hybrid poplar
Life is looking quite normal at the moment, which is a little scary. DD and SS are impressing us with their ability to act their ages. DD is obsessed with all things Hello Kitty, gawdy and holiday. SS is pleased to work into conversation that he is really smart and has a girlfriend.
I have committed myself to going to the library at least once a week to slog through paperwork, since I lack the discipline to do it at home where even cleaning the toilet seems a more attractive task. Secured in the library; I have little other choice. Also, it just seems less horrible.
The poplar tree is one of my attempts at framing a photo subject naturally. When I planted it; it was three feet tall. And DH swore that it would never shade the house while we were alive to enjoy it. But it is now up over the house. And he instead claims that it is going to shatter in the wind and destroy the house, due to its rapid growth.
The sewing blog has been up for almost ten months now and regularly receives both very nice fan mail and hate mail, sometimes in the form of comments on the blog. And sometimes by email. Oh, then there is spam, which has always been around, but is ever increasing. Last week someone felt it necessary to tell me that she thinks one of my projects looks like crap. This causes me to wonder, what compels a persons to go to the trouble of authenticating a comment to insult someone. Had it been worded in any other way, I would have thought it was just miscommunication, since I make those errors all the time. But looks like crap is pretty clear.
I am attempting, again, to convince myself to take the MAT or GRE. But I am horrified by standardized tests. Seriously, I used to puke in the bushes outside of class before exams. I know that is insane. And I tell myself that I did actually graduate college and can manage one standardized test. And yet, I have not.
The holiday season has begun. And typically, is really fun at the moment. By January, I’ll just want to hide in my room and turn off the phone. We’ve already had a celebration with one BIL and family, and at DDs school. SSs birthday is this weekend. And then next week both kids are off and there is a dentist appointment, playdate and Thanksgiving.
Yes, by 2010, we’ll be exhausted.
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The GRE isn’t bad. They have tons of practice tests. You can buy a whole book of them at Barnes and Noble. If you’re exceptionally nervous about it, you can take a class from the Princeton Review or Kaplan. I used to teach for the Princeton Review, and their program really does help…even if only because it forces you to practice.
I enjoyed the general GRE. The subject GRE in English Literature… Yeah, that was hell. It was the most difficult standarized test I’ve ever taken.
P.S. Hate mail? For a sewing blog? Really? Good grief.
Marne´s last undefined ..If you register your site for free at
Thanks Marne. The library has all kinds of GRE resources. I just have a difficult time making myself do that kind of studying consistently. I probably need to take a class, so that I cannot procrastinate by doing dishes or something. I checked out a GRE book at one point, did one study chapter, then cleaned the house and never studied from the GRE book again. Ugh.
And yeah, sometimes people leave me nasty messages on the sewing blog, which I find really odd. I can see how the content on this blog might irk someone. But the sewing blog is so topical. Though most commenters are very kind and will leave notes saying thank you for the pictures/instructions, that they were helpful, or will ask for additional pictures or instructions.
I took the GRE a few years back. It wasn’t as bad as I thought. Although I did spend a great amount of time in the bathroom before the test. You need to focus on what comes out of the test, and not the test itself.
Like you, I find toilet bowl cleaning too tempting. If I don’t go to a coffee shop with unlimited coffee my students would never get a paper graded.
Enjoy the season–in all it’s aspects.
Laura´s last blog ..Feminism, Still Alive and Pertinent to Me. WooHoo!
Laura, that’s a good idea. I will try to think about the outcome and see if that helps me focus for a practice test.
I just discovered a new (to me) coffee shop. And I think I will be so much more productive camping out there on occasion. The next closest coffee shop is fifteen miles away. That’s hardly handy.