Happy happy birthday to Tina!!!!
:)

(Written yesterday evening, but I couldn't post it)

Well, the weekend was mostly studying as predicted. I've discovered that the library at PSU is much better for studying than the public library; they have two whole floors designated as quiet study areas, and their hours are much more reasonable (well, it is a university library). I met my friend Gerhardt there on Sunday -- he's (currently) an optical engineer, and has about 5 degrees, one of them in teaching, I believe. He actually asked if he could help me with my diff eq homework, because he needed a review, so I finally took him up on it. He certainly did need a review ("Wow, eigenvalues -- they're really important, aren't they?"), so the study session was a helpful exercise for me in figuring out exactly how and why I was doing everything and explaining it to him step by step, which clarified things for me a lot. The test itself today wasn't great. I seemed to just blank out on something very very important which, of course, I needed for every problem, so I was quite stuck for a long time and going around in circles. Then I finally found the light switch and started madly scribbling for the rest of the period. Fortunately, he gave us quite a lot of extra time to work on the test, but even then I didn't finish. Sigh.

Sunday evening was a highly enjoyable experience. Hugo, Ellie and I went over to Philip and Beverly's for dinner and dancing. They fed us with copious amounts of delicious food, as usual, as well as good company and many laughs. Then we shoved the table aside and practiced "Simon's Fancy" for a while to the c.d. that Hugo burned of the Renegade Rose musicians session that afternoon! Tonight I'm typing up dance notes to send out to people so they can practice on their own (or at least try to remember the dances on their own). Things are coming together quite nicely with this team.

F was for Fried-day, S is for Study Saturday and Sunday.

I'm not kidding about the fried. I got home from work at about 5:30, and within 5 minutes I had taken off my shoes and jacket and climbed into bed. I slept like a rock for three hours or so, then woke up enough to get some food in me (fried rice, to go with the theme of the day), went back to bed around 10:30 and slept for another 10 hours or so. Wow. I knew I needed sleep, but I didn't know I needed that much! I'm better now. :)

I've got an icky math test on Monday, so studying for that will take up most of my workish time this weekend. Fortunately, I don't have anything but a lab writeup due this week, so I don't have a bunch of problem sets to worry about. Oh, shoot. I just remembered the two problem sets that were due on Wednesday that I didn't turn in. Okay, scratch that about not worrying about problem sets. Sigh. I'm looking forward to being done with this quarter. I have to figure out when my final exams are. I'm pretty sure they're on the same day; hopefully not the same time!

By the way, thank you Graham for your suggestion of "Thilly Thursday." I'll keep that in mind for next week.
:)

I should have let the day run its course before deciding on the appropriate T words to describe it. I'll add to my earlier T's with Terrible Twisting and Turning. Of the ankle, that is (and unfortunately the same one I sprained so badly a couple of years ago). We were dancing Bampton "Simon's Fancy" for six at practice tonight, and working on the chorus figure, especially the bit where the corners are supposed to come in back to back in the middle. I guess we stressed the idea of getting really close together a little too much, because Dave and I ended up stepping on each other somehow and my ankle turned completely under me. I ended up doing one-footed forrie capers, and those of you who know what a forrie caper is know that it's really hard to do them one-footed! But I decided to hobble out of the set and sub David in for the rest of the dance rather than attempt the side-steps on one foot. :} It got better and I danced a bit more later on, but it's still tender and swollen and probably won't be very happy tomorrow. So I came home and rubbed arnica gel all over it and made myself a nice big mug of hot chocolate as a bedtime snack. Because it's bedtime! Yes, folks, I'm going to bed before 10:00! Aren't you proud of me? :) I've been feeling very tired and slow this week, because I've been up far too late for too many nights, so I decided to forego the singing and merriment at the pub after practice tonight for the peace and quiet of a log-friendly bed. Good night!

And just to beat the alphabet game into the ground, T is for Tolerable Though Tired Thursdays. Not much to say about today, except I'd really rather just stay home and go to bed than go out to morris practice. Sigh. It'll be fun, but I'm already tired, body and brain.

I've been reading Graham's and Tina's blogs about the impending Viennese Ball (tomorrow) and have decided that I'm quite happy not going this year. It's a lot of fuss and hassle and dressing up and paying lots of money for a big event when all I want to do is go dance and have fun, which is possible (and highly enjoyable) to do for $2 at Jammix. I am sorry I won't be there to support Tina and the rest of Opening Committee and see them dance, but I'm sure they'll do a fabulous job even if I'm not there. Good luck!

So, to continue my alphabet theme of the week: W is for Widiculous Wednesday. (Okay, so you have to get out your baby voice for this one; it's the best I could come up with.) Not funny ridiculous, but "why can't anything go the way it's supposed to" and "can't these people get a clue?" ridiculous. My physics lab took about twice as long as it should have because the equipment is so old and shoddy. One of the rubber feet was missing from our centripetal force apparatus, so we had to put shims under it and clamp it to the table, readjusting the level after every trial when it shifted. Oh, and we had to start over again at one point because one of my lab partners forgot that we were supposed to do another trial so she changed the tension in the spring and there's no way to get it back to exactly where it was before. Sigh. Then it was "Mock Exam" day in my diff eq class, which basically means that we get into groups and are given problems to solve and present to the class, similar to problems that will appear on the test on Monday. It's a 140 minute class and there were six groups, so we should have had plenty of time. And we would have, if the first group hadn't taken an entire hour for their presentation! By the time we got to my group, which was second to last, class was technically over and we didn't have time for any kind of quality presentation whatsoever. What's more, we ran over so late that I missed the bus after the bus I usually take home, so I had to take the one after that, so I didn't get home until 8:00. Ugh and Grrrrr.

On a brighter note, here's wishing a very happy 9th birthday to Kirsty! This young girl is shaping up into quite a fine contra dancer.... :)

There's a pile of dishes in the sink that I don't even want to think about, but I'm certainly not going to do any homework tonight, so I might as well start on them. I'm meeting Gerhardt on Sunday afternoon to go over some diff eq stuph with him (he's an optical engineer, among many other things, and actually asked if he could help me with this class) and hopefully clear up some of the concepts before the test on Monday. Oh, and I did horribly on my physics test. Ugh. Anyway, enough random stuph for now. On to tackle the dishes.