Vacationing In a Warmer Climate

My apologies for the delay.
Last week started, and finished, finals.
Monday, I gathered a group and we went and spread Christmas cheer by singing loud for all to hear.  A huge success in my standards, we had a group of six people.  Most important, though, was the look of amazement and the smile that grew on their faces.  Plus we "sang" the 12 Days of Christmas at the top of our lungs in the Civil Engineering hallway.
Twas' a traumatic (rest of) week.
I studied, took a test, studied, took a test, studied, took a test, studied, and took a test.
Tuesdays's test in a phrase: On a scale of 1 to 5, how much effort did you put into this class? A. 1 B. 2 etc. (actually on the exam)
Wednesday's exam: Open book, open note, open other textbooks, open internet. Just don't talk to your neighbor.
Thursday's exam was one of the hardest that I've taken.
Friday's was at 8pm.  Who schedules an exam for a Friday at 8pm?


Rewind to the weekend before. I thought that my gingerbread house construction plans were not going to work out until Kevin called me all excited about building one.  Since a picture is worth 1000 words, here's how it went:

WHAT?!?!? I get to build a gingerbread house???

But what should I make?

YAY! I'm all done!

Fast forward to Thursday again.  Brendan flew up to Fairbanks for the weekend.  Friday we drove around town, worked out, then went to see Sherlock Holmes.  This was the first movie I've seen in theaters since the newest Chronicles of Narnia back in March.  Decent movie, too.  Made me chuckle at times.  Much more closure than the first movie.

Saturday was supposed to be MANlympics, but you can't have games with only three people, so Brendan, Sean, and I decided to throw the caper around, build a fire, then shovel the yard into a pile to make a MANcave.  Caper tossing is just fun.  The Scot's sure know how to make a manly event.  The fire wouldn't have happened without Brendan.  We were starting it with matches, and it was dying until Brendan saved it.  But it turned into an inferno and burned some nice 10X10's.  The pile that we shoveled ended up being near 10' in diameter and 6' high.  I was a tad stiff in the morning.

Our Caper

The Blaze

Sean Working at the pile

We finished Saturday by going to Chena Hot Springs and soaking in the beautiful hot water.

Sunday morning I woke up far too early and got Brendan on a plane.

Continuing on Sunday, Kevin, Sean and I trudged around the top of Esther Dome with MAN-lamps and flashlights in the dark.  There were clear skies making the night beautiful.  We're doing it again.  Hopefully with a full moon.

After Esther Dome, the three of us went to the airport to pick up Andrew, who came in to drive down with me.

(This listing of events is getting rather boring, so to speed things up...)

The Prestige is a straaaaange movie.

And patience is a virtue. Steven drove down Sunday morning, it was icy, but manageable.  The evening drive was absolutely horrible from what I hear.  There was blizzards, ice, more blizzards, thunder, lighting, blizzards, ice...

Monday morning, however, was driving in a winter wonderland.  There was great visibility, the roads were mostly clear.

We're now caught up to Tuesday, at which point, I will say something is wrong with Anchorage.  Its super windy, its warm, and it is not pretty.  I want to go back to Fairbanks where there is actually snow.

Yesterday

Once upon a time... Yesterday in review.
I tried pushing Steven to his max effort.  This means that I said, "let's sprint the basketball court in between sets" on Wednesday.
The adverse outcome here, on Friday, Steven said, "let's sprint the basketball court..."
I'm sore.

Unhappy

The worst news of yesterday:  See my very unhappy power cord?  I don't think that they're supposed to be able to do that.
I'm not sure how it happened either.  I was winding it up from the wall side and when my hand went below the white block to grab the cord to continue, there was no cord.

The best news of yesterday: I finished my last homework assignment of the year (2011) and semester.  One  week and one more semester in this school adventure.

I shall digress from yesterday and move to yesterday's yesterday: Thursday.
I had to wear a suit to school to give a presentation.  Suits are so awesome.  I slightly wish that I get a job that makes me wear one daily.
The presentation was awesome.  Two of my group members and I ad-lib very well.


Back to yesterday: In parting, I leave you with a picture of what I made last night.  A skillet full of cheesy goodness, pepperoni and bacon.

Heading to Zero

This is a graph.

This is a graph of many things.

Think of it as divided by ~12 so that the maximum is 1. (11.6283 to 6 significant figures)

What does this graph represent? Depends on what you make the x-axis and y-axis.
The y-axis is benefit, productivity, utility, all things good.

When I originally created this graph, it was 8 hours of sleep +/- the x-axis in hours.  So, 0 = 8 hours of sleep.  As you can clearly see, there is tremendous benefit from sleeping 8 hours, though you can function at 6 or 10.
At 6.8 hours and 9.2 hours, its bad news.

What else is this? A semester's productivity.  From the left-most zero to the right-most zero and x is time. Unfortunately, I'm on the right-most side of the graph.  Passed the peak.  I'm heading for zero.  Fast.

I can't wait to ski and run over graphs like this...

Plus, this is proof that you need to let Nathan get 8 hours of sleep for optimal performance.

1-0

Yeah... I tried writing a post and this is as far as I got. Maybe later.
Okay. It's later.

I woke up yesterday to an invitation to run.  I really didn't want to, but I figured that it would be good.  Plus it gave me a legitimate excuse to buy some ski pants.
Breakfast #1: 4 pieces of bacon, 4 eggs.  Yum.  I'm grinning from ear to ear.

Went for the run a couple hours later.  20min is enough to bite you with the "I want to ski and run" bug.  I shall suffer with the illness until Christmas Break.
Breakfast #2: pile of scrambled eggs, 2-3 pieces of bacon, 2 waffles.  The grin just got larger.

I got to set up Christmas decorations, again!  I'm beginning to like my two season life: Running and Skiing.
But it was fun. And I'm glad that I got to help out.

Moved from Christmas to the UAF v. UofM hockey game.  Michigan had much better teamwork.  Neither team was really worth anything, though. 0-0 into OT and a UAF loss by a sort of knock-of-the-puck-that-just-so-happened-to-get-under-the-goalie shot.

