So my interview went really well today. I met with a doctor in the office who talked to me more about what they do. She explained how their testing works with patients and how the office works from day to day. I was a little nervous going in because I wasn't sure what more they wanted to ask me, but in the end she asked me several of the same types of questions: strengths, weaknesses, etc. and just mostly talked to my a lot about what I've done in the past. Nothing new or scary, and I walked away with a little clearer understanding of what they do, which is great.

The only part where the interview when wrong was in the exit. I was pretty sure I was supposed to talk to more people, so I asked who I needed to talk to next. You know, you're always trying to be as nice and tactful as possible at an interview, so I thought a gentle reminder would be enough. But she seemed pretty adamant that she was the only one I needed to talk to. She even apologized for making me come all the way down just to talk to her, but of course that was unnecessary. I'll go back as many times as they want until they're ready to decide who to hire. (I should probably set SOME limit actually.) So, I thanked her for having me and let myself out. About 20 minutes later, I got back to campus just in time to actually go to my class. Just as class was starting my friend Ryan who works at the same company called me. He asked where I was and if it was possible for me to come back... Well, that wouldn't have been a problem except that I was actually in the classroom at this point and by that time the professor had come in. It was exactly 2:30 and he kind of looked at me so as to draw all the attention to me. I totally deserved it, but I was stuck! I sit at the far corner from the door, and I really was trying to get off the phone, so leaving would be more trouble than it was worth but staying wasn't a good choice either! I was quietly trying to explain to Ryan that I HAD to go... class was starting, and he was trying to relay messages between the HR lady next to him and me. In the end, he said he'd text me instructions and I hung up, gave a short apology and explanation, and the teacher laughed it off.

Ryan later let me know that HR would just call to reschedule another interview because by the time I got out of class at 3:30, those people I needed to talk to would be leaving or gone.

Also, someone ELSE'S phone rang during class and the prof blamed it on me, which was kind of funny when the guy actually took credit for it. He sits right in front of me, so the teacher assumed it was me.

So, that was the excitement for my day. :) 2nd interview half-way conquered. 3rd (or 2 1/2-nd) apparently in the works.

Edit: I went back and added a few entries about notable events. Enjoy!

Okay, so sorry I haven't written in a while. Wow. I can't even think back on what all has happened to recount it all now. That's what happens with me, I get in a good writing habit for a while. Then I miss one thing I want to write about but don't have the time so I don't write anything else new thinking I'll get back to writing about that and get back on track.... Then a month goes by and I find myself explaining my absence.

Ahem, that being said, hi. I plan on doing better. I always do. :)

Not a whole lot happened really that was so exciting. More of the same... work, online classes, applying for jobs, and hanging out with Blake. It's crazy to think that the summer is already wrapping up. Wednesday will be my last day at work, and Kathleen is flying up here that night. She hasn't been up here in about 10 years - when she was 7, I guess. So, we're going to spend Thursday and Friday hanging out in DC or seeing whatever she wants to see. This Saturday we're starting the drive home. I'm fairly certain we can do it in 2 days with just one major stop in Nashville. That'll get us home Sunday night, which I'm really looking forward to.

Other than that, I'm just getting details ironed out for my class schedule and housing this fall. I'm excited that I got things moved around so I'll only be taking one class at UCO now, and I'm taking a class with Prof. Smith at OC instead. He's pretty cool, so I'm looking forward to that class for sure now.

I'm also living with Hippie Hanlon and his wife, Elsa, this fall. I really enjoy living in houses as compared to apartments, so I'm looking forward to moving into my room there too. I just need to find out what furniture they have or will have for me - if any. I have some time to get what I need, I just need to know what I need to be on the lookout for.

That's about it for now. Wrapping up another 3 months of my life to move on to the next 3-ish months. I've pretty much mastered the art of juggling how far ahead I can really worry about, but I'm so ready for graduation and having a little more consistency in my life. Of course, that is assuming that when I graduate I find a job that offers more consistency than my life has had these past 4.5 years. I quite literally have not lived in the same place for more than 4 months in 5 years. Maybe I'll get bored with it. I think it'll be a new kind of exciting to have regular activities that I do or places I go to hang out pretty often.

Anyway, I'll write some other time about my dreams of the future. For now I have enough planning and juggling to get me through August to worry about. I'll pick up that dream in September. :)

Today was just one of those days that nothing seemed to want to work in my favor. It all started when I woke up and decided to check on when UCO's fall classes start. I'm taking 2 classes there, but I didn't really think to check before telling my boss that my last day working would be Weds, Aug. 12th. OC's fall semester doesn't start until Mon, Aug. 31st, so that seemed like a good break. Yeah, UCO starts 2 weeks earlier - Mon, Aug. 17th. Greaaaaat.

