Did you ever wonder about life's mysterious ways...

that all our famous people were born on holidays? :) Well, I just spotted a silly error in the title of my last post, the sort of silly error that I have been known to mercilessly mock others for making. Oops. Oh well, it doesn't seem that anyone else caught it, so I suppose I'm safe. This time.

My DH has his own blog that has intelligent things posted on it. I have my own blog that has random and strange things posted on it. At least we have a nice balance in our household. Sometimes we switch places... but not on our blogs.

So my geography class has learned the hard way how to pay attention in class, and it was a lot more enjoyable on Tuesday. We'll see if the fun can last today. I'm really enjoying this class, especially since I read a few minutes ago that it is a holiday today in one of the countries we are currently studying. In Tajikistan, on October 14, it is the Day of Formation of the Tajik Republic. It is certainly worth it to study geography, because I feel so much more intelligent knowing where Tajikistan is.

Speaking of feeling more intelligent, I love to watch Jeopardy!. At least, about half of the time. If I know as many of the clues as the contestants, then I feel smart. If not, I feel less smart. You know, there's usually one contestant who just stands there and finishes the game with $500 or something like that... I would be that contestant. Unless I had a lucky day and the categories were with me. On Tuesday, I watched both episodes of Jeopardy!, and got the answer right in Final Jeopardy on both episodes. I don't think I've ever gotten the correct answer on Final Jeopardy in my life... until now. Having said that, they were pretty easy; the category on one was movies, and the other was Broadway musicals. And the correct questions were, respectively, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Kiss Me Kate. So the moral of the story is, only watch Jeopardy! if you're willing to me made to feel both intelligent and dumb. Possibly in the same half-hour.

Thanks for listening.

Do you hear the people sing?

Well, I do, because I'm listening to the Les Miserables soundtrack in preparation for going to see it next Sunday!! Just bought the tickets yesterday... I am a happy woman. And the following week, we're going to see Fiddler on the Roof. Then we'll take a break from the theatre for a while. Sometime next spring, Miss Saigon is coming to town and the university theatre will be doing Macbeth. I feel more cultured every time I think about it. :)

Went to class yesterday (as I do every Tuesday and Thursday). We got back our first geography exam and most of the class was in a huff because they didn't expect to actually have to study for a college class. There are many things to be said for being a non-traditional student, and this is one of them... the top three grades in the class went to non-traditional. It's very odd to me, actually, how quickly one gets accustomed to one's life. By this I mean, it was only a few years ago that I was in the same spot that the traditional students are in terms of thinking, yet I have so much trouble relating to what they are feeling. It doesn't occur to me that I can get a good grade in a class if I daydream during lecture, don't bother taking good notes, skip reading the textbook, and then I can just turn up on the day of the exam with a #2 pencil and I'll be all set. Where do traditional college students get this idea? (Not all traditional students are like that, of course.) So we went over the test in class, and many and varied were the complaints of those who didn't study. Finally, toward the end of class, the sensible section of the room (that's where I sit... along with all the others who got good grades) jumped into the argument on the side of our instructor, silencing the wailings of the students who failed the test because they didn't put forth any effort. I left the class in a high state of irritation yesterday, mixed with a lot of sympathy for the instructor, who is the one who has to deal with all the complaints.

Anyway... the people are still singing, although I'm up to the depressing part of the musical. Well, more depressing, since the entire thing is sad. I so rarely cry due to movies/television these days, yet I am planning to take at least two packs of tissues with me next week. I may not need them... but it's best to be prepared, I think. I remember going to a high school choral recital (or whatever it's called) when I was still in elementary school, and they did selections from Les Miserables... not that I had any idea at the time what it was about. The DH and I are in for a treat. :) A depressing treat, to be sure, but I am really looking forward to it.

It's soup and casserole season again! I used to hate fall/winter (partly because Indiana is frostbitingly cold), but after a few years of scorching Texas summers, I have learned to appreciate this time of year. All summer I avoid cooking because it makes the house that much hotter... and now I can cook without risk of heatstroke. So I'm having myself a vegetable soup for lunch. It's already making the whole house smell nice... I can't wait to eat it.

Thanks for listening. :)

Random mutterings

...because that's all I have at the moment. Hope no-one was looking for intelligence here today.

I had an ice-cream cone the size of my head this evening. Which means that tomorrow, I'll be as sick as a dog. A sick dog, that is. Probably not as sick as a well dog, because that isn't very sick. Maybe I'll just be as sick as a person who is sick. ??? Something to ponder while I'm sick as a dog tomorrow.