Breakfast #3: Megga Muffins.
More importantly, the debut of them.  As soon as I started to put the bacon into the cupcake pan, everyone was curious.  Add eggs and peppers, bake for a while, and get a fanfare of praise.  It's satisfying to here people rave about what you made.
Plus I felt like a total yuppie.  I was wearing a button down shirt, cuffs rolled up twice, my watch as a timer, in a nice, well-lit kitchen, (I could go on) It was heavenly.

Marathon

I've decided that a marathon is the ultimate way to discover what is inside of a person.  The sort of "what makes a man" insides, not muscle insides.  And I think that this is why I love working out, too.
(and if this is scatter brained, I wrote it in class so I was distracted)

A marathon takes every ounce of everything from you to complete one.  It is a physical challenge, as well as a huge mental and emotional challenge.  Don't believe me?  Go run one.  Tomorrow.  Your head will give out before your body does.**

Marathon's don't start at the line; they start at the choice.
A guy (because I am one) hears or reads an announcement about a marathon at the end of summer.  For a brief, very brief, fleeting, so on moment, he's interested.  (A blink moment)  He has to decide to take it on and actually do it.  To me, this shows ambition, pride, and self worth.  (to name a few)  He's got lofty goals if he decides to do this, but he also has to think that he can actually do it. He's evaluated his skills and, knowing that he's going to pick a few up along the way, he knows that he can do it.

Now, he has to train for this task.
The first week, he rides the high that he's going to run a marathon.  Cake to train. (hopefully he's not eating cake)  But as time progresses, he may not reach his goals as fast as he expected, or things may pop up and interrupt his training.  Hurdles pop up and he starts to relax his schedule and back down.
This is a crucial part.  This can make or break you.  Self discipline. Determination.  This is what our average joe needs to continue on your task.  A little slack here or there is acceptable.  Physically hitting a hurdle hurts for the moment, but you can make it through.  You have to persevere through the moment of pain in order to make it to the finish line.
He decides to keep telling himself: I can do it.  I can do it.  I can do it. (I think I can I think I can I think I can I think I can)
The other part of this is that training is boring.  Dreadfully boring.  And if you don't make a training goal, it's really depressing.  Be an overcomer.  Don't give up.  Ever.

I'll throw this in here now: if you aren't a runner or any other fanatic, you don't know how fast you are.  Part of training is setting a race goal.  This wouldn't be a big deal ordinarily, but this is a sort of wisdom meets zeal situation.  You have to be wise enough to set a goal you can attain, but zealous enough to challenge yourself.  12hours is not zealous. (or wise, it's lazy) 2hours is not wise. (set up for failure)

Our character is ready.  Week leading up to the race: nervousness.  Can he really do it?  This is the push before the final test.  If you don't have a 'lot' on the line, you may back out.  This week (and the prior ones) is talk vs. action.  Anyone can talk about running a marathon.

Race day.  He's trained hard for this chance.  The final action.  Here there is the test of your ambition, determination, self discipline, perseverance, (list on).  However, this isn't what the race is about.  In my opinion, the race is about your heart.  (literally)
It's going to hurt.  Your mind will shut down.  Your training is tested.  You have to keep motivating yourself.  And again, it hurts.  Most importantly, though, you will be exhausted.  This is the emotional aspect.  (1+1+1=3, i.e. physical+mental+emotional=you, take two away and what do you have)  Whatever happens from the point of emotions to the end of the race, whatever comes out of the your mouth, is real.  It is the real, 100% your thoughts and opinions, you.  Genuine.  Want to know what someone really thinks?  Take every ounce of energy away from them.

He finishes.  He reaches his goal.  But it's not over yet.  Remember how I said the race hurts?  The soreness after the race lingers.  That hurts.  But it's the battle scar; the proof that he made it through.  The point here is that he may remember this pain from training, but he knows that he can't get rid of it.  How he deals with it is a true test.  Whining vs. Rejoicing.
All of that to say a marathon is a judge of a man.

Think about the origin of the marathon.  A soldier runs to shout victory then collapses.  Slightly depressing, but running the whole way to shout victory.  Victory.  It's the end goal.  We all want some victory, but in a way, we have to run marathons to get it.

You have to run through, battle over, climb, metaphorical conquering phrase, your circumstances.  As you do, the true measure of who you are will come out.
So what's your current marathon?

And I'll have you know, that if you can be on your feet for 8 hours, you can run a marathon.

**Note: I read a book talking about this. One of the four f's of basic functions of the body is fleeing.  This means that when your body is put in danger, i.e. lion chasing you, you run.  You run hard, and you run fast.  After a certain point, your conscious mind begins to believe that you aren't ever going to outrun the predator and begins to shut down, preparing to be eaten.  Your physical system is fine.  Your mental and emotional systems are off.

Expensive

Egg Nog, like raindrops on roses, is one of my favorite things. Right up on the top of the list next to chocolate milk and warm woolen mittens. And whole milk for that matter. I think that I just like nice, thick milk. (and REAL chocolate milk is either store mixed or Ovaltine. NOT Hershey's or Nesquik or other brands)

Anyways, given that I am at home for Thanksgiving, I went to get egg nog at Fred Meyer. For the first time in my three and a half years at UAF, I noticed a price difference. The egg nog in Fairbanks is $1.00 more on sale than it is in Eagle River. ($2.19 in E.R. and $3.89 normally in FBX)
That's saddening. It's egg nog. Do they really make that much more off of it?

Anatomy of your arm: (see picture)
Deltoids look really cool, but you need fairly large shoulders to see them. At least in my experience.
Forearms - you can have tiny wrists and huge forearms because the muscle center is a ways away from your wrist.

Triceps: What this really is about.
Where your "long head" Triceps come down and meet your "lateral head" Triceps, theres a bump in your arm. That's what makes the triangle on the back of your arm.
WHY this is important: (something that I learned today)
Guys, if you have a defined arm, you make is much easier for a girl to dance with you. Dancing may be a leg workout, but you have to support your lady partner, and give her something to hold on to; i.e. your arm. That meeting point of the muscles mentioned above is where she's going to put her hand. If it's defined, she'll always know where to hold, and it will act like a stop collar so her hand doesn't slide further up.

I bet that you all extended and looked at your arm.

Brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things.

The First Mangiving

First, I'd like to say that those ginger cookies that I made on Tuesday were still soft and chewy on Thursday. They were amazing.

Meat the width of the oven.