Since Kathleen has already made plans and bought a plane ticket to come up and drive back with me, there's no changing that now. I just have to deal with a super short break between work and classes starting. Lesson learned - check ALL schedules.

Later, I figured I'd check online to see what my schedule was exactly - class times, etc. I couldn't remember my username and password for the UCO system, so I was directed to call Tech Support since I also did not know my Student ID # or Admissions #.

Tech Support of course started by asking if I knew my Student ID # or Admissions #.
"Nope, that's why I called you..."
Right, well, next they wanted to know if I could come in for my info...
"Not possible."
So, I was told to fax in my photo ID and signature. Sweet! CAN DO.

When I called back to Tech Services, they sent me to Student Services who sent me to the Fax Office who claimed to never have received it...... Right.

Take two: faxed it again, called Student Services > sent to Admissions > put on hold while she called the fax people > who got it that time, all to have this convo:

UCO: "We can't give you information over the phone, but we can mail it to you at the address we have on file."
Me: "Is that address in Oklahoma?"
UCO: "Ma'am, I can't tell you that. It's confidential"
Me: "Well, ok... Don't tell me the address, but also don't send my info to anywhere in Oklahoma because that won't be to me. You might as well mail it and my banking info to Nigeria for all that would be worth"
UCO: "Oh. Yes. It's Oklahoma"
Me: "Sooo...."
UCO: "Can you come by campus?"

My mom ended up having my Student ID #, which I used to find my username and password. UCO's super secret username is the public email address they assign to you, which you in turn give to anyone and everyone you ever email on their system. The password? Yeah, it's your 6 digit birthday. At this point, my username is the more secret part of this combo, and if I ever used that email address it wouldn't be anymore.

The moral of that story is: UCO's system of security through obscurity is painful and pointless.

This is a continuation of my last post, so if you haven't read that... do that now.

Okay, now that you're up to speed, we'll continue.

I had a kind of rough day at work today. I was confused and frustrated and tired from being at work all day, so when I got home I put everything aside, threw on my Snow White dress and joined Bailey and Brylee for some quality princess playing time. It's always so fun to watch them, and I try very hard to keep up with them. I didn't (still don't) have much of an imagination growing up, and they just amaze me with their ability to make up stories on the fly. Sometimes that's just as much work for me to follow as my programming assignments at work in languages I don't know. Haha, anyway, after dinner I headed back up to my room to finally settle in for some homework time.

That's when I checked my phone to see if I had any missed calls or texts, not really expecting anything. But yes! A missed call! And a message.... It was Blake saying hi, hoping I had a good day at work, and was wondering if I'd like to see a movie sometime this week. :) I called back, and we decided to see Up on Wednesday after work. Awesome! I'd been wanting to see that, and of course hearing from Blake was exciting!

>>Fast forward through the work/homework routine to Wednesday evening.

We ended up meeting up near the theatre to get kabobs for dinner before the movie. Neither of us had been there before so we asked the guy at the counter what he liked. The guy next to him had a great sense of humor and told us that guy #1 liked HIM, but sadly he was not available. Haha! We got our food and talked more before heading over to the movie.

For anyone who has not seen Up, it is a great movie, and I will definitely be buying that one when it comes out. It's sad, funny, and altogether adorable. I'd say it was probably one of the best picks for a first date - or second date, I suppose. :)

The rest of this week has been absolutely chaotic in my life. Today was the last day of my Western Civ class (HOORAY!) and a test day in my APE class. The only way I could get everything done just for classes was to take today off from work. I haven't heard from Blake since the movie, but he mentioned having a bar-b-que at his apartment Sunday, so I think I'll give him a call tomorrow to see how those plans are coming together and explain my recent hermit-like activity.

Okay, so I've been lousy at keeping this up to date, but at request of my mom (who didn't even know about my blog) I am updating this. I would break this up into separate posts, but honestly, for the past month not a whole lot has been going on. I'll explain...

Since my first week of work, things have been going good in the office. My mentor, Lidong, is really nice. She hasn't been with the program for too long either, AND her programming history is all in C++ too, so it kind of helps to have someone who understands where I'm coming from sometimes. Mostly I dig and dig and dig into a problem until I THINK I found where the issue is, try a few little things on my own...fail...then ask Lidong. Haha! Yeah, that's basically the pattern of how I work these days.

Devin is interning with DSI again this summer, so it's nice to have a familiar face and someone to chat with throughout the day. We mostly joke around with the other people in the office when we're taking a break and make fun of each other. Sometimes he gets on his high horse and tries to tell me what to do. I quickly and shamelessly knock him off that horse, and we move on. :)

I caught up with the Dannenbergs again this summer at church, and it was really nice to see them. We decided we'll have to get lunch sometime with a few of their other friends I got to know and love last summer also. Betty said Klaus kept up with my Pac Rim blog quite a bit, so it will be fun to show them my pictures and tell some stories when we get the chance.

