No, it’s not really my birthday, but I just did a bit of birthday shopping. The man friend gave me a gift certificate so I could knock down my wish list on Amazon. Want to see what I got? Sure you do!

Like I’m really going to resist adding this to my DVD collection?

Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot. I haven’t read any of her others books and thought I should start somewhere.

How Not to Write: An Office Primer for the Gramatically Perplexed

The Personal Organizing Workbook

Final Exam: A Surgeon’s Reflections on Mortality by Pauline W. Chen

Thanks man friend I’m already having a difficult time deciding which one I’m going to read first!

Tell me, what’s on your wish list?

Despite the ongoing mucky-muck with my dad and my sore neck/back, I think I had a pretty eff’in good weekend. Let’s recap shall we?

Friday:
- Received my muscle man.
- Finished a whole chapter of math homework during the debates.
- Still smitten.

Saturday:
- Went to Sam’s Club for the first time ever. A giant tub of cheese balls, Flinstone vitamins and tampons that came with a free razor? Yes please!
- Discovered I can fit 11 cheese balls in my mouth at once.
- Saw Choke with the man friend.

Sunday:
- Spent another Sunday morning being lazy in bed.
- Checked out Tiffany’s apartment and am pretty sure I’ll be moving out within the next month.
- Had a pretty good dinner and some laughs with the grandfolk and man friend.
- Bears won

So what if I’ve since fallen behind on math homework, still lack a bed and can’t move my shoulder blades without complaining. What matters is that there’s a whole lot of good mixed in with a little bit of bad. I haven’t had a chance to catch up on my reader (I will tonight!)

What was the best part of your weekend?

P.S. Did you know that there is a difference between snoring and sexy snoring? Apparently there is

Here are my favorites from this week’s batch. Be sure to check out the rest at PostSecret

I LOVE this one, even if they did spell weird wrong.

Earlier today I was telling man friend how I thought September was a pretty bad month for me. Between school, dad drama, gramps drama and being a woman drama (that shit follows you everywhere!) I decided that I’d chalk it up to a bad month. Thankfully it is almost over and October will hopefully be less crazy. (Especially if this roomie thing works out because I was promised some baked goods :P)

This week I helped out a friend with some blog questions. Sadly she had to move her blog twice because of a stalkerish ex. How uncool is that? So for her privacy and sanity I won’t be linking to her. Just know that she’s a pretty kick ass lady because today I found this waiting for me when I got home:

Oh yes. It’s a 3D anatomic model puzzle of a muscle man. It comes with a skeletal layer, a nervous layer and, of course, muscles. There’s 46 pieces all together. It’s ridiculously fun to put together and take apart. I’m already thinking about buying the human torso and the eyeball. My mom and grandparents can vouch for how excited I was when I opened the box. This definitely made my week end on a high note!

Oh! And in other good news, my gramps came home today. He had some sores of some sort on his duodenum (my favorite word ever!), but he should be fine. Fingers crossed that’s what was actually causing the problem and he’ll be back to his normal self in no time.

Thank you for commenting on my previous post. I’m having a blast learning secrets about you all - especially you Nico and Annette!

I hope you all have fantastic weekends.

- I sing along with Dashboard Confessional, Tom Petty and Frou Frou in the car.

- I have a big fear of toilets. I put toilet paper down on the seats in my own house! Knowing that someone other than myself is using them creeps me out. Occasionally I’m afraid that I will open the lid and it will be full of bees. Thank you very much Candyman.

- I’m afraid of my basement. Whenever it’s time to go back upstairs I switch off the lights and run as if something is chasing me. I squeeze my eyes shut and hope I don’t miss a step. I can’t look back. Looking into the dark basement is the worse part. It’s not even a small fear. My heart races and my face gets red. This only happens at night though.

- I still have NO idea what I’m doing at any given time.

- I have two pairs of jeans and wear one of the two pairs on Fridays only.

- When I was in preschool and kindergarten, my mom had an impossible time getting me out of a dress and into a pair of pants. Now it’s the complete opposite. For my graduation from massage school I compromised and wore my rain boots with my dress so I could feel a bit more like “me.”

Tell me something I might not know about you.

We were sitting around the kitchen table when I snapped this little gem:

That would be my grandma drinking wine out of a sippy cup with a crazy straw. It’s not every night that we (mom, me, aunt and grandma) gather around the kitchen table to reminisce about childhood nicknames, unremarkable bladders and jejunums. Today was different because my grandma only had about two hours of sleep last night and spent nearly 12 in the emergency room. My grandpa, who was recently told he had pancreatitis was brought in to the ER this morning after getting really sick last night.

He is currently being held in an isolation room because they believe he could be fighting an infection that may or may not be airborne. However they show little concern over the fact that my grandma and I have been living with him. If I die, Jamie gets my blog. Anyway, my grandpa is in good spirits and will be going through some more tests tomorrow to figure out what is wrong with him. They’ve ruled out pancreatitis and something with his colon. However, as of this evening I guess the colon may be back in the game. My grandma brought home a written report of the test results from today. It mentioned that his intestines were filled with fluid in some areas, which isn’t good. The report also mentioned that his bladder was unremarkable.

When you have four women who are all exhausted, a bit giddy and a bit drunk (I’m looking at you grandma!) the more hilarious everyday words become. So you can imagine how hard we laughed at that statement, “Bladder is unremarkable.” I think our hour-long chit-chat session around the table was exactly what I needed. I accomplished zero studying and homework, but that’s okay. Family is more important. I’m nervous for what tomorrow may bring. I’m nervous about failing another test, but I’m more nervous about my grandpa failing his. Fingers crossed that the doctors figure out what’s wrong and it’s treatable.

