47%

I just found out that I very much failed the economics test I took on Monday.

Snowflakesssssssss!!!!

It's snowing at home today. The windchill there right now is 1. One degree. Yeah. Absolutely freezing. I wanna be there!!!!!!!!!!! Instead, I'm here, where it's 48 (windchill is 43). We're supposed to get a "wintry mix" this evening, but I'm pretty sure that just means freezing rain.

Anyway, I'm pretty much done right now. Well, I've still got 2 classes that I have to go to (Spanish and economics), and I've got my Spanish final a week from tomorrow (sooooooo easy) and then a take-home final for econ. But then I'll be back home in about 9 days! So flippin' excited about that, yo.

Tonight Laura & I are going to the Candlelight Carol Service. I can't believe it's my senior year, and I've never been! She hasn't either, which is why we got tickets this year. I'm really excited about it! I've heard the choir's excellent.

Finally Finished!!

Alright, so I just finished my final for drawing (which is good, because it's due in about 11 hours). It looks kinda wonky pinned up like this, but I think I'm gonna leave it up on the wall until I go to class because maybe it'll help it keep its shape. Anyway, I'll write more about it later (especially the symbolism behind the squares) , but here's a picture for now:

Awwwwww

Today a baby fell asleep in my arms. It was pretty much the best feeling ever.

Pop Pop Bang Bang

Pretty sure I failed my economics test this afternoon, but Dr. Scott said something about letting me take it home & rework it for more points later. And that's how you pull out a mercy C.

I finished knitting all of the squares for my art project, and now I'm just sewing them all together. Then all I've gotta do is knit & sew together the border. I'd like to get it all done by tomorrow afternoon so I can spend tomorrow night finishing up my sketchbook. Then, at 2 o'clock Wednesday afternoon, I will officially be done with Freehand Drawing! And I'm done with Art History, but I'm still going to class because I like Dr. Miller and we've started learning about the Renaissance. I've got 2 days (plus an extra out-of-class meeting) of International Economics, then a take-home final. Four days left of Spanish, then the final. And then...the semester will fiiiiiiiinally be OVER! Yeah, I'm excited.

This morning I had a little time to kill before Spanish, so I took a few pictures. I really like the way this one turned out, and it's the one I'm having framed for my mom for Christmas:

She Bangs, She Bangs

So I got a new haircut. A thinned-out, slightly-layered bob + bangs. Inspired by one Ms. Britney Spears. Check it.

Family Portraits

Goodbye Home

So I'm going back to school tomorrow morning. It's been an eventful break. I got about $500 worth of new clothes, 5 Christmas ornaments, and some baking stuff. Today I made perfect cookies...peanut butter with Hershey Kisses on top! And I got my hair cut. I'm absolutely in love with it...it's a BIG change, and it's probably the only time ever that my hair has turned out exactly the way I wanted it. I'll take & post some pictures when I get back to school.

Thanksgiving was good...I had the biggest tummy ache ever when we were done, and I pretty much passed out in my grandparents' basement for a couple of hours.

Anyway, I'd better post this before the computer crashes & I lose the whole thing (like I did the other day).

Laura + Moby

And by last time I update, I meant that I'm going to update at least once more. Today Laura came over & I took pictures of her and her adooooooorable lab, Moby. Here are my 2 faves (the b&w is the one she's submitting for her senior picture in the yearbook):

Soooooooooo Close!!

Got a lot done yesterday. I've only been up for about 2 and a half hours, and I've already accomplished a bit (I read the chapter for tomorrow's Art History test). Now I'm just snacking on some popcorn to tide me over until we go out to dinner at 3-ish. And watching Food Network to kill time until Laura's ready to go do pictures.

I'm pretty much done packing, with the exception of all the stuff I'm going to need to use before I leave (toothbrush, shampoo. etc). Go me!

Okay, so I'm watching Barefoot Contessa, and Ina Garten is stuffing a couple of cornish hens. OH MY GOD...dead, featherless, decapitated birds are SO EFFIN' CREEPY!! She stood them up to shove the stuffing up their butts, and I swear to God they looked like they were gonna start walking across the countertop. Eww and gross.

Alright, this will probably be one of the last times I update for about a week. Tyler's computer is still on the fritz, so I will be internet-less while I'm at home. I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday!!

