Reflection

My Fall semester is slowly coming to an end, and I have to admit that I am ecstatic! Everyone needs a break every now and then. This Winter break could not have come at a better time for me. I am getting overwhelmed with work and managing my time. I am working very hard to stay on top of my school work and reading, but it is getting to become stressful and difficult to accomplish everything. I am a little scared for the next few weeks because I do not have many days off, and I have a list of things coming up for school that need to be fulfilled before the semester ends. My school jobs are as follows: complete study guide for Political Participation, complete study guide for Middle Eastern politics, work on group presentation for Small Groups, create presentation for 100W, and finish reading Political Participation book and write 5-page paper, write 5-page paper for 100W. All of this needs to be done on top of working with only a few days off in the next two weeks, and not neglecting the people in my personal life. I honestly just can't wait for this semester to be done. Overall, I can say I'm pretty happy with the way my semester worked out. I am actually glad that I did not have a job for most of it. Prior to taking my 100W class, I was told that it would probably be one of the hardest classes I would take, and that it would take up a lot of my time. On the first day of school, I was a little intimidated about having one paper due each week. As the semester went on, I really got the hang of the way that the class worked, and I was easily able to deal with the one paper a week. I am glad to be ALMOST done with my 100W class for San Jose State University. I hope my next few semesters at SJSU will go just as smoothly, that I will score very well on the LSAT, and that I get into Santa Clara school of law!

Vocab Words:

abaciscus (noun): architecture. a small abacus.

avuncular (noun): of or pertaining to characteristics of an uncle. avuncular affection.

Thanksgiving

I have been looking very forward to Thanksgiving for a number of reasons. First, my older sister will be home for the holiday. Second, I will have a break from school and work - at least for two days. Last, I will be able to see my boyfriend's family that I have not seen in a while. The one downside, and it is a big one, is that my mother is having foot surgery the day before Thanksgiving : ( The only reason she scheduled her surgery before Thanksgiving is that she is a teacher. This way she will have a few extra days off work, without having to actually miss work. My sisters and I will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner at my house, then I will be going to my boyfriend's uncles' house later in the evening. I do not think my mother will even have much of an appetite, so our dinner will be somewhat smaller than past years. Also, the night before Thanksgiving is supposed to be a very popular night to go out on. I am assuming this is because everyone is home for the holiday, and friends get together to go out. I want to see all my friends that are coming home and I know everyone will want to get together, but there is one person that I have had a fall out with right before he left for school in August. This is my friend, or ex-friend, Drew, whom I have not spoken to in about 3 months. I saw him once on Halloween and tried talking to him, but he decided to be immature and completely ignore me. The story of what happened between us two is long, but he was in the wrong as many others and I claim. He will not apologize to me and I, of course, will not apologize for anything because I did nothing wrong. He simply stirred up commotion while my friends and I were out one night, and the issue has remained unresolved. I thought that time would heal the drift that has occurred between the two of us, but judging from Halloween, I am assuming this to be wrong. I am not looking forward to seeing him on Thanksgiving. To top it all off, he is now dating my old best friend from high school. She has changed SO much, that I no longer consider her my friend. I think this makes the situation with me and Drew worse. Drew and his girlfriend have a sad relationship, based on drinking, partying, and sex. I am a mature person, who believes I have a good family and boyfriend. I am going somewhere in my life and I do not need to associate with people like the two of them; therefore, I am not looking forward to seeing how my pre-Thanksgiving awkwardness will unfold.

Vocal Words:

Dumbledor (noun): a bumblebee

Bant (verb): to lose weight, diet.

Oops. . .

