Today the second semester started on the wrong foot. First of all, I didn't sleep all night because I was working on a paper due in today. Then I discovered I failed a course (I'll ask to do another test, but I'm not sure if they'll let me). I have a bad feeling about the test I had last Thursday. I have a feeling I may have failed it too.

I've had some excellent grades this semester, but by the last two tests I needed a break, and I guess I gave myself too much time off and I didn't study enough. This is really annoying, and I can't blame anybody but myself. I'm in a crappy mood because of this, and being very tired doesn't help much.

I should try to be optimistic - a semester that starts this way can only get better.

I got an 87 on the test I had about a week and a half ago. Most people got grades in the 60's and 70's, so I'm very happy with what I got. I still have one more test and one more paper to write. I can't wait for some time off!

I've changed the title and description of my blog. I think that you might still be able to see the old title and description in the archives (at least until the next time I hit the "Re-Publish All" button). So, what do you think of the change?

My sister is pregnant. She's due in September. I wonder how my nephew will react when he'll hear he's about to be a big brother. He'll be 4 years old by the time the baby is born, and since he's making a lot of progress maybe he'll even be happy to have a brother or sister. It might even be good for him.

When a person is pregnant, the expecting parents as well as their close family, always have certain worries about the baby. Will it be healthy? Will it have some terrible disease that cannot be detected during pregnancy? There is a lot of anxiety as it is, but when you already have one child with one of the unthinkable disorders, the anxiety is even greater. The odds aren't lower now because you already have one child like this. It's a whole new pregnancy with exactly the same chances as the previous one - and while hopefully the next baby will be normal, you still have a chance of another sick baby, and not necessarily with the same illness. Sometimes you might even fear the odds are even more against you, when there's a chance of the illness being genetic. But I'm optimistic, though still anxious. I'm fairly certain this time around, I'll learn how it is to be an uncle of a healthy niece or nephew.

Don't get me wrong. I love my nephew. I find him adorable. I've seen him grow almost every day of his life. In a way, I have a feeling that I had a greater infuence on him than I would if he were not autistic. The time I spent, both before and after we found out he's autistic, and still spend with him, being a fun and crazy uncle, constantly telling him how cute he is, contributed to the fact that he's making a lot more progress than most other children born with his condition. It takes a crazy family to cure an autistic child, with the addition of proper professional counciling of course. Thanks to all of us, his adoring parents, grandparents, uncle and aunt (my sister's side of the family only - my brother-in-law's family doesn't live in the same city and they don't see them much), he's going to be as normal as possible. I really feel like I'm taking part in saving his life.

The next baby better be healthy though. This whole savior thing is so damn tiring!

It's Valentine's Day and I've got no valentine. Well, whatever. It's only been in recent years that Valentine's has been celebrated in Israel. We also have a Hebrew version of Valentines - 15th of Av (Tu B'Av) which is usually sometime in August. I wonder if I'll be girlfriendless then too. I hope not. But I'm not desperate either. Nothing is new with Dana - I don't know if anything ever WILL be new with her. Next semester we'll see even less of each other than we did until now.

Last Thursday I had a big test. I think it went well.

I got an 81 on the test I had a week ago. I'm a bit disappointed, but I have nothing to complain about, since my other two test scores from last week are in the mid 90's.

Tomorrow I'll study with friends for Thursday's test. I better study some more alone, so I'll know what I know and what I don't know.

Tomorrow I'll know how much I got in the test I had last Sunday, but in the meantime I had two more tests and already got my grades in them - 94 and 96. Other than the 55, I'm on a roll (almost like John Kerry)!

I had a test yesterday that went very well. I expect to get something between 85-95. Last week I had my first test and I didn't feel that I did too well, and I expected to get around 70. Yesterday I found out that I failed it (55), so I'll have a second test in this subject later this month. The score in the second test will be the one that counts, so it isn't the end of the world, but it sure is irritating (and it also means I won't have any vacation before the second semester starts).

My nephew was cute again this weekend. He had more ticks than a few weeks ago, but less than last week. So I don't know if it's the gluten or not.