Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Damn Good

So it's been a couple of days. A couple of semi-crazy, bodily difficult days but the main point that I'm going to make is that I finally, FINALLY, have a clean bill of health!

Namely, what was wrong is known and is now being fixed. Or, basically, fixed as it is.

Monday sucked big-time, preparing for a medical test that required literally cleaning out my system. And after the test, it was basically concluded that my large intestine is the same shape as a crazy straw. Got some over the counter meds and now I'm good to go.

And you can't imagine how completely and utterly happy that makes me. Everything since last September is done. Is over. I've got nothing like that to worry about again. Really the only thing I have to worry about is if my ankle decides to randomly go, but that's normal for me. And I like normal right now.

Once I stopped laughing almost hysterically that I was healthy I almost cried. And it's got to be a big relief for my family, too, not knowing what was really going on and hoping that everything was going to be okay. It is now.

And I feel damn good.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Routine

There's something to be said about getting back into your routine, that routine being coming home from weightlifting and turning on SportsCenter to see the highlights of the Yankees game the night before.

And then falling asleep on the floor of the living room at high noon and sleeping for an hour, not only with the dog but also with the cat.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Rewind

I'm well aware it's Wednesday and I haven't added one of these things in pretty much a week. My bad.

Saturday (four days ago) was the first day that I went back to work for the summer. It was a rather uneventful dinner cruise. Sunday was much better. Now, between this summer and last summer, there were a couple of really remarkable cruises - some good, some bad - and Sunday's was the best of the best. We had a big group on, about 100, and they were all a choir. No, this wasn't some old-ladies Church type thing - they were from parts of the UK, lived in Canada, and were doing a tour of sorts. They played in a town not far from mine the night before and were celebrating. And what a way to celebrate. Not only did they have kickin' accents because they were mostly from overseas, but they also drank. It was one of those nights for me where I had hit every table of mine for drinks before I made it downstairs to get the first round. The result was returning with basically half the bar and handing it out. Two of my tables, at the fact that my name is Molly, burst into rounds of "Molly Malone" which should have clued me in for the mayhem to come. Now, Sunday night dinner cruises have live entertainment (live singing) and, toward the end of the cruise, when the paid music took a break, the folks we had on deck, namely, the people in the seats paying for the cruise who were also in a choir, started singing. I heard one of the best versions of "Sloop John B." that I have ever heard in my life. They were SO GOOD! Not to mention, about 50+ in age and holding their beer remarkably well. Before we had even set sail, they had taken the napkins from the table and fashioned hats out of them. My six-top, before we'd even left, had taken the spoons off the table and started playing the spoons. Needless to say, it was the most fun I have had on that boat from a cruise ever. There's big shoes to be filled this summer if another "3 Hour Tour" is to take over first.

Monday was a day off, of sorts. I went to weightlifting at 6 in the morning and when I came back, crawled back into bed and snuggled in with the dog for a few hours. The cat being in the chair in my room, it was like I had a small zoo in my room. And there's still on the piles of stuff from college - clothes and such - that I haven't had any desire to deal with and therefore haven't. Monday was very uneventful. We did laundry.

Tuesday I slid back into a sort of routine. When I came home from weightlifting, I didn't go back to bed. I stayed up, made myself some breakfast, and watched SportsCenter. Yeah, I watch SportsCenter. Used to when I was in high school, before I went to school. Before that, I watched CNN. And then basically just killed time before I had to be anywhere, thinking that before I went to work I would go down to the parts store and get a heater knob for my car. My car is missing its heater knob. No idea where the hell it went, but it's not in the car and because I don't have a knob, I have neither heat nor defog in the vehicle. Not that I really had heat before but the defog is kind of important and I do kind of need that. Well, I left my lights on trying to get someone to turn in front of me because otherwise they were going to hit me in the rear end if I turned first and then turned into my driveway, and it drained the battery. I opened the door and didn't even get a dome light. So, my dad had to come home, jump the car, and then I went for the part. They didn't have one, but sent me somewhere else. Of course, I have twenty minutes before I have to be to work. I'm almost stopped at a stop light, I'm the first car there, and my phone rings. Damn good thing I looked up because there was a State Trooper in the other lane on the other side of the intersection practically staring me down. He was a couple cars behind the first one, but he was giving me the stink-eye. It was great.

Work that night wasn't bad. Except that we had on a bunch of college kids on their Senior Week and I had a tab sheet (drinks) that I couldn't find at the end of the cruise. They took it. And then proceeded to argue with me over the price I had charged them for drinks. So, I had to drop the overall total by $6 to please them (after talking with my boss who then talked to me about the fact that it wasn't so much that the tab was out, but that you thought it was in and paid) and the night just really didn't end the way I thought it was going to. Other than that, it was a great cruise. Walked away with $42 in tips so it wasn't all bad.

