chilled

There's something wrong with the heat in my apartment. I blame thin walls and an improperly sealed front door. The temperature in our little home doesn't top 70; we're lucky if it gets up to 68 by mid day. This lack of effective heating is especially frustrating when the outside temperature is less than 10 degrees. Needless to say, I have been layering like nobody's business lately. Brrr. Oh, how I miss the fireplace at home.

Monday Updates

-Today kicks off finals week, and I'm hoping to knock out my two easiest, Cooking and English.
-I spent most of late Saturday night by the toilet and Sunday home, sleeping, knitting, and working on not feeling gross. It was definitely a 24 hour thing, for which I am grateful. Balancing finals and the flu would not be an easy feat. I still have very little appetite however, which is okay, because my food supply is extremely low owing to the fact that I will be home for almost three weeks starting Thursday night. My nutrition for the next few days will come primarily from Gatorade and whatever low-in-flavor food sounds good. Since Saturday night, I've seriously only eaten some popcorn, a slice of apple, a small bowl of Cheerios, and a few Ritz crackers. It's a good thing that nutrition often goes out the window during finals anyway.
-If I do well on my Accounting and Information Systems finals, I will pull off A's in both classes! These are both prerequisites for the accounting program, and A's would be wonderful.
-I designed a website! It was for my last project in Information Systems, and I got to write code and use a web editor. I spent a ton of time working out all the kinks, planning my content and design, and uploading my files to the web server. Check it out! That class has brought be much satisfaction, because I am now an Excel wizard, can write programs in Visual Basic, and can use HTML code.
-I cannot wait to be home for break.

-Oh, and the Christmas decorations have been up in Physics for a while.
I'm sorry to have spoiled any peaceful or happy moments by sharing this picture. Just turn on some Christmas music and sit by a Christmas tree for a few minutes. The horror will wear off in no time.

new twist on an old favorite

I'm really lucky to have roommates who are good about taking out the trash. Unlike many college students, they don't procrastinate the removal of boxes and cartons from our kitchen trash. When they see that the garbage can is too full to fit their freshly-created garbage, they considerately take out some of the bigger pieces of trash to make room for new trash and set the big trash on the floor next to the garbage can.

happy

I just spent some pre-paper-writing time catching up on blogs, and several loved ones posted about good days. 10 minutes ago, I posted about a bad day, but I want a good one. I'm deciding now that tomorrow will be a happy day. I'm going to put effort into my outfit (perhaps my go-to charcoal knit dress, turquoise tights, and black boots), wear some bold, chunky jewelry, be productive in the morning before class, get some homework accomplished on campus, then enjoy the Physics Department student workers' Christmas party. I am going to be excited for Christmas, find things to do for other people, and smile. I'm going to walk with confidence, study my scriptures first thing, pray for the people I love, and rejoice in this season and the joy of our Savior's birth and His love for me.

What are you going to do tomorrow to make it a good day?

in repair

Tuesday was a bad day. I woke up late. A slip on frosty gravel brought my knee crashing down on the sidewalk, tearing my new charcoal tights. I had to work on an English paper that I really did not (and still do not) want to write. I didn't have time to pack a decent lunch, so I had to scavenge for nutrition all day, which I hate. It was freezing cold. Having to face finals and end-of-year projects brought me spiraling into academic depression about not having an actual major, not doing as well as I want to in my classes, and wanting to be home instead of here. Tuesday was a bad day.

Wednesday was better. I wore my favorite skinny jeans, my gray Converse slip-ons, and an old baseball tee topped off with my trusty charcoal cardigan. I have definitely assembled better outfits, but this worked for the way I was feeling. I got up on time only to find that my first class was canceled. Initially, I had grand plans to further chip away at my english paper during the now open morning, but upon falling asleep over my scriptures and Raisin Bran, I took a nap until it was time for my 11:00 class. Instead of making myself stay on the cold and dark campus after work, I came back to my apartment, donned many warm and comfy layers, made some cocoa, and spent the evening doing homework. I topped it all off by enjoying popcorn, muffins, and an episode of "24" with Jordin before going to bed nice and early. Everything I did on Wednesday aimed at combating the horribleness that was Tuesday, and it worked.

Along with being sick of school and bruised from my fall, I spent much of Tuesday and Wednesday fighting against a below-average internal temperature. I had to don some fingerless gloves I made a while ago while I was doing my homework because my fleece pants, two shirts, hoodie, (with the hood pulled up), and socks weren't enough to relieve my tense, shivering, chilled self. Also, I have woken up the last couple of mornings to gunk in my throat and a runny nose. I was afraid that after a semester of resisting illness while almost everyone around me was afflicted that my body had given in and was preparing to hit me with something horrible just in time for finals. Miracle of miracles, though, I feel so much better at the end of today! Better than anything, I feel like myself, not the frozen, zombie Emily who took over for a couple days. I hope this sticks!

Oh, and in exactly two weeks from NOW, I'll be back home, completely finished with finals!!!