amish-jewish-spanish, mixed-up

yep, the electricity went out right after my last post! it's midnight, and the lights just came back. tonight, i was catapulted from my 21st century life, to an amish-like evening spent by candlelight�albeit one featuring ipod music! unfortunately, even w/ candles, it was too dark to write x-mas cards, so i napped. now, i'll be burning the midnight oil trying to get several cards done tonight (ones i have to give to people i'll see tomorrow at work). have you heard of the amish cook? she hand-wrote her all of her syndicated cooking column by kerosene lantern. it's impressive, but...imagine the eyestrain of doing that day-in and day-out!

since i wasn't so thrilled about being amish for a night, i had a jewish dinner: matzohs, pickles, and applesauce. yeah! there was no latke, though, since the power was out. ;-) seriously, jewish food rocks! and here's a secret: these are the best pickles (the half-sours). if y'all didn't know it before, you know it now: i'm a big fan, so bring on the manischewitz! meanwhile, i'm looking for a quality jewish cookbook, so if there are any matzoh-ballers out there, give me a holler�

remember the brownies i was "stuck" with? i caved in to temptation and ate two this afternoon, and they're delicious. then, my friend who was to host tonight's party braved the ice (!) and came over tonight to get some of the decadent treats. i gave her a plate of them, along w/ her gift (an adorable ornament from world market), and some kisses. no, silly! i'm talkin' about Hershey kisses! and i'm thrilled b/c i got some spanish custard in return! if you're looking for the best homemade flan, then you must meet my friend.

i'm confused right now. i'm working on a form that asks for my college GPA, which i know. but it specifically requests that it be calculated using a template worksheet they provide. the problem is Mt. Holyoke's grading system once differed from most schools. instead of A, A-, B+, B, B-, etc., they used a system that used A, AB, B, BC, (etc.). according to this scale, an A=4 points, AB=3.5 points, B=3 points & so on. but just before my senior year, they switched, and adopted the use of +'s and -'s, like most schools, so an A=4 points, A-=3.7 points, B+=3.3 points & so on�

the problem is that this form here only lets you calculate your GPA based on the newer (and i think more common) +/- grading scale. so how the hell can i calculate the GPA for my 1st three years of college? good question! i got many AB's in college, and i'd like to flatter myself by thinking that if i had to convert them to the newer scale, most of my AB's were really A-'s, not B+'s. heh! but i'll never know. too bad the school didn't wait another year before switching its grading, 'cuz it's mixed-up and it's messing me up!