And now it's Wednesday. And my entire body is pretty much sore. See, lifting yesterday, it seemed like a good idea at the time to use a 25 pound weight and do declined crunches. Today, not so much. But sore is apparently good and I do feel stronger. Tomorrow I'll test my max's on my squat and my bench. This is almost hysterical - My benchpress maximum is 85 pounds, bar included. For my fitness test in August, I have to benchpress 140 pounds. My squat didn't really change much. 165 isn't that far away from my body weight, which I did last year, so I should be good to go.

I've already decided I'm going to resemble either a football player or Ahnold by the end of the summer. I'm strangely comfortable with that.

And considering that I have some errands to run after I vacuum the stairs, it would be wise for me to get off my ass and be productive. But I am definitely stopping at Dunkin' later. Most definitely.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Hallelujah!

Just kind of realized that most of my posts have exclamation points at the end of them. That is unintentional, really.

Anyway.

My first year of college is done! Not only did I not flunk out completely, but I managed to keep my GPA over 3.0 (barely, second semester) but it's still over 3.0. Which, considering how badly I did on some Chemistry tests, I'm quite amazed. It could have been better, yes, and I was a hair's breath away from making Dean's list second semester (if you didn't count said Chemistry grade) but that's okay because I know what I did wrong and I'm fully prepared to not only do better, but keep on doing better. Part of it, a big part, was time management and my lack thereof. It's actually better to be in season during the year because that MAKES you have time management or everything sort of slips sideways and before you know it you're upside down and semi-drowning. Hindsight's 20/20. Live and learn.

So, I've been sitting home for a few days. Well, okay, I haven't exactly been completely sitting on my ass. Wednesday I got up and went with my mother down to my dad's work to get the truck so I could have a vehicle, my own car not running (and I just realized that yesterday was Wednesday - not getting up and going to class screws with my sense of time) and at the shop for a number of reasons. So, then it was coming back and sleeping until about 11:45 and then actually getting up for the day. Since I had to go to town and see my boss, I decided to swing by my old high school. I was feeling...I don't know what I was feeling but it was kind of fun. Awkward and a little weird, but fun. I'm not one of those, I have to go back because I didn't want to leave people, but it was good to see some good friends and some teachers. And that's about it. Most likely that's the only visit that I'll make before school gets out for the summer. Then it was a quick trip to see my boss who already has me on the schedule for both Saturday and Sunday. Three cruises in two days. =] I'm happy to go back to work. I'm a waitress, plain and simple, and I really enjoy what I do because, believe it or not, I'm a people person and I enjoy working with tourists. And when you live in a tourist town, that's who you make your living from. It helps to be local. But, it's a little annoying when someone asks you, "Where's the waterfall?" and you automatically say, "Which one?"

Not to mention when the boat goes cross-ways across the lake on a choppy day and you almost spill a full drink tray on the first unlucky table at the top of the stairs on the upper deck.

Which reminds me that my one and only true heart attack moment last summer was almost dumping a tray of strawberry bulinis on some Asian tourists camera case as it sat in a chair at the back of the boat. Disposable plastic champagne glasses are NOT that sturdy, despite what the packaging may say.

So, now that I'm home and I have a phenomenal amount of time on my hands, my creative ability has taken off with my focus. Focus forgot his helmet and the creative ability is along for the ride as they hide among the piles of stuff I brought back from college. I'm not really worried; they'll come out eventually but I really would like to get the last few pages of the typed Part VII written. I've only got seven pages left of it, before I start Part VIII. Not to mention I need to seriously put some time and effort into looking for publishers this summer, maybe an agent or two. The only downside is that if an agent takes it and runs, I have to come up with the cash to pay for it. Agents are expensive. Which is why I generally look toward trying to win over an editor but the manuscript mostly ends up in the slush pile, never to be heard from again. And my beginning isn't that strong, either. But, as previously mentioned, my focus and my creative ability ran off for the moment.

And that's about it for me, for now. I get to get my car in about 45 minutes, with dad. Yay for the return of Fred!! Now, he just needs to run all summer so he can come with me.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Last Night

No, I'm not talking about yesterday night, I'm talking that this is my last night in my dorm room for my first year of college. Seriously. It's nuts. When I think about it, I can remember moving in and getting unpacked, how big and empty it looked. I remember my first night alone, too. The first couple nights, at least in our soccer program, there's an upperclass player who stays with you. They stay with you at least two nights, and up to a week. I remember my first night - it was a little creepy. It was just me.

