Silly me...

I went to bed late last night because I thought I had today off from work for New Year's Eve...but I was wrong. My Mom came into my room around 10:20 and told me that my boss had called and said that I was supposed to come in this morning...oops!

So, I got up and got ready and headed out to campus, arriving around 11:30. I was supposed to be in at 8 this morning...obviously that didn't happen. So, I'm going to be here until 5 and then I'm supposed to go see "Sweeney Todd" with some friends around 7:30. I hope that's good because I have to pay $8 to see it, so I really hope it's a good movie! I'm really excited about this movie because 1) it has Johnny Depp in it, 2) it's a musical and I want to see how it turns out and 3) he's a demon barber that kills people! It has to be great, right?!

I don't really have any big plans for today except "ringing in" the New Year with Jake's family. I haven't yet decided if I will be celebrating with any alcohol tonight, except maybe for toasting the New Year when the ball drops. I may be too tired to drink anything (it would be wasted if I drink it and pass out because of exhaustion ;p).

I haven't yet made any New Years resolutions and I don't think I plan to because I never stick with them, anyways. I do have some goals that I would like to accomplish next year, but I plan on meeting them at my own pace and I'm not necessarily restricting myself to any time limits. So, I guess, in a way, I do have some resolutions...let's see if I can stick with them this year!

I wish you all a very Happy New Year and I hope that 2008 brings you lots of joy and happiness!!!

I like spending money!

We went to Columbus today to spend our Christmas money at the Tuttle Mall. We've been doing this every year for at least the past 3 years and it's a great tradition.

We left the house around 12-12:30 and we got to Boston Market around 1:30-2 (which is pretty good for us, but Dad probably could have made the trip in about an hour if he didn't have to slow down to a normal speed so that I could follow him ;p). When we got to the restaurant, we ordered our food and it only took us about half an hour to eat (because most of us were starving) but we waited for another 20-ish minutes for Mom's brother and his wife to show up.

Shortly after they showed up, me, Dad, my brothers and Ben's girlfriend headed over to the mall, leaving Mom with my Aunt and Uncle (which was fine with her because she hates shopping and malls and the sort).

The first store I headed to was Forever 21 because I needed to pick up a giftcard for a friend for Christmas. Unfortunately the lines were too long, so I decided to leave and come back later. I left that store and browsed around in a few more, but left those pretty quickly because I didn't find anything of interest.

After a while, I wandered over to Payless where I bought myself 3 pairs of shoes. I got a cute pair of sling-back black shoes that have a slightly pointy toe and a heel that's only about an inch high. I recently inherrited some dressy clothes and I figured that it would be a good idea to have dressy shoes to wear along with them. I got a pair of black flats that look exactly like the brown ones I just bought. My only pair of black flats is pretty much dead, and I like my brown ones so much, so I decided to get those in black. :) I also picked up a pair of brown tennis shoes. Now when the weather is cold and icky outside, I won't be limited to wearing only clothes that go with black tennis shoes...I can wear whatever I want!

Eventually I picked up the giftcard for my friend from Forever 21 and then I ended up in Walden's, but I decided not to buy anything for myself in there because I still have one more gift exchange and I don't know if any of my friends bought me any books.

My next stop was Claire's. I found all sorts of cute things there! I picked up a white tiger TY stuffed animal and a Jack Sparrow pillowcase for one friend, an orange bendy watch with penguins on it for another friend, a Garfield TY stuffed animal for Jake, and a Snowman TY beanie baby for my Aunt.

I got all of my Christmas shopping over with officially after I made a trip over to Bath and Body Works. While in there, I picked up a bottle of Midnight Pomegranate perfume and a Black Raspberry Vanilla Wallflower (for myself).

The trip to Bath and Body Works marked the end of my spending frenzy because I pretty much ran out of money after that. So, I headed back over to the Food Court to hang out with Mom and my Aunt and Uncle while everyone else finished up.

Oh yeah...I had this amazingly huge piece of tomato, onion and basil pizza from a place in the Food Court called "Sbarro." It was pretty good, but I couldn't taste much of it (I think my nose is a little stuffed up).

Anyways. The day was a success, in my opinion. I just wish I would have had more time and more money to spend. ;p

Back in working order...

My computer was down for about a week and I wasn't sure what was wrong with it. I had feared that the hard drive or the mother board was fried, but thankfully, that wasn't the case. My Uncle told me that one of the connecting cables was loose, he pushed it in, and that seemed to fix it (thank God!).

So, it's late, but "Merry Christmas" everyone! I hope you had a good one! Despite not having a lot of money this year, mine was surprisingly good (I guess that just goes to show that it's not all about money and big, expensive presents during the holidays).

So far, I've had about 4 Christmas gift exchanges, and I still have at least one more to go. I really like everything I've gotten so far (thankfully).

From Mom and Dad:

• a DVD player/recorder
• Chip 'N Dale pjs
• slipper boots (which are amasingly warm!)

From Jake and his family:

• a Grumpy Bear hoodie (Jake)
• a Happy Bunny hoodie (Jake)
• a singing reindeer that lights up
• a gas card (which I will need)
• lots of Bath and Body Works (Black Raspberry Vanilla...mmm!)
• a Recipe book
• a cute black shirt with polka dots
• a huge pearl necklace to go with said shirt
• a Santa with a jingly hat

From friends:

• Scene It TV edition (Jess)
• a jar of chocolate! (Sarah)
• a Pirates of the Caribbean poster (Christa)
• a Grumpy Bear shirt (which I had to exchange for an Tinkerbell shirt because it didn't fit my chest right...damn!) (Christa)

Stuff that I bought with my Christmas money:

• 3 pairs of shoes (a pair of short black heels, a pair of black flats and some brown tennis shoes)
• a Black Raspberry Vanilla Wallflower (from Bath and Body Works)

I'm probably missing some stuff, but I really can't think of anything else right now. I still have some money coming from Mom and Dad because they're taking us all to Tuttle Mall tomorrow to spend it on ourselves, and I have one more gift exchange with friends, so I'm not done yet.

But, I hope everyone had a great Christmas this year and that you all have a Happy New Year!!!

The Wedding

My cousin, Eric, got married on Saturday. Both of my brothers and I were in the wedding (I was a bridesmaid, Ben was a groomsman, and Nick lit the candles). The actual ceremony took no time at all, but I had been up since 6:00 A.M. because I had to be in Celina by 7:30-ish to decorate the hall for the reception, so it was a LONG day. And I was so glad that the dresses weren't hideous, because I can't imagine being stuck in an ugly dress all day! Oh yeah, and they were about the color of the text for this blog (maybe a little darker), so the color wasn't too bad, either

The wedding was beautiful and everything went extremely well (for the most part- but hey, it's not a wedding unless -something- goes wrong ;p). The pictures took a really long time and the little kids were getting restless and some of them didn't want to cooperate, but we finally got through them.

The reception was a blast! After the Wedding Party was done eating, they cleared away the tables to make room for dancing. Before the dancing took place, a slideshow of the couple was projected onto one of the walls for everyone to watch. Once that was over, they did all of the traditional dances, and then they played the good music. :) Most of the Wedding Party even did the "Soldier Boy dance" (except for me and a few others who didn't know it).

All-in-all, I would say that it was a great wedding, and I only hope that their marriage is as good or better! I hope they take care of each other and their little girl, Sophie, (and the other children that come along), and that they are truly happy.

Autumn Quarter 2007- check!

My fall quarter officially ended on Tuesday with the completion of my Chemistry final, but I still had to head up to campus on Wednesday, thru all of the snow and ice, to work for 5 hours. While the drive wasn't horrible, precisely, it would have been nice to not have to worry about having a huge accident on my way to work that morning.

Wednesday afternoon, after I got off work, I headed over to Jake's house and his Mom and I made Buckeyes and Peanut butter Fudge (Mmmm!). It didn't take us nearly as long as I had figured it would take (of course, we only made a double batch of Buckeyes and one batch of fudge), and it was a lot of fun. I'm sure we'll be doing something similar this coming Wednesday, and maybe I'll have some time to finally finish up Jake's monster blanket! :)

So, the Christmas season is upon us, and I feel completely unprepared for it. Right now, I don't have much time to worry about it because I have so much going on with preparations for my cousin's wedding next Saturday...my brain is just too occupied to think about presents a whole lot (but I still think about them). This quarter seemed to go by extremely fast towards the end, and it feels like Christmas is going to be here just as quickly, and I won't have gifts for many people at all.

