#at home I’ve set alarms/timers to wake me up after 20 minutes

[floraleevee]

I think I have a curse on me that makes alarms and such malfunction whenever I try to nap for less than an hour

[adana-knows]

My Daily Routine (Imbolc 2020)

I change up my daily routine frequently - I like to shake things up each time a new Sabbat rolls by, sometimes more often if things aren’t working.  I should also note that I have a lot of free time at the moment, and the luxury of making my own hours.  I have no children or time restraints, other than making sure my boyfriend doesn’t sleep through his work alarm.  

My Morning Routine

Wake up.  I stretch, grab my glasses, climb out the bed, and head to the bathroom.  

Kitty Care.  It’s time to feed the cats and re-fill their water fountain.  I also take this time to do a quick scoop of their litter boxes.  

Unload the Dishwasher.  After I wash my hands, I then take a moment to unload the dishwasher, and to load any dishes or glasses left out since the last time I ran it.  

Hydration.  My goal is to drink more water, but let’s face it: I like sugar.  I like tea, and I like soda.  If I have either ready-made or on hand, I’ll usually choose that over water in the morning, but I do make an effort to drink at least a couple glasses of water every day.  This is also when I take my meds and vitamins (B12 and D3).  

Bullet Journal.  My bullet journal helps me keep track of all kinds of things - cleaning, birthdays, appointments, holidays, sabbats, moon phases.  I try to make time for sitting down and figuring out what needs to be done each morning.  My goal is to list at least three of the most important tasks that need to be done, and actually do them before the end of the day.  It’s also at this time that my cat, Xena, likes to flop down on top of my paper and demand attention, so I’ll pet and groom her at this time.  

Read.  I spend an hour or so reading and/or researching.  Usually this means reading a book that can help build a skill, improve my life, or informs me on a subject, such as paganism, spirituality, minimalism, or witchcraft.  If I’m researching a specific topic that I have no books for, then I’ll spend this time Googling, but it’s easy to slip down the deep dark internet hole and not get anything really done on this front.  

Movement.  It’s winter where I live, and if it’s under 40 F outside, I’m not walking to the gym (which is about a 15-20 minute walk from my home).  This means moving at home, usually with some yoga.  I like to do Sun Salutations, but if I’m in the mood for something a little extra, I might pop in an Ashley Turner yoga video or follow a video by Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube.  

Meditation.  My best meditation sessions are always after expending a lot of energy and working up a sweat.  I’ll devote about 20 minutes to meditation.  I generally don’t do guided meditations unless I’m performing ritual; this is usually just me with my eyes closed.  

Self Care.  I’ll shower, get dressed, brush my teeth, run a brush through my hair, and spend some time on me.  Sometimes this is as simple as shaving my legs, exfoliating, painting my nails, or taking a file to my heels.  Other times I’ll try out a new hairstyle, put on a full face of makeup, or give myself a mani-pedi.  My goal is to go out of my way and do at least one thing every day to pamper myself that’s not part of my daily routine.  

Prayer.  This is the cornerstone of my morning ritual, and the reason I do it!  What I do depends on the moon phase, but I honor Hestia everyday by lighting a candle and offering a prayer (usually with my prayer beads), giving an offering of water to the ancestors, and burning incense for the Lare.  If I’m currently working on a skill, I’ll end my session with a related exercise, and maybe journal about my experience.  

Creativity.  After a long hot shower, I then do something creative.  Sometimes this is doing extra research or reading.  Other times I create a new bullet journal spread, color in a coloring book, work on a page in my Book of Shadows, brainstorm ideas for something, or write.  While I’m doing this, I like to watch TV or YouTube on a related topic.  For example, if I’m working on my bullet journal, I’ll watch YouTube videos of bullet journal layouts and spreads.  If I’m working in my Book of Shadows, I’ll watch videos on the topic of paganism.  If I’m working on writing, then I’ll put some themed ambient noise on so that I can fully concentrate on what I’m doing.  If I’m coloring, doodling, sketching, etc, I might just put on Hulu and catch up with a recent TV show.  I’ll do creative work for about an hour.  

Brunch.  If I have to cook my meal on the stove, I’ll light my Hestia candle, give a prayer, and then cook; when done, I’ll say thanks and extinguish the candle.  When I’m ready to eat, I’ll say another prayer to Hestia (because I do a LOT of meal prepping, I can go days without actually needing to cook), give Her an offering of my first and last bite (because She was born first and last) or an offering of cornmeal or grain.  

Free Time.  From this time to my afternoon routine, I’ll do whatever I feel like.  I might play a game, get lost on Pinterest, watch YouTube videos, watch movies, chat on the phone, or work on some project or another.  

Afternoon Routine

Honoring Hestia.  All acts of cleaning in my home is dedicated to Hestia.  I’ll light a candle, say a quick prayer, and leave the candle to burn on my altar while I clean.  Sometimes I’ll burn incense as well, depending on my mood and as inspiration strikes.  

Open up the apartment.  For me, this means cracking open my sliding glass door and let in some fresh air.  It’s pretty cold out, so it’s only cracked about an inch or two while I clean.  

Dishes.  I’ll collect any dishes I’ve dirtied throughout the day, and sweep my boyfriend’s computer area for dishes, glasses and silverware as well.  If I skipped unloading the dishwasher in the morning (sometimes I get lazy or distracted), I’ll do it now.  No matter how full or not, I’ll run the dishwasher now.  

5 Minute Tidy.  This is when I spend 5 minutes in every room of my apartment and tidy up.  It’s great when I get overwhelmed with how much to do and helps identify the most important mini tasks that need to be done per room; just set a timer and work as quickly as I can until it goes off.  

Weekly Cleaning.  There are some things that need to be done each and every week, like changing the litter box, scrubbing the toilet, dusting, emptying the refrigerator of leftovers, etc.  I keep a detailed list in my bullet journal and track when I do these things.  I generally group these tasks by day: Mondays are the bedroom, Tuesdays the bathroom, Wednesdays the kitchen, Thursdays the living room, and Fridays are the hallway and getting done whatever didn’t completed earlier in the week.  

Deep Cleaning.   There’s also things that need to be done seasonally, like sweeping the ceiling for cobwebs, cleaning underneath and behind the fridge, and tackling the mess that is my cabinets and drawers (they get messy over time).  These tend to be tasks that need to be done all over the apartment or are a rather big task, so I’ll do one a day.  

Garbage.  If there’s garbage that needs to be taken out, I do it.  I’ll grab the mail coming back in, and go through that.  

Miscellaneous Tasks.  If there’s anything I wanted - or need - to get done that doesn’t fit into the above, but was important enough to make it on my daily list in my bullet journal, it gets done now.  

Close the Apartment.  Close the sliding glass doors to prevent the cats from getting bold enough to try and pop the screen and run outside.  Not that they stay out there long when it’s cold.  It’s just a pain in the butt having to go out there and retrieve them, especially if they manage to get out of courtyard.  

Fragrance.  If I didn’t burn incense, then I’ll spray some febreeze around.  We have 3 cats and let me tell you - the apartment smells like it in the winter.  Opening up the house helps, but it doesn’t get rid of the scent completely.  I’ll febreeze my couch and bed with the febreeze for cloth and sheets, and spray scented stuff (usually Glade) around the apartment.  

