thank goodness it's earth day

just like many children, i had chores to do each weekend.  my mom's three "children" (me, my sister, and my dad) rotated our chores between vacuuming, dusting, and bathrooms.  to be honest, i was bad at all of them.

for the bathrooms, it wasn't uncommon if i flushed the toilets, swished some water in the sink, and called it a day.  i was also notorious for dusting around everything on the furniture, yet never actually pausing to pick anything up to dust under it.  heaven forbid i actually dust the items on top of the furniture.  that was completely out of the question because it would have taken hours in my room alone thanks to the gazillion disney figurines i insisted on displaying on each piece of furniture in my room.  i actually did a decent job vacuuming, but that was the least fun for my parents because they had to listen to me complain about how heavy the vacuum was.  i swear it was the heaviest vacuum known to man.

despite my lack of cleaning talent, my parents insisted that i help (something i didn't want to do in the first place) because "that's what you did in a family."  while i still believe we should have gotten a maid, as long as i helped with the weekend chores, my parents were fairly lenient about the state of my room.  that's not to say they didn't expect me to keep it picked up, but let's just say it never looked like my sister's.  she was the queen of clean rooms (and tucked in tshirts, perfect parts in her hair, matching socks...all the things i didn't/couldn't do).  my room was similar to what pig-pen's room might have looked like (if you don't know who pig-pen is, check out the wikipedia article...and yes, i know wikipedia isn't always right, but it gets the job done for me).

anyways, as i got older and my cleanliness didn't seem to be improving, my dad began shutting my door every time he walked by my room.  he always said that if he shut my door, he didn't see how terrible it looked so he didn't get angry and punish me.  he assured me this was for the best.  naturally, i just accepted always having a closed door and didn't think much about it.  i didn't get yelled at as much and i also didn't have to pick up my room all the time -- it was a win win for me.

however, today i realized that my very own apartment had gotten to the point that i wanted my dad to come close the door on all of the rooms within it.  that's right, i wanted to pull something from my dad's bag of tricks so that i wouldn't get so angry...with myself.  how's that for strange?  i wanted to close the door into the living room, i wanted to shut the bathroom door, and i wanted to shut/lock/seal the door on my bedroom.  everywhere i looked was a disaster.  it got to the point that i couldn't even begin to tackle the five thousand projects i have because i couldn't find table space OR floor space to work in.

so i took a break from procrastinating on my research proposal (oh the irony of taking a break from procrastination!), channeled my inner clean freak, and set to work.  i scrubbed floors and baseboards, swiffered my heart out, vacuumed for what seemed like hours, and in honor of easter, found all those little dust bunnies on and under my furniture (and yes, i even lifted things up during the dusting process!).

oh, there's the floor! (and no, i'm not 12. i just like pink.)

the bathroom, particularly the sink, was so disgusting i had to let the cleaner soak into the nasty scum buildup in hopes that i would eventually be able to scrub it off.  i ended up spraying unprecedented amounts of cleaner all over my house which i can't believe is good for the environment (or my nose as i'm afraid it's close to bleeding from the bleach).

but you know what?  it's earth day today. there are people everywhere doing really wonderful things for our planet and for that, i'm very thankful.  i hope somewhere someone plants a tree for me.  goodness knows the planet needs it after i just released enough chemicals into the air for another ozone hole.  if there's one spotted over my apartment, i take full responsibility for it.

rss, following, alerts ... oh my!

i learn something new every day, but i’m coming clean: i don’t always blog about it.  i promise i’m not just picking favorites, but really, some days i only learn that i shouldn’t put mascara on before i’m really awake in the morning or i end up looking like a raccoon.  no one really wants to read about those types of things, do they? if you're being honest, you probably didn’t want to read about it 4 seconds ago, much less read through an entire post only to find out it's devoted to raccoon lookalike contests and i really have nothing else to say. 

since my learning is sporadic, i’ve attempted to put an option on the blog (on the right side towards the bottom) so that you no longer have to check 8 times a day.  and yes, i know you check that much so don't lie.  i don't judge you for it. 

anyways, not only have i recently learned about these things called rss feeds, but it turns out it’s possible for me to have something like that on here (thanks, beth!).  apparently i can even find these feed things on other blogs so i can streamline my stalking.  i might not know the technical terms for all this stuff and i might not have even done it right on here, but whatever. it's the effort that counts, right? 