With the mild amounts of stress aside, I think that this Winter Break is going to be extremely enjoyable! We're in a new house, so we're basically getting a new start (in a way) pretty much just in time for the New Year, and that's really exciting. Of course, moving is always a huge inconvenience, but at least we didn't have far to go this time, and the house is awesome!

I'm not really looking forward to any of my classes next quarter, so I really hope that these next couple of weeks don't fly by and that I will have the opportunity to enjoy the seasonal weather this year (maybe go sledding a time or two?). Maybe I'll get caught up on all of the sleep that I missed over the last quarter and get a little extra stocked up for missed hours next quarter? ;p

It's official....

We've moved into the new house and we're spending our first night in it tonight. I wish that I would have moved more of my stuff over in the last month than I did because I really didn't get much moved over today because we were concentrating on the rest of the house. We're still not finished moving everything over yet, but we got over half of the crap moved and we had a lot of wonderful helpers!

I have to find time tomorrow to do some more packing/unpacking and finish up my take-home final for Stats and work on my pre-test for Chem so I can get that into Carmen before Tuesday. It might also be helpful to schedule some study time either tomorrow or Monday (most likely Monday) for my Chem final.

The quarter is finally almost over, and I'm so glad! After my final on Tuesday, I will be able to concentrate on other important things (such as my cousin's wedding and Christmas shopping), and that'll be nice. :)

We're almost there...

The end of the quarter is coming up fast, but I can't help but wish that it was already over! Then again, I really don't think I want that just yet.

I have a lot of stuff to accomplish before the middle of December, and not all of that is school-related.

The second test for my Stats class is due on Monday (it was a take-home). I finished it on Wednesday because I figured I would not have the chance to get around to it over break (and I would have been right). I don't think I got a 100 on it (which is pretty crappy since it's take-home), but I'm sure I did better than I would have had it not been take-home.

On Monday I also have my last Chem Lab session. I'm pretty excited about that. The class wasn't bad for a Science class, but I hated having a 3-hour lab session every week (and we usually had to use most of that time to finish everything)!

I think my last day in the Learning Center is this coming Wednesday, since we're not technically open over break (at least, that's what I've heard). I like the people there and everything, and the job isn't horrible- and the pay is fantastic- but I'm actually kinda happy that I won't be working there next quarter. It's usually not a good thing when you dread going into work.

There is still one more speech for my Comm class (mine is on Thursday). I haven't really gotten a good start on it, so it's very unlikely that it's going to be a good-quality speech, but the prof is really lenient and will probably give me a B for a P.O.S. speech, as long as I get up there and give it.

Hopefully my boss in the Advising Office lets us schedule our hours for finals week, over break and next quarter sometime this week. I really want to get that taken care of and make sure that I'm getting the hours that I want.

I only have one final during final's week- that's Chemistry. I'm kinda excited about that, but I still wish that I didn't have to take it.

I also have to find time to schedule my second fitting for the bridesmaid's dress for my cousin's wedding. Not to mention finding the time (and the money) to do some Christmas shopping.

So, there isn't a whole lot of school-related stuff going on, really, but I still feel like I've got too much on my plate, so-to-speak.

Enjoy the long weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!! I hope you all have a great one! And enjoy not having school for a couple of days (unless you're already on break, in which case, you suck ;p)!!

Turkey Day

We only have 2 days before Thanksgiving, and I feel like I haven't gotten anything done since this week began.

I had my 2 exams today (in Comm and Chem). I'm not sure that either of those went particularly well, but maybe I'll surprise myself and pull out with a B for both?! I wouldn't object to that at all.

I have to work tomorrow, but I don't have class, so those 2 hours will mostly likely be spent working on my take-home Stats test (*stab*). With any luck, I'll get some work done on my speech for next Thursday, but I've still got over a week before that's "due," so I think I'll be okay if I don't get around to it until this weekend (or later ;p).

Thursday is going to be divided up between having dinner at Dad's Aunt's house and having dinner with Jake's family. I'm probably going to be baking cookies all day on Friday. And I have 2 Thanksgivings on Saturday. Sunday I have lunch with the girls (with a few additions ;p) and then dinner with Jim around 6.

I probably should squeeze some packing time in there somewhere...I'll probably replace my "speech time" with that. There's still so much to do before this quarter ends, and I don't really have the motivation to do it all, or do it very well.

You can tell that it's nearing the end of the quarter...

Everything just keeps piling up on top of everything else!

I don't really have anything due this week because I'm all done with classes until Monday, but I really should work on the things that are due in the coming weeks (mostly the stuff for next week).

For Monday I have to:

1. Submit the answers to a take-home quiz for Chemistry
2. Work on the Pre-Test (which is due by early Tuesday morning)
3. Possibly start working on my speech- which is due the following week

For Tuesday I have:

1. A test in Communications
2. A test in Chemistry

For Wednesday:

1. One more Statistics class to get thru before the break
2. A Take-Home test to work on over break

Over the weekend, of course I will be having Thanksgiving get-togethers to go to and homework to avoid/scramble to get done at the last minute.

The following week, I have my last speech to give (which is a group speech- not sure how I feel about it, either). After we give our speeches, we're done with the class- no final= AMAZINGNESS!!

The week after that is finals week. I think I'm only having 1 actual final that week because the final for Stats is take-home (but I'm not sure when it will be due). So I really only have Chemistry to worry about and just getting 20 hours of time in at work, and then I'll be free for the rest of the week/weekend! I'm SO ready for break!!!

Procrastinating: I plan to stop doing it...someday...

I just finished my persuasive speech on making recycling mandatory. There were so many cool things (at least, I envisioned them being cool) that I wanted to do with this speech, but I don't think I accomplished any of them, and that makes me sad.

The speech is actually "due" on Tuesday, and I technically have it done a day ahead, but I only worked on it half-assed, and I really should have tried harder and put more effort into it. I e-mailed a copy to my Mom and asked her to read over it and give me any suggestions she can think of that may improve it because it felt like I was just repeating myself over and over again.

So, tomorrow I can make any last-minute adjustments and maybe it will turn out to be a B-worthy speech (though maybe I'll get an A anyways, because the prof isn't really that hard of a grader).

Oh crap...I still have to add on a Bibliography page before I print it off...I can't afford to lose any unnecessary points. That shouldn't be too difficult because I used websites for all of my info and I pretty much have the individual bibliographies written out for them already. I just hope that I did it right (but the prof doesn't seem to be too picky, so maybe he won't count off if I leave something out, as long as it's small?).

I just want to be done with this quarter! Fall quarter always seems to drag on forever and then Winter and Spring quarters go by so quickly. I'm only about a year and a half away from graduation, and that day seems so close but, at the same time, so very far away. Why can't I graduate tomorrow?

I'm so sick of this...

They screwed up my paycheck AGAIN! This time I'm not even sure where they messed up because it's so confusing. It's hard to tell what I'm actually supposed to be making because they have a couple different pay rate values on this one...and things don't add up right.

Hopefully I'll actually be able to talk to they lady that's in charge of the time sheets in person today...if she's in her office this time.

That's almost $50 that I don't have, which is equal to about 2 or 3 people's Christmas presents, and I can't afford to lose that kind of money. I need to get this thing straightened out today and possibly figure out exactly what is going wrong.

3-day weekend...

Thank God we don't have classes on Monday, because I don't know how I'd get my speech done for Tuesday if we didn't have that extra day off! I really should be working on that right now, but it should be pretty obvious that that isn't the case.

I'm taking a break from writing a billion labels to put on new student folders for work because my hand started to cramp up and it was getting painful to hold the pen...isn't that great?!

I really wish that this quarter was over and that we were on Winter break right now! I'm just so sick of school and class and homework, and having to squeeze work into my schedule! I just want to be able to come to work a few days a week and then have the rest of the week to relax and maybe even get some projects done that I've been meaning to get around to (like FINALLY finishing Jake's blanket-which is going to take forever!).

