Chiggers

It seems that there are many misconceptions as to what exactly a chigger is. I got some chigger bites recently and had people telling me all sorts of strange things. Several people told me that the chiggers were living under my skin and that I had to paint clear nail polish over them to kill them. I was informed that if I did not do this they would lay eggs and make me sick... or that it would take longer for them to go away. This, in fact, is not the case. The chigger, or harvest mite, actually secets an enzyme on to the top layer of skin which breaks it down allowing it access to the under layers of skin, which it eats. Once the chigger is done eating, it falls off and you are left with an itch. So, there are no chiggers living under my skin, and I do not need to paint nail polish to kill anything because there is nothing there to kill.

First week of school

I've only had two days of school this week and I'm already stressed out. It looks like this semester will be very busy. I was at school today from 7:30 a.m. to 6:20 p.m. Long day. My prof for instructional technologies LOVES to give reading assignements. Not only does she require us to read but we are also required to post comments about our reading on a discussion board (three per week).There are guidelines for the comments, of course. We are also required to rate our classmate's comments. Holy shit... think you're giving us enough busy work prof? I think we need a little more to do! I think I'm just going to be doind a shit load of reading this semester.
To add to the stress I am responsible for prepping two biology classes. One of them is being taught by a super anal prof who is very detail oriented and makes a lot of work for me. The other class I will be prepping is completely new and they don't have a lab manual... basically I have to make sure that I get a list of stuff to prep from the prof ahead of time so that I can get it prepped in time for their lab. I'm sort of getting sick of this job. The problem is, I'm a hard worker and they know it so more is expected of me.

Of course!

I started feeling a little sniffly yesterday and was really hoping that I wasn't about to come down with something. I had a heck of a time sleeping last night and ended up getting up to sleep in the guest room so that I wouldn't keep Tony awake. Looks like I have some kind of cold or something which SUCKS because I start school Monday!

Airplane "Snack"

I decided that I would post this because I was telling my little sister and mom how starnge the food is on planes now. The "snack pack" consisted of a pack of raisins, a small cookie, a small bag of crouton-like crackers and some kind of waxy cheese spread. I'm guessing that the cheese is for the crackers. Oh yeah, I can't forget to include the knife that is enclosed to help spread the cheese-like product on to the dime-sized crouton-crackers. A wet nap was also included in this delicious and wholesome snack pack. :)

P.S. If this does not sound appetizing and you plan on flying with Detla you may want to bring your own snack ;)

I visited the Ouachita Mountains and all I got were these lousy chiggers!

I got back from my trip to the Ouachita mountians on Saturday. The field work we did was much harder than I anticipated. The first and last days were probably the easiest. We were there for four days. Each day we visited a new site and at the end of the day we stayed at the Ouachita Mountains Biological Station. I will attempt to tell you why the work was so hard but I am sure you will still have NO idea what we dealt with since you were not there. We hiked up steep hills on loose footing through thick foliage some of which consisted of briars and poison ivy. It was very hot outside, in the 100s, and humid. Because of the humidity, even when we were sitting in the shade, it was STILL hot. Not only that but there were bugs snacking on us while we hiked. I didn't realise this until I got back to our cabin and saw red bumps all over my ankles and legs. It looks like I have a rash. I won't be able to wear shorts for a while.
When I got back I had several people ask me if I had FUN on my trip. I honestly responded, "No, I actually got my butt kicked." I'm not saying that it was a bad experience, it wasn't. Thanks to this trip I found out how hard I can actually push myself. I went running for an hour on Tuesday. I don't think I've ever run that long.

Time with Family

I just got back last night from my mother-in-law's house. I drove up to her houes Thursday night so that I could spend the night with my niece. Friday we (my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, niece and nephew) went to Holiday World. We all had a lot of fun. Angie and I went on a new wooden roller coaster called The Voyage. (If the first several free falls don't get you the gut wrenching turns and jerky motion of the cart will!). I don't think I'd care to go on it again. After that it was off to the water park. Angie and I went on one of the waterslides together. I can't remember what it was called but it was fun. Probably my favorite part of the water park was spending time in the wave pool with Kaity and Gabe. They had so much fun playing in the waves. I got a good work out too! I held my hands around kaity's waist and pushed her up when a wave came to keep her head above the water. We all went in the Lazy River for a while so that Gabe could take a nap. I assigned myself the task of keeping Angie and Gabe out of the sprinklers and waterfalls and away from rowdy swimmers. This allowed Gabe to sleep for about an hour. When we were done in the water park, we played some games. I won a big frog, Kaity won a tiger and we all combined our efforts in winning tickets playng ski ball to get 300 tickets so that Gabe could have a Bob the Builder stuffed toy. We finished our day off with funnel cakes (mmmm). By the time we got home everyone was VERY tired.

Yesterday we went to a wedding for one of Tony's cousin's. It was okay. There weren't many guests. We stayed and helped clean up when the reception was over. Debby usually assigns herself that task. I am sure that Vicky was very appreciative.

Today I have spent most of my time preparing everything for my trip to Arkansas. I just hope that I don't forget anything. I have been wearing my new hiking boots around today too in an effort to try to break them in before I have to use them for hiking.

Dead-Beat Friends

I posted a bulletin today on myspace about my dead-beat friends. These are people who, at some point in my life, were very close friends but since I've moved away seem to think that I no longer exist. I uesd to call them, send them e-mails and letters... but rarely, if ever, got any in return. I'm so tired of this that I have decided to forget about them. I deleted one of them from my myspace friend's list recently. He sent me a message demanding an explanation. Funny that he had enough time to send me that message but can't take two minutes to send me an e-mail to let me know how he's doing. I don't need these people in my life anymore.

I need to make some friends in the area, the problem is I am a college student. Most of the people at school are either very young or returning to school after having children, or to change careers. It is so hard to find good friends close to my age. I do have some younger friends...but it's hard to relate to them, and likewise it is hard for them to relate to me. We are just in different places in our lives. They have no idea what it's like to own a home or have a husband. So, how does one go about making friends? I have no idea.

I have been trying to get my body ready for the field research that I will be doing next week. I have been working in some cardio so that the hiking won't be so bad. I know it will be totally different because I am doing cardio in an air-conditioned gym. I am really looking forward to this trip. I just hope that I dont' get eatin by bugs and get tons of blisters. I went looking for hiking boots yesterday and they are pretty expensive. I just can't see spending that much on a pair of boots that I may not ever use again. I plan on wearing the boots that were issued to me when I was in the Coast Guard.

Tomorrow I will be spending the night at my mother-in-law's so that my niece and I can have a sleepover. She's been wanting to spend time with me because I've been gone a lot lately. Friday my mother-in-law, niece and nephew will be making a trip to Holiday World. I just hope it's not overly crowded.... we'll see how that turns out.