I know what you're thinking...

No. As a matter of fact I can't commit to a blog page layout.

Honestly, the only thing in this world that I can truly commit myself to is Corey. That is a great thing. Everything else is, and always will be, ever changing.

Best. News. Ever.

...or at least this semester....

This is what I just found in my school email's inbox:

"I also wanted to let you know that we recently made one change to the MSRS Program this fall; that is, we are now offering an alternative to doing thesis research. This alternative will be a two course sequence next year (3 credits in the fall and 3 credits in the spring) that will invovle a more thorough systematic review and meta-analysis that will be conducted with a small group (2~3). It will also involve some clinical affiliation in terms of selecting a topic, inservices on evidence-based practice, and presenting the findings to colleagues. We are still offering the thesis and hope some students still select this option. The thesis requirement is 6 credits, so this two-course sequence will replace the thesis credits."

I never wanted to go to grad school because I never wanted to do a thesis. Then I found myself in grad school - still wishing I didn't have to do a thesis. This is GLORIOUS!

More fun with iFriends

So as most of you know, I'm still pretty new to Wisconsin. When I came here I thought I'd be able to meet some new people and make some new friends through school and/or work. Well...I work in a high school and take my grad school classes online so I won't be meeting anyone that way. Luckily, thanks to theknot.com and blogs and facebook I've gotten to know so many great ladies in this area. I used to be very paranoid about meeting people from the internet and swore it was something that I'd never be able to do. Obviously I've changed my mind about that, and I'm glad I did! Kind of like Krista said, I'm glad to get to know these ladies from the internet in person and know for sure that they aren't some scary pedophiles or rapists disguising themselves as friendly, normal women.

Last night I had the pleasure of another gathering of the iFriends. We met at California Pizza Kitchen for dinner (I ate WAY too much, and Krista, Sara and I couldn't resist the dessert) and then headed over to Bar Louie for drinks. It was great to see everyone again, and to meet a few more that I hadn't met in person before. I forgot my camera at Corey's mom's house last weekend, so here are a few pictures that other people took last night.







Don't mind the funny cheerleader poses in the front row :)

Dear Wisconsin Drivers,

(Well...some of you anyway)

Please learn the concept of "right of way". It's a 4-way stop, not rocket science. You can learn this on page 22 of the Wisconsin Motorist's Handbook. After you figure that one out, please learn about turning off your effing brights. It's on page 31.

Thanks in advance,

J.

PS. Dear Mr. Dude who almost ran me off the 2 lane road in the country on my way to work a couple of days ago - you're a douchebag. GFY.

Pet Peeves

The CPR done on TV shows is some of the sorriest, most unrealistic shit I have ever seen. It drives me nuts.

As many of you probably know, I have plenty of other pet peeves, but so does everyone else I suppose. What are yours?

I <3 books, wine, and iFriends

Last night was a great night. I went to a book club meeting and met a bunch of my iFriends (from blogs, the knot, and facebook). I hadn't read the book, so I didn't have much to contribute for that part, but we did pick out a book for next month and talk about a few others that I'm really interested in reading now, so that was cool. Most of the time was spent chatting and sampling the snacks and wine that everyone brought. It was great to meet a few new people, and to see some that I met at Race for the Cure again. I'm looking forward to next month!

We forgot about the cameras until most of the people had left, but here are a few pictures, sorry they look the same but with different people. :)

They are also in crappy color because I forgot to change a setting on my camera back to normal. Oh, and I'm shiny.

Sometimes you just have to let it all out

For the first time in my life I have things to say on the end-of-course assessment for a college class. I refuse to let this opportunity go to waste. It’s automatically an anonymous submission, however there is ZERO doubt in my mind that the two or three people that read it will know EXACTLY who wrote it. I’m ok with that.

Some highlights:

#18: Comments about course standards?

I feel a strong suspicion that some members of the class are being held to a lower standard with their writing and research, but I obviously have no proof of that.

#20: Weekly discussion participation / interaction was useful to the learning process.

Strongly disagree

#31: Any other comments on this course?

I have a feeling that it isn’t going to be just this course that makes me feel this way. I find it immensely frustrating that the most difficult part of grad school is trying to make sense of what my classmates are saying through all of the punctuation, grammatical, and spelling errors. It makes coursework take about three times longer than it should, and I think it is a waste of my time at this level of education.

If my points weren’t determined by my responses to discussion posts that didn’t make any sense in the first place, it wouldn’t be my problem or concern. I’m here to learn, not proofread. My classmates have a lot of experiences that I won’t get in my profession and would like to learn about. I can’t learn from them if what I’m reading doesn’t make sense.

There is a writing center on campus, can they go there? Did something get missed in the entire month we all spent in OT 701? At the very least, can the suggestions that MS Word gives be given some consideration?

No one is perfect, but I’m doing what I can to EARN my MS degree and I am convinced that others are not. My biggest concern is that the standards are not the same for everyone in this program, and that is simply wrong and unfair.

Things I'm avoiding

If you were to open my day planner up right now you’d see 2 weeks of the same thing on each day. I don’t do them one day, so I write them out again the next day and swear I will do them. This will go on and on until it I do it or it is impossible not to do it. Funny…now that I write that out I recognize a familar pattern I use with my snooze button. Who hits the snooze button every 5 minutes for over an hour? Anyway…I digress.

Here is my list. It’s all wedding related. I’m hoping if I put it here I will have the motivation.

1) Call _____ catering

2) Call about linens

3) Call about hotel block(s)

4) Get ring re-plated (or flashed or dipped or whatever - it’s white gold)

5) Write addresses on save-the-date envelopes

6) Call rental company about chairs, tables, tent for backup

6 things. Are any of them particularly difficult? No. Why am I not doing them? I dunno. Maybe because I hate talking on the phone. That’s lame. I’m going to go try to do this now…after I make a couple phone calls…