Alas, this is not the case. We still have about 4 more weeks of school (including the days we have off). I'm just ready for a change, I guess.

Well, I should probably get back to work now...*stab*

It's official...

We're going to be moving, probably within the next month. We're only going over about a block and a half, but the house is pretty much AMAZING (with 2 fireplaces and an actual backyard, and countless other amazing qualities)! The only thing I really don't like about it is the fact that it's shaped like a barn...it's kinda random to have a barn-shaped house...especially in town, but whatever. I'm so excited!

My room isn't going to be any bigger, but it's definately a nicer room. The floors are nice (all wood flooring-probably fake, but who cares?) and they don't look crappy like our current ones do. The living room is HUGE, and it has an electric fireplace. The dining room is decent-sized, and it comes with a little wood-burning stove/small fireplace. Did I mention that there's a backyard? Oh, and there's a nice little place where Mom can replant her "butterfly garden." There's a 1-car garage in the back, and a deck on the back of the house, and we also have a front porch (with a swing that looks a little iffy ;p)

Overall, I'm extremely excited about moving out of our current "shit house" and into this new and amazing home! The rent is going to be a little more than we're currently paying (about $150 or more increase), but it's definately worth it. And, since the owner is a friend of Mom and Dad's, he's willing to cut us a small deal on the rent because Mom and Dad still have a bunch of doctor's bills to pay, not to mention payments for the truck and the new car. Thank God for nice people!!

I'm not sure when we'll be moving in, but hopefully we can get an early start on it and not have to still be moving when Christmas comes around. ;p I seriously doubt that we'll have this house for that long...and since the living room is so huge, we'll actually have a place for the tree this year...yay!!

Can you tell that I'm excited about this?!?! ;p

Holidays

We just got through Halloween and I'm already skipping over Thanksgiving and thinking about Christmas. I really can't help it, though... I have a limited amount of income (because I have other things to pay for -like gas, which is over $3!!!-) and I need to plan everything out so that I can get everything bought before I run out of money.

And I'm really sucking at the whole "saving up money" thing. I keep forgetting to write purchases down in my checkbook (like when I pay my Old Navy credit card bill online) and I always end up withdrawing more than I have in there...ususually only by a few dollars, but then they charge me 3 bucks for having to transfer money over from my Savings account. So, needless to say, there isn't much in my savings right now, and I had been doing really well a few weeks ago.

I want to get a car so desperately but I can't do that if I don't have a little money saved up because I doubt they're going to give me much by way of loans if they see that I never have any money. So, I really need to work on that...but I have so much that needs paid for!

I got informed the other day that my bridesmaid's dress is in and that I need to schedule an appointment for my second fitting, and I want to put some more money down on that so that I don't have a huge bill when I go to pick it up. So, that's going to drain about $50 out of my next paycheck, not to mention the $40 it takes to fill up my gas tank a week. So, that's already almost $150, and my checks aren't usually much more than that (they might be if they ever start paying me the correct amount, but they haven't been lately).

I just don't know what I'm going to do...besides cutting way back on unnecessary expenses and saving up all of my change!

Winter '08 (revised)

I was able to get permission to get in the class on Tuesday evenings, so this is what my schedule will officially look like for next quarter.

M:
8:30-10:10 -- Psychology 340
10:20-12:20 -- EDU P & L 413
1:30-3:30 -- History 152

T:
5:30-7:50 -- EDU P & L 650N02


W:
8:30-10:10 -- Psychology 340
10:20-12:20 -- EDU P & L 413
1:30-3:30 -- History 152

This will give me three whole days to squeeze 20 hours of work into, and maybe even have a day off (or at least half a day off). :D

Winter '08

I scheduled my classes for Winter quarter today. I will hopefully have 4 classes on my schedule, but one was full and I'm trying to get permission to be in the class (because it's my only opportunity to take it). This is what my schedule looks like so far:

M:
8:30-10:10 -- Psychology 340
10:20-12:20 -- EDU P & L 413
1:30-3:30 -- History 152

T: (potentially/hopefully)
5:30-7:50 -- EDU P & L 650N02

W:
8:30-10:10 -- Psychology 340
10:20-12:20 -- EDU P & L 413
1:30-3:30 -- History 152

And no classes on Thursdays and Fridays (which are the days, along with Tuesdays, that I will most likely be working).

Overall, it's not a horrible schedule, but I'm sure that the History class is going to kick my butt because I'm just not a big fan of history. And I'm going to have (potentially) 18 credit hours, which is the most I've ever had, so that will make for an interesting experience.

:D

My Dad came home from the hospital today. I'm guessing they were able to take care of the blood clots that were in his lungs because, when I last heard anything, that's what they were waiting on.

Unfortunately the cancer is back and it's in about 5 different areas, but they're only small amounts of cancer, and the doctors seem pretty confident that the chemo-type drug that Dad's on will take care of those and he won't need to have any surgery for the removal of anything, and I hope that it stays that way! *crosses fingers*

They will be monitoring him often to keep tabs on the cancerous areas, so if anything serious pops up, they should be able to catch it early, which is always a good thing. I think he's going to have visiting nurses come to check on him instead of having to run to the hospital every time they want blood work done or whatever, which will be nice for him.

I haven't really had the chance to talk to him or Mom much since I got home, but I do know that he is glad to be back home, and thanks to all of you who kept praying for him and kept him in your thoughts!

Pissed off!

I got my second paycheck of the year today and they messed it up, again! I'm currently working in two places on campus this quarter, and I'm supposed to be getting paid 2 different amounts for my hours in each office...but I'm not. They keep lumping all of my hours together and paying me the smaller amount for all of them.

This would probably be a bigger deal if the majority of my hours were supposed to be for the higher-paying job (which they aren't), but they're still jipping me about $10-$15 dollars a paycheck. And, when you're as poor as I am, every little bit helps, especially when you're trying to save up to buy a car!

I'm going to talk to the lady that's in charge of taking care of all the time-sheets and see if she can tell me what's going on. I talked to her the last time I got a paycheck (2 weeks ago), and she said that she was going to fix the problem and that I would be receiving the rest of that paycheck on the next one...and that didn't happen. Aren't these people in the positions that they're in because they know how to do the job right?

Improvement!

I had my second speech in Comm 105 today (technically it's the 3rd, but the 2nd one was so short that I'm not going to count it). I actually improved a little on it... I went from an A- to an A. I'm really not worried about passing this class. I've had this prof before and he's not really strict on grading. I may not have an A in the class (because my tests will probaby bring that down to a B, which sucks, but whatever), but I won't have to work my ass off for a good grade, either. :)

Today was the day of the first midterm in Chem...that probably could have gone better. I'm confident that I at least got a C on it (with the help of the bonus questions, of course), but I'll be shocked if I get anything better than that. There was a really hard problem on there and we were supposed to solve it a specific way, and I just couldn't figure out how to do it, so I basically threw some stuff together, wrote it down and called it a day.

I'm just really glad that today is almost over. Tomorrow, all I have is work (for 7 hours), so maybe I can bring a book with me to read (or maybe even read a couple of chapters in my textbooks...yeah right!), or find something to occupy me because it'll probably be a slow day.

My cousin, Eric, and his fiance came over yesterday and they brought over my pseudo-niece, Sophie (Sophia). I got to hold her for about 20-30 minutes and I told her that when she gets older, we'll go shopping and do all sorts of fun things together. She was sleeping at the time, but I'm sure she heard me. If not, then I won't have to feel guilty if I never actually get the chance to take her anywhere. ;p

It's a "blah" day...

I'm looking outside right now and it looks dull, gray and windy (so it's probably a little chilly, too). I wish that it at least wasn't wet outside. I don't really mind the cold weather, but I don't like cold and wet together.

Everything seems so boring today. It's been pretty dark out all day, and that only makes me tired and want to crawl into bed and sleep. I don't feel like I've been productive at all today, and that's not necessarily a good thing because I have 2 midterms and a speech coming up between tomorrow and Thursday.

The speech I'm almost done with (I just need to go through it and make sure everything sounds right and that it meets the requirements and all that), but I haven't really studied for the midterms yet, and that's probably a bad thing.