I have tomorrow morning off because my First Aid class has been divided in two groups to learn the CPR skills. Fortunately, I already know those, so on Thursday when my group is learning, I can be present in body but leave my mind at home. In bed. Anyway, I'll need tomorrow morning to study for my geography test... which is over Europe, another rather fortunate happening. Thanks to the weatherman in Scotland showing me a map of Europe every day for two years, I can find my way geographically around Europe. Maybe I should start studying for our test over Africa instead. :)

Lost another leaf to my as-yet unidentified plant in our study. The other leaves are still growing, as far as I can tell, but every couple of weeks another leaf dies. I have not yet worked out what is causing this. Perhaps lack of sunlight and water? New leaves are being produced at roughly the same rate as old ones are dying, so I don't suppose I have to much to be worried about yet. In related news, my airplane plant is almost dead, but the ivy and unidentified tree-ish thing are going strong. I think I'll buy a couple of poinsettias this year, just to see long it takes them to die. The problem is that I don't ever remember to water the plants due to having stacks of other things to do. Another reason to be glad I don't have children.

I get to do laundry tomorrow morning... I've been collecting stacks of quarters in readiness. I wonder if it would be worth it to buy a washer and dryer for just two people. It's a moot point at the moment, since we have many, many other things on the list of household appliances that are well ahead of laundry machines, but that knowledge does not stop me from wondering. Would they pay for themselves, over time, in quarter savings? Could I then do other things with my quarters (perhaps play video games)? I've just taught my DH to run the quarter-operated ones, how would he handle a machine that does not require money to go? Something else to think about (perhaps right after I finish wondering just how sick the dog is tomorrow).

Thanks for listening... hope it wasn't too boring.

Please point me in the general direction of the weekend...

There are perks to working two jobs. The downside is that I no longer have that thing which normal working people have... I believe it is called a "weekend." By my understanding, most people have two whole days next to each other in which they can do whatever they like... and are not required to leave the house, or indeed, even change out of their pajamas.

If I remember correctly, the telly is rubbish at the weekend anyway, so I don't know why I'd want my two days in a row to be Saturday and Sunday. :) Actually I did have Sunday off this week, and have passed my time cooking, cleaning, reading Lord of the Rings (just started it over again... this will be about my fifth time to read it all the way from beginning to end), and even taking a nap. I love naps... I can't sleep at night to save myself, but I can always fall asleep in the middle of the day. Even if that means sleeping in class or at work. :)

Tomorrow is my DH's birthday... we're going out to eat to celebrate me not having to cook. Actually at the moment I don't mind cooking, as I've collected a very long list of recipes throughout my adult life and am currently trying out as many as possible. This makes for very exciting mealtimes. The best recipe that we've tried so far is one to make our own breakfast cereal... it took a lot of persuading for the DH to agree, and it turns out he likes it far better than I do. I think it's good, but he will eat it two or three times a day (thus saving me the trouble of cooking... what a considerate husband I have).

Working early tomorrow morning... at 6 AM. Even though I've been doing this for about 9 months now, I still find it incredible that there are people, like me, who willingly go to work at 6 AM. Why can't the whole nation agree that, say, 9 AM is a much better time. Maybe I'll run for president on that issue someday. :)

Thanks for listening.

Wow!

Wow, this is exciting... I finally have my very own weblog. All I need now is broadband internet, a PDA, a cell phone (perhaps even one with pictures), a laptop, and one of those memory-stick things that everyone is using instead of floppy disks now, and I'll be right up-to-date with the rest of the country. :)

Well, what can I say? Welcome to Cheekysu's cheeky weblog. I hope you don't get too bored reading it... I'll try to make it as interesting as possible.

Rain, rain, rain! We've had a lot of that lately, which is extraordinary for West Texas. Apparently it's something to do with the hurricanes... I don't know, I'm not a meteorologist. But we've had good Scottish weather for the last 1 1/2 weeks. If only we had all the rest of Scotland to go with it, eh?

Despite having a new job and a new semester of college for over a month now, I am still having trouble adjusting and getting myself on a new schedule. Time management is a big issue for me at the moment... here's hoping it gets better. In 2 of my 3 "live" classes, I've had the first test this past week; #3 is coming up on Tuesday. In my internet classes, I've had something due every week anyway, so that's not a problem... although I have everything done 3 days ahead of time this week! Truly amazing!

Anyway, thanks for listening... watch this space... :).