I felt like I was getting ready for Kindergarten as I rushed around making sure I had my books, and homework. The only thing missing was a “mammy” made peanut butter and jelly samich. Maybe she’ll send me one from Oxnard for tomorrow’s class. :dance: Naptime :yawn:was replaced with a 10 minute break which allowed me to answer my “crack” addiction (Cafe Mocha) at the local “Freudian Sip”. And just like USC, we had homework due on the first day. *aint THAT about a bitch* I have no serious complaints though. Most of the people in my class are 30 and up. There are a few (3) of us, who happen to be in our 20s which is okay by me because it allows me to hear from those who have more experience in the public sector than I do. Most of them hold management positions in Police Departments and City/County Planning Offices. :surprised:

When I first got there, I was wondering…why me? Why would they accept me? I’m probably the youngest one there. What could I have to offer? But once the discussions got under way I realized that I had a lot to offer the discussion being that I’ve only worked in the Private Sector. It was good to be able to compare/contrast the two. Many people were amazed to know that I owned by own business at such a young age and wondered why I wouldnt strictly pursue that instead of working for a private or public organization. I told them, just as I’ve told everyone else: If I was REQUIRED to do what I LOVED, then I wouldnt LOVE it as much anymore. I LOVE programming, and it has proven to be a serious money maker for me, more so than my 9-5. But I dont want to be FORCED to program as a means of survival. I’d rather have the extra pocket money for D&B, Lexus‘ and saving for that home with the pool that Incog and I dream of so much. Which brings about another issue…

My plan was to complete the program in under 2 years. I DO NOT want to be in this program forever. When we were going around the room introducing ourselves, one older man (mid 50s) stated that he had been in the program BEFORE the professor’s hair had turned gray and he is now trying to finish it, and has to take several classes over due to the changes that have occured in the past two decades. I don’t want to be like him. I mean, I have great respect for someone who has decided to get back on the bandwagon and finish up their masters 20 years later, but I just dont want to be finishing up my masters at the age of 60. I’d rather just do it now and get it over with. Which leads me to my current status…

I’m currently trying to add another class to my schedule this semester, being that they will no longer be offering summer classes for the Master’s program. My plan of taking 2 courses the first semester and then 2-3 courses for the next 4-5 semesters wont really work now that there wont be a summer session. So, I’m doubling up. :uhh: A girl has to do what a girl has to do. :surprised:

My mom said something interesting the other day. She said, “Courtney always does what has to be done. You’ve done it before, now do it again.”

She’s right. But on the same token, I know that I’m only going to do what I WANT to do. I have a hard time dealing with someone telling me that I can’t have something that I want, or that there’s nothing that I can do at the current time to get what I want. That usually leads to rebellion in my case. :mouthshut: I’m working on it, but it aint been easy. :pray:

I know what you’re thinking…no more D&B bags? no more random trips? no more shoes? Well maybe that’s not you, maybe that’s just me. :uhh: But I’ll be alright. I’m just going to have to practice some delayed gratification. Pray for me. :pray: You know how hard it’s gonna be.

When I got home tonight, I was happy to see that Incog had cooked. My little chef cooked for me on my first night back in school. :couple: I’m constantly reminded that while I’m setting out to obtain this Masters to better myself, it will in turn make things even better for the both of US. And that makes me happy.

Welp…time to get some programming done. Yep, it’s a little past midnight. But it’s the only time I have to work. If it wasnt for Sherece, I would have forgotten to post. Besides that, my tummy’s hurting for some reason….*sigh*.

Have a happy Tuesday! Stay Blessed! :wave:

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MPA 610 – BKERC
6 – 9:45pm

Friday, January 27th

After work, Incog and I headed out to my mom’s house to pick up some stuff she bought for us. Thanks Mom! :high5: Once we got home, I was exhausted so we ate and watched tv and fell asleep.