Alright. Mangiving. From now on, the third friday of every November.
At 2:45 I went to Jubilee to look for a pan big enough to hold our prime rib. I brought it back and started cooking at 3:30. The pan was large enough that it sat on the ridges that held the racks. In the picture, the rack below it is there just in case.

After an errand, I returned to the manly area to continue with the manly preparation for such a manly meal.

Menu:

Bacon...

Prime Rib
Baked Potatoes
Pepper-Onion-Bacon Saute'
Rolls
Apple Cider
Apple Pie
Ice Cream

To start off the evening, I made some very manly coffee to boost the number of hairs on our chests. Strong coffee is actually pretty good.
Take note, men are not patient, so waiting for the meat to reach 135 was painful. So painful, 60% of the crowd left to go rent a movie and find more xbox controllers. As soon as they left, I read the thermometer and it was done. Ironic.

When they came back, we sauteed the vegetables (had to divide it up - time factor) and set the table. As seen in the pictures, every had to 'bring something to the table' and do some part.

My Finger tips are touching it. My hand is mostly parallel.

While the sauteing and final prep was being done, we went around and said something manly that we were thankful for. Examples: snow machines and red meat.

Table of Men

The table was set and we were all given our own bottle of apple cider. It's more manly not to have to share.


A very manly, short blessing was prayed, then started the manly passing of the food. We piled up our plates and started consuming the bountiful feast.
After I was done eating, I gave a 'speech' on the Responsibility of a Man. See here.
Not bad for only ~30min of prep work.

Following the speech began the bottle choir. Men have to show our musical talents. Notes and rhythm come from bottles.

At this point I will bring to your attention the temporary man that you see flanking Daniel. We let her come. Enough said.

Meat...

From the table, we moved to the living room and started watching 3:10 to Yuma. It's a manly movie. Don't be a hero, but stand for what you know is right and just.

Mid movie we had dessert. (One reason why Jessi came)
Dutch Apple pie. The distinction is the fact that you pour in whipping cream midway through baking the pie. It makes it super rich. It was very... Manly.

Following the movie started halo, but after dessert, every man goes and does his own thing. Kevin went for a drive. I went home and went to sleep. It was a great manly evening.

Thanks to:
Steven - for the saute
Sean - provider of the meat
Kevin - roll maker
Nathan Baca - the tv and xbox
Daniel - excellent onion chopper and pie supervisor
And last, but not least
Jessi - for the pie. MMM... Pie...

Notice our Man tree in the background.

Responsibility of a Man

• Gen 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” 29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Man came from the image of God. We were given authority over all things of the earth. Creatures along the ground, in the water, as well as plant life. We have to take responsibility over what we have dominion over: the life on earth.

• Gen 2:5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground,

We have to work the ground for life to spring up. Being a farmer doesn’t sound appealing, but it’s necessary in order for life to spring up.

• Gen 2:22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

2nd responsibility - To our wife. Our companion came directly from us. We must leave our fathers and join a woman to protect and care for her. She is part of us.

• Ezekiel 22:30 “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.

3rd responsibility - To our fellow men. We have to be strong for those who are weak. To stand for our wives. To stand in the gap for other men so that they do not see destruction.

• Ps 1:1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,

4th responsibility - take advice with a grain of salt, but also find Godly council. Don’t stay with those walking a wicked path.

• 1Cor 11:3 But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

Lastly, we must submit to our authority. Men have to put Christ as our head and follow him. Sure women are submitted to us, but men are ultimately responsible for our families’ actions.

That is what it takes to be a man.

What Is

The opposite of warm? Well, the current temperature for starters. -34 last night and -38 this morbid morning. (the iPod corrected my spelling of morning at first to morbid, so I decided to go with it) C or F? Well, when you're this close to the intersection point, does it really matter?

It's cold, for those of you still wondering.

I did exit the gym to drive home in my shorts, though. Reminds me that I'm alive. Or that cold hurts your shins when they're bare.

One would think that I would've learned by now...

My only complaint being I wish that I could've cross country skied before this.

I'm under the assumption that everyone needs to listen to Queen's 'We are the champions' or the Scorpion's 'Rock you like a hurricane' before taking an exam. I did most excellent on two midterms after those songs. Call me ridiculous, but I think that it's effective.
Sort of like me calling in fish this summer. Here fishy fishy fishy.

I believe that I'm becoming a coffee snob. I quite enjoy it.
Background information: I drink coffee for the novelty, not the caffeine. If I wanted caffeine, I'd drink AmiN.O. Energy.
I would take a cup of coffee to work in the morning with my breakfast, and enjoy them while reading the news. When I came to school, I was craving the taste. I've had three bags of coffee since. (Haven't drank three bags, just tasted) Sumatran is so far the best. Smooth, rich, and a hint of chocolate. Tanzanian, I'm still assessing it. Strong, powerful, and a kick of an after taste. The strangest of the bunch: Yemen. Bitter and powerful to drink, and (not joking) fruity afterwards. Like blackberry/darker berries.
My feelings on espresso and coffee shops: cappuccinos are the only thing worth drinking, but it can be a challenge to find a good one. If you're brave, try those two shot drinks. The pure espresso.

All of this is written like I've been to a million cafe's and have had a plethora of blends.
I'm not conceited...

Lets Race

I can't put apostrophes in the title. That bugs me.

Shout out to Dan! SOGM salute! If we had one...
(you make me feel bad that I haven't been posting)

On Monday night, I was going to go watch the Incredibles with Missi. By me saying "I'm watching the incredibles with Missi" it meant "We're going to watch the incredibles with Missi."
It went incredibly well. I thought that she looked stronger.

I sat through an anxious morning, worrying about a history paper, and ESM project, and a Heat&Mass test grade.
I'm not sure why Heat&Mass bothers me so much. I love the material, though. And I rocked the second exam. Better than the first.
Plus my watch came in today. I'm excited. I don't have to dig out an iPod or phone for a clock any more.

Then, I went to bake and babysit. Yes. I babysat.

Just Cookie Thieves

Sort of. They aren't babies. See?

I did arts and crafts with Evie. No resistance.
I told Isaac to practice his spelling. Much resistance.
At which point, I told him "let's race." He wrote the seven words 8 times each. I wrote them 24 times each. (I had to slow down) For the record, he still beat me. Plus he rocked a mock spelling test afterwards.*
Other than that, it went well.


