Ten on Leap Day!

A little late, but who's counting? :)

1. I despise my speech teacher. Have I mentioned that already, because I think I have... This lady absolutely unnerves me. Here's the thing: we are in a speech class, so it would be fair to assume that we would, I don't know, give speeches, right? No. Apparently, we live in some parallel universe where talking about politics all hour constitutes as a speech class. Furthermore, we have only given two presentations since January. I talked to a friend who is taking the same class with a different professor, and they are on their fifth speech, and they're learning about the art of public speaking. What a concept! (Note my sarcasm there.) ARGHHH!

2. One more note on the speech class, we have another speech coming up that she told us about today. Most of the work is supposed to be done by Thursday, and we actually give the speeches on Tuesday of next week. These speeches are supposed to include interviews of "anyone, about anything". However, by the end of the class, her original parameters of "anyone & anything" turned into no relatives, must be something of community concern, must be major-specific. Also, she wants us to conduct actual research to make sure that people who are professionals in this career field are "credible". Really? What kind of twisted person would blatantly lie about facts regarding their career? (Well, facts that would in no way change their position/salary/etc.) Sadly, a guy who is a business major cannot interview his dad, who owns his own business, simply to talk about business because he might spin the facts differently because they are related. I'm sure this makes perfect sense to everyone else, but it irks me. With the help of my amazing big sis, Emily, I have found an interviewee, who is one of her co-workers. The specific co-worker is a community planner, which isn't necessarily something I'm looking into, but sounds pretty interesting nonetheless.

3. I took a Calc test today that I went into feeling pretty prepared, but I left feeling pretty unsure. I wish I could say that I feel confident about my grade, but I don't. I'm not excited about getting my grade, and I'm not excited to hear our teacher's reaction to the tests. (Last time wasn't too great either...I did great, but not everyone else was so fortunate.) Here's the thing: I did the homework and I understood the concepts just fine, but when I saw some of the problems on the test, I blanked. Hopefully, I did better than I think I did; I guess I'll find out in about a week or so.

4. It is full-on calving season at home. For the past two weeks or so, our cows have started popping out their calves like crazy. One of my cows had her calf last night, but I have yet to see it. From what I have been told, it is plain black, like most of our cows. This is depressing because its mother has Longhorn blood in her and has a distinct spotted pattern, but I guess when you cross spotted with a black bull, the solid will probably win out. Besides, my dad told me that the Longhorn trait was probably losing its potency in this cow, so there wouldn't be too big of a chance that we'd get another spotted cow. Drat. My favorite thing about Ethel (yes, she randomly has a name...none of our other cows do. Her mom was a bottle calf whose name was Lucy. Surely you catch the "I Love Lucy" reference there..) is her spots because I can easily pick her out of the herd and see what she is doing or if she is okay. Ah, the joys of calving season! (Scotty & Emily aren't having much luck in that department, unfortunately. A story for another time, I suppose.)

5. Tonight I was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa. NO, I am NOT in a sorority, in case you were thinking that. I have a very distinct opinion about sororities, and I will suffice to say that I am against them. (I'll spare you my soapbox after the speech stories.) PTK is an academic honor society for two-year colleges, and most colleges offer sizeable transfer scholarships just because you are a member, so I think that that is a great bonus. It was a nice ceremony, and it was even better because I got to stand by a good friend of mine and meet a few new people, which I always love.

6. One of the people I met tonight was Emily's new babysitter. Emily had called me earlier to tell me that she would be there and to keep an eye out for her, so that I could introduce myself. I met her, and I must say that I am very glad that Emily chose her. She is a wonderful lady, who seems like one of the nicest, most even-tempered persons I have ever met. In an interesting twist of irony, my good friend from the Lit Club has been friends with this lady for many years, and she comes highly recommended from her. (Carrie doesn't mince words about these things.) I told the lady that she truly is a Godsend to Emily, because she saved Emily much more stress and worry. On a last note, she told me that Cole is a good baby and he is absolutely adorable...of course, as his aunt, I was aware of that! :) Cole's babysitter has my seal of approval, Emily!

7. I had a nice visit with my cousins tonight. I haven't seen them in quite some time, and I finally had a night free to do so, so it was just great. They are always a barrel of laughs, and I really needed that after speech and my Calc test today.

8. I also got to see Tevis today. I get so excited about seeing him at school, because it takes quite a bit of doing to be in the right place at the right time to get our schedules to sync up this semester. It was definitely easier last semester, but it isn't completely impossible this semester. Like I said before, it just takes a little bit more effort to make it happen, but it works! And tomorrow night is church, so I will get to see him then!

9. Speaking of church, a couple of interesting tidbits to offer...My mom and I went to church with Mimi in Hennessey on Sunday. This changed things up quite a bit, but it was great. She was having Mass said for Grandpa Rudy, whose 93rd birthday would have been on Monday (2/27). At the end of Mass, the final hymn that was played was "Precious Lord, Take My Hand". This is one of those rare hymns that always makes me cry, but it was even more sentimental because that song was played at Grandpa's funeral. Also, Mimi told us that she wants that song played at her funeral. (A very difficult subject for me to even think about at this point.) Needless to say, I really didn't sing along with that song. Another interesting (and happier) point is that tomorrow, at Cody and Kyle's school, Cody's class will be in charge of taking up the gifts at their school Mass. I usually make it to their weekly school Mass (it works out for me this semester), but I will definitely be there tomorrow morning to see my big boy helping out!

10. Lastly, Happy Leap Day to you all! Today is the day that is only seen every four years, and holds a definite amount of mystique. Tonisha has a cousin whose birthday falls on this day, and she told me that he gets so excited to actually have his day to celebrate it on. Some fun facts I read in the USA Weekend on Saturday: A person has a 1 in 1,461 chance of being born on Leap Day.  Also, Leap Day Babies will never see fifty actual birthdays on Leap Day...Just to turn "29" would make them 116 years old! There is even a website dedicated to the promotion of Leap Day, which you can visit here. (Check out the About Us page...you wouldn't believe the trouble Leapsters go through with their birthdate!)

On that note, I hope you live it up on Leap Day!!! Also, have a great week!