Saturday, January 28th

This morning, I woke up early to do some work on an essay that’s due on the first day of class (Monday). Then I headed to the mall because I thought that the Nail Shop was open at 9am, and I wanted to get in there early before the crowd. But…alas, they didnt open until 10am. While I was waiting, I decided to browse Macy’s, and what do ya know…they had the bag that I was eyeballing on Ebay. AND they had the matching wallet. :thumbsup:

And since the M.A.C. counter was only 10 feet away….:uhh:

I asked if they had anything similar to Lancome’s Juicy Tubes and they showed me this, so I tried on several colors and settled with SAPLICIOUS.
I finally made my way to the Nail Shop where the person who normally does my eyebrows was LATE. I was HOT! And it wouldnt have been so bad if I had scheduled a hair appointment for 11am in LOS ANGELES. So by the time I got on the freeway it was 10:45 and I ended up being 30 minutes late for my appointment. I hate when she has to squeeze me in to her rotation. *sigh* I ended up leaving at 2pm, three hours after I got there. :wtf:

When I got home, Incog wanted to go look at some things in Pasadena. So we did and now we’re back home watching movies on HBO on Demand. I don’t know what we’ll do later…but sleepiness is starting to set in and it’s only 7:30pm. I’m getting old.

NEWSFLASH: Free tuition at Harvard University

Harvard University announced over the weekend that from now on
undergraduate students from low-income families will pay no tuition. In
making the announcement, Harvard’s president Lawrence H. Summers said,
“When only 10 percent of the students in Elite higher education come
from families in lower half of the income distribution, we are not doing
enough. We are not doing enough in bringing elite higher education to
the lower half of the income distribution.”

If you know of a family earning less than $40,000 a year with an honor
student graduating from high school soon, Harvard University wants to
pay the tuition. The prestigious university recently announced that from
now on undergraduate students from low-income families can go to Harvard
for free…no tuition and no student loans!
http://fao.fas.harvard.edu/

Welp…maybe I’ll post tomorrow (Sunday) as well…we’ll see…Stay Blessed! :wave:

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Desktop Screenshot per Jorge

It seems as we get closer and closer to moving (the job), the more traffic there is every morning and every night. Somehow, my 1.5 hour drive to work has turned into 1.75 hours. Something must have happened after the new year. God, we have to get out of California.

I didnt go to cycling this morning. I ended up going to sleep around 12am and when the alarm went off at 7am, I wasnt even thinking about a bike, or about gym shoes. :thumbsdown: All I could think was, “Please God…just 20 more minutes”.

Brokeback Mountain

I’ve heard SO many things about this movie, so much so that I JUST had to edit this post to change the name that I wrote at the top. Somehow, I wrote BAREback Mountain. I blame Incog. I’ve heard so many BAD things about this movie, that I actually want to go see it, just to see the BAD things for myself. When browsing Yahoo Movies, Incog noticed that people either gave it an F or they gave it an A/B. There wasnt really an inbetween. I did however notice that there were a lot of registrations to the yahoo site and a lot of “A” ratings given in order to boost the ratings…:thumbsdown:

Here are some of the reviews from Yahoo Movies:
Typical reality tv movie for shock value (F)
by love_movies_34 (movies profile) Dec 11, 2005
192 of 832 people found this review helpful
The scenary is beautiful, but the movie moves along like your typicaly reality tv shock and awe. This is a movie about infidelity, lies, and shock value. The shock value is that it’s about gay people which really isn’t that shocking now a days. Hollywood should give us a break already and make a compelling story instead of trying to put shock value on everything. If you love reality tv, then this movie is for you. If you’re looking for a heartfelt movie then rent Terms of Endearment.

Bad movie (F)
by christiejhunter (movies profile) Dec 20, 2005
124 of 395 people found this review helpful

Not the kind of movie to promote by any means.
I did not enjoy it, and found it to be sad that the concept of leaving behind your family and abandoning your children and promises in order to have, what is nothing more than an affair with a former flame, is somehow “good” simply because its a gay lover! this is a very bad message.

im gay (F)
by gayisfungay (movies profile) Dec 14, 2005
151 of 648 people found this review helpful
but i think this movie is horrible!!!! ARghh! It reinforces the idea that gays have no morals. These characters lie and cheat. It makes it look like that is the way all gays are! And it makes me sick!!

In any case, maybe I’ll be able to talk Incog into going. *We’re currently discussing how much I hate BEETS.* Things are good Business Wise, Thank God. If it wasnt for the Business, I dont think I’d have extra “play around” money for the weekends. Website

A video for laughs:
:camera:Trunk Monkey
Welp…Have a good Thursday! Stay Blessed! :wave:

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:yawn: New Layout for Winter/Spring

–> Updated Wishlist – Click Here
I updated my wishlist with some of the books I’ll need for classes in case someone is feeling extra generous. :dance:

Welp, I pretty much have all of the stuff that I ordered last week. The Juicy Couture – Periwinkle – “Not that Into You” Long Sleeve arrived today. And I got my school book last night when I got home.
Thanks to AG for supplying information on preventative measures of Hotlinking *ya’ll little bandwidth theives*.