We're allowed to have 1 page of notes/formulas for our Stats 135 midterm, which is going to be great because there are a lot of confusing formulas and some "vocab" terms that I'm not 100% sure on (not that we're being tested on vocab, but it's nice to know what the problem is talking about ;p).

I just wish that it was the weekend and that I would have already gotten through everything this week. My Dad's back in the hospital (since last Thursday), so hopefully he'll get to come home in the next couple of days.

I haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately because I have to get the boys up and ready for school, which means that I have to get up at least half an hour early to make sure everything gets done on time (which wasn't the case this morning). So, maybe once Dad's home, then Mom can take over dropping the boys off in the mornings and I won't be late for school again.

I hope that we're in for some better weather later this week or for the weekend. I don't want to be stuck inside because of sucky weather.

Costume time

I'm going out to the mall today after work to attempt to find a costume to wear to a Halloween party tonight. I'm not really hopeful that I'll find anything good, so I'll probably end up throwing something together and calling it a day.

But that's okay, because I'm looking forward to the party more than dressing up, anyways. I just wish that I would have started looking a little earlier, but I procrastinate with everything else, so why should this be different?

I have some black-with-green-glitter fairy wings that I can use and just throw the rest of the outfit together using whatever I find at the mall (probably whatever's on sale). I've only got 2 events to attend this year, so it's not gonna matter if I have something amazing to dress up as or not.

I hope that it's not supposed to rain too much today because I definately won't be a happy shopper if I'm all soggy and soaking-wet. The wind is really bad today, which makes me nervous about driving on the highway, especially with all of the semis that have been on there lately. I'll probably just take 501/198 home in hopes of avoiding all of that. Yay!

5th week of the quarter

So, it's about half-way through this quarter, which means that it's time for some midterms...oh joy, oh rapture! (NOT!!!)


I had my first midterm of the quarter today in my Comm 105 (aka: public speaking) class. Overall, I don't think it was too bad, though I probably should have started studying for it before this weekend, because, let's face it, 10 chapters is a lot to get through in 3-4 days. Maybe next time I'll remember that and save myself an overload session.


I have a midterm in Chem 101 next Tuesday (I believe). I've done well on the quizes (which are group quizes, by the way, which is really weird for me) and the labs (mostly) so far, but a test is different from those (if only slightly), and it's worth a bigger portion of my overall grade. So, I do plan on studying for this one at least by the weekend, and with all of the nifty stuff (practice quizes and exercises) that the prof put on Carmen, that shouldn't be too difficult.


Next Tuesday, we're doing something in Comm that's called an "impromptu speech," which is supposed to require little to no advanced preparation, so we'll see how well that goes. I'm a little nervous about it because I'm not really sure what we'll be doing, but the prof's supposed to explain it on Thursday, so maybe I'll understand by then?


Oh yeah, and last night, when I should have been home studying for my midterm, I was at Wal-Mart picking up a money order for my Mom when the damn machine decided that it wanted to start eating the paper...I was so pissed! It took them about half an hour to get the machine up and running again, which means that I lost about 40-50 minutes of study time (including the drive there and the drive home). What was supposed to be a "quick errand" turned into my worst Wal-Mart trip ever!

It's that time again....

I have my first midterm of the quarter coming up next Tuesday. I haven't really prepared for it at all, which means that I have to squeeze in like 8 chapters of reading and studying this weekend...and let's face it, that's NOT gonna happen. Hopefully I can get at least half of it done before the test, but my hopes aren't very high.

I should have a few hours to work on that when I get home tonight, but, knowing me, I'll probably spend those hours goofing around on the computer or watching TV or something. I really need to learn to work on getting my priorities straightened out.

I can't wait until I don't have to worry about classes anymore! It's only my Junior year and I'm already feeling some "senioritus" coming on.

I survived!

As you can tell, I lived through my speech this morning. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it there for a while, though. I felt sick to my stomach and a little light-headed. Thankfully, I didn't puke or pass out while giving my speech.

It went over both better and worse than I had imagined, if that's at all possible. We were told to imagine ourselves giving the speech and doing well at it, but when I imagined it, things weren't always good. I tried to think positively, but I can't help but feel like I went too fast and that I didn't prepare as well as I should have. I just have to keep telling myself that it's in the past and there isn't anything I can do about it now. I'll just have to be more determined to do better on the next one.

Why me?!?!

We're giving our "informative speeches" next Tuesday and Thursday, so our prof did the "lottery" to figure out the order in which we will give said speeches. Guess what was the first name he pulled out...yeah, that's right...MINE! I can't believe it! I hate public speaking with a passion, and now I have to be the first one up there, before everyone...I'm going to be so nervous! I hope I don't end up puking... *crosses fingers* I hope it goes well!

Again?!

Last Wednesday was my first day as a tutor in the Learning Center. I was more nervous about it than I should have been...it actually was easier than I had previously imagined that it would be. I only have 3 scheduled appointments each Wednesday, and I may get some "walk-ins" here and there, but I only had to worry about those 3 that first day.

The students that I worked with were all really nice: one was kinda quiet, but she at least talked to me; the second one seemed like he wanted to write down everything I said and stick it into his paper; the third was almost unresponsive at the beginning (like maybe he was nervous or something), but he warmed up quickly and we ended up generating some good ideas for his paper. I just hope that I actually helped them and that I didn't totally confuse them and ruin their assignments!

I finished there at 4 pm and headed out to the van. I then realized that I had left my lights on...all day. I had gotten to campus a little before 9 and didn't get out to the van until a few minutes after 4, so the battery was dead, needless to say. To make a long story short, I got the battery jumped, but I still couldn't get the van to stay started, so I ended up having to call a tow truck and get it towed back to my house (after having Jake drive back to campus to try and get the van started). When we got it back to the house, my Mom got it started by turning the key and giving it a little gas (which I was afraid to do because I didn't want to flood the engine, because that would be the last thing I need!).

So, the van started, after I was stuck on campus for an additional 3 hours! Obviously I didn't get any of the reading done that I had planned on doing, and I wasn't able to go over to Jake's house for "crochet day." But at least the van is still working...it just needs the fuel filter replaced because it sat for over 5 months without being driven. That experience just made me want to get my own car even more than I did before that day.

First day

Today was my first day working at the Learning Center. It wasn't as bad as I had been imagining that it would be. I hope that I didn't screw anyones' paper up, but I only had 3 appointments, so that's only 3 out of like the 200 (or so) that are taking that class, so that's not too bad, right?

I've only got 3 half-hour appointments each Wednesday (and that's the only day that I work). And I'm scheduled here for 4 hours, so I basically have 2 1/2 hours to do whatever. I'll have to remember that next week and bring something along to do instead of just sitting around. I hope that I don't get any walk-ins next week...I'm not ready for that!

Overall, today hasn't been too bad, except that I -still- can't understand my Stats prof, and that makes me a little worried about my grade in that class. Everything seems relatively easy in there so far, but we haven't had any tests yet, and those are what worry me.

I've got a lot of reading to do for tomorrow (3 long-ass, boring chapters) and I doubt that I'll get them done before my class tomorrow (at 8 am), so oh well. Hopefully I'll at least get that started tonight, but I know me, and I know I love to procrastinate.

Well, it's almost time for me to go home now. It's kinda been a long day, but maybe it just feels that way because I was kinda stressed about screwing up the papers of my appointments. Now that I've done it a few times, I feel a little more confident, but I don't think I'll ever be a pro.

Later, gators!

Ugh...

Well, today was my first Monday of the quarter, and I really don't think I'm going to like them very much. The day started out great because I heard "Bohemian Rhapsody" on the radio before I got to campus, and I was actually able to find a parking spot in the actual parking lot and actually get the van into said spot, which is amazing! But that's pretty much all that was great about the day.



From 10:20 to 12:20, I was in my Stats class. The time seemed to go pretty quickly, but then we had to head to the computer lab to work on this "Minitab" program that we're using for the first 4 weeks of the quarter, and I didn't enjoy that. We had used it the first day of class, so I had an idea of what we were supposed to do, and thank goodness I didn't have any problems/questions because I don't think the prof would have ever gotten around to me!