I baked OAC's and Giant Ginger Cookies. See the picture? I feel like a pro. B told me that they belonged in a cafe. Ultimate complement. (They taste good)

*Except for the word broached. I didn't notice that he was spelling it broched and so that's how he memorized it.

Weekends

About that tree... Better pictures may not come. I don't have a tripod. Or at least a tall, functional one. So the tree will just be on here twice.
"Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree"

My blog is a weekend ordeal. I obviously never have time in the week. Unless it's on the iPod. In class. That explains the difference in the number of posts in October and September.

It's been snowing for... Days it seems like. The trees are covered. It makes me sing Christmas carols.
"Have yourself a merry little Christmas, Let your heart be light
From now on, Our troubles will be out of sight"

I just 'apple-s'd the blog.

Do you know how cool it would be to goof off for a summer. Brendan... Want to go somewhere? Like an epic road trip. To the North East. Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire (What else is up there?)

Close to Home

So Lonely...

For starters. Remember that jack o' lantern that I carved earlier? The one pictured on the deck: http://makingnathan.blogspot.com/2011/10/get-one-free.html
It's gone. It was gone when I got back from Indianapolis. I haven't figured out where it is. And Steven and Caleb don't know. "The Case of the Missing Pumpkin!" How's that for being close to home?

So, in light of certain circumstances, Friday night dinners has transformed to SOGM dinners. It's fun.
Tonight:
Heart's on Fire. Crock pot beef heart with jalapenos.
Sounds strange? I'd eat it again. It was really tasty. REALLY tasty.

Dinner led to a tree. A lonely tree.

We transformed it into a very, nice, pretty, 'happy' tree.
Slightly frustrating in the beginning, but totally awesome.

Note: This thing is like 25ft tall. At least its 22ft. And we had a 10 foot ladder. A 4 foot pole. And a ~6ft body, 3ft arm Sean and I. It was still hard to reach the top.

Better pictures later.

And the Forecast for Tomorrow is

Mostly busy with a chance of work.

I suppose my busyness is all part o the educational system's plan: teach students about busy life schedules and they'll be prepared for a career. I know that nothing outside is like this. I have tasted and I've seen...

On the topic if education, today in conversation among students it was brought up that some professors run in the conceited sure of things. I countered with the obvious: isn't it te job if professors to indoctrinate their pupils? (it's all part of the plan)

20% battery life left. Whoops.

Its All Part

I feel like a rebellious child, but this class is not entertaining. This, currently, is a better use of my time. As you may be able to see, whoever made the blogger app was not thinking about productivity in other areas. Just the blog. It's at my finger tips; I couldn't resist.

Note: despite being run almost entirely by engineers, TBP is not organized well. Must be social engineers.

Ignoring the poor grammar of the title, the point is "it's all part of the plan." Don't worry, I'm not the joker. That is an immensely powerful phrase. It can be applied to nearly everything in (a least my) life: why we are used to soldiers dying. Why gov't inefficiencies are accepted. Why we still buy bananas at 84 cents per pound. An so on.

More expansion later.

11/9 Update: Blogger doesn't like apostrophes in the title

Catching Up

I told you that this was a novelty item. I at least thought about blogging last night, but my evening plans were extended. Thus, this is catching up.
I got to read Evy three bedtime stories, though. That was fun.

Alright, so yesterday I made applesauce in the morning for a share-a-dish today. It was surprisingly easy once you boil the apples longer. I previously only boiled them for about 15min, then used a potato masher to smooth them out. This time I pretty much reduced the apples to nothing by boiling them for an hour. The result: you can use a powered hand mixer and it makes them super smooth. Tasted good, too.
The taste was shear luck, btw. I left it unattended for a bit too long and a few apples burned to the bottom.

There was a lovely dusting of snow in the morning, too. The only thing that would've made it more cozy is a fire place. A nice home-y morning.

I'm tired of school already. I want to just work. Someday. I have to take the GRE soon. Soon. Very, very soon. Then write applications to grad schools. I should re-contact the people that I emailed. And read that pamphlet from Sandia.



Life is a blur. (You can't see it, but I'm blurred out. The focus point is the house)

Hmm... This weeks tidbit of wisdom:
Don't use your e-brake in the winter time. (Hot brakes freeze together at cold temperatures)

Like Ice Cream!

'Twas the night before (monday) and all through the (skies) a Nathan was flying, all through the skies.

I'm in a Christmas phase right now. Don't worry, this too shall pass.

Alrighty. I got home Sunday night. I was expecting a total vacation trip. It was sort of a vacation. But there were three days of non-stop meetings, averaging 7:30am to 9:30pm. There was hardly any time.

I did manage to sneak out with Kevin and go find my first ever geo cache. That was pretty nifty. I want a gps now so that I can go find a bunch.

On the way back, I bought Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and read the entire thing on the planes. It was pretty good. My current highlight of the book: (in reference to a premier law firm) "If they can't out smart you, they will out work you. If they can't out work you, they will win by sheer intimidation."

That's power. Prestige. That's a NAME.

By not doing anything on the trip and by having a project due today, I have have done nothing but school up to this point. Okay, that's a lie. I've got some work related things on my plate. Sigh... So much to do.

Anyways, my group gave a presentation today on the Bullet line, and it was a remarkable improvement from our first presentation. The whole class said so. I'm still not sure if I want to claim the paper that was written.

I'm writing a history paper on Nelson Mandela. Most (easiest) factoid about him: he was 6' 4". That's tall.

As you can see, this blog has become a novelty item (like ice cream) for me, as I only post every once in a while. This follows my consumption of some things. (like ice cream) I do (like ice cream)

(And you thought that I would go a whole post without food...)

From Afar

First of all... Did you know that afar.com is a website?

I am in Indianapolis. It was a very long travel day. It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't taken so many planes. Three I can handle. I did not want to get on the fourth.
I got here and found the shuttle stop full of other TBP-ers and that's how I found the hotel.

To Bagels!!

I woke up and tried finding if there would be breakfast. Asked the roommate. We went to the front desk. From the information that the front desk gave us and what my roommate and I gathered, we're on our own this whole time. We went to Einstein Bros. Bagels. Pretty good.