[side note: because i don't really understand a lot about the rss/following/alert side of life, i'm also going to put the email option up and try that on for size.  while i'm far from the most technically savvy person in the world, i know other people (like my dear mommy) like to keep it simple and i have a feeling she'll prefer the email option ... especially if it means i'll stop calling and bugging her to check my blog every time i post.  really, if you think about it, she should be flattered that she gets a personal call.  who needs an alert when you have me?]

time really gets away from me sometimes since my professors give me about a billion projects and no matter how stressed i am, a girl has got to reward herself every now and then with a season of sex and the city.  assuming that you are as busy as i am (which come on, if i have time to watch entire seasons of the nyc escapades of carrie, miranda, charlotte, and samantha, i can’t be that busy), now it's easier to learn when i’m learning.  hot diggity!

                                                                                                                                                     

houston, we have a winner.

in keeping with the latest charlie sheen inspired craze of "winning," i'd like to share with you my winning experience.  and shock of all shocks, it came in the KITCHEN.  i know, the very beast i complained about previously and will complain about in the future gave me a W just now.

inspired by a friend of mine who always bakes delicious cookies, i decided to yet again procrastinate my homework and try my hand at baking cupcakes.  even though my hamburger helper was a major bust last night (and again for lunch today when i tried it one more time in hopes that the fridge would have worked some magic), i was drawn back to the kitchen like a moth to a flame. or a ladybug to my window sill.  or edward to bella.  or me to justin bieber.

maybe i really am a masochist.  maybe i just like failing at things.  maybe i hate my homework so much that i'm willing to try anything.  or maybe, just maybe, i'm so stinking stubborn that i refuse to believe that an oven/stove can stop me.  whatever the motivation, i took to the kitchen and tried my hand at cupcakes.

i followed the recipe just as i should, put the 24 little experiments into the oven, and said a silent prayer to the cooking gods to please not set off my fire alarm.  the neighbors do that enough and as i was reminded by my cookie-baking-friend, it'd be the worst type of karma for me to set off the alarm tonight.

the icing step will come next. wish me luck!

when the timer on my microwave (my oven is lame and doesn't have a timer so i use my microwave's) went off 18ish minutes later, i hesitantly crept towards the kitchen, noting mainly that it wasn't filled with smoke and it didn't smell like ruined cake mix.  much to my delight, i opened the oven door and saw 24 beautiful little cupcakes looking back at me, begging to be taken out of the cooking machine.  i gladly obliged and only burned my hand briefly as i used a dish towel to pull them out instead of an oven mitt. apparently dish towels are not as thick.

i am happy to report that while i'm far from being rachel ray, i definitely won tonight.  the score might be stove - 1, megan - 0, but so far i'm one up on the oven.  i can't promise that the cupcakes taste good since as soon as i saw them i came to brag about it via blog, but hey - they look pretty and that has to count for something, right?  

 

public school failed me

when my family would pack up and move every three years, i always looked forward to the new school i would call home.  that's right, i had a crush on school.  i was bummed in june when the separation started and i was giddy with anticipation come september when i would be reunited with my one true love.  i passed the days eagerly completing the workbooks that my mom purchased, and i was baffled every time my sister would fuss about having to complete a page before going outside to play.  why would she not want to work in her workbook?!  weirdo.

very seldom was i disappointed with my classes, teachers, etc. throughout my public school education.  i was pretty much smitten from that first day of half-day kindergarten in charleston, sc.  this would also be the first year that i got into trouble at school, but to this day i stand firm in my belief that if the games had been interesting, i would have wanted to play.  they were dumb, so i refused.

also, on the chance that you may ever meet my parents and the conversation happens to center around the trouble i got into in school, i'd like the record to show that i refuse to count the tiny episode in preschool involving my shoe taking flight across the room, the next year when my aggression got the best of me and i hit my friend tricia, or 10th grade biology when i refused to dissect the frog and then accidentally spilled the frog supplies onto the floor as i was coming back into the classroom.

