Mom's Present

From my last post, the world now knows that Wednesday was my mom's birthday. My dad and I decided on a joint present, at least in a way. He had the idea and bought the present, and for my part, I baked my mom's cake and offered to set the present up.

I started grinning like mad when the majestic stainless steel and glossy white robotic stork gently set the box wrapped in silk on the doorstep very friendly UPS delivery woman appeared at the door and had me sign for the cardboard box she said was from Apple. That's right—it's a brand new computer; the white MacBook, to be exact.

So, today I will be setting it up. My mom must have thought I was crazy when I called her today at work and asked to make absolutely sure she didn't mind missing the initial setup, her new computer's first startup and first time connecting to the internet, etc. But I already knew I was crazy, so that's ok. She said she doesn't mind.

Mom, I hope you enjoy your new MacBook. You are an amazingly patient person, especially if you can stand the constant appearance of the spinning beach ball on your iBook G3. But hopefully that won't be a problem anymore, or at least not until your '09 MacBook can be considered "vintage."

I love you, Mom! Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Mom!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

<3<3<3<3<3<#<3<3<3<3<3

Congrats on another year!  (And on discovering Hampsterdance, too!)

I'm home!

Well, I've been home for a few days now.  It's nice to have a break from finals and classes, though it does feel really weird not being on campus.  I start my lone summer class tomorrow (Music Appreciation at a local community college, just to fulfill some requirements and for fun).  It meets a grand total of three times, so I'm assuming most of it is online.  I'm pretty sure it won't be as ridiculously complicated as taking Physics online in high school was, but I'll cut that long story off before it starts. 

Well, here's to a long summer and few plans!

Finals

Well, I just had my first final exam.  I will be done with them and leaving VT on next Wednesday, but until then, I'll be alternately buried in notes, trying to relax, or trying to pack.  Wish me luck!

Yay Mom! And: Medical Stuff.

First of all, thank you so much for all of you who have been praying for my mom.  Her surgery went really well, praise the Lord, and while I'd like to let her blog about the details if she feels so inclined, I will say that the awesome surgeons cleared the blocked artery and put in "the Cadillac of Stents."  Yay insurance!  She is tired but doing well, and her email was especially coherent for someone who just had heart surgery the day before.

But, of course, tons of other things have to happen at the same time as this.

I got a large box in the mail today that contains my new Freestyle Navigator.  For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a continuous glucose monitor, like the Dexcom  I blogged about a while back.  It's a bit different, and it has a few more features (though apparently the Dexcom Plus has those now) that I like.  I've been told not to start using it until I am trained, so I will be eagerly awaiting a call from my trainer.  On a slightly different note, I would like to very much thank my insurance company for covering the Nav and other CGMSs.  I am very grateful to have insurance that understands that progress and new technology are themselves medically necessary and is willing to support them and help keep its patients healthy.

I am very sad, though about this.  I found out here.  For those of you who don't click on links, those basically say that my pump manufacturer, Smiths Medical, is pulling out of the diabetes market.  My pump has a little over three years on the warranty, I think, but I will have to get a new pump from a different company then.  Smiths Medical is slowly withdrawing, meaning that they will be gone in about four years, when the warranties for the newest pumps expire.  I can still get infusion sets and replacement pumps if mine breaks, but I can't renew my warranty, and that makes me sad.  I love the Cozmo and the Cozmore System.  It has so many amazingly brilliant features, and I must admit I will miss being able to test my blood sugar directly on my pump.  I'll start doing my research, I guess.  Smiths Medical/Deltec, thank you for the amazing customer service, the amazing system, and all the support and amazing features.  I will miss you.

Well, there's tons of other fun stuff going on as well.  Such as that Multivariable Calc test tomorrow.  (I am purposely not opening the Navigator to stare at it in wonderment and gleeful awe until after said test...)

I'm still alive!

I just got off of spring break, which, while relaxing, was not long enough.  I didn't accomplish all that I wanted to.  But oh well.  I'm kind of happy to get back on my normal schedule, even though it is crazy.  I love my major, I love VT, and I don't like sitting around doing nothing.