Things are pretty nuts at work. I think I might have mentioned that we’re moving to Sherman Oaks, which is closer to all of our homes. We’re pretty much done, it’s just a matter of going through things and saying “Trash” or “Save & Box”. Starting Monday, my drive to work will be much less than an hour and a half. :pray: I spent most of today listing some of our items on Ebay…OMG we have so much stuff. I didnt realize how much I had listed until I went back to revise them all. :surprised:
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It seems like the week is going pretty fast. I got my syllabus on Monday, so I’m already having to prepare a thesis for my first 15-20 page essay. :pissed: God, I havent done one of those in a LONG time. :pray: I’m really excited though. Things are looking pretty good.
I was happy to get home. Incog made me a grilled cheese while I worked on this new layout. :couple: And you KNOW how that’s my favorite food.

We watched all of American Idol. That black girl at the end of the show*can’t remember her name* was doing TOO much. Sometimes I wonder what folks are thinking. I just dont get it. She was cursing like a sailor! :loser: Folks like that help to give “us” a bad name.

Jamie Fox Special – TONIGHT @ 8PM PST (JAN 25th)

Make sure you watch it!!

Welp, I’m sleepy. And I’m getting up to go to cycling in the morning. Hope you like the new layout. Let me know what you think. Have a good Wednesday! :wave:

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Is this bag not the cutest? (click to enlarge) And in other cute news…

Who is this girl with Jamie Foxx? How cute!
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Anyways, the weekend is going pretty good…Saturday, Incog and I went to see two good movies: Memoirs of a Geisha, and Glory Road. Both of the movies were pretty good. I’d recommend them if you are looking to find a movie…
We went to Church for the first time together today. :tearsjoy: YAY.
Hope you all had a good weekend! Stay Blessed!

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courtney has a shopping addiction. she can’t help it.:pissed:

alright, enough of the third person…DAMNIT I HAVE AN ISSUE. AND IT CANT BE CONQUERED! :uhh: I went to Kolobags because I said that whenever I got a laptop that I would want to buy one of their bags. Their bags are so cute. :thumbsup: At first, I wanted one of the Mobile Edge ones, but I ended up ordering a PaulPac one…super cute. And then things kinda just spiraled out of control from there…it turned into two JUICY COUTURE shirts, and one JUICY COUTURE Pink Royalty Track Suit…:dance:

I SWEAR I tried…:loser:
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Anyhow, today was rough…we’re still moving at work…my arms want to fall off. uch:That’ll be the case next week, so I’m not sure if I’ll be posting that much.

Incog will be home later on tonight, so I’ll probably wait for him to go to LA Fitness. Either that, or wake up at 5am for my morning Cycling from Hell Appointment. :pissed: Who Knows. I’ll keep you posted…

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SO…..it turns out…they’re going to fix my car under the “Good Will” Policy that they have…Thank God! I’m just waiting for them to let me know when I can pick up my car. I got used to driving a truck…because it feels weird to drive the car they gave me. It feels so low…and so….wide. So when I get Lexi back…I’m saying SIANARA :wave: to this car.

It’s funny though…On Monday, I cleaned out my closet and we took two bags of clothes to the GoodWill store…:rofl: It was pretty pitiful. A lot of the clothes still had tags on them. Which means, I bought them…and then forgot about them..and they they became out of style.

Classes start Next Week…and I’m a little…nervous I guess. Isn’t that funny? I feel like it’s the first day of High School or something. :loser: I guess I’m just anxious because I know what it will mean for my future. :dance:

Anyhow, I was on hold today…and they were playing my sooooong….So I thought I’d post the lyrics here for you. I’d post the song, but I cant find it for some reason…*sigh*…I have to go through all of my MP3s and change the format on it. I’ll do it later….promise.

