wedding dreams, cats, and physiology grades

So last night I had the first of what I'm sure will be many dreams about the wedding. I'll preface the story with a physiology tidbit - we learned a few chapters about the regions of the brain that are active and inactive during dreaming (in REM, or "Paradoxical" sleep). All of your sensory areas and emotional centers are extremely active, but the region of your brain that handles logic and reason is completely inactive. So you see all this stuff going on, and your emotions run high, and your brain just runs with it, because it can't stop to say "pink and purple spotted elephants don't usually put bombs in people's cars" or something like that. Anyway, the dream: it was snowing. My quantitative analysis professor from spring of '03 was driving a monorail around. Everyone was there for the ceremony. And Matt was wearing some sort of fur-lined cape (he looked very dashing, actually). The wedding actually seemed to be taking place in Germany or something. So yeah, hopefully the next wedding dream I have will get more right than just: a) me being happy, and b) me marrying the right person.

To backtrack a bit...yesterday was good. I went to class and then came home to study intermittently until it was time for my test. Dr. Hildreth had given me to okay to miss work, and that worked out excellently. I was able to go through all the material again and get one last look. There was more going on than just studying, though. First off, I made Emily play some Tekken Tag Tournament with me during a study break. I'd been wanting to play it for a while now, and since you can play as a team rather than against each other, I thought Em might be game. Besides, I thought it would be good research for her upcoming Judo tournament. So that was fun. Then, around 3:30 there was a knock on the door, and Emily's aunt was standing in the doorway. She was with her daughter Jenny, having come from a visit to her mom in San Antonio, and they were stopping here to take a campus tour for Jenny. They stopped at the duplex (they knew how to get here because other daughter Rachel lived here a few years ago) to get directions to campus and also to ask us to cat-sit. Yes, in their van were two slightly frightened (read: shedding like mad) cats. So we gathered them up and put them in the bathroom (we were afraid of cat pee). They were extremely sweet. Both had the very soft, thick short fur of a Russian Blue, and one was all gray (blue) and one was gray and tan speckled. I think they were littermates, because they got along tremendously. Em and I wanted to adopt them on the spot. But they went back to Dallas after the campus tour.

I had to leave the cats at 4:35 to take my physiology test. I was really concerned, because I thought the material was hard (it covered the three muscle types: skeletal, smooth, and cardiac, and the heart) and it was so similar it was easy to become confused. And the heart is just a complicated subject. Also, I hadn't started really studying until Sunday because of wedding excitement and activity over the weekend. Finally, I've been somewhat distracted throughout this whole unit because of wedding stuff. My hopes weren't high, but I had still been keeping up with the material and everything, so I didn't expect to fail either. Coming out of the test, I thought I'd done okay (B range) - I'd had to guess more than the other two tests. I knew I'd just have to wait and see. So I went home and relaxed. I thought about watching a health lecture but instead I played some Tekken and Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. I also talked on the phone with Matt for a while, and then Mom and Dad. They'd been to Brittany's trumpet recital and wanted to tell me all about it. They said Brittany sounded amazing and was very professional. I really wish I could've been there! :( But I was glad to get such a good report from Mom and Dad. They also got several "congratulations" regarding the engagement. They were a little surprised at who knew about it, but according to Mr. Cruz, "Everybody knows." :)

Today I had class, SI, picked up my graduation announcements, and worked (my feet hurt). Amanda came by work and gave me an engagement present - it is this awesome silver frame with the picture of Matt proposing on one knee in it, and the frame is engraved with "Matt & Cameron Engaged 6-30-04." It is an amazing and thoughtful gift! It made my day. I'm very lucky to have Amanda as a friend (and bridesmaid!).

I published this post and realized I'd forgotten to tell how I did on my test. I made a 97.5%, which means I only missed one question, which means I get lunch from my profs! (Not to mention the fact that I did way better than I thought I would and I am thrilled!)

Yes, We've Picked a Date

Friday, June 17 2005

Place: The Dallas Arboretum
Maid of Honor: Leslie
Bridesmaids:
Amanda
Brittany
Emily

Matt hasn't announced (talked to) his groomsmen/best man yet, in case anyone is wondering. But now that I've talked to all my people and the date became semi-official (in that we reserved the place we wanted), I got excited and had to share. :)

A Fun Weekend

I had a great weekend. Thursday's lab only took 90 minutes, so I got to Dallas in time to see Matt's family before they left for vacation in Aspen. Then Matt and I ordered a pizza and hung out - I was tired from a week of school and Matt still had work the next day, so I went home early.

