Back by Popular Demand

Where do I begin...?

I took my preliminary exam today. A group of 5 graduate advisers will grade it over the weekend and on Monday they will be meeting with us 12 new graduate students to advise us on which classes we should enroll in. Earlier this week I feared that after they looked at my work they would tell me on Monday to go back to undergrad. My books/notes/completed homework from past math classes didn't arrive here until Tuesday and Sexy Lady didn't leave until Wednesday night so I didn't start studying* for the test until Thursday (yesterday) morning.

The test is over ha (insert a huge smile here), and I survived. Afterwards I went for a 15 minute jog to relieve some of the built up tension in my body. I could only go for 15 minutes for several reasons:

• I'm in the South and it's hotter than Hades
• My legs were still sore from the jog I took yesterday
• Yesterday was the first time I jogged in about 2 months
• My neighborhood is full of hills
• I haven't cut back on smoking yet

I am trying to get back into shape, not so much for aesthetic reasons, but because I feel like a blob. Plus, my roommates are gone this weekend so there really could be no better time to start. If I didn't go for that jog today, I probably would have plopped on the couch, turned on the TV and cracked open a nice cold Miller Lite. Then, I would have gotten pissed because the TV shows I am used to watching at this time would not be on because of the time difference. Like how I made that 15 minute jog seem more beneficial than it was? I need to do that so I can talk myself into going more.

Since I don't really know anybody around here yet and my roommates are out of town, I don't have much to do this weekend. My only plans are to study (which is pretty broad because I don't know what classes I will be taking yet) and check out the university's workout facilities. I'm also trying to come up with a way to train my roommates' cats to not jump onto the bathroom sink while I'm brushing my teeth. Sidenote: If you are planning on coming here and using my bathroom, make sure you close the door hard enough until you hear a click. Otherwise one, maybe two, cats with push the door open while you're on the toilet and everyone else is in the other room. P.S. the door is more than an arm's length away from the toilet.

I had a mild case of homesickness on Tuesday. I thought I was over it until I woke up Wednesday morning with a crusty bloodshot eye. It had been bothering me all summer, but not that bad. Instead of going to a water park like we planned, Sexy Lady and I spent 2 hours at the Medical Center. I felt horrible. I should have had my eye looked at while I was at home, but I denied that there was a problem. After a summer of on and off redness in my left eye and 2 hours in the Medical Center, I found out I had a horrible case of pinkeye with a heap of allergies piled on top. That was two days ago and the white of my eye is back to the color it should be...white. All is well again.

*The proper term here would actually be cramming.