It didn't take me as long this time

I got my first C on a test last night. I should be impressed with myself. When I was a kid it took me until my Freshman year to accomplish that. Now that I'm 34 it's only taken me 4 weeks to get one.

Mrs. E keeps telling me it's okay to get a C or two and I honestly keep repeating that in my head. I really do. (And I SO appreciate you, Mrs. E!) When I finished the quiz last night, knowing down deep in my gut that I had bombed it quite effectively, I was almost a bit relieved to find that 75% on the score page. I was expecting to see something further down the alphabet.

And it's not that I didn't study. I swear to you I did. But come on, the quiz was over the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. I read them, re-read them, read them again, skimmed over them thinking that approach might work better, shook my head and rubbed my eyes, read them again, cussed at them, pounded my fists on them and for the life of me could not make any of it make sense. I am a horrible U.S. citizen. I did crappy on the Constitution exam. My incredibly Democratic, political family will be so disappointed.

I know it's not the History course itself. I've actually done pretty well on every quiz up until this one and have an 85% in the class. I am almost halfway enjoying reading about the civilization and modernization of our young country, the building of the railroads, and other things that have helped shape the country we are today, but the most important document in our history, the Big Kahuna of Information I Should Know, is dry, boring and frankly reads like stereo instructions.

And another thing, WHEN WHEN WHEN did we stop putting two spaces at the end of a sentence when we type? Was this not put to a vote somewhere? I never saw anything about it on the news. I have been typing since I was 15 years old. Granted, I learned to type on an actual typewriter that didn't even have correction tape and we had to use WiteOut strips, but that's neither here nor there. I am 34 years old. I've been typing for roughly 20 years and I want to know WHEN we stopped double spacing at the end of a sentence! Frankly, this has me more worked up than the C on the Constitution exam. It's a hard habit to break. Quitting smoking is easier than not adding that extra space after a period. I'm getting ready to type two papers and it plainly states in the instructions that only one space should be put after a period. Argh!

On a lighter note, I KICKED ASS on my first English test - I got a 98.2%! I was kind of nervous because it snuck up on me and I felt a little unprepared, but I was surprised to find that I knew the answers. I knew the answers! When I was telling Bub about it, he said, "Uhh...you should be able to do an English test while you're asleep, Kristin." And 15 years ago that would've been the case, but y'all read my writings on here. Y'all know that I obviously am not too worried about particulars for the most part.

I also got an 86% on my first Psychology test, which I was pretty durn happy about. Right now I have a 91% in the class. Of course, I find the course itself to be about as exciting as toenail clippings, but oh well.

I am utterly adoring my Principles of Advertising class. We're currently discussing branding and target customers and what works in marketing. The dicussions and assignments are interesting and challenging. I can't say I'm going to run out and get a job with an advertising firm, but for a "for fun" class, it's really pretty fun.

Also, I am now a published contributing writer for the campus newspaper. The paper went to print while we were in Florida, but I sent my brief in ahead of time and prayed it didn't suck. My advisor told me that most articles are shot back and forth between her and the writer 3 or so times until they get it right. But my brief was printed just as I wrote it. I was SO HAPPY when I saw it. She's also given me the opportunity to write a news brief AND a full-fledged article for this next paper. Of course, I just learned of this yesterday and the deadline is Monday at noon. She also sent me an email telling me that that first effort was "GREAT!" (Yes, I just quoted one word. Hush.) To me, it just affirms that writing is really what I want to do and should be doing. Whether that writing is for a newspaper somewhere, for myself in the form of a book or just contentedly pecking away here on my blog. Wherever it is, I'm happy when I'm writing. (Babs knows what I'm talking about. Go see her. She's found a new niche of her own.)

We are smack dab in the middle of a very brief Girl Scout cookie sales. Last year Abby sold 130-some boxes. This year we're going to be lucky to manage 30. I may buy 25 myself, bless her heart. I just can't seem to get it together this year and now on top of it all....

Tater's youngest tot tested positive for THE FLU today. Yesterday was a snow day and I had my three here, her two and Chandler. Abby had been complaining of her throat hurting since she got up, but I told her it was allergies. Then Little Tot started complaining of his throat hurting when he coughed, so I gave him some cough strips and Motrin and called his momma. I figured it was Strep, which he is very prone to, but told her that he wasn't running a fever so just to leave him. I guess he woke up this morning much, much sicker. She took him to the a.m. clinic, the PA took one look at him and said, "That baby has the flu!" The nasal swab just confirmed what she knew. So upon on hearing that dastardly news, I called my kids' PA and the nurse said she'd call Abby in some Tamiflu. I asked if they wanted to see her to test her as well and she said, "NO! We don't want her in here! Keep her and her germs at home." And I can't say I blame them. If Abby doesn't have the flu she could very well catch it at the clinic. So not only did they call in Tamiflu for her, but for the other two as well. All of the Tater household is on it, too. Paul and I, however, are just praying. And I'm drinking Airborne every 3 hours like it's nectar from the gods. It makes me gag, but I keep telling myself it's better than dying of Influenza, which is what I'm 100% sure the flu would do to me - kill me dead.

Strep and the Chicken Pox are also competing with the flu pandemic, too. Not only is Oklahoma experiencing an actual winter, but we've obviously pissed off God and are going to be wiped out en masse.