che giornata!

Italian for "what a day!"

Well, I should be working on my project that's due at 11:30 tomorrow, but considering the fact that I don't own the book I'm supposed to be using, I feel justified in taking a little time to update my blog. I'm going to leave out some of the gory details because, frankly, I don't really want to remember that this day ever existed. It started with a 9:50 class. Not so bad, except its a class I hate. Not because its boring or anything, but because it stretches me out of my comfort zone, and that's the precise reason I won't allow myself to drop it. Its good for me. Kinda like steamed spinach I guess. A weird sort of masochism. Anyway, something unexpected happened in class today, and it was more stressful than most of my other classes combined.

The next thing requires a little background. When I was in third grade, I experienced something the doctor called heart palpitations, which is basically a few minutes of the physical symptoms of a panic attack without the actual emotion of panic or fear. Having just switched schools, the doctor said it was brought on by stress. After a few incidents, it stopped, and I haven't had a palpitation in about 13 years. Until today. It lasted longer than I remembered, but then, when you aren't breathing properly, time tends to slow down. When it was finally over, I was shaken, not physically, but emotionally... it was kind of the trigger- "Ok, now I know things are bad, and I need to find a way to relax, 'cause I've been stressed for weeks." I thought about not going to jujitsu tonight because, you know, physical activity... heart problems... don't really go together. But my mom convinced me to go because jujitsu is the one time each week when I feel completely relaxed.

And that brings me to the last point. When I got back, I found 10 AIM messages, most of them telling me "I hope you feel better," "Here's a hug," and "I'm praying for you." I don't usually get a whole lot of AIM messages when I'm away, so it really made me appreciate the value of friendships. You all know who you are, and you made me feel very special, so thank you.

And now, I'm going to go invent some assignment to hand in tomorrow.