Mmmmm…German Potato Salad

I just cooked up a test batch of potato salad, and quite to my surprise, it didn’t suck.  It’s not my Mom’s potato salad, but it was still pretty tasty.  There’s a lingering smell of bacon in the house, and Mike even ate two bowls full.  At this point, the only change I’ll make to the recipe is to use real German vinegar.  It was tasty with the balsamic, but the real stuff will make it more authentic.

So…a week of school is in the books, and it was awesome.  I love my classes.  My professors are great.  I’ve almost got all of my financial aid issues worked out.  For all of the hassle this summer, things are finally going smoothly.  I had a bit of a panic attack last weekend, worrying about whether or not I could handle things once school started.  I had convinced myself that I couldn’t handle the work load, and that there would be no way I could pull my weight around the house and still manage to stay on top of my school work.  Needless to say, it was all for naught.  I’ve got a 20 credit hour course load, but it all seems pretty manageable.  I even picked up an oboe for the first time in a decade and a half.  I’m glad I decided to join the concert band, as it will provide me with a way to blow off some creative steam this semester.  Even my social concerns were pretty unfounded.  Sure, most of the students in my classes were born the year before I graduated from high school, but I’ve talked to a handful of people who are non-traditional students, and even had nice conversations with some of  my younger classmates.

Having talked to a few transfer students, it appears that I’m not the only one who had difficulties with the admissions process this summer.  There were enough complaints and issues that a few of the faculty members have taken it upon themselves to see what can be done to keep things flowing more smoothly in the future.  It was a bit of a relief to hear that I wasn’t the only one who had problems.  I’ve brainstormed it a bit with Mike, and will probably meet with the Associate Dean of my school to give her a couple of suggestions to make things less frustrating.  That way I’m not just complaining, but actively trying to find ways to make things better.

As much as I’d love to keep going here, I’ve got a bunch of homework that still needs to be done.  History 107, here I come!

The week in review

The New Haircut

Hmmm…so much to say and so little ambition to actually type, so I guess I’ll just give a chronology with a few details thrown in.

Sunday (9-1-09) – Long overdue trip to New Dimensions:  I’ve gone a few months without so much as a trim and school starts in a few weeks, so it was time for a haircut.  I decided to go drastic this time, and after my recent experience at the helm of a Flowbee, I decided professional help was warranted.  There are few things in life that are certain, and one of them is always leaving New Dimensions happy, which held true once again.  I went for a deep red and a slightly shorter, layered cut, and have been thrilled with the results.  The true test of a new haircut is whether or not you can come close to styling it again after your next shower, and this one passed with flying colors.  Amanda always seems to come up with cuts that practically style themselves.  I wholeheartedly recommend New Dimensions for anyone in the area.  It seems like whenever I take Conner anywhere else for a cut, we always wind up at New Dimensions getting it fixed the next day.  Great atmosphere, highly trained staff, excellent end result.

Monday-Tuesday: Stared reigning in my calorie count a bit and excercising some more.  The broken toe has put a damper on the running, and my enthusiasm towards fitness in general has waned accordingly.  Of course, by the end of my hour on the recumbent bike Tuesday night, I didn’t think I’d be able to sit again for a week.

Wednesday:  Still eating better.  Picked up EA Sports Active for the Wii, and was really impressed.  I enjoy Wii Fit, but it is a little unstructured and “cutesy,” and what I need now is some serious sweating without having to pick what exercise comes next.  I started the 30 Day Challenge and was instantly running, flexing, jumping, and (most importantly) sweating my butt off.  Great stuff, and I’m very enthusastic to keep going with it.  Conner tried it out as well, and picked out some of the sports training.  Mike gave the it a go as well, and everyone seems to approve.  I won’t turn my back completely on the Wii Fit, but Active is a great alternative when a more serious workout is in order.

Thursday:  Jordan came over to spend the day with us while his little brother had a follow-up appointment at the hospital in Rochester.  We were going to pick blueberries, but the blueberry farm was close.  We decided to hike at Stony Brook State Park instead.  It wasn’t until about the 20th step up the 1 mile gorge trail hike that I was reminded of the previous day’s squats and lunges.  I made it through, though. (Going down the hundreds of steps was worse than going up, surprisingly enough.)  The boys both seemed to enjoy themselves, and were pretty unfazed by the climbing.  The first thing they did when we got back to the playground at the start of the hiking trail was head for the rock climbing wall.  Here are a few pictures from the hike:

Jordan and Conner on a rock ledge

Steps

More steps

Even MORE steps!

Shockingly enough, even after the hike, I was able to do workout 2 of the 30 Day Challenge.  It wasn’t easy, but I managed, and was even able to stand the next morning.

Friday: I went to AU to drop off my admissions paperwork and a few financial aid forms.  I had hoped to talk to my admissions counselor about a few credit transfer questions, but she was otherwise occupied today.  I’ll be making an appointment early next week to get that straightened out.  At the very least, I’m officially accepted and have paid my deposit.  Hopefully we can get the ball rolling on registering for classes by the end of next week.

Unfortunately, things in the financial aid department are not nearly as bright.  I called Direct Loans again today to try to figure out when they were going to stop billing me for the consolidation loan that never actually went through.  They were less than helpful, and said all they could do was send it to their research department and get back to me in two weeks.  I’ll be starting school in two weeks, and actually having money to pay for my books might be nice.  At this point, though, I can’t even reapply for consolidation until they figure out what went wrong the first time.  Then it will be at least a month before the new consolidation is processed.  In the meantime, I have to keep paying on the New York State loans or risk never being able to get them out of default without paying in full.  To say that money is going to be tight around the Stone household for the next couple of months is an understatement, and the lack of work at the print shop has only made the belt tighter.  Mike and I spent the evening figuring things down to the last (somewhat imaginary) penny, and we’ll get through, but not without a heaping helping of sacrifice and a lot of pasta dinners.  At least we’ll be able to keep track of the passage of time by the “new light a week” schedule our dashboard seems to be following.  The car is paid off in full in October, so perhaps it will have the good manners to wait until then to die completely.

In summation:  It’s been a pretty darned good week.  The wheels are in motion for my return to school, and once we get through the financial aid hassles, it should be smooth (however frugal)  sailing  until I get those nifty new degrees and can finally start teaching.