Work Schedule

I just got my work schedule, and...it's not bad at all!! I'm working 6-10 Tuesday morning and 7-11 Friday morning. My dad said they also needed someone from 10 am until 1 pm on Thursday, but I told him that I really couldn't do that because I'm going to my grandparents' house that afternoon for dinner. And even though we're probably not going to Grandma & Grandpa's until later in the afternoon, working 10-1 would mean my mom would have to leave the house while cooking to come pick me up...and I don't think that's such a good idea, ya know?

I feel really pretty today. Glow-y. The past few days, I've been blowdrying my hair and putting on makeup...it really makes a huge difference, I think.

Last night I cleaned my room (my side of it, anyway) and did almost all of my packing. Today I'm going to finish up my drawing midterm & email a photo of it to my professor (since I won't be in class on Monday). Tonight I'm making dinner for Laura & myself, then we're going to see the play. Look at me, being all productive & shit.

New Knitting Project!!

I just ordered yarn for a new project for myself. I'm going to knit a scarf with this yarn that I used for one of the squares in the blanket I'm knitting for my art project. It's GGH Esprit, a very soft & fuzzy nylon yarn. I'm doing skinny stripes of beige and teal. I haven't knitted a scarf in a really long time, and I think this will look nice with my peacoat. I'm having the yarn sent to my house, so if I get my art project done during the break, I can probably work on the scarf during the car ride back to school. Well anyway, I'll work on it eventually. Mostly I just don't feel like spending 8 years searching for the scarves I already have. And by that, I mean I don't feel like spending 30 seconds walking out to the garage because I actually know exactly where my scarves are. Uh...anyway, the yarn is really soft, and I want to wear it.

I'll post pictures when it's done, yo.

Post #93 (A Tale of Unhappiness)

I was really hoping (and expecting) next week to be a nice, relaxing break at home. But it's not looking so good right now. I'm working. I'm shopping. I'm seeing movies. I'm finishing my art project. I'm studying for my economics test. I'm visiting people. I'm taking pictures. I'm doing 8 million goddamn things when all I want to do is curl up in bed with my dog and take a really long nap.

I'm just coasting right now. Running on empty. I've got a constant headache (mostly thanks to a certain person who feels the need to add the word "bleque" to the end of every sentence). I'm extremely cranky. I don't feel like doing anything except sleeping, but when I finally get to go to bed at 2 in the morning, I can't seem to fall asleep. I just want to go home, but this week is dragging on foreverrrrrrrrrrr. And every time I think about it, all I can do is cry.

This has been the semester from hell. Not because my classes have been hard (other than International Economics, which has been a living nightmare)...it's just life. Life has been hard. I guess that's just the way things are...

edit:
Okay, I just made things a little bit better by sending myself a present. I bought the Lily Allen CD and the Care Bears Nutcracker DVD. Maybe an odd combination...maybe not. Anyway, it stopped the crying just a little bit.

Almost There

Four days. In about 97 hours, I'll be on the road, heading for home sweet home. Tomorrow I should find out my work schedule for next week. Man, if that wasn't the biggest mistake I've ever made! But at least it should only be a few hours each morning, and the store should be pretty busy, so the time will fly by. In theory, anyway.

There's a ton of stuff that I need to do this weekend. My to-do list:

• Clean my room. Especially my desk & my dresser. It's not that I don't want my mom to see my messiness...it's that I don't want to come back to it after the break.
• Finish my drawing midterm & send a picture of it to Professor Bailin. Otherwise, hello F. And that wouldn't be good.
• Work on my sketchbook for drawing.
• Get rid of those leftovers from our Thanksgiving dinner. I figure if nobody's eaten them by Sunday, I'm tossing them. I don't want to come back to rotting food.
• Make a list of everything I want/need to take home with me (MY SNEAKERS), and start packing or something.
• Study for my art history test.

Yeah, so that's quite a bit of stuff to get done in the next 3 days, but at least it'll keep me busy. Otherwise, I'm probably gonna go nuts waiting for my mom to get here.

:(

So close to being able to go home, but it still feels so far away. And I don't think I'm going to want to come back, but when do I ever? I love my friends (well, some of them), but I hate being here. And I don't think people really understand that. It's an effort to get out of bed and go to class everyday. Not because I'm depressed, just because it all seems so pointless.

In 15 minutes, I'm supposed to go to a review session for my econ test. It's raining, and I'm not feeling well, and I really don't want to go. Last time we had one of these things, it lasted about 2 and a half hours.

I hate my life right now...

