Christmas 2007

The hustle and bustle of Christmas has finally come to a close, and for me, the celebration has been going on since Saturday! This past weekend I was in Lansing to be with Mike's families for their holiday parties. We were in Lansing on Saturday for the Gibbard party, in Kalamazoo Saturday night for the McDonald party, and up in Clare to visit Grandma Dent on Sunday morning! Finally, Sunday evening we came back to Mike's parents' to have our own little gift exchange, and I received many wonderful presents. His family is so good to me! :D

Christmas Eve Mike and I made it back to my parents' house so that he could celebrate Christmas with them. We watched movies, played Mariokart, and the Mom pulled together a delicious sort of finger-food dinner. After that we exchanged gifts, and Mike got me so many nice things!! :D He always has such great taste when it comes to me--he makes me so happy! I got him a leather desk chair for his classroom, and he seemed to love it. :) Now he can have something nice to use at his desk at school.

Christmas morning is always pretty awesome. It's just my family and I, up early to open gifts together while listening to Christmas music. I got all kinds of wonderful gifts, and I really enjoyed watching them open up what I had given them as well. We ate breakfast and hit the road after that! It was to Grandma E's first for lunch and gifting, and then to Grandma J's for the remainder of the evening! We got back home after midnight, and boy was I pooped.

What a great Christmas! I always feel a little sad when it's over. So much leads up to it and I'm always eager for Christmas as early as September! I'm looking very forward to the New Year though--it's time to come up with some great resolutions! How was everyone else's Christmas?? :D

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I hope everybody has a great day :)

"Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it. . . . It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk everything, you risk even more".

-- Erica Jong in How to Save Your Own Life (1977)

A tank of gas

This morning started in Beulah, near Traverse City, where I said goodbye to Mike until this weekend. By lunch I was in Big Rapids, packing up the last of my things I wanted to take home over Christmas break. At two o'clock sharp I was pulling in to my old apartment complex in Kalamazoo, where Mike and I shared a two bedroom the year before pharmacy school began, and where he lived for a second year last year. There, Ralph and Carol (the apartment managers) offered me a super-sweet deal on a studio, which I will talk more about later, and knocked off half of my security deposit cost. Because they love me, and I'm clean, quiet, and pay my rent on time. In light of all this, my third year of pharmacy school may very well take place in the same place it all began!

At 3:30 Shruti called me, and wonderful Shruti-hangings ensued for the remainder of the evening. I took her out to dinner, we exchanged gifts, and went shopping for a few hours. I wish I could've spent days more with her, because we don't get to see one another nearly as much as we'd like, but I had a blast and I hope I gave her a nice birthday. :)

At ten o'clock I left Kalamazoo to head back home to Mt. Morris, and got here just after midnight. My car is tired, I'm tired, and the Parents want me out of bed early to go shopping. *whew* What a day!

*Whew*

The semester is finally over and finals week sucked unshaven balls. I slept about 3 hours a night and studied the rest of the time. I drove up north to visit Mike Thursday night after everything was done, and by the time I got to Beulah I was crashing and burning. He took me out for a really nice dinner, but I was so pooped I fell asleep almost right after we got home. Luckily I've been able to enjoy this long weekend with him completely homework free, as I will be for the next month! I visited him Friday morning at his school and got to meet his College Prep class, and stayed with him for his lunch period. We went out Friday night to see I Am Legend in the theaters in Traverse City, and we loved it! Yesterday we went Christmas shopping all day, and today we just got to relax. It's been so nice to not have anything to stress about. :)

Tomorrow is Shruti's birthday!! So I'm driving down to Kzoo for the afternoon to spend some time with her. After that it's all the way back to the Mountain until a few days after Christmas. I'm so excited!!! I've come through three semesters of grad school, and I'm a mere semester away from being halfway done. As usual, I'm thrilled to be in this sweet aftermath. After Thanksgiving pharmacy school pretty much consumes everything I do, and it's nice to wake up from it and realize there is more to life than studying and taking exams. My grades turned out ok, and I'm still maintaining my goal of at least a 3.0 throughout pharm school. Even still, after a year and a half out of WMU, I still wish I could pull off the A's of my undergrad years--but I know I'm doing well, and for right now, that's damn good enough!

Hooray for making it through to another much needed vacation!

I might need some drugs after I'm done learning about these drugs.

EDIT: I'm trying out this new non-Blogger template. There are several things about it I want to change, but

• I don't have time right now
• I don't know how to make the changes yet

So, bear with me.

ESPECIALLY FINALS, OMG

OMG, Pink??

Indecisive maybe? That's me.

Should be studying? That's definitely me.

I wish studying burned more calories. That is a world I one day want to live in.

Begin Hell Week #2

"If you are simply a reservoir for data, then you will be replaced by a computer. If you cannot think--if you cannot apply-- then you cannot beat the machine."
-- Dr. Ryan

I've reached that bittersweet point in the semester when I have to deal with the most terrible week of all--FINALS. Final exams in pharmacy school are nothing like I remember them being as an undergrad. :( I pretty much sleep about four hours a night, eat and bathe only when I can squeeze it in, and study constantly, until my head hurts and I want to pass out. Despite the horribleness of all this, I am driven by one thing--a week from today I'll be done!! Four glorious weeks off from pharmacy, and everything like it, and what a relief that will be!! I can't wait. Oh man. Oh man.

This probably goes without saying, but I'll be relatively unavailable until the end of the semester. That means if you call me, I won't answer. If you instant message me, you most likely won't get a response. This doesn't mean I don't love you, of course. I promise I'll saturate you all with myself after I'm finished. ;)

Good luck to those of you that will be taking finals as well! I'll be back when I've crossed the finish line. :D

Change Is Good

As much as I adored my sultry black themed blog, I just had to have something new!! So I thought I'd kill a few neurons by making it white! BWAHAHAHA! That's the opposite of what you were expecting!!

I've been posting in Love and the Logical steadily for officially two years now, and it seemed time for a face lift. I hope you all enjoy. :)

"When we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness - and call it love - true love."
Robert Fulghum

Christmas at the Lakehouse!

Begin Hell Week #1

Well, it's the week before finals, which means my life officially sucks starting now until December 14th at 10 am. This week I have an exam tomorrow (today?), a final Tuesday, and a third exam on Thursday. After that it's finals week, with a final exam every single day. So here I am, blogging. Instead of studying or sleeping, like I should be.


WHATEVER, SCHOOL. BRING IT.

Visuals

Dr. Ryan's cell phone: *ring ring ring*
Dr. Ryan: "Oops! That must be the President, wanting to know what to do with the Navy."


I'm supposed to be studying right now. *sheepish*

It's SO COLD out. I think it was 8 or something degrees out today, which makes me not want to go anywhere near the outside. I even get pissy walking to my car after class, because I just want to get out of the cold, OMG! Most of the river has frozen over as well. It looks pretty cool, all glossy and glass-looking. :) Jim-bo came down to tell me not to go out on it, because a guy fell through and died a few years ago. THANKS JIM-BUG.

