It's sad to be only a sideline friend

Facebook is a great way to connect, but once you do connect with people you once knew, it feels a bit lonely when they really don't bother to keep in touch with you. It's also a bittersweet feeling to be able to see what they are up to and to know that you are not a part of their activities or thoughts. Sometimes it seems that many use the site to advertise the wonderful things they are doing than to keep in touch with friends.

I managed to read a few pages about early Christian architecture yesterday, although I failed to read the entire chapter. I will have to make it a high priority today. It's really difficult to maintain a set schedule with C around, but I guess I can't always use him as an excuse.

Yesterday I found a book at the public library which may help me with my project on miracles and magic. It didn't have entire chapters devoted to the topic, but there were some clues to where I might be able to find more leads. I also took out a book on traditional archery and heathers. I'd like to eventually try mounted archery and figured that I should get a start somewhere. The book on heathers might prove extremely useful for the solution of what to plant at the steep slope at the side of the house so that C doesn't have to mow the lawn and risk his life by falling off the wall and into the street below.

Maybe today I can go to Rutgers to make a copy of an article we were supposed to read. Unfortunately the professor didn't post it on Sakai, so I'm not exactly sure if she expects us to read it or not. I was under the impression that she would post it on Sakai, but when I last looked it was missing.

So much to do and so little time! That's how I always feel. I think I need to take a meditation class. I'm feeling a bit stressed. I couldn't get to sleep last night either and fell asleep around 2:30 or 3 AM and woke up at about 11:30 AM today. It is difficult to go to sleep early. There are so many things on my mind that I am thinking that I should do. At least I read a chapter of "Twenty Years After" yesterday. The story is getting a bit more exciting now that the four musketeers have met up. Interestingly, it has taken a different turn than I expected as Porthos and d'Artagnan are teamed up with the Cardinal against Aramis and Athos for the grandson of Henry IV. Oh, bother! I don't remember his name, but probably should since he is relevant to English history. John Someone who was probably involved in the War of the Roses. Now I will have to look it up... Oh... it was the Duc de Beaufort. Upon further research, it seems that he has nothing to do with the War of the Roses or John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford, although they had children with the same surname. I wonder where I got the name "John" from... maybe I mixed him up with John of Gaunt. Oh... Henry IV is in reference to the king of France, not of England. There are so many Henry IVs!

Did not do much yesterday and went to bed early because of a headache from lack of sleep. C and I drove around in the storm looking for a grocery store or supermarket. They were all closed and so we ended up going to Wawa for a few items and Subway for lunch. The Subway was located in a Pilot station which serves truckers. It seems that they were all congregating there because of the storm. It was slow going, but nice to be out driving on snow-covered white roads with the snow blowing all around.

Still have not started the readings. After coming home yesterday, I was a bit tired... oh, that and plus I had to shovel outside the mudroom. C doesn't do a very good job of it and likes to bring out his electric snow shovel. I don't think the electric shovel does as clean a job as shoveling the stuff manually. Back to the readings, I hope I can catch up with last week's readings today. Tomorrow, I hope to start next week's readings and maybe even finish it all. I was taking notes in MS Word for each article and chapter I read, but I think I will stop that. It takes me a lot longer to get through the assignments and I also worry that pulling out bits and pieces of information may not be a good idea since I may miss part of what the author is trying to say or if I remember it, I will have forgotten it by the time I re-read my notes. I am hoping that it is enough to make notes in the margins. I wonder if students of yore had this much work to do or whether it is something of the modern age where faster is equated with better. I don't see how anyone can really absorb all that information in such a short period of time without having the time to mull over the readings.

Today is a sunny day. The local grocery is probably open, so I will go down there to pick up some items for dinner. I am planning to make shepherd's pie tonight. I had planned to make it last night, but again, the grocery stores were closed.

Yesterday, with C's reluctant help, I was able to plant sweet woodruff, sage and lamb's ear seeds. Hopefully they will germinate. I also brought some germinating mix, balanced fertilizer and greensand from the Gardener's Supply Company. I used up all of the Miracle-Gro seed starting mix yesterday and thought that I should give their germinating mix a try. The product has received rave reviews from customers and I find that the Miracle-Gro mix tends to have small twiggy parts in it, which I read somewhere was an indication of poorer quality mixes. I also brought 100 small round transplant pots and wooden plant labels from Jung's. Not sure if I will actually need 100 pots, but I'm sure that I will be giving some plants away. Besides, it's always nice to have extras on hand.