Whoops! Where'd the time go?

Yikes! I had no idea I hadn't posted since New Year's! So much has happened since then, I don't know where to start.

I do have a list of books I've read this year going, but it's rather short--I took up knitting at the beginning of the year, and am now back to school, so I don't really have much time for reading, other than for school. I am reading a novel for one of my classes though, so that will be included on the list--once I get the list up. I'll also post all the essays I'll be writing for school as well.

To sum up the last nine months (and one day) of the year so far:

I still work at Dulles Airport, and I'm doing pretty well there. I switched to the a.m. shift (4:30 to 1:00) back in the spring, thinking that it would make it easier to go to my morning classes on my days off. Little did I know that my night-owl self wouldn't be able to even attempt to get to sleep early enough for a 1:30 a.m. wake-up.

A couple weeks ago, I was so physically and mentally exhausted, the sheer force of will it took to stay awake made me clench my teeth so hard that my entire jaw ached for days afterward. And then one morning, I woke up aching all over too, so I called out from work and went back to sleep until I heard Anna and Tim downstairs around 9:30.

I've managed to get better at going to sleep lately, so it's not nearly as bad now. But we're bidding for shifts again at work soon, so I'm probably going to go back to the p.m. shift. As much as I love how much less crazy the morning is compared to afternoons at the airport, I just can't seem to adjust my circadian rhythms to the a.m. schedule.

Anyway, I just realized that I hadn't explained the whole "back to school" thing on here yet, so here goes.

Back in the spring, I decided that I needed to go back to school. I had about 35 credits just sittin' there, doing nothing, and it was kind of lame. But if I was going to go back, I needed a plan for where to take my life.

So, I talked to one of the ladies at FCC (that's Frederick Community College, for those of you not native Frednecks), and said I might be interested in teaching. She told me that, in order to teach English, I'd need at least a Master's degree, and I don't really have any interest in a Master's.

I decided to finish my A.A. in English at FCC, and then go back as a Music major. Once I have enough credits, I'll then transfer to a 4-year college and get my B.A. in Music Education. I haven't decided where I'll go for that yet--don't even really know which colleges in the area I am able to attend offer such a curriculum--but I have time.

I talked to the lady who taught my Music History and Appreciation class a few years ago, and she told me to start practicing again really soon. Asked me what level I wanted to teach music in: elementary, middle, or high school. I said either middle or high, and she told me that I could teach either vocals or instrumental music (i.e. chorus or band), so I chose vocal, since I believe I sing better than I play any instrument. Perhaps I'll minor in trumpet.

She also suggested that, while I'm still finishing my English degree, I take the Fundamentals of Music course (and at least start on the series of Music Theory courses), as well as a piano class, and individual vocal instruction. She said that, if I find I don't like the pace of the piano class after the first semester, I could get individual instruction for that too, and told me how to go about planning for that in my class schedules.

I'm headed for my at-least-once-a-year visit to the Renaissance Festival tomorrow. Anna and Tim were going to come with me (and bring Dylan, of course), but had to bail due to forecasts of cold and rain tomorrow. They don't want to have Dylan in the wet and cold all day, and I don't really blame them. It's just not going to be as fun without someone to hang out with, so I posted on Facebook that I'm looking for Havenites (or other people) to go with me.

If no one else wants to come--it is last-minute, after all--then I'll just go by myself. Maybe I'll see other people I know there, or maybe I'll make a new friend or two--who knows?

Strangely Rested, Considering

Last night, I was feeling really blah. I had muscle aches/cramps from my rib cage to the middle of my shins.

Around 9-ish, I took some meds, but for the couple of hours it took for those to kick in, I was pretty much miserable. I decided to listen to one of my favorite Discworld novels (Going Postal), to keep my mind off of it, but I couldn't sleep.

Once the meds kicked in, I thought I'd get to actually sleep, but I couldn't find a comfortable position to lay in. Every time I'd find a position that seemed comfortable, there was either an aspect of it that was uncomfortable (due to residual mini-aches that the meds couldn't take care of, or the stretching out of muscles I'd bunched up to try and stop the hurting), or I'd be completely fine for a few minutes before I needed to move again, thereby destroying the comfort.

I had my eyes closed pretty much the whole time, in hopes of getting to sleep. I was still sort of half-listening to Going Postal too, but that helped. I knew if I couldn't remember hearing long stretches of the plot (though I knew I'd heard them while they were playing) I was at least getting some rest, though I couldn't get to anything better than a light doze all night--it was brutal. I kept thinking to myself that it's a good thing I don't have work today.

When I finally got up around ten this morning, however, I felt surprisingly well-rested. That is definitely a good thing.

The Art of the Marathon Nap

Other than having Dad's pizza on Sunday for Anna's birthday dinner, the last week has been pretty boring. I haven't done anymore recording or re-recording of anything, audio or video.

I managed to get up the motivation to make scrambled eggs with toast (with grape jelly) last night for dinner though--that was yummy, and a far cry more interesting to eat than cereal for the second time that day. I'm out of ketchup though, so I had to eat the eggs plain.

I was online talking to Heather on AIM 6.0 for about an hour, then she signed off--I think her computer died again, or she got kicked off or something, 'cause she didn't say 'bye or anything.

Anyway, around 6:30, I was really tired. I seriously could not keep my eyes open. So, I closed the laptop (didn't close any programs or turn it off though), put my glasses away, and turned over in the bed with the bedroom light still on.

I was out like a light for about five hours.

At about 11:30, I woke up, got my pajamas on (yes, I'd been sleeping in my jeans and t-shirt), used the facilities, put my dirty dishes in the sink, turned out the bedroom light, and went back to sleep.

I woke up again at 7:30 this morning, when my alarm went off.

It looks like the only thing I really needed was one of my Marathon Naps, but it couldn't be forced--I had to take it at a time when my body would let, or rather force, me to take it.

I feel so much better than I have the last few weeks! I mean, sure, I'd been sleeping in on Saturdays and Sundays, and I'd even gone to bed an hour or two earlier than usual more than a few nights a week, but it just wasn't working. I think it was a combination of sleeping too much when I didn't need it and my allergies starting to get worse (but not nearly as bad as they were around the same time last year, thank goodness) as the grass pollen season wore on.