I should mention some awesome stuff:

-Before Spring Break, my parents visited.  (Yay!)  We got to see Kirk Franklin live in Burruss Hall.  Which was amazing.
-I, the person who never seems to care about movies at all, watched three movies over break.  One was WALL-E, of course.  My favorite actually-a-movie movie.  Another was the 5-hour-long 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice, which was also amazing (though it was originally a miniseries and is not technically a movie movie).  (It is definitely worth watching all 5 hours of it.  If it weren't for all the time it would take up, I would wish more movies were longer; it lets one get to know the characters and the setting better.)  And my parents and I went to see Race to Witch Mountain, which was exciting.  And <spoiler alert!> the dog didn't die!</spoiler alert>

Anyway, now that the break is over, I have to actually prepare for class and stuff.  And I can't sleep in as late as I want tomorrow.  So... back to the homework!

I can do it!

I woke up this morning with vestiges of the bad mood I had yesterday (completely unrelated to the Super Bowl).  I'm stressed.  I didn't get as much homework done as I should have.

Somehow, during breakfast, I heard the strains of "Don't Stop Believin'" in the dining hall.  It got stuck in my head.  I like that song's chorus.  It reminds me that there is hope.  God has a plan, and it involves this homework.  And I can do it.  And I can avoid the distractions; I can ignore those little online flash games calling for me to come play them if I really want to get this stuff done.  Because somehow, the ability to solve differential equations or take partial derivatives will be important someday.

I won't stop believing.

(Sorry if I got that stuck in your head, by the way.)

I am seriously grinning like crazy right now

I am a total nerd.

I am excited because the copy of Unten am Fluss I ordered from Amazon came in.  That's the German edition of Watership Down, which is an amazing book, if you've ever read it.  If not, go to the library or bookstore and go buy it.  It's a classic.

I still have to finish my German copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone before I let myself read this one, though.  For some reason, that's taking me quite a while.  I'm just busy *coughhomeworkandclassescough*, even during the times in which I usually read.  I'll get there, though.  I will get there.

Anyway.  I have to do a German blog post now.  Oh, so much to do before I can relax for the weekend...

I'm still excited!

Thanks for Asking...

Yeah, yeah.  I'll get back to my breakfast and homework in just a second.  But this just made me laugh, even though I know it was sent out in all seriousness and that a lot of guys would be interested.  (Please keep in mind that I am a woman.)

My email inbox, as of a minute ago:  "Would you like to become a part of [the] only all male engineering fraternity on the Virginia Tech campus?"


Um. 


No thanks.  


(Disclaimer:  There is a Greek women in engineering organization here.  But I have enough on my plate.)


EDIT:  I just got some emails mentioning said women's engineering sorority, just to be fair.  They too went to the entire listserv.  

Settling In

This is my second week of classes for the semester.  I already feel as if I have been here for a long time, though different things keep reminding me that I'm not actually into a routine yet, such as certain classes not starting until this week or even next week.  (I'm looking at you, Physics lab.)  But that's ok.  For instance, since the start of my physics recitation has been postponed until next week, I plan to take a nap today.  Which will be awesome and much appreciated by my brain, but not too good for me getting used to things.

I'll get used to it eventually.  I am planning to do some things differently this semester, though.  Last semester, I procrastinated.  A lot.  You know those really fun flash games?  I wish I could install selective parental controls on my computers so I could block those, because they are really good at keeping me from doing actual work.  And falling asleep while reading my textbooks is something I want to stop as well.  I probably could use the sleep, but not while I'm trying to learn the fundamentals of engineering, thank you.  And I want to do the whole "get the homework done the day it's assigned" thing.  I've been trying it so far this semester, and it is indeed nice to get things out of the way.

So that is part of my new-semester resolution.  I guess new-year resolution, too, since it is in fact a new year, but since anyone who wanted to do a New-Year's blog post would have done it on, oh, I dunno, New Year's  Day, I'm being different.

