The Week in Brief

School: Got an "A" on my first midterm (how is it a "midterm," exactly, when there are four of them scheduled for a 6-week class?). Yay! I still like Math. That may indeed be the biggest news. I e-mailed the admissions lady I'd been talking to at UCR about getting in as a 2nd Bac student. I'm liking the Neuroscience program. Also, I scored a bunch of free books from the CHC library, including a couple on esoteric mathematics and one on the history of Archaeology complete with loads o' photos. Work:I am so over CCS. I finally got a meeting set up with the ED there to let her know that, no, thank you, I will not be renewing my contract here. That would be because I dread coming here so much I actually feel nauseous sometimes. I did appreciate the $25 Barnes & Noble gift card they gave to all of us as an end-of-fiscal-year bonus. dustinashe and I blew it yesterday - we each got two books. Mine are: The Museum of the Mind and Good and Evil: In Myth & Legend. I start my newest position, doing TBS (Therapeutic Behavioral Services) assessments on Monday. My first assessment is next Friday at 7pm (who schedules these things?!) I was worried about driving my poor old truck all over Riverside County to do the job, so I bought me a new coach. I wanted to get the new Toyota Yaris because it gets crazy good gas mileage, but I found out that there are only something like 3 of them in the whole state, so instead I got a black PT Cruiser. I love it! It is so nice to drive a car where I am not worrying every minute if this will be the trip where the clutch finally gives out. Also, it is nice to finally run the AC without fear. *makes with happy feet* I was bummed at first that I couldn't get a stick (none of the sticks on the lot had AC which is just a poor purchasing decision in SoCal). I'm actually enjoying the automatic now, though, and I have stopped stomping on the floor of the car where the clutch should be. This purchase being an exercise in the adage, "Leap, and the net will appear" as now we have another two large bills each month as a result: the car payment and the insurance. Personal:Still not smoking! Still nobody maimed or dead! What restraint!Still trying to avoid eating meat more than one per day. That's going well. I did give in to the allure of Baker's the other day, though. Love that Mama meal. :-PToo hot to do much in the way of exercise.Social:Feh. Not much goin' on here. I don't have the time, or when I do, I don't have the energy to get out and do anything. I have been e-mailing people though, trying to work harder at actually keeping in touch with meaningful people. Other than that, my big social moment for today, at least, consisted of the neighbor kid coming over and talking to me for the entire half hour to 45 that it took me to water the front yard. Then I paid him $5 to wash the truck. That seemed to do the trick. I don't remember when it got to be so hard to connect and stay connected to people... it used to come so easy.Spiritual:Still drawn toward the works evoking angels. Looking into it, looking into it. Read the first part of the Chaldean Oracles, through #39. They seemed to be missing, well, a *lot* so then I found the more complete version here at http://www.sacred-texts.comI'm also reading Manly Hall's The Secret Teachings of All Ages. Good book; hard to believe that Hall finished it while still in his twenties (bastard!). Plan to sit later, and re-acquaint myself with the LBRP so I can start doing it every evening - I beleive that will be of immeasurable help to me, especially as I spend my days visiting people in trouble and pain. Being the empath I am, if I forget to shield, I end up inadvertantly picking up all sorts of unpleasant nonsense from people.All in all, yet another change-filled week! Life is good.