Sara sans "h"

I had forgotten how exciting an upcoming break from the daily grind of school could be. However, at Knox Spring Break meant very big things: 1. no homework or studying at all since you just finished your winter term finals; 2. Winter term, the worst ten weeks of the year, was finally over so professors would stop piling on massive amounts of homework because they figured you had nothing better to do than stay inside studying; and 3. Flunk season was coming.

 Flunk Day, for those who have not experienced the mystique for themselves, is the most magical day of the year. At around 5 a.m. on a random day during Spring term you wake up to (or stop writing a paper you were pulling an all-nighter for) dozens of people screaming the best three words you will ever hear, "IT'S FLUNK DAY!" Classes are cancelled. Carnival games roll in. There is a foam pit that really turns into a dirty water pit from the mud of the unsanctioned mud pit; ice cream trucks drive around and hand out free treats; Abraham Lincoln, Elvis Presley, and other famous people walk around chatting and taking selfies with students; and so many other amazing things that it truly is the best day of the year. It's like having a snow day, but replace the snow with fun, so much fun.

 Alas, now that I have left the wonder that was Knox College I will be spending my spring break not dreaming of the flunktivities to come, but rather studying for an exam the following Monday and still meeting with clients for my internship. Mix in a quick weekend trip to Albuquerque just to get away and throw in grown up things like going to the doctor and my spring break is gone before I can even think about Flunking.
But that doesn't mean that I can't look at old pictures of myself covered in paint or chilling with good old Abe and wish that UTEP could call me at 5 a.m. some day during the rest of the semester just to give me a much needed mental health day.

I am 15 days into 2014 and have remembered that I have a blog. Fancy that. I have also recently been roped into using Goodreads, which is a good thing because otherwise I kind of forget about reading for enjoyment when I get really busy (i.e. during the semester) and setting a book goal to read for the Goodreads challenge as well as playing book bingo with a friend are both things that will help me think of reading not with a cringe but with at least a little bit of a smile during the semester. That is a really long sentence.

What I've done since I last posted on my blog:
*Completed TWO semesters of graduate school for my Master's of Social Work (even though there were forces at work to get me kicked out). In doing so I have realized that I have chosen the correct field for me.
*Successfully not gotten divorced yet.
*Adopted a second rescue pup. His name is Loki and he is wonderful. He had been sold on Craigslist 5 times before he got to the shelter at only 9 weeks old. I can't imagine life without him or Apollo.
*Wrote another novel in November and survived being municipal liaison for NaNoWriMo.
*Begrudgingly accepted that I need to learn APA style. I hate APA style. I think it looks ugly and wastes paper.
*Gotten into and watched all of Doctor Who. Yes, this is life changing.

Granted there is a lot more that I have done besides all of that but it's been awhile since I have written a blog entry and I'm a bit rusty.

As I sat in the mini-orientation for the graduate school program I begin in June, one theme repeated itself: You will never ever ever have time for anything other than school while in this program.
Now, I realize most graduate school programs feel that way, but that was just for the full-time, 24 month students. It is what seems to be a fairly standard class load: 9 credit hours in the summer and 15 in the fall and spring. When you do the calculations on a standard of "for every hour of class you should be studying three hours outside of class" it comes out to 36 hours. Easy-peasy.
What that doesn't include is a 15-hour per week on-site practicum that must be completed, which comes out to an additional 240 hours per semester. That brings the grand total "time commitment" up to 51 hours per week, all because of the on-site practicum.
Oh, and did I mention that I am actually doing all of this in 20 months as opposed to 24? Yeah, it's expedited. So during the second summer I get to do a 30-hour per week practicum on top of two classes.
Don't get me wrong, I'm actually really looking forward to the practicum more than anything else. A lot can be learned in the classroom, but being out doing is an entirely different kind of learning.
That doesn't mean I'm not going to die.

Turning 24 brings with it very few new perks, the best of which has to be the reduced car insurance rates. I still don't understand how in 26 hours I will be seen as a better driver based solely on my age. I struggled with the same issue understanding how being 20 and 364 days old made me less responsible in alcohol related decisions. I know plenty of people that are over 21 that still have no clue how to responsibly enjoy alcohol and about as many that are under 21 that have many clues. Go figure. I'll file it under "arbitrary things I will never understand."
Oh, and I made calla lilies out of gumpaste for my birthday cake this past weekend. They were super cute. I need to do my frosting homework, though. If I don't frost a cupcake onto a cake I'm sure my frosting instructor will have some very harsh words for me this Sunday when I come to class.

