Spring has Sprung

What an absolutely glorious day! Unfortunately, tomorrow I will suffer for my enthusiasm. First some background information...I am living with my daughter and son-in-law in the townhouse where Big Mike spent most of his life. There were three boys and a dad in the home and none were very big on taking care of the place. When Mike's dad died, soon followed by his older brother, it soon became a frat house of which it remained until they moved into it last summer. (To say it was a pig sty is an insult to the pig.) But slowly and with great creativity and ingenuity, it has become a very fun little abode for this family.

The front and back yards, however, continue to be an eyesore as well as a death trap. There was a huge, dead pine tree gracing the back which is now nothing more than a stump. And there was no grass whatsoever. So today I got a wild burr and decided to overturn the yard, one large patch at a time. I guess Bravard told Mike because he came home with some great grass seed and the need to dig out the old stump. All I can say is "wow". Mike is not generally motivated to take on endeavors such as these, so it was a real surprise and as well as a push for me to do more. Hence the sore muscles....

Hopefully by Saturday, I'll have the entire yard turned and new grass seed planted...then it is off to the front for some much needed TLC. I can only hope my arms hold out long enough for me to complete my tasks in a manner beneficial to the household.

Another Positive Story!

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I believe I can positively say that she even surprised Simon, though he denied it. This large, square Scottish woman with a bad haircut belted out something that would have shone bright even when compared to Elaine Paige, the woman Miss Boyle would like to be. She just proves once again that looks can be so deceiving and we shouldn't judge books or bookish women by their covers. Inside are words, stories and voices of such depth and magnitude that we are often surprised by their beauty. Yes, it truly comes from within, and is not necessarily reflected in what we may look like.

Hats off to you Susan Boyle. For the readers who have not experienced this phenomenon, click on her name and watch the YouTube short. If you are not amazed, I will be very surprised.

Celebrate!

I have a definite cause for celebration in that I have finished my Algebra course with the completion of my final exam today! I missed two answers giving me a grade of 97 which made my class average 94%. I am both elated an exhausted with this accomplishment. Algebra took up the better part of my life for these last 8 weeks and I am not sad to see this completion. It will be good to wake up tomorrow and not have the onus burden of another batch of numerical homework and the dark cloud of an exam hanging over my head. I may actually get a full night's sleep tonight as I cannot count the number of times I awakened at 4:00 am to do math. Why? I was dreaming about it, of course. I will enjoy these next 10 days of nothing but Nutritional Science and writing in my blog. Yes, it is time for the happy dance, so until next time I post I will be twirling wildly about my bedroom!

Over a HUGE Algebraic Hump

Well, it took me over a week, but I finally passed my Algebra exam and I can move on to...well, more algebra. I don't know what had me so befuddled and confused, besides all the a's, c's, j's, h's, x's, etc. and how I was supposed to find their lines after putting them in proper order then doing actual math. All I do know is I was stuck, plain and simple, and I was ready to pull out my own teeth with tweezers. After three days of intense studying I finally braved the 20 problems put forth by my teacher. Low and behold, after saying prayers to the Algebra gods, I only missed two problems...and they were typos, my typos. By the time I checked my work the third time, I was cross-eyed. But I'm very happy with my 90%.

I am sure there are times I have had to use basic algebra in my life. Figuring out percentages, for example, when I was in retail. Also, there is quite a bit of math in cooking. But can someone please explain to me why I need to know how to figure out 1/9(x-3)+1/3(x-12)=x-7? Or why I need to find Y if given four numbers? And what is the use of a quadratic equation in everyday existence?

But, alas, now I can concentrate on Nutritional Science. Did I mention there are only 3 1/2 weeks of this left? No? Well, thank the heavens above that I'm halfway through with this grading period. I look forward to the next one when I can take another creative writing course. Then I'll be using the side of my brain I understand and to which I can relate!