Roommate: Kevin. (Why do so many people have such similar names in my life) He's a Chem-E from upstate New York. Pretty cool.
I met some other people, and ended up spending three hours on the town with them.

I walked around that full circle

I wish that I had brought a camera.
We went to the capital building. It was pretty awesome. There was a stained glass window at the top of the dome. Very beautiful. I wish I had brought a camera.

Most of the store front that I'm seeing is food. Restaurants everywhere. When it came time for lunch, we had to pick a place. One of the girls in the group wanted an "experience" and not just a chain restaurant. It was decided to ask a lady walking on the street.
"Follow me."
We did. To Scotty's Brewhouse.
It was awesome. The waitress was cool. She helped us all pick what to eat. Gave us the run down. Etc.

And the food was great.

I also went to the job and career fair. Talked to some cool people. Heard some inspiring things. I can work for Cummins in power generation and be in Africa. They're installing generators there. I can get my master's degree and Sandia will "pay" for it. Oooh... Albuquerque anyone? I think that those two are the most interest piquing.

Walking around the city and meeting people from NY makes me want to travel. I want to go walk around the city of London. (Not this year due to the olympics, next year anyone?) But I also want to drive around North East US. I've never been up there and the pictures are pretty. I could drive around the North East then go drive route 66 back to the west coast. Oh. Oh my. That is a plan. All of this travel has been inspired again. I heard a friend say that since he still has one more year of school, he wanted to travel. I have air miles. I have some cash reserves. Worst position ever: travel and have a life experience or take an investment risk (get a job) and have a life experience.
Hmm. Get a job or have some fun this summer?
Does anyone know of places to go?

And so far, other than the short about the job fair and travel, this has been all about food. All I've seen on the streets is food. Food, food, and more food. Eh. Someday more will come of this.

Stressful Gratitude

That sums up the day.
I slept through my alarm for the first time in forever. Thankfully I woke up near a good time so I didn't lose too much productivity. The downside was that everything that was supposed to be completed by 10am was not. It made for a rushed morning.
But! At the gym I was able to bench 205. For the first time, I'm above 200.

Then I went through classes, went to work, tutored someone, went through a day.
I got two homework assignments done, and met with a professor that I wanted to submit complaints too and had absolutely everything smoothed out. Funny how that works out?

I also got the financial request forms. Most clubs asked for a reasonable amount. Some asked for an astronomical amount, so my whole percentage idea won't work. We'll see how that goes tomorrow night.
I'm going to be busy right up until I leave. I hope that I get to sleep on the plane.

Ah... My parents are back, and I got to spend the morning venting to my mother. I feel like a child, but when life comes down on you, two weeks is about all that I can handle without talking to mom. No number of surrogate mothers can take the place of my real mother.
A friend of mine told me once that I had a cool mom. (I don't remember the exact words) I was confused to why he said that, but one major point he said was that my mom cooked nearly everything from scratch, something I have taken for granted. I really didn't think outside of my world and it didn't occur to me how many people's mothers did not do that. Thank you, mom.
Flowing nicely into my next subject... She also taught/inspired me to cook from scratch. I made oatmeal raisin cookies for my upcoming trip. They have dual purpose: food on trip, and stress reliever. If I'm busy, I want to cook. Strange.

Get One Free

Fred Meyer at 8:30am on a Saturday is nice. There is no one there. At all.
Okay, just a handful.

My project group decided to meet and have breakfast. I learned that one of the member's loves to cook breakfast and is a great host. He made sourdough pancakes. From scratch. They were awesome.
We chilled out at his apartment for a couple hours working on the project. I'm not mentioning how the project is going, but then all of the group left. I just sat there mooching his internet for another couple of hours. Pretty chill day.

He's Normal...

Back up: I said that I'd get pictures of the snow and my pumpkin. I now have both, just without a lit pumpkin. I'm thinking about buying those bags of 100 tea candles and lighting one and letting it burn out each night.

The evening: I got home from church, and I wanted egg nog. I saw some in Fred Meyer in the morning. So Steven and I set out. I got my egg nog and was in a very cheery mood. I made an employee chuckle. Then I saw the most dangerous of all shopping words, "Buy One Get One Free"

The banner is proof that I either haven't, or will never have to grow up. In that picture, the third from the left is new, skip one, the next two are new, skip one, the next two are new, skip one, the last is new. My children are going to have a great inheritance of hot wheels and legos.
I'd like to bring attention to a progression of three, though. The skylines. I found the blue one (R34) a while ago, but when I was digging through the bin, I saw the 2000 GT-X. Right before I left, I walked around the bin then saw the R32 and had to have it. (Come on, I spent $3.27 and got 6 cars)

One Step Closer

Be a man!
Latest SOGM activity: move a log pile and stack it. (last night)
You might be thinking carry a few logs at a time to a set location not far away and stack them neatly.
No. We had a water-bucket line spanning 40 feet and we were throwing the logs. It's awfully manly and awesome. And it's outside, just under 30 degrees, but we were sweating.
Follow that up with a man meal of pork chops, and its rounded out.

I also had a club council meeting. They asked, "Does the finance committee chair have a report?"
No.
"Does anyone have any questions for the finance committee chair?"
Nothing happens.
(meeting director) "I have one. When is your first meeting?"
When I get the contact information for those on my committee.

Classic.

Frustrating: when professionals just blow you off. I've made a bunch of calls to various engineering and service firms. One said that they'd respond by today. Nothing. One said that they would contact the firm where the report I was looking for originated. They later called back, said that the person who could help me was out until the end of next week. Besides, "everything that I need is on our website." I called them back less than an hour later, left a message, and have yet to hear back.
The response that I most respect is the response of the originating firm, "you have to call our client to release that information. We can't. Sorry." That may be a no, but it's an understandable no.

Ah, but I am one step closer to letting you see what's going on around me. I took a couple pictures. The next step is to actually put them on my computer. I'll get there. I swear.

A Beautiful Sight

It sure takes a lot of effort to change a habit. Yesterday morning I caught myself telling someone about a recent success.
At least I caught myself.
Actually, just thinking about it, telling people about my successes I think stems from one of my favorite songs: Remember the Name.  All you need to know is "100% reason to remember the name"

Those Megga Muffins were just as awesome 4 days later from the microwave. They made a fast breakfast, too. I may make them on Sunday in preparation for the entire week; Sunday's are traditionally staple meal days. And I'm still in love with the crock-pot.

