Wait. I can't count to 4 and I'm in a doctoral program.

Hi friends! Hope you like the new look. I was getting tired of the other one. Anyway, first I want to say HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! I hope everyone has fun plans, whether it be a costume party, a haunted house, or just carving pumpkins...get in the ghostly spirit! ahhh, I love it!

ok, now for the reason I'm posting. Though some of you may have already heard this story, I think it's stupid enough to hear again. So I had my first Acoustics test last Friday. It's basically like a Physics class regarding sound and how it travels and how it reaches the ear and gets changed and filtered and all that jazz. In lamens terms, it's boring. So anyway, we have our test and it is short answer but mostly different types of math problems/graphs/BSing. Well we got to use the book and one piece of paper that we could write whatever we wanted on. I get the test and look through it to see how many questions...there were 11. Then I read the directions again and see it says to write your ID # on every page. So I go through the test again and write my name. I then start my test. It took me 3 hours!!! 3 Hours with only 11 questions and using the book and a "cheat" sheet!!! Kill me now. It was horrible. And I was like one of the first people done. I was feeling decent about it but not great. Anyway, my mind was shot so I went through the test once more to make sure I did everything.

Fast forward to Saturday night:

I'm at dinner with Seth and two girls in our program and we start talking about the test. Well they all start talking about the last question being so hard because it was about 1/2 octave. Well I, much like you right now, have no idea what they are talking about. I am then trying to convince them there were 2 test forms because I didn't have that question. I then say something about "the middle page of the test" when my friend Courtney says, "Lindsay, there was no middle page." and I reply, "uhh, yeh...there was 3 pages" to which they all reply collectively, "LINDSAY! THERE WERE 4 PAGES!!" to which I reply "WHAT!!!!!!!" I had only done 3 pages of the test. They continue to tell me about this test that apparently I didn't take because there were also 13 questions...not 11. I freak out and pull my phone out in the middle of dinner to email my teacher because I obviously didn't have the 4th page. I mean right? How could I miss a whole page of a test but surely she would understand that this was her mistake. How could I have known she forgot to put a page on my test. Anyway, so this is my email:

Dr. P------,

I was just discussing the acoustics test with a few of the other first years and I think my test only had three pages. I only had 11 questions, but they all said they had 13. Is there any way I can come in to finish the last page sometime this week?

Thanks,

Lindsay

So naturally, I felt a little better but I compulsively checked my email about 349 times on Sunday before I finally got this reply:

Hi Lindsay,
I checked your exam, and you did have the 4th page (with questions 12 and 13) but the page is blank. I cant give you that last page again, since this could give you an unfair advantage, (my thoughts: WHAT!!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!!! Those questions were worth 25 points! Without them I would automatically get a 75 and that's not counting everything else that I didn't feel really great about!!!! Oh my goodness, what the crap!!! She is lying, I did not have those questions and she has stapled them on after she saw her mistake!!! I went through the test three times! There was glue on the pages or something. I AM SUCH A FAILURE!!!! end thoughts.) but maybe I can give you a new question. I am going out of town early tomorrow and I will not be in the office until Wed. Can you come in to my office Thursday morning or afternoon? (holy cow, SHE IS THE NICEST TEACHER IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD!!!)

Ok, she was going to let me make up the questions? Just that easily? I mean I skipped them and this is grad school. There has to be a catch!! So we finally set it up and I go in on Wednesday and she gives me new questions! Thank goodness for small programs where the professors know you well enough to trust you. I still don't know how I did, but better than when I hadn't FINISHED MY TEST! I felt like a complete idiot going in there to talk to her. Oh man, anyway the worst thing she said would happen is the two problems I did may not be worth as much as the ones on the actual test (you know, the ones I just chose not to complete) so when she converted the grades mine would only be worth maybe 90-95 or something. So that was that...it may have given me my first coronary BUT it also taught me a valuable lesson. One I should have learned probably in 1st grade. Learn to count to 4 and always finish tests. I'll keep ya posted on the grade I get. Oh, and did I mention one of the questions she gave me was wayyy super easy and probably way unfair that I got that one and everyone else got really hard ones. ohhhh grad school...

ok love you. can we please all see each other soon? like, after Gina unthaws. I miss you all so much!! Also, Gina- I looked for the clip on the news website because I felt like that would just be a great thing to see...unfortunately, no such luck.

