "Did I skip that page of the exam?"

Yikes. Maybe I should have asked to take the exam when I wasn't all strung out on sudafed ...

I'm weird

About a week ago, Hamster_grrl tagged me for a meme! So, after much thinking, here are 6 weird things about me (though, obviously, I don't think they are all that weird ...)

1. I edit as I read. Whenever I read anything, I edit for typos and grammar. I also do it during powerpoint presentations. It’s annoying. I will often be distracted from a really good topic by misplaced commas or apostrophes. I think I’d make a good copy-editor some day.

2. I LOVE the smell of bleach. LOVE it. Cleaning supplies in general. It’s not just that I like the smell of a clean house, but I actually LOVE the smell of the products alone. But not the flowery kind, only those cleaners with bleach or citrus. They seriously make me a happy. Seriously. I also love the smell of new car, new shoes, leather (especially Ry’s coat), and wood.

3. I don’t have cable. I don’t think it’s all that weird, but a lot of other people think it is. I don’t have the time to really watch that much TV. And when I do watch TV, the 4 basic channels I get are fine. Besides, I’d rather waste my money on more important things. Like bleach.

4. I love to bake, but don’t really like baked goods. I’m not really a fan of sweet foods. As a kid, my brothers would eat my ice cream and I would eat the cone. And I never ate chocolate. I do eat sweets now, but most of the time I would rather bake them than eat them.

5. I am a sitter. No, I’m not talking about posture. I sit for things: babies, animals, houses. To give a rough estimate, I have “sat” for more than 50 children, 21 cats, 6 houses, 3 dogs, 2 gerbils and too many fish to count. I don’t know how it started, but it’s fun to “borrow” people’s pets and children.

6. I have had 15 jobs (that I got paid for (& was taxed by the government)): Anderson’s RB & Custard; NYS Animal Care Technician; Whale Researcher; Old Navy; Target; Alumni Annual Fund Call Center; Whale Educator; Museum gift shop; biology teaching assistant; trendy boutique; resident assistant; Citizen’s Campaign for the Environment; telemarketer; elementary school science teacher; and I am currently a teaching assistant.

Do YOU know anything else about me that's weird? Post it in a comment!

Like fish and cupcakes ....

Yesterday I came down with a yucky head cold.

Today I had a final in Sensory Neurobiology.

I'll let you guess how well those two go together.





It's now 11 pm and I am all out of tissues, nightquil has no effect on me, and I need to drive down to the old alma mater in the morn for some fish sex boxes ....

Buffalo, Black Friday, and Fun

Our visit to Buffalo for Thanksgiving was so wonderful! We visited with lots of friends and spent a good amount of time with the family. It makes me sad that Ry & I won't be there for Christmas!! But maybe we'll make a spring trek to the snowy city ....

Here's Ry & I with Anna, Gorgeous, Nes & Marc in Anna & Gorgeous' new place.

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Mom, Dad, little bro, K, Ry & I squeezed into the Jimmy and headed over the border to see the Festival of Lights.
There may have been a little-bitty "hit and run", but no one was hurt.
(Is it a hit and run if the car is in neutral?)
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My cutie nephew! Seriously cute.
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Getting ready for Black Friday shopping!!
Gotta check all of the ads, make a list, and check it twice!
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It's a cold, cold night in front of the Circuit City.
Ry & K are all bundled up and ready to fight the crowds!
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Are we being attacked by a masked man or is that my little bro?
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If we hadn't been under the Circuit City "Video" sign ....
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... how would the pizza man know where to deliver our pepperoni pizza at 3am?
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Ry was able to get a nice TV and we got lots of great deals, but a lesson was learned: we are never sleeping overnight (in Buffalo) for any sort of good deals. Especially when we need to drive home the next day! (See Black Friday ... for more details!)

Double D's Birthday

A few weeks back, we celebrated Dr. D's 33rd birthday with a whole bunch of fun!

Here's DD with the birthday t-shirt Ry and I made for him.

Ry & DD did some damage on a bottle of Jack.
I think I better keep an eye on DD! Looks like he's trying to steal my man!

I have no idea what we were doing at this point.

The end of the night. DD had a lot of fun (and so did we!)!

five oh ate

In the pursuit of cheap tickets, I have found a flight to Costa Rica for $508.

Should I purchase now?

They have been about $585 for the last month.

But they were under $450 for the month of October.

What to do, what to do?

Opinions?