Reflection post

Motivation =/

I have never been one to have much motivation, whether it is for class or just anything in general.  I tend to procrastinate which stresses me out but without much motivation it all comes down to having to get it done.  A couple years ago I learned that I suffer from clinical depression. Contrary to how this sounds, I was elated! There was now an actual reason to why I was the crazy person everyone said I was.  Learning this and being placed on the proper medications, I've finally become more focused and much more organized.  I actually have some drive to get things done again.  This semester my motivation is split right down the middle.  I'm mostly motivated because I will finally be getting my AA at the end of this semester. But everyday, December seems to get further away.  My motivation for the most part is out the window.  My days are chaotic enough and after a long day at work, the last thing I want to do is go and sit in class but I know that this should be the end.  To keep my sanity, I constantly remind myself to take it all one day at a time.  December will be here before we all know it and I'll look back on all this stress and laugh (hopefully).  My parents intervene when I'm just not feeling it and help me keep my head up and understand that it's only a short period of my life that will benefit the rest of it.

Weekly Calendar

To Do List:  October 31, 2014

• Get car washed!!!
• Finish putting costume together
• Pick everyone up
• Have fun!!!
• HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Reflection Post

Long term goal:  Married with kids and a stable (hopefully more than) income

Mid-term goal:  Make a name for myself within my company

Short term goal:  Keep my sanity while trying to obtain my AA and a promotion


Hi mom!  I just wanted to send you an update on everything that's going on in our crazy lives.  The kids are growing up so fast it's unbelievable!  Chase is loving the fourth grade and is blowing through all his assignments.  He is so well composed for being 8, but he doesn't realize how candid he can be.  He's extremely busy with baseball as well since he insisted on playing year round.  He's definitely becoming quite the aficionado; he follows all the players and their stats and tries to catch any game he can on t.v.  Riley is in the first grade now but she is a bit more lackadaisical about school.  How Chase turned out ambitious and Riley more frivolous I don't think I'll ever understand.  She loves everything right now but gets burned out kind of quickly.  She's extremely curious and must ask a thousand questions a day.  Sometimes it's just a bit too much for us!  Chase is very patient with her and tries to answer her questions and he's usually willing to go along with whatever new fad she needs to explore.  She is definitely a character!  Blake still loves his job and works a ton of overtime when he can.  He is now much closer to home and got the promotion I was telling you about so he's stoked.  That's about all for now, we can't wait to come visit in a month!  It's all the kids talk about!  Love, Brooke.

Weekly Calendar

To Do List: October 17, 2014

• Get car washed
• Pay bills
• Softball at 6:45
• Anaheim Oktoberfest
• Stay awake!!!

Weekly Calendar

To Do List: October 14, 2014

● Finish last touches to reading      homework
●Lab at 5:30
●Read 96 6:30
●Finish laundry
●Finish critical thinking chapter 7

Reflection Post

I'm the type of person to make lots of plans and then never get half of them done!  I'm a huge list maker because nothing is more calming to me than being able to cross things off a list.  To me, it's a huge accomplishment but this past week was chaotic and not much got done.  I had planned to have all of my laundry and such done before Thursday because I knew the weekend was going to be busy but of course that didn't happen.  I was able to sit down and conquer a few chapters in my logic and critical thinking class along with sufficient notes for myself.  I finally was able to apply some of the tricks we've been learning in class and I think it helped a lot.  I love to read so usually for me it's not hard to get caught up in any type of reading but this time I broke it all into sections based on the main headlines and then focused on specific notes for that section instead of the whole chapter as I usually would have.  After studying this way, class on Monday was much easier to follow along and I felt like I knew what he was talking about for once.  I had also planned to really study our chapter 8 but I never got farther than a few pages.  This week my main goal is to be a bit more organized. I usually am but last week was very busy and the weekend took a random turn when my friend came home from San Francisco unannounced!  Adjustments for me this week will involve staying more disciplined and getting the things I have on my lists done.

Reflection Post

There are so many stories that I've heard in my life that have left big impressions on me so it's very difficult to pick just one.  I think I'll have to sum it all up to anything my grandpa on my mom's side has told me and the stories I've heard about him since he's passed.  My grandpa came from a lower class family who lived on the wrong side of the tracks.   They had a one bedroom house for the four of them but there was never any complaints.  His father was a mailman and loved every second of it even though they had very little.  He met and fell in love with my grandma when he was 18 and she 16.  Grandma came from a very wealthy background but none of it fazed either of them.  That's the part that always gets me...they were stronger than the stereotypes of the 50's and made it through 52 years of marriage before my grandpa passed.  They raised their daughters in a stable middle class lifestyle and wouldn't have had it any other way.  The strength that my grandpa exhibited through his whole life is what keeps me going.  He was thrown a lot of obstacles but never let anything bring him down; nothing could ever take the smile off his face.  I was in my early teens when he passed and I wish everyday now that I'd had more time with him to learn more from him but the stories that my family passes around inspire me to be just like him and strive for the best but never compromise my own happiness.

