Perspective

Well, things didn't work out quite how I'd hoped. I'm not letting it get me down, though... Instead of not graduating on time, I'm seeing it as taking a summer off, LOL. Yeah, the Enrollment Officials weren't helpful at all; there was only so much frustration I could take before it just wasn't worth it.

So, from here, I have to make an appointment with an advisor at OU to see what they recommend for my transfer. I need to register for my fall classes, and when August rolls around, I'm going to dual enroll and just obtain my associate's for the winter. Fall's going to be a bitch, but I have a whole summer of relaxing to prepare.

Not really, LOL, since of course I will be working - I expect they'll be scheduling me for a full 40 hours over the summer, but oh well. I need the money; gotta do various repairs to my car, totaling about $500, to get it safe to drive the distance out to OU and back; and I want to be able to just pay outright for my one class at OCC. My parents and Kris both seem to think I'm going to be just fine with all this and are supporting me, so that's helpful. [Remind me I said this in September, kay?]

Okay, I'm gonna go now, since I've actually got an Econo-Shopper in progress and I want to finish it up before I loose steam. I'm not even halfway through the mesh part, LOL.

One more thing - I've got another new board to plug, this one is crochet only - Check it out here at Simply Crochet!! Enjoy - 'night, all.

Another Wonderful Monday -

Not.

The hits keep coming; yay...

When I went today to pay for my class that starts tomorrow, I found out I couldn't pay because I'd been *unenrolled.* Apparently, when you miss the payment due date in the summer semester, they just do this! And, I didn't know, cuz, well, I've never actually taken summer courses, and I've always had financial aid.

If I thought the availabilty of classes was tight a week ago - it's absolutely nil now. There's no science courses open that I am able to take - either cuz of schedule or requirement constraints. There are two classes, at different campuses, that have availablilty but have already started, so I can't just register for them - I have to plead my case to the respective Enrollment Officials to try to get them to make an exception and let me in.

Basically I've been told that I shouldn't hold my breath, and that I "should have a good story, too." Uh, gee, I think I do: I didn't found out until 1 week ago that I even had to take a class, because due to a typo on their website I thought my CHEM class from OU would transfer as an equivalent credit. Once I found out it didn't, I registered for a class right away, but then didn't have the money to pay for it *one day* afterward. When, one week later, I finally get the money, only to find out I have been unenrolled, no classes are open that still fit within my schedule constraints. Without the credits, I won't graduate in time to enroll back at OU in the fall.

So, I really have to hope that they'll let me pick up the class; maybe they'll be sympathetic to my bad circumstances. If not, I basically have two options: say fuck the credit, don't get my associate's, just go back to OU and finish my BA out as normal, paying for the extra classes there; OR dual enroll for the class at OCC while I'm full-time at OU next semester so I can still get the associate's before it screws with my pre-reqs at OU. One way, I waste money, the other, I basically self-inflict insanity upon myself for an entire semester. I can't even think about how work is going to have to deal with this - school's gotta come first - but I'm sure they won't be thrilled.

And Stacey - I don't think my OU is the school you're talking about - the one I'm referring to Oakland University.

So, please think good thoughts for me tomorrow in my meeting with the Enrollment people... I really need him/her to help me out.

Foodie Friday [On a Satuarday] IV

Okay, so, I realize it's no longer Friday and I have in fact missed "Foodie Friday." I get it. But - if there's one thing years and years of underacheiving has taught me, it's that it's better to do something late than not at all. So, in that spirit, I post on!

Since I am a day late and this is [Kentucky] Derby day, I figured it would be the perfect day to post this drink - one of my faves if I'm going balls out. And no, *gasp,* it's not a julep - sorry Kari!

The Trifecta

Combine equal parts raspberry, orange, and lemon flavored vodka in a shaker with ice. Stoli tastes the best, by far. [For cheaper, you can use Smirnoff.] Add a splash of grenadine and a splash of lime juice, or juice from a big fat lime wedge, and shake.

Serve in a martini glass, [or a tumbler, LOL...!] - run an orange wedge around the rim and dip in sugar before decanting the drink into the glass. It's sexy to put tiny citrus wedges on a poker and float them instead of olives, but totally unneccessary, too. :)

A local club showcased these on the evening news for the Kentucky Derby *years* ago... the original recipe was scribbled in my 10th grade planner, lol, but I've long since memorized it. It was a pricey drink in HS cuz of all the liquors, etc, but soooo well worth it. Yes. A couple of these makes Natalie veeeeerrrrrry friendly. A couple more... well, you know. It's good to regulate, LOL. Anywho! - I tried googling it, but kept coming up with something much different. I think I like my version better, anyways - hope you do too! Enjoy!

Reveal and other blogging matters...

OMG - this is what, three posts already this week? Plus I've got Foodie Friday tomorrow; I may be going for a record, LOL!

Firstly, I need to give a big thank you to Tandi, aka quirkyvirgo, for being a most excellent secret pal to me. Her reveal package arrived at my doorstep yesterday, filled with goodies. Included were four balls of Aunt Lydia's Double Strand thread in two different colors, two hanks of a dreamy steel blue angora blend yarn, a yarn cutter pendant, a little bag of apricot green tea she got on a recent road trip, a book she thought I'd like, some bath treats, and two big bags of candy. Thanks again, Tandi, for being such a great pal!

