My most annoying habit is that I often talk over people or worse yet, interrupt them. It’s something I need to watch. I get so exciting about what someone is saying that I blurt out something in response. I catch myself doing it more often than I like. I’m sure it drives everyone crazy or makes some angry. Too all whom I’ve done this…very sorry for not listening.

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Ever had a cosmic kick in the pants? (This is a PG-13 rated blog, so I keep the swearing to a minimum.) I got one this weekend. I feel a little like I got hit by truck. This all began on Saturday. I suppose I could say it began when I took the first course last weekend, but that class had me euphoric. The next course was this weekend. I had the time, so I went. I thought it was better to take it soon. While it reinforces the previous course, this one requires you to dig deeper. To see who you have been. Trust me, it’s not nice. Nor is it fun to face who you have been to others. In fact, it sucks. Going any deeper seems a little too confessional to be put on this blog.

It’s a good thing that this quiz turned out the way it did. I’d hate to have it say I have a Southern accent when I’m from the Midwest. Guess that California accent hasn’t really taken hold. Although no one asks much anymore where I’m from. I don’t sound so foreign here anymore. Whew!

Yes, there were distractions in graduate school. Television, friends, drinking, etc. Surfing the internet was another way to pass the time. I was fond of just plain doing nothing or getting into hobbies that took up extra time. I became a master procrastinator. It’s the disease of graduate school especially by the third year. I began to wonder if I was ever going to get out of there. And Einstein was right–time for the gruadte student does slow down to a standstill.

A bee makes less than one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its entire lifetime. I find that amazing. I buy large jars of honey several times a year. What a thought–how many bees it takes to make 16 ounces of honey?

There is a biochemistry process in gettng that pollen into honey. Honey is about 80% sugar, 17% water and the rest are trace compounds that give the honey its color and flavor.

Here’s how it’s done:

First the bees drink the nectar, which gets mixed with enzymes in their stomach-like sacs. At the hive, the bees pass the material to house beens who remove some of the moisture content by ingesting and spitting it back up. I think that’s a bit gross…but I will continue. These house bees put the mixture into the honeycombs. The bees then fan their wings to further reduce the moisture and then put a wax cap over it. The enzymes produce many sugars and acids in the honey. The most important enzyme is invertase which splits the sucrose molecules into fructose and glucose.

Honey has a pH of 3.8 to 4.0, which puts it on an acidic scale. As a comparison, your stomach acids have a pH of 1, while water is typically around pH 7. The acids found in honey are formic, acetic, butyric and lactic. The trace compounds found in honey are potassium, iron, manganese, copper and silicon. There is also aobut 1% nitrogen from proteins. The flavors in honey are affected by the volatile organic compunds that are found in flowers.

If so, check out shaveeverywhere.com. It’s so corny and smarmy that it’s funny. I think I should dare Mr. Fab to outdo this site. I want to leave you with this columnist’s point of view because I think he writes about it best. Enjoy!

After the weekend, I finally got my first chance to talk with my sister for more than five minutes. We talked for an hour and a half. It looks like we may actually get along. We have hardly spoken to each other in 20 years. We fought a lot as kids. Once I went to college, I had my own life that I was involved in and just didn’t concern myself with whatever was going on with her. We both admitted that we don’t know anything about each other. I think we both found out a lot in over an hour.

I’m going to have a rant on drivers out here. I hope they aren’t as terrible where you are. Yesterday morning I had some driver go around me and nearly clip my front bumper because they cut in too close. Now, why can’t they see? During the lunch hour, I get behind some guy talking on his cell phone and going 10 mph BELOW the speed limit.

I keep seeing worse driving. The statistics also show drivers here are terrible. I just don’t understand with the bluetooth technology or even just plain headsets why someone has to hold the phone up to their ear while driving. It really isn’t safe. I’ve done it and nearly caused accidents. I don’t do it anymore. In fact, I hardly use the phone while driving. It’s just too distracting.

The police are cracking down on speeders all over the area. I’m hoping to get missed. While I don’t usually speed, I can get into the “zone” (autopilot) when I’m traveling the same route over and over–then I find myself going too fast. Which with my new car–a Camry Hybrid–seems really unlikely. But it does happen.

Ugh! I really should stop calling all of the crazies who cut me off, drive too slow, etc. “idiots,” but I can’t seem to help myself. So I guess a weekend of self-improvement didn’t affect my driving commentary at all. Still there. Still calling people names. I don’t mind traffic so much. I just don’t want to get into an accident.

Why do we celebrate people who work more than 40 hours a week? Why is it mentioned that someone works 70 hours a week in an article? I saw this in an article about and executive at eBay. I see this a lot with executives. Why can’t all that work be done in 40 hours or less?

My ideal would be to work about 6 hours a day and get paid the regular salary for 8 hours a day. There is so much else to do besides work. I quit a job where I was bored and unhappy to spend the time with my son. I don’t have a lot of time with him, and it was more important to me to spend his summer vacation with him. I know it meant a lot to him too.

So are these people happy? Most of them–probably not. I’m sure their families aren’t happy. I would much rather have a fulfilling, happy life than all the money that these executives make. although I’m poised to become one myself. I need to find the proper balance for me between work and everything else I wish to do.

This Friday and weekend I attended the Landmark Forum seminar. Mr. O gave me a little push to go. Ultimately, it was my choice to go. I became curious after lengthy conversations. So what did I get out it? A lot. I am finding more and more that I got out of it. The most important things to me were re-connecting with my sister after 20 years of avoiding each other and talking with my son’s father about our son.

There is no way to fully thank the person who introduced me to this class. I had never heard about it before. Now, my mother and sister are both asking me about the seminar. I sincerely hope that they are both able to attend. It made such a huge difference for me that I want to see that happen for everyone I know.

I got my voice back. I notice that I’m talking to people in a very different way. I am actually asking for what I want instead of expecting people to know or guess. I don’t know exactly how that happened. It wasn’t something I “worked” on.

I will be at the advanced course this weekend. More stuff…more long days.