Thank Hestia.  I go back to my altar, give a prayer of thanks, and extinguish my Hestia candle.  If incense is still going, I’ll let it burn itself out and then clean up the ashes.  

The BF Comes Home.  Right about now, my boyfriend comes home from work.  I’ll take a moment to say hi.  

More Free Time! 

Evening Routine

Kitty Care.  Refill cat bowls for the night.  If a bowl is looking kind of gross or needs to be cleaned, this is when I’ll do it (before refilling it).  

Dishes.  I’ll bring any dishes or glasses left in the living room or around the apartment to the kitchen sink.  

Quick Tidy.  I tend to make a pretty big mess when I’m in the middle of a project, or when I’m just having a lazy evening, so I’ll take a few minutes to put away books, shelve binders, organize papers, throw pens and pencils into my pencil case, and fluff the pillows on the couch.  

Evening Prayer.  I don’t do this every evening, usually because I tend to stay up until I start to doze off, and at that point, all I can think of is the bed.  But if I can, I’ll go to my altar, say a gratitude prayer to any deities that I’m working with, and clean up any offerings left on the altar.  Offering clean up might be postponed to the next morning.  

Self Care.  I’ll brush my teeth, wash my face, change into pajamas.  

Read.  If I’m still a little too awake for bed, I might read for 20 minutes to an hour, depending.  

Sleep.  

[miss-eee]

Merry Christmas to @laurelins from your Bughead Secret Santa. I can not thank you enough for unknowingly introducing me to this series! 

A Court of Beanies and Ponytails

The room was lit only by the white lights of the Christmas tree, sparkles of red and green dancing around the room. After a full, busy day of Christmas shopping and wrapping presents, Betty Cooper was thankful to be back in the peace and quiet of the apartment she shared with her boyfriend, Jughead Jones. Tomorrow morning would bring cookie baking and more wrapping, before Christmas dinner at her mother’s in the evening, but now, she just wanted to sleep.

“Come on, Betts, you can’t fall asleep yet - it’s a tradition.” If someone had told her years ago, that her boyfriend was a stickler for Holiday traditions, she never would have believed them. In all the years that they’d been together, in high school in Riverdale and then through college in New York City, there was one Christmas tradition that Jughead insisted they keep.

The opening of one Christmas present on Christmas Eve.

She glanced up through half-lidded eyes as he came towards her, carrying a perfectly wrapped gold box with a large gold bow on top. She curled her legs up underneath him, reaching for the present in his hands, and directed him towards a small rectangular package under the tree.

“Merry Christmas, Juggie.” She leaned up to kiss his cheek, as she turned the gold present over in her hands. She had an idea what it was, their tradition also included the present they open on Christmas Eve always being a book, but this felt heavier than the cookbooks she’d sent him as ideas. She tugged and pulled on the wrapping paper, revealing a beautiful red boxed set covered in viney, thorned detailing. She ran her fingers across the embossed title, A Court of Thorns and Roses. “Jug- what is this?”

“Honestly Betts, I’m not entirely sure. It got good reviews on Amazon, and the series has been compared as a cross between Beauty and the Beast and Game of Thrones. I thought it’d be a nice break from all those English Lit requirements.”

That was true. Betty was in her first semester of graduate school, studying English Literature, and it was taking everything she had. Her days and nights were spent reading and preparing papers, and the thought of having something to read in her free time that wasn’t required reading was actually exciting.

“They’re gorgeous, Jug.” She pulled each individual hardcover book from the red box, taking in the beautiful twisting designs on the cover, the intricateness of the gown on each, worn by who she perceived the be the heroine after reading the back cover. Her excitement grew as she took in the summary, something about wolves and magical lands and fairies.

She opened the first book, reveling in the crack as the binding broke, that fresh paper smell that comes along with new books. She reached for the blanket, pulling it up over her legs and settling back against the couch, intending to only read the first chapter before going to bed. Jughead leaned down, kissing her forehead, whispering to her to “not stay up all night” before he softly stepped down the hallway towards their bedroom.

Only one chapter.

-

She wasn’t sure at what time she realized she was in too deep. Maybe it was around 2 in the morning when she made her third cup of coffee, or maybe it was when the sun came up and she wasn’t anywhere near a stopping point. Or maybe it was when she heard the alarm buzz from down the hallway, followed a few moments later by Jughead stepping into the living room, rubbing the at the sleep in his eyes.

“Betty? Did you stay up all night?”

“Oh, Juggie! It’s so beautiful… the magic and the fairies, the romance and the angst. It’s perfect…” She wasn’t entirely aware of how fast she was talking, the way her words all ran together into one until Jughead settled down on the couch beside her, pulling her feet up into her lap.

“You need to take a break. We’ve got to get started on cookie baking and we’ve got to be to your mom’s by 5.”

“There’s plenty of time, Jug. I’ve only got - 20 pages left. You go shower, I’ll finish this book, and then we can get started on cookies.”

“Half hour, Betts. Gotta get these cookies done before you crash after staying up all night.”

Her heart was smiling as she entered the kitchen, freshly showered after finishing the first book. A Court of Mist and Fury was sitting there, taunting her, but she knew Jughead was right. She had to get the cookies finished before she crashed, the second book would be there after they got back from her mothers.

It was hard, rolling the dough for snickerdoodles around the in the cinnamon, mixing the chocolate chip cookies. Her mind wasn’t on baking - it was on Feyre and Tamlin and Prythian.

The rest of the day passed in a blur of last-minute wrapping presents and preparing everything to take to her mother’s - there wasn’t time to read a single chapter or to take a nap.

-

Christmas day passed in a blur of too much caffeine and not enough sleep, but she was thankful to be surrounded by her family. They’d missed a lot of the twins growing up when they’d been in NYC for college, and it was nice to be back home and a bigger part of their lives. They were almost 5 now, Juniper into all things pink and glittered, Dagwood into all things that clattered and made noise.

It was well after 11 when they were finally back at their apartment, now well over 24 hours since she’d last slept. But it was there, Mist and Fury, calling to her, and she knew she needed to read it, even just a chapter.

Just one chapter.

Sometime in the night, around Chapter 15, she’d finally fallen asleep, Mist and Fury tucked next to her on the couch. Her dreams were only of magic and fairies and Feyre and Tamlin, but a certain dark-haired fairy with wings like a bat kept reappearing. She woke to the sun shining in through the curtains, sparkling off the snow that had fallen the night before.

There were things to do today, and it felt good to have finally gotten some sleep, so she instantly began cleaning the kitchen before moving to the bathroom. She was putting laundry away in the bedroom dresser when Jughead woke, and she realized in her “new book induced haze” she’d slept on the couch the last two nights.

She crawled into the bed next to him later that evening, wrapping his arm around her waist. Almost instantly, she found herself falling back to sleep, relaxing into that comfort that came with being in his arms.

-

She tried, she really did. But she woke up in the middle of the night needing to use the bathroom, still craving more of Mist and Fury, and soon found herself settled back into that spot on the couch, this time setting a timer on her phone for an hour. Only an hour, she told herself, and then she would go back to bed.

