Cranky Jennie ;-p

I am so beside myself, I don’t even know where to begin!

When I started school (last week), I was super-optimistic and excited.  I was so excited, I barely slept the night before my first class.  I knew this would happen, so I was prepared and did not take my lack of sleep “out” on school.

Let me backtrack a little.  There are two things that are of utmost importance to me: the health and well-being of the people I love, and sleep.  I crave sleep.  I need sleep like a baby needs a diaper.  It’s an absolute necessity for my well-being and for the well-being of those around me (if we can’t be cranky to the ones we love, where is that grouchiness supposed to go?).

So, back to school and how it’s relevant to my sleeping patterns.

The last time I took chemistry and math, I was still a teenager.  We’re talking over 15 years ago.  Some of the concepts learned in those classes have disappeared over time.  Armed with my excitement in going back to school, I tackled some old topics like electron configuration, balancing equations, solving for f (x), etc.  It’s amazing how quickly these things come back to you!  This helped me boost my confidence.

Then I started learning about half-life and integrated rate of reaction equations.  Simple rate of reaction is easy.  I grasped that concept without a problem.  But when you start including ln[A] = 1/akt, I am on another planet.  Every homework question starts off easy and somewhere in the middle of part “b”, I lose my way.

Thank GOD for the Internet.  I’ve looked up various tutorials and am slowly working my way through them to get some kind of understanding so I can actually do well on my first test.  However!!!!!!!

I do not think trying to do these problems 10 minutes before bedtime is a good idea.

Why?

I had visions of 2.7 x 10 to the -8 x M x s ALL NIGHT LONG.  My head just kept spinning and spinning and spinning.  Was I rewarded for all my efforts?  HELL NO!!!!  I got out of bed in the morning and STILL couldn’t come up with the right answer!

This whole thing is very defeating and is crushing my confidence!

While I was in class this morning, my lack of sleep caught up to me.  My professor may as well have been speaking a different language.  It went in one ear and out the other with absolutely no recognition or comprehension.  See what happens when I don’t get any sleep????!!!!!

Now I am bound and determined to get these equations down because I REFUSE to lose sleep to it again!!!!  I have G on the case and I WILL find a website that will make me look like an idiot for not getting it the first time.

Wish me luck! (and G too, b/c another night of no sleep will not go over well for him either!).

Every once in awhile, the planets align just right and the idiots and jackasses of the world get what they deserve (No, I’m not talking about Ted Kennedy - may he rest in peace).

In May, I contracted with a company to have a bounce house delivered for my daughter’s birthday party.  I spent many a phone call with the company’s representative, hammering out all the details.  All, except a delivery time.  Now, the party was at 2 pm, so a reasonable time in my head was 11 am.  I knew I would be home by then, so I didn’t say anything.

Well, the delivery man showed up at 10.  I wasn’t home, nor was I available since I was coaching a softball game.  The delivery man called a few times and then left.  When I got home, I called, asked for him to come back, he refused, so I refused to pay him.  The service wasn’t provided, so why should I pay him?  He blamed me for not getting the delivery time.  Excuse me, but who is the customer?

A week later, I noticed he had charged my credit card - without my authorization.  So, I went through all the channels to have the charge refunded, which my credit card did do (thank you, Chase).  The Better Business Bureau also agreed with me.

Apparently, this wasn’t enough for HIM.  About two months later, I get a summons for Small Claims Court.  Now I’m on fire.  I gathered every scrap of paper I could find concerning this whole thing, including the softball schedule, my credit card bill, all correspondence with the BBB, etc.

Yesterday was my day in court.  By the way, my husband, G, gets a thrill out of seeing me get all fired up.  I may have called HIM (not G) a few choice names between the time of the summons and yesterday’s court appearance.  The judge, God Bless Him, found in my favor because HIM could not prove the delivery time was confirmed.  That, and of course, the service was never provided!

The piece de resistance of the entire episode was after the Dismissal of Claim.  HIM started arguing with the judge.  Repeatedly.  He couldn’t wrap his little head around the decision because, “I have a signed contract”. His juvenile, idiotic behavior at the end really made me feel so much better at the end.

