Soup

I have hit the crazy days. The days where I begin at 7 and do not end until 12:30 or 1 am. The days where I run from thing to thing, class to meeting to class to work to work to home to homework/dinner to Corn practice to bed. I want to say that I hate these days, that I wish for a quiet, peaceful, relaxing with with NOTHING to do, but really, I don't. Yes, I am tired a lot and yes I am busy all the time, but I'm excited to be doing Cornhuskin' and I like my classes.

Today is one of those crazier than usual days, so in preparation, I made potato soup last night. Lovely thick, creamy, cheese, vegetable-y soup. I used the recipe that my grandfather gave my mother; I don't know where he got it, but it is the best potato soup I have ever had. And right now, there is a big pot sitting on my stove, warming to room temperature so that in 5 hours when I have time for dinner, it will heat quickly.

Forethought is good. Groceries are good. Life is good

Senior Parent Night

The picture above was taken last night by my roommate/best friend Hillary; it was Senior Parent Night, a night to celebrate how far we've come and thank the people who have gotten us there. We had dinner and there was a dance (that we didn't stay for), but one of the best parts of the evening was when we gave our parents notes we'd written to them to say thank you. After we gave our parents the notes, we left to get the gift that had been purchased with part of our ticket money, a blanket that said Meredith College Parent Class of 2010. I made both of my parents cry with what I wrote, but that's not why I wrote what I did. I wrote those words because they were true, because I am deeply grateful for the upbringing I was given and the support I have received since I came to Meredith--I would not be who I am without them.

Love you, Mommy and Daddy!

On testing

On Monday I took a test in my programming test. I did not do so well on the test (read: didn't pass). Now, when I first got the numerical grade from Blackboard, I called my dad crying and told him I failed at life. He wasn't having any of that and just simply asked "Where are you going to go from here?" I sniffled and told him I didn't know, that I didn't have the test back, etc. I've been dreading this all week.

I got the test back today. We went over it in class and I realized that my problem is attention to detail. Once the professor started going over it, I realized what I had done wrong: for one or two, I just didn't understand the question; for most of the ones I got wrong, I didn't read the code carefully enough, which is where I made my errors. While it doesn't make the grade any more fun, it makes it bearable because I know where I made my mistakes.

So, I now have an answer to my dad's question: I know where I'm going from here. I have made appointments at the Learning Center (which takes HUGE pride swallowing since I work there) with a friend of mine who's a computer science tutor. I am going to start working the problems/answering the questions at the end of every section to make sure I get the concepts. I am going to pay more attention to detail on the next test. And I am going to stop thinking about this one. The perfectionist side of me hates that, but I really can't do anything else and stay sane. I messed up. There, I said it. Now I can move on.

And I'm really grateful for a father who has taught me that when I make mistakes or when sucky things happen, I need to take a breath, deal with that fact, then figure out how to fix it and not spend time wringing my hands over the fact that IT'S NOT ALL THE WAY IT SHOULD BE, which is what blinks in huge neon letters in my mind when I feel like I've failed. Dealing with it and moving on means that I haven't really failed, just learned from the mistake I've made. Which is a good life lesson.

Happy Friday!