Thanksgiving in Phoenix

We spent a lovely 2.5 days in western Phoenix, in a new suburb near the White Tank Mountains. I had never been there before. Kevin's relatives moved there a few months ago fter retirning from Boston and own a huge 3000+ sf home with giant living room, high ceiling and 1.5 acre lot. It's ideal for hosting large parties which they love to do and I got to meet all of Kevin's relatives. Most I didn't know.

Weather was cool but fine.

Another semester coming to an end

Although we have three weeks left, I feel the end is near. It wasn't so chaotic this time around, but I also only took three courses. So far, so good.

But then I wanted to sign up for more classes today but was denied registration for two of them (both history classes) because I hadn't taken a required reading comprehension test yet! Oh. My. God. A person with my grades and my English abilities has to take a reading test? The counselor would not budge. (Previous ones saw my grades and were more common sensical and signed me up for the courses anyway. Not this woman.). Cochise College is so discouraging when it comes to bright, talented students. I feel like I am treated like a kid. I hope UA is much better.

So next Thursday at 3pm I'm scheduled to take a reading and a math test. I need to see where my math abilities are before I can even sign up for the elementary algebra course next semester. The sooner I take that placement exam, the sooner I can register for it.

My Spanish 102, English 201 and Biology 101 classes are all online. I'm not so sure I'm going to enjoy the online Spanish class. How can one effectively learn a language without regular human interaction?! My counselor wanted to assure me that on-line classes is what the current generation prefers. If that's the case, the current generation is going to have problems at regular jobs if they can not interact normally.

This whole idea of having to take a placement reading exam just urks me. Is this just a Cochise College requirement, to make sure it doesn't allow non-English-comprehending students from taking reading/writing intensive classes or is this a state-wide requirement?

I'll need to remain upbeat.

Although I've enjoyed the classes this semester and the classmates I've had, I've gotten burned out by all the studying. Kevin thinks I overdo it. (He told me when we were in Florida that I take the classes way too seriously). He'd like to take an American History class but doesn't want to have to write papers "After I've seen how you write all the time." He has a point. My office looks like I've got research and scholarly papers all over the place. Part of that is me throwing the papers on the ground, part of it is from the cat knocking stuff off the desk. As soon as this semester is over, I'm cleaning house. I can't stand the mess.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. We are expecting the coldest holiday in 30 years, with freezing temperatures in the valley tomorrow overnight.

Meanwhile, North Korea blasted artillery toward a South Korean island yesterday morning, killing two South Korean soldiers. My history instructor fears a WWIII will break out in that part of Asia before this week is over. I hope not. We have American troops there along the DMZ risking their lives for another country's people.

Universal Studios

It was a week ago this morning that K and I flew to Orlando for my sister's wedding. This was my first family wedding I attended!

It was a beautiful wedding. Alex had put her entire heart into organizing the perfect wedding: from a gorgeous wedding dress to location, minister, food menu and vows. About 30 people attented this wedding and everyone flew or drove down from other places to attend.

I even enjoyed Universal Studios, although I'm not a fan of amusement parks. After the wedding ceremony and reception Matt had us all go on a scavenger hunt around the park. Iris and I were teamed up with two other women we had never met before. One of the other women, Linda, had as much fun as Iris and I had looking for the hidden secrets. The hunt was a good way to get familiarized with the park.

We arrived in Orlando Thursday afternoon, rested at the hotel and enjoyed a free meal at the next-door TGI Friday's for Veteran's Day. TGI Friday's went all-out as well and offered their free meals to all Veterans for FOUR DAYS! That means that K and I enjoyed two breakfasts and two dinners there, always getting great service. TGI Friday's meals are much more diverse than Applebee's.

The park itself was crowded. We went on a few rides but spent most of our time walking around and looking at stuff. We rode the Spiderman ride. We tried out the Harry Potter ride (which broke down on us while we were in it!). The Hulk rollercoaster gave me nausea and a headache. We floated through Jurassic Park a few times, always managing to avoid a major soaking.

Saturday we opted to visit the park again and ride some more. The Harry Potter ride broke down on Saturday as well for 20 minutes. We tried Butterbeer and sported frothy white mustaches, although I'm not crazy about the Butterscotch concoction.

Weather was ideal although it got cool after sunset. This, however, was not an easy feat because one of my family members demanded we spend the entire time in Orlando as a family. Since this was as much my vacation as it was K's, I sided with K and refused to play along. Oh well. Most of the other family members supported my decision. K and I ended up having a great time all last weekend. We made Orlando a mini-vacation we both promised to repeat again in another city next year, like Portland or Seattle.

