I have 14 class days left before graduation.

Wow, I never though that it would get down to the last few weeks of college. In the beginning it seemed to go by so slow. Now the end is truly near. I'm excited, yet scarred of finding a real job, and fustrated over current classes because of the demanding work all at the same time. Tonight I have a business plan due for the Financial Management of Private Firms course I'm enrolled in. Frightening name, and the course overall sucks. But it's required so I'm stuck either way.
One department that I'm not stuck in is the the dating department. I've decided after nearly two years of being "single by choice," I've decided to be "dating by choice." More like "...by accident" is appropriate. When the weather gets cold, it seems that more guys want to holla at me. I don't mind it at all, but its very suspect with the majority of them. Their plan (to my assumptions) probably goes something like this: hook up, chill out with ol' girl in the winter, then dump them in the spring. Well, of the few guys that I've talked to, or caught up with from way back, maybe two are good contenders, but I'm leaning towards one right now. Over the past couple of years, I've been suspect of guys and their actions. This one well, he's very sweet, goes to church, and plays all kinds of instruments! Did I mention that he has a job (bonus points!)?! So overall, he's actually about something. And I like that in him. I don't want to jump the gun with anyone so I'm just gonna take things slow and not get all caught up like I did the last time.
As classes continue to suck while I'm trying to regain a social life, I have to return to working (and getting this business plan formatted at the last minute).

Life continues...

Same image but larger. Still trying to figure out the default settings on this software. 

Never mind, here's the voting banner. 

Since I had diffculty posting my election day banner, this will have to do for now, a rendering of a pair of blue Pumas. 

I voted today...

did you???

Back to school...yet again

Currently I'm enduring the second day, the last quarter of my BBA, hopefully. There hasn't been much to occur so far, except the high prices that I don't want to pay for some textbooks. Fall quarter is the worst when it comes to book buying; publishing companies like to come out with new editions during the summer, which means no used books. It's hard to avoid, so I'm gonna sell some old ones back that I've been holding on to because the bookstores weren't taking them back at the time.
Still counting down the days to my end at Langsam Administration. 9/30 is the official day. I'm in the process of trying to get another job with University Libraries. I've just about had it with Family Medicine and the one guy who's picky about phonecalls (and can't remember who's who) and the other who can't stand students doing homework at the desk when there's nothing else to work on. I endured the summer with that job (basically for extra income), but now I'm ready to go.

John Edwards visited Cincinnati

It was nice to see John Edwards actually come to visit the community that I live in. I actually got to shake his hand too and told him that colleges need more money than just more loan offers. Hopefully that quick piece of info will seep in. My Mom and I were talking during his speech and felt positive that Kerry and Edwards really have a chance in this election. Someone has to turn around this miserable mess that Bush and Cheney have created the past four years. As November 2nd approaches, the more excited I get about voting. I have no clue what the local issues or levies are, but I'm most concerned about who are next president is going to be.

Adventures in Dentistry

Not the best title in the world, but its the first one that stood out in my mind. Take it or leave it, I suppose. Anyways, there's not too much eventful news going on personally since I'm on break from school, so I'm working a bit more for the next two weeks. Hopefully that should be something decent to go towards all the dental payments that I may have to make in the near future. Well, from the last visit that I had, I had 8 cavities that they wanted to fill. Just call me the Cavity Creep. Now, that total is down to 7. Too bad that teeth can't repair themselves with a little extra brushing and such. Added on to those 7 cavities, I now have to get two of my wisdom teeth removed. Yaaay! *yeah the hell right!* Having any kind of surgery scares me, simply put. I wanted to cry after the doctor told me the news. Actually, I almost did, I just sat there holding back the tears.

I can deal with the bills though, like I have with other money crunches in the past, usually with tuition or books, but this is towards my health. It's nice that I do have some type of health coverage though. Since the big 22nd, I got bumped from my Mama's family health plan, and now the two of us have individual insurance plans. It was a bit tedious sitting at home reading through the booklets and discussing it with my Mama about which one to pick. I thought that I had a keeper until I went to the pharmacy to fill a new prescription, for The Patch (yes, people I'm keeping it safe, all of you should too cuz the consequences aren't fun...). Just my (dumb) luck, the patch, or any kind of contraception isn't covered by my new insurance plan! Great! So I took a few days to decide what to do, and just bit the bullet and returned a couple days later to pay full price for them, until next month. I'm considering calling my provider really soon, or just going to a clinic to see what they have to say. It's not fair that healthcare can't cover the important things that matter to people and their livelihood. Thank you George W.!!! (that's why I'm gonna vote for Kerry on 11/2 anyways...) Back to the dental issues though, I just have to pay for it piece by piece and get all that work over with. I really need a good job with some benefits, now more than ever, just to be sure that everything medical is covered or partially covered, at the least.

