take THAT ppst

Yesterday it got up to 77 degrees. It was beautiful. I put ABBA Gold in the cd player, got in the Fit and drove to Kearney to take the PPST.

I did the 1:15 reading section in about 20 minutes.

Then came the dreaded math. It was tough. There were a couple graphs with an X axis and a Y axis and a sloping line with the question "Which of the following equations does this graph represent?" No clue. No inkling of how to do those problems. There were a couple like this:"A student says the following is true: x y parenthesis blah blah blah. Which of the following proves the student wrong." I don't even think the MATH was that hard, but having it framed that way was very confusing to me.

There were, I think, 44 questions and 1:15 to complete it. I could skip questions or mark them for review. I was down to the wire going back over my marked and unanswered questions with the time clock flashing. There was one question involving area and perimeter that I couldn't work out--but I didn't know why. I KNOW how to figure those things, but there seemed to be two correct answers. That was very frustrating. And when I ran out of time and the math portion shut down I really didn't know where I stood.

After a fifteen minute break I did the writing multiple choice section, then the essay. My essay was a rather uninspired standardized test essay, but decent none-the-less.

Then came the scores. Out of 190 possible, I needed 171 to pass the math. I got a 182! I could hardly believe it. I'm a pretty optimistic person. I think I have pretty realistic expectations for things. And still, I thought it was a real possibility that I would not pass the math. So, WOO HOO!

After the test I went to Target--a treat because we don't have one in town. Then I went to the music shop and played a baby Taylor guitar for a while. Next I hit the Thunderhead Brewery to return my empty growlers bottles and pick up two new growlers: Dubble and IPA. The Thunderhead makes fantastic beer, brewed right here in central Nebraska, to be taken home in glass gallon jugs. It's so great.

I cranked ABBA back up and drove home to find Paul grilling on the patio. We had burgers and BBQ potato chips. A little after eight Todd & Cody and Clay & Susie came over to celebrate. We opened the aforementioned growlers and sat in the backyard until it got chilly. Clay and Susie brought be a book. Todd & Cody brought me a bag of thrifted Scrabble tiles--the uses for which are endless.

I feel so relieved. This was my last hurtle to jump through for grad school--now I just have to wait for my (please) acceptance letter. I had been dangling the carrot of recording a cd in front of me and now I can. Thursday the kids and I drive off to St. Louis.

I'm a happy girl.