Teddy I updated, happy now? ;o)
Considering I haven't done a real update since August, I figured I'd correct that and it's a good way to procrastinate. The fall semester was good, very stressful and made me question what I was doing a couple of times, but in the end it all turned out okay. The most important think I learned is to never take 17 credit hours without a "fun" class. That many academic classes just about killed me. Break was good also, got to see people I hadn't seen in a very long time.
This semester has not been too bad so far. I like all my classes which is good because they are actually within my major this semester. I have classes all day Tuesday and Thursday, but that's it. So basically my schedule is:
Tuesday
7:30-8:45 Engineering Analysis (class is dumb, all about calculating error using methods I learned in high school)
9:00-10:15 Intro to Computer Engineering (C++ Programming)
1:30-4:20 Intro to Computer Engineering Lab (write a program either in the lab or before, show it to TA when you're done, needless to say I do it before and have lab for about 30 min of the three hours)
4:30-5:45 Differential Equations (not too bad so far...)
6:00-8:50 Psychology of Religion (very interesting discussion class with very cool professors, team of two professors one psych and one religion and they teach together)
Thursday
7:30-8:45 Engineering Analysis
9:00-10:15 Intro to Computer Engineering
10:30-1:20 Intro to Digital Circuits Lab (get to play with chips and wires and actually make circuits)
4:30-5:45 Differential Equations
6:00-8:50 Intro to Digital Circuits (professor sounds like the count on Sesame Street)
The four day weekends all the time are very nice, now I just have to get myself to stop procrastinating so I can actually get some sleep Monday and Wednesday nights because I’m just about dead by the end of my 6:00 classes. And of course both professors keep up the full three hours.
Other than school life has been okay. I'm becoming much more knowledgeable in the area of Broadway musicals thanks to Megan. She discovered that we can get student tickets to all the touring shows so we've gone to just about everything that has come through here, and we always get pretty good seats.
The one bad thing that has happened recently is that two nights before Christmas my grandma fell and broke her knee in two places. She had to have two surgeries because when they took the x-rays the doctors only saw one break and were just going to repair that. But once they got in a saw the second break and decided that they couldn't repair it so they went back in a week later and did a complete knee replacement. Since she's been in the hospital she's been very confused. In the beginning we thought it was because the doctors put her all the way under for the surgeries, but it's been over a month and while she has her good days, she's still pretty bad overall. We all thought things were looking good when they moved her to the rehab center, but she just continued to be confused and refusing to do the physical therapy. From early on we knew she wouldn't be able to go back to apartment to live on her own so we have been looking at assisted living facilities (ALFs). My parents already had some in mind and all their co-workers gave them their opinions considering they all work with ALFs and nursing homes all the time. So two weekends ago when I went home we spent the weekend touring ALFs. It was funny to see how the demeanor of every director changed when they asked what my parents did for a living. See for those that don't know, my dad supervises a unit at the Department of Children and Families that determines eligibility for financial aid for the elderly to help pay for ALFs and nursing homes. My mom supervises the supervisors of the adult protection units which investigates claims of elderly abuse and exploitation. So that weekend we saw some very nice places and some pretty scary ones too. At one of the I was Ashley's dad visiting someone, but he didn't recognize me. In the end we almost chose that one, but my dad also liked one within walking distance to our house so that one won out because it is so close to us just in case something happens, so we'll see how she handles yet another move. She's being released from the rehab center today so we're all crossing our fingers everything goes smoothly. My parents went over to her apartment over the weekend and picked up some clothes and pictures and will bring them to her later today to make it feel more like home. Then this weekend I'm going home to help pack up her apartment and put it all in storage until she can go through it. So that's been the major stressor in our family for the past month. My poor dad is just about at his wit’s end because of all of this (this is his mom). When I'm in Orlando I try not to think about it too much because I need to focus on school.
Other than all that the weekends that I have stayed here have been great. The weekend after school started Krystan, Joe and I finished up what Krystan brought back from her new year's party. This was the first time I had anything more than a sip of alcohol and actually got drunk. I've gotta say it was a lot of fun. We made a drinking game out of the game of life. Then this past weekend was basically weekend with Rachel which was awesome! Friday night I picked her up from work, went back to her place and watched a movie and stayed up talking about anything and everything until 4:00 in the morning. Then when we got out butts out of bed we went roller skating with one of her roommates and her friend. That was a fun way to spend an afternoon, although dodging all the little kids at the rink got old after a while. When that was over I went back to her place to steal some of her music for my new ipod that I hardly have any music for. Then she and her roommate had tickets to a concert so I went back to the apartment for a few hours. Then when the concert was over Rachel called and invited me back over because they were having a small party, so back I went. That was a lot of fun, learned some new drinking games and got more drunk than before. Jessica, Rachel's roommate that I hung out with earlier, is really funny drunk; she's normally very quiet but got really funny and talkative the drunker she got. Rachel is also hilarious drunk so it was an awesome night. So needless to say I spent the night over there again and returned to the apartment around noon after dropping Rachel off at work. Last night Megan and I finally went and saw Phantom, it was really good. This was actually only my first time see it, third for Megan. I'm really happy I have a more active social life this semester, just hope things continue the way they are going now because school life is wonderful right now. Now just need family life to balance out and everything will be great. Now time or all that homework I didn't do this weekend!!!