Today in lab we did a warm-up exercise about what kind of learner we are. I'm apparently a visual learner, and this makes perfect sense now! I love to use highlighters, which I guess is a big sign. I even have a very orderly system to it:

• Yellow: only in class, during lectures, and only when the professor stresses something or it seems to be VERY important
• Orange: when I study through my notes for the first time to prepare for a test, highlighting topics and important facts
• Blue or Pink: a day or so before the test, covering anything and everything that I'm still having trouble remembering even after reading my notes several times

I always thought this made me crazy! But I'm a visual learner! I'm normal. :)

*rejoices*

My love is where you are

"Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great."
Comte de Bussy-Rabnutin



Just thought this was a nice quote, and so true

SNOW

Omg.

OMG

So, the inevitable finally happened today. I was forced to drive for the very first time in my whole life in the snow! I was petrified!! My car was slipping on the ice and every time it did that, my heart was thudding so hard I thought I might have some cardiovascular event right there in the car. Luckily I made it home fine, so you can all get off the edge of your seats. Hopefully I'll get better though, because I went about 20 mph under the speed limit on the country roads near my house. O_o

*stressed*

OOOH Thanksgiving!!

Yay Thanksgiving! :D **Peektures!**

So I got to visit home for Thanksgiving, and it was so great to just be able to drive myself home after school and then leave whenever I wanted on Sunday without having to worry about a ride. Life is just twice as great with my Lil' Prizm. :)

It was awesome to see my family again--we don't get many chances to all be together anymore! Mom made some delicious food, I got to josh around with Daddy-pants, and the siblings and I had some serious Mariokart throwdowns. I had some heartfelt chats with everyone, and lots of bellyrubs for the Colby-man (the cutest dog in the entire world, by far).

Thursday was Thanksgiving of course and it was very pleasant and full of delicious food and movie-watching. Friday Mike came to visit and we all went to Crossroads for opening night. We got to see the first tree lighting, opening night fireworks, and of course we got to ride the train. It was a great time, the only set-back being that it was about -20 degrees out. Brrr.

Saturday Mike's cousin got married down in Sterling Heights, so I got to go to a wedding! It was the most amazing wedding I had ever seen!! The decorations, the dresses, the music, and the ballroom OMG!!! I couldn't believe it. The food was really good too, and free.

Sunday Kristen and I tried to have some of the most delicious Chinese food in the whole world (including China!) at our fav. Chinese place in town, but that f-er didn't open until three!!! *crestfallen* SUCH A LETDOWN. So we had lunch at Subway, which was really nice, but just not the same. Shortly after that I said goodbye to the family and came back to Big Rapids, feeling sad and lonely as usual.

Of course, the Lakehouse was full of my textbooks and coursepacks, and I was reminded, not surprisingly, that school was still going on. POOP.

So that's what I'll be doing nonstop from now until December 13th at 10 am. :D

Get mad Benzi!!

This is my fishy Benzi. I named him after Mike's new high school, and he has anger problems. This is him getting pissed at my cellphone, one of many, many things he lashes out at irrationally.

But he's F-ing awesome. That is all.

Cyborg-ette

Shruti: JUST tawking to you is like...making me ooze with joy
I"M FREAKIN OOZING JOY!
OOOOZES
Me: *flattered*
----------------------------------------------------------------

OMG! My life has stopped sucking for just a few days, and even though it will be a short siesta, I'm SO HAPPY!! I made it through my third "round" of exams, and now I get to go visit home for Thanksgiving!! Turkey day is always a fun time at my parents' house, because it's one of only two (possibly three?) times a year that all five members of my family get together and sleep under the same roof! Not to mention there will be many Mariokart throw-downs, in which my siblings will get their assess handed to them by yours truly, muah! AND, to make this year even better, I even get to see Mike over the holiday weekend! YAY!

Last week I had two exams and a presentation, which sucked A LOT, but not nearly as much as after Thanksgiving, when I'll have three exams in one week leading up to finals. And for the dense out there, finals week usually isn't "better." So like I said, a short siesta, and then my life will suck again for three more weeks. After that, FOUR GLORIOUS WEEKS OFF OMG.

*collects herself*

So I went to visit Mike this past Friday, and I had the best weekend I've had in a while! We watched movies, baked banana bread, made our famous Pasta Salad, and went Christmas shopping in Traverse City. We also saw the movie Beowulf, which was quite the interesting experience, but very good as well. :) The best part, by far, was that I didn't think about pharmacy school AT ALL, and I just enjoyed being with Mike. :D :D

There's something living in the ceiling of Mike's apartment, which we've come to call "Ceiling Creature." Because we're so damn creative.

He also got a second blue-tooth headset as a promotional deal from GeekSquad, and he gave it to me!! So now I can wear a nifty ear piece and look like a cyborg too! :D

*joyous*


Shruti: i can't wait to read your entry now
salivates


EDIT:
Shruti: i guess i should stop talking, JUST TO AVOID QUOTATION!

Not a fan of gravel

CARS PASSING BY!! *click here!*


Um, I'll make a real post next week, when I have a life again. Until then, I leave you with the B. Rose. ;)

Pharmacists

We do it over the counter. ;)

Someday will come

We've done this now for a year and a half, and we'll be doing it for another two and a half years. I guess you can say I'm used to it, and it normally doesn't bother me. Even still, every time we say goodbye, and I watch him drive away, part of me always wants to cry.

:'(

While studying

Beth: "I like the word 'shunt.' It rhymes with another word I like to call Dr. Boncher sometimes."

----------

Dr. Hult: "About ten or twelve of you will be diagnosed in your lifetime with clinical depression. *pause* In fact, pharmacy school might just cause clinical depression."

-------------

Me: "You know, it really speaks highly of our friendship, though."
Beth: "What? That we can talk about my anus?"

:D

Mike, on finally getting internet back:

"It's good to have my intercrack back in my veins."

Welcome back to the cyberworld ;) <3

Druggie

Lately I've been pretty stressed because of all the bullcrap I have to get done for school before Thanksgiving. Right now the Mom is going to school as well, and sometimes we complain for hours to one another about how much our lives suck. One day while complaining, she said she's been taking this new herbal supplement her doctor recommended, Evening Primrose. She says that it helps her sleep better, and among other things, keeps her stress at a manageable level. This is important for she and I, because we stress out (seriously) way more than the average individual. It's probably not even healthy, and frequently it's over insignificant, trivial issues. In a nutshell, if this stuff worked for her, then it will probably have some kind of an effect on me as well.

After performing a nerdy amount of research to make sure it was "legit" and all that, I bought some and decided to give it a try. OMG. You know, it could just be the Placebo Effect. It could be totally in my head, which is fine, but since I've started it, I've noticed differences. I've slept significantly better, which helps me stay awake better in the evening when I study. I'm still stressed, but it just doesn't break me down like it used to. In other words, I don't feel like crying or lashing out irrationally at nearby loved ones by the end of a long day. The stress is below the surface, not absolutely smothering me. For the first time, I'm wondering if this is what normal people feel like! O_o

So, I guess in summary, I'm now controlling my life with drugs. This is probably where Shruti will intervene and tell me what a HORRIBLE IDEA THIS IS, like that time she went spastic when I took a Tums for indigestion. ;) WELL, BRING IT ON! I'M NOT AFRAID!! BWA HA!