We stayed at the Double Tree Hotel located a block away from the Universal Studio's main entrance on Major Drive. One can't see the entrance as it's covered with foliage but we learned that it's a mere half-mile away. Cabs charge $5 a ride to get there from the hotel. The hotel was rather basic. There is no free continental breakfast. The rooms have refrigerators and coffee makers and decent cable TV, but in-room WiFi costs $9.95 a day. Free WiFi is only in the lobby area. I saw a cockroach hiding behind the hotel room's desk the second night I was there.

We will most likely never go back to Universal Studios. It was a one-time event we enjoyed, though.

In Limbo

I was up late Sunday night working on an English paper. At 1am local time I got an email from Eric:

...I'm being kicked out of my apartment. Not because I skipped out on rent or was too messy or too loud. But because Derek, my friend and roommate, is moving back with mommy and daddy and I'm being kicked out too because he doesn't want me living with his girlfriend. There's also the amazing part where he told me to make sure I move out at the same time he does so his girlfriend isn't screwed over on the rent.
So, being in a position where my best friend is basically fucking me over without any kind of remorse or respectful consolance, I'm getting the fuck out as soon as possible - and I'm seriously considering Arizona as a viable option. And since I'm wasting my time and money here with two people I thought had class and respect, I think school mY be the best thing. So I would greatly appreciate the following info:
What schools are available out there?
What information or papers would I need to bring?
When would be a good time to make the transfer over there?
That's all I can think of for now. I hope to hear from you soon.

I immediately sent him a reply saying that I was glad he finally got his shit together and decided school is the answer. He's spent the last four years "Finding himself" and working jobs an unskilled illegal immigrant would take. Friends who have all gone on to college are now graduating and he's still at the starting point in his life. I'll do whatever it takes to get him through school but he has to show me he's serious.

I told him he could come as soon as 15 November, but that the house would be a mess since I'm busy with college and Kevin doesn't do a damn thing around the house unless it's his personal stuff he's cleaning up.

So I wrote him back with the Cochise college spring schedule (which came out yesterday), and even showed him UA's schedule. I called him soon thereafter and only got his voice message.

Three more attempts to call him during the day also proved fruitless. All I got was his annoying voice message.

Finally, yesterday afternoon I got another email from him that sounded less desperate:

I think writing would be my best option for classes. Also, I need to talk to dad to see what he's able to do. I need to weigh all my options before I make a move.

That tells me he's back to Ground Zero again. Which means he most likely has decided to stay in Indiana. I'll help him as much as I helped out Erin with her dental classes but I will not go into debt for it at this point. Even when I compared tuition between Cochise College, UA and IU, Cochise's non-resident rates are cheaper than IU for the first two classes. Eric would have to take the standard Liberal Arts courses to get a degree in Creative Writing.

I have opted not to expect Eric here in January. I'll drive home for C'mas and hear from him then what his decision is and I'll honor it. It will also be the last time I stand by for him as I'm tired of his constant indecisions. There will always be a room for him here but the next time he asks to come in he may find the house empty.

Two years later...

I remember the glee I felt when Obama was elected our new president. I also remember the hope I had for change.

The change never came and hope faded. I can't point my finger on just one issue that made me lose hope. It was a number of issues that piled up and got out of hand: the troop increase in Afghanistan. The continued bail-out of big corporations. Pushing his "Obamacare" to everyone despite that requiring even more tax increases for many who are barely scraping by. I'm sure there are more issues that waned hope for me.

So, it was no surprise then that Democrats lost six seats in the Senate. They deserved to lose the majority they had. They hadn't deserved to continue at the helm. Now Republicans are the majority in the House which hopefully means better checks and balances when it comes to appropriations. Not that the Republicans have been fiscally responsible, either these last ten years, but at least there is bi-partisan control in Congress.

I'm not expecting the GOP guys to get along with the Dems or vice versa. But I do want to see more focus on the wants and needs of Americans instead of lobbyists.

Governor Brewer won re-election hands-down. So did Senator McCain for his 5th term. Tom Horne is the state's new Attorney General and John Hoppenthal the new Chief of Public Instruction. The county race is still being tabulated, and it's a very close call between incumbent Gabriele Giffords and GOP Jesse Kelly.

Medical marijuana use was voted down. So was making hunting a constitutional state right.