It's Raining, It's Pouring

I think that when it's raining like it is right now, getting out of bed in the morning should be optional. Anyone out there thinking maybe that old man bumped his head on purpose??

A Few Pictures From Today

Cutest little girl ever, playing dress up:


















Our feast!!
















Laura's place card:








Me & my yummmmmmy pie:

Seasons Eatings

I'm really pumped about the big Thanksgiving dinner we're having Tuesday night. I plan to start cooking when I get out of class at 2:30. I hadn't realized how much food we're going to have until I wrote out a list of everything at work tonight...it's going to be a real feast! We're having:

• Turkey with gravy (It's a frozen turkey loaf thing, not a real actual turkey...but it takes 2 hours to bake in the oven! The pie also takes about 2 hrs to set up in the refrigerator, which is why I'm starting the whole cooking process at 2:30. Plus I want to make sure we have the kitchen for the night, so a repeat of last Thursday doesn't happen...arg.)
• Mashed potatoes & gravy (The gravy's from a packet, but the potatoes will be 100% made from scratch, bitches.)
• Stuffing (Ariane's making this...I probably won't eat any because I don't really like stuffing, but it wouldn't really be Thanksgiving without stuffing, would it?)
• Green bean casserole (Another thing Ariane's making, and this actually is something I like. A lot!!)
• Cornbread (The third thing Ariane is making. Yummmmmmm!! If she weren't making this, I'd make a corn casserole.)
• Cranberry sauce (From a can, people. I don't work magic. But I am planning to cut it into cute little leaf shapes with some cookie cutters Ariane bought earlier this semester.)
• PUMPKIN DREAM PIE!!! (Okay, so I hope this turns out alright. I've never made it before. It's tradition in my family, though, so I guess I'd better get to learning how to make it.)

Yeah, we're gonna be effing stuffed. Hello 10 lbs. After the break (possibly the night of December 8th), I really want to have a Christmas party. I've spent so much on groceries this semester, and I'm planning a really nice present for my mom, so I don't really have money to spend on presents for my friends. So I thought we could throw a little party, listen to music, play games, whatever...and that could be our celebration, instead of giving each other presents. Anyway, I figured instead of having a big meal, we could just have big bowls of snacks. I came up with a few ideas at work tonight:

• White chocolate covered pretzels (I love making these)
  
• Chex mix (homemade, of course!)
• Spiced edamame (there's a recipe in the cookbook I bought the other day)
• Brown butter, rosemary, & lemon popcorn
• Hot chocolate
• Cinnamon coffee (I bought a bag a couple weeks ago, but I still haven't made any of it yet)

I'm trying to come up with some other ideas...maybe chips & dip or something. Perhaps some puppy chow/muddy buddies (Chex coated in chocolate, peanut butter, & powdered sugar). We'll see. :)

A New Look

Alright, I switched to a new template. I don't know if I love it, but it's got the little links on the sidebar, which I really wanted.

One week until I get to see my mom. Eight days until I'll be home. I guess maybe it's not really home anymore...or at least, it won't be for much longer. My mom reminded me of that this morning on the phone, and it made me cry. Don't get me wrong...I'm definitely looking forward to living with Michael and finally being able to set up my own home. But it's sad to think that the place that's been my home for my entire life will only be my home for another 6 months or so. It's weird.

On another note, I'm having a good music year. I really hadn't thought about it much until the other day when someone wrote in my cousin's blog that it'd been a really bad music year. While I wouldn't say that the artists I already loved have put out a lot of great music this year (with the exception of Jewel's new album, which I adore), I've discovered a lot of new stuff that I'm not sure how I ever lived without. Juanes. Lily Allen. Corinne Bailey Rae. Leigh Nash. Madeleine Peyroux. Rachael Yamagata. Fink. The Ditty Bops. Draco and the Malfoys. And a ton of other random songs that I've downloaded this year. It's been wonderful.

The other day, I spent 5 hours hanging out at Hastings while Laura was working. I bought an amazing new cookbook, How to Boil Water and some Burt's Bees honey lip balm. Now I can make hard-boiled eggs, pick fresh produce, and keep my lips moist. And really, what more is there to life? Speaking of eggs, I bought a half-dozen the other day, and I've been eating them every day. I figure it's a good way to replace the protein I'm losing by not eating meat. No, I haven't gone vegetarian, but I also haven't been eating in the cafeteria & I don't feel like messing with raw meat here in the dorms. So the only source of protein I've really had has been Taco Bell...and who knows if that's even really meat?

