Naps

Naps- something that I thought I would always hate. I don’t know what it is about them, but I used to hate the idea of them. During my senior year however, I started to realize the benefit of a small, half an hour nap in the middle of my day. By no means did I take one every day, or every week for that matter. But once in a while, when I was just plain exhausted, I just couldn’t resist the temptation. Now however, they are my lifeline. My first thought when I wake up is, “Okay, you can do this Caitlin. At 11:30 you get your nap.” Its pretty sad, I’ll admit it. But when I am going to sleep at midnight or later and waking up at seven in the morning, I find it essential. (I know that lots of people get less sleep than that and are fine, but I am a wimp. I need my sleep.) It has become my habit to take an hour nap everyday after my history class, and it’s beautiful. I would have to say it is one of my favorite hobbies. There is one danger in these afternoon snoozes. Yesterday when taking my nap I ended up sleeping, not for one hour, but for two, meaning that I wasted a good part of my afternoon. My excuse for it is that if I slept that long, I must have really needed it. I’m not sure how true that is, but it sounds pretty good to me. So now, I think I will end this, do a little homework, and maybe take my nap.

Getting Ready

I am starting to get very ready for the holidays. Not just because I am craving mash potatoes and pumpkin pie (which I am), but also because I am craving time at home. I have only gone home once, and have seen my parents twice since I moved in, but they were for such short periods that I wouldn't call them restful. When I went home I felt as if I had to see as many people, and go to as many of my favorite places, as possible. I can't wait to be home long enough to actually relax. The time my parents came up here was much of the same thing. It was last weekend for Parent's Weekend, so I wanted to show them around and introduce them to people. Because of that I didn't have much down time with them. I have 4 weeks off for Christmas Break, and I am so excited for that. I am excited for the little things, like sitting on a couch (something I didn't even realize I would miss), talking with my friends for hours, and playing a few, very competitive, games of rummy with my dad. And plus, by that time my first quarter, and first finals, will be over. That is something to look forward to!

Stress Stress Stress

Well my math test went just as I suspected, I got a big 52 out of 100; not so pleased. But I do get to retake it in a few weeks so hopefully it will go better then. School has been pretty stressful this past week, I had a couple tests and a paper due. Things are kinda coming to an end though, I have a week until I go home for Thanksgiving and then once I get back I have two weeks then finals already! I'm scared to death about finals. I have three papers due in English, my Math test will be really hard, French will be rough and Psychology isn't going to be easy either. I enrolled into my classes for next semester though, I can't wait to start fresh again. That's a stressful thing to do though, picking out classes. It's hard because there's a lot to choose from and especially if you don't know what your major is, it can get complicated. Things around campus have been exciting though because our football team is ranked in the top 5 and our basketball team is also undefeated so far. Buying tickets to sporting events is definitely something I would encourage people to do. Even if you're going to a smaller school, it'd still be fun to get involved and have a lot of school spirit because that's all people talk about sometimes. I don't have much going on this next week, academic-wise so hopefully it'll be a little less stressful!

Parent's Weekend

I am so excited for this weekend. It is Parents' Weekend, so my parents and my friend's family are coming down to visit. Because it is a long weekend, lots of people are going home also. Which means that almost everyone in my dorm will either be with their families or home. So when I show my parents around the campus, its pretty much going to look like I don't have any friends. Oh well. There isn't much I can do about that. I have been looking forward to this weekend for a long time though. I can't wait to show my parents my new little world, from where I eat to my classes to my dorm room. My sister and I having been planning all the things that we should do with them. Besides showing them the campus, I want them to see all the great things that make the town so wonderful. First I want to take them to the pumkin patch, where there is a corn maze and homemade pastries and fudge. I am also considering taking them to the drive-in movie theater one night for a late showing of "Stardust". This weekend I have a mission: to prove to my friend (who is coming down as well) that my school is the university to choose. She is a senior this year and is deciding between this college and two others. So, I want her to see everything that is wonderful about the school. Unfortunately, the school is VERY different on the weekends, as everyone is either off camus or in the dorms sleeping. However, that just makes my mission more of a challenge.
Sadly though, life doesn't stop for parent visits. I still have a huge speech due on Tuesday, which I am going to try to finish before they come. I also have a take-home test in Spanish and vast amounts of reading for history. That's okay though. Everyone is coming down Saturday and I am convinced that I can get everything done tomorrow. So, I hope everyone has a great, long weekend!

Registration

The time has come again; today is my day to resgister for my winter classes. And as much as it is exciting, it is also pretty stressfull. As far back as last week I started playing around with different classes, seeing what I needed and what would fit with what. I also made several rules. I was not taking a class on friday and I was not having a morning class every morning. Naturally, this restricted my schedule slightly. Finally though, I found the perfect schedule. No morning classes, good teachers, and perfect times. The problem was that I then had to wait my turn to register. And as I was waiting, I was able to watch all of these perfect classes fill up. That is when I started to get stressed. So last night, the night before I registered, I came up with an entirely new schedule, one that was slightly less perfect but entirely more practicle. I am now planning on taking a world history class, Spanish 2, oceanography, and a class on the economy of the middle east, which should be interesting. So keep your fingers crossed and pray that my second schedule does not fill up before 3:00 today!

Halloween Week

This last week at school was crazy. I never knew Halloween could be such a big deal. There was an infinite number of parties the weekend before and Wednesday night was crazy busy everywhere we went. One of my friends had a party on Saturday which was a blast and Wednesday we just went to a club and got all dressed up. On Saturday I was the tin man from the Wizard of Oz and Wednesday I was a cowgirl. Other than that the week was pretty low key except I think I may have failed my first test on Friday. Not a good feeling! It was my math test and I thought I had the material down but the test was nothing like what we did in our review so I'm kinda bummed about that.
Only two weeks until I go home! I'm really excited to see all my high school friends and family, and it was so nice last time to sleep in my own bed. We started a new tradition on Sundays, me and 3 of my friends are having movie day. Every sunday we're going to go to the theater or if there's nothing good out, we're going to rent one. It's kind of nice to have something planned on weekends because I think I've said before, but weekend days can get kind of long. Well I'll see how I did on my test on Wednesday, so cross your fingers!

Getting Down to Buisness

So far, college hasn't seemed too challenging. Sure I have to study, and once in a while I am disappointed by a grade I got, but for the most part it has been okay. Until now that is. Honestly, I didn't mean for it to get like this. My Communications class has been pretty laid back all quarter until last week, where I realized that I have a research paper due on Tuesday, a persuasive speech due on Thursday, and a group project due the week after Thanksgiving. I bet you can guess what I am doing this weekend. I will be hole up in my room for most of Friday, Saturday, and depressing as it might sound, probably Sunday as well. My advice is to stay on top of things. To actually USE that planner that you buy at the beginning of every year. If you are anything like me, the planner usually stays empty at the bottom of your backpack. Well, I got mine out yesterday, even though it is a little late. The plus side of this is, I have discovered how to use the library. Yesterday I went and found six books to help me on my research paper. You have no idea how intellectual I felt as I brought those books back to my dorm. I also learned how to use the library's website, which is actually quite wonderful. I can look up everything I need to without even leaving my room.
However, as I stay in my room, the world is sadly going to keep on turning. A few girls are going down to the beach to shop and then going to the school's rodeo. But I guess that just means that I will think before I procrastinate again.