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I'm tired. I'm actually skipping class tomorrow, because we get election day off. I'm making up for it by spending tomorrow and Tuesday doing some major studying though. Plus, I'm also justifying it by the fact that I'm still feeling kind of sick. Hopefully, another day or two of rest will make a bigger difference.

Danielle didn't pass her math evaluation test because she had trouble with multiplying and dividing fractions, so we went to Starbucks tonight and we worked on that. She got it fine, she just struggles with math. And it really frustrates me that we live in a country where it's okay for an intelligent person to not get basic math skills because "they're not a math person," as though math is some arcane skill that only the gifted few get. And that's honestly perpetuated by math teachers, because the ones I've had usually took a "you either get it or you don't" view and never emphasized the importance of math in the real world.

Anyway, we worked through it and while she did some problems, I did some research for my paper. It's amazing how little information about Okinawa there is in books on Japanese history. One book had one paragraph on the annexation and maybe five or six sentences scattered through the book that referred to Okinawa.

After the math lesson/research session, I had to go to Wal-Mart for a couple of things. The problem with living in a town of about eight thousand is that there really isn't much to do, so a trip to Wal-Mart (it's Wal-Mart or K-Mart....we don't even have a Target or Meijer) is that it can turn into an adventure.

First, I wanted to check the Christmas section to see if they had any candy ornaments. That's been my latest goal: searching for candy-themed ornaments. A while back, I found a garland that was made up of what looked like Life-Savers and other hard candy. That led to the thought of "Well, why don't we do a candy-themed tree?" So I kept adding and adding to it. The fun of themed trees for me is that it really gives sort of a focus to looking at ornaments. I found some plastic candycane twist things for two-for-a-dollar, so I picked them up. That was it.

Then, since Danielle had worked so hard on the math, she decided she deserved a white plush snowman. Then she changed it to a moose. Then she changed it to a teddy bear in a blue sweater. Instead of carelessly tossing it into the cart, we not only put it in the child's seat, but we put the little seatbelt on him, too. And, of course, we got a picture.

After that, we checked the toys because I wanted to look for more Care Bears. They did not have them. I did find a collectors pack of My Little Ponies, while Danielle ended up with a Neopet. Also, I looked at the Cabbage Patch kids. They're apparently doing rereleases of the orginals dolls and I'm trying to figure out if the ones I had are being released. If so, I want them.

I get very nostalgic over my childhood toys.

We got a few more things (including detergent and coffee, the reason I went to begin with), but overall, the cart looked like a five-year-old had been given run of the store. So, we decided to get a picture.

Then, these guys come up and ask if we'll get a picture of them. I wanted to be polite, so I did. Well, I got a picture of one of them holding a Sports Illustrated calender, since it seemed rude to say no. Then, they asked if we had My Space accounts. Fortunately, I didn't, but Danielle did, so she gave them her information, so she could pass along the photos. (Now, keep in mind that these guys looked to be maybe 20-ish.)

Then, they asked if we were single and one hung behind and asked "What's your phone number?" I'm like, "You mean her?" pointing to Danielle. He's like "Either of you." I kind of prevaricated, and said something like "Well, since your friend has her My Space info, he can get in touch with her..."

After they left, four things occurred to me:

1) I don't think they really cared about getting a picture.
2) I'm pretty sure they were hitting on us.
3) I'm really bad at reading stuff like that, which is part of why I'm single.
4) Even if they weren't much younger, I don't think I'd want to date someone that picked up in the produce section of Wal-Mart. That also explains the single thing.

Seriously, it was weird. And maybe it's low self-esteem or something, but when something like that happens, I never can figure out whether to be flattered because someone hit on me or just assume that they would have hit on anyone moving.

So, that was my day. Now, I need to get some rest because I need to really work on that paper tomorrow.