I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I've been preoccupied with school and such. By the way, I love it here! My first day of classes was yesterday, but I've been moved in since last wednesday. The people in general are pretty decent. Yesterday was really scarey, but I got through it and today was much much better. Culinary lab is fun, but memorizing all the small shit that we need to know, like different cuts and different veggies and meats, along with recipes, plus sanitation stuff is kind of overload. it's a lot of very specific and similar info that is getting jumbled in my head. My first lab test is on Friday, and I really need to get on the ball with learning the 100 or so terms we've gone over so far... and it's only day 2!!!

My only problem is that I have to get up at 5:30am and I've been having trouble going to sleep. i've only had about 5 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours. Tonight, I'm going to take a tylenol PM so i can get to sleep at a decent time, because even though I have slept little I'm still too awake to sleep.

my mind is kind of numb right now from culinary terms and I have to read, so I'm going to end this now, but I shall return soon enough!!!

I'm becoming very anxious about moving to baltimore next week. It's going to be weird living in a dorm again at the age of 22. I'm hoping to get a single room, but i may end up stuck with 3 other people. The thought of that makes me want to vomit. Hopefully, once I get there and start working I will be able to find my own place and get out of the dorms. I guess, either way, I'll only be there until December of 2008, so I should just bite the bullet and deal with it. 

Ok, I'll start with the bad news. My desktop and my laptop are out of action. I turn them on and they say  "Physical Memory Dumped", so I'm kind of out of comission right now. I'm assuming that I got a virus somehow and it spread through our home network, or I was just the lucky son of a gun to get it doubly. My brother makes a living doing something with computers (honestly, I have no clue what his job title is), so he is supposed to help me out.  Until then I'm stuck mooching off of everyone elses internet. Right now, I'm in my Mom's office. This whole ordeal may lead to my parents hooking me up with a new computer for my birthday, which is on Tuesday!!! I asked for a MAC, but they're a little over birthday present budget I think hahahaha. Either way, I will take what I can get because it won't be extra money out of my pocket.

Good News:
I got into this culinary school I applied to! It's in Baltimore and it has on-campus housing, and as soon as I find out about the financial aid aspect I'll be good to go! Everyone cross your fingers that this works out for me! Since I will be living on campus that cuts down on a big chunk of money I will have to pay out of pocket right now, so I can keep working but this way I will be able to save money a lot easier than I have been while paying my parents rent! My parents have also offered to help me turn in my (leased) car early if I do go and get good grades and such. That will be another bill off my back! I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but it's hard. I can't lie and say that I'm not excited!!


I have some prospects for jobs that will still be easily accessible even if I do end up in Baltimore. So, things are starting to look up! Ayeee... anyway, I will be back to report again as soon as possible!

I've decided that because I have been lacking motivation lately that I need to start, what I like to call, The Goal Board. I will make this poster listing all my short term goals connecting to specific long term goals. As I conquer each goal I will cross it off the list. I'm hoping that waking up to this neon sign in my face every morning I will be reminded that I want a life of purpose, and that the only way to achieve this is to conquer one small goal at a time. Once the goal board is made, I will post a picture of it, and track my successes and failures here. I have a vision of it's classifications being Weight, Job, and Education. The three things that I believe are the main factors in what I think will make me happy. 

Here's a Mock-up of my vision:

New Job:
1) Conciously persue atleast three full time job openings per week (no matter what field)
2) Attend atleast three job interviews per month (no matter what field)
-Attaching these to a long term goal of Find A New Full Time Job-

1) Conciously persue atleast five part-time job openings per week
2) Attend atleast five part time job interviews a month
-Attaching these to a long term goal of Find a Second Job-

Weight:
1) Exercise atleast four times a week
2) Follow diet strictly
3) Lose atleast two to five pounds per week
-Attaching these to a long term goal of Lose 40 - 50lbs by Jan 1, 2008-

Education:
1) Apply for financial Aide
2) Calculate Cost per class
3) Save $$ to begin classes in Spring semester '08
-Attach these to a long term goal of Go Back To School-


In the morning I work with the store manager, whom I despise. Long story short, she sucks and I called the district manager to report her. She didn't receive her yearly raise, whereas I am getting more than the company's normal raise rate because I am awesome. She also got written up, while I got praised for blowing the whistle while the other managers sat back and allowed this HORRIBLE undermining of company policy and procedure. I, also, was very forthright in telling her that I did, in fact, call the district manager and that no matter how badly she treats me now I do not regret it and will not apologize. Therefore, we do not have a good working relationship and she does dot every "i" and cross every "t" when it comes to making sure that I follow everything by the book. However, it makes my day more interesting to watch her as she keeps her eyes on me like a hawk. It also makes me laugh just a little when she thinks that she has caught me in something wrong, and I quote store policy to her. It's kind of like what my dad used to say, something about how even the devil can quote the bible. I'm thoroughly educated on the procedures of the company, and I can use any of them to contradict whatever one she says that I am not following. It's like a game. Cat and Mouse. Unfortunately for Kim, I always gets back into the hole before she can catch me.

I just want everyone who happens upon this blog to seriously think about the way they go about having sex. Just because you trust someone doesn't mean that they don't have an STD or STI. Your partner may not even know that they have it. I'm sure that this blog, in comparisson to the loads of STD educational material and advertising, will not be the deciding factor for you (the reader) to get tested. I can only hope that you will think about it, and be smarter about the way you think of your sex life.

I just returned from my gynocoligical appointment, and I found out that I have an STI. You may be wondering why I would even want others to know about it, but I really want people to see first hand that this can happen to anyone. I haven't been sleeping around. I have actually strayed from any contact with men, other than friendship. However, two months ago I met a guy that has completely swept me off my feet. I found out that with most STI's men show no symptoms. He didn't know he was carrying this infection, and I'm sure that the person who gave it to him doesn't know, or just hasn't had enough symptoms to warrant going to get tested. Thankfully, in my case, the STI can be treated and will be gone in the next few days. Unfortunately, there are people out there who do not know that they have an STD or STI and have sex. These people may have something that is not curable.

Could you be un-knowingly carrying an STD? Think about it. Do you really want to be the person that finds out you have something because a past sexual partner calls you saying that you gave it to them? Do you want to suffer the embarrassment of having to tell other sexual parters that you have unknowingly had this STD for God knows how long, so they need to get tested? Be smart. Ignorance is not always bliss. Use a condom even if you are on birth control. Even if you think that the person you are with couldn't POSSIBLY have an STD. Go get tested. Better yet, go get tested WITH your partner before you even have sex.

Honestly, I feel stupid that I have heard this same schpeal from others for all these years and still was ok with having sex without a condom, even though I trust my sexual partner. Don't be me. Don't end up in this situation. Go get tested. TODAY!