Finished Summer Classes

Well, for better or worse, I finished the summer classes I was taking. I think I got a "B" in both. At least by points, I did. If there is any subjective component, there may be a slight difference. But that means I don't have to repeat either course, and the grades won't hurt my GPA. Won't help it, but won't hurt it.

Now, I have about 3 weeks to get packed and ready to go to University. I'm taking a week to clean the house and just veg. Not really veg, since I don't do that well. I'll probably crochet a lot, maybe fix some of my clothes, and if I get ambitious enough, I might even make a couple pairs of pants. I have the fabric. And I have this great fabric for a robe, too. I'll need one that's lighter than my terrycloth robe. But if I don't get that ambitious, there is plenty to do. And Habitat is having a clothing sale this upcoming week. Their prices are so much better than KARM.

I'll be having some friends in next Saturday for a "Movie Night" and some fellowship. I invited about 12, but I know that some of them won't come. That's fine. I can seat everybody. I will make some "finger foods" for the evening, along with some tea for iced tea.  I'll make my favorite, decaf-cinnamon-no sugar tea. I have another 7 ice trays in the freezer to break out, and I'll put in another round of those so there is plenty of ice. There will be coffee, too. I have to dig out the coffee maker anyway to clean it up so I can take that to University with me.

I got cat food the other day, so there is cat food ahead. And they are sure snuggley. There are already some behavior issues building that need to be worked out. Fluffy and Beasley need to be groomed, and Bugsie is having breathing issues really bad. I guess I need to get that Felisyl. I must have been ignoring them, so they are misbehaving. But Queenie has been like this for about a year. She's decided that she is the top cat and everybody had better do as she says. She's really a mean alpha cat. Princess was much nicer about things.

My sleeping schedule is not any better. I got 5 hours last night. Yesterday, while I was reading my textbook, I kept falling asleep. About every 1/2 page, I was drifting off. I'd shake myself and push on, trying to get it read so I could take the test before the deadline. I wish I could sleep better. My friend said I should try Vitamin D, so I'll get some when I get some money in.

Starting New Projects

I've registered the domain names and begun the new Women's History Project. I'll be starting a new blog, dedicated to this effort. I hope you will participate, or at least follow the progress of the project as it moves forward. The results will be disseminated through the foundation. 

If you would like to support these efforts, please post a comment to that effect, leaving some kind of contact information. I'll delete your private information and contact you with details.

Also, all women over the age of 30 are encouraged to participate in the project. Once all the pieces are in place, I hope that one can make a phone call (even a Skype call) and record her history, to be included in the project. There is a standard questionnaire to trigger memories, and personal stories are encouraged.

At this time, there is no repository for written histories. Please continue to preserve these as best you can until a repository becomes available, with the necessary document preservation specialists on hand.

Politics, Schoolwork and Writing

OK, it's official. I'm over politics. I don't care whether it's for an elected official in the USA or the local dogcatcher. I don't care if it's for school, the coffeemaker at work, or any other office. I am SICK AND TIRED of it all. When it takes 12 people almost 30 minutes to agree on something, I just don't have time for it. I'm too busy and I'm too much of a control freak. There were five or more of us in the room with time in "service" and we each think we know how things should work. With all the other stuff on my plate, I'm stepping out.

It's not worth the aggravation, sitting in an uncomfortable chair, when all kinds of resentments can develop. I really do like the people, but I can't handle the control issues.
I prefer my life plain and simple, calm and quiet, and leave all the controversy, voting and arguing to those who can handle it. I'm done.  My serenity and sanity are too important to me.

Schoolwork is back in full force after my trip to ETSU. I have been reading and taking quizzes, posting in the discussion topics and otherwise just paying attention. I have a paper to write on Viet Nam, and I've got to get my head around that. I've also found a couple of areas to research/check/explore with my ETSU advisor. I've emailed her and she's now gone out of town, but it's all good.
 
School also presents opportunities for Undergrad Research. That is the women's history book. I have the title, the concept and some of the data, but I need lots more data. I need submissions. If you are a woman reading this, are willing to write your own and your mother's stories, I would love to hear from you. This is the data I need. It can be purely your own writing, but I have standards I need met for the book.  Otherwise, I can't use your story. It isn't that tough, but certain questions need answers and I need a signature giving me rights to use the stories in the book.

On to the next step of stuff... Writing.
I need more $$ coming in, so I'm going to finish one of my books-in-progress. I'll just dictate it into Dragon, edit the heck out of it (since Dragon & I are still working things out) and get the book out. This one is on the cat stuff I do. I haven't released more than the 12-page pdf report so far, but now I want to go into training methods and the personality traits of cats. This book will be for sale, so it will be listed at Amazon, too. I'll let you know when that's done.

School Orientation and Health Care Decision

I was running around East TN State University yesterday, trying to get all the stuff covered that I needed to cover in a one-day orientation, advising and registration session. In the middle of it, I'd heard that the Health Care Reform Act had been upheld.

I didn't hear about the controversy until I was driving home, listening to the radio. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? I think John Roberts is trying to oust a sitting president, and if the Dems have any sense, they will oust John Roberts. If that were only possible...

The Supreme Court has clearly stated duties in the Constitution. They've been trying to legislate instead of stand impartially and compare all actions of the President and Congress to the Constitution, and that is just a problem for me.

I'm so fed up with the gamesmanship in Washington DC. It's just so much posturing. Nothing gets done because they just want to stall so the other guys can't act. It doesn't matter who's in office, really. It's just that the Dems seem to care a little more about the people and a little less about themselves and a lot less about corporate interests.  As an individual, and not a corporation, I prefer the Dems.

As for whether John Roberts will get his wish of ousting a sitting president from the Supreme Court or not, I certainly hope not.

How do I figure that, anyhow? Well, by upholding the health care reform act, Roberts stirred up republican opposition to the act, perhaps making them angry enough to oust the president for Mitt Romney (Egads!!) along with all the dems in congress who passed the bill to begin with.

However, if the Dems play their cards right, and put health care on a person by person basis, show the shenanigans and manipulations as bald political posturing, they have a chance. With Obama in the lead, I'm not so sure that will happen. He's too willing to allow crap. The "no-drama" side of him has to get put away. I'd love to see him yell and scream and have a few choice words at the republicans. That would be a bit better than his cool and calm exterior. Show that he gets pissed. Because if a president doesn't get pissed, he's not much good as a president.

Virus!

I've been mostly in my bed for the last 6-7 days. I got exposed to a virus on April 24th, and it had me in bed by the following Tuesday, May 1. I thought I was better on the 3rd, got up and did some running around, and that was all she wrote.

Down until this morning. The first thing I did was drink a 20 ounce water, since I'm so dehydratated.

I still have a cough, but I feel much better. The sore throat is still here, too. Why? Doesn't make sense. But I feel like I'm on the mend, finally.