10 December 2010

You're no good at what said you'd do to me

I have a paper due tomorrow that I'm currently not writing. Some call it senioritis. I call it me being inherently lazy. It's all laid out anyway. It's only going to take an hour or so to write, and I don't plan on much sleep anyway.
The semester is over. Tomorrow (or today, if you care that it's four in the morning and iCal says it's officially the tenth), is the last day of classes, and I only have two of them. It's the last day of Biochem, and I couldn't be happier. That class has really torn me up. For the third exam, though, I studied a different way, and I got a ninety one. I was so happy, so proud of myself. I can do okay in that class, it just took me forever to figure out how.
The paper I have due tomorrow is for English. I like the professor a lot. He's so relaxed, and he's funny, so it makes the class interesting. When you take a survey English course, where you cover dozens of works over a semester and have to keep a fast pace, you run the risk of things running dry, but he's kept the class flowing. I'm taking another class with him next semester, and I'm pretty excited about it. In my paper, I'm talking about different forms of justice, using two poems to demonstrate it.
Possum is all healed up. A few days ago, her sutures closed up all the way, and everything scabbed over. The scabs fell off as she walked around, and I had to help a few off, because they were hanging and I worried they would catch on something and tear. They've finally all come off, and I've taken the cone off and she's happily moved back in with her sister. I have to keep an eye on the scar tissue for a few days, to be sure they don't irritate it too much, in which case they would need to be separated, the cone put on, and antibiotic cream applied, but everything is going well. Possum moved back in like she had never left, and she kind of never did. Even when she still had the cone on, she walked into the big cage when she was out with Cinder, and tried to live in it. It was so funny watching her trying to get into the ball they sleep in with that thing around her neck.
Wednesday was Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day. My suitemates (that is, Shana, Christine, Mer and myself, because Sarah and Katherine don't like us that much...or at least don't share our ideas of fun) got all dressed up and came up with a huge storyline that could link our parts together. I borrowed a black tube top dress with petticoats from Shana and wore heels. I even dyed my hair black for the part. (plus the blue was fading) My part was that of a Duchess, and Christine was my peasant servant. Shana was a vampire huntress from 5019 (or something) and Mer was the vampire. The story was that Shana was chasing Mer over the timelines to hunt her down and kill her, and Christine and I got caught in the fray and ended up with in the present day. We went to all of our classes in costume and played our parts. In the afternoon, we all went out to the quad. Christine and I had the "timepiece" that allowed time travel, and were trying to figure out how to work it. Shana and Mer came to take it from us, fought, and I was finally stolen by Shana because I had the timepiece. She picked me up, threw me over her shoulder, and ran back into the building with me. Except at one point, she kind of had to drag me along because the ground was too slippy to carry me. It was so much fun, and I wish that we could do those things more often. It's a shame it's too cold to dress up like that often. I had to use a pretty heavy coat to class and leggings to keep warm enough. I have photos of the dress, but I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet. I will over the weekend.
I'm going back to my dad's next week, on Friday. I asked my dad if he knew anyone who needed some part time help over the break. His response was "Why? You need money?" Of course I do. I owe seven hundred dollars to Care Credit for Possum's vet bill. The company sent me a statement saying "Give us $23 by the end-ish of December." I gave them fifty on my last paycheck. I'm getting paid again today. With a 25-or-something% interest on the ORIGINAL bill after the six-month leeway period, I'm not wasting time to pay it back. Anyway, my dad apparently got me a job with Otto over the break. I'm supposed to call him tomorrow. I'm not going to have fun working there again, but I really need the money. I kind of feel like I'm selling out. Maybe I am. I remind myself that soon, I'm going to be working at the job I love. I remind myself that, in a month, I'll go back to tutoring Chemistry, my favourite job so far. I've realized that I have to teach. It's in my blood. Or something else that's kind of corny.
Today in lab, we did something fun. We coated glass Christmas ornaments with Silver. On the inside. Apparently, this is something that every chemistry class in high school does, because all of my friends and even my brother remember this. My chemistry class did not. Wtf, Jenny Jeffrey? Anyway, it was so much fun. We mixed Silver Chloride, ammonia, potassium hydroxide and glucose in the bulb, corked it, and rotated the bulb as the reaction took place, which eventually resulted in an even coating. We get to take them home, and Professor Leo says we should give them to our parents as presents. This poses a problem for me. Since my parents live apart, that would mean giving both of them away, but I'm super proud of my work, and I want to have one for my own christmas tree. I'll probably give them away either way. It was still super cool.
Goodnight.
My healthy Possum. She wasn't very cooperative for photos today.