Then August 31 came and suddenly someone was moving into the other half of my room. With turtles. And multicolored bad-looking hair. Okay, let's face it, I had just come from practice in the drizzling rain and probably didn't look like a model either, but still. So that was another thing to adjust to.

And then there's that little tidbit of information that the colleges ask you about when you register for housing and all that good stuff, and that's when you go to sleep. I follow what I wrote. I like between 6 1/2 - 8 hours of sleep a night. And I get up and eat breakfast in the morning. The person I was now living with didn't share the same sentiments. Add that to the fact that we have nothing in common (except that we live in the same room) and it's a great, great day.

But somehow it was all okay because I'm on the other side, looking back.

My calculus final, the one I took today, yes, well...that will be interesting. I couldn't remember half the stuff that I was supposed to, but I'm pretty sure it'll turn out okay. Especially since about 45 minutes into the exam, as I'm staring at a problem, this image-memory-thing pops into my head from the movie The Boondock Saints. It's the part at the beginning, with Greenly in the alley talking about how the guys were walking down the alley, "Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ra" (Or something to that effect) and I just started quietly cracking up (which apparently looked like I was crying/on my way to a breakdown of monumental proportions) right in the middle of my exam. And then periodically throughout the rest of the test I would think of that scene and start laughing all over again. Not a bad way to pass 2 hours.

Because my one friend has an exam tonight, and because we're all pretty much done (Me and my other friend are completely done) with school this year, we reenacted the tradition of Friday Night Friendly's (minus, in this case, the Friday part). Which was really fun and provided some much needed laughs and relaxation. :) Not to mention ice cream. Mine had Oreos on it, though, considering how many Oreos I've eaten in the past four days, it's a wonder I haven't turned into one myself.

But I am really ready to go home. Just not enough to pack up and leave after my exam today. That would have been rushing it. I want time to get things together, decompress, and make sure that I'm not forgetting anything.

I'm really ready to be done living with someone.

And now I need to go pack the rest of my crap.

Movin' On Out

Well, cheap paint and sticky tack don't mix too well....

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Organic Dreams and Other Ramblings

So, I'm going to take a bit of a flying leap and say that I would agree with my chemistry professor/adviser and that I do, in fact, have a Chemist's brain. Why else would I be attempting to nap with thoughts of synthesis questions floating through my brain and trying to remember the exact use for m-CPBA and what it does to certain alkenes and alkynes. Which kind of told my brain that maybe making flash cards with the reagents on it would be a little useful, especially when I tackle some practice problems in a little while, before and after dinner. My exam is at 7. That gives me some time to chill, relax my brain, wake up a bit, and go over some practice problems.

The weather is a little weird out there right now. There's a really strong west wide that blows pretty frequently which makes me think, with my room next semester being in the western corner on the fourth floor of the building, that it will be almost like living at my old house and having the wind attempt to blow my window in during the night. I'm honestly wondering if I'll heard it, which, I'm hoping I will. It'll remind me of home. Which can be both a good thing and a bad thing.

I'm not entirely sure what's falling from the sky at the moment but it appears to be insanely fat raindrops. I think. But they must be light because every time the wind blows they go slanted. Gotta love upstate weather.

And of course the sun is still trying to shine.

Really glad I bought a box of Cherry Pop-Tarts when I went to Wegman's today. I had to get my mother a Mother's Day card because she's coming up tomorrow to take a load of stuff back (mostly the big stuff - bike, mini-fridge, possibly the TV and printer, a full suitcase) and I needed a card. I stood there in the card aisle, a smart-ass card for my sister tucked under my arm along with another necessity (which explains my absolutely horrendous cravings for chocolate) and had to wait for two tweens to figure out which card they wanted while they chattered incessantly with each other and pulled out better cell phones than mine to text whoever they needed to text at 11:30 in the morning. So, I got my mother a card.

I'm now debating with myself whether I want to do some studying or something while picking up a little because, frankly, my half of this room looks like an absolute friggin' train wreck. I've got shoes, papers, clothes and books everywhere and you have to step strategic places to get the window and the alarm clock. And I need to water my plant. Henry's been a little neglected these past couple of crazy days. My desk doesn't look much better, really, which reminds me that I need to make sure that Emily has the movies from our movie nights that belong to her before either one of us jets outta this place in the next few days. Which reminds me that I need to email my RA and get a time set up to check out of this happy room. And I need to see if I can pin my roommate down long enough to get a time out of her when she's going home so that I can actually open the door all the way since the turtles would be gone.