Only an hour.

She woke the next morning, to Jughead gently moving her feet, and realized she had once again fallen asleep on the couch.

That routine continued for the next week - attempting to go to bed, waking up in the middle of the night, and reading on the couch until she fell asleep. Outside of her humanly responsibilities, all of her time was devoted to reading the books, relying solely on coffee to keep her awake.

-

By New Year's Eve, she’d finished A Court of Wings and Ruin, the third and final installment of the series. It’d taken her longer than the others, and by longer than the others, she meant more than two days to finish.

Archie, Veronica and Kevin came over to the apartment to celebrate New Years, and it was late when her and Jughead were picking up the remnants of the party. She didn’t like to leave a mess for the morning, it was always much nicer to wake up hungover to a clean house and a messy one.

After helping her pick up the apartment, Jughead had settled into a spot on the couch, wrapping his legs up around a blanket. She sat down at the other end, her head flopping back in exhaustion. She glanced over at her boyfriend, who was turning over in his hand A Court of Thorns and Roses, and she couldn't help but crack a half smile at him. All week he'd teased her about how obsessively she'd read through the series, barely taking breaks to eat or sleep.

“I'm just going to read the first chapter and then I'll go to bed. I've got to see what all this hype is about…”

She rolled her eyes at him and moved to kiss his cheek. “See you in the morning, Jug.”

Sure enough, the next morning when she woke she was all alone in their bed. She grabbed one of his flannels from the closet, wrapping it around her to guard against the chill as she stepped quietly down the hallway.

He was still there, in the same spot on the couch, sleeping peacefully, the book tucked into his side.

She moved closer to him, not wanting to wake him up, but he muttered something that made her stop.

“What was that, Jug?”

“But she loves Tamlin…” She realized then that he was still sleeping, debating internally the plots of the book.

“Oh, Jug,” she whispered as she ran her hands through his dark hair, “wait until you read the second book…”

[dipulb3]

Fitbit Charge 4 review: Built-in GPS and better sleep tracking, plus it's pretty

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/fitbit-charge-4-review-built-in-gps-and-better-sleep-tracking-plus-its-pretty/

Fitbit Charge 4 review: Built-in GPS and better sleep tracking, plus it's pretty

The Fitbit Charge 4 ($150 at Best Buy) has everything you need in a fitness tracker for under $200. It finally includes built-in GPS to track outdoor workouts independently, it has better training tools for athletes, and it fits most of the same smartwatch features into a slimmer package than the more expensive Fitbit Versa ($185 at Amazon). It’s my favorite Fitbit yet. If you’re looking for a fitness tracker than behaves a lot like a smartwatch without the extra bulk, the Fitbit Charge 4 might be the perfect fit. 

Like

Sleek, minimalistic design

Heart rate zone notifications

Compatibility with iOS and Android

Sleep tracking and analysis

Don’t Like

Low visibility in direct sunlight

No quick reply for messages on iPhone

Shorter battery life than the Fitbit Charge 3

Added features without the added bulk 

There are plenty of great wearables for athletes, like the Garmin Forerunner 945 and Suunto 3, that have way more fitness chops than the Charge 4, but they’re not the most fashionable. The $150 Charge 4 (£130, AU$230) is a tracker I will happily wear 24/7 thanks to its sleek, understated design. If you’re familiar with the Charge 3 ($116 at Amazon), the new version doesn’t look much different — it’s just the tiniest bit bulkier on your wrist. 

The screen can only display in black and white, but I like that it’s nearly half the size of a traditional smartwatch, such as the Apple Watch ($399 at Apple), and it also does away with physical buttons. Instead, you control the Charge 4 with a combination of the touchscreen and by pressing the left side of the tracker to navigate settings. The touchscreen isn’t as responsive and it takes a few seconds to light up when you raise your arm to wake the screen, but I eventually got where I wanted to go. The only time the lag really bothered me was while I was running and wanted to quickly glance at my stats without taking my eyes off the road. Like the Charge 3, it’s also hard to see the screen in direct sunlight. 

The regular Charge 4 comes in three different colors with silicone sports bands, but the Special Edition, or SE, version that I tested out also comes with a woven band option for $20 more. Straps are easy to swap out (unlike the Versa 2 ($200 at Best Buy), which has tricky toggles) and if you’re upgrading from the Charge 3 you’ll be able to use those bands on the newer tracker. There are also a bunch of third-party strap options available to customize your look. 

The Charge 4 is comfortable to wear throughout the day and doesn’t dig into my skin when I tighten it up during a run. You can also wear it to bed. Like other Fitbits, it also tracks your sleep. I won’t go as far as to say that it’s comfortable to wear in bed, but at least I didn’t want to rip it off in the middle of the night like other trackers. 

The Charge 4 pushed me to run faster

As a basic fitness tracker, the previous Charge models already checked most of the boxes: measuring steps, calories, floors climbed, heart rate and distance (using your phone’s GPS). But that wasn’t enough for more serious runners like me. I’m by no means an elite athlete, but I do run on a regular basis, so having a built-in GPS is high on my wish list. The GPS allows the Charge 4 to map your route during an outdoor walk, run, bike ride or hike without having to rely on your phone. 

I’ve gone on a few runs and the Charge 4 has given consistent distance readings on the same route with and without my phone. You can also see a heat map of your route on the Fitbit app, which also indicates the intensity at which you were running based on your heart rate. 

The only other Fitbit device that offers built-in GPS feature is the Ionic ($199 at Amazon) watch, but it’s now over two years old and I found it too big and bulky to wear on a regular basis.

Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNET

The Charge 4 tracks over 20 different activities, from cycling to yoga. It’s also water resistant up to 50 meters like the Charge 3, so you can use it for swimming. You can program up to six exercise shortcuts on the Charge 4, but you do have to choose them and sync from the phone app. You can also set it to track your runs automatically, and set goals for things like pace, distance or calories burned before you start each activity. 

GPS is not the only tool for athletes. The Charge 4 has added a new metric called Active Zone Minutes, which uses your heart rate zones to determine the intensity of your workout. The goal is to have 150 active minutes logged by the end of each week, but you can increase or decrease the target based on your fitness level. 

A few years ago, Fitbit started breaking out heart rate data into training zones for each activity, based on age and weight. After a workout you can log into the mobile app and see how long you were in fat burn, cardio or peak. The Charge 4 adds real-time heart rate zone notifications so you can take action during your workout. 

I had to push myself much harder than usual to get my peak heart rate alert to pop up on the screen (you also get a buzz on your wrist when you reach each zone). I realized I’d been overestimating my effort and it was helpful to have the Charge nudging me to get out of my comfort zone. I can see this being a good training tool if you’re looking to break your personal record in a race.

Battery life takes a hit

The only downside about having GPS on the Charge is that it’ll gobble up your battery a lot faster than on the Charge 3. Fitbit says the Charge 4 can last up to seven days on a charge, but I barely made it to day four before having to plug it in.