But... other than that, I did homework on Tuesday.

Today, I've finished quite a bit of homework today, but managed to sit around for an hour this morning. I love having mornings. It's so nice to charge up for your day and take time for yourself.
Ah... Mornings. I'm a morning person. Morning's are sacred.

I also worked today for the first time in a while. Everything worked beautifully. I was amazed what clean data can do. The problem is that I'm still short in numbers of service points. I have to find the leak. (Ha. Pun)

FOCUS: on what has been going on in the background since Sunday - snow.
It's been snowing, and it's absolutely beautiful. The campus looks disgusting; Fairbanks drivers are horrible (-y funny); the apartment is a beautiful sight covered in snow.
The temperature is moderate, as well, which makes it much nicer.

What's Cooking

Boastful: showing excessive pride and self-satisfaction in one's achievements, possessions, or abilities

Unfortunately, I do believe that fits me. I try not to be boastful, but I deal in the extremes. That means if you ask me about something that I'm good at, I'm going to tell you. And I'm not just going to tell you, but I am going to TELL you. Usually because of excessive joy and excitement. Sometimes out of pride.

My apologies if you've been told by me. (really humble, but that just fit too nicely. I couldn't resist)

But that subject brings up an important conflict of interests: isn't a blog supposed to be showcasing one's achievements, possessions, or abilities? That shall take thought to solve.

For now, I've just experienced the first realization of cross referencing the Old Testament in the New Testament. Before this, I've never really paid attention. Jesus was really firmly rooted in the Old Testament.

What's Cooking:
I was going to attempt to make stuffed peppers in the crock-pot. As it turns out, I suffer from laziness so I chopped up the peppers and just turned the crock-pot on.
I'm convinced that crock pots are amazing. They make super tasty food with very few ingredients. Another way to enjoy cooking. (Simplicity)

Anyways, Italian sausage and ground beef mixed with various veggies is excellent. It smells like meatballs when its cooking; taste's slightly similar, too.

Chocolate?

I am not being productive currently. Sleeping for 10 hours produces a nice day, but you end up absent for the duration. I've been sleepy all day and dysfunctional in the coronal region.

But! I found how to solve a vibrations problem after days and hours of looking at it. It's a mess. Who would've thought that a Fourier Series could've actually been helpful...

Correction: Robin would like you all to know for whom I made the totally awesome Megga Muffins Friday night for. (her) And that I spent the entire evening with my totally awesome sister.
She's sort of manly. She didn't get sick from the Man food.

Interjection! I'm scatter brained currently. "Inter-jection. Ouch! Inter-jection. Hey! That's not fair!..." Watch Schoolhouse Rock.
I did manage to play an average word (for me) in Words with friends against Steven on Kevin's phone. Couldn't tell you what it was, though.
On that note, heard today:
"What?! 17 points with only two letters?"
"Dude. It's an X."
*chuckle* That is absolutely hilarious.

www.thesaurus.com - look for synonyms for absolutely. Two that I'd like to point out: 'come hell or high water' and 'sure as hell'. Insert in place of absolutely. "...sure as hell hilarious". That just rolls off the tongue.

Also heard today - between Shira, Steven, and I. Context: yesterday Sh and St were arguing and wanted me to pick a side deeming one of them "right". My response, "I'm right." Then I told Sh to always answer in that manner. This was just a random conversation tonight.
St:"I've made a mistake"
N:"That's what she said"
St:grin... looks at Sh "Would you say that?"
Sh:"What?"
N:"Say 'I've made a mistake'!"
Sh:"I'm right!"  "See? I'm learning"
N:"Chocolate?"
St:"hahahahahahahahahahaha"
Sh:"?"
N:"Ahahaha." Win!

Yesterday was Grandma's belated birthday party. We ate spaghetti, chocolate cake, and watched Dan in Real Life.
The chocolate cake was homemade and was "absolutely" delicious. It earned my compliment of 'excellent'.

Right-o. I'm out. I'm currently exuding so little energy that it's difficult to type. Sleep...

Megga Muffins

I moved 20,000lbs of weight today! Woo! I feel awesome!

Today was no where near as eventful as the last three days were; no matter, it was a good day.

Wait, I signed my first business contract. I can work again! Yeah!

Exclamation mark!

Mmm... Macon

I fixed my brakes finally. It's amazing how you take those for granted. Such a smooth stop now. Ruined only by the noise of snow tires.

And even better than that, I made Megga Muffins. They're megg muffins with macon and veggies. (M's are dropped in for Man; the a at the end means that its extra guyish-a)

In fast summary:

Step 1: fill the cupcake slot? with macon.

Step 5: fill the macon with megg mixture.

Step 8: Enjoy the Manliness!

And if you eat one of these things with an english muffin, its a Megga Muffin McMuffin.

Of Course

Oh... Where do I start?

I've had a billion blessings in 3 days. I cannot wait until tomorrow.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

I own a business. I have an account. It wasn't thought out well on my part, but it's together.

Surreal moment still ongoing.

*smile* (and still smiling)

Continue to the post office. Notice: "mail for Nanook Modeling & Logistics"

Wow. I needed that. I didn't even know that I did.

The next 15 minutes were all about how he knows that the report did not reflect the quality of my work, and that 30% of our grade is for instances where when members of a group drag the grade down, the grade of the individual isn't affected.

"Hey, do you have a minute?" Sure. "How did you do on the paper?" Not well. "(grade, omitted for reasons of my own)"

Professor of class #1 opens door as I walk by. "chance" - b.s. It was an appointment.

Leave work to get the mail - This is where it gets good. PAY ATTENTION.

Oddly enough, I wasn't phased. High of a good test grade, "I don't really need this class", variety of other reasons.

No one at the gym. Motivation at 5:30am wears off quickly if you're alone - Class #1 (like Tuesday) - I had done a homework problem wrong. My business group got a low grade on the report.

Thursday:

Alright. 2 days. Tons of blessings. Ready for the kicker?

Plus the pie was amazing. And primal. True statement.

Told Missi about my blessings, who promptly said "oh! we know people! we can connect you!"