And looking at copies of the Martini on the floor remind me that I need to send all the issues I have home with my mother because she likes to read them, too. Her kid even has an article in there this time. It was fun. It gives you a sense of purpose, writing for someone else, for a paper and that everyone on campus who picks it up can read what you wrote. It's both thrilling and absolutely terrifying. I'm on page 4. Only one of my friends thought it was lame and that my procrastination list should have been better. My other friends thought it was legit and solid. Funny, too. And since it's cruel not to share, I'll share. It's right next to my buddy Stephen's article about slightly depressing summer reading books that he's recommending. He's not depressed; he just enjoys reading books that are. He and Sylvia Plath would get along like a house afire. (I used that phrase in my book and have been looking for places to use it since.)

10 Ways to Procrastinate Studying for Finals

Need a break? Need something fun to do? Look no further than this list of ten fun (possibly illegal) things to do to procrastinate for finals. (Note: Facebook will not appear on this list because it's used to procrastinate 365 days a year. I should know, I used it last night.)

10) Play a game of Manhunt in the cemetery. (Manhunt = jailbreak for college students, not running from Campus Security for disturbing the peace)
9) Go skinny dipping in the Lake.
8) Saga sit for a minimum of 4 hours.
7) Making interesting copies of various body parts after hours in the library on stolen print credits.
6) Pitch a tent on the quad in a run-through of your room for next semester. (Applicable with students with housing numbers higher than 463)
5) Become a member of HSG or WSC. No experience or desire to participate required.
4) Take one of B & G's golf carts-on-steroids for a joyride.
3) Ride the trolley for a minimum of 2 hours.
2) Marathon watch all three Lord of the Rings movies.
1) Do your own version of an iPod commercial in the library and convince others to join as well.

Happy finals!

And I heard through the grapevine that a group of kids actually did get together and play manhunt. So the list wasn't a complete waste of time, energy, and space after all. Well, must microwave a Pop-Tart and be semi productive.

Enlighten Me! II

That SOB is done! Done I say!

10:45 am - Final Word Count: 2,590. Job well done, I would say. Not I gotta go turn it in. After I print it and hope I don't run outta freakin' print credits. I think I've spent a small fortune this semester, whereas I didn't use very many last semester, except when I burnt them all and made the programs for "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown."

Really hungry....

Organic Chemistry next. Bring it on.

Enlighten Me!

(I looked in edit posts and found the original and combined it with the other ones. =] Enjoy all the madness now)

Well shit.

I just found the email that has the essay prompts for my history class and, instead of the paper being 2,000-2,500 words, it's 2,500-3,000. Which explains the well shit featured above. And it's due in 15 hours and 10 minutes. It's awesome. And it's about the Public Sphere in the Enlightenment.

I need some more coffee. I've got a 20 ounce cup of whatever our cafe has, but I need some good old Dunkin. Seriously. Or Starbucks. I need high-test. But this will have to do for now. I look pretty bad ass right now, too. Holed up in the lounge outside my room, bandanna on, glasses, and computer hooked up and ready to go.

And you're going to be right here with me, because the later it gets, the more tired I get, and the more caffeine I have, the more random and stupid I'm going to become. Welcome to first year second semester college finals. Aren't you glad you can live vicariously through me?

Got my introduction and a rockin' thesis statement. Now I just gotta back it up. Here we go. And I broke open the chocolate bar. Almost finished with my first cup of coffee. The tea will be next.

9:15 pm - I am almost officially cracked out on caffeine and chocolate. And can safely say I've eaten nearly 1/4 of my body weight in Oreos today alone. I had them for breakfast this morning.

9:30 pm - Paper has reached 2 pages. My coffee has run out.

9:42 pm - The first cup of tea of the event has been made. Still on page two.

9:44 pm - My right scar hurts. Possibly from my caffeine intake.

10:03 pm - Coming down a little bit from the caffeine high. Still going strong. Opened the window a little bit for more fresh, cold air.

10:11 pm - Word Count Check: 454

10:39 pm - Random people invade the common room and take photos of Emily while she sleeps on the couch. Which wakes her up. Almost ready for my second cup of tea. And listening to music from my HS band concert.

10:50 pm - Page three has been obtained. Word Count Check: 597

11:34 pm - 3rd cup of tea, 2nd tea bag. Word Count Check: 759 and Em's camera has made an appearance in the common room, along with a couple interesting photos. Still not yet fully caffeinated.

11:50 pm - Head to Saga with a group of people (mostly friends of my roommate) for midnight breakfast and dancing.