Well, I said I would stop procrastinating.  I guess that means that I should actually eat this muffin I bought instead of letting it sit on the table here while I blog.  Oh, the irony!

Update on My Life, Which Is About to be Inundated by Final Exams. Yay.

Hi, everyone!

I got a haircut over Thanksgiving break.  I love it.  Having short hair is so much easier, and it was long enough to donate, too.  Here I am, dressed up for the Cru Holliball.  Rockin' short hair.

And this is me over Thanksgiving Break.

In other news, my parents just sent me several care packages.  So, in addition to being inundated by finals, I am also inundated by food.  Yay food!  Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Anyway, I probably won't be posting much until my finals are done.  I have six, if I counted correctly, only one of which I have already taken.  I'm not super worried about any of them, but studying is better than not studying, so I'm going to go study now.

Merry Christmas, everyone!  (Or ChristmaHannuKwanzakah, if you prefer.  I'm not sure I spelled that right...)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  There are so many things for which I am thankful.

Although I'm not going to list them here, since the Aggies vs. Longhorns game just started.  Gig 'em, Aggies!

Oh man, how could I forget...

It's World Diabetes Day!  If it were earlier in the morning and I had remembered to post, I might have suggested you wear blue to show support.  But unfortunately I have been crazy busy.  Classes are almost over for the semester, but right now it is the final crunch.  The end of finals is slightly more than a month away.

Anyway, check out the website:  http://www.worlddiabetesday.org/

Sorry about the lack of posts lately, by the way.  Hopefully when things calm down soon I will post more.

Test tonight! Dun dun DUN!

I have my second big Engineering Explorations test tonight.  I've been studying quite a bit, so I feel pretty prepared.  One thing I am not going to let happen this test is to let the nervousness of everyone else taking the test make me nervous.  Last time, I went in confident, sat down, and then there was some confusion with filling out our Opscans.  (I've grown up; those are called ScanTrons in elementary-high school, but Opscans here, for the most part).  Plus, people were talking about how much they studied and how much they wished they had studied more, etc.  I started to freak out and wasn't as focused for the test as I could have been.  In comparison, over the summer when I did the Student Transition Engineering Program, I went into our tests feeling confident, ignored other people's worries, and took the tests.  The first time, I got 94%.  The second time?  99%.  Of course, there was less pressure since those grades did not count, but still, if I can maintain the same attitude, I will probably be fine.

After the test, though, I get to watch a movie.  S was telling me last night how a certain friend of hers had never seen a certain movie, and I got a funny look on my face.  I think she noticed it, and then proceeded to ask whether I had seen it.  I said no; I always seem to be the person who has never seen any movie ever.  She got excited and said I have to go watch it with her and her friend.  I would usually avoid things on Thursday nights due to Stammtisch and Campus Crusade for Christ, but I'm not going to Stammtisch because it is right before my test, and Cru tonight is pretty much out of the question, since this test runs an hour and a half, which means it has more questions.  And that it ends at 8:30, 30 minutes after Cru begins.  So now I have a movie to look forward to.

In other news, I'm trying to think of non-orange and maroon Christmas/holiday gifts for my friends.  I think I'm the only one out of my little friend groups to come to VT, so I don't think the people going to UVA and Hollins and Mary Washington and other schools would appreciate orange and maroon.  Any ideas?  Especially for a college student on a budget?

...?

Ok, so those of you puzzling at my last three posts may wonder whether my blog got eaten by the dreaded Question Mark Monster or something.  Nope.  And as much as I would like to say a cute kitty decided to go to sleep on my keyboard, I don't have one.  The probable culprit:  I tried to blog from my phone earlier about the flurries and my flu shot.  (By the way:  We had a few flurries today, though not enough to actually show up on the ground.  And I got my flu shot.)  Why that posted three posts full of question marks and random letters, I don't know.  Though  I did get confirmation texts from Blogger on my phone saying that all three of my posts posted successfully...  Maybe instead of me getting the flu, my blog posts did?  