I had an hour to get lunch and eat it, which is plenty of time (usually). I got over to Reed Hall and the cafeteria was pretty much packed. I was in line for about 15 minutes before I even got up to the counter to order my food...that's pretty bad, even for our cafe. The food wasn't bad, so at least there was something positive about the experience.



From 1:30-4:30 (basically), I was in the Chem lab working on our first lab. That took forever! The prof told us that we may get done with the lab in like 2-2 1/2 hours, but that didn't happen. If we wouldn't have had to wait on one of the "stations" to open up, it wouldn't have been so bad, but there weren't enough to go around. Then we had to wait for the hot plate to cool off before we could put it back, and then the stupid key didn't want to go into the drawer so that we could lock up. Stupid key!



Right now I should be doing the Lab Report on Carmen so I can get that turned in so I don't have to worry about it. I should also send myself a copy of my Introductory Speech for tomorrow and look for something to use as a visual aid. All I want to do is go to bed!

Fall '07

I have officially been to all of my classes now. After attending the first class for each of them, I have come to one conclusion: this is going to be a -long- quarter!

Statistics 135:
Another math class that I am forced to take before I can graduate. The professor is Indian and I can only understand about every third word that comes out of her mouth. I've heard that the class is pretty easy, even with the language barrier that exists between teacher and students. It's going to be fun trying to keep up with all of the assignments AND try and figure out what the prof is saying. *stab*

Communications 105:
This is the speech class that I've been avoiding since I started college. I'm really glad that Christa's taking the class with me, even if we're not in the same group...it'll still be nice to see a familiar face in the crowd when I'm up there giving speeches. Speaking of speeches, we have a 2-minute one to give the next class...we're supposed to talk about ourselves, but I have no idea to say. We're also supposed to bring a visual aid that represents something in our past (or whatever) and I have no idea what to bring. I'm not looking forward to this class and I don't know if it will help my public speaking skills. Thankfully I've had the prof before and his other class was really easy, so hopefully this one will be the same.

Chemistry 101:
I really didn't want to take this class, but it was better than Biology. When I was signing up for classes, I was looking foward to this one the least of all, but now it looks like it may be the only class that might potentially be enjoyable, and that's pretty sad. It's going to involve a lot of work, but as long as I stay on top of everything, it should be pretty easy (I'm hoping) and maybe even fun. The only thing I'm not thrilled about is the fact that the Final exam is comprehensive, because I would much rather it didn't cover everything from the entire class, but maybe it won't be as bad as I've imagined.

All-in-all, I'm not really excited about any of my classes this quarter, but maybe Chem will surprise me and be kinda fun? At least I know at least one person in all of my classes...that's always a plus! :)

Update

My day didn't start until about noon today (mostly because I couldn't sleep last night after taking a 2+ hour nap yesterday). When I finally got up, I vegged for a little while, then jumped into the shower. I got my hair all washed up and everything, and then got it cut. :) It's not a major change from what it was before, but I have bangs now and it's an inch or 2 shorter than before. I think I like it, but I'll have to play around with it a little before I make up my mind.

When I got back, I had my Mom drop me off out at Jake's house (since she needed the van to take Nick his football stuff today), and we headed out to campus to buy our books. I was able to get my books for less than $150 (mostly because I traded for one book and bought the other online), so I have money left over for gas and to set aside for car payments...yay!

After we spent our small fortunes at the bookstore, we went out to Olive Garden for lunch. I got the Chicken Scampi (I wanted to try something different this time). It wasn't bad, but I pretty much filled up on breadsticks before the food got there, so I was pretty stuffed. Jake and I each got a desert to-go (he got their pumpkin cheesecake, and I got the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake). We're planning on eating those when he gets off work at 10. Mmmmm!

He dropped me off at home and I started running around picking my brothers up/dropping them off. I'm not done yet, unfortunately. I still have one more pick-up, but at least I get a little bit of a break before I have to do that.

School starts tomorrow. I have one class, and then I'm done for the day. I really don't want to go back! I have a feeling that this is going to be a busy quarter...and I'm not looking forward to Chemistry, or my Communications class...or my Stats class. So, I guess I'm not looking forward to any of my classes, and that sucks. It's always nice to have at least one class that might be fun.

Stuff

Well, I went and got some of my things out of my car (or what's left of it) today. I wasn't able to find my Guardian Angel visor clip, which makes me sad, but Mom said we'll look for it again when we go back to get the stereo out.

Mom asked me if it was hard to go rumaging around through the car, and I told her no. It doesn't even really look like my car anymore, except for the color, and that makes it easier to deal with it. I didn't have any flashbacks to the accident while I was looking at all of the damage or anything, which was good.

I'm excited about getting a new car, but I really loved my old one. There are a few things I would change about it, but I had driven it so long that I was used to everything...it almost felt like an extension of me when I was behind the wheel...and now that's gone. But hopefully I can find some cute little functional car, because I don't want a big, awkward, ugly thing, especially if I get to pick it out. I just hope I can find something like that in my price range.

Book List (revised)

Over the summer I was able to read several books and cross them off of my reading list. This is an updated version of my list. It's still really long, but hopefully next summer I can work on it some more. :)

Book List:

Undead and Unappreciated
Undead and Unreturnable
Undead and Unpopular
Undead and Uneasy
The Wheel of Time series (books 4-whatever)
The Dark Tower series
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Sword of Truth series
Eldest (plus any other books from the Inheritance series)
The Dune series (old and new)
The Xanth series
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Dark Elf Trilogy: Homeland/Exile/SojoumDaughter of the Blood series
The Anita Blake Vampire series
The Vampire Chronicles (except for Interview With a Vampire)
Starship Troopers
Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow
A Song of Ice and Fire series
Angels & Demons
The Da Vinci Code (with pictures)
The Historian
The Catholic Girl's Guide to Sex

I wish that I could say that I was able to cross off a lot of books, but it doesn't seem like I read much at all when I look at this list. And I really wish that I didn't have as many series on my list as I do...and most of them have at least 6 books. That's a lot of books!

What next?!?!

Well, I came really close to losing my ferret today. My Mom called me when I was on the way to Jake's cousin's birthday party and informed me that she didn't think he had long to live. So, I was a nervous wreck on the way to his cousin's house, and then Mom called me and told me that he was doing a little better after being force-fed some orange juice and corn syrup.

He has since eaten a little bit of Ming's wet cat food and had some cheese off of Mac 'N Cheese, and we've been giving him water to keep him hydrated. When my Mom told me she thought he was dying...I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. I mean, I haven't had him as long as I've had my cats, but it's still been long enough for me to get attached to him. I just couldn't fathom the idea of coming home and not having him be there...never to see him scamper around and chase after the dog...never to have him run up the stairs and hide gummy bears in my closet again...I just couldn't handle that.

I'm so glad that he's better now. We're keeping a close eye on him and I keep checking him every once and a while to make sure he's still breathing. We're taking him to the vet tomorrow, just in case he needs some antibiotics or something, and hopefully the vet will tell us what happened. I just hope that I don't have to deal with this again for a while!

The silver lining...

Up until yesterday, I had no idea if I would still be working in the Advising Office or not. Before I appealed to have my Work-Study reinstated, I told my supervisor that I hadn't gotten it, and apparently her boss went ahead and interviewed and hired another person to cover my hours. I understand why they did that, but I just wish they would have waited a little while before doing it. She told me she would call me back later Tuesday and let me know what her boss had decided after she talked to him.

I didn't hear back from her until yesterday, which is what I had expected would happen (because I know how long it takes her to get around to things...especially when she has her own personal things to get done..at work). She informed me that I will still be working there in the Fall, and that I will only be losing 5 hours a week (which is great, because I didn't think I'd be able to afford car payments only working 10 hours each week!).

So, with that job plus my 4 hours a week in the Learning Center, I'll have a total of 19 hours, which is pretty good, and I'll definately be able to make payments and still have a little spending money left over. I was really worried about that since Christmas is only a few months away, and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to afford any presents for anyone. I think that as long as I space the shopping out a little and don't spend too much money all at once, I should be okay. :)

Fantastic!