Life in Denver!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi loves! So I have been waiting to write this blog because if I had written it after the first week I got here, there would have been nothing to share because I sat around and watched Grey's Anatomy with Sarah. I also was kind of a Negative Nancy the first few weeks and my blog most definitely would have reflected that. Now that things are getting better and we have started to get out and do things in Denver, I have fun things to share, YAY! Ok so we have been here about four weeks already and suddenly we are celebrities....ok well maybe that's tooting my own horn a little too much, but yesterday Sarah and I were filmed by ABC 7 news! Here is the story...
It has been snowing here for two days straight and there is currently around 2 feet of snow, crazy I know. Well the school I work at has been canceled the last two days so yesterday Sarah and I met up with this girl we work with to play in the snow and make snowmen. There is this huge park like 10 minutes from our apartment called Wash Park and it is where, when the weather is nice, people go to run, walk, or just hang out. Well we decided to go there to play in the snow and the news people were there and stopped to talk to us. Keep in mind that we were in the middle of this crazy snow storm and the winds were gusting and it was snowing pretty hard. Just to give you a visual, for my 15 seconds of fame I was wearing snow pants, snow boots, like 5 layers of clothes, and my hat with my hood over it. So I pretty much looked like that kid from A Christmas Story without the glasses. Anyways they were asking us questions about the storm and why when everyone else was inside and staying off the roads, we were out? And my response was, well we just wanted to come play in the snow (as I was giggling), clearly I should not go into a career that I would ever be interviewed on TV.
Denver is very cool and the weather is crazy because right now we are having this storm and there is all this snow and it's supposed to be in the 60s this weekend so it will all be gone! I am working at a middle school five days a week and a fondue restaurant 3-4 nights a week, so I am definitely keeping busy. My school job ends when I leave for Australia because it's just temporary, and I am looking for another restaurant job because I really don't like it. All the people are super dramatic and competitive, which is stupid because we pool our tips and all make the same in the end. It is also really disorganized and I come home smelling like cheese and garlic from making the fondue. Sarah and I actually work at the same restaurant and she is a hostess. There are a couple of cool people who we have been hanging out with. It's nice to have people to go do stuff with and I am glad we are making friends, but it's just different and it makes me miss you all so much more :( I think that's all I've got for right now. Happy early Halloween and I hope that you all will post pictures of your costumes so I can see! Love you and miss you!

Thoughts from the Shoulder of I-64 E

What's with the title you may be wondering? Oh, you know. Just got stranded on the side of the road for a good hour and a half to two hours the other day while driving home for fall break. This was only after I had sat in the exact same spot on the interstate for 30 minutes for Lord only knows what, because once traffic finally got going...there was nothing. And how could i forget the monsoon that was taking place as well? Ugh...driving. No thank you. Anyway, so I'm stranded with a flatter than flat tire and I am waiting on a Friend of a Friend of my Dad and sitting there thinking. Because what else was I supposed to do? Change it myself? Well people I didn't want a totaled car which is probably what would have happened had I tried to change it, especially in a Hurricane. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is leave me stranded in the shoe department, a bike trail, downtown Louisville...basically anywhere BUT the shoulder of an interstate and I will prevail...on the side of the road however, I can do nothing but think. Which is where this post comes from....

1. Life is better with a boyfriend. Ok. Yes, this is a little bold to say but if I had a boyfriend with me, he could have changed my tire (unless it was one of the pretty, momma's boys I have dated in the past, in which case this would be a bad example of the previous statement). If he couldn't have changed the tire, he could have at least kept me company. Also if I had a boyfriend my halloween costume choices would be much more extensive. I mean couple costumes are endless and usually way cuter (ie. Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, Cookie & Cookie Monster, Mario & Princess, Lion and Lion Tamer, I could go on but I think you get the point)than when you are say...Minnie Mouse by yourself. (oh well, i'm doing it anyway) My final argument for this realization is that as I looked through old pictures the other day...i am WAY skinnier with a boyfriend. All the times I had a boyfriend I knew it because of the sheer shape of my face. Ah geeze. Ol well...my prince will come...and I hope he has a tire jack.