I didn’t mind having to recharge after four days, but if you’re looking to get the most out of your battery life (and are planning to use it at night) I would recommend turning off the GPS when it’s not in use. You’ll just have to remember to do this after your workout. You can do this from the exercise shortcuts on the Charge. Just swipe up from an activity that uses GPS, like running or cycling, and toggle it off. 

Sleep tracking has some serious benefits 

I’ve never gotten much out of tracking my sleep in the past. With a 6-month-old baby and a toddler waking me up at odd hours of the night I was scared to even see my stats the next morning, let alone get graded on my sleep. Each morning, the Fitbit app gives you a Sleep Score based on everything from sleep duration to sleep stages, heart rate and variations in blood oxygen levels, aka SPO2. 

After a few nights of testing, it’s actually provided some useful data about my sleep habits. For starters, I’ve gotten a passing grade (above a 60) every single night, despite waking up to nurse my little one. The app told me it’s normal to spend up to 45 minutes awake each night, which was comforting. It also gives you advice on how to improve your score, like keeping your bedtime consistent, regardless of how late (or early) it is. 

Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNET

Everyone can see basic information in the app, like how much sleep you get and its quality, but Fitbit Premium subscribers get access to heart rate and blood oxygen data. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary in my chart, but I can see this feature being extremely helpful for people who suspect they might have a more serious sleep-related condition like sleep apnea. In that case it might be worth the extra $9.99 (£8.99, AU$15.49) a month for a premium account. 

There is one foreseeable downside: With all this sleep data I worry that I might become dependent on the Sleep Score to feel energized during the day. That is, a low Sleep Score may subconsciously make me feel tired, even though I felt like I got a good night’s rest. 

More than just a fitness tracker

The Charge 4 goes beyond health and fitness tracking with a few smart features up its sleeve. It mirrors every notification you can get on your phone whether you have an iPhone ($699 at Apple) or an Android phone, but only Android users will be able to reply to messages with preprogrammed quick replies. 

You still can’t store music onboard to take with you on a run, but if you’re a Spotify Premium subscriber, you will be able to use the Charge 4 as a basic wrist remote to pause and skip tracks. There’s no volume control though. 

It now also includes a new agenda app along with the existing timer, alarm and weather apps. 

You’ll be able to set up Fitbit Pay on your wrist and use the Charge 4 on any tap-to-pay payment terminal as the tracker now comes with built-in NFC (previously, you had to buy the special edition Charge to get Fitbit Pay). Sadly it still doesn’t have as many bank partners as Google or Apple Pay and was not compatible with my primary bank (US Bank), so I couldn’t test it out. I’m also quarantined at home, so most of my payments are made online anyways, not at brick-and-mortar stores. 

Everything you need in a tiny package

The Charge 4 does a lot considering it’s essentially a fitness tracker. But you don’t end up saving that much compared to a smartwatch like Fitbit’s own Versa 2 (the regular Charge 4 is $50 less than the Versa 2, which only has connected GPS).

So the price alone is not reason enough to choose the Charge 4. For me, it’s about getting everything Fitbit offers, including GPS, in a slimmer package than the Versa 2. The Charge 4 is my favorite Fitbit to date.  

First published on May 18.

[bartallenisbae]

I don’t own anything except the oc’s and also reminder this is based on comic

Warning hints of sex the night before

  Bart and Mandy have been married for 3 years. Mandy and Bart finished college before they got married and after they got married she got a job and so did Bart.Mandy became a special ed teacher for the disabled at a school called Elim.Bart became a gym teacher at a public school. Bart also became the Flash for a year(He did in the comics for like 10 minutes but I wanted him to be the flash in this so yeah) because barry retired and wally had retired for his twins to take care of for another year then after he would take another name(which is when his twins will be old enough to help him and be able to stay home alone).Bart and Mandy Allen bought a house after they got married. They were still happy being married not even having a thought of separating. The house was a big white country house with a swinging bench and green grass and they lived next to central city in the country.

     It was the beginning of summer, most kids just finished school which also included that Mandy and Bart don’t have to work for the summer. It was beautiful day, The sun was out and dew was all over the green grass on Mandy and Bart Allen yard. Bart and Mandy’s room was painted sapphire blue and their floor was dark brown wood and they had a 20 inch t.v(Bart doesn't save people for nothing*wink* *wink*) and they had a gold and royal blue bed and next to their bed was a nightstand .Bart Allen woke up and got out of his and his wife’s bed, he got his underwear*wink* *wink*and flash suit to go on a mission for a month and a half and yes Mandy knows. He kissed Mandy’s head left her a note on the nightstand saying that he will be back soon and that he loves her and left around 8:00 am. Mandy woke up around 8:30 with her hair being frizzy and all over the place(Imagine Anna from frozen waking up hair but blonde).She sat up and turned and put her feet on their cold wooden floor. She got up and put on one of Bart’s shirt’s.They had two bathrooms.One was in the hall’s which was the guest bathroom which was for the guest’s and the other one was Bart and Mandy’s bathroom(The bedroom has a door on the right,that’s the bathroom)The guest bathroom was painted white, it had a bath/shower that was white and had a sink with a towel hanger that had a red towel. Bart and Mandy’s bathroom was painted red and it had a big shower and next to it was a closet full of towels,*whisper* and a few pads and it had a sink. The dining room was paintedgreen and whitish yellow and it had a black couch and a tv  .Mandy took a shower and got dressed. She wore a nice long yellow sundress with a pair of yellow flipflops and put her hair in a nice French braid. Mandy had a black BMW. Mandy went to her car and drove to iris(1) (iris one is the one who married Barry) and Barry’s house for a summer lunch she was invited.Barry and iris’s house was a medium sized house in the suburbs, it was painted white with green grass.It was 10:00 am. As soon as she entered the house she was tackled by a red and black haired streak. It was Jai and iris(2)(she was named after the first iris).She stepped back from the force of those two. Jai was wearing a orange t-shirt with short jeans and orange gym shoes and his black hair was still spiky.Iris(2)  was wearing a yellow t-shirt and a red skirt with cute small light up yellow shoes that light up to red and she had cute pigtails.They were both still hugging her talking a million miles an hour when wally came to see if the twins were choking Mandy on accident again.Wally was wearing a white v-neck shirt with short jeans with black shoes and his hair still red. Wally was able to get the twins to let go of Mandy after like 3 minutes,and said  “Oh gosh Mandy I’m sorry,you know how much these two love you”. Mandy laughed and said “You don’t need to apologizing, My mom was a home daycare for a living, and I’m a special ED teacher, so I pretty much live with kids”. Jai took Mandy’s hands and started walking her to the backyard. The backyard is a normal sized backyard with a slide,swing, and a small playhouse with a kids table next to it. Jai began to pull Mandy towards the swing’s and excitedly said “Come on Mandy, lets go play on the swing”, but Iris(2) grabbed Mandy’s hand and began to pull her to the playhouse and said “No,Mandy is going to play with me”.Before anything could get outa hand Mandy said “Hold on a minute, I’m sorry but I am going to hang out with the Adult’s today but I promise the next time I babysit you guy’s we can play all day if you want,ok” The twins smiled and said at the same time “OK” and ran off to play on the playground but jai stopped for a second and turned and kissed Mandy's hand and sped off. Mandy turned to go to the Dinner room which was next to the kitchen.The dinner room was a normal sized dinner room that was painted green and had a family table with 6 chairs and next to the table was a kids table with 2 chairs. Barry,Iris(I ),Wally,and Linda were all sitting in dinner room.Barry was wearing a blue shirt and short pants,Iris(1) was was wearing pink shirt and a long skirt,and linda was wearing a purple shirt and a long black skirt and Meloni was in a blue shirt and short jeans. Mandy smiled and sat beside iris(1) and Linda. Wally started the conversation by saying “so Barry when will the pizza get here” Barry laughed a little and said “well, we ordered 8 pizza’s so it’s going to be a while.  About two hours later the pizza finally came as everyone was eating. The twins were eating at the kids table and the adults at the adult table. The twins were putting two pizzas together to make a pizza sandwich, Mandy turned and saw the pizza sandwich and laughed. Meloni saw this and a thought went to her mind, Meloni asked “ so Mandy, are you and Bart thinking about having kids anytime soon”. Everyone froze except the twins who were still eating. Mandy looked shocked and after a few seconds wipe everyone looked at her wanting to hear what she had to say. “ I...I mean in the future maybe but not for a while. I mean Bart is now the flash so now wouldn't be a good time especially since Owen mercer(Bart's bro)and inertia both still both believe they are in love with me, and president thawne(Bart's grandpa)trying to turn everyone against heroes so he can kill Bart, so yeah that makes it not a good time to start a family” Mandy said with anxiety and nervousness. After a few hours there Mandy went home she changed into her pajamas which was a lacy black thin strapped tank top and short light pink Shorts with black hearts on them and her blonde hair was in a ponytail. She couldn't stop thinking about what meloni had asked. Mandy was in Bart and her’s bathroom brushing her teeth when she looked back in the mirror and “  No, everything is going to be fine, I'm pretty sure Bart wore protection last night.

