The Talking Muffin

Re-vamped!

2009-01-14T17:06:00.004-06:00

As the year has gone by and my blog has gone dry (yes, that incredibly cheesy rhyme was intentional), I have continued to leave The Talking Muffin bookmarked on my Safari toolbar. I don't really know why... especially considering the blog's coveted 5th position in the bookmark row, putting it ahead of such regularly frequented sites as Hawkmail and YouTube. Maybe it was a subconscious hope that someday I could wrench myself from the pages of Facebook and back to my dusty old blog. An apparently fruitful hope, considering my sudden reappearance today.

While I don't anticipate myself being incredibly diligent with my blogging, I will be trying to make it here a little more often. For now, I'm not going to try to write down everything that has happened since May of 2008, but maybe I'll get there some day!

Macroeconomics

2008-05-21T19:57:00.002-05:00

Well, I have decided to try out the Business major/minor as a second area of study for myself. I know that I need some experience as far as marketing in order to make it with my Graphic Design degree. We'll see how it goes... I was initially shy of the Business road because of all the mathematical classes required for the degree. If I were to do something else, I would be entirely done with math now. But I also realize that business can make me much more marketable in the world today. So although my original fall schedule included "media and society" in order to pursue the communications road, i dropped that and added "macroeconomics" so that i can test the waters with business. So I guess we'll see!

Two Weeks

2008-05-18T20:34:00.003-05:00

Well, I have 2 weeks of absolute freedom on my hands. And it feels GOOD. I am able to plan whatever I want for this time, and for the rest of my time I can do absolutely nothing. It's great.

I went shopping in dubuque yesterday, and I picked up 3 new books to read, 2 of which will give me my chick lit fix (Meg Cabot, no less, whom I love) and one Vonnegut novel which I am looking forward to reading during my rest hours and at night this summer. Hopefully. I really enjoyed his "Slaughterhouse-five" and am excited to read more by the crazy brilliant man that is Kurt Vonnegut.

I also bought 3 movies on my shopping excursion yesterday. Three GREAT movies, actually... 27 Dresses, Juno, and P.S. I Love You. You can't go wrong with that triple threat.

It was a little cold today, surprisingly (or maybe not so much after the weather we've been having this year) but I still made the most of it. I went golfing with Lindsey and to a movie in Dubuque with my mom and 2 sisters. We saw Made of Honor, which I saw Wednesday night with Jenn, but it was good enough to see twice (much like 27 Dresses, which I saw twice in a week also).

I spent much of today reading one of the Cabot novels I had started last summer and set aside all year. I am seriously disappointed in how little reading I accomplished throughout the year. I should finish this one soon, and then I plan to finish Wicked before I start on my new books. I'm very eager to catch up on my reading.

So much to do in only two weeks!

One More Final...

2008-05-15T16:15:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it, but there is only one more final for me and then my freshman year will officially be over. What a crazy thought. I'm going to do some hardcore laundry in a bit so I can pack up all my clothes tomorrow. And I'm going to need to pack up the rest of the other stuff in my room. I have to have things ready to go tomorrow!

Packing

2008-05-12T19:21:00.003-05:00

So I've been slowly working my way through my things and getting them packed. It's a long process and actually rather difficult. I can't for the life of me figure out what to actually pack versus what to keep out for a while. It's nice to get the head start on the packing, I feel a lot more comfortable knowing that I'll have mostly everything together and ready to go. It's also very weird, since I've been here all year and now I'm going to be leaving.

In other news, I am officially the renter of a downtown Iowa City apartment! It's very nice, basically on campus. There are two full bedrooms with walk-in closets and bathrooms (one a little bigger than the other) and full kitchen and living room. It's really exciting, we've put our deposit on it and everything is official! I can't wait to move in in August, I'm definitely looking forward to it!

...or MAYBE plasma?

2008-05-06T14:51:00.002-05:00

I just received a message from Biolife telling me that they need to get information from my family doctor to know for sure if i can donate plasma. So I guess I am supposed to go in again and answer questions with a nurse and they want to get ahold of a family doctor or something... anyway I don't know if I should even bother if I am only in Iowa City for another week and a half. But maybe I could just test it out and see if I'm okay with donating so that I'm in the system if I want to do that in the fall. I don't know yet.

In other news, I've started seeing this guy I met a little while ago named Brian. We went on a date last Thursday and are possibly going on a double date with Jenn and her new guy tomorrow night. We've spent a lot of time together recently and I definitely think it's going somewhere. So that's very exciting.

Also, I am looking for apartments with my friend Ashlee, and we have 2 viewings set up for tomorrow, at 12 and 1:30 (in between which I will be going to lunch with Felix, whom I haven't seen in a while!) and we will probably decide on one of them for sure after we see them. I'm really excited to finally be looking and deciding on a place, and also very excited to see Felix!

I went home last weekend, and that was nice. My mom was thrilled when I told her that I'm taking her to Chicago for a shopping trip on the 27-28th of May. What she doesn't know is that we are going to Wicked on the 27th!!! So that's another thing to look forward to.

Overall I am just very satisfied with life right now. Although I'm sure finals stress will be setting in in a day or two!

...or no plasma

2008-04-29T23:01:00.002-05:00

At my physical, I was told that I can't donate plasma (AFTER they did all this other crap to me) when they discovered that I have WPW (a heart condition). The part that really upset me was that they could have asked something like that at the very beginning, but instead they put me through all this other stuff for over an hour! I am not a happy camper.

Plasma

2008-04-29T14:40:00.002-05:00

Well, you know that you are desperate for money when you face something you hate in order to earn some extra cash. Besides just getting a temp job in May, I have now decided to start donating plasma for more money. And I hate needles. I have my appointment tonight during which they will draw blood and check other things to make sure I am a-ok for donation. Then I will schedule my first donation appointment. They pay $20 for the first donation, and $40 for the second. Donation can be given 2 times in a seven-day period, so that's an extra $60 I can make each week. Not something I wanted to do, but I really need the money. Actually I really wanted to get the appointment for the physical and first donation at the same time, but the only time they could give me today was 2:00 and I was talking to them at 1:50. So there was no way I could get in by 2. But at 6 tonight I will be having blood drawn, which I'm not looking forward to. But hey, I need the money! Plus, on the bright side I'll be saving a life. Yay.

Also news in my life, Amanda's friend Ashlee called me yesterday to ask me if I would like to go in on an apartment downtown with her for next year rather than live in the condo with Jenn and Amanda. While I did want to live with Jenn, I am now seriously considering the apartment idea. I wish it would have come up sooner, because apartments downtown are hard to find in Iowa City, but hopefully we can find something. I'm pretty excited to look, and to hopefully get that experience of moving into an apartment of my own, where I can have my own stuff there.

There is so much going on right now I can hardly keep up!

Temp Job

2008-04-24T15:39:00.002-05:00

So today I had an interview at the IMU for a temporary job during the last week and a half of the semester. I got the job, and I will be working on the textbook buyback during finals week and half the week before. I'm actually really excited for this because I am just about out of money... after spending 200 on my mom's birthday present, it didn't leave me with much. So this little shindig will get me 7.50 an hour (not very much but not bad) and I can pretty much work as many hours as I please. So I'm planning to pile on the hours on my days off over finals week (when technically I should be studying) in order to make the most extra money I can! Plus, if I don't like the job, I'm not going to have to worry about it because it only runs a week and a half. And I'm pretty sure I won't have any problems with the job. That's a pretty great deal, I say.

Decisions, Decisions

2008-04-22T15:35:00.002-05:00

I have spent the better part of my day researching what classes I will be taking my fall semester. I am looking into switching my journalism major to communications, while keeping my Art major. So I am working on taking another art history class, a studio art class, and some of my other main gen eds that I still need to get out of the way. I am currently taking 4 of the 7 natural science hours I need, and I'm looking into taking "Age of Dinosaurs" next semester as the rest of my science requirement. That should be interesting. My only issue while looking at all of these classes is that I'm planning on getting a job next semester, and a lot of these classes are very spaced out. Although I am NOT a morning person, I am trying to schedule my classes for earlier in the day so that I can work in the afternoon. However, that doesn't seem to be working out, especially as "Age of Dinosaurs" and several discussions I will need seem to be in the 1:30-2:20 time slot. I'm wondering if it would be better to take later classes and work in the morning. But I really don't want to do that either. Ugh.

This is just so fun!

So, I'm going again...

2008-04-17T18:13:00.002-05:00

In an effort to either:
a) Go flat broke
b) Prove my obsession
or
c) Have a completely amazing time...
I have just purchased tickets to see Wicked AGAIN on May 27th. Yeah, I did.
I actually bought 2 tickets because I thought my mom would love to see it, and I think it will be a really great mother-daughter trip to take. I decided to get them for her for her birthday (which was a month ago, but we're celebrating May 3) and I think I'm going to tell her that I'm taking her to Chicago to shop. But then when we're there I'll tell her about the show! My dad is going to get us a hotel room downtown for the night so that I don't have to worry about that.

Ooooh I'm so excited.

Let all of Oz agree, I'm WICKED through and through!

2008-04-14T13:01:00.003-05:00

Wow. I don't even know what words can express my complete and utter awe for Wicked. The second the show was over, I wanted it to start again. I already know that I want to go back as soon as I can. Hopefully my mom will want to see it; it would be an excellent mother-daughter trip to take.

We went downtown in the early afternoon and ate dinner at Navy Pier. We were all dressed up and looked adorable. Because of the train times we had to waste about an hour there after dinner, and then we headed over for the show. I can't even describe how amazing the show was. If you've seen it, you understand. Our actors were amazing, especially Erin Mackey, who played Galinda. She was an absolute riot. Dee Roscioli, who played Elphaba, was perfect. Our seats were great too, although I'm sure there's not a bad seat in the house. We were 15th row in the orchestra and had a perfect view of the stage.

If you have not seen Wicked, GO NOW! It was the best money I've spent in a long time.

One Week

2008-04-05T22:44:00.002-05:00

It's amazing how fast time flies by. Our trip to see Wicked in Chicago was so far away, and now in exactly one week we will be there! I am incredibly excited. We are going to Dan's house in Downer's Grove on Friday. His parents want to take us to this nice outdoor restaurant if it's nice out. On Saturday we're going to head into Chicago in the afternoon and go eat at a fancy restaurant in the city before we go to the show. We're getting all dressed up, which is fun in itself. I can't wait.