Anyway.  I can't decide whether I should delete them or leave them for the hilarity factor.  If you have an opinion one way or the other, please share.  In the meantime, I'm going to go hide from the dreaded Question Mark Monster.

Dorm Cookin', Part 2

Well, I tried to make the Macaroni and Cheese again, and with much more success.  First tip:  don't try to be fancy and melt little strings of mozzarella string cheese over this macaroni and cheese.  That probably accounted for a bit of the funny taste the first time around.  This time was much better.

And since my last foray into the dorm cooking world, I have acquired a glass bowl from a large superstore entity.  It cost less than four dollars, is pretty sturdy, and is just the right size.  The right size for the macaroni and cheese, you ask?  No, it is the right size so that when the water boils and the foam begins to rise ominously towards the top of the container, I can leave it for a few more seconds.  Last time, I made the macaroni in a one-cup measuring cup, and I'm sure my neighbors wanted to unplug the microwave after hearing "hrrrrrrmmmmm....." (that's the microwave) "Oh, drat!  Not again!"  (that's me) *shunk of opening the microwave door**stirring**shunk of closing the microwave door* *beep* (turning microwave back on) "hrrrrrrrmmmmmmm......" (microwave, again) "Oh, drat, not again!"... I'm sure you can see where this is going.  This time, all was well.  The only mistake was getting barmops at said large superstore entity instead of proper drying towels.  The barmops are good for leaving stuff out to dry on, but they do a halfhearted job of drying the dishes and leave little fuzzy bits behind.  Oh well; I'll know for later.

In other news, I just discovered that the forks I brought (donated by my awesome Mom) can be used on my tablet's trackpad instead of my finger.  (Don't worry; it was clean and the computer and fork are both just fine.)  Not that I'll make a regular practice of that, but it's good to know.  Just in case I have to... use a fork to move my computer's mouse.  How useful.  That should be the method of saving the world in a movie someday... it's pretty epic!

Well, I should get to that German homework I have to do.  I get to write a review of Goodbye, Lenin.

Chef Laura signing off!  Until next time!

Yay! And, housing arrangements.

I got to spend yesterday and the day before with my oh-so-awesome parents.  They are probably home right now, asleep and tired from the car trip, but I'm glad they came, despite the (non)-fun of long car rides.  We hung out, shopped, talked, saw Wall·E, saw 1964:  The Tribute performed in Virginia Tech's own Burruss Hall (which was a LOT of fun; I haven't seen my parents both singing along with music at a concert until last night), and just generally had fun.  It was awesome.  It was only icing on the cake that they brought me food, a suitcase (to make coming home for breaks easier), and other stuff.  Thank you, Mom and Dad!  xoxo!

We also discussed something very important:  where I am going to live next year.  I have to decide before Winter Break whether I am moving off campus next academic year or not, so my parents, S (the fellow woman engineering student with whom I will more than likely be rooming; she's awesome), and I met and talked apartments.  S had obviously done much more research than I had had time to do, so she knew most of the details about housing around here and had already focused on a couple nice apartment complexes.  We both want a quiet community, and we both miss having the privacy of our own rooms (or at least a near 100% guarantee that there will be somewhere in our living space where we can "recharge" alone, as we are both introverted).  We discussed stuff we need to be sure to ask while taking tours of the candidates, and we will be working on priority lists for what we can't live without soon (aka as soon as I get my dormwork done, I'm doing mine).  However, I don't think we've entirely removed the possibility of staying on campus.  But, if we do go off, Virginia Tech has an excellent bus system, and most of the apartments we are looking at are within easy walking distance too.  I wouldn't have to drive unless I had a giant tri-fold board or prototype model to transport, pretty much.

But Virginia Tech is having a bit of a housing crunch.  More and more incoming freshmen means less and less upperclassmen housing, so we may be "strongly encouraged" to do our bit to help next year's freshmen not have to live in study lounges or room with RA's (because some, over halfway into the semester, are still being forced to do that!)  I've been thinking about the possibility of going off campus for a while, and while it is nice to live right in the middle of everything, it would also be nice to have a room or quiet space of my own, and to live with someone with a similar sleep pattern.