BLAAAAAAAAAAAARGH

Oh yeah, like I have time to Blog these days... *dies*

I have a Med Chem exam tomorrow under the same professor who was responsible for my first two Biochem exams last year. For those of you who might not remember--I did, um, uncharacteristically bad on those exams. So bad in fact, that I refer to Biochem as if it were a period in history, like the Dark Ages. After taking those two exams, it took me an additional four with the second professor, getting no less than 90% on each one, to get a B in that f-ing class. I had this same professor again for an exam in Drug Action last year, and I don't remember what I got on it. This isn't a good sign either--sometimes I block out bad grades. O_O So, I'm pretty scared about that. And I'm going a little crazy, which is why I'm blogging right now instead of studying.

It's supposed to kind of snow tonight. Oh man, I'm a little terrified. I've never driven in snow before. EVER! Not even when I was learning because I'm such a wimp! But tomorrow I have an exam at 9 am and I have to be there. Today I drove the "other" way home from school, which has less hills and curves, so this will reduce my chances of being involved in a tragic accident (I hope).

We're having a "class picture" day this week. Like.... grade school? We can even buy copies or a composite of the whole class. I wonder if Mom and Dad would want one.... ??

My life sucks a little right now. I won't be around much until Thanksgiving--just to give everyone a heads up.

Oy vey

I'm like a studying MACHINE! .... And it's no fun at all. :(

Happy (Early) Halloweenie

This second-half of the semester has brought with it the usual turmoil. I have about a million exams between now and Thanksgiving break, three presentations, and not enough time to do it all. As always, I kind of feel stressed (understatement???) and the urge to yank my eyes out has taken hold of me lately. But somehow I always make it to that glorious four-day weekend to eat lots of turkey and kick ass in Mariokart, so I guess this year will be no different. My life will just suck a little bit more than it has in weeks past, that's all.

Aside from that, I've had to pay car insurance, rent, and the cable bill within the last three days. So I pretty much feel like I'm passing money out--anyone else?? Anyone?

I used to see a bunch of turkeys just about everyday on my way to and from class. I live kind of out in the woods, so I see quite a bit of wildlife actually. Particularly, these two 10+ groups of turkeys that always want to cross the road as soon as I get close. The past few weeks I haven't seen them at all. I'm a little worried they became somebody's dinner.

I bought a candle. Studying is slightly less terrible when bathed in its soothing flame. :D

I went to my nursing home and had my own patient and everything. I was pretty nervous but it went just fine. There was a fourth-year pharmacy student there to help us out, and she was so smart OMG. The distance between me and her is just.... wow. I'm not sure how in the world two years could bring me that far, but I'm hopeful she's not unique.

Almost all the leaves have fallen here, and the mornings involve scraping frost off my car. I'm not so quick on the "leave earlier to make it to class on time" lesson, but I'll get there.

Have a Happy Halloween. :)

It's 25 degrees out? Really???

I'm pretty sure I'm not ready for this part of the year at all.

School woes

My nursing home visit yesterday didn't really go well. In fact, it didn't go at all. My partner and I arrived right on time, when we were promptly told that they had not prepared for us and therefore we would have to reschedule. This is irritating to me because I arranged this nearly a month ago, specifically picked this week because I have no exams, and now I have to go back next Monday, the day before my Pharmacology exam. As much as I hate studying, I was planning on studying then. *headdesk*

On top of that, my Microbiology & Immunology professor, Dr. Ryan, went on for sixty-five non-stop minutes about mycoplasma tuberculosis. Now, I'm a big nerd myself, so I appreciate a good discussion about bacteria every now and then, but sixty-five minutes??? By the time that was over, I was practically desperate to talk about ANYthing else. And I kind of wanted to jump off a building.

After Micro, I stopped outside of Dr. Boncher's lab, because in three weeks my partner and I are supposed to give a presentation about a new hypertension drug in front of her and my class. So we checked in to see what day we were supposed to present. Right next to our names, in bold and all capitals, she'd written SEE ME ASAP. This is never a good sign. We went and saw her and she said something like, "Oh gee, I signed you up for a drug which I had already assigned another group to do. So you'll have to pick something else."

Are you effing kidding me???? This wouldn't be a big deal or anything, but Tuesday afternoon I spent about three hours gathering, literally, ALL MY MATERIAL for that presentation. Once this week is over my exams will start again, and now that my nursing home visit has been pushed back, I won't have time for anything else. Now I have to start this friggin' thing all over from the horrible beginning. OMG OHGjdaslkjgfaklsjdfa;sldkj. *COMPLAINS*

Oh well. F you pharmacy school. I'll get you back one of these days.

Jim-Bugs

Jim-bo: "Hey I have a question; do you girls wash your new underwear before actually wearing them?"

O_O

Everything!

"The best thing that could happen would be for it not to happen." -- Dr. Ryan on the "Bird Flu"


Last Tuesday the Mom and Daddy-pants came allllll the way up to Big Rapids just to see me!! I was so excited!! The weather was very uncooperative, and most of the day we enjoyed cold, nasty rain. BOO. Upon reaching my house however, we all decided we wanted to drive to the west coast of Michigan to visit our favorite lighthouse, Little Sable Point, the most beautiful you ever will see!! We drove forever looking for the coast (we figured west would be a good start, but apparently they moved the damn thing on us!), the whole time with the same crap-ass rain. We finally got to the shore and, quite miraculously, the clouds parted and we had some Heaven-sent blue sky! The same exact thing happened last year! It's as if the sun always shines on it. ;) I've seen the lighthouse now three times, and each time has been just as enjoyable. It's like a painting it's so beautiful, and you can't take a bad picture of it. Unless you really suck balls, which I like to hope I don't. I uploaded everything I took to my Flickr gallery, if anyone wants to see more photos of it. :)

We stopped at an orchard to pick up Honey Crisp apples (the most delicious, OMG!), and then made the trip back to Big Rapids for some shopping and dinner. I was immensely sad to see them go home, but I had a wonderful time and I'll be happy to visit them in just a few weeks for Thanksgiving. :D

The rest of the week was spent studying of course. Generic and boring as usual. Ah, pharmacy school--you never let me down.

I had a great weekend too! I visited Mike up north, and we went to his high school's last home football game! It was great fun and I got to meet several of his fellow teachers. Benzi kicked ass too, but I must say it was weird being back on a high school football field. It made me realize it's been four and a half years since I graduated, and that's a long time. Suddenly it went from being just yesterday to "a long time ago." And my boyfriend is a friggin' teacher, for crying out loud. Geeeez. I'm so proud of him though, everyone just loves him there and he's doing so wonderful! :D

Saturday we spent several hours cleaning his new classroom and his office so it actually looks like his room now. He seemed very happy to get that accomplished. Then we drove to Traverse City for a dinner date, which was very nice. :) He bought a 4 X 8 foot sheet of plywood to make a podium out of, which we had to strap to his car (oh man, what a great story this will make) and drive thirty miles back to Benzonia. Let's just say lots of people passed us.

Sunday was my first experience with baking real cookies. Mike burned a nice portion of skin off his left hand, and I got cookie dough all over. How does Mom do it by herself???

