"it's the final countdown"

hey party people,

SO..t-minus one week until exams start. i've told a few of my friends that i waiver between complete fear that i have not studied enough and total confidence that i'm going to kick ass. somewhere in the middle of that is a profound need to just get the fucker over with. so i'm actually anxious to start, because the sooner i start, the sooner i'm finished and the closer i am to either being ABD or getting a new car. (mike has such confidence that i'll pass that he said if i fail he will buy me a new car. if i pass then i don't get a new car and instead get "the satisfaction of having passed.")

great weekend with my parents. a lot of just hanging out and takin' it easy. also went to see the ags yesterday which was abysmal. luckily there were two fly overs (one for pre-game and one at half-time) which were super cool! lots of good times and good food with mom and dad which was awesome. definitely sad to see them go tomorrow. :( i'm really glad that they got to meet some of my texas peeps!

still no word on the job at UNM. keep the stuff crossed people!

hope you're all doing well!! *hugs*

sweet irony

so my classes today were supposed to read chapters 1 and 2 from a book called the mcdonaldization of society by george ritzer (i have an extra copy if anyone wants it). the book is all about how the ideals of fast-food restaurants have permeated into other aspects of our lives. for examples, check this out: McDonaldization and/or Another McDonaldization site.

where is the irony? it lies in the fact that after my classes were over i rushed to my car, rushed to just brakes, and then rushed to wendy's to get a fast lunch. :) so..maybe ritzer has a good point. :)

in other news, i'm busy as hell, getting excited about my parents coming to visit this weekend (any ideas about a fun Sunday day trip?), and the looming exams are less than two weeks away. *shits pants again*

"now rake 'em up bitches!"

last night i saw a funny commercial on adult swim. it starts out with a green screen with peaceful music playing as autumn leaves fall. and then at the end it says, "now rake 'em up bitches!" i thought it was quite hilarious so i had to share it.

and it relates to what i've been thinking about today (no..not bitches). today is the first real autumn-like day that we've had in college station and i have to say that i love it! LOVE IT! fall is definitely my favorite season. i love the clothes, i love (and miss) changing leaves, i love football, i love fall scents (like pumpkin and cinnamon and things in that genre), i love crisp, cool fall air, i love thanksgiving, i love caramel apples and hot apple cider, i love the memories i have of the fall...i just love it. so i'm very excited that at least for a few days, the weather is more iowa-like than texas-like. i almost want to indulge in a Home Sweet Home candel (one of those Yankee candles i think), because that scent is fall to me...and makes my heart feel all warm inside thinking of family, friends...and just fall. :)

especially relevant

my great friend adam showed me this cartoon today and i definitely related. all hell breaks loose in two weeks. *shits pants*

busy saturday

so, i'm not sure i got very much read today, which means i have a lot to do tomorrow and during my free time (*snort*) next week. i did get quite a bit accomplished though. i got my car fixed (finally), called them about fixing another part which they are going to do for cheap, went to Kroger to get some water and diet coke, got my hair fixed because it was dumb, read for a while at starbucks, cooked yummy dinner, and typed up notes for one book. gotta get more done for sure, but my friend adam is in town this weekend before he goes to iraq SO some of it will have to wait until tomorrow! need more motivation. :(

wiped out

hey friends,

this has been a long ass week. i was so tired when i got home yesterday that i fell asleep while reading something...just passed out a little. it might have been related to getting multiple free wine samples from the cute waiter at olive garden, but i think it had more to do with only getting about 6 hours of sleep every night this week. so i went to bed at about 11 last night and didn't wake up until 9 the next day...which probably meant that i needed some sleep.

my car has been causing me headaches this week. i had to get my brakes fixed which cost more than i thought it would. and in the process of fixing my brakes, the manager of the place rolled down my passenger window, which is the one that once rolled down won't go up again. this was a thorn in my side all week that i didn't need. fortunately after being a bit of a squeaky wheel, the brake place is going to pay for saturn to fix the window. woo! justice!! thanks to mike, tim, and my parents for giving me some insight on that one.

had a phone interview for a job on wednesday. everyone cross your fingers because it'd be really cool.

