i made a 91.5 on my virology midterm. that accounts for 50% of my grade. i should be perfectly happy with that. i'm not though. sadly. i never achieve my best. i feel like i could have made a perfect (or nearly perfect) grade...anyway. i have no reason to complain. many of my peers are struggling, and i have all As and Bs. that's nothing to sniff at in medical school (and yes, vet school does count as medical school...except i'll make waaaaay less money when i'm finished).

i'm proud of myself. i've managed not to stress too much this week. i actually relaxed enough to read a book. it was a frivolous, fun, somewhat sophomoric read - 'the boyfriend school' - by sarah bird. i thoroughly - and i do mean thoroughly - enjoyed it. today was the perfect time to finish reading it, because i had cramps - which are a marvelous excuse to lie on the couch on a beautiful day with my heating pad and book. no guilt.

money is so tight around here that i feel like the proverbial bloodless turnip. PCC, being the wonderful institution of learning that it is, withholds the january paycheck until the end of february. the justification for this? i haven't the foggiest, nor does jim. just something they do. every year. too bad we didn't know about it until i checked the bank balance and saw that it was $60. talk about disconcerting. thankfully, we had enough cash lying around to pad any possible rubber checks... i'm glad that jim did the calling of the people at PCC because i might have lost it and yelled at them. jim gets paid peanuts as it is, has no respect, has a superior who spells please palese (or something similarly atrocious), and no long term prospects. there are adjuncts at PCC who have been such for 7 years. and still no full time position. needless to say, jim's a bit down in the mouth right now. he's teaching 6 days a week for practically no money, he has no spare time to enjoy his hobbies, and he isn't "going anywhere" - in his words. i'm trying to be supportive, but jim's pretty private about his depression. he is planning on starting back to get his phd in the fall. i'm glad for that, because i think earning his phd is what he really wants. and he really does love teaching, which he'll never do seriously at the college level unless he gets another degree. i'm used to being dirt poor. if it weren't for paying off the credit card and buying the car, i would be really stressed. but with those worries attended to ... i can deal with the lack of liquid assets.

so, i suppose i have randomly rambled enough. i am going to find out exactly what the phrase "cells arranged in packets and oriented along a fibrovascular stroma" means for able tomorrow. then i'm going to watch sex and the city by myself (jim's at school till 10:30ish tonight). ciao.