         A month had past and there was something different about Mandy. She didn't notice but others have. She was having headaches a lot more and she kept getting nauseous and once and awhile she vomited and she was eating a bit more then usual . She said it was most likely nothing and didn't think anything of it. Mandy woke up at around 7:30 and ran to the Bathroom and vomited in the toilet for like 5 minutes. “ what is up with me, this is the fourth time this week I've had puked in the morning”. Mandy went to the kitchen to go have breakfast. The kitchen was a average Size and had black cabinets and grey painted walls, with a black table that had 6 black chairs. After she ate she looked at the calendar to check off another of no Bart *sigh* She missed him so badly. But she noticed something, wait that can't be I should have had my time of the month. Wait headaches,nausea,morning sickness,eating a lot, and no time of the month. This isn't good, ok wait it could be a false alarm,yeah that's it I'll just take the test and it will be negative and I will laugh about this later yeah. Mandy left and went to the pharmacy and got two tests and when she was paying for them the cashier gave her a smile and said good luck. When Mandy left the pharmacy she felt like she was being watched, it was probably nothing. After Mandy took the tests she had to wait for 20 minutes because each were 10 minutes. It was the longest 20 minutes of her life. When the timer she had set went off she almost felt like she couldn't breathe. She slowly walked towards the tests that were a napkin on the kitchen table and saw that both were…. positive. She...she was pregnant, oh gosh Bart must have forgot protection the night before he left, they were both lost in the moment they just completely forgot. Oh gosh how is she going to tell Bart and what if the baby

    A few weeks had past and Bart was coming back tonight. She had been super nervous the whole time. She had moments that she almost spilled the beans a few time but thankfully still no one except her knows but she still kinda feels like someone is watching her. It was 7: 00 at night so bart would be home any time and everything is set up. I was in a little bit big for me country shirt and short shorts with a lazy french braid. She turned around to get something when she was hugged from behind. “ Bart, oh I've missed you”  Mandy said with excitement as she turned and hugged Bart. Bart smiled and hugged back and said “ I missed you too babe, anything exciting happen”. Mandy smiled to herself in her mind but actually just shrugged and said in a boring tone “ nope, it was pretty boring”. Bart just smiled and said “ hey what can I say it was probably boring because I wasn't here” mandy smirked and hit his arm playfully. “ come on I order Pizza”.  Mandy dragged Bart to the kitchen, Bart of course chowed down but as he was eating he slowed down to watch Mandy as she was closing down almost as much as him, Mandy noticed him staring so she slowed down and acted normal, Bart looked weirded out and asked “ babe are you ok” she smiled and said “yeah” She noticed he was still in his suit, perfect. “ hey babe why don't you go change, there is a present in our room that I got you” she said with a smile. Bart looked suspiciously at Mandy and went to their room with Mandy following him And found a shoebox on their bed. He lifted the opening to find… a small baby onesie that was red and had a flash symbol on it with a cardboard sign on it saying “ congrats Flash you're soon going to be daddy flash” Bart stood there for a minute. Mandy hugged him from behind and and said “ I know this is a bad time to have a baby but… surprise” Bart turned to look at her, and he smiled grabbed Mandy and twirled her in the air. Mandy giggled and said “ Bart stop,you might hurt the baby”. Bart set her down with the biggest smile she had ever seen and went to his knees to her stomach which had a little bump “ how many far are you” Mandy giggled “ About 7 weeks” she said. Bart laughed still looking at the mother of his child stomach “ you are kinda big for 7 weeks aren't you” Mandy started to cry do to mood swings and she fell to her knees crying “ How could you say that Bart, I'm at a normal weight for 7 weeks, if you don't want a fat wife I'll leave” she started to walk away “ babe I'm sorry I didn't mean that I was Kidding, you look great for 7 weeks” Bart screamed trying to stop his hormonal wife. Mandy stopped and sniffed from the crying “ Really” Bart smiled “ Of course babe, your glowing”. Mandy smiled and hugged him “ Don't ever call me fat again,now how are we going to tell our families”.