In other news, Amanda's 21st birthday was Thursday night. We went downtown and had a great time. However, when the night was over I was heading back to my room and realized I had left my room keys at the condo, and I had to stay in Chase's room. I looked like such a bum the next day wearing the clothes he let me borrow. And then I had to get back to the condo for my keys and the only shoes I had were my heels! I walked most of the way there barefoot, because the heels looked seriously ridiculous with a guy's pair of athletic shorts. =]

My grandma and grandpa are coming into town tomorrow for a reception of some sort, so I'm going to supper with them. When I talked to my mom on the phone tonight she had no idea that they were coming, which made me laugh. Unfortunately Mom was in Cedar Rapids today and tried to call me but I had my phone off (which I never do... figures) and charging and I was taking a LONG nap. So I wish I could have seen her today but I missed out on that. Dinner with Gramma and Grampa tomorrow should be fun though!

College... it's a rush

2008-03-30T13:32:00.002-05:00

I am supposed to be revising a paper that is due tomorrow evening. However, in an effort to uphold my reputation as a procrastinator, I have spent my morning watching episodes of the new ABC show, Greek. And it is SUCH a guilty pleasure. There is so much drama in this show, but it's just so great! I guess it's more enjoyable than writing a paper about sabotage. Although I probably won't be happy with that statement later tonight...

Spring

2008-03-12T16:33:00.004-05:00

With the winter we have been having, I think it goes without saying that this wonderful weather lately has been much needed. It's amazing that just a few degrees of warmth can go so far. Just walking outside makes me happy.

Not to mention the fact that I will be going to beautiful Orlando Florida in just 3 days! Even though I've spent yesterday and today cooped up in my room working on the massive amounts of homework that seem to come out of nowhere the week before spring break, I feel like nothing can get me down! I finally finished my portfolio for Design that is due tonight, and I'm satisfied with the tweaking I've done to my rough draft for Literature. I haven't even done anything great today, but I still feel so good!

Now I'm off to class, after which I'll be packing to go home (only to pack more). I'm in such an optimistic mood that I am even excited to clean my room and pack. I never would have thought that day would come!

Woah, I should be packing!

2008-03-04T14:37:00.002-06:00

So I was looking at my calendar today and I realized that spring break is in less than 2 weeks! I have a TON of laundry to do, and then I need to pack the summer-y contents of my closet in order to be semi-ready for Florida! I have left a lot of my tank tops and flip flops at home in order to save closet space during the winter, but i still do have several things here that need to be packed. Our plane leaves on the 15th, and that means that Friday the 14th I need to book it out of Iowa City in order to pack my things up! Not only do I have to pack to leave here, but also to leave Iowa! Which I am certainly not complaining about. With the teasing weather of this Iowa winter, I am perfectly ready to have 8 days in the sun in Florida!

In fact, I may leave on Thursday, the 13th in order to pack. I have only one class on Fridays and it happens to be a lecture that I can get by without. At least I can look up the notes online and study from those. I have a feeling that lecture will be fairly empty the Friday before spring break.

I am so ready for this winter to disappear!

Phoebe Elizabeth O'Neill

2008-02-26T16:46:00.002-06:00

My brother and his fiance had their second daughter last Tuesday! Her name is Phoebe Elizabeth O'Neill, and she is precious. She looks exactly like Audrey did. I think they will be very identical. Sunday on our way back from Milwaukee we had dinner with Krystal, Audrey and the baby. She is gorgeous. And Audrey is getting so big! She has the curliest hair, just like her dad. Hooray for new babies! =]

Body Clock

2008-02-04T00:04:00.000-06:00

I have gotten into a pretty nasty habit of staying up until the hours between 1 and 3 every night, especially now that I don't have a class until 12:30 on any given day. However, this takes away my mornings and also causes me to be unable to become tired before 12 at the earliest. Hence my late-night blog writing. I'm actually waiting for some photos to upload, and therefore have to remain awake for the next few minutes. My plan is to try to start going to sleep by 11ish on a regular basis, and 12 at the latest. I usually end up staying in the boys' hall until around that time, but if I get things done while I'm there too, I can just go to sleep as soon as I get back to my room.

I feel like I'm making a lot of resolutions. Not all of them have been kept so far, but I'll work on it!

MasteringAstronomy.com

2008-02-01T15:45:00.001-06:00

My Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe class this semester is the first one I've had that requires me to do online homework. Due at 5:00 today, I just completed the first assignment on masteringastronomy.com. It was an interesting experience, sometimes too easy and sometimes oddly frustrating. I managed to get a 93.8%, however, and I am hoping that will be a trend for the whole semester. The class is pretty simple, but some of the concepts are just a little hard to comprehend for me. Of course, I've never been good at science.

I have a couple more assignments to take care of before the weekend; I might do my Statistics and my Interpretation to Literature assignments today. I do have all day tomorrow, but Friday nights are usually late ones, and I might want to do some sleeping tomorrow. Sunday is the Super Bowl and I'm sure I'll be doing something. The ideal situation would be if I were doing my Stats and Lit assignments now, but instead I plan to shower and take care of my hair. I'm working on improving my work ethic, and slowly I think I'm doing all right. I think I'll have a better idea of how I'm doing a little further into the semester.

For now, however, it's time to doll myself up!

Girl's Night, among other things

2008-01-27T13:35:00.000-06:00

Last night was probably one of my favorite nights in a long time. Jenn, Amanda and I dropped the boys off at Burge after the game in order to spend the night with just the three of us girls. We rented two movies, got some Papa Murphy's, and vegged out. It was classic girls night, complete with squealing, dancing, and crying at movies. Oh, and of course, pining for the all-too-perfect leading men in said movies.

It was a great weekend. We went out Thursday night and ended up sleeping on Chase's futon, since my keys were at the condo. I spent Friday lounging around in Dan's room with my favorite guys, and then ice skating at Coral Ridge with Jenn, Tom, Aaron, and Christina and her friends. Saturday we got some extra sleep time in, and then went to 27 Dresses(!) for the 2nd time. We managed to drag along our boys too, who ended up loving the movie!

Today will be a sad wake up call... I need to go to the IMU and get more books and some drafting supplies. And the upcoming week will be full, unlike my first week back (no classes monday, tuesday, or thursday). I guess 2nd semester is in full swing now!

No Class

2008-01-22T12:40:00.000-06:00

So today is the first day of classes, but since I only have one class on Tuesdays at 3:30 and it's a discussion, it's cancelled today! Which is awesome, because I feel like I'm still on break! Tomorrow, though, I have 4 classes from 12:30 to 6:45. But at least I have my easier days.

My plans for today are to be PRODUCTIVE! I am going to put all my clothes away (I haven't unpacked yet), go to the Currier fitness center for an hour or so to work out, and maybe even vacuum the room! Oh, and I have to go to the bookstore to get any books that I need for my classes (all of which I have tomorrow.) My schedule works so that all my classes are on Monday and Wednesday (and one on Friday), with tuesday and thursday just being my discussions/labs. I think that's pretty good though.

Well I'm going to go workout and then organize! Happy day!

When I should be sleeping...

2008-01-02T23:25:00.000-06:00

So we just got home from our vaca, and it feels great. Yeah, it's cold here. But I'm just so happy to be home! And knowing that tomorrow Jenn will come and Friday we get to go see Chase and Dan is so exciting. I've been missing them!

So with the time change, my body clock thinks it's 12:30 even though the clock says 11:30. I really do need to be going to sleep. But instead I decided I needed to upload some pictures.

That's me, though!

Defying Gravity

2007-12-31T23:36:00.000-06:00

Being friends with a large number of chicago-ites makes for a lot of things they have ALL done that I have not. For instance, most of my friends have seen the Broadway musical Wicked. This includes Chase, Dan, and Jenn (although she is Iowan and saw the show in NY.) So when we went to Chicago for the Motion City show, we decided that we should go sometime. Well, I was excited because I've heard so many people love it, but I wasn't just dying to see it then. NOW, I am.

On the trip home from Chicago, we listened to the soundtrack, and I fell in love. I burned it from Jenn as soon as I could and have been listening to it non-stop ever since! It is the most amazing thing I think I've ever heard. It's really breathtaking, actually. I have decided that we will be going to the show before April when it leaves Chicago, and that's all there is to it. I can't wait.

And I realize this is a very odd thing to write about on New Year's eve, especially when for me (with the time change in South Carolina), it is my first post of the year, but it just seemed to be on my mind. It's really great, and I highly reccommend getting the soundtrack to anyone who hasn't heard it!

Oh, and Happy New Year!

Sleep Deprived

2007-12-26T14:53:00.000-06:00

We had to leave our house at 3 this morning, and I had decided not to bother going to sleep. I figured it would be easier to stay up than to try to wake up so early. So I have spent most of today sleeping in different places... the car, the plane, the airport, and the next plane. And I can still tell that I'm not caught up.

I'm still not sure why we're in Myrtle Beach. It's not like it's horrible, I'd just rather be home. Oh well, I guess I'm stuck here now.

I'll Be Home For Christmas

2007-12-23T21:26:00.001-06:00

Well I have a lot of blogging to catch up on. And now that I'm home for a whole month, I think I might be able to accomplish that feat. It got so crazy in the last month of first semester, blogging became an afterthought.

But FEAR NOT! blogging world, I have returned! Or something like that. So I am home, as you may have picked up on by now, for Christmas. Which just so happens to be starting tomorrow! It is very exciting and yet very much surreal. I think having finals up until the 21st took the focus so much off the season that I almost forgot about it completely (other than the massive amount of money spent on gifts... that I haven't forgotten). But it is definately here, and I am so glad. The Christmas season is pretty intoxicating, and I love the way our log home looks covered in decorations!

I had an AMAZING time last weekend at the concert in Chicago. I think it has been my favorite time so far during freshman year. We were the second group to get in line, and therefore had an awesome view for the whole show. Of course the moshing moved me around a bit (that is a crazy time) but in the end, I was FRONT AND CENTER for Motion City Soundtrack, my all-time favorite band. It was the best time. And even better that I shared it with my closest friends.

Merry Christmas to everyone, if I don't get the chance to say it later. And I hope you all have the very best holiday possible!

Everything is Alright

2007-12-14T10:52:00.000-06:00

I am extremely excited for this weekend. Chase, Dan, Jenn and I are going to Chicago to see Motion City Soundtrack at the House of Blues! They have been my favorite band for years and I cannot wait to see them! The opening bands are equally amazing, Mae, Anberlin and Metro Station. It's going to be a really fun weekend, we're staying at Dan's house in the suburbs and coming back Sunday. Tonight I think we are going to "Hollywood Boulevard" which is a restaraunt/movie theatre. You get to eat while you watch the movie! I'm pretty excited.
Right now I'm just waiting for my mom and Clair to get here, they are coming for Clair's appointment at the hospital and we're going to brunch before her appointment and my only class today. Then it's off to Chi-town!