On Friday, Mom, Dad, and I went to the Arboretum to check it out as a potential wedding site. They had already been there and had been shown all the locations for ceremonies and receptions, so Dad served as my tour guide. We also went to the Meadows museum (reception possibility) and Northpark - Dad for Rotary and Mom and me for lunch and whatnot. We went to Cranes and looked at wedding invitations. After Rotary was over, we all went upstairs to look at Maggiano's, a good rehearsal dinner location. Friday afternoon I had to study (and accidentally napped). When Matt got back from work, we went to his uncle Charlie and aunt Meredith's house for dinner and fun. We had a great time - we ate dinner and then played Dance Dance Revolution until past ten. Johnny (the oldest at 15) is really good. I had never done it before...I was not good. But it was fun. Matt and I are thinking about getting the game and dance pads for our anniversary present to each other. :)

Saturday started out very similarly for me. We went to the Arboretum and Dad gave the tour again, this time to Matt. I stayed very quiet so Matt could form his own opinions. We had lunch in the little cafe, which is actually part of one of the reception sites. After our meal, the caterer that Mom and Dad had already met came to talk with us. She was very friendly and knew all about catering weddings at the Arboretum. After lunch, we went to SMU and looked at Perkins Chapel and the Meadows museum. When we got home, Mom and Dad packed up for the miniranch and left, while Matt and I contemplated wedding stuff. Then we went to visit Carolyn (we hadn't seen her since before the engagement), and later I watched a health lecture while Matt did laundry. In the evening, we went to Amore for dinner and then saw Anchorman. Afterwards, Matt had to pack up for his trip to New Jersey (national KPMG training for a week), so I just kept him company. I took Matt to the airport in the morning, and then headed to College Station straight from DFW. The drive was really easy - I didn't even have to detour in Richland, which was great. Then I just studied away for my physiology test on Tuesday.

Today was uneventful. Tonight I'm just studying for my test. I asked Dr. Hildreth if I could miss work tomorrow to study and prepare for the test, and he said yes. That's a relief, because I've established a test-day routine that seems to be working for me. It also means I can eat lunch at home and not stay on campus all day. That makes me happy. What a nice boss I have!

Tired...but happy!

I'm tired. My plans to go to bed early sort of worked out, in that I turned the light out at 11:30 instead of my usual midnight; unfortunately, I didn't sleep well at all. I got up at 7:00 this morning to go to the early physiology class at 8. I did this so that I could have the four hours between class and lab to get lots of stuff done, mostly related to my trip back to Dallas for the weekend. I'm planning on leaving town straight from lab, so I have to get my car all loaded up and whatnot. Also, Ashley (Emily's good friend and former dormmate) is coming down this weekend for her birthday (happy birthday, Ashley!) and I want to get my room suitable for her. I'm really looking forward to Dallas this weekend. I get to see Matt and give him NCAA Football 2005 (for Xbox), we're doing lots of wedding stuff, including touring the Arboretum, and we're going to hang out (i.e. show off the ring) with his aunt Meredith and and uncle Charlie.

Last night was very fun. I picked up Amanda after I got off work around 6 and we went to Luby's for dinner. Then, we went back to her apartment and talked at her place until 8:45...mostly about wedding stuff. Yay!

Today in lab we're supposed to look at a turtle heart. Apparently if you put it in the right kind of solution, it will keep beating for weeks after extraction. Oh, and if anyone is curious, I got my health midterm grade back: 92! There was either a huge curve or I'm an awesome guesser (both?), but I have no idea how I managed to get an A. I'm not complaining though - when I came out of that test, I thought I'd be lucky to pass the class, and now I might actually be able to get an A!!! :)

mook

Yesterday was the first day of my first week with a set work schedule. It was moderately horrible, in that it was long and involved a three hour chunk of physiology. I went to class and listened to the lecture. In the 40 minute period between class and SI, I read my physiology book over the material we'd just covered. Then I had an hour and a half SI over that same material (it was a double SI to catch us up from the July 4th weekend - luckily it also counted as two SI's). Then I had a hurried lunch and rode my bike through the hotness to work. Work was good and bad. Good: I work with Larissa on Mondays and Wednesdays (we worked a lot together last fall and had genetics together last spring - she's very nice and fun to work with); the two newbies that work with us are cool and enthusiastic and quick to learn; I made money. Bad: I broke my Oakleys when they fell backwards off my head and landed on the hard tile floor (I tried to superglue them back together but it didn't work...I may try again today and use more glue); we have a new system where two experienced people are assigned to each lab (organic I lab, II lab, or cowboy organic lab) and are responsible for making sure the chemicals and bins are ready - this wouldn't be bad (the concept is a good one) but it is already leading to statements like "that's not my responsibility" which isn't the way the job is supposed to work, and also, sometimes one of the two people can slack and the other one has to do it all (...Hypothetically, of course...).

I got home from work, ate dinner, watched a Seinfeld, did some studying, and then Emily and I watched I Love the 90's: 1990. It was interesting, because some of the stuff they mentioned, I definitely remembered from my own experience (e.g. snap bracelets) but other things I'd never heard of (The Lambada?). Then we watched Road Rules and I talked to Matt. His first day of work was Monday - it went well. Then I read my insect book and went to bed. I'm home right now, taking my lunch break in between class and work. Since I have to eat on campus Monday and Wednesday (and usually Thursday), coming home on Tuesdays is definitely worth it. And I actually got something done with my time: I watched a health lecture on John Henryism (which my prof insisted on pronouncing "John Henry-in-ism," much to my annoyance).

Oh, goodness, it's time to pack up for work and SI... :)