12:58 am - On my 5th cup of tea, back in the lounge, and working again. Word Count Check: 811 and Jack Gray's got nothin' on me.

1:27 am - Word Count Check: 1,000! Halfway there!! And still groovin'!

2:07 am - The wall is nearing and I'm getting closer and closer to whacking into it. I've started drinking water now, to hopefully combat some of the caffeine in my system. Completely forgot that tea is a diuretic.

2:11 am - I think I've eaten 1/4 of my bodyweight in Oreos today. And I'm strangely comfortable with that. Really.

2:21 am - A little under 1,000 words to go. I'm counting it down. And the wall is fast approaching. I should mention, for the benefit of my sister, about what happened to my focus. He was with me (still is) but he thought, when we took a little break way back when, that he needed to play outside. Well, he didn't use the stairs. Instead, because he had his helmet, he went out the second story window. Dumbass. So he kind of broke his helmet, and toddled back inside, sat down, and wanted attention. I thank him for my rockin' thesis statement. He really got me to focus.

3:52 am - 2,000 words! Where the hell am I going to come up with the next 500 to fill out the rest of this? It's literally going to be fluff and bullshit. Absolutely no way around that. Seriously. I think I'm going to write my conclusion, see where that leaves me, and call it a night. I'm just..it's four in the freaking morning!!

4:09 am - 2,456 words. I'm done with this right now. I'm amazed I'm still processing anything through my brain.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Really?

Okay. Maybe it was because I had two weeks here by myself, but I mastered the use of my dorm keys back in August. I learned that if you turn the key up, it locks the door, and if you turn it down until you hear a click, it unlocks it. And, over the course of the semesters, for easier access on my part, the door remains unlocked when I'm in the room. There's a little press button on the inside that you can lock it with, so that's what we pretty much do at night.

Well, last night I went to bed before my roommate (though I was hella curious about what both the village PD and Campus Security were doing right below my window) and I used the push button to lock the door. She still has issues with her keys.

8:45 this morning, no glasses or contacts, retainers in for God's sake, and on my way back from the bathroom, I realize after trying the door that I'm locked out of my room and my roommate is nowhere to be seen.

Really? During finals?

And when she came back and I told her I had to call security, she doesn't ask me WHY she just asks "Did they see the turtles?" It's like, yeah, thanks. Since I've been the one to get up earlier this semester, it's pretty standard in my operating procedure to wander to the bathroom and come back to an unlocked door. I'm not her, I don't tote my keys everywhere inside the building (unless it's a Friday or Saturday or something because you never know what some drunken kid is going to do) and sure as hell don't SLEEP in my keys.

I'm not so much ticked off as annoyed. Not my fault she slept in the art building last night. Time management is key. Though mine's been pretty much shit this semester, my grades are still good and I still get my stuff done. Then again there's a big difference in how we both got here.

However, experimental data suggests that Oreos are the Wheaties - The Breakfast of Champions. My focus and I have work to do.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Ah Just Don't Get It

Women are supposed to be the great mystery, aren't we? But do you know what I don't get? I don't get men. I really don't. Maybe it's a mutual mystery. Maybe we're not supposed to get each other. But if someone's giving you one word answers, won't you assume that they don't want to speak with you? So you say you'll talk to them later because you think they have things to do, and they say a short, not-so-sweet goodbye and sign off. And leave you completely friggin' confused.

Welcome to my world.

Motion Lights II

What kind of moron leaves motion lights in a dorm room!? Really!? If I tip my computer off my board trying to turn them back on - again - I am going to be seriously pissed.

And my roommate just came back. Complete with her skull that she made in sculpting class (which took me three times to spell) and a wire frame of it, which, she says happily in my direction, "It can look at you while you sleep." That doesn't even mildly creep me out anymore. The turtles successfully did that the first week of the first semester.

When she mentioned looking at you when you sleep, it reminded me of when my niece was younger and she'd come over for breakfast on the weekends (she still does) and she'd thump down the hall to my room, push open the door, and come around the side of the bed, stand there, and just stare at me until I opened my eyes and looked at her. She'd usually have a piece of Duplo train in her hands or something, and she'd slap it on the pillow next to me, usually hit me in the head in the process, smile and giggle, and then run back out of the room. Other times she'd poke me. Reminds me of how much I miss that little girl that I love so much.

Backward

Today, in all honesty, didn't start out great but ended fairly decently.