Brainstorm

2007-12-10T14:37:00.001-06:00

I have to figure out what exactly I'm doing with my 3 drawings for my final project in Basic Drawing. It's a tough thing to figure out. I have all these ideas floating around and I'm not sure exactly where to put them. I understand now why it's called a brainSTORM. Because that's exactly what it feels like!

Stresssss

2007-12-04T11:49:00.000-06:00

I woke up this morning and just felt the stress of these last few weeks before break fall down on me...hard. I woke up and just knew it was one of those days. I have been so busy lately, and yet have not done half of what I should be doing. I now have the daunting task of 2 papers, a 3 drawing final project, and 2 exams to study for in the next 2 weeks. I am not sure why I do this to myself, letting everything build up onto everything else. I'm thinking about looking into any programs on campus to keep me on track with my work, to teach me to balance everything here. I'm kind of drowning in a sea of work and worry right now. I need to learn to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. My advisor meeting for registration is tomorrow and I plan on asking her about programs of that nature. We'll see.

Right now I need to work on one of these papers. First draft is due tonight, and I seem to be drawing a blank.

Home Sweet Home

2007-11-19T14:42:00.000-06:00

I drove back yesterday in the cold, depressing rain. I normally like driving in the rain, but last night was kind of annoying. I'm home now, though. I stayed up pretty late last night just watching tv and exploring my room (it's suprising the things you forget about after such a short time away!), so this morning I ended up sleeping until 2! It felt pretty good though. It's nice to be here where the only things I need to do are the things I want to do! (Other than laundry of course.)

When I left yesterday Jenn and I were talking and realized that Thanksgiving break is the longest we will have been apart since we met! I'm so used to seeing her every day, so it's very weird. I am definately going to miss everyone while I'm at home, but also I am very happy to RELAX!

Break

2007-11-16T15:22:00.000-06:00

It's finally Thanksgiving break! I'm so excited not to have any work until it's over. I'm staying here for the football game tomorrow, and then probably for the basketball game sunday. Then I'm coming home. I'm really looking forward to sitting around for a while. I'm also excited to see Gilligan over the break. I haven't seen her since my graduation party. And to top it all off, when I get back to Iowa City Sunday I have a date with Andrew! So I have quite the line up in the next week. It's a good time.

Now it's time to start doing NOTHING!

The Pornography Debate

2007-11-13T16:18:00.000-06:00

I have never written the words "pornography," "sex," and "domineering" more in my life. No, I'm not writing a romance novel, I'm giving a speech in Rhetoric tonight abut the pornography debate and its many sides. I have a three-sided platform of examples, one in favor, one against, and one in the middle. It's actually a very solid subject. It's perfect for the assignment, which is to give three sides of an issue in today's society. Sure, many are for or against something, but the challenge is to find the many sides that are involved in an issue. So I just finished writing my 3 min. clip I have to give tonight. Which means later I will have to work on my final draft of the paper I'm writing on the same issue. Good thing it's interesting!

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving break. It will be so exciting to relax for a while and not worry about my classes. It will also be awesome to get some home cooking! Although since I've been staying at Jenn's condo, I've been very well fed. Her older sister Amanda loves to cook, and she makes some really tasty stuff!

Now if only I could get started on that treadmill...

Video Game Overload

2007-11-08T15:41:00.000-06:00

I have decided that nothing can really beat the original SSX Tricky on PS2. I own that game as well as SSX 3, but it doesn't even compare. Last night I hung out with Mitch and we played, and basically the game is golden. It's got all the greatest features, best game play, and great characters. While 3 has amazing graphics and great control, the worlds and the gameplay just can't beat Tricky.

We also played some guitar hero, which is just one of those games that doesn't get old. Whoever it is who came up with that concept is brilliant.

On top of playing my PS2 that I've had for years, I have recently purchased a Nintendo 64 on ebay, which should be here any day now. I'm pretty excited, because just like Tricky is better than 3, Nintendo 64 is probably one of the greatest game systems there ever was. It's a classic.

I feel like such a guy with all this video game talk. But it's a good waste of time!

Anger

2007-11-07T13:58:00.000-06:00

I had Rhetoric last night, which I didn't go to last week because I didn't feel well. So I had sent the teacher an email about not being there AHEAD OF TIME like a good student, and I asked her what work I missed and needed to do. She never answered me, and then in class there was an assignment they were discussing and there is a 4-5 page paper rough draft due tomorrow! This really makes me angry at her, because she could have just told me that the whole class was working on this thing. I don't even understand the assignment from the syllubus she posted. It's so obscure, I don't even know what to write about. And I like to write. It just figures that this teacher would make me come to dread the thing I thought I loved.

Slumber Party!

2007-11-05T18:33:00.000-06:00

I spent the weekend at my friend's condo, and barely went back to my room. It was a lot of fun. Then yesterday she was helping me study for my Art Visual Culture midterm and I decided to stay for the night so we could study. And NOW I'm staying tonight so that Jenn, Amanda, Ashlee and I can celebrate Ashlee's birthday at midnight! So I kind of feel like I live here now (like I probably will be next year!) But it's been a fun time. Now I should be studying for my next midterm... tomorrow!

Northern Renaissaince, Italian Baroque...

2007-11-04T15:34:00.001-06:00

I've spent the better part of today making and studying flash cards for my Art Visual Culture midterm tomorrow. I am determined to do better the second time around, and I'm not taking anything for granted. Hopefully I will do much better on the test than I did on the first one. I'm still a little shaky on the terms, and I need to study the flash cards a little more. But at least I've started! So that appears to be what I'll be doing late tonight; cramming for the exam. How exciting!

Models

2007-10-31T13:15:00.000-05:00

On Monday and again today in Basic Drawing, we worked on figure drawing. I knew it was coming, but I was surprised that the whole nude model thing didn't make me more uncomfortable. Sure, I wasn't totally at ease, but when it came down to it I just drew. I really enjoy the figure drawing, there is a lot more information to be found in the human body than in still-life objects. I especially enjoy the feet, arms, and legs. There is a lot more detail in these areas than one would think.

I have decided that today I will be devoting myself to studying for the midterms I have coming up next week. I especially need to study the artwork I need to know for Art Visual Culture, which is on Monday. I didn't study that thouroughly enough last time. I also need to get the notes from my Social Scientific lectures last week, since I had some major alarm clock issues and missed them. Luckily the professor posts all the notes online the Monday after that week. I'll have to study those too, since that midterm is Tuesday.

So my to-do list for today is: Get notes, study art history, and take a good long shower. That sounds doable.

Self-Portraiture

2007-10-28T23:58:00.000-05:00

I have just finished TWO self portraits for Basic Drawing. The first was done from a picture, and the second while looking in the mirror. The first went really well; it actually resembles me fairly closely. The second was the one I wanted to cry about. It's really frustrating to have to look at yourself and draw it at the same time. The motion of looking from the mirror to the paper made it impossible to hold the same face the whole time. It was a frustrating ordeal.

Last night Jenn and I went to the Halloween party with Dan, Nick, Jen, and Chase. It was fun to dress up. I haven't done the Halloween costume thing in years. We had a good night. Oh and besides just dressing up for halloween and having fun, when we were walking I found a man's phone on the ground and called one of the recent calls to find out whose it was. Then I took it to the Iowa House, where he was staying, and gave it to the front desk to return to him. I felt very good about myself. It was my good samaritan act for the week!

Family Weekend

2007-10-26T15:59:00.000-05:00

My family has arrived in Iowa City. They're staying in the Iowa House, which is actually in the IMU. So they are even staying on campus. Right now they're getting some packets I guess and then they're coming up here to pick me up. I think we're going to eat, and hopefully to the Coral Ridge Mall. So I'll hang out with the fam for the day and have a chill night. Then tomorrow we're going to the game. After the game we're going to dinner with Dan, Jenn and their families at Old Chicago. It should be a really good time. And tomorrow night my family is going to see a hypnotist/mentalist guy. There's also a Halloween party tomorrow night that Jenn, Dan and I are going to. I'm pretty excited about that.

Should be a busy weekend! And on top of all that, I have two self portraits to finish for Monday! Oh boy.

Potter character out of the closet

2007-10-25T16:05:00.000-05:00

So apparently, even though the books are over, things can still happen in the world of Harry Potter. Check it out:

A Night In; Walks

2007-10-25T15:45:00.000-05:00

Although Thursday night is the big night for socials with the frats and sororities, Jenn and I have decided to stay in tonight. We have this new routine (and by routine I mean we've done this once so far) of going on walks to get excercise. And I'm not just talking down around the Pentacrest and back. I'm talking 2 hours worth of walking around almost every corner of this campus. It was a lot of fun. This way we get in our talking and don't sit around being lazy while we do. We probably won't walk quite as long on a regular basis, but we are going to walk. At least for an hour. And it's nice to do it at night also because then the sun isn't making us hot and we don't have anywhere to be. Tonight we're going walking after I get done with class at 8, and then we're going to watch movies. It should be pretty relaxing.

My family is coming into town tomorrow. This weekend is Family Weekend at the University. I'll probably meet up with them after my class tomorrow and then go do whatever they want for the night. It will be good to hang out with my family. I wrote my mom an email about looking at futons while they're here. Hopefully I'll find one to get for our room so that we can get the whole remodeling thing underway in here. I really think it will be worth it.

Paper

2007-10-23T13:17:00.000-05:00

So there's a paper project I have for my Rhetoric class that has been a process over a couple weeks. My teacher never told us when the final draft was due, and I have that class tonight. So I wrote her an email yesterday to ask when the paper is due, and she told me it's due today! Talk about short notice and not letting us know due dates. Plus she doesn't use the Iowa site for posting assignments so when I checked there, it wasn't posted!

So now I have to spend the rest of my afternoon putting together a very complex paper that's due by 6!

Home

2007-10-21T12:00:00.001-05:00

My friends and I had a great weekend at my house. It was a lot of fun. We all really needed the break from Iowa, especially after midterms. It was kind of like a vacation. We rode the 4 wheelers, went out on the horses, walked down to the river, went to the haunted forest, and most importantly ate home-cooked meals. It was really good to see my family and relax at home. I think everyone needed this relaxation.

I'm now getting things together that I want to take back with me, like winter coats and scarves and such. The weekend is coming to an end!

Cancelled

2007-10-18T12:57:00.000-05:00

My evening rhetoric class tonight is called off! Which is awesome, because it's Thursday night and that means GREY'S ANATOMY! Unfortunately, Jenn and all the mie boys have a test, I think in Chemistry, so it looks like I'm doing the Grey's thing without them tonight. That's ok, though, because I'm sure Katie will be watching it in our room. NIck and I are going to grab dinner and pass time while all our friends are taking the test.
Tomorrow is the day I get to come home finally! I'm pretty excited, especially for my friends to see where I live. Mom is going to make us ham Saturday night! Which is super exciting because it will be nice to have something home cooked and delicious! Maybe I can convince her to make green bean caserole or nappa cabbage salad! Eek!
I am really excited that I only have my 1:30 discussion section and then I'm done for the day! I love Thursday night!

