Random 25

This hit me from Facebook... 25 random, about me facts...

1. As apparently runs in my Kappa Psi family, I too am a little OCD… I MUST make my bed every day and things stacked in the “wrong” way really, really bother me. Oh, and people using “texting” jargon in real life (like LOL and IDK – just say the freakin’ words!!)
2. I met my boyfriend at one of his band’s shows… I’m so blessed that I chose to meet up with a high school friend that night! I shudder to think that I’d have missed out on all this if there’d just been an organic chemistry test the next day because I would have flaked on her!
3. I think I’m a different person than I was in high school but have not changed as much as some of my friends so I end up thinking maybe I didn’t change that much after all? I’m still a nerd, still baffled by the popular crowd, and still way too idealistic.
4. I actually didn’t hate high school. Am I remembering it better or was it really as bad as everyone else’s but I’m too scatterbrained to think that?
5. I really, truly love cooking. I sometimes wonder if I’d discovered this love sooner whether I’d have chosen pharmacy school over culinary school. (During horrible test weeks I really think being a chef sounds nice)
6. I cannot play a single musical instrument and am slightly jealous of those who can (especially if they can sing too).
7. The grossest food in the world is goulash. Cannot stand the stuff.
8. The respect for Dolly Parton instilled in me by my grandmum drives my mum crazy (she has tried and failed to understand it. I admit I don’t understand it at all but then I don’t try that hard. I don’t own any of her albums but if a song comes on the radio I don’t change the station, and sometimes I even sing along.)
9. I over-think most purchases that go beyond necessity. Sometimes to the point that they’re no longer in stock/style. (I'm working on this one though)
10. It would severely freak out my dad if I cut off my hair without warning him first. He would probably not talk to me for a day or two over it (if there was no warning).
11. I clean the kitchen when I’m stressed or sad. My parent’s kitchen, Skronky’s, heck – catch me at the right time and I just might clean yours! (It really freaks me out when the kitchen is a mess. I feel compelled to clean it)
12. My “backup plan” was getting a botany degree. To this day I have no idea what I would have done with one.
13. I don’t understand the reasoning behind deviled eggs. Why? Were the eggs not enough on their own that you needed to cannibalize them THEN re-stuff them with their own guts??
14. Sometimes I really miss living at our house in Norman from my Jr. year of undergrad. It was basically perfect and we got along in our own dysfunctional way just fine.
15. My best friend has pretty much moved from that title to sister. The way I figure it, we have each other to make up for me not having a sister and her having the one she does…
16. I’m darn impressed with myself when I actually complete a sewing project. I really enjoy sewing but since I don’t have much time to devote to it I let myself start something and put it off until I’ve nearly forgotten it even existed.
17. I’m loyal to a fault but if you cross me, my grudges are just as long-lived. (references on request)
18. I’ve always viewed my very close male friends as brothers. It rather cracks me up that now some of them really are fraternally related to me since I joined Kappa Psi. Also, that I’m referred to as their “brother”. Ha!
19. My grandmother collects chicken figurines and anything chicken related. I’m worried that this is some sort of dominant trait that I’ve got lurking in my DNA, ready to strike and over take my common sense any day now.
20. I read magazines from back to front. No idea why, but it makes me uncomfortable to have to read them the “right” way.
21. I’m really trying to like different kinds of wine but I’m still more drawn to the sweet, dessert-y ones.
22. I have trouble keeping myself from judging women/girls that have obviously fake nails (the longer they are, or obnoxiously painted, the harder I have to fight my bias). I don’t have a strong argument against them but still judge them.
23. When I start getting a bit of an ego about doing so well with my opportunities in life nothing brings me back to reality faster than thinking about the house where my mom grew up. My dad’s wasn’t a castle but just a tad better in comparison. Remembering visiting my grandparents when I was little brings me back to humble. I hope I never forget that, both the way it makes me feel and the way it really was.
24. I think myspace is stupid and am only on there to stay in-touch with a couple of friends from high school that I don’t know how to reach any other way.
25. I only have 7 first cousins, counting both sides of my family. Of the 6 I’ve met, I’m the oldest by several years. When I was little I used to be jealous when my friends got to go play with their cousins because I didn’t have any to play with me.