           It has been a few weeks and they have told Mandy's family and of course they were excited but now Mandy and Bart have to tell his family. Everyone was there. Barry,Iris(1),Wally,Linda,Jay Garrick,Joan Garrick, Max mercury,meloni,jai and iris(2). Everyone was outside in Mandy and Bart's backyard. Their background with green grass, they had a grill and a deck with a table and lots of chairs with a umbrella under it. After dinner,The twins were running around playing tag,the adults were sitting under the umbrella. Mandy was wearing a red sundress so no one could see the bump,it was hardly noticeable but just in case. “ So how are the twins doing in school ” Mandy asked while eating chocolate cake practically devouring it since she was craving chocolate more than ever. “ well iris(2) is doing good but when I was signing jai up he asked me to add that your his future wife” linda said with a laugh,Mandy laughed at jai’s crush on her and said “I can't believe he is in 1st grade, it feels like yesterday when he first saw me and took all your flowers from the garden and give them to me” Linda laughed “ yeah I kinda find it scary that he still has a crush on you” Bart went behind Mandy and whispered to her that it was ready and she smiled and nodded and Bart screamed “ Hey max come here” Max looked confused but walked up with everyone watching to see what was happening“ hey Bart something up” Bart smiled and said “ yeah max I need you to wear this” Bart gave him a hat but not showing what was on the front like a parent hiding a present from their child. Max looked a little curious, he took it from Bart like he was trading something with Bart and he was trading back at the same. Max turned the hat and had the most shocked look Mandy had ever seen. The hat was white and on the front was stitched “Future Grandpa, well technically” max then smiled and put it on and gave Bart the biggest hug he could give, and Bart couldn't breathe. He let go of Bart and sped to Mandy and hugged her lightly not wanting to hurt the baby. Max let go and turned to everyone showing them the hat. The girls screamed and hugged Mandy just like if they were teenage girls seeing a rockstar and the boys smiled and patted Bart on the back but jai and iris(2) had no idea what was going on. Mandy went to both of them and bent down to their height while Bart was still being pat on the back. “ what's wrong you two” the twins looked at Mandy with a confused face “ I don't understand why is everyone freaking out” jai said with a confused voice “ well me and Bart are going to have a baby” Mandy said with excitement but jai just looked at Bart with a furious face and sped to Bart and jumped on his back and Bart screamed a little do to not knowing why a child was on his back and Jai started screaming while trying to “hurt” Bart  “ you got my future wife pregnant, I may not know how to have a baby but all I know is that I don't want step kids”. Most of the adults started laughing their heads off, Wally then trying to get Jai off Bart's back. Meloni went behind Mandy and said in a sarcastic “ So not having kids for a while right” Mandy just smiled and laughed.

          5 months pregnant and Mandy was a bit noticeable. Bart and her were setting up for a gender reveal party.mandy was wearing a blue and pink long dress with the top having frizzles on it. Bart was wearing a shirt that was blue and pink and on the blue side it said “dad that teaches maybe son how to defend” and the pink side said “dad that punches maybe daughters future boyfriends” and wore long jeans. They were finding out the gender by the cake that was on the counter in the kitchen. The kitchen had a lot of decorations. There were pink and blue plates, lots of pink and blue balloons,and on the table was pink and blue Hershey kisses,and there was a sign that said “gamer or designer”. Bart turned to see Mandy looking at the cake that was pink and blue and it said “we are here for the sex” and yes obviously Bart made that line up. Bart went and hugged Mandy from behind with his hands on Mandy's 5 month stomach bump.” I can't believe you convinced me to have the l cake to say that” she said turning her head with a smirk looking into his green eyes and him looking into her’s. “ hey what can I say I'm convinced” Bart smiling and giving her a wink. A few hours later everyone was there. Their friends and family. Everyone was eating dinner which was pizza since Mandy has been in love with pizza a lot more.Jenni(Bart's actual cousin)was talking and laughing with Bart, Mandy was talking to max laughing at something he said as well, pretty much everyone was having a good time well except Jai,he just stared at Bart still mad that he is going to have a step son or daughter when he marries Mandy as that usually on his mind. “Jenni I'm 24 I'm not that old” Bart said laughing at jenni teasing him for being older than her by a bit(I don't really know if he is I'm just guessing) Bart then saw that everyone had finished eating so he got up and said “ well Mandy should we find out what the sex is” he said with a happy yet nervous smile. Mandy took a breath and smiled and nodded. Everyone got their phones out and started videotaping the happy couple and their future bundle of joy. They both got up to the counter and picked up the knife and both looked at each other and smiled as they cut the right side cake to find…...blue they are going to have a boy. Mandy gasped and Bart was in shock, Mandy turned and hugged Bart and then went back to get a piece they both got a piece when max noticed something “ Bart cut me that piece please” he said with curiosity. Bart looked a little weirded out but did what max said. Mandy also went to watch. Oh gosh it was also pink everyone froze.”Bart…are we having twins” Mandy said breaking the silence with a straight face “yep” Bart said. The girls in the room started screaming and the boys went to pat Bart's back. Oh this was going to be fun.

     Mandy was six months and with Bart sitting together with their hands on her big stomach that looked almost 7 months thanks to the newest upcoming Allen twins in the family. To be honest they didn't even guess twins before, they should have since Bart's dad and aunt dawn were twins.  They were looking at the newest nursery. It was were the guest room used to be. It was painted blue on the left side and pink on the right and on the left side was a blue baby crib and on the left was a pink baby crib,on the wall on top of the cribs was a sign that said with irony “expect the unexpected” and there was a wooden rocking chair. “What about Caitlin and Cisco”( haha if you watch the flash you would get it) “ nope” Mandy said with confidence that those were not going to be their children's names. “Uhh maybe tinkerbell and Peter” Mandy suggested since that was her favorite childhood characters growing up “ nope” Bart loved Mandy but that their children were not going to be named on a disney movie. “It will come when they are born hopefully” Mandy said with a smile  “ Yeah your right ”Just as Bart said that they. They both felt two things kick their hands. “ Bart oh my gosh they just kicked” Mandy said with excitement Bart looked amazed and bent down to his wife stomach and kissed it and said “ you two live in a crazy family,you two are related to Barry Allen and eobard thawne which causes a lot of conflict but I promise that I will do my best to keep you two safe”

    Bart finally had everything handled. He would only be the flash if it was an emergency that affected the planet until their children were ready to run alongside him well if they had powers which they most likely do. Wally was going to be another super speedster filling in for Bart's small savings like bank robberies. Wally was going to be blink yes Bart told him that name sucked but Wally didn't care and said “ it makes sense I'm faster then you can blink”.  His amazing wife was 8 months pregnant and everything was going great. Bart got a text from Mandy saying that she wanted applesauce and bananas yes she mixed them together but Bart didn't question since Mandy almost threw him through the wall last time he did. He got that text after work so he got them after work and went home. “Mandy babe I got your apple sauces and bananas” he shouted as he entered the door. But when he entered, no one answered. He went inside all the way in the house to find it trashed. The pictures were shattered and on the ground,the chairs in the kitchen were all mostly broken beside the other two chairs that weren't. The nursery was crooked and had all the future babies picture frames were broken as well. He looked all around the house but He couldn't find Mandy but He did find Mandy's phone broken and a note in the nursery on the floor saying “ I'm back, hope you enjoyed your time with Mandy because you're never going to see her again because she's Mine, signed the newest reverse flash”. He is going to pay. He got his flash suit on and speed to batman for help since he is the best detective.