This semester has not been too bad so far. I like all my classes which is good because they are actually within my major this semester. I have classes all day Tuesday and Thursday, but that's it. So basically my schedule is:
Tuesday
7:30-8:45 Engineering Analysis (class is dumb, all about calculating error using methods I learned in high school)
9:00-10:15 Intro to Computer Engineering (C++ Programming)
1:30-4:20 Intro to Computer Engineering Lab (write a program either in the lab or before, show it to TA when you're done, needless to say I do it before and have lab for about 30 min of the three hours)
4:30-5:45 Differential Equations (not too bad so far...)
6:00-8:50 Psychology of Religion (very interesting discussion class with very cool professors, team of two professors one psych and one religion and they teach together)
Thursday
7:30-8:45 Engineering Analysis
9:00-10:15 Intro to Computer Engineering
10:30-1:20 Intro to Digital Circuits Lab (get to play with chips and wires and actually make circuits)
4:30-5:45 Differential Equations
6:00-8:50 Intro to Digital Circuits (professor sounds like the count on Sesame Street)
The four day weekends all the time are very nice, now I just have to get myself to stop procrastinating so I can actually get some sleep Monday and Wednesday nights because I’m just about dead by the end of my 6:00 classes. And of course both professors keep up the full three hours.
Other than school life has been okay. I'm becoming much more knowledgeable in the area of Broadway musicals thanks to Megan. She discovered that we can get student tickets to all the touring shows so we've gone to just about everything that has come through here, and we always get pretty good seats.
The one bad thing that has happened recently is that two nights before Christmas my grandma fell and broke her knee in two places. She had to have two surgeries because when they took the x-rays the doctors only saw one break and were just going to repair that. But once they got in a saw the second break and decided that they couldn't repair it so they went back in a week later and did a complete knee replacement. Since she's been in the hospital she's been very confused. In the beginning we thought it was because the doctors put her all the way under for the surgeries, but it's been over a month and while she has her good days, she's still pretty bad overall. We all thought things were looking good when they moved her to the rehab center, but she just continued to be confused and refusing to do the physical therapy. From early on we knew she wouldn't be able to go back to apartment to live on her own so we have been looking at assisted living facilities (ALFs). My parents already had some in mind and all their co-workers gave them their opinions considering they all work with ALFs and nursing homes all the time. So two weekends ago when I went home we spent the weekend touring ALFs. It was funny to see how the demeanor of every director changed when they asked what my parents did for a living. See for those that don't know, my dad supervises a unit at the Department of Children and Families that determines eligibility for financial aid for the elderly to help pay for ALFs and nursing homes. My mom supervises the supervisors of the adult protection units which investigates claims of elderly abuse and exploitation. So that weekend we saw some very nice places and some pretty scary ones too. At one of the I was Ashley's dad visiting someone, but he didn't recognize me. In the end we almost chose that one, but my dad also liked one within walking distance to our house so that one won out because it is so close to us just in case something happens, so we'll see how she handles yet another move. She's being released from the rehab center today so we're all crossing our fingers everything goes smoothly. My parents went over to her apartment over the weekend and picked up some clothes and pictures and will bring them to her later today to make it feel more like home. Then this weekend I'm going home to help pack up her apartment and put it all in storage until she can go through it. So that's been the major stressor in our family for the past month. My poor dad is just about at his wit’s end because of all of this (this is his mom). When I'm in Orlando I try not to think about it too much because I need to focus on school.
Other than all that the weekends that I have stayed here have been great. The weekend after school started Krystan, Joe and I finished up what Krystan brought back from her new year's party. This was the first time I had anything more than a sip of alcohol and actually got drunk. I've gotta say it was a lot of fun. We made a drinking game out of the game of life. Then this past weekend was basically weekend with Rachel which was awesome! Friday night I picked her up from work, went back to her place and watched a movie and stayed up talking about anything and everything until 4:00 in the morning. Then when we got out butts out of bed we went roller skating with one of her roommates and her friend. That was a fun way to spend an afternoon, although dodging all the little kids at the rink got old after a while. When that was over I went back to her place to steal some of her music for my new ipod that I hardly have any music for. Then she and her roommate had tickets to a concert so I went back to the apartment for a few hours. Then when the concert was over Rachel called and invited me back over because they were having a small party, so back I went. That was a lot of fun, learned some new drinking games and got more drunk than before. Jessica, Rachel's roommate that I hung out with earlier, is really funny drunk; she's normally very quiet but got really funny and talkative the drunker she got. Rachel is also hilarious drunk so it was an awesome night. So needless to say I spent the night over there again and returned to the apartment around noon after dropping Rachel off at work. Last night Megan and I finally went and saw Phantom, it was really good. This was actually only my first time see it, third for Megan. I'm really happy I have a more active social life this semester, just hope things continue the way they are going now because school life is wonderful right now. Now just need family life to balance out and everything will be great. Now time or all that homework I didn't do this weekend!!!