Insomniac's blog

Okay. It is official...I'm back to normal again! Yayyyyy! I was off of school from mid-April until the end of June and it made me freaking crazy with boredom and domesticity. I have realized that I, not unlike the great and mighty lion, can not be completely domesticated. There is only so much housework, kid-scrubbin', sidewalk-chalk, and laundry a woman like me can do before an attack of the crazies gets going. Seriously though, I am so glad to be back in school now. I have this absolutely wacko of a prof for literary criticism and theory, but in a way he is kind of growing on me...sorta like mold to a crusty bowl of ice-cream. Anyhow, the class is somewhat tolerable, just as long as I get an extra large cup of coffee from the Urban Mill before I go to class. But hey, it isn't home and hearth so I'm not going to complain!

I also have a fantabulous indy study with one of the best history profs at GVSU. It is on United States Immigration History and covers from about 1880-current day. Very interesting and fascinating schtuff that I am reading for that class. Plus, it coincides nicely with my summer research project on Post-World War II Dutch immigration. I know the prof that I have the indy study with quite well so we always have a good time with it. Very nice, very nice indeed.

On Tuesday this week I get the fantabulous pleasure of meeting up with my two friends. My one friend has recently left her husband over some personal problems and has moved back home to Michigan with her four kids. I am very happy that she is back. She called me on Saturday night to say that they were back and that she was planning on staying with her parents for a month or two while she found a job and a place to rent. So, on Tuesday, my other best friend and I are going to meet up with the back-in-town friend for coffee and some catching up on life. We all haven't been together as a group since last summer when she was up for a visit and we all went out for dinner.

On Wednesday I have to meet with my summer project mentor (a.k.a. Mr. Arrogant) to discuss the project and work on the material together. The mentor is a completely arrogant and self-righteous sort of man. The horrible thing is that I picked him for this project because he was supposed to have the educational background and he, at the beginning, seemed really interested in helping me. Now, he isn't giving me what I need to get this project done and he is pissing me off by giving me unsolicited advice both in my chosen career as a historian and in my personal life. Mr. Arrogant thinks my educational advisor in history isn't giving me the supposed "correct" information on graduate schools and Mr. Arrogant thinks he is the MAN to tell me, this poor, feeble-minded woman, how life is in the "real" world of academia. Whatever...

Anyhow, that's about it for now. Glad to see you are back on the ole internets again Raye! And, for heaven's sake, what are you doing with your lives Beck and Jon? How am I supposed to snoop on you two if you don't post blog entries anymore?

Okay, so I know it has been awhile since I updated this blog thingie. I do, however, have good excuses for my waywardness. Since I am too damn busy (once again) to type out some long and heart-felt post, y'all will have to do with a simple list. In the last week all of the following has taken place in my life:

1. Princess's birthday party fiasco. Yep, it was a horrendous experience and I am beginning to think that Princess's birthday parties are cursed. Princess was born on the fifth anniversary of my Darling Husband's mother's second marriage to Mr. Loser Man. Darling's parents have been divorced for over ten years now. Anyhow, on Princess's third birthday, she fell on a toy and got the nice present of seven stiches just under her chin bone. To find out what happened on Princess's fifth birthday party read below...

2. My wonderful, kind-hearted and easy-going father-in-law had a massive heart attack just as Princess's birthday party got underway. He told me earlier that he wasn't feeling "all that good" and I asked if he would be okay. He assured me that it was just some indigestion and he would be better soon, since it happened the night before too. Anyhow, he did have a massive heart attack and the paramedics had to use the shock paddles on him even. He went to the Big Hospital with the Important Heart Clinic and had an emergency angioplasty. One blood vessel in the lower part of his heart was 99% blocked and there had been significant damage to his lower heart. The doctors are hopeful that it will get better now that the vessel is open again. He is recovering remarkably well, until item number three.

3. Four days after the heart attack, the day after Darling's father went home, he was puttering around in the garden and pulled a muscle in his back. He now has to use a cane until that heals up. Boy, my father-in-law is looking pretty damn old lately to just be 56. I worry about him a lot and I pray that his heart problems will not return.

4. Classes started on Monday night. Ohhh my gawd. The prof I have is THE WORST I have ever had in my entire academic career! He speaks too softly, mumbles on about cognitive psychology, and doesn't let students answer any questions, no small groups whatsoever, and he just rambles on and on and on... It is my final English class at GVSU and I was hoping to finish with a bang. Well, that ain't gonna happen.

5. After my Wednesday class (same class as the one above, we meet twice a week), I had to wait for 20 minutes to catch the back-to-main-campus bus where I was parked. Not cool. Especially in a larger city, late at night, under an overpass, with only two other people waiting with you. Not fun at all. I miss Becky and our entertaining talks on the bus back to main campus after Shakespeare class...sigh.