So, I went to King's Island with Jake and his family today. It was pretty different from last year's trip. For one thing, we didn't make it there for the company lunch, so we stopped at a Bob Evan's somewhere along the way and had some food. We actually got to the park around 2 P.M. (and we left around 10:30-11). It took us a little longer to get there because we missed our exit and had to turn around.

Jake and his dad were up front (his dad drove), while his mom, sister and I were crammed into the backseat. It's a good thing that I'm comfortable with his family (at least the females, anyways), otherwise that might have been extremely awkward!

When we got to the park, we basically went straight for the White Water Rapids ride (after getting through the metal detectors that get angry if you have a tin of mints in your pocket). After that, we mosey-ed over to the Italian Job ride. That was actually better than I remembered it being last year. I still didn't like the fact that it went from 0 to 800 mph in about 2 seconds, though...not a big fan of that part.

After that, we stopped by the bumper cars on our way to the big log ride (not sure what it's actually called). They were fun, but I had trouble finding anyone I knew to bump into. I think they were all behind me. And when I finally did find someone, they stopped the ride...skanks.

The log ride was pretty fun, even though I was kinda scarred to get on it. They basically stick you into this big log that could hold up to 20-24 people, and they don't give you little bars to lock yourself in with, drag you up into the air about 50 feet high (that's about how high it felt, but I'm not sure about the actual height ;p), and then drop you down what can be best described as a big, curvy slide that has water running down it. When we reached the bottom, we didn't get that wet (at least our backs were dry, for the most part), but Jake decided that we should stand up on the bridge that hangs over the part of the ride where they splash the water up after coming down, and we got completely drenched! It was great! I even talked Jake into sticking around so we could do it again. And then we rode the ride again, and stood on the bridge one last time...it was great!!

By this time, it's about 6-6:15 or so, so we decide to head over to the entrance and start browsing around the shops and whatever. While the other 3 were taking a smoke break, Jake and I popped into a nearby shop and looked around for a bit. I found this green and white tie-dyed hoodie that I really liked, so I grabbed it, and Jake bought a necklace with a pirate coin on it (pirates are his thing right now, I guess).

I wanted to pick something Spongebob up for my Mom (probably to add to her Christmas presents), so Jake and I dashed over to the Nickelodeon store and I bought her a set of 4 cups that have Spongebob, Patrick, Gary and Squidward on them. I'm sure she'll love them, and they're something she doesn't have already.

We found the others after our excursion into Nick Land, and then headed over to the exit. Before we left, Mary had us pose in front of the "King's Island" sign at the head of the park so she could take a picture. I also grabbed a cup of Dip-N-Dots before we left (some sort of tropical flavored ice cream, but it was pretty good). Then we headed back to the car.

We stopped in Tipp City and went to the Frisches Big Boy there. The food was pretty good, but we were all pretty hungry and would probably have eaten almost anything. Jake's sister and I each got a slice of their deep-fried cheesecake to-go and we all headed back out to the car. We finally got back to their house around 10:30, and I was so glad to get out of the car!

All-in-all, it was a really good trip. The weather was so much better than last year's, and the lines weren't too bad. I hope that next year we get to do more rides and maybe have time for a little more shopping. :)

Yesterday

The day started out with a meeting with my Academic Advisor to try and map out the next 2 years of my life (as far as school and classes go). The meeting was at 12:30, and I got to the campus about 5 minutes before that because my Mom had to drive me (because only the truck is working right now...yay), and we had to stop for gas before we left town, so that put us a few minutes behind schedule.

Anyways. The meeting went well, I thought. I should have scheduled for an hour, but I don't know if I could stand to meet with my advisor for that long...I mean, she's a nice lady, but...I don't know, I just don't think I could be in the same room with her for that long. We got all of my required classes mapped out and divided into quarters, but I still have 18 credit hours to add into that before I reach the total I'll need to graduate. With electives, that shouldn't be too hard to manage.

There's probably going to be at least one quarter that I'll be taking 18 credit hours, and I'm really not looking forward to that. I still need to remind my advisor that I'm not planning on doing the Masters Program, and maybe talk to someone about what my other options will be with the degree that I'll have. Hopefully I'll find something that I'm interested in because I really don't want to be a teacher anymore...at least, not right now.

At 2:00, I had an orientation session for the Learning Center, where I'll also be working this Fall (if they still keep me at the Advising Office, that is). That lasted about an hour and a half, but we'll get paid for that, so it was basically easy money. :) We just talked about things you can expect to encounter on the job and stuff like that. Like I said, it was easy money.

Since I have no vehicle, Jake was nice enough to pick me up. We headed over to the mall, and I called Jess to see if she wanted to meet us there so I could give her her birthday present. She got there about an hour after we did because she had some stuff to take care of before she left.

While we waited, Jake and I wandered around Walden's for about 30-45 minutes (probably the longest amount of time I've ever spent in that store...mostly because it's a small store). I saw some really cool stuff, and found a book that I'd like to get (a Dr. Seuss book that has a collection of 12 books...I basically just want one of them, tho ;p), but it'll have to wait until I have money.

After Walden's, we browsed around the calendar stand that they have outside of Hot Topic. They have some really cute ones for next year, and I may have trouble picking just one out, but they might come out with one between now and when I get mine that's even cuter than the others, so my decision won't be as hard. :)

After that, we went down to FYE and poked around a little. I may have gotten some ideas for Christmas presents. I know it's early, but I like to get started early and spread out the expenses a little. Anyways. After we got done in there, I gave Jess a call to see where she was, and since she was close, we decided to meet in JCPenney's. When we finally found her (we were at one entrance and she had come in another), we headed over to Old Navy so she could grab some flip-flops.

We headed back to Penney's and decided to go to Hot Topic, where I also found some potential ideas for Christmas presents. We looked around, but nobody was buying anything, so we left. We stopped by Journeys (or whatever the shoe place is that's by Hot Topic) and looked around in there for a few, mostly because Jess wanted to listen to the song that they were playing.

By this time, it was about 5:30 or so, and Jake was ready to leave (he's so not a good shopping buddy! ;p), so we headed to the cars. I walked over to Jess's van with her so I could give her her present, which she loved, but it was a little small, so I told her I'd exchange it for one the next size up and mail it to her or something.

The exchanging of the present was a little harder than I'd expected. I went to the store last night, and they didn't have any of the same hoodies there. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, so I called Jess and told her the situation and that I was going to go ahead and return it and try to find it on the website, and if that didn't work, the she'd be getting something different, and she was okay with that. So, I returned it and checked the web when I got home, and I actually found it, so I ordered it and hopefully it'll be here in a few days. :) Crisis averted! ;p

P.S. I think this is probably the longest blog I've ever written!

Boredom

I can't believe that the summer is almost over! I don't feel like I've done anything at all...especially since the Hinder concert had to be rescheduled for a time/date that I couldn't make it to. That was really disappointing. I'd been looking forward to that concert for the entire summer.

It doesn't seem like I've even been hanging out with my friends as much as normal (for summer, that is). It kind of feels like it does during the school year, only a little better because almost everyone is closer that when school's in session. But Jessica has been gone almost all summer, and Katy works during the day while Brittany and Tabby work 2nd shift (and those work schedules don't work well with eachother).

Really the only exciting thing that I have left to look forward to is the trip to King's Island with Jake and his family. Last year was really fun, even though it was a little chilly (especially after riding on a water ride), so I hope that this year we don't get rained out or anything! That would be horrible.

. . .

I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing for a job during this school year. I'm still waiting to see if I get my Work Study money, but I really don't know what's going on with it. If I don't have that, I'm not sure if they'll keep me in the Advising Office, so I'll only be working 4 hours a week in the Learning Center (provided they don't change their minds and tell me they don't want me).

I just wish that I could get an update soon, before I start school preferably. That way, if I need to look outside of school to find a job, I can start the search soon and hopefully get established in a job before classes start up. It would be nice to start saving up money as soon as possible...especially with my need for a new car.

Shopping trip

Well, my Mom and I took my brothers school clothes shopping at Old Navy today. The boys each had a spending limit of $100 a piece, and I just wanted to grab a new pair of jeans (since I was down to 2). The store was having a "Fall Preview" sale, which meant that a lot of their shirts and such were on sale for $10-15, which made it easy for the boys to get 4 or 5 and still have money left over for pants.