This week is catch-up week for me, but it's nice to not have all the stress of upcoming exams. Tomorrow I'm visiting a nursing home to meet my very first patient ever! Geez, I'm a little nervous, but excited to take another step forward. :)

The Roller Coast

I had a great weekend. Great weekend. Between my mass amount of exams in the past week and a half, lack of sleep, and Mike adjusting to his new teaching lifestyle, we were both in bad need of a break from life and some time with each other. He, Beth and I went to Cedar Point on Saturday evening for their HalloWeekends event, and it was a blast! I used to be braver when it came to riding roller coasters back when I was younger, but I still road a few and had an awesome time. Mike and Beth went on the Top Thrill Dragster--the one that you go straight up at 120mph--and I definitely stayed firmly planted on the ground. Seemed like a good decision on my part! ;)

Today Mike and I just got to spend a relaxing day together, without teaching or pharmacy school or anything else. With so much going on in our separate lives lately, it sometimes gets harder to make time for each other. It was just what we needed though, and next weekend I'll be up in Benzonia helping him clean up his classroom! :D

This week I've got a lot of catch-up to do--not school-wise but social-wise!! I want to make a lot of phone calls and on Tuesday the Parents are coming up to visit me all day! I'm so excited! We'll be driving north a bit to see our favorite lighthouse. :) Other than that, just get ahead of the game in class. This marks the halfway point through the semester for me, and probably the last lull before finals and Christmas break. Oh my gosh, it feels like it goes so fast. And you know what I think about that? Gooooooooooooood. :D

Shrutiness!

Shruti is so damned quotable it's sick sometimes!

Me: "I could make a video. I'd call it, 'Pharmacy Girls Gone WILD!'"
Shruti: "AHAHAHAHA. I'd rather see, 'Pharmacy Girls Gettin' HIGH!' Seems more appropriate."

Dr. Potter: "I usually get to a point in test-writing when I sit back and say, 'Okay, it's time to throw in some easy ones.' I don't think I got to that point with this exam."
Student: "We noticed."

-------------------------------------------
I'm currently being bombarded with exams. It's like World War II or something. But once it's over, I'll have a glorious six whole days before my next exam, which means I can relax this weekend!! Cedar Point!!! *SQUEE*

Jimmy-bob

My landlord, Jim-bo (as I like to call him in private), lives upstairs in my house and Beth and I live downstairs. He's in his early forties we're pretty sure, and for the most part he's never home and doesn't bother us. In fact, he keeps the weirdest hours. He's usually up and long gone by the time I get up to get ready for class (and I have early classes everyday), and usually he doesn't come home until ten or so. It's a huge mystery, what he does all day. We have no idea. But we rarely see him, hear him, or come across him at all. It's kind of nice.

But we do come across him, and sometimes the encounters are... unusual.

First of all, he always has an alcoholic drink. Wine, a beer, a rum and coke, it never fails. I eventually started thinking judgmentally about this, and my thoughts went from "he has a little bit of a problem" to pretty much diagnosing him as a mild alcoholic (if there were such a thing?). You just don't drink by yourself. Don't do it. If you do, go into your bathroom, look in the mirror and say, "Self, you have a horrible problem." That will be the first step of many for you.

Secondly, he got divorced just a couple years ago, so now this house he used to share with his wife and daughter is empty with just him and... we sexy girls downstairs. So needless to say, he gets pretty lonely and sometimes it's obvious. Usually when he's really lonely is when he comes down to chat with us for a minute, about absolutely nothing, honestly. He's my landlord--not my buddy. He's a nice guy and I like him, but we're not chums, if you get my drift. So sometimes when he comes down to say hi, it's just downright awkward. And he never comes downstairs with the intent of asking us something, or telling us something. It's usually just a brief, awkward conversation (sometimes he even sits down--OMG) after which he goes back up to his spider hole, leaving Beth and I to gossip in heated whispers in his wake.

Yesterday was a new, very different encounter. I was studying in my room, which is right next to the laundry room doorway. We all share the laundry room of course, so whenever Jim comes down to wash his clothes, he has to look into my room because it's practically impossible not to if my door is open. So he comes down last night to do what I thought was laundry, but after passing the washing machine, the dryer, and continuing right on towards the refrigerator that Beth and I share alone, I realized he had different intentions. He opened up our fridge and promptly asked, "Are those you're mini-Diet Cokes? I'm out and I'm craving one. Can you spare?"

Alright. I'm not a selfish person, so I let him have one of course. But you have to realize that I'm very obsessive compulsive when it comes to things. For instance, every morning I take one of those miniature Cokes to class to help me wake up, and I buy enough every week for just one per day. Yesterday I had four left, one for every day for the rest of the week. Now, after Jim had his fill, I only had three. Which means one day gets sacrificed. Which day, OMG???

After taking the Coke, Jim did absolutely nothing else but go upstairs. Which meant one huge thing--he knew those Cokes were in there. That was the only reason he came down. This could only mean that he'd been in our refrigerator before, and checked out our stuff. I realize this is his house and he owns that fridge, but I'm paying him full rent every month, and the downstairs area as far as I'm concerned is mine so long as I'm paying for it. Anyway, he shouldn't be snooping in our fridge when he's got one of his own upstairs.

I tell all of this to Beth of course, and then she brings up that she's also missing two eggs. After confirming that I hadn't used them, we concluded there was only one culprit. I mean geez, we're a couple of broke-ass college kids with barely enough money to buy our own food, and our forty-something landlord is taking what he needs from our refrigerator. At first we just laughed it off, but the more I thought about it, the more angry I felt. I don't have a ton of money for food, so it's a big deal when someone eats my stuff. It's one thing for Beth and I to share amongst ourselves, but he didn't even ask.

Additionally (Oh Mrs. Forshee, how I love transition words!), while I was away helping Mike move this weekend, Jim-bo had some company over, and apparently there were like eight kids here or something ridiculous like that (glad I missed it). But Beth said she came out of her room because she heard some noise, and all of those rugrats were in my room! They were chilling out on my chair, huddling around my fish bowl and probably scaring the ba-Jesus out of poor Benzi.

*Grumble* So I guess I'll have to keep tabs on my food from now on, and close my bedroom door if I'm gone for the weekend so the hooligans aren't tempted again. *puffs*

And here's an AWARD for anyone who read that loooooooooooooong ass thing all the way through! :D

Benzonia

*whew*

In the past week and a half, Mike has had two job interviews, a job offer, and an entire move to a much different part of the state (the latter just this past weekend). In other words, his world has been completely transformed in just a matter of days. Luckily, my next exam isn't until Friday this week, so I was able to lend myself fully to his cause! Friday he and his guardian went Benzonia to go apartment hunting. After a few successful but less-than-ideal leads, they landed the jackpot in Beulah, right next to Benzonia. An older couple owns an enormous house that is sectioned off into one-bedroom apartments, right on the shore of Crystal Lake. Let me tell you, I thought I had it good living on the Muskegon River (relatively speaking, of course ;) ), but damn, does that boy have a great view! There's not a bad seat in the living room for staring out at the water, and when the windows are open you can hear the waves rolling in . Like the freakin' ocean!

The apartment itself is very charming, and a great place for him. Working together we got all of his things unpacked and put away, and I was happy to go home knowing he was settled. I miss him a lot already though. :(

Tomorrow is his first day teaching and he has parent-teacher conferences in the evening, so I'm not sure when I'll get to hear from him. But I can't wait to find out how his first day goes!! :D *proud*

GREAT NEWS!!