6. I had to meet with my so-called mentor on Thursday to discuss the progress of my summer research project. He is the type of prof who sometimes is perfectly decent and likeable. Other times he is an arrogant, self-serving asshole. Well, I got a little taste of both on Thursday. First he was fine. He bought me a Dutch almond roll and coffee and we had a nice chat about the progress of my summer research. He seemed slightly impressed and was glad that I had gotten as far as I have (which I don't think is nearly as far as I should be by now). He then proceeded to give me advice on everything from my personal interactions with other profs to my involvement in activities outside of historical research, to my decision to maintain English as a second major, to my career goals, to me being too old to start graduate school...arghhhh!!! What was so frustrating about it was that I didn't ASK for this advice and yet he felt somehwo compelled to offer it up like he was some sort of expert on my life, which he isn't because he barely knows me. I grinned and beared some of it until it got to be too much then I politely told him to basically leave me be on stuff outside of my research on the Dutch immigrants.

7. Had to take the progeny to my dreaded brother and sister-in-law's house for their son's 3rd birthday party. I won't go into details, but let me just say that going there is a little like volunteering for the Spanish Inquisition, being part of a Jerry Springer show, and learning so-called proper parenting techniques from a defunct Dr. Spock. Arghhh, again.

8. Now I am on a mad race to read two chapter of my book on literary theory and then read an entire book on United States immigration history. Wish me luck!

Hey! Things are looking up in the wonderful world of Nita. I have a jam-packed weekend full of kid fun. Yep, the official kickoff of birthday season has begun! Actually it started about two weekends ago with one niece's birthday party. Tomorrow we have another niece's birthday party to go to and then on Sunday is Princess's fifth birthday party! Princess technically doesn't turn five until Wednesday, the 28th, but since everyone is busy with work and what-not during the week we decided to have it on the weekend. Princess is having her party at Sandy Pines, which is a HUGE campground and resort community. By campground I mean, fifth wheels and mini-trailer homes complete with satellite television, microwaves, air-conditioning, an ice-cream parlor, fancy playgrounds, and beaches for swimming. Darling Husband's dad has a place out in Sandy Pines and since the kids love it so much out there we decided to have Princess's party there. She is having a Hawaiian Luau complete with flip-flop decorating and Hula girl cupcakes. Yep, I really go all out with the birthday party decorating. I'm making a flip-flop cake with LifeSaver candies on it and yellow-colored sugar for the sand look. My mom and I are making the Hula girl cupcakes, too. I even bought Princess a tank top with hibiscus-looking flowers on it for the special day. We have 15 adults and 14 kids coming to the party. Hey, I do come from a rather large family. Three of my brothers will be there with their wives and kids. Plus, Darling's two brothers and their families will be there along with the assorted grandmas and grandpas. The kids range in age from 9 months to 13 years old. Thank God Sandy Pines has things for older kids to do like mini-golf and basketball courts and a game room, otherwise the older kids would be horribly bored.

Anyhow, after my weekend birthday partying and eating enough cake to keep me on a sugar high for at least the weekend, I start classes on Monday night. I am actually really looking forward to classes again. The last six weeks off has driven me nearly stir-crazy and I have become a little too mom-ish. Although, my house is really quite clean and the laundry seems to get done a hell of a lot quicker. I have kept busy with my research and with some assorted commitments to other things at school like the documentary and the committee, but for the most part, life ground to a snail's pace. I simply hate not having to wear at least four hats at once. I don't know what I am going to do with myself once I am actually done with GVSU. I sympathize with the Amazing Raye because I am certain that starting next May I will be twittling my thumbs and going a little goofy around the edges. I did see one of my mentors in the history department on Thursday though and he reminded me that he would like me to become his personal assistant. Perhaps I will after I finish student teaching. God knows that the man has enough money to pay me decently. Not that the profs at GVSU make a lot of money, but this prof is indepedently wealthy...wealthy enough to drive a BMW and own a house in both Florida and the Caribbean. Anyhow, I enjoy being in the presence of this prof and we get along quite well. Plus, I am always giving him advice on his activities anyhow so I might as well look into getting paid to do it, right? Like I typed though, I wouldn't do it until after student teaching. I dread student teaching. I know I shouldn't but I do. I dread screwing up and having to re-do it. I dread not being able to teach what I want to teach but rather what I am told to teach. I dread dealing with pissed off parents and cocky kids. Although, to be honest, the kids scare me the least. Cocky kids are usually, at the bare least, entertaining. I have come to the conclusion in the last year or so that I simply do not want to teach high school English or History. I want to go onto grad school and get that PhD and teach at the college and university level. Darling is hesitant about it and I don't blame him. After all, he has waited these last six plus years for me to get my BAs and now I am asking him to fund me through graduate school too. But I believe that is what I am called to do...research, write, and teach what I want to teach (at least for the most part, I know that a lot of places limit professors too).

Anyhow, I am signing off for the night. Got lots to do tomorrow. One birthday party to go to and one to set up for. Whew, I am so very, very happy that life is back to its normal hectic pace!