Mandy was wearing a red t-shirt that said feeding for three and long jeans and she had her blonde hair in a ponytail.Mandy was cleaning the nursery a bit more when she felt like she was being watched again, ok that's it I'm telling bart she told herself in her mind. She saw a red streak outside her window that she new wasn't Bart somehow. Mandy went to call Bart but before she get to contacts inertia or now known as reverse flash took her phone and crushed it.He was wearing the reverse flash suit but took the mask face off so Mandy could see him. Mandy turned to run but he picked her up bridal style with anger in his eye. “Let go,I told you I don't love you” he growled and sped to somewhere else. He took her to his new lair. It had a huge computer and a few cages and it was cave.He put her in one of the cages and smiled a crazy smile “you look beautiful,even though those are Bart's children I will help you raise them as if they are my own.” She couldn't believe him,he kidnapped her AGAIN and expected her just to smile and act as his perfect wife “ your sick Thad(that's his name), these are Bart's and my children and Bart and me are going to raise them”. Thad growled and had his arm in the air but realized what he was doing and put his arm down and took a deep breath and began to walk back and forth. After a minute he stopped and turned to Mandy “ look I don't want to hurt you because I love you but if you keep being a bad girl then you will have to get a punishment so if I were you I would be a good girl ok” wow she didn't the think he would become anymore more yandere but she was wrong. About an hour later Mandy was becoming scared. Where was Bart, he should have been here by now. Thad was on his computer and after a few minutes on it he turned and walked to Mandy. He smiled and entered the cage with Mandy in it and went to touch Mandy's huge stomach but she turned away from him. He growled and grabbed Mandy's wrist and turned her to face him and forcefully kissed her and while he was kissing her he put his hand on her stomach even with her trying to push him away. There was alert sign on his computer,he let go of the kids and vibrated through the cage to see what was up. Just when he did another red streak came and crashed into thad and punched him. It was the flash or as Mandy knew him as Bart. Thad growled and the fight began. Flash ran outside so reverse flash was distracted. While they were both distracted max got Mandy out of the cage. “Are you ok Mandy” blink said while making sure she was ok “yeah he thankfully didn't want to hurt me or the A twins”(they are calling them the A twins which stands for Allen twins) max nodded and picked me up and brought me to me and Bart's house. Max went to go see him if Bart needed help. Bart and Thad were racing while punching each other.  Bart and Thad were in Paris then Spain then back to Thad’s lair again. “Mandy is mine,and I will get your twins, I think they will be great sidekicks” Thad said mocking Bart while trying to get him to stop focusing on running so Bart would slow down, Bart punched Thad and that caused Thad to hit his head and Bart grabbed thad's neck and brought him to meta jail(sorry I'm not good at fight scenes)  “Mandy will never be yours and you will never touch Mandy and my children and don't even try to touch or see my Family ever again ”. Bart said with anger max came just in time to see this “well I guess I'm too late” max said . Mandy was walking back and forth with worry in her eyes for her husband. Bart came back with bruises and cuts and his suit having tares in it and him limping a bit. “Bart oh gosh sit down I'll go get the kit” Mandy said while going to get the kit. Bart took his shirt off for Mandy to get all the cuts and went to sit down on their couch. Mandy came back to help Bart, she was putting a bandage over Bart's arm which had a big cut and was bleeding a bit “Are you and the A twins ok” Bart said making sure they were ok “yes we are all ok, what happened to max” Bart sighed with relief knowing his family was ok “he went back home to see if his daughter was ok” Mandy nodded as she finished healing bart as much as she could. Bart got up and hugged Mandy while trying not to squeeze the twins while hugging his pregnant wife.

  Mandy was 9 months and could be heading to the hospital any time Mandy was wearing  . Bart and Mandy were at Wally and Linda's house. Jai and iris(2) were playing outside while the adults were inside just talking.  “.So are they going to age faster like Bart did” Linda asked with worry since she knows the scare of raising speedster’s  “actually batman and Barry found a way for them to age like normal children, it's a miracle I was so worried about that but they actually found a way,all I had to do was take a pill and boom they age normally” Mandy said with happiness over her children aging normally. Linda smiled as she looked down to see her daughter iris(2) hugging her legs. Jai was stealing his mom's wedding ring while his sister was distracting their mom. Jai then went to Mandy and went on one knee“ Mandy I don't care that I'll have to have step twins will you marry me”  Mandy laughed while Bart looked jealously at Jai “ Jai I'm sorry but I'm happily married and Linda I think your son stole your ring again” Mandy said with a nervous smile and laugh over the awkwardness. Linda swatted jai over the head “ Jai this is the fourth time you have stolen my ring and proposed” Linda gave him a overused angry mom face at him. Bart laughed at Wally “hey Wally he doesn't stop on the girls he is interested in” Wally smacked Bart over his head, Bart then smiled and went to his pregnant wife and put his arm around her and her relaxing her head on his chest. “Who wants chocolate cake’s” Linda said since they did finish dinner and dessert sounded good “oh I would love some” Mandy said with excitement but… Mandy screamed and fell to her knees in pain holding her stomach and a puddle of water under her“Mandy what's wrong did your water break, oh gosh I'm not ready” Bart screamed going to his wife's level of height. “Obviously Bart if you didn't see the puddle and it doesn't matter if you're ready because apparently the twins don't care and they are ready and I swear if you don't bring me to the hospital I will make sure you don't eat candy ever again ”. Linda picked up iris(2) and Wally picked up Jai so Bart would have a clearer way to get Mandy to the hospital and so Jai wouldn't try to follow them. Bart picked Mandy up bridal style and brought her to the hospital.

           It's been 10 hours and  Everyone knew she in labor but they just had to wait because they are pretty sure that Mandy only wants her husband and the doctors and nurses. Poor Bart was being screamed at by Mandy while getting his hand crushed “Bart you will not be sleeping on the bed for,I can't believe you did this to me” Mandy screamed in pain while going through childbirth “ok Mrs.Allen we need you push one more time alright” The doctor said with his hands ready for the baby to come,You could hear the first baby crying already since his head was out first. Mandy pushed and screamed just wanting this to be over so she could hold her two children, The first one was out. “ It”s a boy,  now let’s get the second one out ” The doctor said while handing a nurse nearby the baby boy. 2 minutes later. “AHHHHHHHHHH” Mandy screamed and pushed one last time “It’s a girl,congratulation Mr and Mrs Allen on your beautiful twins” The doctor said while nurse was cleaning the girl and the boy. The babies were both clean and screaming making Mandy’s heart break from wanting them to stop and cuddle them just as much as bart did. “Do you want to hold them both since well you gave birth to them ”  The nurse asked Mandy looking at the newest Allen twins and was unable to speak so she nodded, the nurse smiled and nodded and gave them to her. The two stopped crying as they finally were in their mother’s arms as they drifted off to sleep,Mandy couldn't believe that these two amazing babies were made by her and bart,while she was holding and staring at the little road runner’s to be she finally picked the perfect names for them “Bart I’ve got the perfect names what about Leonard Max Allen and Lydia Meloni Allen”.They both have met leonard snart and they couldn’t say he wasn’t a genius because he has gotten through a lot and was a good man deep down in his heart and He has actually saved Mandy a few times but he blaming it on the fact saying she was good looking but really they knew it was because he didn’t really want people to do as much as he led on and Lydia was Mandy’s great grandmother,Mandy was originally going to be named Lydia but they chose mandy as soon as they saw her,Her great grandma always said what she believed and didn’t care what other’s thought and she was very strong willed,one time she had a murderer in her house that ordered her to make him lunch so obviously she did with no fear in her eye’s while she was making the man lunch she had a big knife hidden next to her where only she could see and get. Bart nodded and had the biggest smile “I love them and the names are perfect” Bart said just staring at the newest additions.“would you like to hold them” Mandy said while handing them to him. Bart held both of them and just smiled and stared. “You did Amazing babe” Bart said looking at his sweaty tired out wife.