Swim the Ocean

2007-10-16T15:06:00.000-05:00

The Motion City Soundtrack show I'm going to in December has some great opening acts. Previously I have been a big fan of Anberlin, who is opening, and I had listened to Mae, the other big opener. But I had never heard of Metro Station, who is the relative unknown opening for them. Coincidentally, their single "Shake It" was the free iTunes single of the week. So of course I downloaded it. And then I looked into the rest of their cd, and it was really awesome! And besides that, they have a song called "Kelsey" and it is quite possibly the best track of the album. So I've been listening to the cd, along with Mae's newest release. It makes me a lot more excited for the show, even though it's not for 2 more months!

Give a little respect

2007-10-15T13:17:00.001-05:00

When I got back from class today I discovered that I have a random song stuck in my head. For some reason, "Give a little Respect" by Erasure is playing continuously in my head. Which is odd, because I can't recall the last time I actually heard the song. When I tried to explain to Jenn which song I was talking about, she didn't know what it was. So I looked it up on Youtube. I didn't find an actual artist video or anything, but I did find some ridiculous things that made me laugh, such as this:

Give a Little Respect

Why this person decided to dress up as a clown and dance to "Give a Little Respect" (in public, on top of that), I don't know, but it's pretty amusing.

Pernicious

2007-10-14T13:38:00.000-05:00

In Rhetoric class on Thursday night, we read a couple of very eloquent essays which were very hard to understand. However, one word jumped out at me in the second one. That word was "pernicious." I was like, woah! That's like my name! The difference between my name and this word, though, is that the word means some very not nice things. The definition, when I looked it up, said things like "causing insidious harm or ruin" "injurous" "hurtful" "deadly" and "fatal." So while I found a word that seemed pretty cool because it's root was my name, I don't think I am particularly fond of the word. I really don't think I go around causing harm or ruin, I'm a nice person! It was funny though, to see a word that looked like my name, considering my name comes from a fantasy book series. That was my amusement for the night.

Head for the hills, the kitchen's on fire

2007-10-12T12:49:00.000-05:00

So I'm pretty excited today, because I got an envelope in the mail containing... the tickets for me and my friends to go to MOTION CITY SOUNTRACK at the House of Blues in Chicago! MCS is one of my favorite bands and I am super excited. There are five of us going, and we're staying at Dan's house in the suburbs for the weekend. We're hoping to make a trip into the city too. The only downer is that it's December 15th so a)it's a long time away, and b)we're going to freeze while we wait ALL DAY to get as close as possible.

In other news, it's a home game weekend, which is fairly exciting. It's actually black out day tomorrow, so everyone is supposed to wear black to the game. That should be cool to see. Hopefully it's not too cold.

Next weekend I am coming home, along with about 7 friends who are staying at my house for the weekend. I'm excited to see my parents and also excited for my friends to see where I live. It's going to be a lot of fun. This Sunday there's a possibility that I'll get to see Gilligan too. Which is really exciting, since I haven't seen her since my graduation party! She may be coming to Iowa City to visit a friend's art show, so if she comes we'll meet up and hang out for a while. On top of that, I have to finish my midterm critique drawings by monday!

What a busy life.

Republicans, Democrats, and Ravioli

2007-10-09T14:01:00.000-05:00

I finally decided that the topic for my paper would be the fact that defined political parties are tearing America apart. I am going from the angle that Americans decide to affiliate with a political party based on one or two stronger beliefs and that they take the rest of the beliefs of that political party as a set. This is a pretty rich topic, you would think, but somehow I just keep stopping after each point, unable to think of another reason. I feel like maybe the topic comes from about 2 different points and that's all there is to it. I'm sure I'll think of more though.

At least the ravioli was tasty.

Had a Bad Day

2007-10-08T17:13:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning in a bad mood, and I didn't really have a reason. I walked to my class in the rain and got soaked. Then I tried to work on a paper and couldn't come up with anything. My friend Jenn and I went to my car to drive to student health and then to her condo, and I found out I had parked on the wrong side of the street and have a ticket for $20. Then we went to student health, where I went to the pharmacy and had to use my debit card rather than the UBill to pay for my prescriptions, because the UBill has yet to be paid. After that we were driving and I turned on my right blinker and it went crazy, which I guess means my tail light is out. To top it off, the low fuel light went off and I had to go spend another $20 on gas. Now I'm back in my room and I have to write a 4 page paper for tomorrow night, and I have no idea what I'm writing about.

Could there be anything else going wrong today?

And yet I learn nothing...

2007-10-07T15:32:00.000-05:00

I'm still procrastinating. Right now I'm putting off writing a 4 page paper. Somehow it doesn't sound all that appealing. It's okay though, I'm spending my time well. I am currently in the process of putting a ton of music on my computer. Which is quite the process. I had to burn discs first; now I'm trying to name them all and get their album art, and then I'll have to put them in playlists, after which I will put them on my iPod. Nick is coming down to swap music with me too, which means more work in iTunes. It's a good thing I love music.

Procrastination turns against me

2007-10-05T16:37:00.000-05:00

I called the campus pharmacy yesterday to renew my 2 prescriptions. The bad part was that I had just taken the last one of one of them the day before, and the pharmacy needs 1 business day to fill a prescription. And I was going to go today before 5 but I JUST FOUND OUT that they close at 4:30 on Fridays and don't open again until Monday. I am thoroughly upset. And I need my medicine! [insert upset groan here]

In other news, I am in a frenzied process of cleaning my room so that it's presentable when Sarah and Aunt Nancy & Uncle Dave get here. My side was fairly decent, but Katie had a lot of stuff on the floor. So I called her and asked if I could just clean everything, and now I am doing just that. I even did our dishes. Now I just have a few final things to do; empty the trash, put the dishes away, and clean off our vanity counter.

I actually find that I do enjoy this cleaning thing. Huh.

Dirty Laundry

2007-10-03T19:28:00.000-05:00

I have a lot of laundry, and it seems to have piled up overnight. It's really weird because I did laundry not too long ago, but maybe it was longer than I thought. So that seems to be what I'll be doing tonight. I will study my Social Scientific notes for my test tomorrow and do my laundry. Fun times.

I cleaned the room a lot today. I even cleaned the bathroom, which we really haven't done before now. It's much better now, I just hope it stays that way. I'm going to wash my towels with my laundry tonight and then the bathroom will be wonderful!

I've spent a majority of the day organizing my iTunes stuff and making sure it was all straight on my iPod. I love to organize, which is weird becuase normally I'm kind of a messy person. But lately I can't stand it when our room gets messy. I guess it's because this is our only living space, unlike at home where there are other rooms to go to.

Time to go tackle this laundry job!

Wet Socks

2007-10-02T15:43:00.000-05:00

I like being lazy on rainy days, but when I have to actually get up and go accomlish things, rain isn't my favorite thing.

I had to take the bus from Jenn's condo and get off up the hill from the IMU, which is where I needed to go to get a card for Lauren's birthday. So I didn't have an umbrella and I walked in the pouring rain down the hill. I decided at the bookstore that an umbrella was a worthwhile purchase.

I haven't had class all day but I have 6:00 Rhetoric. I feel like I shouldn't have a class. It's weird. I really need to do laundry, too, but of course I haven't done anything THAT productive today. I did go and get my liscense renewed. And I cleaned up the room a bit... it's becoming something of a pigstye. And that drives me nuts.

Good News

2007-10-01T22:25:00.000-05:00

I got another email, and Izzy is home and doing better. He is on medication for a while, but it seems like he'll be okay for now.

This week is going to be crazy! I don't have my 9:30 lecture tomorrow which means I don't have a class until 6. That is amazingly convenient and wonderful. Lots of sleep time will be clocked in tonight. Also, I have to study for my test on Thursday! I had my first midterm today, and since I didn't know what to expect, I totally overestimated what I knew and I bombed it. I am so frustrated with myself on that one. I know this is how I function, though, and when I get that grade back it will be a wakeup call. Hopefully that will teach me that I need to step it up a notch. It's just a little hard to adjust from not needing to study because I retained the information to studying being necessary to pass. I guess I just got caught up in the social end of things. Time to step up my game!

My cousin is coming to stay with me this weekend. I am really excited for her to come and visit campus! She got her acceptance letter today and Iowa is on top of her list right now. I'm going to do my best to convince her about how great it is here! Plus, she is going into journalism as well and this is one of the best journalism schools there is. I'm really glad I'll get to see her and hang out with her all weekend. It should be fun!

Time to go be lazy some more! I don't have to get up in the morning!

Izzy

2007-10-01T10:48:00.001-05:00

I recieved an email from my mom yesterday telling me that my dog is sick and at the hospital. I've had Izzy since I was 2 years old, and he is pretty much my 3rd brother. I really don't know what I'm going to do when he's gone. My mom said she had to pick him up off the floor because he was having trouble, and he's been really slow. The last thing I heard was that the vets think it may be cancer. I don't know how to deal with this, and at the same time I may be overreacting. We don't know for sure that it's cancer, maybe he's just sick and he'll get better. However, with his age and how much he's been slowing down over the last couple years, I have been jumping to the worst case scenario right away. If there is any thought about letting him go, I will be driving home in a heartbeat, no matter what day it is and what classes I will miss. I'm just hoping for the best.

Izzy has just been around for so long (as far back as I have any memories) and I can't imagine what it would be like if he isn't around anymore. I just hope he has more time.

Rainy Day

2007-09-25T10:45:00.000-05:00

It's the first day in a while that it hasn't been really warm. It's nice to be able to wear warmer clothes, but I don't really want the rain right now. I'm already sick again. Or just sleep deprived, I never know.

Yesterday we had our first model in Basic Drawing. We haven't gotten to nude models yet, but that is coming eventually, which will be interesting. It was really fun to do the drawings of the model because I've never really done it before. I really liked drawing those shapes, they weren't so angular like what we've been doing.

I have to finish my 5 hr drawing today. I also need to shower, take a nap and practice my speech for tonight. So much to do.

Shhh...

2007-09-23T13:51:00.000-05:00

I stayed at my friend's condo last night after the game, so of course my roommate's boyfriend stayed here. I came back today and they're still sleeping, so I'm doing my best to be quiet and find things to do that don't involve noise. I need to get going on a 5 hr drawing that's due Wednesday, but I don't have a paper bag, and I need one to do the drawing! Right now I'm just being lazy and worthless. Enjoying sitting around doing nothing.

I am such a procrastinator.

