Saturday, November 17, 2007
Location: at home in the Twin Cities
Mood: tired
What I'm Reading Now: So many books that I can't even keep track.
I don't have a car on campus, so when those holiday vacations come up I've usually taken the Greyhound bus home. For a while, it was pretty nice: the seats were somewhat comfy and I had plenty of room. Then, last year, the bus company decreased its number of daily routes from Fargo to the Twin Cities from 2 to 1. Suddenly, every bus ride I took was overcrowded (I never realized there was so little leg room) and I ended up sitting next to people who like to talk about me on their cell phones. So this Thanksgiving break I decided to take the Amtrak train home instead of the bus. While the train from Fargo to St. Paul doesn't leave until 2:28 a.m. at night, I figured I could sleep through the whole trip. I also might be lucky enough to have a whole row to myself, meaning that I could strecth out.
I was right . . . sort of. I'm the sort of person who has to have darkness and relative silence when I sleep. I also can't be woken up in the middle of the night (like for a fire alarm) and easily get back to sleep an hour later. So I got some sleep on the train, but no more than 45-60 minutes at a time. I didn't get a row to myself, but that was fine because there was enough leg room for me to use my duffel bag and backpack as a makeshift leg rest. My seat was also bigger than what I would have gotten on a greyhound. Unfortunately, my seat was next to a lighted staircase and this kid behind me kept screaming at various intervals. Either way, I arrived at home lethargic and took a 4-hour nap. I'm still a little groggy, but that's nothing a good cup of coffee won't cure.
In other Kellie-related news, its been a pretty busy semester for me. I'm only taking 12 credits, but applying to graduate school takes up all my extra time. It was so easy applying to MSUM because I just had to fill out a form and write a check for the admission fee. Now, however, I have to get 3 recommendation letters, write a personal statement, update my resume, the list goes on and on. To add a little oompf to my application, I presented a paper at the Red River Women's Studies Conference at UND Grand Forks. Now I'm starting to think about what to present at the upcoming Student Academic Conference, as if I need more work to do. Hopefully all this work will be worth it in the end.
Oh, and I've retaken the GRE twice now. I improved my score 200 points since my first attempt, so even though my score still isn't spectacular, the improvement ahs to count for something.