Other than that, my online summer classes through OC have kept me busy in any free time I would have had outside of work. The other day I was realizing that I should have taken summer classes all along the way, but then I also thought about the self-discipline it takes to get through these things. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been as devoted to my classes in previous summers, but with graduation peeking around the corner...yeah, that's a motivator. But seriously, these classes are killer. It's 16 weeks of coursework all squeezed into 4 weeks. The first one, Senior Bible Seminar, wasn't so bad. In fact, it was downright easy now that I think back on it. I finished that one before I got up here to Virginia, and then I immediately started Western Civilization the same day I started work. That one was considerably more work, and I had to keep myself focused everyday to come home from work to read my 2 chapters, take my quiz, and make an entry to the discussion board. It got to be a pretty good routine, so I got through it pretty well. The only thing is 2 weeks into that class, my American Political Economy class started up. Now, one summer class is manageable. Add to that a full-time job, and it gets a little tiresome. Throw another class on top, and.... I don't like when sleep becomes the optional bit of my life.

Okay, so it's been a while since I updated my blog. And yeah... YouTube videos don't really count as entries, so that puts me even farther behind. The semester ended. Not as great as I'd hoped for, but it is in fact over. So, that's always good. Summer classes have now started, and this first one - Senior Bible Seminar - is pretty interesting! I guess I'm on week 2 of that class, and it'll wrap up at the end of the month.

Right now I'm mainly looking forward to starting my internship in June. I'm driving up there this time, so hopefully my mom can get some time off to go with me. Grandpa might come, but there's a lot up in the air on that to see if he can or not. In either case, I'm excited to start working at Lockheed again and see what they have planned for me. I'm honestly not sure what I'm doing this summer yet, but my friend Devin is coming back for a 2nd internship too so that'll be fun. We definitely had a random bunch of people interning together last summer, but Devin was one of my favorites for sure. I'm also still really up in the air about what I want to do after graduation, so hopefully this summer I can take some time to really look at what I'm doing and what it would be like to jump straight into a career up in DC. I talked to Sarah Byrd about doing the HIM Program because she is leaving in August to spend 2 years in Germany, and she said that she did not know for sure that she was doing the HIM Program until after Thanksgiving, so I guess I have more time than I was expecting to decide after I get back next semester. I'm glad I have this summer to experience a regular 40 hour week software job again before deciding my whole future. Haha!

Not much else going on right now. I've enjoyed my downtime, and I've been trying to take advantage of it by riding a bike around the neighborhood or going swimming since I'm not sure how much time my next summer classes will take up on top of starting work. Oh! I also started reading Ender's Game again. It's just as good as I remember, and this time I also picked up a few more in the series for when I finish it. That's about all for now!

So, this weekend I decided to get productive. I knocked out my senior seminar paper, which now needs to be revised for my final draft. I'm pretty proud of it though! Then I built a website for our web programming class along with two CSS for it to alternate between. Once we got the meat of the site put in (the data, map, search bar, etc) it looks pretty sweet! Some other groups presented theirs today, and I'm really excited to show off what we put together. I also got a program done from last week, so that was a good weight to get off my shoulders.

This is the big week for Spring Sing, so everything we've been working towards is in overdrive this week, but it also ends with this week. That's intimidating but also a relief. We had club night tonight, and it was a lot of fun to finally see everyone else's shows and to get to show ours off. Until tonight, very few people had seen our show, so it was kind of life a big unveiling for us. We got some GREAT feedback, so as long as we can keep improving as we go, and keep our energy level high without making mistakes along the way, I think we really have a chance of doing pretty well as far as placing goes this year. I'm really excited to see how the chips fall in the end, because from tonight's performances quite a few of the underdogs are stepping up to the plate this year. I would love to see Iota or Pi take home 1st this year, but I also know that some of the big name clubs in Spring Sing may not have been giving 100% tonight, so it could be anyone's game at this point.


I also found out that the directors voted tonight on Unity, which has been my baby for Lambda this year. I'm a little nervous now to see who wins! Either way, it's been SO much fun, and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat just to get to hang out with our girls and visit the other clubs. Kappa means business with Unity, and it was worth every penny, minute, and burnt finger along the way. And definitely either way, I will be cheering loudly (although maybe not loudest since I imagine Seth will cheer VERY loudly if they win) along with everyone else.

For now, I need to spend my one day off from Spring Sing wisely to catch up for these next couple of days. It's doable, and I just have to focus hard!