Catching up to the New Year

Finished out the semester well; 4 Bs & 2 As kept me happy since I promised myself before finals that all Cs would be just fine. Aiming low and achieving well - never would have thought that would be me, but here we are in pharmy school just as merry as can be. One semester left of actually-in-a-classroom classes followed by 9 months of a mythical beast called 'rotations' (assigned, spread out loosely into 12 months, somehow, that involves requesting sites that you'll never get, a white lab coat, and unspoken rules as well as several icky test things and "resume building" exercises that promise to reek of boredom). I am terribly ready to be done with school and out working. I honestly don't feel like I know much but I was always very, very good at looking things up quickly so maybe it'll all work out? (That certainly isn't very reassuring to anyone... Let's keep that part a secret, okay?) After finals Christmas hit home. No white Christmas here in Okieland but we had the freezing temperatures. The big family party with
Dad's side was fun with traditional Christmas fajitas, dirty Santa, playing spoons (which my female cousin & I are, apparently, really good at recently), and a foray by my mum & aunt into discovering how to make mulled wine at home (it seemed a lot like making hot tea to me?).
For my immediate family, on Christmas we did our usual laid-back thing at home with biscuits and gravy breakfast just after presents followed by lounging around the rest of the day, recovering from our paper cuts earlier in the day and drinks the night before. (I spent my Christmas Eve at work, since, after all, isn't saving lives a very merry thing?)
Christmas with Skronky, and later his family, was wonderful as well. I got him a cast iron dutch oven. I know what you're thinking... Horribly romantic of me. But that is what he wanted! Better than a tie, I suppose, since he doesn't often wear ties. (I "helped" him 'season' it the next day... I've never seen so much smoke billowing out of an oven!) It was nice to get to see his nephews at his family's party. The oldest one is just a few months past 2y and he's a terror (in a good way), running around everywhere and making friends wherever he goes!
This year for me the presents haul included, in no particular order: a leech jar (no leeches currently in residence), several shirts, a shoe rack, lots of candy, a flashlight, rechargable batteries, another charm for my charm bracelet (this time a celtic cross), cookies, a bird house that I won in my family's dirty santa, coffee & mug, and several books. Skronky got me the first book in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer; I've read it twice since Christmas and plan to see the movie soon. (I prefer to always read the book before the movie, strangely enough.) But please don't count me in with the crazy, diehard fans. I like this author's style and artistry but do not have any misillusions or obsessions about vampires. Promise. You'll be the first to know if/when I do...
New Year's Eve saw me at home with the fam plus Dawn, her hubby, and their 3 week-old baby boy. Rocked out the end of the old year watching her hubby play Battlefield: Bad Company while the baby hiccuped in Mum's arms and Dawn & I gossiped. Am looking forward to this new year and all the wonderful things it'll bring. Best wishes to you and yours!

baking up some karma cookies

If you're interested in wine tasting, specifically Oklahoma wines, then I'd suggest attending this function at 50 Penn Place on Nov 15th. I am personally looking forward to it, having secured a DD and entrusted myself to mi mama & auntie who both also enjoy a nip of the vino now and then. There are even workshops offered that day that sound interesting (wine tasting with a sommelier, food & wine pairing, and how to grow grapes in Okieland). What's not to love??
I made some cookies this evening and contemplated, as they baked, how nice and homey cookies are. My chocolate chip cookies aren't pretentious or fancy but soft and flavorful (it's the added almond extract that inserts an extra unexpected kick). Cooking and baking are so like compounding in a chemistry/pharmacy lab, in my opinion, that I find it odd that many of my pharmy classmates profess to be inept at cooking. They require recipies, ingredients, measuring, mixing, and "touching up" just like the most basic of chemistry lab exercises do. Hmm... Mayhaps it is a ploy to procure free cookies? (great idea! What was I thinking??)
Had an interesting weekend with Skronky. Got to watch him work magic on some kitchen plumbing and am impressed beyond words at his newly-revealed skills. I hope to incorporated these skills into a master plan for taking over the world some day but please don't spill the beans to Skronky or he might go fishing that weekend instead. My plan working requires the utmost secrecy and discretion (causing me to rethink posting such on the internets. Yes, plural. Internets.)
That is all. Good luck and good night.

Moving on past 2nd...

Passed each of my finals and ended with a 3.2 GPA for the semester! (2 A's, 5 B's, & 1 pass in a pass/fail elective) Woohoo!!!! I am VERY happy about how this semester turned out - much better than my 3 previous semesters of pharmy school.
My birthday party last week was fun with family and food. Cake, pie and sopapillas! Mom and I went shopping today to celebrate the end of the semester and my birthday. One mall, 2 craft stores, 2 garden centers, and one happy hour (at Sonic) was as much as we could stand before heading home. Again I am glad that neither of us is over-blessed with the love-to-shop gene. Would be miserable for the other of us.
If you're interested in a fun time this weekend near Norman, Oklahoma check out the Spring Wine Festival at Canadian River Winery on Saturday from 10am – 6pm. Looks like fun to me!

Mentoring Can Wait

I'm supposed to be writing about my mentoring experience for a paper that is due Monday but what am I doing right now? Ha! Not writing that paper! I'm rebelling! For the next several minutes! Muahahahaha...
School makes me crazy. Add in wedding showers, beautiful weather that I don't have time to play in, plus an unhealthy lack of motivation to study for school and you get a mess that is just barely making sure to get things done in time. Okay, so I'm selling myself short a little here but just barely. That assignment that's due tomorrow? Yeah, I just wrote that tonight. So it is done slightly before it's due. Touche.
The most recent wedding showers I went to were nice, I do have to admit that. Stuart's was lovely and his reaction to the xbox that us pharm kids got for him was gratifying to say the least (his fiance didn't look *quite* as pleased as he did). Krystal's was full of sweet treats and pharmy girls; Her enthusiasm really kept the party alive. (I got her a bottle of wine, a shot glass, and a couple of cookbooks. Can you see where my priorities lie?)
Okay so back to writing that paper.... I hope to enter Finals week a better person that has discipline and motivation out the wazoo... Or at least a person who doesn't eat everything in sight and studies enough to pass. Whichever happens, Love to all and to all a good night!

Farewell Shrimps

I feel like an old person... I'm so achey from Broomball with my pharmy brothers yesterday! It was a blast though so the pain is totally worth it. Skronky went with and made me proud of his atheletic prowess on ice with a stick.
Am currently enjoying a glass of red vino... to dull the sadness of losing both of the shrimp at once. I came home this afternoon to find them dead at the bottom of the tank, obviously from drowning, right? Oh well...
Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend! Much love