This morning was rough. Ever since my focus (think the orange fuzzy thing in the Weight Watchers commercials) decided to come out from under my bed, I've been pleasantly productive. Well, this morning I almost puked on him. It was not fun. Instead of getting up and around at 8:15 like I had planned and originally set my alarm for, I was so nauseated that I immediately crawled back into bed and went back to sleep. I was finally up and able to function at 10:15 instead, when I literally said out loud to myself, "You can't sleep anymore, get your ass out of bed." It was a bit of a struggle to coax my focus from under the bed again, seeing how he wasn't sure of my uneasy stomach, but he finally made an appearance around noon and I was able to get my history paper rewritten well before 2:30. The only bad thing about it was that I kind of, sort of...forgot to eat. A quick stop at the pub on the way to my only class of the day at 3:05 saw a Starbucks iced mocha and a package of Pop-Tarts. Not entirely healthy and probably not substantial enough, but it worked.

It was as I was sitting down in class that I realized I would be going through the history department backward. History 301 the Enlightenment this semester, and next semester History 203, Stuart-Tudor Britain, taught by the same professor. Most people go the other way, starting with the 100's and moving up. I'm going backward. Further contemplation led me to the same conclusion in the English department. I just took English 309, Craft of Fiction. Where do I go from there? I'll have to think about that, especially since I either want to double major or minor in either English or Writing and Rhetoric. I love writing. If massive blog posts aren't enough of an indication for you, you should check out the fact that I've been writing a novel for five years. And many poems and essays and short stuff with no point...

For those who are curious, my focus re-emerged from under the bed and is currently chilling next to my potted plant, thoroughly amused by the helmet he's wearing. As long as he stays where I can see him, we'll be good to go. Hell, we just might make it through finals at this point.

And if it hadn't been clear before, I'm no longer taking Ancient Greek. I traded it for that history class. And I got the last seat, too. Sometimes I'm that lucky. Other times I trip over flat surfaces.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Really Really

So, I'm kind of taking a break at the moment from working on my history papers and the other stuff and just generally trying to figure out a plan to compliment the one kicking around in my head of how to get through this week. Following the advice of my Chemistry professor, who is also my advisor, I'm not going to do what I normally do and compartmentalize and go through things one at a time and feel a sense of accomplishment that way, but space things out and intermix them. Instead of doing Chemistry for four hours at a pop, do it for only about an hour or two and then go do something else. That way my brain can rest, and I can feel not quite so wiped out and mentally useless. Another thought that occurred to me is that stuff that I don't need my computer for, I'll migrate out into the lounge and work out there at the tables. I used to do that last semester during soccer season. I'd sit out there with my chemistry homework, and do it out there, away from my wonderful Gateway and the internet. Not to mention it'll be a little easier to refill my mug with water and be closer to the microwave.

There is the distinct possibility that I will drink my way through my entire new package of Twining's English Breakfast tea before next Tuesday when I pack up and go home for good. For the summer, I mean.

So while I write this at the moment I am enjoying a cup of tea, eating a French roll with Nutella, and listening to a mix of music videos on Yahoo that I've labeled "Focus." There's only 11 videos in the mix. They are:

"Just Dance" - Lady Gaga (Now I know what Jack Gray on CNN, who I follow on Twitter, is talking about)

"Paper Planes" - M.I.A.

"Single Ladies" - Beyonce

"So What" - Pink

"Party Up" - DMX

"Gives You Hell" - All American Rejects (The lead singer reminds me of the guy who plays Spencer Reid on CBS's "Criminal Minds" and looks like him, too.)

"Low" - Flo Rida

"Lookin' For A Good Time" - Lady Antebellum

"Let It Rock" - Kevin Rudolf

"I'm Yours" - Jason Mraz

"Sideways" - Dierks Bentley

And it's done wonders for coaxing my focus out from under my bed. He'd been hiding behind my fridge, near some Amazon boxes. He's come out now and is sitting near my potted plant, wide-eyed and curious. Sittin' and chillin'. It's a beautiful thing.

So, recap of my weekend, starting Friday. Friday was a couple games of Capture the Flag on the quad. We started at 8 in the evening, hence, the appearance of glow sticks to wrap around wrists and denote teams. It was quite interesting as almost half my FSEM class was inadvertently there. And, the one guy being a cross country runner for the colleges, yeah, he can run. Really, really fast. And he says he's not entirely in shape. Anyway, it was all fun and games until I see my best friend on the ground, kind of holding her head. She got a concussion back in October and it's still bothering her (she whacked her head pretty good on the tile in the bathroom of our dorm - not only do we live next door to each other we cemented our friendship over trips to the ER our first semester) and I had seen her slip but since she'd gotten back up and kept running, figured she was okay. Yeah, well, twenty minutes later she was strapped to a backboard and we were on our way to the ER, yet again. We left there at 12:15 Saturday morning. It was one our quicker visits. And thankfully there was nothing wrong with her head. Possible mild concussion, but nothing seriously wrong.