Weekly Calendar

Weekly Calendar

To Do List: Thursday, October 9

• Nail Appointment 4pm
• Softball game 6:30pm
• Pack for weekend tournament
• Study Critical Thinking Chapter 7

Vocabulary

Polymath

Albert Einstein was an extremely intelligent man who excelled in many fields.

The man had always been a polymath; he could never get enough of just any one topic.

Minutiae

Tracing people by fingerprints uses the smallest, most precise details.

Crime scene investigators cannot focus on the whole, they have to focus on the minutiae.


Assuaging

Pacifiers are used to calm and soothe babies.

The woman was so busy trying to assuage her baby that she burned the cake for the bake sale.

Weekly Calendar

Vocabulary

Sobriquet

The fact that he was willing to go to some pretty extraordinary lengths in his interrogations had earned him the amusing and also chilling sobriquet of Peaches.

Hidden Order Brad Thor pg. 98

I think sobriquet refers to a nickname based on the statement "had earned him the amusing and also chilling.."

Inference Clue

The older generation called them kettles, a now out of date sobriquet.


Reconstituted

Either Durkin's old team has reconstituted and is operating on behalf of someone else, or Durkin and others at the CIA are running the team in direct contradiction of the President's orders.

Hidden Order Brad Thor pg. 114

I think reconstituted means to rebuild or recreate based on what follows the word: "and is operating on behalf of someone else,"

Inference Clue

Only the President was allowed to reconstitute the group of agents.


Obfuscation

They don't want you to understand anything about what they're doing.  It's purposeful obfuscation and it's brilliant.

Hidden Order Brad Thor pg. 117

I think obfuscation means to mislead or obscure, a purposeful deception, based on the first sentence where they state they don't want anyone to know what they're doing.

Inference Clue

Stephen King is a master at obfuscation.

Reflection Post

Life's Raggedy Old Backpack

I'd like to think my life backpack is organized, with just the right spot for everything I might ever need, but that is probably a far fetched idea.  I tend to overpack for a lot of "just in cases" even when I know it's only a .01% chance =)

In my backpack I carry the obvious: family, friends, and career.  I carry an huge love of sports, and a odd desire for reading, and I have to always be the best...stupid competitive side!  I carry with me a pride to conquer anything that may get tossed in front of me, and a need to survive the things I cannot control.  

I'd love to think that I have a spot in this backpack for having it all figured out, but I think I'm finally growing up and realizing I don't know as much as I thought I did.  With this thought, growing up is slightly terrifying to me.  Getting older and letting go of the past sound like the far future, but for me it is here and now.  Within the last year I have added a new item to my backpack and that is the strength to move on.  I do not need the past anymore and there is always a reason for all that happens in life.  I may have learned this the hard way but it is definitely paying off.  

In a few more years my backpack may weigh a little more or a little less, but I'll know that all I'll ever need will be exactly what's in that raggedy old backpack

Vocabulary

Adrotiness

The digital natives improve their adroitness at the keyboard but when it comes to their capacity to "read" behavior of others, they are all thumbs.

Why Gen-Y Johnny Can't Read Nonverbal Cues

I think adroitness means skill based on the sentence stating "the digital natives improve their adroitness.."

Inference Clue

She showed adroitness during her campaign, instantly winning over voters.


Diffidence

Lots of folks grumble about the diffidence, self-absorption and general uncommunicativeness of Generation Y.

Why Gen-Y Johnny Can't Read Nonverbal Cues

I think diffidence means shy or insecure based on the word "uncommunicativeness" that follows it.

Inference Clue

Despite his efforts, his diffidence always shows.

Juxtaposition

He argues that body language, facial expressions and stock mannerisms function "in juxtaposition to words", imparting feelings, attitudes, reactions and judgments in a different register.

Why Gen-Y Johnny Can't read Nonverbal Cues

I think juxtaposition means in opposition or comparison based on the word "argued".

Inference Clue

The cars were in juxtaposition of each other, but couldn't have been more different.