Mike interviewed for a teaching position at Benzi Central High School in Benzonia, Michigan this past Friday, and he just got a call back today and found out that he GOT THE JOB!! OMG!! OMG! I'm incredibly proud of him, and so, so happy that he gets to do what he truly loves. I know he'll be an amazing teacher! :D

He was called in for an interview last Friday morning, and got a call back for a second interview almost immediately after they were finished interviewing the other candidates. Yesterday (Monday) we drove back up for him to meet with the Superintendent, who would pick a final candidate from the hopeful three that remained. This morning on our way to the grocery store the principal called him back with the job offer!

He'll be teaching 10th and 11th grade English, along with a college-prep writing class. Oh my goodness, was he excited, and for good reason. The job market for teachers in Michigan is practically nonexistent, but his patience and positive attitude paid off, and now he gets to go after his piece of the world. I'm so happy for him. I'm so proud. I didn't even know how to tell him how much. To be able to do what he's doing, exactly what he loves, is what The Dream is all about, and not everyone can honestly say they pulled it off.

I love you, Mike. I love you, I love you, I love you, and this is me, being the most proud of you of them all. :D

Pharmacy Day #2

Pharmacy Day was this Friday, which meant no classes! Woohoo! The "fine print," however, says that we have to attend a career fair and boring seminars all day, which end up longer than class would've been in the first place. Uuuuugh. Beth and I, in our unlimited brilliance, hatched a better plan.

We were supposed to be at the auditorium for check-in at 8:45, but around that time, we were feeling pretty hungry, so we decided to have a relaxing breakfast across the street at McDonald's instead. After that, we showed up fashionably late at around 9:10, where we very nonchalantly blended in with the other masses of students. After pretending to mingle with the vendors for about a half an hour (which was more than enough time to get the free-bees we wanted), we scooted off to the nearby Starr Building attached to the auditorium, found a lounge, and hid for over an hour. At around eleven we came back to have our TB tests read, ate lunch, and sat in for a seminar in the auditorium (during which we complained to each other in heated whispers and paid no attention). We decided we'd had enough of this, and after finishing out lunch, we got up and acted like we were going to throw our stuff away outside. We stealthily left the building, ripped off our name tags, and took a sneaky, winding route back to my car. While driving back to the house, we laughed over our miraculous escape.

Arriving back home hours earlier than planned, we decided it would be a better use of time to blow up the inner tubes and float down the Muskegon River. Much better use of time. Now that's my kind of Pharmacy Day. >:-D

I'm still alive, I promise

Oh man, I've just been really busy. That's probably my most used lame excuse. More so than that, I don't have a ton of stuff to report. I've come through a few exams and done well, school is otherwise going just fine, and I love living at the house with Beth. I miss Mike a lot, and I hate having to study constantly again, but eh. That's old stuff anyway.

In actual news, my city lottery was held last week, which will determine my placement for my third year of pharmacy school. I got Kalamazoo!! Which, obviously, was just what I wanted. ;) YAY!

This Friday is Pharmacy Day, so that'll be a whole day worth of.... stuff.... followed by a free t-shirt. Heh, ballin'.

Mike is coming tomorrow. *SQUEE*

Love and the Logical

I LOVE my blog. I love going back and reading where I've been. I sound so friggin' hilarious (and pathetic) in retrospect. ^_^ I'm gonna keep on bloggin'. It's just what I do.

STP

Shruti took her MCAT last Friday, so she finally had enough of a social life for a visit from ME! Woohoo! I drove down to Kalamazoo to visit with her on Sunday, and boy did I miss that girl (and that town!)!! It's been foooooorever since I had seen her, and we had quite a bit of catching up to do. We hit up all our old stomping grounds, and even got kicked out of the mall a half an hour after it closed. :-X Mostly though, we found places to sit for a long time and just talk. That's what we do the very best, Shruti and I. :) Going to school isn't half as much fun without her.

I miss being in Kalamazoo quite a bit too. What's really awesome though, is this Thursday the College of Pharmacy is having its "city lottery" for the second year pharmacy students. For our entire third year of school we will either be in Grand Rapids or Kalamazoo, and the city lottery is for deciding our fate! Most of my classmates want Grand Rapids (because a good majority are from that area), so I'm not worried at all about getting Kalamazoo. Which means a year from now I'll be back in town! Woohoo!

I really do need to study. Geez, I'm so out of studying-shape.

My River

I have to admit, as a drag as pharmacy school can be with its lacking social opportunities and ceaseless workload, I feel extremely lucky this year. First of all, my roommate Beth and I could not be better matched as living buddies. I'm not sure precisely why this is, but it makes me feel pretty damn happy to know that living in such close proximity isn't slowly shredding away the threads of our friendship. Living together can be pretty rough, even with the best of friends, so I'm very happy it's working out. Also, being exposed so frequently to the first year pharmacy students shows me just how much I've accomplished since I was first accepted here. I'm in my second of four years as a grad student, and for the first time in my whole college career, the end does not seem so incredibly far away. Finally, I've come to love this place that I live. Today, while taking one of those rare breaks from studying, I went tubing with the crew down the winding Muskegon River, along a plotted out "course" that is quite popular among Big Rapids residents. It took about two and a half hours, and it was the most enjoyable afternoon I've had for quite a while. It's so peaceful--you can almost forget the rest of the world.

:)

Karma

The other day I was reeeeeeeeally tired before class, so I thought I'd buy myself a pop to keep awake. I go into the lounge, open my change purse, and I am distraught to realize that I only have a quarter. A mere quarter of the buck and a quarter that I need. But!! Low and behold, there before my eyes is a whole dollar hanging out of the pop machine, apparently rejected. I mean, oh my goodness! The irony! The luck! This only happens once in a lifetime! I only rejoiced in my good luck momentarily however, before that paranoid feeling that this was some ethical trap began to creep into my head. Should I take it or not? I finally took it, not wanting to fall asleep in class. When I got home many hours later, I rummaged around forever in my book bag searching for my change purse. I never found it. It's totally gone!

KARMA!!

I knew I shouldn't have taken that dollar. I'M A HORRIBLE PERSON AHHHH.

Labor Day

I'm back to school after my amazing Labor Day weekend!! For the second year in a row, Mike and I visited Nick's cottage with his girlfriend Colleen, and it was a blast! Nick and Mike have been best buddies for years, and now Colleen is in pharmacy school with me--yay! On Friday after class got out we drove over to Lake Michigan to see the Sleeping Bear dunes which I didn't even realize existed!! Oh man were they beautiful, but I had to take many breaks on the way up! My lungs are not used to that kind of breathing. O_O After that, we drove over to Nick's cottage on Burt Lake, where we spent the remainder of the weekend tubing, water skiing, boating, playing games, and just having some fun hanging out.