So Saturday was spent kind of chill. I worked on one of my history paper rewrites until I had to get around leave for soccer alumnae stuff at a local winery. That was very interesting. Dinner was good, dessert sucked, and the event divolved into a dance party toward the end with an after party at an off-campus house rented by a mutual friend of most of the soccer girls. The alums came too, which was even better. I stayed sober because I felt like it and started back to my dorm around 11:30 or so. And met up with the trolley down the street. And stayed on for an entire circuit. Needless to say I went to bed at 1. Got back up the next morning at 8:10 because we had the alumnae soccer tournament at 9:30. It was quite interesting. Personally, I was dead after the second game. We played a total of four games, all about half an hour long. Dinner later that night, a chemistry problem session, and much writing on my English story later, I crashed at 1 again.

And so excited that I no longer have to take math!

Which brings me to an interesting point. Got an email in my inbox this afternoon saying that the school was offering American Sign Language as an actual course. Well, I need two semesters of language for my teaching certification requirements and would positively love to do sign language. The only issue is that I can't fit it in my schedule because of where my science labs are. I got all excited and sent emails to my mom and sister telling them, then had to send a "I take that back" email. Which probably burst their bubble, too. Looks like the Ancient Greek will be staying in my fall schedule. Least I've got Scuba diving.

My roommate just popped in and then out. She's running for judicial board on our college congress. I didn't vote the first time around and I have no intentions of voting this time. Just not on my To-Do list. Not enough room.

I think my history professor is on Twitter, but I can't seem to find him. That would be really interesting except that I think he would send me messages like, "Do the reading!" or "Write your paper!" My sister already gives me nudges like that, I think that's what she's there for.....

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Motion Lights

Whoever decided to leave the motion lights in a study converted to a dorm room needed to have their head examined.

One thing about this room I'm going to miss next year is the carpet.....

GAR!!!!

So, I'm going to flat-out say at this point in my life, I'm a little high strung. And some of the people that are supposed to be helping me to keep level are doing a piss-poor job. In fact, some of them are adding to the complications. Really. Including the wonderful conversation of "Molls, you're a chemistry major and failing chemistry." Which, I am going to say right here and now, that I am NOT failing chemistry. Nowhere near it actually. We can't all be freaking geniuses there, buddy. Some of us actually spend time outside of our room on the weekends, accomplishing other things in life and generally being sociable. We don't wolf down food and then run back to the room to hit the books again - breaks, generally ones longer than five minutes, are a good thing. I understand there's certain criteria that you need to meet and keep, that you have a GPA you have to hold, but there are plenty of people with the same thing, even some with a little more than you have to do (teaching certificate people take an extra course or two without the credit because of what they do, including student teaching in the area schools) so you are not in the boat alone, my friend. Get out a little bit. Smell the roses. Enjoy life. Don't look back later and say, man, wish I'd had a little more time to have fun and not be quite the workaholic hermit. I mean, I'm a little worried I'm going to turn into a hermit living on my own next semester, but I realize that I have friends who are going to drag me out of the room to get fresh air, sunshine, and gee, play soccer. I brought my softball glove back with me from spring break, thinking we were going to throw a little bit. We didn't. Ever. It gets annoying. Really annoying, because then it's like I'm the epic fail for having a life outside of the work, for going out on the weekends and exploring and experimenting (to a degree). And you know what, my grades aren't anything to sneeze at, either. And realize, please, that it gets annoying that you can do no wrong, that everything you do is perfect and the maximum grade must be achieved or else all is lost. Live a little. Be a little more flexible. You're only this age for so long, then it's gone and you can't get it back. Hell, you didn't even come to Relay for Life with us. And that's one of the best things that you can do.

But hey, I guess it's none of my business what you do. You're the one aiming to get into medical school. I'm just the one who's going to maybe work for the FBI, be a MythBuster, get a novel published, and possibly end up a high school chemistry teacher. Doesn't compare, does it?