The boys each walked away with at least 2 pairs of shorts/jeans, and about 4-6 shirts a piece, which is good, and we didn't even spend $200. I got a pair of jeans, which were like $25 (I hate spending that much on jeans, but it was necessary this time). The total came to a little over $200, but I had a 10% off coupon, which brought it down to around $187, which is fantastic! And I got a free tank top because they have a promotion going on where you get a free tank top with the purchase of any women's jeans. Yay! I love free stuff!

So we ended up getting a great deal because of my coupon, and I think the boys are happy with their purchases (which is hard to do, at least for Ben because he's so freaking picky about his clothes!). After the mall, we stopped off at KFC and I bought my brothers and myself something to eat because they were "starving" or whatever.

Speaking of KFC....I heard that they're rebuilding the Taco Bell in town and it's going to be one of those half-n-half places. It'll be half Taco Bell, half KFC! I'm so excited about the prospect of having a KFC in town! I mean, Lee's Chicken is okay, but I LOVE KFC! I'm so excited!

This sucks!

Ever since the accident, I haven't had a vehicle to drive around, and that means that I've been stuck at home a lot. If I want to go anywhere, I have to either pray that Mom or Dad don't need the car, or mooch a ride off of someone else (which I really hate doing). I just wish that I could take myself places without needing to get permission or without having to bother someone else about it. I miss being able to hop in the car and drive down to Wal-Mart just because I'm bored...I don't have that luxury anymore. Now if I'm bored, I get to walk places, which I really don't enjoy doing because it takes so long and my foot still hurts pretty bad.

So, I'm basically stuck in the house all the time, which isn't great. I've been getting on the computer a lot lately, which is not a good thing because I never have anything to do when I'm on here, so I just poke around on some websites and pray that someone logs into their messenger so that I can talk to them.

My Mom said that she's going to get her van up-and-running so that I can use it until I can afford to get another car, which will be cool...only I don't know when that's actually going to happen. And she informed me today that she thinks it would be a good idea for me to use her van during the Fall and Winter quarters so that I can save up money for my new car....which is a good idea, except I'm not comfortable driving her van in the winter and I need something that I'm comfortable with to get me to and from campus every day. I just don't think it's a good idea, but I told her that I would/could use it for a couple of months and save up as much as I can then.

As far as what car I want to get, I'm not sure. I haven't even really been looking around to see what's out there because I don't have the money yet. I'll probably wait until the week before school starts back up and then go out and check some of the dealerships in town to see what they've got. I hope that I can find something that I like that also fits into my budget!

Worst Day Ever!

So, for those of you who do now know yet (which is most, if not all of you), I had a car accident on Sunday and totaled my car. Basically, I lost control when I was trying to merge onto I-75 from the 33 exit so that I could head over to Wal-Mart from Jake's house...I ended up in traffic on the highway and someone hit me while I was out there, which sent me flying back over where my car hit the cement overpass guardrail, where my car finally stopped.

I'm okay, I only have some bumps on the back of my head (one really big one that makes it difficult to sleep), my right foot is a little torn up, and I have some cuts and bruises on my legs (mostly the right one), and my neck and back have been pretty stiff, but nothing too serious; and I'm pretty sure that the people in the other vehicle did receive any major injuries, but I'll never be able to drive my car again...I miss my car!

I was on my way to the store to pick up a few things so that I could make lunch for Jake for his birthday (we were going to celebrate it early with my family)...that never happened. Mom and Dad ended up ordering pizza after Mom got me home. We were also supposed to go to the Hinder concert at the Allen County Fair, but it was cancelled for that night and rescheduled for Thursday (which we can't do), so I don't get to do that...even though I've been looking forward to it all summer!

But, I'm just thankful that I survived the whole incident and that nobody was seriously hurt, but I can't help but wish that I just would have gone to Community Market (the other grocery store in town) instead...if I had chosen to do that, none of this would have happened, and everything would be fine.

As it is, I'm going to have to buy a new car after I start working again...so I'm going to have the stress of school and work, plus having to worry about making car payments and everything else. I just hope that this is the only accident that I have to go through...I don't think I can handle this again!

Technology stinks!

Jake's 21st birthday is on Monday, but my family is going to have a small party for him on Sunday (technically today). I just asked Mom if she and Dad could make him a cake, but they also want to make him a meal (because it's the tradition in our family). Mom asked me to find a picture of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Dad to use when he's drawing the design on the cake to decorate it, and I actually found a picture that I liked, and it didn't take that long.

I should have known things were going to take a turn for the worst. First of all, I had to use my brothers' computer because their printer's the only one that has color ink in it right now. That wasn't too bad...until I went to print the picture. The stupid printer wasn't responding, so my Dad told me to turn everything off, turn the printer back on first, and then the computer. But there was a problem, of course...I couldn't get the dang computer to turn back on all the way. It got to the "Windows is loading" screen (or whatever it is), then it would make this weird noise and then go to this random screen that I've never seen before.

I wasn't sure how to handle that, so I went and told Mom what was going on, and she said she'd handle it in the morning. I should have known that I wasn't going to be able to simply print off a picture...there had to be something that went wrong, of course! Hopefully Mom can fix the problem tomorrow, otherwise I don't know what we'll do for a visual aid for Dad, because I definately don't have any Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle stuff, and I don't think my brothers do, either. This really sucks!

My project

The other day, my Mom asked me to clean up the "animal room" and change the bunny's cage and all of that fun stuff. I had already decided that I was moving "George" (aka: Georgia- my bunny) out of the dog cage that the people I got her from had her in and that I was going to switch her over to the ferret's original cage (which is much smaller and easier to clean). I had been thinking about how I was going to reposition everything so that it would all fit in there when I decided that it would probably be a good idea to take out the big cage that we had the other cages sitting on so that I would have more room to work with.

If only I knew how much of a bitch it was going to be to take that damn cage out of there! I don't know how it was managed, but we somehow got it up the stairs and into the room without having to take it apart, but I had no such luck with taking it out. It got stuck at the top of the stairs because it was turned sideways and I couldn't turn it around because 1. it was too heavy and 2. it kept getting stuck on things. So, my Mom went downstairs and grabbed the drill and I started to disassemble it. That took about an hour alone, and I cut my foot somewhere in the process.

When I finally got most of the screws undone, I was able to start ripping the 2X4 s apart. The sound of them crunching and cracking was very therapeutic, not that I had any need for it to be such...but it was very satisfying. :)

I actually got it down to only having the base and one of the side "walls," but I still couldn't get it down the stairs because it was still stuck on things. So I called my Mom to come help me. We got it unstuck, but then it started getting stuck on things while we were taking down the stairs. We got it all the way down the stairs, only for it to get stuck on the door at the bottom. My Dad came over and wrenched it out of the doorway (yay for Dads!). I dragged the stupid thing out the front doors and onto the front lawn. I didn't have enough energy to pull it around to the back...I took care of that the next day.

So now the "animal room" is very roomy and it doesn't seem as crowded in there with the animal cages and the computer desk. And I bet it won't smell as bad anymore because that old cage was pretty gross. It belonged to an iguana before it came to us, and it was never thoroughly cleaned out...yummy. ;p I just hope I don't have to go through that again for a very, very long time!

Dull

Well, I wish that I had something fun and exciting to blog about, but I really don't. I haven't really been up to much, let alone anything exciting. But next weekend, that will be different. On Sunday, I'm going to a Hinder concert, featuring Papa Roach and Buckcherry...that should be pretty good. And then the next day (Monday) is Jake's 21st birthday, so that will be exciting.

After that, I really don't have anything fun until Labor Day weekend: that Sunday is a family reunion, and Monday I'm going to King's Island with Jake and his family. That trip was really fun last year, so I'm extremely excited about this year! Hopefully I'll have more money to spend this time! :)

As for today, I'm going swimming with Brittany, and then I don't know what I'll do. My Mom informed me that I have to chauffeur my brothers around. I have to take Nick to/pick him up from football practice, and either take Ben to Showchoir or bring him back from it...or maybe both. I really don't want to get stuck doing that because it means that I can't make any plans for this evening because I don't know when I'll have to run out to one of the schools to pick up/drop off one of them. It sucks and I wish that I didn't have to do it.

