Apr 11, 2010 10:50
Let me just say it now, I HATE the MCAT. Like, a lot. The plan was to spend most of yesterday working through some MCAT style Physics problems. That totally didn’t happen. An hour in and I got so frustrated with my apparent lack of comprehension that I decided to call it quits. Even attempting to study in the sunshine didn’t really improve my mood. So I took an hour long walk around campus, showered, and spent way too much money at the grocery store. One day I’ll learn not to go grocery shopping while hungry. That day apparently was not yesterday, but maybe there’s hope for the future.
Speaking broadly, I’ve been doing okay with both calorie intake and nutrition. Not awesome, but not horrible either. I've been awesome with the gym. This week’s plan:
Breakfast- peanut butter & oatmeal
Lunch- black beans & rice, chips, apple, an orange
Snack- tofu “corndog”
Supper- pinto beans and potato cakes or bean salad (pinto beans, spinach, tomato, avocado, and cheese)
Work is going well. I’m nearing the finishing stages of writing my grant. This is my first REAL grant, so this is the first time I’ve had to do a true budget. Before, my budget essentially went all to supporting my salary/stipend, tuition, and a little bit of travel expenses. Now I can use the funds to actually fund the project. It’s depressing. It will cost me nearly three times my annual salary just to house my animals for, at most, six months time. Housing just means providing a place for the mice to sleep, considering my mice get special feed ($6k), special cages ($1.5k), special water bottles ($1k), and special water. Special just essentially means that it comes out of my budget. The mice themselves will cost me nearly $20k. I’m beginning to think I’m totally in the wrong business. And the budget money is disappearing WAY too quickly. Plus, being as big of a control freak as I am, budgeting makes me NERVOUS. What if I forget something? What if I underestimate how much X will cost? It’s stressful.
But, anyway, I’ll hand my rough draft off to my collaborator/potential new boss on Monday or Tuesday. That’s a little stressful because… well… I’m a perfectionist. And considering I’m dipping into a field which I know nothing about, I’m hoping I didn’t make some glaring error. Y’know, I’m hoping one day I learn to chill out and quit worrying so much. That will likely never happen, but I guess I can hope.
Today’s Plan
1. Set up the crock pot with some black beans
2. Cook some tofu “corndogs” and potato cakes
3. Portion out everything for next week’s lunches
4. Laundry
5. Gym
6. MCAT Physics
7. Clean the apartment
Oh, crap… I just realized I need to finish up my taxes today, too. Okay, time to get moving.