I'm not as stressed out tonight as I was last night. And chronologically speaking, I have more time. Work-wise, I have no time.

We were barely on time to school this morning. At least the bus came earlier this morning, right after the elementary school bus left. We had a quiz in PreCal, but it was on exact values. I spent a huge chunk of last year having all things trig drilled into my head; exact values are simple now. I rationalize fractions in my head without even realizing it. That cut our note-taking time short, but we're solving triangles now, which I also know how to do. We did it differently last year, but the method in the book works, so I'm good.

At the ATP on Saturday, the current college students were adamant about the fact that in college, you have to care for yourself. The professors don't care if you never show up to class. "They won't baby you." In Geology today, I felt babied. (I think I just made up a verb.) Mr. Witko is very neat, very organized, and insistent that things be done exactly his way. I'm more than happy to comply, but I'm also thinking that this year should be spent preparing for college as well as finishing high school. Concept maps are just so fifth grade. And writing our "lab" report exactly like his guideline. I felt like a monkey. (You know, monkey see, monkey do?)

The ominous Adkins test was not that bad. Hearing about the difficulty of an Adkins test reminded me of middle school. We took World History in the eighth grade, when I was still in Germany. My teacher, Mr. Goetz (pronounced "gets") was known for giving challenging tests. The reputation was not just a rumor. But he also had a reputation for being a really interesting teacher. Not interesting the way Mr. Adkins is most of the time (the man knows what he's talking about, and he cares so much). Mr. Goetz's class was always interesting. We wrote scripts and made videos of ourselves as famous historical figures. I was Belle Starr. (I didn't know who she was either, until I started researching.) We connected the assault on the mother ship from Independence Day to the attacks the Native Americans waged on the early English settlers. His classroom decorations were always colorful, and he always had unique projects so we could really get to know the material. It wasn't easy, but it was interesting.

Back to the test. I managed to stay focused, for the most part. (I've had "Baby Boy", Beyonce feat. Sean Paul, running through my head for ages.) One of the multiple-choice questions really confused me, though; three of the four choices were correct. And it wasn't a "pick the one that doesn't belong" type of question. I totally understood the essay question, though I may have written too much. I put a little note at the end apologizing for writing so much, but there's no maximum, and he told us to be detailed, so I was. I got the bonus question wrong, though. And the Browns lost yesterday. Who would have thought school would make me finally pay attention to football?

Ms. Sim is still being Ms. Sim. She showed us examples of different essay-writing styles today by putting critical reviews on the overheard. Mine was one of them. That's the second time my writing has been displayed and evaluated publicly. It wasn't any easier this time. Yeah, it was boring, but I was bored. My tone showed through. The process confused me. I scored well on that review/essay, but she seemed to acknowledge that it wasn't fantastic. Does that mean I should try a different tack for this next essay (which I will be starting shortly)?

Mrs. Anderson had to go take care of her mother today, and Mr. T couldn't stay, so we canceled It's Ac. I have, therefore, lost most of my hopes of us winning at all, unless by some massive stroke of luck. We haven't practiced enough. We're not a fabulous team, but we don't suck. I just don't know.

I am tired, but I have work to do. All this work is making me detest school more than usual.

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