2. Some people are way more kind than you would ever imagine. So the guy that came to change my tire didn't even hesitate to come when my dad's friend called him. He didn't know me or my dad from any other person but he stopped everything he was doing and came to help me....in a Tsunami. So not only was he going to be drenched just by the rain but he was also going to get drenched by the Semi trucks that would drive by and splash him. And, it's also just dangerous hanging out on the side of a major interstate when it's kinda dark-ish due to the rain. I asked him 9848463762384 times if there was anything I could do and he just kept saying no no just stay in here and stay dry. I mean what a great guy. I would have totally jumped all over that to solve thought #1 however, he was about 15 years my senior and had the ol' weddin' band on. Anyway, the point is that I am not sure how I would have reacted if someone I didn' tknow from Adam called me for help... I would like to say I would have jumped right at the chance but I am really not sure. So anyway, Hats off to Lee from Mount Sterling, KY for being such a stand up guy!!! :)

3. People do not know how to drive when it rains. Obviously, this is clear how I came to this conclusion. Pure observation. But seriously, people just slow down a little. Rain does not = drive with your breaks on or as fast as you can and slam on them right before you hydroplane in a huge puddle.

4. Boys and dogs have the life. I had to pee before I even got into traffic, before I got the flat. Traffic for 30 minutes + flat tire delay for roughly an hour and 45 minutes is an equation for disaster. I considered just peeing my pants because I had to go so badly and then I'd just get out in the rain and no one would ever know. Ok, so that might be a slight exaggeration BUT it was so bad it like hurt to move and where you have to unbutton your pants to take away some of the pressure. However, my little dog that had to pee...could go on the side of the road. If ol' Lee with his tire changing self needed to take 5 for a pee break...he could have. However, if I had done that I would have 1. been considered super unclassy and 2. been arrested for indecent exposure. It was not fair. I am not even going to go into how boy's don't have to go through the monthly visitor. But I will say that having to sit down to pee is for the birds....wait, nope birds can go anywhere, anytime just like boys and dogs. Unfair.

5. We are the only people that monitor, untag, and filter our facebook pictures (Thank goodness for the iPhone). Do people have no modesty? No, they don't. I, nor anyone else in facebook land, do not want to see you taking a picture of yourself to be your default of you in a bra, no I do not want to see you sucking Glenn's face, no I do not care to see you smoking feed with all your friends, nor do I care to see you drunkenly kissing your same sex bff. It is gross, unclassy, way to public, inappropriate, and just plain trashy. Do people not realize that anyone can get on facebook/twitter/myspace/whatever else there is that I do not know about and stalk the shit out of you? Has no one watched Chris Hansen kickin a- and taking names on "To Catch a Predator" I think not. And not one is going to want to hire you when all your pictures are ones taken when you were blacked out and your friends drew all over your face. Mr. Facebook put a 'remove tag' beside your name for a reason. Maybe I should make a new application with directions and people could start adding that one instead of all those freaking ones that tells you who your Stalker is or what everyone's Zodiac sign is. Was I the only one annoyed by those things? Dang.

6. NSYNC can always turn your day around....or really any late 90's music. It just makes you feel better. And how do we even remember all the words? So random but I'm so glad we do because I just love to rock out to it.

7. I should have been studying this whole time. and now as I write this too. Oh well, it's Fall break.

8. This isn't mine but I'm stealing it from the guy on the radio:

How do you make Lady GaGa cry?

Poker Face (hahahahaha:))

Ok, so there ya are. There aren't real deep but they are what kept me occupied for what seemed like 4 days on the side of the road. Oh, I should also say that after getting my car fixed the good news is it was only a ginormous staple that flattened the tire. Bad news is that when my dad took it in to get checked today they found that all my tired are DRY ROTTING! Yes, according to the mechanic my tires could have literally fallen apart at any moment. Thank goodness it was only a flat!! Ok, well that's all for now. Love you lots and I'll leave you with this (one of my favs) and hopefully a smile....you know you want to click here :)

I am not gonna lie, I am bad out the whole blogging/ putting my thought and feeling out there. Don’t get me wrong… I will gladly tell you what I am thinking or feeling but there is something about writing it. For example: the other night I was going to put up a facebook status about how I had a bad day. I was going to write something like "Jane Ann is so over it..." "it" referring to school then I realized some people would think "it" was Brent. So then I was going to put I was not happy because I had a bad day… then I thought how many of my 775 friends really care if I had a bad day? I debated a few more status ideas ( we are talking this was like a 5 minute fight in my head) long story short... my status bar was blank.

Oh life. This is what I have become people. I think students teaching has really made me crazy. I have zero life outside of school. We are talking I get home between 5:30 or 6 and do work until I go to bed at 10:30. I am so ready to be a teacher. At this point I am thinking my first year, which is supposed to be so awful and overwhelming, is going to be cake. Blah.

Right not I am doing the awkward thing. I have no idea what to talk about. So I leave you with this picture. I love and miss you all =) Except Amanda cause we live together.