Another movie

I saw "Rush Hour 3" on Friday with Jake and Brittany. It was really good, in my opinion. I would even say that it was as good as the 2nd "Rush Hour" movie, if not better...I liked the plot a little more for this one. And they did not put all of the funny scenes in the previews; there were plenty others in the movie. :)

So, I'm able to add that to my list of accomplishments this summer. It's not much, but at least it was a good movie. I still have King's Island to look forward to, and that will -definately- be exciting, as long as it doesn't rain the entire time we're there! I think we all learned from last year that we need to bring a change of clothes...last year we rode a bunch of water rides, but it was overcast and kinda cold outside, so we were chilly for most of the day. I hope I have enough money to get some cool souvenirs this time! :)

What I've accomplished this summer

I decided to make up a list of everything I've done this summer in hopes of making myself feel a little more accomplished because it just seems like I haven't really done anything in the last couple of months...we'll see if it works.

Things I've done:

1. Finished 3 baby blankets- this still leaves me with about 10 more to do (including my own)
2. Read 4 books- I still want to finish at least 3 more before the summer is over...then I can feel like I've -really- accomplished something (and it will make a huge dent in my reading list!)
3. Visited Sarah at her new apartment- it was a lot of fun and I'm hoping to get the chance to do it again soon
4. Met with my biological father- and tomorrow I get to meet his mother
5. Saw at least 4 new movies- I'm planning on seeing Rush Hour 3 this weekend!
6. Stopped eating fast food and drinking regular pop/soda- for the most part, anyways

Okay, so it doesn't seem like a really long list, but that's because I didn't list everything separately. Now that I've made this list, I don't feel like my summer has been a complete waste of vacation. Hopefully I can get a few more exciting things packed into the next month before I have to return to school. I should have at least one that I know of...I'm going to a Hinder concert at the Allen County Fair in a few weeks...that should be pretty cool! :)

Adventures in Dayton

So, I went to visit Sarah on Sunday with Brittany. We got to her apartment around noon and we ran to the store to get some stuff so she could make lunch for us. While we ate lunch we watched "Muppet Treasure Island" (the boy is so creepy!).

After the movie was over, we went to the mall at Fairfield Commons...it's absolutely huge! And it has a Disney Store, which is amazing. Sarah and I made plans to do some Christmas shopping there sometime (before Christmas, obviously) in the near-ish future. They also have a pet store ("Fetch") and they have about 3 or 4 chocolate stores...amazing! They also have a Build-A-Bear Workshop, where I made Jake a turtle for his birthday and named him "Michaelangelo." :) His turtle shell is a backpack! It's so freaking awesome! That's where I stuffed the shot glass that I got him (it is for his 21st birthday, after all).

We also went exploring in the Macy's store there. After we looked at all of the hideous dresses they had on sale, we wandered over to the mattresses and started laying on them to see which one was the best. The best one was the Sealy Posturpedic that I found...when you plopped down on it, you sunk into the bed. It was like having a worn-in mattress without having to break it in first. :)

We wandered around some more and eventually met up with Sarah's parents in the JCPenney. After they did some shopping, we all headed back to Sarah's apartment. Her parents brought her a new computer because her's crashed, and they set that up. After they were done, they gave us money for pizza and then left. We decided to run to the store while we were waiting on the pizza to be delivered to grab some snacks and stuff. When we got back (before the estimated time was over), we waited on the pizza. About 10 or so minutes after it was supposed to be there, Sarah called Dominoes and asked what had happened to it. Apparently they had gotten there early and we weren't there. They tried to call Sarah's number (her cell), but they dialed "937" instead of "419" so they didn't get her.

When the pizza finally arrived, we watched a little bit of the old version of "The Producers" (which was pretty funny) and ate our food. We headed out around 9 because I had to be up early this morning and I wanted to get some sleep. :)

The trip was great and it's definately something that I want to do again! Hopefully I'll get the chance to do so. :)

Another meeting

So, I'm scheduled to meet with my biological father at his mother's house next Thursday to have lunch with her. I don't really know a whole lot about her, but he seems to think that we'll get along, so I hope he's right. I've heard that she's a really nice lady, which is comforting.

In other news. I really want to do something exciting before my summer is over, but I can't really figure out what to do. I mean, I'm going to a Hinder concert on the 19th of this month, but I don't know if that's going to be good enough. I'm hopefully going to visit Sarah this weekend, but it's only going to be for a day trip, and I don't know if that will help me feel like I've accomplished something in the last 3 months. The summer is flying by and I just want to be able to enjoy it before it's time to head back to school and work.

Speaking of work...I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with my job if my Work Study grant doesn't come through. I have to be on campus for a meeting on Monday, so I'm going to stop in the Financial Aid office either before or after the meeting and check with them on that, and hopefully I'll still be eligible for it. I'm not sure if they'll still keep me in the Adivising Office if I don't have work study...so I hope that I get it, just so I don't have to worry about it!

Nothing to worry about

Well, the meeting with my biological father went pretty well. It wasn't as awkward as I had expected, and we did end up talking a lot. Not necessarily about the things I had wanted to ask him/talk about, but I did ask him one of my questions, and that seemed like enough for our first visit. He has expressed an interest in meeting again (he referred to our meeting as "the first step") and he wants me to meet his family (or at least his Mom...he says that we would get along well).

I'm excited to see where all of this leads. I mean, I have a whole other family that I know nothing about, and it will be interesting to meet them and see if I am anything like them, even though I have never met them. I've been wanting to live my life more, and maybe this is a big step in the right direction, as step that I need to take to help me do just that?

Speaking of living my life..I may get to venture somewhere exciting for Spring Break this year...I'm not sure where yet, but the options that I have so far are good ones. :)

Nervous

So, I'm meeting with my "biological father" tomorrow evening, and I'm a little nervous because I'm not sure what to say to him. I wonder how I'm going to be able to find him in the restaurant...hopefully it won't be too hard, but I've never met him before and I have no idea what he looks like, really. Thankfully Jake is coming along with me, so I won't be doing this alone, and that's comforting...but it'll still be awkward.

More than anything, I just want to know why he chose now to decide to meet me. I'm sure there have been plenty of opportunities before now (I mean, I've been over 18 for 2 years now), but for some reason he waited until this year, this summer, and I really would like to know why. Waiting until now isn't, in my opinion, going to make this any easier or harder on either of us, but it would be nice to know his reasons for his decision.

Because I've never known him, it hasn't really been hard on me not having him in my life. And I've got a great Dad, so it's not like I've been missing a "father figure" or anything. This man is responsible for half of my genetic code and I don't even know what he looks like. I can guess that he looks a little like me, but that doesn't really help at all. I'm going to be meeting with a complete stranger who happens to be biologically related to me...how do I address him?

Somewhere new...

One of my friends is in France right now, and my brother gets to visit New York with some friends today, and my other brother took a field trip to Chicago last school year...and it makes me wonder when I will get to go somewhere that's different from here? I've been in Ohio for about 6 years now, and I'm really close to New York and Washington D.C., but I've never been to either. I could also visit Canada (if I had a passport), but I didn't go when I had the chance. I've just never really been anywhere exciting outside of Ohio (except Brushwood, which was in New York). just want to know when I will get out of Ohio and go somewhere exciting? When will it be my turn to take a trip somewhere I've never been before? I hope it's soon!

Thinking about where I haven't been also makes me think of things I haven't done. I have been to a zoo, but I was too young to really remember anything, so I would like to do that. I've never been horseback riding (and I really want to!), or takena road trip with just friends (no parents). My car isn't exactly in the best traveling condition, but I'm hoping that I can rent a car next summer and take a trip down to Florida to visit friends, and that would mark "road trip" off of my "To Do" list.

There are lots of things I want to do that I've just never done. Now that I'm older, I hope that I can start "marking things off of my list," so-to-speak, and hopefully I will have the time and the money to do so. I want to live my life at least a little before I have to settle down and do the "family thing"...not that I -have- to do it, but I would like to, and I'm sure that having a family makes vacations harder to schedule...and I really want to do some fun/amazing things before I start that chapter of my life!