let's not get on a tangent though. this post has a purpose and that is to say that i truly believe public school failed me.  it has nothing to do with my knowledge of calculus, my exposure to shakespeare, or my "leadership skills" that were honed thanks to student council (which was a class in my high school - admittedly, a joke of a class, but still).  while i will forever be able to tell you the meanings of the variables in y=mx+b and name all of our country's presidents, in order, complete with a catchy little tune and an interesting fact about most (thank you, ap us history!), there are simple things that i can't do.

why could i place out of all of my college math courses, yet i have to call my mom every time i read a recipe?  it's not because i don't want to learn, but let's be honest - sometimes you can't teach an old dog new tricks.  why was i reading the grapes of wrath in ap english when i probably should have been learning about how to keep grapes from rotting in some type of cooking class?  case and point: hamburger helper is supposed to be easy.  why is mine currently glued to the bottom of my pan?  maybe instead of ap this and ap that and college credit this and college credit that, someone should have told me that i was going to have cook for myself and it'd be helpful to know what is under the hood of my car. 

i'm sure i learned something useful in high school.  maybe it's more important to know how to decorate for prom than it is to successfully balance a checkbook or a cook a meal that doesn't come in a lean cuisine box.  maybe reading those morning announcements will come in handy when i run for president and have to make all of those speeches.  you also might think all the experiments we did with bunsen burners would help me at the stove, or at least help me to remember to turn off the stove, but so far, no dice.

i eagerly await the day when something i learned in public school proves useful.  so far, after all those years in school, four years in college, and two years in graduate school, my money remains on the prom decorating skills.

it is never possible to have too many sticky notes

i've often wondered if i should buy stock in sticky notes.  i'm not a real big believer in the stock market or investing my money into something that isn't going to give me instant gratification (don't tell my dad or grandpa - they might make me go to another investment talk with our financial advisor), but seriously - i think i personally keep the company afloat.  don't believe me?  check it out for yourself below.

[note: this picture is far from staged as is evident by the completely embarrassing disarray that is my desk. hope you enjoy your glimpse into the life of a graduate student with final projects due within the week.]

it looks neater when i'm not up to my ears in projects.

to count there are 24 active sticky notes on my desk (25 if you count the registration sticky note that i can't bring myself to take down due to it being my last registration ever ... if you're confused, you'll understand after reading this), 10 packs of sticky notes available for use (not including general notepads - only sticky backs made the cut), and 4 decorative sticky note rectangle packs that are good for marking places in books.

don't get me wrong. i'm a fan of using scrap paper, reusing old notes, and various other earth friendly ways to make notes (except the sticky notes you can put on your computer screen - that doesn't do it for me), but you obviously wouldn't know it due to my sticky note obsession.  maybe to counteract my addiction in the eyes of mother earth i'll shorten my showers by a minute.  that has got to improve my earth karma, right?

anyways, all of these notes have important things on them.  it's not like my desk is filled with notes that say "you can do it!" or "the world is your oyster!" or any other variety of encouraging phrases to keep me going through the bleakness that is grad school.  no, far from it.  the sticky notes include such things as semester-long assignment reminders, important dates for the fall semester for planning purposes (ie: first day of class, fall break), impending deadlines, phone numbers of people to call in case of emergency, passwords to all of the different accounts i've been forced to get in grad school, etc.  obviously, all of the notes are important.

while i'm sure some, if not most, of you disagree, i don't think it's ever possible to have too many sticky notes.  sometimes i have so many that i run out of room and sticky notes get covered and forgotten, but they always find their way back to the top as i complete tasks.  and once on top, they continue to serve as the beacon of light directing me to my next assignment.

i owe my successful (almost) completion of grad school to sticky notes.  or maybe they owe me a ceo position for keeping them in business all these years.

there's no good way to reject a charity

i'm a big fan of helping different causes.  really, i am.  while i haven't settled upon anything just yet (i am, in fact, still young...regardless of what the teenagers tell me), one day i imagine i'll have some cause to raise funds for and champion to apathetic 20-somethings much like myself.  if you have any ideas about some cause i'd be interested in (not a cause you're interested in, but something i'd actually enjoy...like something related to royalty or disney world), feel free to let me know.