I have been so busy with school and work that I forgot to publish my post for last week. Therefore, this is my post that was supposed to be due by Monday, November 16, 2009. I recently wrote about getting a job at Nordstrom. My job has been fun, but it has also been very hectic. I feel like I have no free time. I go to school, I work, and I do homework on my days off. By the time I get off work I am usually tired from running around all day long - getting people clothes, putting clothes away, gift wrapping and making boxes, etc. When I see my boyfriend, after a long day of work, I usually pass out within an hour and a half or so. I feel bad, because I know that he wants to spend time with me and vice versa. I am just so burnt out after a long day of work, or school and work, that when I get to the end of my day I do not want to talk, and I just want to sleep. My boyfriend has been very understanding of this, and has actually really been taking care of me when I do see him. Lately, my boyfriend has been doing small things for me that really show me he loves me. For example, the other night was the Christmas tree lighting in Santana Row. My boyfriend bought me coffee, took me to watch the performances and the tree lighting, and then to dinner at Maggiano's, in Santana Row. I absolutely love eating at Maggiano's. My boyfriend ordered my favorite meal for me, and we had a wonderful dinner. My boyfriend also goes to school, does MMA and kickboxing, and is very into working out. The two of us know that our schedules are both very busy, but we still make some it a point to spend as much quality time with each other as possible.

Vocab Words:

Atrophy (noun): degeneration, decline, or decrease as from disuse.

Kerfuffle (noun): commotion, disorder.

EXCITED : )

I got the job at Nordstroms! Yaay : ) I am excited to be a working woman making some money, once again! I attended an open interview last Monday for Nordstroms and interviewed with two hiring managers. Both managers expressed that they liked me and thought I would be great for the job. One of the managers I interviewed with manages a department I wanted to work in more, but her position was seasonal. The other manager manages in a department which attracts a little bit older women and her position was permanent. I was torn on which position I would want more, because either I would be temporary and work in a department I liked more or I would be permanent and work in a department I liked a little less. Of course, I had decided that I would take either job, because the first manager told me it would be easy to keep my job if I worked hard and made my sales goals. The first manager just called me and offered me the seasonal position in the Point of View department! I gladly accepted, and I start work tomorrow! I will have to get back into the swing of working and going to school at the same time. I was actually planning on starting my 100W paper 5 tomorrow, but I will be training from 9am-5pm, and I'm sure I will be exhausted by the time I get off. My new manager, Brittany, said that I could stop by the department and pick up my schedule tomorrow after training. I am excited and scared to see how much I will be scheduled. I like to believe I am a hard worker and very organized so I know I can balance this job along with the many other things I do. Nordstroms is a commission-based store so I am hoping to sell a lot, hence make a lot of money! I can't wait to see how this journey goes. I hope I like it as much as I'm making myself think I will. . . : )

Vocab Words:

secularism (noun): a system of political or social philosophy that rejects all forms of religious faith and worship.

monarchy (noun): supreme power or sovereignty held by one single person.

Happiness : )

Lately, things have been going wonderfully for me. This past weekend I went on my weekend getaway. I drove to San Luis Obispo on Friday with my boyfriend and a few of our friends and spent the night there, then on Saturday we drove to Santa Barbara. First of all, the downtown shopping is amazing! Although I really didn't buy anything but two beautiful rings, I absolutely loved it. On Halloween night, we went to Isla Vista. I really do not know what all the hype is about that place. I'm glad I went to experience the whole So Cal thing myself, but seriously people get drunk and walk down the street. . . why? I came back home on Sunday and it definitely felt good. As fun as trips and vacations are, I always love coming back home to my own place. Today, I went in for an interview at Nordstroms. I absolutely love that store as a customer, so I figured I would apply for a job (at least seasonal). I do not want to work in retail year round. Unfortunately, I have been looking to be a receptionist or assistant to a receptionist or lawyer or something in a law firm but have not found anything fit for me on Craig's List or by word of mouth. Every post I see either requires a Bachelor's degree, full-time, or specific hours that I could not do because I will be at school. Therefore, I have decided that I will not mind working retail but continuing my search for the job I want at a law firm to at least expose me to that type of environment. I know I did so well on the interview today. One of the two managers I met with told me to expect a call from HR soon because she wanted me to work in her department. This is a little exciting because 1) I will have a source of extra income, and 2) I will get a discount at my favorite store. I just have to be careful to save and not spend everything I make. I can do it though!

Vocab Words:

stymie (noun): a situation or problem presenting such difficulties as to discourage or defeat any attempt to deal with or resolve it.

accretions (noun): an increase by natural growth or by gradual external addition.