A very small part of me feels like I am not managing my time very well. Every night I feel like I don’t have enough time to accomplish the things I need to do. I never feel caught up and I certainly don’t feel ahead. I love school. I am super inquisitive and love learning. So it really freaked me out when the idea of quitting rolled through my mind the other day.

Thursday I have a lab test in anatomy. I will be asked to identify structures on cadavers. I will have one minute at each of 48 stations. No pressure.

Friday I have an exam in my anatomy lecture. I will be tested on eight chapters of information. Information that I completely forgot about. The disadvantage of being in an online course means that I forget that there is more going on than just my lab. People are actually in lectures three days a week. Things are being taught and I am missing out because I forget to listen to the live lectures or read the book.

Friday I also have a math exam that needs to be completed before 9 a.m. Math, as you may remember, is not my strongest subject. I’ve been inching along doing just enough to get by. Unfortunately that requires a 2-3 hour commitment every night. Math teachers have seem to forgotten that their class is not my only class.

I have homework every night and tonight, I’m not doing it. I did about 20 minutes of math and jotted down some anatomy notes during House. I just can’t seem to focus enough to sit there, undistracted, and learn. The worst part is I’ve failed two tests already. I can’t seem to absorb this information. It’s not clicking. I don’t have time for tutors because I go straight to work after school. I can’t drop a class because I have exactly 15 credits, which are needed so I can get my grants.

Still feel this way.

My eyes are tired and my body hurts. I don’t know if it’s stress, lack of sleep or sickness. I can’t seem to get used to this schedule. In order to wake up at 5 a.m. and be functional I need to be in bed no later than 10:30. Math homework rarely allows for that. I wake up at 5 and I am out the door by 6. By 7 I am at school and reading over notes for my first class at 8. Between 8 and 11 I have had three classes. By 11:30 I am at work. I am home by 5:30 and settle into my room for a night full of studying, lab reports, case studies, math tests, note taking and reading. I need to complete all of that by 10:30 so I can be prepared for class the next day.

I feel like I don’t have enough time to get this stuff done. My classes are too close together. I feel like I’m working too much, but I’m not working enough to afford much!

On top of all of that, I have a dad who is trying to hit me up for money, steal my bed out of storage and shower me with guilt. I have an aunt who is so far over the edge and she’s dragging me along with her. I don’t even want to answer my phone anymore when those two call, but I do because I’m all they have. And then there’s that guilt thing.

In addition to that, because it’s just not enough, I am faced with having to move out. Finding rent that’s affordable while working only 16 hours a week is not fun. Hopefully a potential roommate situation works out so I can cross this one off of my list. I don’t want to jinx it, so if you don’t read her blog, you won’t know unless it works out!

A million and one things are going through my mind at any moment and the amount of energy it takes for me to slow down those thoughts and focus on something is double the amount it should take. I am wearing myself out and I’m not sure how to get settled into this schedule. I’m starting my fifth week and I’m feeling more behind than ever.

I feel bad complaining because I’m sure people have it way worse than me. I know I won’t quit school. I’m determined to finish, but something needs to change. I can’t maintain this type of schedule for the next two-three years. And please don’t tell me it will get easier. If I’m struggling now with the basics, how will it be when I get into the harder courses?

I am shocked and appalled at how many of you support skipping classes. For shame! I kid

I just remembered that I haven’t chosen a winner for the skeleton naming contest yet. That is about to change my friends.

Originally I thought there would be only one winner, but there were so many names I liked that I had to give my skeleton a first, middle and last name.

The man friend won the last name category with “Bones.” It’s predictable, but fitting. Plus I just like saying it. His prize is that he get to keep making out with me.

Then my mom submitted Leonitis and I just happen to love that name. Since she gave birth to this precious piece of work called me, she doesn’t get a prize either. (Do check out her blog!)

So finally I’ve decided on Bartleby Bones submitted by Nancy Pearl Wannabe.

NPW, send me an email with your address so I can send you all sorts of goodies from BlogHer! Thanks to everyone who submitted a name. Next up on the giveaway list is a wine-themed prize. Stay tuned for that!

Bartleby Leonitis Bones. (What a name!)

I’ve done something that I’m not proud of. I’m pretty ashamed actually. I feel like I should make this up some how.

Typically at 8:43 a.m. (yeah it took me 20 minutes to write this) on Monday I am trying desperately to stay awake in my chemistry lecture. Obviously I am not there or I would not be blogging. Being the genius that I am I decided that it would be a good day to skip my morning classes. I got home later than intended. I knew that waking up at 5 was going to be difficult. And after last week, I thought I deserved an extra day of “rest.” (I say “rest” because I have every intention of making it to my afternoon labs.)

It was an easy decision based on two little facts: 1. My classes have about 350-ish students in them & no attendance. 2. Everything is online.

In my defense, this is all the man friend’s fault. He wined, dined and wooed me all weekend. Obviously I’m not to blame. If he would have said, “Jenn, I hate your face. Go home!” I would have left much earlier. Instead he did not and chose to snugs with me instead. What can I say? I’m a sucker for the snugs.

I am feeling guilty though. I really didn’t have a “good” reason to skip. After I catch up on blogs I’ll spend my morning catching up on the math homework I didn’t do. See? It’s not all fun and games here at Jenn’s Monday Morning Off Party.

Hope all of you had fun weekends. If you did something particularly awesome that you think I’d want to know about so I could live through you, please share in the comments

P.S. Guess who’s as smitten as a kitten?

P.P.S. Who decided that kittens were smitten? Is it only because it rhymes? My cats don’t seem too smitten.

Here are my favorites from this week’s batch of secrets. Be sure to check out the rest at PostSecret.