Sticky.

2007-09-20T15:07:00.000-05:00

I'm stuck.

I have my whole speech written out, but I can't seem to put the final statement on it. I don't know how to conclude all these ideas, and I 'm pretty sure we're supposed to end with a theoretical/rhetorical statement.

I think, since I have class at six, I'm going to relax, watch some Smallville, eat some dinner (eventually) and come back after I clear my mind. Too much thinking has been done already.

Solitary Slavitude

2007-09-19T17:14:00.000-05:00

I'm not really sure if Slavitude is a word. It seemed right, but now I'm not completely sure. What I'm trying to say is that I'm holed up in my room (door open in hopes of a convenient interruption) trying to work on a speech that I'm supposed to give tomorrow night. I really can't stand the assignment, though. I hate that my teacher gave us an assignment in which we have to convincingly feel strongly about an issue I don't know anything about! So in other words, I shold be working on it right now. It's ok, I have all night.

I've been taking some pictures of the campus that I will eventually be posting in an album on facebook. I wanted some of my friends from home to be able to see where I'm living. I thought I'd put a sneak preview up tonight though, because some of the pictures are really great.

Stanley Hall, which is where I live.

The amazing Art Building, where I have one of my 2 art classses.

So those are a few pics of where I live these days. I love it!

I'm On Call

2007-09-18T10:57:00.000-05:00

Last night I went with Lindsey to the Kings of Leon concert on campus. I haven't listened to them very much, but I thought it would be fun. And it was! I came back and bought their cd on iTunes, it's a lot of fun. I also bought the cd of the opening band, The Features, and had it signed by them. I also aquired a guitar pick. All in all, a successful concert-going experience.

Now I have to go and make my way around campus and Iowa City on a scavenger hunt for Art Visual Culture. I'm meeting up with my partner at Burge and we're leaving from there. I'm really not happy about doing this because I have some homework to get done for my 6:00 class and I'm really hoping this hunt doesn't take too long!

(L)Ames

2007-09-16T15:07:00.000-05:00

I am very sad to report that the Hawkeyes did not, in fact, kick the Cyclones' red behinds. It was a sad day for Hawkeye fans everywhere. I cannot believe the end of that game! Anyone who watched it knows exactly what I'm talking about. Oh, and for the record... the 'clones did not score a single touchdown in that game!

On the other hand, my weekend in Ames was amazingly fun. We headed out there on Friday night and stayed with Lauren's brother. We were going to stay at Adam's cousin's house Saturday night but it turned out to be a big house party and we really wanted to sleep in the amazingly nice apartment we had the night before. So I DD'd and we went back there for the night, which was SO much better than sleeping at a random (dirty) house.

On the way home today we stopped in Coralville and ate at Chile's, which is the best meal I've had in about a month. It was excellent. I had so much fun this weekend (my favorite one so far) but I am really happy to be back in Hawkeye territory. Home sweet home.

Almost a Month

2007-09-13T19:58:00.000-05:00

It's been about 3 and a half weeks that I've been living in Iowa City now, and in that time there are many things that I have managed to do, proving that time is warped in college. Somehow in this short amount of time I have...

-contracted "tonsilitis", over my birthday, no less
-explored the iowa city night life
-attended my first ever hawkeye game
-met tons of great people
-had a "we're sort of dating" experience
-skipped a lecture
-made new friends
-watched many hours of smallville on dvd
-cried over a boy
-had my first burrito

So it's been a pretty crazy up and down time. But fun. Very fun.

Schedule

2007-09-12T13:01:00.000-05:00

In order to move away from my angry, pessimistic venting from yesterday, I'd like to point out how AMAZING my Monday/Wednesday schedule is. I have 2 classes... one at 9:30 and one at 10:30. This means that my day is done at 12:20! So now all I have to worry about is when to eat. And possibly when to work on a little homework.

I love Wednesday!

The Story

2007-09-11T21:22:00.000-05:00

Brandi Carlile is currently my listening favorite. Her music is soulful and emotional; angry and sad at the same time. It's an appropriate characterization of what's going on in my head right now. I'm not going to try to play my fiddle or claim that the world is out to get me.

I'm just having a tough time right now with someone and it's confusing and trying. When I put Brandi Carlile on, the sound seems to bring to life exactly what kind of noise my thoughts are making right now. I don't really know how to describe what's going on without saying it outright, because that's exactly what I don't want to do. I've been thinking about it for about 4 days now and finally decided I needed to let the feelings out in a blog.

There's a line in one of Brandi's songs that talks about razors in her head (she is not punk or emo, I promise) and that seemed to be an excellent analogy to me. The razors in my head are all the little things that keep cutting into my thoughts and making me worry constantly. However, being the person that I am, I am afraid to act on these feelings and find out what's going on. Even though that very act would shine the light directly on the situation and give me a solid answer. I would stop worrying.

But instead I worry on.

Routine

2007-09-10T22:46:00.000-05:00

I'm starting to get used to my daily routine here. It's still a little surreal; like a prolonged camp year with no little girls to be responsible for, but I've pretty much accepted the way things are now. I had a brief time today where I wished my mom was around, which was really foreign to me, since I don't do the homesick thing. It wasn't a homesickness though because I still have no desire to leave here and go home. When I was home for my birthday I had many moments which reaffirmed my happiness to be out of the house. Still, it's a little lonely sometimes. Not often, since there are people everywhere, but once in a while.

I am proud to say that I have my rhetoric homework done for tomorrow, even though I don't have the class until 6. That means that from 10:30 to 6 tomorrow I don't have any pressing work to get done, so I can focus on other things. And believe me, there are other things to focus on.

I'm going to the Study Abroad Fair tomorrow I think. I want to go to Italy at some point. I don't know when though, because I don't want to be gone for a whole semester and summers are pretty much off limits. I'll figure something out, though.

I'm going to try to go to sleep at a decent hour tonight, which seems to be a difficult concept for me. I really like to use my evening hours to do things like facebook and watch Smallville on DVD. Tonight though, I'm going to take my Media Effects Research book up into my loft bed, read what I can, and go to sleep.

Mmmmm.... sleep.

Last Day of Birthday Week

2007-09-06T12:55:00.001-05:00

Since we have declared that my birthday was a week long event that started last Thursday, today is the final day. I will have to eat more of my birthday cake and have more fun to commemorate the event.

I had my follow up appointment at student health services today. The doctor was amazed that the antibiotics had totally wiped away my "tonsilitis" and made me totally healthy again. In the span of 48 hours. Since my allergies appear to have decided to keep tormenting me (I think they want to make sure I'm miserable even though I'm no longer sick), she perscribed Allegra to try to make it go away. Hopefully it will solve all my problems. I'll be heavily medicated, but if it makes me feel better, I'm not complaining.

I wish I would have known I'd be going straight from the appointment to the art building where I am now. I have a 1:30 class and since the student health services and the art buildings are both on the west side (I live on the east) I decided it was against my good health to attempt running back to Stanley to get my notebook and textbook. The last time I had this discussion class (last thursday) I only needed the notebook, and I have one with me I can tear out of. Or I could try taking notes on this, although no on else in the class is using laptops for notes. I think I would feel a little silly.

I wish I had my iPod and a good cup of something to drink right now. Then I would feel very artsy.

Waiting

2007-09-02T11:39:00.000-05:00

Today is the day all my family and family friends are coming over to celebrate my birthday. I am very excited to see everyone, especially my cousin and my brother's baby.

This morning I told my dad I knew that they had wrapped up my computer as a present, but that I had a lot of things to do with it while I'm home and I don't want to be antisocial at my party. So I unwrapped it this morning and am now blogging on the family computer while Mac OS X is being installed on my laptop. I have a lot to do with it... I need to upload music for my new iPod, upload pictures, and play around with it to get more familiar with the features.

I am also attempting to get well... I have been feeling sick for a week, and it got worse yesterday. My throat is very sore. I think it's because of a combination of my runny nose and lack of sleep. I'm making myself sick, and it's no good. I've been doing the salt water thing in an attempt to ease my sore throat.

I don't want to be sick, I'm leaving to go back to school tomorrow morning!

Rockin' Robin

2007-09-01T19:29:00.000-05:00

The funniest things have happened the last two days.

First of all, Thursday night was SO much fun. Lauren, Kate, Adam and I went around town everywhere from a friend's house to the Mayflower dorm (which is really far away from main campus). When we got back to Stanley, Lauren went into the bathroom. She came out with the funniest look on her face. When we asked what was wrong, she told us she had FLUSHED HER KEYS DOWN THE TOILET. Apparently, when she reached to flush the toilet, the powerful flush sucked her lanyard down. So now she has to pay money and get her locks changed. Yuck. But it was one of the funniest things to happen since I've moved out here.

The second thing happened last night. The four of us were hanging out again, and after a night of walking downtown and everything, we were back in the dorms. Adam and I eventually decided to walk outside because we saw my roommate and this guy we know walk out there. Another one of our friends was playing guitar, and a security guard approached us. Instead of asking us not to play guitar so close to the building at 3:45 a.m., he started talking about playing guitar and music and how he used to be in some different bands. So Tim handed the guard his guitar, and he proceeded to sing amazing versions of both Rockin' Robin and Folsom Prison! It was one of the most amusing things I have ever seen! He wasn't just good, he was an excellent guitar player and singer!

So I now can honestly say that I have been serenaded by a security guard at 3:45 a.m.

The big one-eight

2007-08-30T19:48:00.000-05:00

Apparently the fact that I have a birthday in a few days means that I have no more control over what I do. My friends have all decided that they are taking me out tonight and tomorrow night. Since I'll be going home on Saturday, they are utilizing the time that they have me for. Luckily tomorrow I don't have class until 1:30. And it's my only one of the day. Looks like I have no excuses to leave at a decent hour tonight!

Hypnotizing

2007-08-29T14:56:00.000-05:00

Last night was the free hypnotist show at the IMU. All of my friends told me to go up there, so I got they hypnotist to choose me. Now, I have been under light hypnosis before and it worked fine. Last night, however, I couldn't focus and I was nervous so I didn't manage to be hypnotized. I was very relaxed and everything but when he actually started doing things I realized that I was completely awake. Sad, but the show was fun to watch. Afterwards we booked it across campus to get downtown to Whitey's before they closed. Unfortunately, the guy closed the door right when we got there! It was 9:57! I understand that we were a huge group of people so he probably didn't want to deal with it, but seriously.

So we went and go smoothies next door. Which were pretty amazing too.

Today I had my art classes again. We started doing actual drawing today in my basic drawing class. I had to buy $75 worth of art supplies yesterday for that class. But I guess it's kind of like buying a book... since we don't have a book for it. I am going today with Spencer to get my season football tickets at Kinnick and to get my rhetoric book.