Hope you all have a good Wednesday!
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Sade – Kiss of Life

There must have been an angel by my side
Something heavenly led me to you
Look at the sky
It’s the colour of love
There must have been an angel by my side
Something heavenly came down from above
He led me to you
He led me to you

He built a bridge to your heart
All the way
How many tons of love inside
I can’t say

When I was led to you
I knew you were the one for me
I swear the whole world could feel my heartbeat
When I lay eyes on you
Ay ay ay
You wrapped me up in
The colour of love

You gave me the kiss of life
Kiss of life
You gave me the kiss that’s like
The kiss of life

Wasn’t it clear from the start
Look the sky is full of love
Yeah the sky is full of love

You gave me the kiss of life
Kiss of life
You gave me the kiss that’s like
The kiss of life

You gave me the kiss of life
Kiss of life
You gave me the kiss that’s like
The kiss of life

You gave me the kiss of life
Kiss of life
You gave me the kiss that’s like
The kiss of life

You wrapped me up in the colour of love
Must have been an angel came down from above
Giving me love yeah
Giving me love yeah

You gave me the kiss of life
Kiss of life
You gave me the kiss of life
Kiss of life

I was trying to wait until I had some more concrete news….:sad:

Saturday, I posted a message saying that we were on our way to go snowboarding. But on the way, Lexi’s moonroof shattered when we turned up the Heat. It had to be about 20 °s outside. I think my brain did some type of downward spiral…:sad:

In any case, Sunday, we took it in and tried to explain what happened. They kept trying to tell me that it was a rock, but there was no rock to be found, and it had to be a BOULDER the size of the whole in the roof. What BOULDER do you know….FLIES? The guy who was on duty couldnt make a final call, and said he’d have to wait until today, Monday, to let me know after he spoke with his manager. They gave me a loaner (Lexus ES330), and told me to just keep it until they could figure out what they were going to do MY car. That’s one thing that I do like about Lexus. Honda would drive me to my house, and expect me to wait until the repairs were done and find a ride back or if I was within 10 miles, they’d pick me up. I like being able to go about my day.

I spoke with the manager this morning and he tried to say that it wasnt covered, this and that…and…pretty much, after the conversation, he said he’d have one of the workers order a replacement and get started on putting it in. *praise God*…I have to pick it up sometime this week, so they’re going to call me when it’s ready. :tearsjoy:

I should have taken pictures, but my brain wasnt there. I was too busy trying to figure out why…or, how come, or better yet…..HOW MUCH?

Saturday, we went to the Carshow and I have a few photos from there that I’ve added to the image gallery.

Welp…Monday is slowly coming to a close. We rented some movies and are gonna grab something for Incog to cook later. Gotta go back to work tomorrow :thumbsdown: But, hopefully the week will go by fast being that we had today off.

I will have a Bally’s Update in a few weeks…:dance: It takes a few weeks to process, I guess.

Happy MLK Day! Have a good week!

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Friday, January 13th, 2005

I ordered my first grad school book. :pissed: *falls over backwards* I might have to go to the library from now on and copy some pages. I keep telling myself that it will be good to have the book for when I start writing my thesis, whenever that will be.

Saturday, January 14th, 2005

We woke up rather early today and drove out to Gardena to see Incog’s dad. Then we headed to the LA Auto Show. God, it was so packed. And I never realized how RUDE people can be. Not one were people bumping into eachother without saying excuse me, but people were rushing in front of people to see cars that werent going to be moving for another week and a half, and one guy had the NERVE to BURP in my EAR. :sick: I just dont understand it. :wtf: I dont remember people being that rude last year. Or there being that many people, for that matter. Maybe we DO need to get out of California…move to one of the northern states…cause southern california is getting too…uh, run down. And I’ll leave that at that. Too many people, too many cars…just…TOO MUCH. I’m considering a weekend trip to Portland to see what it’s like in that area. Anything will be better than THIS, at this point.

I got my parking pass today from CSUN. I opted to purchase a parking pass instead of trying to scramble for street parking in the evening, although I did hear that it wasnt so bad. When I was at USC, I had a parking pass, but I still managed to rack up about $2,000 in parking tickets my senior year. Sorry Mom. :uhh: It was to the point where I would go into the Transportation Department and they would know my name…AND my car, being that it had spoiledRHOtten written on the rear window and RHOTTEN on the license plate. It was too ridiculous to dispute, so they just GAVE me a parking pass for the last two months after we had spent so much. :surprised: I dont want to go down that road again.

It’s hard to believe that classes are starting in a week. I mean…I’m gonna be in Grad School. Something that I didnt think I would WANT to do after four difficult years at USC. But alas, I’ve set some rigorous goals and I intend to meet them, not just for me…but for me and incog and any offspring. *giggle* That sounded so weird.

Right now, we’re trying to decide whether or not we want to go snowboarding tonight from 5pm to 10pm. It’s 29°s and I have to get some gear…*sigh*. We need to go to REI. Alright…must go tinkle. There’s nothing like having to go when it’s 30 °s outside and your legs feel like they’re going to freeze off.

Be back with pictures later…..

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