On Labor Day we all got up really early to walk the Mackinac Bridge for its 50th anniversary walk! There were a ton of people there! We waited in line over two and a half hours just to get on the shuttle bus, and then the bus ride itself (which only takes you over the bridge, mind) took an hour and ten minutes! We finally got to walk, and it was a blast. We were very hungry, sunburned, and tired afterwards though. I took a ton of photos, as did the Irresistible Jeeber, which you can take a look at here if you're interested! :D

I'm back in Big Rapids now and almost finished with my second week of grad school year #2. Oh course, it wouldn't be a new school year if I wasn't sicker than a dog. I've been sporting a delightful head, nose, and throat disease, which doctors have been so creative in naming the "common cold." I pretty much want to die. WOOHOO!

I'd tell you all about my awesome fish named Grizzy that I bought last week, but he's dead already. Yep, that's a new record for me.

Skool

I'm already finished with my first day of class, woohoo! One more day knocked off the calendar of pharmacy school. This semester I'll be taking:

• Microbiology and Immunology
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Pharmacokinetics
• Pharmacology I
• Integrated Lab 3
• Opthalmic Products (elective)

.... to make up 16 credits. Today I had Microbiology and Immunology for two hours, and the professor surprised us with a 100 question exam over "things we already know" !! Apparently, this does not encompass a whole lot! X-D No worries, it wasn't for a grade, and now I at least have a good idea about how the tests will be in that class.

This past weekend was a busy one, with moving in, unpacking, grocery shopping, and a whole lot of more unpacking. I still miss home a ton, but it's starting to feel more like home here. It's great living on the water. I love waking up and looking out at it, or taking my dinner out to the patio to watch the ducks swim by. Beth is finally back too, and I'm so excited!! I missed her and forgot how much fun it is to joke around with her. Mike and I went to Traverse City for our friends' Dave and Adrienne's wedding this weekend! It was very beautiful and I was happy to finally get to see them again. We couldn't stay for the whole reception unfortunately, because Mike had a four hour drive back home. :(

Oh, I have a new screen name, but my old buddy list is gone! If you, my beloved readers, would be so kind as to send me a message if you see me online (or leave a comment to this post), even if I'm not available to chat, so that I may add you as a buddy, I would be o so happy!! My new name is:

DrugDealinGRL

That's a classic one right there. Yessire. Um, Mike chose it. >_< Just in case some undercover cop comes across me, let it be known that this is in sick reference to the pharmacy thing.... not... actual drug dealing. o_O

At the Lakehouse

Well, I've moved back to school. Leaving home again was sad and daunting, and as usual, no matter how much I prepare myself for it, I'm never fully ready to do it. I said goodbye to Dad and Chris, tried not to cry as I drove to my Mom's work, and then had lunch with Mom before saying goodbye and finally leaving. Now it's back to pharmacy school, back to business, and back to missing not only Mike anymore, but family as well. :(

The Lakehouse is great. I sat off the dock with my feet in the water, and a family of swans swam past. Really. Then Nick and Colleen called me (Nick is best friends with Mike, Colleen is his girlfriend, and this is her first year of pharmacy school) and wanted to have dinner, so that was really nice. I spent a crap ton of money on groceries, then spent the remainder of the evening putting those away, my clothes away, and hooking up my wireless internet (thanks to the all-knowing Jeeber ;) ). Today I have to completely finish putting my room away, because Mike is coming tonight! :D We have a wedding to go to this weekend in Traverse City, and Big Rapids is a good halfway point for him. After that, it's school on Monday morning.

I'm eating strawberry Wheaties. Omg. So good.

OMG!

Phoney

New phone beetches! UPGRADE!
*in love*

Moving

Apparently my model of cell phone battery is not being made anymore, which is a great reason for me to get a new phone! Yays!! I'll be doing that tomorrow, in the first of my two remaining days at home. Friday Mike and I drove up to Big Rapids to move most of my stuff into the house, and man, does it look great up there! The water was really nice, and when it's a little warmer I'll have to tube down the river (which is the "thing" to do in Big Rapids). I put most of my room together, and Mike had done a ton of work on my desk top (we added up how much it would've cost me to take it somewhere and have it done professionally, and concluded over $1200), so he set that all up for me and put my desk together. I don't have a closet in my room, so I bought this 60-inch "pop-up" closet that's working out pretty well so far. And I bought a bunch of other stuff from Meijer. A bunch. To go with the bunch of stuff I already have.

I'm really excited to move into the lakehouse; I think I'll really love it there, and it's certainly an upgrade from my dorm room. At the same time, I'm feeling the same anxiousness that usually accompanies the pre-semester times of the year. I'm worried how rough the classes will be, what the professors will be like, and if I'll end up failing everything. Usually this passes after the first week of class, although last year it took an entire semester before I was confident I wasn't going to bomb out. I'm kinda hoping that doesn't happen again. O_o At least I know now, at the beginning of the year, that notecards aren't for sissies--this will definitely help.


It feels weird that the summer is over. Last school year went by in a flash, and so did this summer. The end of this road, which has always seemed so incredibly far away, is growing much, much closer now. It seems impossible to imagine a time when I won't be in school, but I can finally see it coming. For me (and Mike), I can imagine it to be one of the most rewarding times we've yet to see. A time when our incredible patience will have paid off--when our future will truly arrive. Or, at the very least, a time when I can finally join him in his! ^_^

On a less severely-sappy note, I randomly found my missing digital camera! :-O I bought it in the summer of 2004, and lost it a few weeks before my birthday this year. I looked everywhere for it (or what I thought was everywhere), but eventually took it to be gone forever. Mike had given me a new digital camera (yet another UPGRADE!) for our anniversary/birthday, so I was not completely torn over this. But hark! I was packing today and there it was, tucked inside a mysterious tote bag that I had no idea even existed. How did this happen??

Mailbox snatcher.

So a guy in a van just drove up and started messing with our Flint Journal box that sits right next to the mailbox. I, of course, get all alarmed and consider him to be stealing, so I run in my parents' room where my dad is and start demanding that he do something because a bad man is messin' with our stuff. The Dad promptly says, "don't worry about it," and goes back to what he's doing.

Wha??

Apparently, we don't want the paper anymore. Not only that, but we haven't gotten it all summer and Dad only picks up a Sunday paper at work. The rest of the news we read online. How did it escape my attention all summer that we weren't getting a paper?? Why didn't I notice a stack of paper underneath the usual table in the living room where we keep paper??

Geez. I suck at life.

The other day while sitting at another infamous Mt. Morris 45-minute long train, eating french fries and reading the various swear words spray painted across the train cars, it occurred to me quite suddenly...

I'm going to miss this dumb-ass town.

Hooligans

Sooooooo earlier this summer a couple of hooligans egged my parents' house all over the front picture window (which is about eight feet wide or so) and down the siding of the front half of the house. Now, these hooligans were of course kids, and of course they know my brother, because it's only fun to do that crap to people you know. This was exceptionally annoying, because not only was it a mess to clean up, it could've caused a great deal of damage if we hadn't cleaned it up as quickly as we did.

Last night, the hooligans visited again. It was 3 am, and I was sleeping (hark!), and I woke up suddenly to the dog barking. Mom told him to shut up, because he frequently barks at nothing, but he was relentless. Then the phone rang, and one of my brother's friends was on the line. My brother got up to go get it (he was still awake, playing his X Box or something...), and Mom stopped to use the bathroom. Before she turned the light on however, she heard something outside like whooshing air, and was worried it was the pool. But when she looked, she saw instead some tall, shaggy-haired kid spraying some kind of stuff into my brother's bedroom window. Let me tell you, I've never heard my mom's voice like that when she screamed at that kid to get out. I didn't see, but according to her, he tore out of the yard like a bat out of hell.