Anyway, if anyone has any sage advise for apartment hunting or a definite reason to stay on or go off campus, please let me know.  I would definitely appreciate it, especially since I don't know everything involved or what to take into consideration.

Brr.

It's cold here.

Except indoors.

Slusher Wing, along with most of the other buildings here, is very good at retaining heat, and that seems to mean that the radiators have to come on in order to make it even hotter.  Right now, the thermostat in my room says it is about 78 degrees F in here.  That is perfectly fine with me, though.  When I'm just sitting around doing stuff and not doing any kind of exercise, I love it.  I always seem to be cold, so it is kind of nice being the perfect temperature for a change.  It gets uncomfortably hot when one of my laptops has been on my lap for a while, or I come in from walking from class outside with a coat on.  But right now, it's perfect.

But my sense of logic says that that makes no sense.  I think it makes perfect sense to say "I would rather be cold, because you can always put on another layer of clothing, whereas when you are hot, there is only so much clothing you can take off and go out in public," but for some reason, I like being on the warm side of room temperature.  Unless it gets up to heatstroke levels and I can't get out of the sun for a long time, I'm quite happy being hot.  (I'll probably alter my opinion when it gets warm again, though!)  Being cold?  I can't stand it.

Oh, and when I download my camera's pictures eventually, maybe I'll remember to post the first frost I've seen this academic year, taken early in the morning sometime this past week.

So, to my lovely parents who will be visiting this weekend:   Bring a coat.

Yay mobile blogging!

Ooh! I just realized that with the unlimited texting plan my awesome parents decided to get, I can blog from my phone! Yay!

Stammtisch macht Spaß!

Every Thursday evening, anyone who speaks German and feels like eating out or just sitting around and talking goes to Stammtisch, which means going to Gillie's (very good restaurant,  by the way, and cheap) and speaking German.  Always the big rectangular table on the left as you walk in, starting at 6PM and going until a bit after 7.  It's fun.

Yesterday, there was pretty much no one there.  My professor and one other person showed up, but we still had a great time talking.  I discovered that the other guy (M) is fairly involved in Intervarsity, so we told Dr. M (my professor) about IV and Campus Crusade for Christ, which was really cool.

And, as always happens when speaking a foreign language, hilarity ensues from trying to find the right word.

M the student mentioned a time in his German class that he didn't know the word for "deer" in German, so in a class discussion, he called in a Waldkuh (forest cow).  Makes sense, doesn't it?  The professor corrected him, but the entire rest of the class period, his classmates were using the word Waldkuh just for fun.   During Stammtisch, he and I noticed that the words we don't know in German always seem to translate directly from English with very little spelling or pronunciation difference.  "Deer" in German is actually "Reh," which makes sense if you think of the word "roe" for deer.

But etemology isn't as funny as what happened later.  I was trying to explain what I usually have for breakfast to Dr. M, as she has never really  tried the campus food (which, if you are looking into coming to Virginia Tech, is very good!).  I could explain that I got coffee from Deet's, but then I tried to think of the word for the food I usually eat.  The dictionary I had with me did not have the word, and I was at a loss and about to ask her for the word when I realized that Google Translator might have an answer, and I could text message Google SMS and access the translator.  (By the way, Mom and Dad, thank you for the unlimited texting!  I put it to good use, as you will see!)  So, a few seconds after my inquiry, my phone vibrates and I get the translation:

"muffin" in English is "muffin" in German.

Oh.

I read the text aloud, and we all burst out laughing.

Stammtisch is usually a lot of fun, and sometimes there are nearly a dozen people there, speaking German and hanging out.  But this time, I stayed longer than I usually did.  Somehow, I broke through my "I don't understand social dynamics or the art of conversation" problem and enjoyed myself.

Well, I actually have German class in 30 minutes.  And then, I get to go to the Health Center to verify that I don't have tuberculosis.  Oh joy!