I'm Looking Over a Three-Leafed Clover That I Overlooked Be-Three...

If you aren't familiar with Bugs Bunny, you won't get the title of this post. For that I'm very sorry. Very, very sorry.

Well, I had my first test of the semester today. Woo Hoo! Fun stuff. I'm pretty sure I didn't bomb it, so that's good. We'll just have to see what comes of it, right?

Can I just tell you all about the strange day I had driving to class the other day? No? Well, buckle in and listen up anyway.

I dropped AJ off at a neighbor's house--where she plays with her friend until my sister gets home from school and takes her to my mom's house. As I drove away, I saw that my van was low on gas, so I figured I could just swing by my favorite gas station and make my way to the freeway from there. I got to the gas station--oh no. Wait. No I didn't, because THE GAS STATION WASN'T THERE ANYMORE!!! It had been leveled to the ground, pumps and all. It looks like they're going to be building a bigger and better gas station and convenience store, but that didn't exactly help me out at that moment, did it? I was annoyed, but figured: "Eh, I've got enough gas to get there, I'll just get some gas on my way home." And I headed for the nearest on-ramp to the freeway.

Oh WAIT!!! No I didn't! Instead, I came up behind a nice, long line of cars that were being told to "go slow" by a man in a day-glow orange vest and a hard hat. Oh yes. UDOT has struck again! They had lined my favorite on-ramp with orange cones and redirected every car that came in that direction to Kingdom Come and beyond. I didn't know what the hell was going on, so I decided to take an alternate route. This alternate route--thanks to the construction and all of the extra traffic that it created--took me a good fifteen extra minutes. By the time I finally got on the freeway, I felt a stab of rage at the mere sight of a construction cone. I am SO sick of looking at those things!

Do you want to know what Utah's state tree is? That's right, the traffic cone! Do you want to know what the state motto is? "Construction Ahead, Expect Delays." Screw you, UDOT!!! Can't you do that stuff at 10 PM when there's less people on the road? Ugh. Seriously.

Okay, rage subsiding...and....we're good.

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:**

I need help from my fellow bloggers. I have to write a research paper for my online class (a whole other story of pain and irritation). It's about a cultural experience that I have personally experienced. I've decided to write about the culture of the blogosphere. I need 12 academic sources, and one of the sources that I've decided to use is first person interviews with bloggers! I need about ten to get a representative sample, but I'll gladly take more if you know anyone that can help me out.

Anyway, the interviews will pretty much just be conducted via e-mail, so you can do it on your own time. PLEASE let me know if you, your friends, and/or your friends' friends can help me out here! I would greatly appreciate it! They can e-mail me at thoughtsbycandice@gmail.com

Thank you in advance!

Okay, I'm done for now. Apparently my mind and body have decided that they are done for the night, so dagnabbit, I'm going to bed!

Aaaannnnd Here We Go Again...

So the school year is now well under way. CT is settled into his new class with his new teacher and enjoys it, so that's good. AJ starts preschool on Monday, and I'm still not sure how I feel about that. I mean, I know it will be a great experience for her, and she's going to be taught by a good friend of my mother's whom I've known for at least two-thirds of my life. She's amazing, and she already knows and loves AJ. However, being selfish, I'm going to miss my little girl for those few hours! She's my little friend, and my biggest fan (though I know I don't deserve it).

She's the one who dances to every little song that comes on, no matter where she is, and insists that I dance with her. She's the one who grabs me by the hand and leads me to her little tea parties that she's set up on the floor or on the stairs for us. She's the one who comes up to me with book after book, happy to read with me for as long as the books last. She's the one who will simply look me in the eyes and say: "Sing me a pretty song, Mommy." Sometimes she even pulls out my guitar and tells me to play and sing for her so she can dance and sing along. She's the one who can approach me when I'm in a bad mood and say: "Are you happy, Mommy?" Instantly, I'll start to calm down, because in her own innocent little way, she's reminded me that I should stop sweating the small things and find a way to be happy.

She's my girl, my sweet little friend, and she's just growing up SO FAST! I look at pictures of her from a year ago and I just can't handle how quickly the time is passing by!

Okay, I'm getting teary-eyed now. Time to change the subject...

I love my classes thus far. I'm taking Speech Anatomy, Language Science, and an online Intercultural Communication class. Fascinating stuff, but I'm WAAAYYY behind on the readings for these classes. I finally opened my anatomy book today, and the neuroanatomy chapter we're currently working on is...wait for it....106 PAGES LONG!!! ONE. FREAKING. CHAPTER. Ugh. Luckily we'll be working on it for two weeks, but it's still insane.

Oh, and random awesomeness of the day: I was driving to class, and as I was heading up one of the main streets on my way to campus, I happened to glance to my right. What I saw there gave me pause. I saw none other than Wonder Woman, standing on a street corner, talking on her cell phone and waiting for the light to change so she could cross the street.

This confused me a bit, but later on I was reminded of the fact that Comic Con is currently in our fair capitol city. I apparently caught the merest of glimpses at what was walking around Salt Lake today. Awesome.

Have a great weekend, Comic Con people! Hope you get all of the action figures, autographs, and geek-tastic moments you could possibly desire. Live long and prosper, May the Force Be With You, and Avengers Assemble!!!