It was a good thing too, because the whole ordeal scared me, and I ran to the back door to see if I could catch him. He was gone, and lucky for him, because I had enough adrenaline pumping through my veins I'm more than sure I could've taken him down.

We discovered that the kid had sprayed doe urine into my brother's window, and now the whole house reeked of it. Oh, lovely. Chris thinks he knows who did it, and I told him he better let this "friend" of his know that if I ever catch him in my yard again, I'll beat his ass to the ground and hold him until the cops can get there.

Don't laugh--I will. Then he can ride home in the police car for trespassing and destruction of property. Friggin' hooligan.

*shakes cane*

Charming

Mike (text message): I'm gonna go poo, then I'll call you!

--------------------

Last night I spent about an hour craning my neck up to watch the sky for meteors, because Shruti said the biggest meteor shower of the year took place last night. I didn't even see one, but Dad and Chris were out in the pool while I was inside, and said they saw one so big it lit up the sky! Chris was even facing away from it, and told me he could see the light from it reflected in the water. Holy crap, I would've loved to have seen that!

So I painted this yesterday. The entire thing, while watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. And I was even done far enough before the end that I could just sit back and watch Cedric get snuffed out. I've never painted anything that fast--in fact, it usually takes me at least several days or up to weeks to finish a painting--but certainly I've never painted anything that fast that looked even remotely acceptable. I feel very happy with it.

I'm moving back up to school at the end of this week, and I'll be there permanently a week from Wednesday. I'm a little excited, a little anxious, but mostly ready. For now though, I have two more days left of work.

Remodel '07

Whew! After two and a half months of work, Mom and I have finally finished remodeling the living room and dining room of the house. We pretty much changed everything in both cases, to the point that if you've set foot in my house before, you wouldn't recognize it now. We tore down wallpaper, re-painted walls and trim, took down curtains, refinished cupboard doors, pulled up carpeting, cleaned and varnished the hardwood floors underneath, and replaced all the outlet covers. Literally, this has been a solid project since May. Mom and I would work all day and come home and work on the house until we went to bed. On weekends I would visit Mike, and this is all I've done this summer. And with a week left before I move, we've finished in the nick of time.

Please, check out the finished project for yourself! I took shots of the dining room, as well as before and after shots of the living room throughout the remodel. I've uploaded them to Flickr and created a folder especially for it, which you can view here. I would recommend clicking on the thumbnails as well, because I spent quite a bit of time editing them to describe what's going on in each picture and identifying it as before, during, or after. Tell me what you think! Believe me when I say, Mom and I are really happy to sit down and relax! :)

It adds character

EDIT: You know you've talked to your man on the phone a lot when you can guess what he's eating just by the sound of his chewing.

I think I saw a meteor or something fall across the sky tonight. Can any astronomy enthusiast confirm this to be possible? It definitely wasn't lightning or a firework... I wouldn't have mistaken it for one of those. Still, I've never seen a meteor shower before, so I can't be entirely sure that's what I saw either.

I have a ton of stuff to do before going back to school. I mean, whoa. Holy crap. The usual stuff is included in this, such as worrying whether I have enough money. But there's new stuff too! Like getting a parking permit. >_< A week from today (Wednesday) is my last day of work, and I'm moving most of my stuff up next Friday.

Mom and I have almost finished the living room, and we're on the last legs of varnishing the floor. Colby has walked in it a few times, and there's even a little doggy print near the front door that's visible through the varnish when the light hits it just right. Mom and I have taken this in stride, however, and have taken to calling such minor imperfections "character." ;)

I'm going to update Flickr with a complete collection of before/after pics of the job, and once I'm at school I fully intend to add massive photos to Facebook as well. Um, if I have time. O_o

August. Pooey.

Well, today is the first of August I guess, and for the past eighteen or so years of my life August has only meant one thing -- back to school. I've got one more full week of work, three days (my last day is the fifteenth), and then a little over a week of chaos while I move back to the stimulating Big Rapids! I'm very eager of course to see all my friends, live in the Lakehouse, and get through another year of pharm school (to be that much closer to the end!). I will, however, be sad to see the summer end. I really enjoyed living at home these past few months.

All in all, I'd say I had a fulfilling summer vacation:

• I conquered my crippling fear of driving
• I was Mom's exercise buddy
• I helped remodel over half the house
• I helped convince Mom to go back to school
• I worked a full-time internship position
• I turned 22
• I celebrated three wonderful years with Mike

On the horizon is my last intense academic year in school. The end of this year will mark my halfway point through graduate school, and the remaining two years will be busy but more practical and hands-on. I think about it with a building anxiety, but there's a part of me that misses it. There's a part of me that, despite this siesta, continues to sprint passionately towards that finish line.

The Great Up North

Well! Now that I am not consumed with thoughts of finishing Harry Potter, I can finally return to reality! Last weekend marked my annual groovy Up North vacation with the irresistible Jeeber, and we had loads of great fun as always! We departed late Thursday night and got up to his family's cabin by midnight, at which point we were both happy to catch some Zzz's. Friday we made the famous Pasta Salad, and journeyed to nearby Rogers City for an outdoor steel drum band concert! I'd never even heard a steel drum before, so that was great fun. Saturday we had picture perfect weather, and visited Mackinac City/Island for the day. I love going to the Island. We had our traditional expensive steak dinner, and of course did lots of sight-seeing and fudge-eating. Sunday we visited the waterfalls near his cabin to go swimming, and then spent a lazy few hours sunning on the beach. I even went for a dip in Lake Huron, which was really wavy and a total blast! I couldn't get Mike to go in though, because he's a pussy. That's right. Monday morning was full of sadness as we packed back up to leave, but there's always next year to look forward to! We're planning to stay the night on the Island next year at a bed and breakfast. :D

I visited Lansing this weekend and Mike did all sorts of wonderful things to my car for me. I needed to replace my dome light, windshield wipers, and split my cigarette lighter plug so that I could use my Tom Tom and iPod simultaneously, so he got that worked out for me. He also fixed my defrost/emergency blinker button, which I had very ungracefully shoved right through my dashboard. *sheepish*

Mom and I are on the last legs of our massive remodeling project, with the ripping up of the living room carpeting! Now I sneeze a lot because of floating dust cast into the air by 30-year old carpet, and curse loudly whenever I encounter a rouge staple missed by our keen eyes. We have to wash and varnish it yet, and then WOO-HOO! We'll be done! Right in time for me to go back to school and work my ass off some more! :P

Pippy-pip!!

A Tribute to Harry

I've got a ton of great excuses as to why it has taken me a week, instead of the promised 24 hours, to update. The most important of which, and perhaps the most believable, being that I've been reading the final Harry Potter novel in the series. It's taken me much longer than normal to read one of the Harry books, being that I work 40 hour weeks and remodel the house on the side. So the only opportunities I've had to read have been during my half an hour lunch break and right before going to sleep at night. But alas! I have finally read the last pages of a truly gripping tale. Now that I've finished, I can only say that through my satisfaction with how it all has ended, I am only truly disappointed in the thought that there is nothing left to read about Harry Potter.

