Holidays in Retail, LSAT Prep, Oxford Visiting, Root Canals, and Cleaning...Only One of These TOTALLY Sucked!

Life is so crazy right now, and yet, I absolutely love it. Sure, I'd love a little more free time, but whenever I have free time in my life, I always end up finding ways to work more anyway, so....never mind on the more free time thing. Haha. Between work, house cleaning, and (MOST IMPORTANTLY) LSAT studying, I just have a lot on my plate right now. Today was the one day sale at work, and I LOVE those. They completely wear me out for sure, but I love the excitement level and the preparation for the holiday rush that is seriously just around the corner. Plus, I sold 27 discount cards today, making my total 62 for the week, so my spiff pay out (think, in addition to my regular paycheck, and I hit .21 hours of overtime this week too) is going to be $83.75. Hello, Christmas presents! Just one more reason I adore the holiday season at my work. Yes, it is exhausting to work in retail around the holidays, but the pace being heightened helps a great deal, since it means I normally don't actually REALIZE I'm super tired until after my shift. That spiff pay out will also help me make what I hope will be about 20 or so pies to give out to friends and family for the holidays. Also, this was my 24th week of service leader, so if I hit 25 weeks (hopefully next week!), then I get an additional $250 bonus check in addition to the spiff for that week. I generally do pretty well each week during the holidays, so here's hoping! That extra money will help a ton with Christmas, and also for saving towards getting a new car in the early months of 2012. Fingers crossed people! PLEASE!

So, the LSAT is less than a month away, and while I've been preparing like crazy and am feeling more and more confident by the day, I'm still FREAKING OUT. I haven't taken a standardized test in roughly 8 years, so I'm nervous that I just won't do as well as I used to on such tests. Of course, I've been on my ADHD medicine for over a year, so I'm well adjusted to it and I think it will be very beneficial to me in doing well on the exam. Once again, fingers crossed! Actually, even more so on this one, PLEASE! I'm loving the studying process, but it is weird and a little disconcerting that the testing is based mostly on logic and the ability to apply it to common problems and scenarios--which is HARD to study for, believe it or not. I've been doing okay on practice tests, but I do need to get about 18-20 more questions right on the overall exam to get the score I would like to get. Most of those will need to be made up in the logic games section, where you are given one full scenario that you have to "crack" the "code" (of sorts) for and break down the components for in order to answer about 6 questions directly related to said scenario. There are, at least according to the practice tests I've been taking, 4 of these mini "sub" sections, totaling 24 questions overall. If I am able to quickly figure out all of the connections, the 6 questions fly by. Therein lies the problem, unfortunately. Time is not my friend here, and with only 30 minutes to complete all of them, I'm only going to have a little over a minute to effectively answer each question. Of course, I have to set aside time to break down the scenario, and it takes me a long time as it stands right now. Basically, I'm at the point where I'm able to finish 2 of the scenarios and feel pretty comfortable with them, and then I have like 5-7 minutes to do the other two. All I can do is keep practicing, because my only hope is having the logic tools down to a science to save time, otherwise I'm SCREWED. See? Psyching myself out! I've gotta stop doing that!

I visited Elise a few weekends back, and just fell in love with the town of Oxford, MS all over again. I really, really hope I get into Ole Miss Law School, because I'd love to be living there again, especially since I'll get to live with my best friend again. Here's hoping! I'd go into detail on the weekend, but that would take forever and I've gotta get some studying done and get some sleep before work! Suffice it to say that I had so much fun, and getting to see Bonnie too was a great perk--I'm so lucky I have such absolutely wonderful, true friends. I don't ever take it for granted, and I appreciate all the time I get to spend with everybody when I do. Now that we're all older, we are all so spread out across the United States--my closest friends live in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Ohio, California, Mississippi, and Iowa. I mean, seriously? Most I only get to see a couple times a year--at most--so I really appreciate the time I get to see them. Don't get me wrong--I have great friends here, and I love, respect, and appreciate them as well. I'm just starting to realize more than ever how quickly time goes by, and how precious time spent with loved ones really is. Oh, aging!

Cleaning at Amy's is still going well, but last week didn't really work out, because I had to have a ROOT CANAL. No, seriously. Probably the most painful thing I've gone through in my life. The worst part was actually before I got it done, because my exposed nerve literally made me cry pretty much every time I opened my mouth...and then after a while, even when I didn't. I had to leave work early TWICE, and I NEVER leave work early. After the root canal, I had to take the next day off as well, mostly for gum sensitivity. Next month, I have to get the permanent crown put on in place of the current temporary one, and I'm praying its far less painful this time around. Originally, they wanted to do it on December 1st, but two days before my LSAT made me a little nervous, so December 8th it is! The temporary crown is fragile, so I'm being very careful with it. A toothache is NO joke, and I will never doubt anybody ever again who complains as loudly as they wish if they have one. Typically speaking though, my house cleaning schedule keeps me just as busy as we all know I like to be, and it allows me to live in my amazing house for an even cheaper rent rate. Plus, I get to indulge in my love of organizing and cleaning just a little more. To answer your question, I SLEEP LIKE A BABY WITH SUCH A BUSY SCHEDULE.

Now that the one day sale has happened, holiday season at work is upon us. We won't get into the crazy, every day rushes until Black Friday, but it's starting! I couldn't be happier. Now, if my family would just tell me what they freaking want for Christmas instead of the "you can't afford too much, don't worry about it, we just want to all be together for the holidays and that's all that matters" spiel they've been feeding me, I'd be all set.

Fingers crossed again. Just don't hold your breath on this last one.