Time to go do some homework. I mean, sudoku.

Yummy Yummy in my Tummy

This morning I made toad in a hole for breakfast (is it still breakfast after 11 a.m.? I guess it was brunch). I hadn't had that in such a long time. I bought eggs last night at the grocery store...I think I'll start buying them more often.

So I'll be home in 11 days. I can't wait! I'll probably be working 6-11am Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (yeah, that's right, Thanksgiving freaking Day), and Friday. But that'll give me the afternoons free to shop, see movies, and eat tons of food. And just hanging out around the house, playing with Xena and working on my knitting project.

This week has gone by incredibly quickly. I hope next week is just the same!

Happy Thoughts

Today's been a great day. I finished my paper and turned it in this morning. Laura & I watched The Polar Express this afternoon. I made potato soup for dinner (ate about half of it after I made it, and then ate the rest when I got back from work). After dinner, Laura & I went to Hobby Lobby so I could buy more yarn for my art project. Now I've got the yarn for 7 out of the 9 squares of the blanket I'm making. Well, 8, but the yarn for the middle square is at home. Anyway, after Hobby Lobby, we went to Something Brewing for coffee. I finished one of the knitted squares at work tonight, and I've got about two inches of another one done.

I pretty much don't have a reason to get out of bed tomorrow. My econ class has been canceled, and I don't work on Tuesday nights. I'm planning to spend the day working on my knitting and watching Christmas movies.

After work tonight, I had a great conversation with Michelle. She's such a sweetheart. She's going to start coming over for dinner on Thursday nights, and I'm going to teach her how to cook. After Thanksgiving break, we're gonna get together some weekend and make Christmas cookies. :) I love having someone who's as enthusiastic about this stuff as I am!! She's into all sorts of other crafts, too.

Oops.

Well, I went to bed at 2 and slept until 8:30. I've got 2 pages (out of 5, but if it only ends up being 3 or 4 pages, I don't really care). It's not that this paper is particularly hard to write, and it's not that I don't want to write it (believe me, I'd love nothing more than to be done with it). I'm just lazy, and I hate writing papers.

So I'm skipping my classes today, including Art History. I'm going to Freehand Drawing, however, because today I'm showing my professor sketches for my final project.

Okay...time to get back to work, I guess.

Free To Be Me

It's such a liberating feeling to know that this paper I'm writing doesn't matter. Sure, in order to get an A in the class, I need to get around a 78. But in order to get a B in the class, I only have to get a 28 on the paper. Do you know how low a 28 is?? I think I could turn in what I've got now (a little over a page) and get a 28. To get a C in the class, I don't even have to write the paper! Of course, I don't want to get a C in the class. I'd love to make an A. But I'm more than satisfied with a B. Is Michael going to decide not to be with me if I get a B in this class? Of course not. Are accounting firms going to decide not to hire me if I get a B in art history? Highly doubtful.

The Laocoon (and Dr. Miller) can basically kiss my ass. If I'm not done by 2:30, I'm going to bed anyway. I'll get up in the morning and finish it (instead of going to Spanish, and I may skip art history as well).

Stream of Consciousness 2

Today I'm writing possibly my last paper ever. I'm about a thousand different kinds of excited about that...it's almost exciting enough to motivate me to actually work on the paper. Almost. In the spirit of staying true to myself, I'm procrastinating like a mofo. I've been watching Food Network pretty much all day. I think I'm going through a nesting phase. I'm not pregnant (or a bird), but it's the same type of thing. I just want to be domestic. I was watching Nigella Lawson's show earlier this afternoon, and she was making all kinds of chocolate goodies. You know, these days, I'm happiest when I'm in the kitchen. I've always been really into creating, and I've used so many different media over the years. I guess food is just my latest medium. Actually, I've got about 5 different crafts that I'm into these days...cooking, knitting, photography, cross stitch, and charcoal drawings (although the latter is just because of my art class). Well, and scrapbooking, but I haven't done that in a while. It's too bad I can't stumble into a career that lets me spend all day creating. Creating whatever strikes my fancy. I think both of these cross stitch projects describe me fairly well...I just can't decide which one is the best!



Today's one of those really dreary days. One of those days that's good to spend in the kitchen, baking cookies or making soup. I'd make some potato soup, but the kitchen's a total mess. That's something I hate about living with people...they don't clean up after themselves and their guests. I mean, yeah, I use the kitchen. And I'm sure I make a mess in there. But I always clean up after myself. Heck, 90% of the time I wash the dishes before I even sit down to eat what I made.