Time at work is easing away. Thank goodness, because I'm ready to get back into my new read: The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth am I Here For? It's a part of my goal to become a bit more religious and spiritual. I wasn't brought up in the church as a child, but my parents have taught me things about God, and the bible with their perspective mixed in (which made the lessons more true to life and understandable).
It takes 40 days to read, by suggestion of the author, so that every chapter can be savored and understood to the fullest extent. I'm just on chapter three, well that's the one that I'll be reading after I leave work. Each day there is a point to remember, a quote from the bible to memorize, and a question to consider. I'm thinking about making the 40 questions into a journal of its own. I wonder if anyone is doing that already; its worth doing a search for. A friend that I went to Montreal with told me about the book, and that's what intrigued me to buy it. I'm hoping this weekend to go back to Sam's Club and get the accompanying journal too. :)

Summer classes are over! But the work doesn't stop...

Finally got a break from school, somewhat. I have about 3 weeks off until fall classes begin on 9/22. It's not much of a break since I'm still working on east and west campuses. Can't complain, at least I'll have one check that'll have a few extra hours on it than usual. I'm actually excited about starting the Fall quarter, hopefully my last quarter if all goes well with the Marketing Strategy and Entrepreneurship classes I took during the summer. I know that the Entrepreneurship class should be fine, the team business plan and presentation went very well, our team won first place in the competition last Monday, which was a nice start to the week. Has the final exam for Marketing Strategy last Thursday afternoon, which I felt a bit more comfortable and confident with than the midterm (that I failed by the way, so everything was pretty much riding on the final, unfortunately). Just waiting for the grades to be posted online seems like a better option than emailing the professor for the grade. It makes me weary just thinking about that final exam grade. As long as I did average (like C+ or better), there is still hope.
The extended Labor Day weekend was nice and relaxing to a degree, considering that I haven't worked since a week ago today, and I spent 1-2 days preparing for Marketing Strategy. I spent my time helping a friend (who's like family to me) pack so she can start her first year of college, which actually began today, slept crazy hours, watched repeats galore (of Chapelle's Show marathon, the 04 Vma's- well Usher's part anyways, the 03 and 04 of the Bet Awards, and parts of the Source Awards and the Mad TV marathon), went out to dinner and the club with friends (with some pumps that I should have broke in before hand-feet still recovering!), got my hair done, and ate like a pig (since my Mama cooked baked beans and potato salad for the holiday, two of my favorite dishes). It was a simple, yet fulfilling weekend. To top it off, I got my direct deposit earlier, on Saturday instead of Tuesday, which made it easier to grocery shop and grab a few school supplies.
Right now I'm at the newest of my two jobs at Family Medicine. I switched my schedule around so that I can be at the library in the am and over here in the pm, with an hour in between to bs and to grab some lunch. I thought my last day at the library was gonna be 8/30, but I'm blessed that they extended it to 9/30. So the first eight days of classes I'll be holding down two jobs still; which is cool with me. Doesn't take much to keep me happy anyways.
After this, well today anyways, I'm on my way to a job interview in Covington, KY for a company overview at 6-ish. It's been a phone tag game with the company since mid July to try to set up a time for a company overview. I had one scheduled back in early August, but I missed the bus (lamest excuse ever) and just postponed it. Now a month later, I'm actually scheduled to go and visit the company, which hereby starts my search for full time job post graduation. Anyone out there reading this wanna hire me? Also, I'm sending off my resume to a contractor that called me Friday afternoon about a job with his business, which was out the blue considering that I was talking to my former neighbor (who reminds me so much of my late granny) about jobs, when the guy clicked in on the other end. Nice timing.
For now, I'm going to get back to working, pretty much watch the phones. I might read my new book I bought the other day, "The Purpose Driven Life". A friend of mines told me about it. I need to get more in touch with the spiritual anyways. I'm really sick of people trying to test me and my faith, especially when I have been framed with actions that I didn't commit. People are so quick to point fingers at others, but never at themselves. It's 2004 people; time to rise above the baby games and bs! Anyways, I'm (trying) not to let the petty things in my life consume my being, cuz that's what the others want you to do. I got a lot of other things in my life to focus on right now, like finishing work for instance...