Now, I am going to take a nap. I will finish my soc. sci. reading before bed tonight because I can't make myself do the last 5-6 pages right now.

Panchero's Dollar Burritos

2007-08-28T15:32:00.000-05:00

I went to lunch today with Chase, Troy, Adam and Lauren. Panchero's is celebrating forty years (or something like that) and they had dollar burritos. I have to say that I have never had a burrito before. These were amazingly good. Plus we got free t-shirts when we walked in the door! So fun. And I am so full.

New Life

2007-08-27T12:15:00.000-05:00

Well, as I'm sure you have guessed, college life has found me very busy and also unable to find the time to blog. However, I have an extremely easy Monday schedule which ends at noon (11 today as my 2nd class let out early.)

I am currently sitting in my jail-cell sized dorm room on my roommate's computer. The reason for these respective situations involve my own private bathroom taking space from the room and my new Macbook Pro on it's way by FedEx as of today.

I have been having more fun than I could have imagined here. I've been doing everything from going to Buffalo Wild Wings in a massive group of 20 to personally organizing an amazingly successful game night in my hall lounge (there were people from other dorms and floors involved... it was great). Of course I have been enjoying the Iowa City night life as well.

All in all this has been a great experience so far and I am in no way regretting my decision to come to Iowa. I can not wait for the first home game next Saturday!

Go Hawks!

All Set

2007-08-21T21:41:00.000-05:00

Everything I could possibly imagine that I will want for school (at least until the weather changes) is packed up and loaded into either my parents' suburban or my car. We are all set to leave early tomorrow morning and start the moving in process! I think we're leaving around 7 or 8. My roommate is going to get there around noon, and I'd like to have a little time before she gets there to settle in.

As much as it seems like I should feel reluctant to leave things behind, there's really not much of that going on right now. I'm just excited to move in. I know I won't get homesick; I'm used to being away from my parents for extended periods of time. I'm not leaving a whole lot of friends behind, really. I'll miss everyone from camp, but I don't usually see them very often anyway, so again, it's not much different. I have a few friends from high school that I'll be parting with, but my closest ones will be at Iowa anyway. So overall, I'm not really upset about leaving at all.

This will definately be a new experience, but I think I'm ready for it.

Moving

2007-08-20T20:06:00.000-05:00

I have spent the last few days shopping, organizing, and packing. It's been crazy, to say the least.

I move into my dorm on Wednesday morning. I have most of my things packed. I still have to go through my room and see if there is anything there that I want to take with me. Tomorrow is basically packing day. I think I have a good solid start on it though. There's not a whole lot left to do. I am packing in tubs, just like going to camp. Only about ten times more.

We bought my tv last night. It is a very nice 26" LCD screen tv with a dvd player. I am very excited about it. We also ordered my computer last week. Since I am getting a Mac, there was a promotion to get a $200 rebate on an iPod. So I got a brand new iPod video for $50. That came today, along with the backpack we ordered (it's made to fit my laptop) and the printer. We got a rebate on the printer so that it ended up being free. And it's a pretty amazing printer too! It's even got a copier on top, and it happens to be a photo printer too! Although my computer doesn't come until labor day weekend, which is sad. But I will be home for my birthday anyway so I guess that's ok!

I have so many things going with me to school, but still I feel like I could be missing something.

We're all in this together

2007-08-17T10:55:00.000-05:00

So I was never a High School Musical fan. I watched it, but wasn't entirely impressed. However, despite this fact, I have found myself roped into a HSM party tonight. We will be making Papa Murphy's pizza, having popcorn, and watching the infamous next chapter of this oddly successful franchise.
I find it highly amusing that the 20 year old Toad is the one who wants to watch it so much. But hey, maybe I will find the second movie more enjoyable than the first. Who knows?

Sugar Gliders

2007-08-12T19:43:00.000-05:00

I am an animal person, and I always have been. But even though I've loved all kinds of animals all my life, I have just recently found my absolute favorite one. Seriously.

It's called a sugar glider. They are these amazing little marsupials about the size of a gerbil. They have a membrane for gliding like flying squirrels. And get this; they are extremely intelligent and also bond to their owners for life! They like to live on a person, like in their pocket! They're even smart enough to tell you when they have to go to the bathroom so you dont have little presents in your pocket. They are the coolest thing I have ever seen. I guess they're related to kangaroos. Who knew?

http://www.sugargliders.org/

Ladies!

2007-08-11T17:45:00.000-05:00

The internet at my house has been down. For a week. I have been so lost without being able to use my blog or check my facebook. It's actually a little sad. However, I had a great time the last two days at the Iowa State Fair. My friends and I went up on Thursday morning and came home Friday evening. We also did a little shopping in Williamsburg and ate on campus at Iowa on the way home. It was a lot of fun.

At the state fair, I was sitting on a bench next to five young girls. They were very cute, and my friends and I were talking to them. As we sat there, they were being rowdy and pushing, pulling, and playing. I had to supress the urge to be a counselor again. I was very tempted to tell them that they should keep their hands to themselves; that they could play around without being so rough. That's what camp will do to you I guess.

My older brother finally called today to help me reconnect our internet. It is very nice to have it back. Besides the blogging and email and facebooking I had to catch up on, I used the opportunity to send in some of my pictures to Walgreens. I had realized that a large chunk of camp pictures were missing from my prints... the ones from the crazy Bits trip. It was because they weren't on my computer yet. So I uploaded those. Also sent in were pictures from the state fair and of Toad, Kicks and I the other night. I'm leaving right after dinner to go pick them up. I have to go to Hobby Lobby as well to find some new scrapbooking things.

I am very busy now and school is less than 2 weeks away! Time sure flies.

Wasting Away

2007-08-04T17:02:00.000-05:00

Nobody is home. I have no oblilgations. And that seems to trigger something inside me to say, "Time to be a lazy ass!" So I spend my time reading and using the computer. Sure, I've gone out a couple times with friends and whatnot. My last two nights were a blast. But during the day, I become a grade A couch potato. The rainy day doesn't help much.
I can't wait to go to Madison tomorrow. It will give me something to do. I need something to do after camp is over to keep me busy, or I just become a standstill.

iNerd

2007-08-03T15:18:00.000-05:00

I am a nerd when it comes to technology. Let me elaborate.

I have spent the better part of my whole morning exploring the ins and outs of the Macbook Pro on the Apple site.Sunday I am meeting my family in Madison to shop for school. There is an Apple store there which we are going to to [hopefully] get my laptop. I have been scouring the Apple site for all the information I can find on the Macbook Pro (which is the computer I plan to get) and I am getting so excited about it! I can't wait to have that computer in my hands and begin using it.

There are some extremely awesome promotional things going on with Mac. First of all, when I buy a Mac as a student, I recieve a free iPod nano. Second, I get an amazing discount on Adobe Creative Suite, which I am so happy about. Not to mention the savings I get when I buy as a student from U of I. All of this makes me extremely excited and looking forward to Sunday.

So I'm a nerd. But I just can't help it!

The summer is done seems hardly begun...

2007-08-01T20:25:00.001-05:00

Coming home from camp always sucks. There's no way around it. Setting aside the fact that I'm missing everyone, I'm just bored out of my mind! That's the long and short of it. There's no one around at home... which is good because otherwise they would be overwhelming... but this just makes it more likely for me to spend my day sitting on facebook and reading Harry Potter, waiting for the evening to come when I can actually go and do something.

Basically, I suggest that camp be made a permanent thing that never ends but has long breaks in between sessions for counselors to regroup and hang out. All year long. No, make that summer forever. Yeah. that sounds amazing.

Sleepaway.

2007-06-03T22:38:00.000-05:00

Thursday, December 21. That is the last time I blogged. Sad, I know. But true. I've been inspired to write again by the fact that I am at camp. When at camp... during various free time when computer is at hand... I find myself lacking things to do on facebook and wanting to write something. When Stein said she was writing in her blog, I realized that it was the perfect solution to my situation. Duh.

Sleep. That is what I SHOULD be doing right now. I have been exhausted all day and it has been building up for the past week and a half. But somehow I end up sitting awake until much later than I should while still being required to wake up in the wee hours.

In fact, sleep seems like a perfect idea right now.

So this is Christmas...

2006-12-21T17:43:00.000-06:00

Christmas is here, but it definately doesn't feel that way. For instance, rain just doesn't cut it when it comes to holiday cheer. Snow, I can handle. Even a little cold weather would make it more convincing (although I adamantly believe that cold weather isn't worth it unless there is snow). Instead, we get rainy weather 4 days before Christmas. It just doesn't feel like it's almost here.

I love the Christmas season and it makes me sad that I can't feel like it actually is Christmas.

Catching Up

2006-10-19T21:38:00.000-05:00

Well I had a very busy week last week, and I am about to have another busy time! Homecoming was fun. It wasn't the best dance by far but it wasn't bad. I loved my look and I love the pictures I have! We lost the homecoming game. Sad, I know. I actually wasn't all that upset about it, it was a boring game. I had a blast with the rest of the dress up days... especially 80's day, which I looked AWESOME for. On Friday for our Spirit Day games I had to do a few things, one of which was a relay that I had to do the wheelbarrow in. Bad choice, because I'm just starting to get over my soreness from going the length of the gym on my hands as fast as I could. The other thing I had to do was the "shopping cart relay", which required me to eat an entire banana as fast as I could so the next senior could go. NOT an easy task at all. I made the mistake of trying to stuff it in with a BIG bite right away, and immediately regretted it. I managed to eat the whole thing though (over my gag reflex... not that the banana was bad, it was just the reflex kicking in) and I think seniors might have won that one.
Homecoming itself was fun, not too bad. We had a good dinner at Carlos O'Kelly's and my group was fun. I had a little party at my house afterwards but I wish I had just gone to someone else's actually. It was kind of a bust. But all in all it was a good night.

Now I have another busy time ahead. I leave tomorrow with my family for Florida! We are leaving at 3:30 in the morning. Basically that means I am simply not going to sleep. I still have some clothes in the dryer which I need to pack. I'm just going to watch some movies and read, etc. Then I will be all set to leave at 3:30!

I'm excited to get out of the cold and down to Florida. Also excited because it's the first time we're going to the Universal parks instead of just the Disney ones. I love rollercoasters, so it will be a blast.