[kocshei]

‘Ello, studyblr! Maths (or Math, whatever) can be quite / extremely / obscenely frustrating at times and very simple at others and it’s sort of hard to find a bridge between that. You can’t exactly cram for it either or study in under a week for finals so after flunking my first term epicly, I came up with a strategy of sorts and now my grade’s an A+ (yay!!). Anyway, thought I’d share ‘cause this shit could have saved me a lot of tears.

01. Consistency is key. Again, maths isn’t something you learn overnight, no matter how good you are at it because even if you know your formulae really well, it’s how you apply it that matters - the same formula applied to the same numbers can give you two pages worth of calculations or half a page, and you have to know how to solve your problems most efficiently. And the more you practice, the more natural it will be for you and the less floundering and panicking.

Do your classwork everyday. As in: do it again at home, because though a certain type of problem might seem easy in class when the concepts are fresh as milk (?) in your head, you tend to forget over the course of the year. Obviously do your homework too, especially if it counts for part of your final grade. 10% may not seem like much but it could push your marks into the next letter grade.

Once you finish a chapter or a unit, try all the exercises in your textbook or workbook, as well as solved examples. Your teacher may skip some questions in your textbook that’ll be on the paper. 

Cheap study guides usually have a vast amount of sums you can try, and if you’re hell-bent on getting really good grades or a full grade, buying/downloading one of those probably helps. They also mention questions that appear frequently in your paper.

Either make or find practice tests online and do them without your textbook/notes open. This’ll give you some idea of your strengths and weaknesses.

At the end of each month, revise the topics that you’ve covered and do some questions so you don’t forget what you’ve learnt.

02. Find out how you’re graded. Make a list of everything that’s considered for your grade and see how you can score the most marks.

If it’s based on assignments and projects spread out through the year, make sure you do them and try and submit them early if you can. Try getting a rubric from your teacher and try to do well on all the aspects. Most projects have points for neatness or presentation so slacking on those may not be a good idea.

For exams, most question papers come with an answer key or a marking plan that sort of allots points to things you have to mention. For example, a three mark question might have one mark for the formula, one mark for the calculations, and one mark for the final answer. Familiarising yourself with them will probably increase your score.

03. A month or two before finals (or midterms, you get it): 

Try doing a few sums in each chapter, then get a past paper and try writing it. Give yourself a half-hour or so more than the time you’re actually allotted. Get the corresponding marking scheme and either correct it yourself or ask a friend/sibling/parent to do it for you, or a teacher, if one is willing. Try to give yourself the least marks possible so you know where you stand in the worst case possible. 

List out your topics on the basis of your ability in them - from worst to best, and start solving problems everyday for at least an hour, and increase your time everyday.

When you’re thorough with everything, solve past papers the way you’d do your actual test - set a timer, isolate yourself from your notes and texts, and solve the paper. Your scores in these should hopefully be higher than the one you did in the beginning. If you can, try bullying a bunch of friends into solving the same paper, separately, in an empty classroom, so you feel like you’re writing the actual exam.

Identify questions that’ll be on the paper for sure, or questions you find hard in general, as well as geometrical proofs, etcetera, and write them out neatly on separate sheets of paper. Don’t do diagrams or colour-code extensively - just try writing the question in black and the answer in blue or vice versa. Make sure your handwriting is kinda big and legible, and put the sheets in a project file or just staple them together.

04. Planning!!

Come up with a plan for how you’ll write your exam. My tests are always divided into four sections where the first has 4 questions for one mark each, and the second 6 questions for two marks, third 11 questions for three marks each, and the fourth 10 questions for 4 marks. If you do the math (lmao), you’ll see that the last section has the most weightage, and so that’s the one I do first.

We’re allowed to do the sections in any order, and a friend of mine went in the order it was printed - so 1 marks, 2 marks, etc, and she was seriously short of time and couldn’t do the last four questions. She lost 16 marks on a 90-mark paper which is nearly 20% - just because four questions. Find out if you have to do the paper in the same order or not, and if not, try doing it in descending order of weightage so you don’t lose as much marks.

Divide your time. I get three hours for writing, and 10-15 minutes for reading the paper so I mark questions I don’t know the answer to at all, and do those in the end. I take one hour for the 4m questions, 45 minutes for the 3m questions, a half hour for the 2m questions, and 15 minutes for the 1m questions which leaves me with another half hour wherein I try the questions I don’t the answer to and check my answers again. 

05. A week before doomsday:

Do papers everyday and try to improve on your weaker areas. If my exam’s on a Wednesday, I do a paper each day starting the previous Wednesday - meaning one each on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. 

On Saturday I’d take a little breather and either focus on other subjects or just flip through my textbook and see if I’ve missed anything because paranoia and anxiety ahahaha. I’d do a paper again on Sunday and Monday, and take it chill on Tuesday, and hope to do well on the exam.

06. The day before your exam:

Wake up late. Like super late. Put your textbook, cheatsheets, notes, etc. in your backpack + a pencil pouch with at least three pens and whatever else you need. Don’t forget your geometry kit if you need it/calculator if you’re allowed one. Then put your bag in the back of your room and don’t think about it.

Get breakfast, listen to some music, watch tv, idk. Just don’t go to like a party or something.

Try getting an early dinner - if you eat at 9, try 7. After dinner, go over your notes once again. If you’ve got a certain type of problem that you always mess up, try it one last time and go to bed early. Set like a thousand alarms, and wake up an hour before you usually do on a school day.

07. The day of your exam:

Take a shower. Studies have probably proven some correlation between showers and smart people. I don’t know. But seriously, do it. Then get dressed comfortably. Grab a hoodie or a sweater just in case.

Breakfast! Don’t eat just a bowl of cereal - get something filling, but don’t overdo it either.��

Grab your bag from wherever you put it. You should now have an hour or so until you leave for your exam centre.

I’m always groggy, confused, and dysfunctional before 10 in the morning, and I find that it is always hard for me to get into the flow (?) of writing and I start off too slow and I end up wasting time. Hence the questions I do in the first and last half-hours always tend to be wrong. Use the extra time you have in the morning to calmly go over important points and just do a few simple questions so you get used to the, erm, mathing.

Stay calm.

08. The exam !!:

Don’t panic. Have a bottle of water on hand. Make sure you have everything you need with you.

Do the questions you know the answer to first - in order of most weightage to least.

For geometry and trigonometry, diagrams sometimes have points, so draw those.

Don’t be in a hurry or be too relaxed. Try and finish the paper with a half hour or fifteen minutes to spare so you can check your answers again.

I’m not sure if everyone else does this, but for proof/geometry questions, I write ‘given’ as a sub-heading and list out everything that’s been given in the question (AB=7cm, PQ and QR are equal chords, etc.) and under ‘to prove’ what I’m expected to prove. It helps me sort stuff out and they also carry a half-mark each. If you have anything similar to write, don’t forget to.

Even if you don’t know how to solve a question, still give it a try. If you’re headed in the right direction, you’ll probably get some points for it.

Check your answers. Seriously. Do it like thrice.

Hope that helped! Good luck xx