The moral of the story, as far as I’m concerned, is that you fight for what is right.  The amount of the service was inconsequential.  The fact is, HIM was rude and nasty to his customer and JUSTICE was served (oh, and it cost him a few bucks).

I started school again yesterday.  As I’ve mentioned before, I’m enrolled in College Algebra, Chemistry II and Anatomy & Physiology.  These are all prerequisites for the greater, master plan.

First was Chem.  OMG.  Before I even get into the subject matter, I have to point out that the last time I was up and out of the house before 7 a.m., I was getting on a plane to go on vacation.  In fact, my Alpha dog, Riley, was so freaked out to see my dressed and heading out of the door, that she hid behind my husband’s legs.  Anyway, so I take my seat in chemistry.  I looked around the classroom and was happy to see that I was surrounded by other adults.  The first 1/2 of class was great; we reviewed the syllabus, asked questions about expectations and settled in.  The second 1/2 was a bit of a shock.  I sat there, completely dumbfounded.  The professor may as well have been speaking Swahili!    Talk about throwing yourself into the fire.  It didn’t take me to long to realize that I had some major boning up to do if I want to succeed in this class!  It was a perfect case of expectations not even coming CLOSE to reality!

Shell-shocked, I made my way to my math class.  The class is in the computer lab (which barely existed the last time I was in college).  My math professor was extremely kind and understand.  This class is a General Education requirement, so my classmates were significantly younger.  As a matter-of-fact, on my student form, one question asked the last time I took a math course.   Answer?  1990.  I chuckled.  Looking around the room, I’m quite sure only the professor and I were ALIVE the last time I took math.  OH, GOD.  Talk about feeling your age!!!  And then there was the kid giving me “googly eyes”.  I could be his mother!!!

Needless to say, it was an eye-opening experience, and not quite what I expected.  I’m pretty sure it’s going to take me a little while to re-acclimate to my new status as full-time student.  However, since I have to dive right in to Chem 101, while I take Chem II, that learning curve is going to really speed up.  Off to do my homework…

I did it again.  I stuck my foot in it.  My mouth, that is.  This is a chronic condition and one I swear to address at least five times a year.

My theory is this:  I spend A LOT (a.k.a. way too much) time alone.  No offense to the Furry, Fearless Foursome, but you don’t really get feedback from them (though they love when I scratch right where their tails land -  relax, they’re Chow Chows and their tails curl UP).  ANYWAY, as I was saying…I spend too much time alone, so when there are other adults around, I simply DO NOT SHUT UP.

Not only do I say too much, but I speak super-duper fast, to maximize the content of the conversation during my short-lived access to other human beings (I mean, adults.  No offense kiddos).

It’s not just that I reveal every aspect of my life to virtual strangers.  It’s that I may slip in a few, “She’s a fucking bitch” comments that may, somehow, get back to the person.  It’s not like I want to take it back because I didn’t mean it.  I DID mean it.  I just don’t want to deal with said bitch coming up to me and confronting me with it.  That would disrupt the “peaches and cream” personality reputation that I have tried to establish. Just kidding.  Who the hell would believe that anyway???!!!!

My mother has this great gift.  She tells people off and doesn’t care in the least.  She has no remorse.  If she tells someone off or talks crap about them, she really, truly doesn’t care if they come back at her with that information.

I, unfortunately, have remorse (unless I bad-mouthed one specific person whom I actively despise and refer to as The Beast — if you saw her, you’d understand and agree).  Back to remorse…Now, I’m not going lie to you and tell you that I feel remorseful because I don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings.  No.  What I feel remorseful for is getting caught!  God, I’m turning into a narcissist!

Yes, reader, it’s all about me

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

I honestly do try to be cordial and nice to everyone (except The Beast, see above).  However, sometimes the passion of the moment gets the best of me and something snippy slips out.  To state the obvious, YES, I have very poor impulse control.

An acquaintance of mine once told me I should write it all down and then throw the piece of paper out when I am done.  It’s a great piece of advice and one I happily impart to you.  But it’s just not the same!!!!!

Instead, I will continue to say things that were better left unsaid and hope that going back to school and being around adults again will successful aid me in keeping my mouth firmly shut!