After school and work, went to the LaBean's to make sweet potato pi. (I left that misspelled on purpose because I cannot believe that I made that error. I swear I hit e)

Emailed four professors (3 nuclear's, 1 mechanical) at 6:30am our time asking if they thought it was wise to even consider a degree in Nuclear Engineering coming from a Mechanical background. By 1:30pm, I had all of them respond. "Mechanicals are accepted many times into our program. You just have to take basic courses."

Wednesday:

Then had afternoon coffee with Katie and talked about Oregon State. I'm in the gathering phase of my process. I also went to a bio-engineering presentation for U of M; also gathering. This leads me too

Let's not talk about class #2... Heat and Mass Transfer. I like the material. Boring as all get out to sit through. The book is the best resource. Our midterm was last Thursday.

I swear I messed up the 2nd problem. Apparently I didn't. I feel like a pro.

Did legs in the morning. (I'm still sore) - Went to class #1 - Went to work. Got paid - Went to class #2

Tuesday: 

Accurate Historical Record -

I bet you that was annoying. I didn't say where the beginning was, of course.

Simplicity

I'm not disturbed. I was bored.

I've experienced a nice, relaxing weekend. I watched a movie a day starting Thursday. (Saturday I only finished the last 20min of Fridays) My brain got to veg. How nice. I've entered a week, all planned out, nice and slow, and set up for another relaxing weekend. But noo... My classmates decided that they wanted to give up their weekend to study for an exam. So much for a free weekend. I'll have a mostly free weekend.
I carved a pumpkin this weekend, too. Not quite as, um.. unique as last years, (see pictures) but I like it. I'll hopefully get pictures up later of this years model.

Lurks in the dark...

Devour. What a nice word. "To eat hungrily or quickly". (also to consume destructively) It's two sided. You may fill yourself up now, but without the processing of the prey/food, you'll end up hungry or empty again. Like an unfilled appetite. Anyways... On subject, I've hungrily been consuming books lately: Only the Paranoid Survive (Andrew Grove), I'm in Jesus Culture, (for a book club/bible study/young adult group) God's Smuggler, and the Bible. Preface all of those with "I don't like to read" but I can't put any of them down. There's so much to discover, so much that I don't know. Back to devouring, I sure hope that all of them get processed so that I don't end up hungry again. Hungry in a bad way.

Progress: All is going well. I ate a pb&j yesterday and was horribly unsatisfied. How disappointing. My favorite food doesn't fill anything anymore. After eating, I honestly wanted a ton of cooked greens. Don't ask me. I did use JIF, maybe next time I'll find some Adam's. Or other nut butter.
Also on Saturday, Cookie Jar breakfast, to which Steven succumbed to the mighty cinnamon roll. (I ate half) It's a great feeling being able to know that every once in a while I can eat one of those with little ill effect. Perhaps a step in the right direction...

Hmm... The end of my thoughts.
Cheerio for now

Oh! Hey! My title paragraph. Forgot all about it. I've made two chicken soups in the last 5 days. They were easy, and tasted good. One was just chicken, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower. The ratio was slightly off so it was meaty, but amazing. Then today was chicken, carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, an onion, chicken broth, and a can of tomato sauce. It was amazing. Why do I love to cook? Simplicity. You can enjoy a few ingredients or add tons of spices and get incredible flavor.

This is Frustrating

Thanks to Joe, I'm now the Chair of the ASUAF Finance Committee.
That means whenever any club asks for money, I get the final say. The best part is that of the 6 people on the committee, 3 of them are engineers or engineering related. Great year for engineering.

I have to wonder how did I got so busy? I have 12 credits. I need to set some time allotments for ENSTAR or they'll fall by the wayside. We'll see how many 10 hour jobs I can cram into a week. I'm up to the base 4: 12hrs class, 10hrs tutoring, 10hrs homework, 8hrs gym time. I want to add: 10hrs ENSTAR, 10hrs TBP and ASUAF. Oh iCal...
Anyone want to vote for a longer week?

I'm feeling pumped about my lifting. I don't know why. I feel amazing. But this is frustrating because I've lost another pound. I'm not sure what my max levels are. If my max has fallen, I may have to start consuming protein powder again. I have lofty lifting goals. I need to start on them. I love the vegetables that I'm consuming, but they aren't helping maintain weight.

I've woken up the past 2 days at 5:00. I fade around 7:45, but it's fun going back to the gym that early. Hopefully my enthusiasm stays. I'm trying to commit to Tuesdays and Thursdays with those guys.

Also

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRENDAN!!!

You're up online now.

And because I didn't do it yesterday: Happy Birthday Dad.

Revolutionary

I cannot wait until tomorrow afternoon. About 2:30. I'll have another great break leading into the weekend.
It's been a busy week with a Heat&Mass test tomorrow. I've been doing so much reading and studying its nearing the burn out mark. Last night I watched "Adjustment Bureau" because I couldn't stand it any more.

Monday I was able to make a mostly primal pumpkin pie. I learned two things. 1. Soy flour is terrible. Really, really terrible. 2. Pumpkin that has been baked then pureed (and in a frozen state) tastes really good.
Baking with Jessi was fun. I haven't done that in a while. Nor have I had to do so many dishes, but it's nice to be back in the baking world.
The pie was actually really tasty, less the crust.

Tuesday... Studied and worked. Today... Studied (I have a history test in 2 hours) and worked. Both Enstar and UAF needed time today. I love being on call for Enstar. It's the ultimate knowledge test.

It's a third week. See my previous post... http://makingnathan.blogspot.com/2011/09/and-nathan-said-that-it-was-good.html about third weeks. On top of this, it's also a test week. Needless to say, for Sunday and Monday especially, my primal standards have been slipping. I'm not trying to make an excuse; I should be able to overcome this.

My lifting has been ignited lately. I'm pushing more weight than I ever have.

Also, because blogs and the news will be lit up about this for a few days, a (should be at least) national hero has passed.
Instead of morning or assuming that now Apple will go in the dumps, I propose something else: revolutionary thinking. Why don't we try to do something that is so off of the charts that this day/time period will be marked by our actions/thoughts/response... etc? The hero never followed a pattern, created out of the box products, proposed an out of the box building, made an out of the box company. (which was worth more than Exxon) We should all be trying to make something revolutionary. Besides that, look at the time period in which he passed away politically and economically. Do we really want to mark his passing with depression?
Basically, new goal: to do something that will force the world to remember me. Always.