Cinder! She decided to clean me for the first photo.

Cinder again. It had the potential to be an amazing photo, except she moved at the last second.

07 December 2010

Just another day. Not.

Meet Dr. Destruction. He and I are great friends.

05 December 2010

With love, Arsenic.


It's snowing outside. A lot. I was outside earlier, taking it in. It's really winter in Syracuse now.
Life seems really busy, but maybe it isn't really. I know there are things that are keeping my mind occupied.
Possum had surgery for her mammary tumor two days before Thanksgiving. It was the day I was leaving for home. I knew that either, she would make it through the surgery and I would go home happy, or I she wouldn't, and I'd go home depressed. She made it through just fine. I was so nervous for her the whole day. When I dropped her off at seven thirty in the morning, I wanted to hug her and wish her luck, but the animal care person came and whisked her away before I could. I remember thinking, "Wait. I didn't even get to say 'goodbye.'" I cried the whole way home. And then I had to make it through an exam and another class. It was lucky of me to have so many great friends here. They helped me pack and clean up so I could prepare to go home. I kept thinking "what am I going to do if Possum doesn't make it? What am I going to do about Cinder? Will she hate me?" Every time the phone vibrated, or made any noise at all, I jumped. I watched television waiting for the call, and it never came. I drummed the remote to keep my hands busy. Finally, my brother and I got into the car, and I still had no word from the vet. I couldn't wait anymore. I called them. I was prepared to hear "Sorry, she didn't make it." But they said she was recovering, and she did great in surgery. I was so relieved that I cried. hard.
When we picked her up, she was tired, depressed, and had a cone on her head. Her suture spanned her whole belly, and it was terrifying to look at. She wouldn't really eat for the first day and a half besides snacks. She wouldn't take her pain meds. I had to coat Cheerio's with it so that she would actually take it.
Then she got a rash on her neck from the collar. I called a late night hotline for advice. They said I could pad it, so I did, with felt. I was too busy the next day, so a friend took her to the vet for me to have it looked at. They gave her an antibiotic cream to help it heal, and a bigger collar that doesn't rest so tightly on her neck. The rash has healed.
She's almost done healing entirely. There are places along her sutures that are entirely closed. In a few days, she can have the collar off for good, and she can go back to living with her sister. I can't wait for that day. They're so lonely, even with the cages as close to each other as I can get them.
I should talk about Halloween.
I went to two parties for Halloween, and I dressed as Al Capone. For one party, I went down to my friend Casey's apartment in the Heights and we ate candy and snacks and drank and had a lot of fun. The other party, a bunch of us went to Shana's house, where we hung out in the graveyard and ate pizza and painted pumpkins. The second part of that party brought us down to the basement with a Stegosaurus pinata (the stegocandysaurus) that we named Mordor. It was so much fun -- a lot more fun than the Halloween Dance that was advertised around campus, I'm sure.
During Research, Mullins gave us a whole jar of brand new Capillary Tubes. They are used for spotting salt and TLC plates.
Close up.


Possum with her E-collar on. She's kind of mad at me for it.

This is the best I could get of her belly. She won't stay still for a photo of her sutures.

Ari Capone.


This is a chamber below a building in Watkins Glen. We were daring each other to go inside, and took flash photos to see if there were any serial killers inside.


This is Shana's dog, Killian (the spelling may be off). He's an Irish Wolfhound who loves snuggles and running like a crazy guy. And he really is taller than the washer behind him.
Everyone who went out to Shana's house. From left: Jessica Bresidola, Meranda Beauvais, myself, Anthony Hinkelman, Shana Phelps.

This is our Stegocandysaurus, Mordor.

Pumpkins with Mordor! Made from left to right, respectively, by: Anthony, Jess, Shana, myself, Meranda.


This is a view of Watkins Glen from a building located near the very top of a cemetery.

It's Pinata Time! We did NOT simply break into Mordor!










We were using a Swiffer handle to break Mordor, but it wasn't working, and we in fact broke the handle. So we had to punch our way into Mordor.