I'm really homesick. I keep trying to remind myself that I get to see my mom 2 weeks from today, and I'll be home 2 weeks from tomorrow. I hope these next 2 weeks just fly by. I think I've got 2 tests before then (economics and art history), plus a composition in Spanish. A few days ago, I ordered some yarn for my art project...which I just realized none of you know about because I haven't mentioned it in here before. Haha, okay, well, I'll write about that later. Anyway, that project is due the Wednesday after Thanksgiving break, which means I need to spend a good chunk of my break working on it (ya know, when I'm not working at the store or cooking or shopping or visiting family or stuffing my face or doing the 10 million other things I have planned for that week). Aaaagh! But this slight November crunch is going to pay off in December, when I only have TWO FINALS! And I get to go home on December 9th or 10th. And I don't have to return to this inner circle of hell until January 14th. And during that wonderful interim, I get to spend 6 glorious days with my sweetie pie. But once classes start on the 16th, I'm expecting a 4-month depression to sink in. I'm trying not to focus on that so much.

Alright, enough procrastinating...well, enough procrastinating by journaling. Now it's time to look at pretty pictures of food on the internet for a couple of hours. Wheeeee!

Dum-Dum (and apartment stuff)

So the other day, I did just about the dumbest thing I could ever do. My dad called me up, asking if I could work at the store over Thanksgiving break. Okay so here's the thing: I can't say no. Especially when it comes to work. If my boss asks me to do something, I do it. And I try to be as flexible as possible. So I said yes. He asked about my availability, and instead of telling him when I'd like to work, I told him when I could work. I told him I could be there at 6 a.m. Tuesday through Friday. Yes, I actually told my dad that I could and would work at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving day. Am I nuts? I must be.

This weekend, I'm supposed to be writing a paper for Art History. I figure I'll read through my materials today, jot down some ideas, and then tomorrow I'll write the paper. I don't think it'll be too hard...although this is the first paper I've written in about a year. But it only has to be 5 pages. I should be fine, right? I hope so.

Over the past couple days, I've been looking at stuff for me & Michael's apartment. Stuff for the kitchen, stuff for the living room. I think the bedroom is pretty much set, except for bedding. My dad's letting me have the queen-size bed that they bought for me when I was 13 or 14. And I'm sure my mom won't mind if I take my dresser & mirror, although I hate that thing because the drawers are really shallow & don't hold much.

Things we already have:

• a queen-size bed & pillows
• a dresser & mirror
• 2 big TVs and a 13" TV
• 2 computers
• a coffee table (and maybe a console table that matches it, if my mom decides to get an entertainment center for the TV at home)
• a few bookcases
• a few rugs (the apartment we're looking at has cement floors...it used to be an old factory/warehouse!!)
• kitchen stuff (a 20-piece dish set that has dinner plates, salad plates, bowls, mugs, and ramekins for 4, plus a set of 4 rice bowls, several mugs, a 12-piece flatware set, a ton of barware, a wine rack, appetizer plates, an olive boat, an olive oil pourer, napkin rings, salt & pepper shakers, a good santoku knife, a tea set, a cutting board, storage containers, an electric mixer, a George Foreman grill, a set of popcorn bowls, a can-opener, a cookbook stand, several cookbooks, an iced tea maker, and probably some other stuff that I can't remember right now)
• coasters!
• a vacuum cleaner
• a microwave
• an iron & small ironing board (although I'd like to get a full-sized ironing board once we're in an apartment)
• a 3-compartment laundry sorter thing (Basically a huge glorified hamper...on wheels! You can sort of see it in the background of the vacuum cleaner picture.)
• towels (9 bath towels, 3 hand towels, and 3 washcloths in aqua, brown, and aqua/brown stripe)
• a stereo
• some art for the walls
• a phone/answering machine
  
• probably several other things

Plus I know that my mom's getting me "kitchen stuff" for Christmas. I asked for a blender, but I also really need decent pots & pans (which are ridiculously expensive). I'm planning to buy some air-bake cookie sheets, and I think my mom is giving me an extra 8x8" baking pan that she has lying around. Non-essentials that are on my kitchen wishlist: a big wooden salad bowl, a nice wood cutting board, and an over-the-sink colander.

Okay, it's after 12, and I still haven't taken a shower (or done any work!)...so I guess that's enough apartment musings for now.