i think i might head to bed soon which is probably lame for a friday, but i'm still beat. got a lot of reading to do tomorrow.

have a good one.

i'm having a good kate day

it's true. i'm just feeling really good about stuff today. i got a lot accomplished this weekend (i hope!) and had some fun too (thanks tim, sara, tony, and dave) and i'm starting my week off really well. i feel pretty today (oh so pretty...i feel pretty and witty and bright...). :) i think we all have those days when we just aren't feeling great about our looks and today is not one of those days for me. my crazy new haircut is under control now that it's a little longer. i got some new clinique products (clinique bonus time!) and found a new lipstick and eye shadow shade that are cool ass! and somehow studying for prelims made me lose weight this weekend. that never hurts the ego.

other great news is that i have two phone interviews for jobs this week. it would be so great to get that part figured out so i'm optimistic!

i'm also feeling good about the big ass exam too. not cocky about it, but like it's a hurdle that i can jump over. i still have to do some reading/skimming and have a lot of work to do, but mostly i just want to tackle this thing!

so...it's monday and very much a good kate day! love it!!

:)

self-imposed hermitude OR "is it december yet?"

did anyone ever watch rocky and bullwinkle. one of their cartoon segments always had two titles which was part of the inspiration for the title of this. another part of the inspiration is the fact that i plan to be holed up with books and binders and articles and file folders and such things for the next two weekends. it's really wacky to be this close to my prelims because i don't feel like i'm at all ready. i've been assured by many people that it will be okay...and most of the time i'm sure that it will be, but there is still a lot that is intimidating about this test. i want to pass, but i also want to do a good job while passing. this semester has been so busy that i don't feel like i've prepared enough and i know that there is more that i could have done. hopefully i will be as productive as i need to be the next two weekends and during the free time that i have during the week. what that means is that i'm probably going to be a terrible friend. i've found that it's really hard for me to make spontaneous plans lately. i actually had to schedule a time to have lunch with sara. how crazy is that?! i should be able to just say 'yes...let's go to lunch in 20 minutes,' but life isn't going to work that way until november 12th at the earliest and hopefully november 22nd at the latest.

luckily it hasn't been all work. had a fun time in abq last weekend for balloon fiesta (though we didn't see many balloons.) went to see blue october with jeff and sara on wednesday night and stayed up way too late, but it was a good time. my parents are coming here in a few weeks so that will be kick ass too. and every once in a while i get to chat with friends on the phone for a bit and just kick back. i can't help but feel like every time i watch tv for a half hour or whatever, i should have been spending that time studying.

so...that's my crazy life right now. can't wait for thanksgiving for many reasons. ;)

p.s.- kate = foozball champion. just ask mike. :) BOO-YA!

piece of shit car

i always joke around that as soon as i get my car paid for that it will immediately self-destruct and fall into a million pieces. well apparently my hoopty is not going to wait until it's paid off (which is about a year away!) so here's the run down on the piece of she-at!

1. i was driving the other day and a screw fell out of the ceiling and onto my lap. it turns out it holds my sunvisor in place. so my car was raining parts on me the other day, as soon after i was pelted with a screw, the plastic piece that was being held on by the screw also took a dive.

2. yesterday i was relishing in the awesome weather (thank god it's finally cooling off...mother nature was having some serious hot flashes here in texas for a while! damn!) and so i had my windows down. but not all the windows, since the driver's side one won't go down anymore. that will be convenient for my drive-thru needs. and on the way to work today i had the passenger window down and for a while it wouldn't go up again. this scenario made me hate automatic windows. luckily it did go up and now won't come down again. excellent.

3. my car is loud. this one is my fault. it is badly overdue for a tune up and now it sounds like one of those giant pick-ups that guys pimp out to make louder (which i don't really understand.) so i need to suck it up and pay $500 or whatever to get all this shit fixed. makes me think of the song "ode to my car" by adam sandler. and it also makes me wish i had won or will win the lottery or something so i can get a new ride before i go outside to find the saturn upside down and on fire. :)

peace out!

p.s.-thanks for all the messages, emails, and thoughts last week. sorry i haven't responded yet to a few of you. dad is doing well and got to go home yesterday which he was very excited about. :)