A Star Rises

2006-10-10T20:50:00.000-05:00

I got to be a real Rock Star today! haha. Today was our rock star day. I have to say, I looked pretty darn cute. I love the shirt that I wore, and the guitar just topped it off. Plus thick eyeliner and flipped out hair. It was fun!
Tomorrow is freaks and geeks. If my friend remembers to bring it, I will be wearing a Marquette shirt. Just a little joking around and making fun of our rival school. I also took a pair of my dad's old BIG plastic glasses and popped the lenses out. In a way, they actually look cute! haha But don't worry I won't make them an everyday accessory.
I was thinking about wearing the spandex biker-type shorts that I wore for greased watermelon. that would be kind of funny. We'll see though. This is the only day I wasn't really sure about.
Then comes 80's day... yay! And I'm also really looking forward to Homecoming... the spirit day games, the Homecoming football game, and the DANCE of course! I think I'm leaving my hair down (for the first time at a school dance ever!) in a crimped hairstyle. Should be cute!
Well I'll just be rocking out in my "I Rock" shirt now.

Rock on!

I Love the 80's

2006-10-07T23:11:00.000-05:00

Homecoming week starts Monday! I can't believe it's here already. I'm pretty sure I have the dress up days covered now.

Monday is Grafitti Day. We wear a white shirt and take markers and everyone draws on each other. That's an easy day to prepare for.

Tuesday is Rock Star Day. I bought a shirt at Kohls that says "I Rock" with a whole bunch of cute little designs. I'm going to wear my torn jeans, and a pair of converse all-stars that i'll borrow from my friend who has a ton of them. I also bought an inflatable guitar at Target (with a 10% discount...heck yes!). Not sure what I'll do with my hair, maybe make it look kinda choppy.

Wednesday is Freaks and Geeks Day. I'm going to borrow a pair of my dad's old big glasses and pop out the lenses, then I'm not sure about an outfit yet but I'm going to just wear a bunch of dumb stuff.

Thursday is the best. It's 80's Day. I bought a TON of stuff for it. I actually found leg warmers in a store, which I was really surprised about- Claire's nonetheless! I also bought pink leggings there, along with some mod-type jewelry. Black earrings and beaded necklace. I bought an off the shoulder black sweater and a pink beater tank top for underneath. I got a black and white striped plastic headband, and really pointy heels. I'm going to put my hair in a high ponytail (actually that will be hard because I just got my hair cut and it's pretty short) with some kind of scrunchie I think. Either that or just use the headband with my hair down, not sure really.

Friday, of course is Spirit Day. I think a group of senior girls are making shirts at my house tomorrow. We're going to Have them say senior girls on the front and kiss the rebels goodbye on the back (in honor of our "sweet" theme) i think.

So yeah I'm all fired up for homecoming now! I just need some jewelry for the actual homecoming dance. And I need to get my date up there to get his shirt! And order flowers. But other than that... haha.

Exciting week ahead!

What we do for fun in Bellevue...

2006-10-03T22:48:00.000-05:00

We tape people. That's right, with duct tape. Usually it's all underclassmen, but if they decide to tape someone, that person pretty much has no say in it whatsoever.
Like the fact that I never got taped as an underclassmen, so they were like, "Kelsey! You're getting taped!" and I just said no. But they did try. Unfortunately for them, the tape was malfunctioning. Tonight was our big rival game against Marquette, so it was apparently a prime night for taping.

Some of the taping is just around someone's legs or wrists, but some, like this kid, get all wrapped up. That's gotta hurt. Don't worry, we aren't totally out of control. We make sure that people get out. Actually basically the guys tape, the girls kind of pretend to help, and we make sure no one does get seriously hurt.

There were a lot of people tonight. Out in the middle of nowhere. I was driving my car and I had no clue where we were at all. It was kind of crazy. But it wasn't like we were drunk or high or anything, everyone was just hanging around, some people just watching the whole thing. And I even made it home before 10. haha.

All in all it was an interesting night.

New Team Member

2006-10-01T23:38:00.000-05:00

That's my name now.

My name tag at Target doesn't tell anyone my name, just "New Team Member" like it's really my name.

I had my first night tonight. It was all right, not too exciting at all. I had to stand in a lane and read a binder full of information for at least three hours, but other than that...

I can't wait until I know things so that I don't feel so inadequate there. It's kind of intense, believe it or not.

But it wasn't so bad.

Friday Night Lights

2006-09-29T15:16:00.000-05:00

I love Friday nights. I'm not a football fanatic by any means, but I love the chance to have fun with my friends without worrying about arranging some big elaborate plan to do something. It's simply, "Going to the game tonight? See you there!"

Last Friday's game was away, and I had a blast going up there with a group of 8 of us. Tonight's game is home, which is even better.

A bunch of people are coming back to my house after the game, it'll be fun. I have probably one of the best houses for having parties. Pool table, foosball, air hockey, basketball gym, and entertainment center/home theatre. Plus it's all in the basement, where my room is, and so I can simply quaranteen off the basement to all family members and have a blast!

Plus I have my new car now, so going to and from anywhere is fun.

I Am Now Employed By A Dog

2006-09-26T19:54:00.000-05:00

Well, not technically. But in a way, I do work for a dog. I applied at Target yesterday and it was kind of an intense application process. I had to fill out an electronic application that took almost an hour, then I had to pick up the red phone and tell them that I had just filled out an application. I was then interviewed by one person, who, when she finished, told me I had another interview. That person then interviewed me, and once I was done with that I had to go upstairs for one more "interview" although basically it was just confirming that I was applying and telling me they were going to offer me the job. I had to go today to the Medical Associates Clinic and get a drug screening to be eligible. So I did that.
I have orientation on Thursday starting at 4. It goes on for 4 and a half hours. So I am tied up for Thursday! Anyway my dad was extremely happy that I got a job, and now I get to bring home my car sometime soon. Exciting!

I'm also looking forward to Friday. It's a home football game. And since my parents aren't going to be around and I have to take my siblings to the game and back, my dad said that my friends could all come back to my house after the game. So that will be fun. I will have to get some food and we'll have a bonfire and all that good stuff.

I also have an almost-for-sure homecoming date now. The reason it's not 100% is that he is just starting to date a different girl, but it's not likely that her parents will let her go to homecoming with him, and so she told him it was fine if he went with me, but that she was going to check with her parents to be sure that she couldn't. So I'm kind of praying that she can't-even though that sounds mean. The reasoning there is that she is a freshman and he's a senior so he doesn't think her parents will approve. But I just told him to make sure she knows that we're friends. So hopefully that works out, since I already have a SUPERCUTE dress and I don't really want to go alone.

Things are going good.

Ups and Downs

2006-09-24T20:10:00.000-05:00

This weekend was a rollercoaster ride of emotion for me. Friday night was awesome; I went to pizza and the football game with a big group of friends. It was a blast. We ate at Geno's and it was delicious. Then we headed to the game in Preston. We took a bunch of pictures and goofed around all night. Saturday was also a good time; I visited Wartburg all day and I really enjoyed it.

Today, however, was a bad day. Monumentally. It wasn't any one thing in particular. In fact, nothing happened to me at all. But I was in a mood, you know? Just really bummed and kind of crabby. Well it really doesn't help me much when I'm in a bad mood and my family is giving me crap about it. Seriously, they don't just say, "Oh, Kelsey's in a bad mood, let's just leave her alone," oh, no. Not them. They decide to put salt in the wound and pick on me and laugh at me until I'm in such a monumentally bad mood that I have to leave the room and cry.

Tonight they did just that. They noticed I was in a bad mood and convieniently picked that time to start giving me a hard time.

I don't understand why they can't just recognize that I'm bummed out, maybe for no particular reason but bummed out nonetheless, and just leave me alone. Or at least try not to aggravate me when the do talk to me. When I started to get really upset they all started laughing like it was the funniest thing that could have happened. And I just don't get that.

In my mind, when someone is upset, it's time to leave them alone.

Apparently they don't agree.

Rocking Out

2006-09-17T20:10:00.000-05:00

Today we went to Madison for the day. My dad, sisters, brother, my friend Leah and I all went. Our purpose in this little trip was to pick up Dad's Bonneville, which he left at a car dealership when he got a new car. I had to go so that I could bring the Bonneville back.

Well of course, it would be pointless to go to Madison and not do anything while there! So we made it a shopping day. First stop after lunch was Best Buy.

There is a brand new game out for PS2. It's called "Guitar Hero". Basically it's air guitar minus the air. It is awesome. The controller is a guitar with buttons on the end for playing the chords. Leah and I spent half of the time we were there playing that game. I would really love to have it at home. However, it is 70 bucks and that is a big investment for me right now. Especially since I'm going to need to start saving my money to pay of my dad for another big investment that we recently made.

Which brings me to the exciting point; I got a car. Finally. No more driving the truck (which, while I love it... it's nice and it's fun to drive...still isn't my OWN car... and it eats gas like candy) around all the time. The deal is, as soon as I get accepted to a job that I've applied for, we can bring the car home. And then I have to start making payments to my dad for a certain percentage of the car.

Its a little silver 1998 Honda Civic and it's cute! A good college car... and it gets something like 37 miles to the gallon. Which will be very good for me.

Now I just need that job!

Inspiration Strikes Again...or...Hot off the presses!

2006-09-14T23:48:00.000-05:00

Well I did it again. I was driving home yesterday and noticed the beautiful things I was seeing and stopped to take MANY pictures. And then I went crazy with it and played with pictures all day and then posted a Facebook album with some of them. It was quite the time.

I completed the 1st Comet Tale today (our school paper of which I am editor). It took me quite a while (especially since once the computer crashed with nothing saved yet) but I got it done. My advisor was really happy with how it turned out, as was I. I was happy to get back to the paper again.

I'm planning to enter a contest through Seventeen magazine that chooses 5 girls to be guest editors for an issue. This would be a great opportunity for me, especially since that is the field (journalism) that I'm planning on pursuing as a career. I will need to do an interview and such and submit a piece of journalism work that is unique. I already have a plan and we will see how it works out.

In the mean time, I'm going to be enjoying the beauty of this time of year. The afternoon light lately has been AMAZING!

Growing up too fast

2006-09-12T23:20:00.000-05:00

I have always had my life planned in a sense. I've never considered a path other than college after high school, and for the majority of my life, I've had the same goal career-wise. But recent events caused me to wonder what would happen if my plans were suddenly interrupted?

One of my friends recently discovered that she is pregnant. Wow. I have always heard about teen pregnancy through the media, and have known girls in my school who have gotten pregnant either shortly after high school or while they were still there. But never have I been close enough to one of them for it to make an impact.

This girl is one of the sweetest people I know, and she's always been there if I needed someone to listen, and I've tried to do the same for her. This, however, is the biggest thing she's gone through, and while she's talked to me about it, I feel like this is just the one time when I can' t really give her good advice, because I've never been in the situation. Nevertheless, I have told her my thoughts and tried to help her out as much as help is needed at this early stage.

The biggest thing she's had to deal with is rumors at school. First one girl overhears something, and then she knows, and then suddenly the whole volleyball team is aware of my friend's situation. That's life in a small town.

