cleaning injuries and crinklebugg. my life is exciting.

This blogging thing isn't exactly easy for me. I tend to have a pretty mundane existence, and thus have nothing new or exciting to say most of the time. I usually do these right before class starts, therefore I am at the same point in my day every time I write. I'm usually in the same frame of mind. Tired from the two classes before this and waking up at 7am, and ready to finally make it home and (hopefully) manage to take a nap. I'm usually also pretty hungry by this point, so my train of thought wanders to 'food, food, food'. But enough about my gluttony...
Okay, let's see. I did finish cleaning my house, which was irritating but bearable, and definitely worth it. It is truly an unparallelled feeling to have a clean living area. It just takes a huge weight off my shoulders knowing that I'm done with it and don't have to worry about it anymore. It feels great knowing it's OVER!
I did hurt my knee while I was cleaning, which I think is at least noteworthy. Jeremy (my boyfriend of not quite two years, if you didn't gather that from Tuesday's prose I am surprised) was organizing some wires across the room and out of my line of vision. He called me over to come see his finished handiwork, and I jumped off the couch, caught my foot on something, and did a super-dive onto a metal sheet-music stand on the floor. In my pain I managed to look up and mention "Oh hey, it does look great!" before going back to lying on the floor in agony.
Ice on my knee and a 30 minute Sailor Moon break from cleaning was enough to fix me up, and aside from a little soreness I am definitely back in action. Yesterday was my lazy day, after two days of cleaning and a morning of Biology lecture, I was ready to fully enjoy my new sheets ($13 at Target, check that out if you're in the market for some new cheap sheets!) and clean bedroom.
The last thing I can think of to mention is that we finally found a toy my cats will actually PLAY WITH. Well, they like the feather-wand and occasionally they will go to the carpet-covered cat-tower, but any other toys have been nothing but a waste of money. The only thing they've been interested in recently is (to my horror) plastic bags. In an effort to keep them happy and ALIVE, I came home from Target (I shop there a lot...) with a crinkle sack in the form of a giant ladybug (we have since dubbed it 'Crinklebugg'). It's like a plastic bag, but not as unsightly or death-evoking. They mostly just lay on it, or chew on its antennae, but I can't complain. It was a five dollars well spent.

descriptive paragraph.

Nichole Jackson
Mrs. S. Aiken
English 1101 – descriptive paragraph (subjective)
August 25, 2009

Jeremy

His hair is long, hanging past his shoulders in a mix of soft and silken chocolate and black waves, the result of an impulse (but pleasing) dye-job we decided on. The top of it is always hidden by a black knit beanie, concealing a receding hairline surprising for someone only twenty-one years old. His face is, simply put, kind; when he smiles it is wide and with his entire face. The brown eyes he sees the world through are larger than those of most men his age, brighter and more sincere. For someone who listens to fast thumping heavy metal and watches contact sports on ESPN all day, he is remarkably sweet and docile. Black shirts with the names of his favorite heavy metal bands paired with well-worn cargo pants are his daily attire, rarely changing much but suiting him perfectly nonetheless. He smells of laundry detergent most days, though on occasion he hastily sprays a manly, musk fragrance on his tee shirt before getting out of his car. His voice is somewhere in the middle of the spectrum (not too deep, but far from high in pitch), with a very slight southern drawl one would only notice if they weren’t from the South.

my name is not mary poppins.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are always my longest day. I start the day off with math, which was in retrospect a horrible idea (math, as previously stated, is my antithesis). I transition into Psychology, which is a class I thoroughly enjoy. I end my day here, in English, which is also in my area of (at least mild) interest. Although two of the three classes are enjoyable, by the time four or so hours have gone by, I am exhausted.
A few months ago, the high-school me would be aghast at the fact that I was complaining about four hours of school. High school was roughly eight hours of authoritative restriction, twice the time and a quarter of the freedom. However, it is human nature to complain. We are never satisfied with what we have. Nevertheless, I still reserve the right (though I've not earned it) to whine about the meager 'long' day I have ahead of (mostly behind) me.
I am definitely not looking forward to the after-school activities I have to 'look forward' to this afternoon. I'm cleaning my house up this week, which is on my top-ten list of things I abhor. I've always been opposed to dirt and sticky things, which cleaning tends to involve. I'm unphased by blood, guts, and gore (which is probably why I'm becoming a nurse), but dust bunnies and trash have made me gag on several occasions.
The good definitely accompanies the bad, though. I definitely love the feeling of a clean house (which I don't experience near enough, since I have three bad little cats), and I am looking forward to that. So, hopefully by the end of the day I will have a clean house and a better mood.
Let's hope I do.

expectations.

What do I hope to gain from taking English Composition 1101?

Let me start by saying: I am not a person who is against writing. In fact, it used to be one of my major hobbies. I, however, am not an English major. So, automatically, I regard this course with less excicement than say, Biology. This isn't to say I feel the same groaning dread coming into this class that I feel when dragging my feet into my 8AM math, because I definitely do not. I genuinely enjoy the act of writing, putting my thoughts down in some structured form, and sharing them with those who care to read. I purposefuly took Speech Writing and Writer's Workshop in high school. In fact, I was the chief editor of our litery magazine. Writing just hasn't been something I've had time for recently.

I do hope to gain something from this course, even though it is a core class and has little to do with my major (which, by the way, is pre-licensure BSN). I recognize and respect the importance of English, since I have to speak (and in this day and age, write/type) it daily. Although this is composition, the way one writes is typically similar to the way one speaks, which is of vital importance. I understand that the most writing I'll do in my profession will be medical charts, but I hope to further structure my speech (and writing) in a way that inspires respect from both colleagues and patients.

Correct grammar and spelling are actually very important to me. When I see a large chain store (I am looking at you, Taco Bell) use a comma to make a word plural, I instinctively begin to complain to whoever is unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity. I clench my teeth when someone says "ax" in place of "ask", or "mines" for "mine". When I end a sentence with a preposition, my face gets red with embarrassment (although I am fairly confident nobody notices these days, or that some even know what a preposition is).

So, for this class I am excited. I love the English language, and copyediting is in my top 10 list of dream-jobs. My love for the written word is second only to my love for medicine (third comes art, but that is a topic for another post). I hope this course will improve not only my writing, but my speech and articulation. I would like to (and fully intend to) take full advantage of what this course offers.

So, here's to English Composition 1101. Here's to the end of ending sentences with prepositions. Here's to everyone developing some form of respect for the great English language.

... and here's to leaving class and getting a coffee, because I got up at 8 this morning for a math class, and I am exhausted.