The story: I wanted to follow all of the rules for making sure I passed this exam. I had chicken for dinner last night (brain food), and I ate almonds this morning (I hear they’re supposed to help your memory). And I knew it was important to get a good night’s sleep before my big test, but I was really wound up & anxious, so I took tylenol PM to knock myself out. I got in bed around 9:30 and got up at 6:30. That would’ve been great, except for the hour & a half (from 4 a.m. to 5:30) that Teenie decided it was time to get chatty. She would not… stop…. meowing. I’d call her and she’d get in bed with me, I’d pet her and she’d quiet down. Then I’d start to fall asleep, at which point I’d stop petting her (hey, you try to keep your arm moving when you’re not conscious!), which is when she’d start meowing again. As much as I love her, it was almost enough to make me wish I was cat-less.

Then I got up this morning & was completely dazed from the previous night’s drugs. Seriously, there were many moments where I’d just stare off into space rather than proceed with my morning routine. My diet coke didn’t even begin to wake me up (I guess I’ve built up an immunity to it), so I took one of those ephedra-free diet pills that are basically just caffeine. I felt vaguely Elvis-like mixing my uppers & downers, although mine are of the relatively safe over-the-counter variety, rather than the kind that could kill large farm animals. Anyway, the diet pill sort of helped, but I was still loopy & didn’t have much of an attention span. So on my way to the bus stop, I stopped & got a tall vanilla soy latte with a triple shot of espresso. Hell yeah. (Note for all of you soy haters: I’m lactose intolerant, so don’t give me any grief about my beverage selection. It took me a while to adapt to soy milk in my coffee, but I actually like it now.)

I drank my coffee on the bus, and basically vibrated through my whole exam. Legs bouncing, fingernails drumming, the whole thing. But I passed, and that’s all that matters.

So thanks for all the happy thoughts. I’ve now got 3 of the 6 exams done, so I’m officially at the halfway point. That feels pretty good. Upward & onward to the next course…