3.8!

That's my GPA for the fall 2011 semester. I got all As and one B in ethics (big surprise there). I put much more effort into studying for the finals for all classes except ethics, since the only way I could have pulled off an A in that class was to get something like 96% on the final, and I knew that wasn't going to happen. The class I was really hoping to get an A in was my environmental engineering class, since I totally bombed the first exam, and I got the A. :) I also got an e-mail to join an honor society, Alpha Lambda Delta, which I'll probably do... I don't think it'll do anything, but it might look good on my resume.

This coming semester, I'll be taking statistics, engineering economics, thermodynamics, statics and environmental engineering II. Apparently my thermodynamics professor is unhelpful AND it's an online class... AND Eric thinks I'm crazy for taking statics, thermodynamics and statistics in the same semester. He's probably right. Hopefully this semester won't kill my GPA.

I have a new tank setup! I bought new substrate and some new plants, and transferred the fishies into a temporary holding tank (AKA a cooler), and let my creative juices flow. I scooped out 50 pounds worth of the old substrate out of the tank, carried 50 gallons of water from the tank to the sink, carried 50 more gallons of clean water from the sink to the tank, and filled the tank with 50 pounds of new gravel. Needless to say, I was exhausted by the end, but I love the way it looks now:



Two of the three tenants in our townhouse in Lansdale are moving out, and our property manager hasn't heard about the third. He was supposed to be staying, but I'm guessing he can't come up with the rent. I just hope it doesn't get to a point where we have to evict him. I mean, I don't care about having to evict someone; I just don't want it to get to that point, because it's probably a huge effing hassle. Not to mention the fact that finding new tenants isn't going to be easy, since there's already a unit in our community that's looking for tenants. Sigh. I'm just thankful that I still have tenants (knock on wood--please don't leave, tenants!). Geez, money is especially tight for us right now, now that I think about it. Over the next week, I have $2300 in taxes due along with $1700 in tuition. Hopefully in a couple of months things will look better.

We had a long visit in Omaha, about two and a half weeks. It was great to visit, but it went too quickly as usual. It's always bittersweet to leave Omaha. I look forward to going home, but I always know it'll be a while before I see my family and friends again. When we left Omaha a few days ago, it sort of dawned on me that I'll never be able to make up for the time lost with family since I've moved. That probably sounds strange--that it took me nearly four years for that to sink in (I can't believe I've been gone that long). And once I graduate and get a job where I'm unable to work from home (and therefore unable take "working vacations" to Omaha), I'll be able to see my family even less. I don't really regret moving, and I don't think I'd ever move back to Omaha, but I do really miss my family sometimes.