November 9, 2009

• This weekend was absolutely fabulous. 

  Friday ended in a fantastic belated ChBE Halloween party.  Prior to the party, all of us first years met at one of the residence halls on campus and made ourselves up like zombies with face paint, fake blood and ripped clothing that we purchased at Goodwill specifically to zombify.  We looked so silly and when we arrived at the party everyone that it was so cute that we had come as a giant group.  I think our camaraderie surprises people since it doesn't seem like any of the other years of graduate students are so close with one another anymore.  I wonder if our delight in each others' company will soon dwindle as well.  I certainly hope not.  It's the only thing keeping me going sometimes.  Anyway, there was lots of food and booze and we watched Evil Dead and Blood Dinner and a bucket of gin, ice and citrus was created.  You drank from the bucket using turkey basters and it was kind of hilarious.  We had a lot of fun.

  Saturday was another great day.  It started with a trip to the last day of the farmers' market in town followed by a six mile run with three other first years.  They are training for a marathon and I didn't actually know that before I agreed to come running with them.  I haven't ever really run for exercise and the fastest mile I ever had was around 10 minutes...so a six mile run was a little worrying.  Perhaps one could blame it on the DDR, but I didn't have to take a walking break until we had run about three miles.  I guess I'm quite a bit more in shape than I previously thought.  Watching my shadow as I ran, sweaty and tired, along the streets of Urbana made me feel strangely sexy.  I've never run outside like that before.  In fact, I've always insulted people for doing so, saying that they could just as easily (and more safely) run inside a recreation center or something of the sort, but after having experienced it I guess I understand why running six miles around the same quarter mile of indoor track might be a little boring and annoying.

  Later Saturday evening I went over to the residence halls and got dressed up for a Diwali celebration in which one of our classmates was performing.  She had invited us all and even provided a sari for me to wear.  After having it wrapped and carefully folded around me I looked amazing!  Saris are quite flattering to the female figure if you've never worn one.  Now I want to go and buy my own so I can wear it every day!  We rushed over to the event and waited in line for nearly half an hour for the food, but it was worth it.  We sat down and got ready to watch everything.  My favorite part of the show was not any of the dances, or even the dance of my classmate (even though she did an amazing job), but instead a single statement by one of the presenters.  It was about religion, and how no one is wrong because we all have faith.  I think that is just amazing.  I wish more people thought that way!  I mean, if you work your whole life trying to impress and work toward the goals of a higher power that you have come to respect and believe in...well, how could that higher power be disappointed even if you didn't get it exactly right?  You were still trying, giving your all for your faith.  No one should be eternally damned for trying to live a good life, regardless of what higher power they did it for.  That's what I have always believed.  I accept that I will probably never know anything about the creation of this universe or what higher power is behind it all, but I can be thankful for all the things I have been given throughout life, even if I don't know exactly who to thank, and I can continue to work hard to make myself and other people happy in life.  I went home that night in a wonderful mood and extremely thankful for all the new things I'd been able to experience.

  I woke up Sunday with the desire to sit around strong within me.  I lazed about for the first part of the day expecting to work out around noon.  Unfortunately I missed a phone call that told me when and where the work out was happening because my phone was on vibrate from the Diwali celebration on Saturday.  It was nice to just spend the day sitting around, though.  I checked my email and found that my professor had finally edited my personal statement...and boy did he edit it.  Everything was all wrong and I spent a good majority of the day working on it.  At lunch my husband woke up and I cooked some tilapia for him which was a nice break from the NSF stuff.  At about 6 PM we headed over to one of the first year's apartments to make a whole shit ton of pork dumplings.  It was really fun and really delicious and it gave me an outlet with which to get rid of the massive amount of pie my grandmother had given us at our wedding.  Everyone loved the pecan and blueberry pies and I was happy to share them because my husband and I just can't eat two whole pies before they go bad.  We're not fatties like that.  Anyway, when we headed home I worked out for a bit and tried to get some wedding thank you letters finished.  I only got four done before discovering that I was out of stamps, so I'll have to go and buy some more before I can write to everyone.  *sigh*  I hate having to write thank you notes.  I would rather just not get gifts.

  This week is going to be rather serious in its degree of difficulty, but the weekend was so nice that perhaps some of the good mood I have left over from the festivities will carry through all the hard work I will have to put in during the next few days.  Let's see...what all do I have to do?

  1) Submit NSF application (after satisfactorily editing all statements). (11/12)
  2) Complete Applied Mathematics homework. (11/11)
  3) Complete Kinetics homework. (11/13)
  4) Write my portion of a 10 page paper. (11/16)
  5) Study for Applied Mathematics exam. (11/16)
  6) Write a four page term paper (that I haven't even started on yet!). (11/17)
  7) Complete Heat and Mass Transfer homework. (11/17)

  And I am sure there is more that I am forgetting right now.  I hope I don't die.  Wish me luck.

  • 11:54 am
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