Happy Birthday

Today would have been my Daddy's 56th birthday. Regardless of whether he's here or not, I still take the day off to relax and reflect on how wonderful of a person my Dad was. Happy Birthday Daddy, we still miss you down here.

Horoscope for the day:

Cancer
Arrange to play hooky for at least a few hours -- with a suitable partner in crime, of course. You'll have plenty of chances to catch up on your work tomorrow. For now, live a little.

Now, I wish I had called off of my am job. :)

Someday we'll all be free...

I guess in its own little way, the Freedom Center is a start. I'm still skeptical about it, after hearing conflicting stories about how it was funded and how its not telling all sides of the story to how blacks were treated during slavery. And for the entrance to be facing Covington, Kentucky. So basically freedom is mooning Cincinnati. I find it odd that Cincinnati was picked as the site of the first freedom center; there are plenty more to come in other locations across the US. This town is so conservative, and race relations aren't that good here. This is a republican city, for sure. (here's a blurb on why they chose Cincinnati for the first location, straight from the site):

Why Cincinnati?
Now as in the past, Cincinnati's location on the Ohio River puts it at the crossroads of freedom's journey. In the 1800's the city served as a major hub of activity on the Underground Railroad and its banks offered refuge to thousands seeking hope and a new way of life. Today, as the home of the Freedom Center, it acts as a beacon of light once more.

From what I saw at last night's opening ceremony, the story is going to be sugar coated a bit. With all of the speeches, dancing, and singing, everything was symbolic, maybe too symbolic. There is only so much symbolism that a person can take in a four hour period. Plus, the program itself wasn't on schedule, and there was a rumor that P. Diddy was going to be there (he wasn't, he either cancelled out or the media just straight up lied). Honestly, that's why I met my cousin and one of her friends down there; the three of us wanted to see P. Diddy. The crowd itself was sightly older, more families and grandparents than young adults. There were children there, but of course with their parents or grandparents.
That ceremony was basically to suck up to all of the corporate sponsors that funded the center, it really wasn't for the city like they made it out to be. Just a big facade. I am interested in going into the building, but only if I got the hookup on some free tickets. The Freedom Center is better than having nothing that explains of what went on during slavery and the importance of the Underground Railroad, but there's got to be some other options too. This is a start, but there's still more work to be done. Granted that the truth is ugly sometimes, but they say that the truth shall set you free. It's time for people to really get free.

Usher, in Cincinnati? Can't be!

Nothing is going to get me down today, that's how much of a good mood I'm in. Hey, I just saw Usher in concert last night, and it was worth every penny! It's pretty hot that he actually came to Cincinnati, "The most boring city in the Midwest" (just made that up, that's probably obvious), especially when Philly is the next stop for his tour tomorrow. I'm shocked that I still have my voice, because I screamed pratically the whole time he was on stage. With one exception, while he brought a girl from the audience on stage (she had to be pre-selected though, cuz if that was anyone else, they would have flipped out, no joke!)to sing to her. *Must take a pause to listen to "Burn" it's on the radio right now. :D* Well, anyways, my friend and I were sitting there saying "lucky heffa" and all kinds of mess while she was on stage getting serenaded by Usher. We were near the top of US Bank Arena, but they were good seats, you could see the whole stage, and everything. Besides, if we were on the floor, those explosions would have been a lot louder than what they were! Can't forget to mention about Kanye West, that's my boy. I was in there just about rapping every lyric to the songs he did. I'm extra happy about seeing him again, because I saw him on campus back in late May. It don't take much to make me happy, and seeing Kanye twice in one year is gonna keep me grinning for a minute.
Gotta thank my girl Keri real quick for inviting me, cuz I've been feeling weighed down on some other issues with other friends (now ex-friends again I suppose). So I just want to thank her and wish her an early b-day although it's a week from today. Its good to know that some real people and real friends still exist in this world. Maybe screaming my brains out over a hottie like Usher, especially when he ripped-not removed, ripped his shirt off, is all the fixing that I needed. Who woulda knew!

...a brief detailed message ?!

Okay, I'm still sitting at the Family Medicine job, trying to make quite a few phone calls. I'm not a fan of making phone calls at work, but the job was assigned to me, so there isn't much else to do but actually do it. I called this one doctor's office, and on the voice message the lady said "please leave a brief detailed message." I don't know how detailed a person can be in a brief message. It just sounded odd, and funny to me. In a way, I can sympathize with the lady, I hate leaving recorded messages, even the greeting on my cell phone's voice mail. When it comes to work, I'm not too fond of picking up the phone, bottom line. It makes me nervous. Anyway- I'm gonna get back to work now, so I won't look too suspicious.