Good news: I accepted my internship for this summer, so I will be back out in DC early in May. Lindsay also applied for an internship with a church out there, so it would be awesome if she gets that and is up there with me!

One last worry/concern: Housing next year. I'll be here one more year before I graduate, while a lot of my friends are graduating now. So, I have to figure out where I'm living. I could live off campus, but I'll have to find other people that are planning to do that. Or I could live on campus, but that costs more, and again....I have to find roommates still. Oh well, I'll worry about that when I have a LITTLE extra time on my hands. :)

Goodnight!

I'm tired. Tired from many things and of many things. So much is going on right now, and it all adds up quickly leaving me worn out. I guess it doesn't seem like that much on paper, but my 18 hours of classes are catching up with me, and Spring Sing is just keeping me from being able to get caught up! I know some things aren't that important in life, but if you never have a little fun with unnecessary things you'll never have any fun.

This semester I took on the goal of winning the Unity Award for Spring Sing. Kappa has won it for the past 6 years straight, but I figured it was a good way to get all the girls involved in Spring Sing - including those not in our show. It's also a fun way (for me) to get to know all the girls in club as we make fools out of ourselves singing and making baked goods for all the other clubs. Of course, beating another club that has held a title for such a long run isn't easy, because they also feel the need to step up to the plate to defend their title. It's been really fun to go and encourage all the clubs, and I'm excited to see who the directors chose to win this year. I'll give Kappa some credit, they have been very creative this year with their ideas, but maybe we'll still stand out in the clubs' minds for our persistence and delicious Gatorade and snacks.

Classes are interesting, but keeping up with so many of them is definitely a challenge. I almost dropped a class last week, but now I'm deciding to stick it out and put in extra time to study for it. Time. That's one resource I don't have a lot of right now. But, at this point, let's just see what will happen and hope for the best. My senior seminar paper is nonexistent right now, even though I have all my research done. Putting it into a "paper" format is my biggest challenge for that now. Then the tests and programs that pop up all the time keep me busy just trying to remember all of them not to mention getting them completed.

Going into this next week, my goals are to catch up over the weekend on some things I've let slip behind and to keep up throughout next week. If I can do that much during Spring Sing I know I can pull my grades back up after it's all over. I've made it this far... I can make it through the end!

Well....today was test #3 of 4 for the week, and my senior seminar paper is still not done. That's due tomorrow. Today was kind of rough with the lack of sleep I've been getting lately as well as the pressure of so many tests. After talking to one of my professors, I'm feeling better than I was earlier, but I know there is a lot of work ahead of me to get caught up in understanding the material to move forward in that class.

On the other hand, Spring Sing is creeping up on us, and it's amazing to think how close we are to being done. We learned our last song last night then did a complete run through of the entire show. I'm looking forward to our next several practices of just running through it again and again and perfecting the parts we're not doing quite right yet. For me...that's a majority of the show. :) I love our show, and I'm trying to get it right, but it will just take some more practice. As far as Unity goes, I've been working on that overtime lately to make sure we finish strong. Only one more week left for unity, so I want to make sure the directors remember the support and encouragement we offered this year. The girls have been great in bringing supplies - Gatorade, brownie mix, etc. - and now I've got our schedule done and trying to get girls to commit to showing up for different meeting times.

Lambda has been such an encouragement to me this semester. I know sometimes others may see it as just another activity to eat into my time, but honestly without Lambda I wouldn't have gotten so much encouragement, and I think I would have a much harder time this semester. Being back from studying abroad is its own challenge, then add on being unemployed, taking 18 credit hours and trying to participate in Spring Sing, and I am SO glad they are here to catch me when I fall short and vice-versa. Spring Sing has helped me a lot also in my self-esteem. I know I've been losing weight this semester, and it's just a great way to stay active and get some socializing time in between all my homework. Not having a job has severely limited my options as far as going out with friends for fun time, but if all I have to do to see my friends and laugh for an hour or so at our ridiculous behavior and nonsense is meet at the gym or a classroom on campus to have an intense workout...I'm there!

I had an interview this morning. I was really excited about it, but... I think I may have blown it. It's for an internship in Germany, but I haven't done much/any software development in about a year now, so that made it a little hard to answer some of the technical questions when the last time I used some of that stuff was sophomore year.

Still have to send some code examples, so you never know. I'm also looking at going back to DC for the summer, which would be pretty cool.

Yesterday was a long day...today is going to be a long day too...I have a feeling tomorrow isn't going to be much shorter. Overall this semester has been going really good. Much better than I expected it to coming back from studying abroad, but this week has been the one to test me.

I had a job interview yesterday with a bank to be a teller... I'm really just wishing my old job would hire me back on soon.

This post is kind of a downer... Ok! The rest of the day will be better...right after my test maybe. :)