I have not written a post on this blog in 8 months. I keep meaning to update, even sit down and start to write about something or jot down ideas as I come up with them occasionally during the work day or while in the middle of something but never see those scraps of ideas come to full-fledged blog fruition. Sometimes I'll even be lying in bed and think, "I really wish I had written a blog about that major life event, but it seems like too late now."
Since disappearing from the internet in such an abrupt way (I think I have logged on to twitter twice in the last 9 months), a lot has changed in my life. There are the obvious huge life happenings (like getting engaged) and smaller, less obvious ones (like learning how to make a rose out of gumpaste for cake decorations).
Oh, and I wrote a novel in there. NaNoWriMo was so much fun last year that I am already planning my novel for this year. (hint: There is a girl literally going crazy from planning a wedding. Planning our wedding has actually been super easy, so I'm going to have to make a lot of stuff up, but I feel like it will be a fun thing to write.)
Also, Texas changed their law regarding selling baked goods from a home kitchen, so now I am pursuing taking my passion for baking and making a little bit of money out of it with a side business. I have the baking part down pretty well, but the decorating is where I am a bit lacking (hence the gumpaste rose). I did so badly in art in middle school and have never really been all that good at visual arts that I am kind of scared. I mean, at Knox I thought the art requirement was going to be my downfall until I found out I could take poetry instead of an actual studio art class. This should be an adventure.

Dear Michelle Bachman,
I realize we don't talk much, what with you being kind of a crazy tea-partier and me being a bleeding heart liberal, but I just thought I'd write you a little letter about one of your recent attacks on Rick Perry.
Don't get me wrong: I am all for any attack (of a political nature, not a physical or violent nature) on Rick Perry, especially if it helps to derail his bid for president. But the thing that gets me is how you have decided to go about attacking his recent "every girl must get vaccinated against HPV" law a little over a week ago.
See, you decided to go with the age-old and dis-proven "vaccines will cause mental retardation in your children" argument. First off, it's been proven that they don't. Second off, the guy who did the study that found that back in the 80's has confessed to tampering with the data and participants chosen because he wanted to find that result whether or not it was a scientifically sound study. He was even bought off by supporters of the anti-vaccine movement at the time to publish such false results.
Also, the vaccine is given after age 9. If that lady told you her daughter developed mental retardation after getting that vaccine at age 9 that is rather remarkable. I bet lots of doctors would like to study her daughter: mental retardation developing that late in a child's life is rather remarkable, if in a very sad way.
If you want to attack Perry's law, go for it in a way that makes you look like an intelligent human being rather than someone that read one headline 30 years ago and hasn't bothered to check the validity of the statement and just keeps repeating it. Here are a few options:
1. How about you say it is ridiculous that he requires the HPV vaccine only for girls? Boys are actually more likely to carry HPV without showing symptoms, so they are more likely to pass it on to their sexual partners. The vaccine is also thought to be more effective in males.
2. How is he expecting people to pay for the vaccine? It costs roughly $128 per shot without health insurance and requires three shots within 3-6 months of each other. That can be pretty costly. And since Texas has more uninsured or under-insured residents than any other state, that mandatory vaccine is going to be pretty costly.
3. As far as women's health is concerned, you could have mentioned how he took approximately 2/3 of the budget away of every women's clinic that offered any kind of contraceptive or made referrals for abortions. None of that money was used for contraception or abortions (none of the clinics performed them). The money taken away was used for things like pap smears and breast cancer screenings. All of that money was re-allocated to "crisis pregnancy centers" that only offer care for pregnant women that are willing to keep their baby or put it up for adoption. Those centers to nothing in the form of cancer screenings or health exams at all. If he is really worried about women's health enough to make girls get those vaccines one would think he would be behind them getting screened as a cancer preventative measure as well.
4. You could have even gone with the "if girls think they can have sex without worrying about the consequences of STDs they will start having sex at age 9" argument and would have sounded like a more intelligent person. (Note: that is a ridiculous statement and is not to be taken seriously in any way. Also, girls already can have sex without having to worry (as much) about STDs: they are called condoms.)
Okay, I know you are busy, what with trying to ruin the free world and all. So I'll just leave you with this: I would be okay if you win the Republican primary, because I know that Barrack Obama will eat you alive when it comes time for the real election.
Most sincerely,
Sara Belger