12 full page essays in 20 minutes??

So how do you write 12 3/4 to 1 full page essays in class in 20 minutes?? Because last night during my first tri-term over half of the class left within 20 minutes. WTF?!?!?! I was there much longer than 20 minutes. I am very curious to see what these peoples grades are..... I think I did okay. We will see on Monday. Keep your fingers crossed!!

First baby picture of Michael Phelps

I don't know why... but I find this hysterical!!

History 102 on 9/22/08

On Monday nights from 6:30pm to 9:30pm I am taking a History class at MJC.
Tonight in class I learned:

- The girl that is both my Economy Class and History class has the last name of Fiscalini and she can (and did) bring me fresh cheese curds(1). I LOVE CHEESE CURDS = I LOVE ELAINE FISCALINI.

(They taste better than they look)

- The guy with the flaming florescent green shirt is named Shane and he has a pogo account and a very sensitive boyfriend that wants one of them to be inseminated and carry their future children....

- I have not totally lost the ability to learn as I got 10/10 correct on our first quiz. Woot woot!!

- I have a lot of studying (3) to do to be ready for the first tri-term (2) next Monday.

- My extra credit paper (if you haven't read that already and REALLY want to know about it... leave me a message. I'll email it to you. HA!!!) and my research topic (oh I picked a good one!!!!) are due on Monday as well.

- Eating too many cheese curds in one sitting will give me a tummy ache.

It was a good class. Mr. McCoy is a really good teacher. Why am I still typing... I need to go study now...

(1.) The Fiscalinis own the Fiscalini Cheese Company in Modesto.

(2.) Tri-term is a word I came up with to more accurately describe the three 'mid-terms' the school requires of us in semester. To me, mid = in the middle and term = period of time i.e. the semester. If there are three mid-terms in a semester, that does not fit into my understanding of the word. So I changed the word to tri-term. And now it makes perfect sense to me.

(3.) The list of 'identifications' I have to know and write in class essays on for the first tri-term Monday:
- Homestead Act
- Andrew Carnegie

- Heratio Alger

- Frederick Jackson Turner

- Alfred Thayer Mahan

- Yellow Journalism

- Battleship Maine

- "New" Manifest Destiny

- Social Darwinism

- Rough Riders

- Carrie Nation

- Anti-Saloon League

To the pain

So this weekend my parents decided that instead of paying the tree cutters 3k to cut down the HUGE pine tree in the front yard... my mother with her new knee and my father with his broken back were going to 'trim it' instead. I could not in good conscious lay in the back yard and get a tan at this point. So I 'volunteered' to help. Six hours later we had a handle on it. It is not done. But the truck bed is FULL and so is the gutter still. It will take dad at least two trips to the dump. And someone still needs to come by and load up the free wood. I don't know how either of them are still walking. Because I'M NOT!!! Oh the pain!!! I need to work on the picture aspect of blogs for you to fully understand. I was going to take pictures of the sushi Mahina, MaySue and I had on Friday night too... but my stomach was too excited to eat it than my brain was to take pictures of it. Oops. Next time.

Social Styles

So my friend Courtney at Practicing Patience challenged me to actually READ her WHOLE blog post today ... (it was a lot of words but I made it through) It was very a very interesting read about figuring out what social style Miss Courtney and her 'friend' fell into.

According to this theory there are 4 quadrants: Analytical, Driver, Expressive, and Amiable. And within each of the 4 quadrants it breaks down further into sub quadrants with the same categories analytical, driver, expressive, and amiable. What you are depends if you ask/tell and how you control/display emotions.

So at my request, Courtney sent me this little test... and I took it. And fell into the Expressive Expressive quadrant.

Below is a list of my working style strengths:

- Energizing
- Motivating
- Upbeat - enthusiastic - positive
- Offer reinforcement
- Generate enthusiasm
- Visionary... often initiators of change
- Create excitement and involvement
- Share ideas and dreams
- Good brainstormers
- Fun

And potential blind spots:

- Too much, too high energy; can be draining
- Too big picture - don't provide enough details
- Too open to change (scope busters on projects)
- Move too quickly for others and/or without checking out assumptions or attending to details
- Like to work more on fun stuff vs. routine work
- Easily bored by slower paced communicators

What I expect from others:

- Develop a relationship in an open, friendly atmosphere; share ideas, thoughts, feelings
- Be willing to "try on" new ideas... and "roll with the punches"
- Focus on the positive, assume the view of "glass half full" vs. "glass half empty"
- Try to have some FUN at work; recognize the value in people relating and socializing
- Provide a "snapshot" not all the details
- Enable them to save time/effort
- To influence, show some enthusiasm and present information in an interesting way
- Allow them to try new things: to grow
- Avoid "micro-managing" but help them attend to important but less exciting parts of their job
- Talk about the big picture and how a current project/assignment fits into it
- Provide recognition for their visions and actions; help them achieve their goals
- Offer personal incentives

Okay... so MOST of that is dead on!!! The whole open to change and focus only on the big picture and no attention to detail is way off base. But other than that.... very insightful!!
Thank you Courtney!!

September 9th

September 9th was:
The first time I saw him
The first time he smiled at me
The first time I heard his voice
The first time he made me laugh
The first time he took my breath away
The first time he made my heart skip a beat
The first time I believed that true love existed
The first time I met my soul mate
The first of many firsts...

September 9th will be:
The first look
The first kiss
The first dance
The first announcement
The first day he is truly mine
The first day we are joined as one
The first day we start our family
The first day of the rest of our lives together
The first of many firsts...

And so it begins....

So I have been told that I need to start a blog... I really don't think I have enough to say and I'm not the biggest fan of words to keep up with a blog. But hey, what the heck. I'll give it a shot. I may not be posting daily, but I will give it a try. Sooo.... here we go!! Wish me luck!!