Senior Year Blog

I'm nearing the end of the Judson chapter of my life. I'm finding myself packing my schedule a bit more than I used to. Over Spring Break, I couldn't get myself completely out of school mode. My sister is the same way. Because of our similarity we didn't get to see each other. The plan my family worked out was that my parents would go to visit my sister at the University of Houston so that she could stay with her practice piano (she's getting a major in piano performance) and I would stay in Marion and work on my projects. I got to shadow Dr. W. Shane Lee at the Vaughan Marion Clinic and on his nursing home rounds Monday through Thursday. My eggs are doing well. The last batch of eggs came in Sunday. I was able to stick them in the incubator Monday over lunch break. I've done a lot of thinking and a little work too on two upcoming papers - one on Gaucher's disease for Biochemistry and another about vegetarianism during pregnancy for Biochemical Nutrition.

Even being in Marion instead of hanging out in Houston with my sister, I had fun over break. My mother is very picky about the food we keep in the house. Anything too desserty either gets used as sugar in a milkshake or gets fed to the chickens, no joke. Monday I saw a caffeinated brownie mix on a site and since my mother was not there to scold me, decided that I'd make my own version. I just did a normal brownie recipe, but instead of adding liquid, I added coffee. The first batch was alright. The second that I made later in the week was a killer though. I got a little carried away with the coffee pouring. Instead of the few tablespoons that the first batch had, I added 2/3 cup instant coffee powder to the liquid. The whole batch fit into an eight inch square pan, so quite a bit of coffee per brownie. I got a headache when I ate 2 of them. That probably isn't healthy. I looked up caffeine toxicity. According to eMedicine, 10 or more grams are lethal, so considering that one cup of coffee has only 85-250 mg, I think I'm definitely alright. I really don't think I'll make them again though. The only other crazy thing I did other than the brownies was to take two of my three dogs to Perry Lakes park in my car. I took the black lab Solomon and mutt Town Dog. They had a good time and got insanely muddy. I have a hatchback and put the seats down so they could just jump in the trunk, but mud still got everywhere, even on the windows. It'll take a while to clean the car, but we all had fun. It's finally feeling like spring!

I have finally taken control of my life - I purchased an on sale $3 planner at Marion Dollar General!

I have no clue why I hadn't thought to get a planner until now. I'm an obsessive list taker! I find the ability to draw lines through accomplished tasks is quite liberating... Now I can have a comprehensive scratch-offable list. It's a big improvement over all of the tiny messy lists scattered around my computer, stuffed in the glove compartment of my car, and jammed in little pockets of my book bag...

My biology honors project mid-project report with the Judson honors committee took place last week. The committee members were very helpful and asked a lot of good questions that I hadn't considered. I'm desperately collecting all of the quail information I can get. My second honors project quail batch is in the incubator as of Saturday. In about 17 days they'll be popping out! After that, there'll only be one batch to go. I'm working on getting the project data that I have organized so that I can present at the Alabama Academy of Sciences. The Alabama Academy has an annual meeting March 30-April 1. I'm nervous, but it should be a good learning experience.

Due to classes and commitments like the honors project, I've pretty much given up working out on a rigid schedule. I figure that if I get into perfect shape through my running, that'll only last me as long as I keep working out... Grades, research papers and transcripts are much more durable!

By the way, I apologize for the dry looking blogs this month. My camera is dead, completely not working. I can't get any photos off of it. Luckily I had already stored the honors project pictures on my computer. Hopefully, I can do a camera shopping trip soon! I definitely need to have a good one when it comes time to take pictures of the hatching quail chicks!

I've recently realized that during the day I have trouble concentrating on one project at a time for more than 15 minutes unless the due date is imminent.. Next to my computer I have a little notepad for jotted thoughts, project ideas, lists, and a ton of way too hopeful schedules. Most of the schedules say something like "ELLIPTICAL, paper out of the way tonight!, ELLIPTICAL!!" and really just a lot of random things that never end up happening. Exclamation points litter the neon colored sheets. 

I've made myself numb to exclamation points, neon paper, and cell alarms. I doubt I've been on an elliptical more than once this month despite the elliptical's presence on almost every single sheet. The only thing keeping me on my twice weekly jogging is an amazing running buddy who will send mean text messages if I even think of skipping. (If you're reading this running buddy, thanks a million!!) 

My cell alarm went off at least seven times this morning if you count my resets and not the snoozes. The phone calendar alarm with the high pitched ring went off too but I reset it by 10 minutes only to sleep through..So much for straightening my hair. When I sleep in, the only way to get things done is to pull my hair back in a bun, throw together something bland, make it to my classes, and stay up at night. Several cups of strong French Vanilla Cappuccino make me a jittery machine with absolutely no memory of what I'm doing. I get everything finished, but usually end up reading until the words blend.   

To get through December 7-11th (exam week), I've got to change my lifestyle. Statistics concepts cannot be remembered by the French Vanilla Cappuccino Caroline. An unhealthy Caroline who has breakfasts and suppers of French Vanilla Cappuccino with only snacks of normal food can't really be as competitive as the Caroline who first came to Judson. Old me was a well-rested Caroline who looked forward to hopping out of bed at the very crack of dawn. 

I've made a resolution to stop being hopeful. Projects will still get done by the French Vanilla method if necessary, but no more neon paper and schedules with exclamation points. Cell alarms will be set at the last possibile minute, but will not be reset..and no more Cappuccino breakfasts!