I am so worried for her. I support her 100% in her decision to have the baby, and I have promised to be there for her if she ever needs anything. I think she can handle it. I'm just so scared for her, maybe mostly because she doesn't seem scared herself at this point. I don't think the impact of this has set in on her yet.

My only hope is that she will be all right.

!@#$%^& computer!

2006-09-11T15:48:00.000-05:00

My brother is brilliant with computers. Really. He knows how to build a computer from scratch and did so for his own home computer. He has 2 monitors between which he can move, with the same mouse & keyboard... it's great.

So you would think that our computer at home would be top-notch, since he's always fixing it for us. Unfortunately, however, there appears to be something more wrong with our computer, since he's tried several different virus protection programs and for some rason none of them work for the long haul.

Like the most recent one. You know those speech bubbles that pop up to tell you something about your computer? Well, one pops up on my computer every two seconds. And it's huge and blocks out the bottom half of whatever I'm doing at the time. Like right now, when I have to have my typing space up as high as it will go so I can see what I'm typing! And it's not like I can x it out and it will just go away. Oh, no. It pops back up honestly 2 seconds later. I counted.

I tell you what. Computers and their problems. The computer as a whole still functions, but it's getting very irritating to put up with that speech bubble. And the fact that my desktop picture is now gone, leaving me with a big blank screen (which i made a nice green color and coordinated with my windows colors, but still).

On a different not entirely, today is the 5 year anniversary of 9/11. I heard one of those tribute things on the radio this morning and it almost made me cry. At the time of the attack, I was only 12 and couldn't completely comprehend what was happening, but now it gets to me.

In remembrance of all those who died, from the airplane passengers to the WTC employees to the brave men and women of the NY city police and fire squads.

When It Rains, It Pours

2006-09-08T23:17:00.000-05:00

This has not been an ideal week for the Fahey family. As I've mentioned, my mom broke her leg on Tuesday. Then she was stuck in the hospital for the week.

She came home today. Just in time for me to have some issues of my own.

I got rear-ended today. That's right. Now before panic is caused, I have to mention that I and my truck are fine. That said...

I was driving down State Street, which is the main road in Bellevue that my school is located on. As implied by the fact that a high school is located on the road, it becomes mass chaos at the hours of noon and 3:15. Well, not all of us out there are highly experienced drivers. Some of us are sophomores with our school permits who follow those in front of us WAY too closely.

In other words, I was rear-ended by said sophomore today. There is a turn that some people feel the need to make, which causes everyone behind them to be forced to stop, many times suddenly. Well there were about 8 cars in front of me, and I barely got stopped myself. Then, after I was stopped completely, I felt a CRASH behind me and my body lurched forward. I swear the girl must have barreled into me. I was shocked. From the feel of things, I thought my truck's back end was all smashed in, and I was very upset.

Then I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw the car that had smashed into me. A little blue Grand Am, now with its hood buckled up and pushed back and its front end in shambles. This was also a discouraging sight, since I thought that by the sight of that, my truck must be pretty bad also. I got out, and walked back to their car, where they were still sitting. 5 sophomore girls in one small Grand Am. Great idea to begin with, right?

Well I asked them all if they were all right, and looked back at my truck. Amazingly enough, I couldn't see any real damage. The accident happened right next to "The Car Wash" gas station, and some ladies from over there who I assume had been filling up gas came over to help us out. The police came, took our names and found out what happened, etc. Then after a little while, he told me that I could just go home, and come back to pick up my liscense from the station in the morning.

Crazy. Trucks are just that much more sturdy, and also higher. She pretty much went right under me. I drove away with just a dent in the bumper.

And I got back just in time for my mom to finally come home with her broken leg.

Playing Mother

2006-09-07T20:44:00.000-05:00

So my Mom was only supposed to stay one night in the hospital. Then the next day they decided to keep her for the night again. And now today she was supposed to come home but has to stay again. So basically I'm running everything at home, because Dad doesn't even get home until around 7.

Today wasn't so bad, because Brenda was at the house all day and so she made dinner for the kids. I had 4th block free and I wanted to go use some of my gift cards so I went to Dubuque, then came home and took Tessa and Austin to their soccer game at 6:30. Dad got home around 8 tonight.

Clair's birthday is tomorrow. She's having 7 of her friends over... 7 little girls running around the house. Well, actually, that's nothing I can't handle. Camp helps with those kinds of things. The problem will be that at home, my sister has no respect for me so I will have to work extra hard to keep things in line. She was fine as a camper though! Go figure.

Well I'm sure it will be fine. They're 7th graders so I think they should be able to occupy themselves pretty well. I don't have to arrange archery times or take them to the pool. :)

And maybe my mom will get to come home sometime within the next year!

...and all hell breaks loose

2006-09-06T21:22:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was quite a day. I was at school when my principal came to get me during first block. He told me my mom had called and that she thought she had broken her leg. Well I went home, and sure enough, there was my mom lying in the kitchen, waiting for the ambulance. Our neighbors were over taking care of her until it got there.

Turns out Mom was riding our new horse yesterday and it got going a little bit and slipped on the blacktop, coming down and trapping my mom's leg underneath. She had pulled herself onto the golf cart, driven it up to the house with her left leg, since her right was broken, and pulled herself into the house to her phone (because she never carries her cell phone and she was riding alone). The EMTs came and cut off her boot (a sad thing really) and put her in a splint to take her to the hospital.

I rode in the ambulance with my mom (that was the fun part) to Finley, where we waited for LONG periods of time in between doctors, nurses, etc. coming in at various times. Dad was there, and we were all just waiting to hear what the damage was.

Turns out she broke her leg in 3 places on the one bone and one on another (the one with 3 is the one you walk on, the one that was only broke once was unimportant apparently. I never knew there was a bone in your leg that isn't used, but the surgeon assured us that there was.)

So now she has a huge plaster cast up above her knee. She stayed in the hospital last night and was supposed to come home today, but they're keeping her another night.

In other words, I'm trying to keep everything together at home and it isn't working out so well. Dad and I were arguing, I've been trying to keep the kids in line (which is pretty much impossible since they have no respect whatsoever for me.), and no home cooked meals for a while! Dinner tonight was made by me and consisted of pizza and macaroni & cheese. Gourmet!

You never realize how much your mom does until you have to do it yourself.

To Hear a Pin Drop

2006-09-05T22:48:00.000-05:00

I was thinking today about how it would be very interesting to me to be a part of a bowling team. What a disregarded sport. Plenty of people play it, and yet it is one of the most ignored of sports.

For instance... when someone says "name the first 10 sports that you think of," most people will not name bowling. How odd.

I want to join a bowling team. I think it would be a fun experience. Plus I have always enjoyed bowling and I would love to get better at it.

I just think that would be a fun extracurricular. A unique one.

Now I want to go bowling.

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to

2006-09-04T22:34:00.000-05:00

Labor Day weekend. A nice little 3-day break from school. A time for parties and having fun with your friends.

To me, it's also known as birthday weekend. Since I was born on Labor Day 17 years ago, my birthday is most often on the nice long weekend. Convenient! Let me tell you about my Labor Day/birthday weekend.

As far as weekends go, this one was great. I was never at a loss for things to do; people to be around. I honestly can't complain about the weekend. My only issue was the actual birthday. But I'll get around to that later.
So back to the awesome weekend. I went to Deener's house Friday night and it was a blast. We had a few drinks and danced to "Sexy Back" and "Ridin' Dirty" all night. Basically, on repeat over and over. Just those two songs and we were amused. Played Moose. Watched "The Lion King 2"... or at least what we stayed awake for.

The next day we laid around her house for a while, went to her Grandma's house for lunch, came back to lay around a little more. After Deener went to church she took me in to Dubuque to meet my parents and my aunt, uncle, and cousin at Red Robin for dinner. Which was very good, by the way. I saw a counselor from camp there, and a friend who lives in Dubuque also. We headed back home after dinner, and lounged around my house for a while. Sarah, my cousin, and I left after everyone was asleep and went to my friend Ethan's house for about an hour and a half. It was fun but cold outside!

Sunday my other aunt and my grandparents came over and we had birthdays (my sisters is 4 days after mine) with that side of the family. It was nice, I got some money, an iTunes gift card & a best buy gift card (yesss- a $50 one!). And cake, can' t forget cake. Tell you the truth I was kind of just hoping they'd get out of there in time for me to go to the barbeque at babbit's house. haha. Which I did get to do, and I was very happy about that. I got to go around my car, since I couldn't go around the lodge, and that was pretty funny.

Today was my birthday. It was fine, I can't say it was bad. But this is where I get to complain a little. (just a little). My parents insisted on having family friends over today. Which is code for: my parents' friends. And while I get along with said friends, they weren't exactly the people I had planned on spending my birthday with. It was nice though, I got a lot more gift cards...haha. When my brother Adam and his fiance Krystal came with their baby and Krystal's sister, that was a little better. I got to play with the baby and talk to them. We opened presents, and I turned out a nice supply of gift cards and some more money. We had another cake. Leah came over for a little bit and left, then Christina came over for a while. Funny because I got to see her every day of this weekend. It was fun.

So all in all it was a fun-filled weekend. Not a moment of time to myself... which is sometimes all right.

Happy birthday to me.

Big Weekend

2006-09-01T16:44:00.000-05:00

So it's my birthday weekend! And my birthday also happens to be a national holiday so it is a 3 day weekend! Even better!

Tonight I am going to All That Jazz to eat. Christina (Nala- for all you camp people) is meeting me there and we are going back to her house for the night to party it up! haha.
Then tomorrow around 5 she will bring me back to Dubuque where we will meet up with my parents and my Aunt, Uncle, and cousin from Milwaukee for dinner, after which they will come back to our house. Exciting, because my cousin, Sarah, and I never get to see each other and now she is staying overnight! We are planning on going out with my friends (my parents don't know this, so it's a covert operation, but we'll do all right.)
Sunday is the big b-day party day with the fam. My other aunt (and possibly any of her relations) will come and my brother, his fiance, and their baby (my niece) too! Yay! We will celebrate both my and my sister's birthdays since mine is Monday and hers is Friday.
On Monday (MY BIRTHDAY!), the family friends are coming. The Wolfes (our neighbors), Kelli & David (my parents best friends and awesomely fun people), and Christina (Nala...again) are coming over for sure. My friend Leah will be attending if she gets back in time from South Dakota. I'm not sure if anyone else will be joining us for this little extravaganza, but we will see!

Anyway, that's the big birthday weekend. I will no longer be the 16 year old Senior at school. Shucks.

So maybe I won't have much time to blog this weekend. I will try to write about it after it's over!

Doggone, it's my birthday!