Friday, May 1, 2009

Finally Friday

Okay so I'll admit I was a little lax yesterday about keeping up to date on this damn thing. (It's actually appearing in my "10 Ways to Procrastinate for Finals" article that I'm writing in the opinionated school paper (Heather, I believe you know which one I'm talking about) Anyway, what I should have done was on Thursday morning at about 1:45 when I got back in the dorm I should have done a post. Namely because I had just finished playing a game of Manhunt (jailbreak for college students) in the cemetery behind the art buildings. Holy crap, it was positively AWESOME!! Not only were 20 college students running around the cemetery in the dark, we weren't exactly quiet about it, either. I was completely amazed that neither Campus Security or the local police showed up and told us to either move on or arrest us. That would have been freaking priceless seeing how there was this one incident last semester with some of my friends in Seneca Falls where I jaywalked in front of not only a local cop car but also a State Police car, as well. (Upon further inspection the vehicles were not only running, but empty of drivers.)

So, like I said, there were about 20 of us in the cemetery. It must be said that I am an excellent hider once you get past the fact that you almost busted your ankles multiple times not only on headstones but the cemetery isn't exactly flat, either. Not even kidding, I hunkered down behind a huge headstone, curled in a ball, and tried not to breathe. It was quite funny as someone went tearing down the path 10 feet in front of me and didn't see me. But then I was given a time limit to try a jailbreak and ended up running like a pansy for fear of snapping my bad ankle when the other team saw me. Damn flashlights. Otherwise I would have just sat there for as long as it took for somebody to find me.

Needless to say my roommate was not conscious when I returned to the room. Though when I walked in and ran into a wall of freaking HEAT, there were some issues. Really, I know that upstate weather can be a little cool this time of year, but it's not the middle of January anymore. You don't need to crank the freaking heat in the room back to 5 because you don't want to actually use a blanket. And, WTF anyway? You use a blanket thicker than mine and I grew up in the country. City kids. I'll tell ya....

I'm trying to get out of my habit of getting sick of dealing with people at the end of the year. It's been a habit all through middle and high school. I just get tired of dealing with people. In this case, I'm tired of living with this person. Just..I'm just tired of it. One of the reasons that I didn't really care where I ended up living next year so long as I had a single. I miss my morning routines where I have to be semi-quiet (last year I was the first one up in the house, except for my dad who goes to work obscenely early, sometimes as I'm just going to bed) but this is just nuts sometimes. And I'm not the one who had a damn velcro messenger back for the first semester. And no desk light. (Thanked God when she brought that back; I could fall asleep with the lights off for a change) I'm trying not to count the days until I'm heading home but it's hard. It's really hard. I miss my little one. And the dog. And the damn cat that gets you up at 5 in the morning to drink out of the bathtub. And I miss my sister and the rest of my family. I'm only an hour away, but sometimes it seems so much longer.

Speaking of summer....can't wait for it to get here but there are going to be some serious things happening. Namely, I need to get my ass in shape for next season. We ran the VO2 yesterday, and while I didn't make any of my laps, I was consistently in the same place when the 4 minutes were up. Victory for me, but there is a lot of room to improve. I also need to get serious about the weightlifting aspect of it and I need to get stronger so I can rock out as a goalkeeper. Varsity may not be an option for me at the moment, but my goal (and this is feasible and reasonable) is to be the starting JV keeper. If my fitness improves to the point where it should be, too, there could be a chance that I could train on the field as well. My goal is have more playing time, which requires more effort in the off season and harder training.

And I'm trying not to think that my academic load is going to kick my ass next semester. My schedule as it stands is probably a little psychotic.

Monday: Organic Chemistry II 9:05-10:00, Physics I 10:10-11:05, Beginning Ancient Greek 11:15-12:10

Tuesday: Teaching Seminar 7:30-8:30, Acting I 11:55-1:20, Organic II Laboratory 1:30-5:00

Wednesday: Organic Chemistry II 9:05-10:00, Physics I 10:10-11:05, Beginning Ancient Greek 11:15-12:10, Physics I Laboratory 1:30-5:00, Scuba Diving I 7:30-9:30 (Or something like that)

Thursday: Acting I 11:55-12:10

Friday: Same as Monday.

(Beginning Ancient Greek may be switched out for Beginning Italian - I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing in the respect yet.) And soccer. Case and point, I've got to have my crap together.

Also over the summer I'm going to be working at the same job I had last year; a waitress, and continuing work on my novel. This semester's Craft of Fiction class has given me a lot of feedback on aspects of it, and while I'll take those into consideration, I know pretty much where I'm going with it. And the "creative monkeys" will not be silenced. Not happening.

So, I think that's pretty much all I want to say. This is probably an insanely long post, I might have ranted in some places, but it's all good. I might have more to say after tonight's campus-wide capture the flag. =]
"The difference between life and the movies is that a script has to make sense, and life doesn't."

-Joseph L. Mankiewicz