anyways, i typically donate the $1 to the different causes that they ask you about at the grocery stores and pharmacies, especially if i get to put my name on a shoe or something cool.  i'm usually of the mentality that it's just a dollar and it's a good cause so obviously i'll participate.  however, as i drove through burger king tonight (burger king has the best strawberry milkshake in the world), i was completely caught off guard when mr. drivethru asked if i'd like to add to my total to help the red cross.  i was so blindsided by the drivethru campaigning that my reply was some type of grumbled, "are you kidding me?"  obviously, he took that as a no.

if i'd been prepared for the question, i might have behaved more appropriately.  i definitely support everything the red cross does and chances are i'll support everything they'll do in the future.  there was part of me that wanted to apologize to mr. drivethru and offer the money at the window, but unfortunately that didn't happen. 

and no, it's not because i'm greedy.  it's because mr. drivethru was draco malfoy's doppleganger in the realist way possible.  naturally i was stunned speechless and forgot my decision to redeem my manners.  as i drove to the library and enjoyed my milkshake (dinner of champions, i know), i couldn't help but think - there really is no good way to reject a charity.  it makes you feel like a heel in line at the grocery store, and it's no easier through a drivethru speaker.

life lesson: donate to charities, if for no other reason than to minimize your guilt. i'm sure there's something else you can use that guilt for.      

registration day is my christmas.

okay, so technically this isn't something i've learned today.  i've known that class registration day has taken the place of christmas in the favorite-holiday-race since i started college back in '05.  i didn't care much for the blistering hot weather as i walked around campus with strangers at orientation, and i could have easily done without the forced awkwardness that was the orientation mixer (which, for the record, struck me as a glorified middle school dance with people in bigger, more sexually charged bodies).  no thank you.  but the day we got to sit at the computers and register...that made all that other garbage worth it.

i'd been planning out potential schedules for days, watching the system closely to see which classes had the fewest openings so i knew what to prioritize when the gods smiled upon me and finally let me register.  even with the crappy registration system (that has recently been overhauled by a still crappy, although arguably less crappy, system) moving at snail-speed, i was still done with the whole process in a matter of minutes.  while the rest of my peers sat waiting for the system to respond as they searched for classes (oh, step one...amateurs!), i packed up my stuff and waltzed right out of the computer lab, fall schedule complete.  granted, i would in fact change my schedule an estimated 53 times within the remaining days of summer, but still - the first schedule was done.

registration day happens twice a year (which is obviously superior to christmas which only happens once a year) and i always begin my hypothetical schedules, color-coded for efficiency, as soon as the registrar releases the potential course offerings a few months ahead of the actual day.  most people begin getting the christmas spirit in november-ish when the radios forget there are other things besides christmas tunes, but the registration spirit lasts for much longer.  another reason registration day is the superior holiday.

when we did switch to the new registration system, i was admittedly a little pissed.  not only are there some very basic flaws, but it allows for one-stop-registration: you put all of your classes into a shopping cart and click "enroll"... and that's it.  no waiting for the system to respond to see if you got the class, no searching frantically for another class when the one spot that was left isn't open because too many people were trying to register at the same time...nothing.  for the registration obsessed (population: one...me), this "more efficient system" really takes the wind out of your sails.

but what it can't do is stop me from making hypothetical schedules.  you never know when a class you had in your shopping cart will come back with the error message that says it couldn't be enrolled in because it is full (something i secretly, or not-so-secretly, wish for with every click of the glorious enroll button).

today is my last registration day as a student.  i've had many wonderful registration days throughout my 6ish years of college, and today i'll click "enroll" for the last time (okay, let's be honest...i'll probably try to enroll in extra things just so i can continuously tweak the schedule).  and yes, it is true that the only two requirements i have left to complete are my internship and thesis which are registered for me through the office, but that won't stop me from finding another course to add to my schedule so that i too can partake in celebrating registration day (the office really shouldn't have all the fun).

it'll remain to be seen if i actually follow through with attending the random class i select today once the fall rolls around, but dangit i'm going to put it in my shopping cart and enroll the heck out of it.  and i'm going to love it.