Live By A Schedule

It makes life much easier. Trust me. I try to do the same things at the same time everyday. Patterns are nice. Adjusting to someone else's is not pleasant.
I've been trying to fix my brakes in my car. Arranging a time has been difficult. But I did find a rock jammed in there, maybe that will solve the popping.

Friday night, we grabbed Isaac to hang out. We wanted to take him to "Zipzaps" and play laser tag. To do so, we tried to get more people. Unfortunately, convincing college age and older people to do that is not easy. Plus Steven and I were super exhausted. I feel bad for Isaac. I hope that he had fun anyways.

Yesterday, I made the best breakfast pile of vegetables ever! Chopped cabbage, 1/4 of an onion, 1 shredded zucchini, and bacon chopped up. It was incredible. Plus this will go with any meal, too. (Ah beautiful bacon)
Speaking of bacon, when I went to ASRC today, the guy opened the drive-through window and all I smelled was bacon. Mmm...
Back to Saturday: 2 noted lessons of the day-
1. Never try on a 100% Merino Wool sweater. You'll want it. In Steven's words, "it's like a hug."
2. Don't let cayenne go down the wrong tube. It prevents breathing.

Sunday: I had a lazy Sunday morning. Read a lot of history and Heat&Mass. Went to a pot luck at Jubilee. (Ate moose meatloaf - which I think had smoked salmon or bacon in it) Came home, walked the frolf course, hung out with SOGM, tried to fix my car. I'm back to a lazy Sunday night.

On that note, I'm going to sleep. (how normal)

Late... Better than Nothing

I'd like to give a shout out to Dan! All is well, in order. Mostly. Steve and I have to play legos in your absence. We're extremely disappointed.

A crazy week. I've raised a business from the ground. "Lighter-Than-Air" a dirigible air shipping and travel company. Dirigible is the long word for blimp and less well known than zeppelin. Anyways, my team gave a presentation about our high initial costs, but our slightly lower revenues. Not sure if the idea sold, but it was probably one of the best presentations that I have given. I watched the video later, and I amazed myself on how well I turned my nervous hand movements into hand motions.

I've also done quite a lot of homework.

Also worked 8.5 hours total on Tuesday. I've crammed in a bit of work in the last few days, I was called with project. I love being able to help and give a real answer. Better yet, I also got to use some of the things that I learned in Pennsylvania.

I've done more homework, and a lot more to go.

I'm getting thinner.
My pants are looser. I've lost at least a pound. (which makes me angry)
But, in other news, today was the first day of Super Ab Tuesday. I'll let you know how I'm feeling tomorrow.
Uh. Yeah. Distracted. Until later.

And primal lifestyle is going well.

Surprising Number

Thursday. Another busy day. It all started with waking up. I'm beginning to think that maybe I should stay in bed.
I made myself coffee again, and it was excellent. I might become an addict.
Went to the first class, ESM 450, where it's engineers trying to learn to be accountants/marketers. We're attempting to learn about compounding interest, present worth analysis', discounting factors... I think I'll just hire all of those people and have them do it for me.
But in that class, I got my wish. My friend Andrew did not. We got selected to present our business plan on Tuesday (we have 5 days to write one) and he has a proposal for a student organization for NASA due Monday. I feel bad for him since his weekend will be terrible. He'll get a break at the end of the presentation.

Also yesterday, the first Tau Beta Pi meeting. It was during a BP info session, so at least 2 of the members were there. I wasn't expecting many because of the job fair going on. There were a surprising number of students there, but also the people who showed up were surprising. I may have support this year. Cool.

Then I started studying like mad and researching - got a break and went to dinner at Big Daddy's BBQ with the Farabaugh's. Atmosphere was alright. Food was decent. The leftovers eaten today were even better.

This morning, I was awake at 5:23. I was alive, and realized how much I kind of like getting up that early. Woke Steven up, got to the gym at 6:15. First thing that I hear there is "holy crap." Ahh... my old gym partners are still there. I got to catch up with them for a little bit, which was really nice. There's two guys who I know odd details of their lives, but I don't really see outside of the gym. It's worse than barbershop gossip.

The quiz that my professor kept telling me was going to be easy, was in fact easy. What a relief.
Had the rest of the day. Worked for a few hours. Got told my assignment was the best by another professor. ... Discovered why TV dinners make you fat.
That's right. I grilled a steak. It was quite a large steak. Steven had big bang playing. I sat down and started sawing away and eating. And sawing away and eating. And sawing away and eating.  I ate 3/4 of it. I'm full. Very full.

Oh, and using the correct formula really helps with a homework assignment.

And Nathan said that it was Good

I'm reminded of how much pain is caused by not doing an exercise for some period of time. My current case and point: squats.

I'm not sure what day of the week it is. I've been extraordinarily busy, which causes a blur of every other day. Yesterday is a good example. I found out that my group was waiting around for a miracle to make a business plan. Our 3 week timeline has now shrunk to 6 days.
On top of that I was unable to fix my car.

But, dinner was grilled eggplant and the rosemary and garlic chicken, and let me tell you, Nathan said that it was good. Garlic is a funny after taste though.

Today, I talked to a professor about problems that I am stuck on, and I am still stuck. His homework difficulty went from a 3 to a 12 in one assignment. Great outlook...
I re-ordered my business group, and it looks like we're going to show some progress here.
And I went to history class. Pretty boring.

I've got a quiz coming up Friday, a crippled vehicle, a business report, and a tough homework assignment.
But! I've also got another bag of coffee and a lego set from my mom. I'm stressed out, but so happy. And loved.
My forecast for next week (assuming I present on Tuesday) is so much slower... I need to recover.

In other happenings, it was described to me that I may have senioritis (mom, again) explaining why I am leaning towards a job so heavily now.

3rd weeks are hell. That may be too strong, but it gets the point across. The third week of being primal - I was out of state, out of my niche, at a conference against diets. This week is my third week of actually being in school. I don't know why. Maybe you expect the first to be hard, the second you're cocky, and the third you're broken. Or it takes 4 weeks to set up a pattern.