TOTALED CAR!! : (

I have always been known to have bad luck. All week long I had been planning to spend my Friday at the King library, working on my second 100W paper. This morning I woke up to a cat's non-stop meowing. I opened my window and saw a little gray and white cat suck on the ledge outside my window. I was able to locate the cat's (Scuddle) home number and gave his mother a call. My dad came home from work to help get the cat down safely and return him home. While it felt good to rescue the little cat, it delayed my study plans. I was eating breakfast when my younger sister called me. I answered my phone but I could not hear anything she was saying and she could not hear anything i was saying. I called her with my home phone and she said she wanted to come with me. I waited about five minutes for her to get home, we took my dog on a walk, then wen to get coffee. At Starbucks, the barista made me the wrong drink, so she re-made the one I had actually ordered but still gave us the extra drink. We decided to take it to my mother, since she works down the street. This delayed my plans once again. After dropping off the coffee, we were finally on our way to school. I drove onto 85S then 87N. I was driving in the middle lane of a three-lane freeway. Just a mile and a half before our exit, I noticed a small, crappy, black car to my right was merging into my lane without using his signal. I honked my horn but he continued to drive towards my car. In an attempt to prevent an accident, I tried turning my wheel to the left but this made my old '98 VW Beetle go haywire! I spun around once, hit the cement center divide, spun around again, hit the center divide once more, spun halfway around and finally stopped horizontal to the traffic coming on the freeway. I was in shock at first, seeing the low-life that caused my accident drive right off. I was also surprised that my airbags did not come out. The coffee my sister and I got before hand spilled EVERYWHERE: my hair, my face, the ceiling of the car, seats, and windows. The whole front end of my car was smashed in, the front headlight was hanging on by one wire, liquid was spilling out from the front end, and smoke was coming out of my hood. I was SO angry! Luckily I did not hit any other car, another car did not hit me, and most importantly my sister and I were okay. Someone stopped behind me and called the police. My phone was not working, and my sister's was dead, so I was so thankful when the man that had stopped let me use his phone to call my dad. My dad arrived at the scene, and we had to get my car towed. Now I am car-less while my little bug is sits in an auto shop. I know it is totaled, which is terrible because I do not know when I'll get a new car. I'm positive the guy that caused this accident looked in his rear-view mirror and saw my car uncontrollably spinning around. I hope he doesn't sleep tonight, knowing he caused such a bad accident. My day has since been filled with contacting the insurance company and soon going to get a rental car. I am in no mood to do homework now, and feel like my day has been completely wasted! : (

VOCAB:

vehement (adj): characterized by anger, strongly emotional

peremtory (adj): positive or assertive in speech, tone, or manner

Halloween

Last year, I did not do much for Halloween. I stayed in with my boyfriend and my sister, handing out candy to the little trick or treaters. For this reason, I want to make this Halloween all the more exciting. Like most other people, I have never been to Santa Barbara, but this may be the special year! I have a friend who just moved down to Santa Barbara for school, and he has invited everyone from San Jose to go down for Halloween. Although the invite is very nice, and I would be with all of my friends there; my first choice would be to stay at a hotel. This is just because I think my friend's house will be a mess with people all over, nowhere to sleep, and waiting for the shower and bathroom to get ready. Currently, my boyfriend, two friends, and I are on the search to find a good, cheap hotel in Santa Barbara to stay at for Halloween night. Usually people going down South for Halloween book their hotel room way in advance. Our plans are a little last minute, so I'm hoping to find something we are looking for. I think it would be a very fun time, and an experience that everyone needs to have at least once during their college career : ) If we go down to Santa Barbara, I think we are planning on going downtown to the bars, since my friends and I are all at least 21 years young. As for a Halloween costume, I think I am pretty set on that. I my boyfriend and I to have matching costumes, and for us to be milk and cookies. Now this is not going to be a full-on milk carton and cookie costume, it will be much more stylish! I'm planning on making our costumes, because I think they always come out better. This will ensure that nobody else will have a costume that looks like mine, seeing as it will come straight from my imagination! I hope our trip works out and that it is a lot of fun. The one thing I'll worry about while away is homework! I will just have to slave away and get as much done as possible, before Halloween weekend. . .

Vocab Words:

explicate (verb): to make plain or clear

concomitant (adj): concurrent, existing or occurring with something else.