Glen Helen

Yesterday, jason and I went to Glen Helen Nature Preserve to hike and walk around Yellow Springs, Ohio. I've never been to Glen Helen before. Last time I went up to Yellow Springs, I went to John Bryant State Park. Glen Helen isn't as hilly, but it was extremely beautiful and just a nice day. In the park, they have a raptor center where they rehab injured birds. Those birds that have a chance to be released back into the wild are kept away from public view. Those birds that cannot be released are in public view and are used in their education programs. Some of the birds were absoutly amazing. There was a bald eagle whose wing had to be amputated and a few owls. It was just breathtaking!

Don't Eat the Brownies Last night, I attempted to make dinner and take it over to Jason's house. I made TVP Sloppy Joes and blonde brownies. The sloppy joes ended up tasting pretty good and he loved the chipotle chili barbecue chips. They were a little bit spicy, but way better then your average BBQ chips. The brownies were another matter. They tasted like baked dirt. We tried to add some chocolate, but in the end, we ended up just throwing them away. I now have to make more brownies so I can redeem my manhood.

Five down, one to go I just finished my Calc IIB exam. Umm, it SUCKED in a major way. To put it nicely, I bombed it. Did I mention that it sucked? Now it is time to get back to my regular life and take a brake for the summer. Hopefully with the change in subject matter and the break over the summer, I will be ready to actually apply myself to school full-time and my heart will actually be in it. Even though I actually paid for the entire semester, it was a learning experience for me. I attempted to take 18 credit hours and did not realize what kind of effect my mom's death would have on my life. I was in denial about my study habits and that just getting through the day would require massive amounts of energy. So, in the end, I am responsible for how I did this semester. Not too proud of how it turned out, but then again school wasn't my first priority. Starting to come to terms with what the loss of my mother means to me is my first priority. This includes finding a new "normal" way of life and continuing to open myself to my friends, family, and Jason. The only way for me to get through this time is going to be to just go through it and actually allow myself to feel everything that I need to feel. Not letting it out would be a big mistake. At the same time, expressing these feelings is would of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. I just gotta say, mom, I miss you so much. Happy Mother's Day and Birthday wherever you are.

Four down, two to go Yeah! I have taken or turned in four of my final exams. Tonight I have calc, a weekend of rest and then a "normal" exam for Abnormal Psych. Then I will be completely done for the rest of the semester. I actually finished my Poly Sci paper on time and it didn't suck! I've posted some more pictures on in my photo gallery or our recent trip to Columbus and a few pictures of Patsy. Patsy is just so cute. She makes me want to get a dog so bad. Who knows, if consulting work is plentiful this summer, I might just be able to get a dog. I've been researching speed issues with respect to PHP's Java module. There just seems to be a bunch of overhead because a new JVM is started up each time that the page is loaded. Also, network socket performance seems to be extremely poor. Not sure if it is the fulfillment provider, PHP, the box, or a combination. I'll post more thoughts as I find out more.

Semester Slowly Ending!

Three exams down, a final policy paper (due at 1pm), a comprehensive calc exam tonight, and an Abnormal Psych exam on Tuesday. Then I will be free of classes for the summer!

I feel like Thomas the Train. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!