Spring has finally come to Michigan, and it's so pretty and wonderful smelling. Just in the last two days, the lilacs have started blooming and the scent is amazing!! I don't have any pictures of those, just yet, but I do have some others to share:


The garden statue isn't anything special, I just think she's cute. :)

I started work on the Sweet Pea shawl for the CAL that is now over, and decided it just isn't working out. I am so disappointed, since I'd intended it to go to my secret pal, but I'm not happy with how it's turning out at all, and I don't have time to choose another pattern that will work with this yarn. [I was using Cara Mia held along with a strand of metallic thread, like Lurex.] I also don't want to send her a fugly looking shawl, LOL, since she's actually nice! So, once I finish posting, I'm gonna frog what I've got, and just wind the thread and yarn together for her on my winder, and hope she's okay with that. I also bought two balls of Blue Sky organic cotton and the Bitty Bobbi Bear pattern to send her, so I don't think she'll be complaining. ;)

Th only other croheting I've done has been dishcloths - exciting, no? They're nothing special and you've all seen a million of them, so I won't bother to post pics. Mine don't break the mold, LOL. Kris and I know some people who will be having babies soon, so I finally broke down and bought the book Candy Blankies. It's one I've been wanting for forever, so even if I don't get around to using it right away, it will still be worth it. And, I've been wanting to do some thread work and feel the urge to try a mini-doily, so I may look into that. I also found my 99 Snowflakes book while I was cleaning out my car last week, so I need to get catching up on my Snowflake Mondays. I'm way behind!

Oh, and there's a new CAL starting for May over at DoD, and it's none other than my Econo-Shopper pattern! So of course I will have to whip out a few at least one of those, too. I'd like to take the time and plug myself here, and encourage everyone, even if you aren't a member of DoD, to make an Econo-Shopper this month. They're great for the beach; they stretch to accomodate lots of things, and the mesh allows the air to flow through and the sand the fall out!! And for shopping, they're much more environmentally friendly than plastic. [Just check out ReadyMade's blog post on re-useable bags!]

On a side note, whilst cleaning my car last week, I discovered that my trunk leaks. Upon closer inspection, we realized it's the result of a poorly installed trunk seal, that was done during the repair after I got rear ended. Which, I think happened before I even began blogging, and that gives you some idea of how long it's been leaking for with me not even knowing. So, I figure at this point it's totally unreasonable to go to the place that fixed it, and be like "Oh yeah, this seal, that you replaced like 2 years ago? It leaks, badly. But I just noticed last week. Really." My car's falling apart, LOL, and just when I get the fucker paid off, too!

One more thing, and then I'm done, I swear! I just want to sneak in a little plug for another new crafting forum, Peacecraft. It's just another place to relax and be yourself, and enjoy a love of all crafts. Go there and check it out!

Okay, I think that's all, or at least all I can remember for now. Good enough, at any rate! Hugs, all!

*Take me out to the balllllllgame...*

Ahem.

Anywho! this past Sunday I was lucky enough to go to a winning Tiger's game. We had half off ticket vouchers from my dad's work, it wasn't raining, and the Tig's had been killing the Twins in the series, so we decided to go.

I'm so glad we did, because it turned out to be just the perfect day. The game started at 1:05p, but we got a bit of a late start cuz we had to take Woodward and not the highway, which was closed for MI's perpetual construction. We stocked up on salted peanuts from vendors outside Comerica Park, where they're only $1/bag and *not* $4.50... On the walk to the stadium from the parking lot, we passed a few Detroit notables: Hockeytown Cafe, the Fox Theatre, and the Wyland whale mural on Broderick Tower.


We also walked by the beautiful, historical St. John's Episcopal Church. Detroit has dozens and dozens of striking cathedrals, and even in the worst parts of the city they are usually well kept up. St. John's is one of the most well known, for both it's central location and age.


We took some pictures outside the stadium:


And some inside, too:


The Tigers ended up winning, 6-0, to sweep the game and the series. The weather couldn't have been nicer, it was sunny and warm with a nice breeze. It was nice to be downtown, too... The city is slowly coming back around. It is really nice to see abandoned buildings being dozed, and even better, restored. There's a demand for nice housing that is finally being filled - and I'm not talking nice projects, I'm talking 500K lofts. They're actually building a Starbucks on downtown Woodward!

Disappointed girl, I am.

The good news: I sold back my single book this semester, my German book, and got $75.50 in return. For selling it back. [Thank goodness *I* didn't have to pay the original cost to buy it!]

The bad news: I'm not "graduating" this spring.

I had a counselor's appointment today to get my graduation audit done [to get my associate's in liberal arts] and, long story short, it turns out I'm one credit short. In actuality, I'll be 10 fucking credits over if I pass my classes from the Winter semester, but I still have to take another class this summer. Apparently, them chem class I took at the university I am transferring back to qualifies there as a gen. ed. science requirement, but not at this shitty comm. college because it didn't have an independent lab. So, I am one lab credit short of a degree. And you cannot enroll for a lab without a lecture.

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The worst part is that I don't technically even need this credit, since I am going back to the university where it does satisfy the gen. ed. I could transfer and obtain my B.A. with no penalty to me. But, by getting the credit and obtaining my degree at OCC, I am exempted from 12 or 16 credits at OU, which saves me lots of money in the long run. So, even though it sucks ass, it makes more sense.

But I am still pissy. For one, since I found out waaaaaay late into registration that I would even have to be taking classes, all the good ones were full. I didn't get into a chemistry class, which I vastly prefer. Instead, I am stuck with Life Sciences, and biology is one my absolute least favorite things. And, since I vacation the second half of the summer, I had to do the accelerated course... Tues and Thurs from 9am-2:30pm, lab then lecture. I hate it already. And, oh yeah - it starts NEXT WEEK. Work is going to not be happy.