8.20.2008

I Might Just Get Up and Dance or Buy Some Acid-Wash Pants

My last semester in college starts this coming Wednesday -- well, technically Thursday for me, since I don't have class on Wednesday. I always get excited for the new semester. Even though I know about two weeks in I'm going to start counting down the days until the semester is over, it's always fun finding out what books I need, what the requirements for each class are, etc. This semester though, I am especially psyched because I know that the sooner this semester starts, the sooner it is over. The sooner the semester is over, the sooner Corey and I are out of New York (and are parents!!!!!!!!). Whether I'm waiting for the semester to end or begin is not really the point of this post though. I always feel like the beginning of a new semester is a good time to make "New Years resolutions". In no particular order, here are some of the things I hope to accomplish over the next few months.

+Start davening again -- I used to daven shacharis every morning. I was even davening mincha and maariv for a while, but that was mostly because Corey was a gabbai and I just happened to be with him during davening times. I didn't lose faith in davening or anything like that. I just got lazy. But Corey bought this beautiful green siddur in Israel so I'm going to put it to good use -- that is not the only reason I want to start davening again. I'm going to start off slowly; just brachos and shmoneh esrei -- I have the attention span of a- I like candy. Um, what?

+ Master at least 5 new (mostly healthy) recipes. Corey and I have decided to get as healthy as we can be for the new baby. I'm not allowed to exercise or go on a diet, but I am allowed to eat more healthily (actually, I am strongly encouraged to eat more healthily) and, unfortunately, most of my go-to recipes aren't exactly the healthy type. If anyone has any good and healthy recipes please send them my way!

+Keep the apartment clean. For two people living in a nicely sized one-bedroom apartment, Corey and I sure do make a mess quickly. For example, right now I am sitting in the living/dining room. All the surfaces are covered with books, plastic cups, papers, etc. Under the dining room table is another plastic cup, Corey's old shabbas shoes and a sock. When did we become such, as my mom would say, schtunks (pronounced: sht-oo-nks)?!

+Continue with Project Alphabet. For those of you who don't remember, or don't know, I decided to read a book from each letter of the alphabet. Each letter corresponding to the first letter of the last name of the author. I am currently in the middle of my G book and have been since about April. Again, that attention span is getting the best of me. I actually switched around some of the books that I'm going to be reading. Check out the new and improved list at my website by clicking on the "ABC" link at the bottom of the page.

+Make the dean's list. I make this resolution every year and have yet to accomplish it. Last semester was a particularly bad one (because of the first trimester of my pregnancy and the baby only wanting me to sleep and puke) and it dropped my GPA below a 3.0 -- good thing I'm not going to grad school! But this semester I'm taking all mid-level courses, so I think the dean's list is definitely possible, though I'll probably just maintain my typical B average.

5 is a good number for a list... and I can't think of anything else anyway. So, here's my schedule for my final semester as an undergrad!

Monday and Thursday
1:10-2:25 Hebrew Prophets in English
2:45-4:00 Philosophical Psychology

Tuesday and Friday
9:45-11:00 Asian-American Literature
11:10-12:25 Revolutions in Modern Philosophy

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jess, thanks for being so loyal to your blog- it gives me something to read at work!

congrats on starting your last semester-- im sure deans list is in your future.

its so funny how much of your list matches my goals: davening, new healthy recipes and keeping the apt clean!

hope youre feeling good and have a good shabbos! regards to cornelius!

Love, Sara
ps. You should really have fun in your prophets class! Whip out the old mrs. rosen notes! :-)

Jessica said...

hey sara,
you should start up your blog again. What am I supposed to read when the semester starts? books? my notes? I'd rather not... oh wait, I'm supposed to make the dean's list this semester, aren't I. Well, resolutions were made to be broken...?

EndOfWorld said...

Hey, Jess, so far, nice site.

Btw, my brother went to a school where making the Dean's list wasnt hard-all you had to do was fail a couple of subjects, and voila! You were on it.

Of course, I'm assuming you're talking about the GOOD dean's list

Jessica said...

EOW - Hm... maybe I should try for the bad dean's list instead.

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

Jessica: I know exactly what you mean by the beginning of the new semester. It is exciting, and then once it starts becoming a routine it starts dragging out, till you can't wait for it to end. Although every time I have an assignment or test coming up, it makes the week fly by so fast.

That's so cool to read books with authors last name from a-z.

How does the Deans work list? I got on it once, but I don't know what caused it. Is it from getting an A+ with honors in one class? or is it from getting mostly A's in general? or what?

Those sound like interesting classes. That's a great schedule, amazing you were able to get that.

Enjoy your last semester!

Jessica said...

Babysitter - I'm not exactly sure of the exact GPA you need in one semester to make it to the dean's list, but i'm pretty sure it's around a 3.5 -- mostly A's with a B+ thrown in.

Anonymous said...

What sort of recipes? Here's one for pancakes:

1 C flour
1/4 - 1/3 C sugar
1/2 t salt
1 t baking powder
(Magic ingredient for my taste buds: 2-3 shakes ~ 1/2 t cinnamon)

1. Mix above items
2. Measure both items below, then combine all

1 egg
1 C milk (water / soy / rice beverage--adjust sugar from the dry ingredients accordingly)
(Magic ingredient no. 2: approx. 1/2 t vanilla)


Hope classes are off to a good start for you.