I come from a family of readers, and as such, I've read many amazing books from a variety of very gifted authors. So I feel confident in saying that I've never read anything that has held a candle to these books. And although it is a daring boast to make being that I am still so young, I'm also confident that I will never read anything like them again. I am touched by the truthfulness portrayed in her characters, by the realistic-ness of their lives and ordeals, and even by the way that Rowling has refused to sugar-coat the harsh realities of the battle between Good and Evil. I will miss reading her words. I will miss growing up with Harry Potter.

Mike: You have to be unsuccessful in some ways, so that my manhood remains intact.
Me: You don't have a manhood anymore. You're wearing woman's pajama pants.

*********************************

I'm back from my fantastic weekend get away! But I've gotta work tomorrow and start reading Harry 7, so it might be 24 hours or so before I update further. :D See you then!

Well, I move back to school in a little over a month, and although I'm totally excited to see my schooly friends again and live at the LAKEHOUSE--OH YES--I got really scared thinking about it today. I don't really want my life to go back to sucking again. Man, I don't want to study ever again either. The only thing that comforts me is that this will be the final intense academic year of my entire life. The remainder of pharm school is busy and packed full, but more practical and less suicide-inducing. Not to mention, after this year it'll be half over, and I'll be moving back downstate again which will be very nice.

I suppose it isn't quite as bad as I remember it being. *pathetic sigh* I'll miss home tremendously as well. I think I'll go and enjoy it now while it's here.

A Harry sort of day

Well! I finally pre-ordered my copy of the final Harry Potter book which is coming out this upcoming weekend--and just in the nick of time! I guess today was the last day to pre-order. O_O Talk about getting down to the wire. I had anticipated purchasing it at Kroger when it was released, but it recently occurred to me (duh) that I was going to be out of town when that happened. Oh noes! But now when I return I'll have a new copy waiting for me. :D Yay!

Mom and I have finished re-modeling the dining room and have moved onward to the living room--a much larger, more furniture-filled room occupying about 45% of the entire house. Today I decided I would paint the walls for her to move things along. We use Kilz paint, which is famous for its "one coat will cover anything!" gimmick. Which, in my experience, is true by the way. Anyway, the paint comes in this large plastic container that is superior to ordinary paint cans in almost every way, and they have these convenient twist off lids for easy re-sealing. Today I attempted to open a new one, and I'll be damned, I could not get that F-er off. I struggled with it to the point of tears, until my hand was red and hurting. I was all alone, so I couldn't ask anyone to help me with it, and all my neighbors are old bitchy women. Finally I drove up to McDonald's where my brother was working, paint can and all, and had him open it. I'm pretty sure he got a good laugh out of that.

Once I had the damn paint container open, I painted like a fiend for the rest of the day, and had the whole room done by the time mom got home. Whew! I'm wiped out now. All we have left to do is paint the fireplace and rip up the carpeting. I'm taking pictures as I go, so I can show you all how I spent my summer vacation! :D

As a retrieve from all this working (at work, and then some more at home), I'm going on my annual Up North vacation with the irresistible Jeeber in just a few short days!! I'm SO EXCITED! Spending a relaxing long weekend at his family's cabin is one of my favorite things to do. :)

Stuff

When I first started dating Mike, his parents once commented that I look like Katie Holmes. I was flattered of course, because although I think her husband is a nutter, I still think she's very pretty. Anyway, I forgot about it until recently. Since I've started at Kroger, no joke, four different people have said the same thing--two of them coworkers, two of them patients. Now it's just strangely creepy, and to the point that people say to me, "Has anyone ever told you that...?" and I can say, "yes." Weird. I can't personally see the resemblance.

Last year I sort of entered the awkward stage of "my friends are all getting married right now." That was different but ok in a way, because I have plenty of wedding and getting married thoughts myself, but I'm just trying to get this school thing mostly finished first. But, even more awkward, is the "all my friends want to have babies now" stage, which seems to be creeping up on me. The thing is, unlike the getting married stage, I am made completely uncomfortable at the mere idea of having a baby. Seriously. At this point, I do not want to have a kid at all, and I doubt I will for at least the next five to eight years. I kind of feel like school is my kid--my very needy, and perhaps slightly handicapped, kid. The idea of finishing one massive responsibility like school and immediately taking on an even more massive responsibility... makes me want to faint. *shudder*

I'm not really sure what made me think of this... or that.

Birthday-ness!

Well, I have so much material that it has become a necessity to update!

Sorry for my long absence, I've been a busy girl this week! Last Friday I went to Battle Creek to witness the wedding of my two very good friends, Katie and Chuck. The ceremony was outside and it was quite beautiful; they had perfect weather! I also got to see some good friends from my days in Kalamazoo, including the Lovely Kate and the handsome Dave from Alabama! Oh man I miss them sooo much! It was a good night of catching up and dancing :)

I worked Monday and Tuesday, then traveled to East Lansing to be with Mike and his family for the 4th of July. We saw the new Transformers movie, which I thought was really awesome, then ate out at Mongolian BBQ, mmmmm. Of course, Mike had to let it slip that the next day was my birthday, so I was forced to stand on a chair in front of the other guests and do the motions to "I'm a Little Teapot" while everyone sang it to me! Don't worry though--I will be sure to embarrass the hell out of him at his next birthday! :P

We came back to his parents' house to celebrate my birthday with them. We had some delicious cake and ice cream, then I opened up some very nice gifts. After that it was time to head back to the Mountain! We had to drive in our separate cars, but the sky was lit up all the way home with 4th of July fireworks--my favorite!!

My birthday was a ton of fun, as it always is. I have the best birthdays. July 5th is also my anniversary with Mike, and this year marked three years for us! :D We got up and exchanged gifts--I got some wonderful presents! He gave me two new dragons for my collection, an FM radio connection for my iPod (now I can listen to it in my car, YAY!), and a new digital camera! Holy crap wow--I'm such a lucky girl!

Ironically, I've very recently misplaced my old camera. I have no idea where it is. I've torn my house apart looking for it, searched Mike's house, and it's completely missing in action. The last time I recall having it was at a friend's house, so I'm going to be emailing her to see if it fell out of my purse while I was there or something. You can imagine, with as many photos as I take, that I've been very distraught over this. Man was I surprised when I opened up a brand new one this week! Mike is way too good to me. Not to mention, this one is ridiculously better than my old one. Woohoo!

We spent the day in lovely Frankenmuth, shopping the shops and seeing the sights. We even found a winery which was offering wine tasting for 25 cents--I gave Mike all my quarters. ;) We came back home for dinner with my family, and Mike showed me how to set up my new iPod gizmo for my car. After some delicious food, I kicked ass in Blokus, opened up some more really nice gifts from my parents and my brother, and stuffed my face with yet more cake and ice cream. Yay for birthdays!!

Whew! So, needless to say further, I had a really great birthday! I love all my presents and I got to spend lots of quality time with family. I'm another year older! Thanks so much to everyone who wished me a happy birthday--I love you all! :)

You've loved me now for three years (even when I didn't deserve it), and after such a stretch, it's a wonder that there could be anything at all that we don't know about one another. But you still surprise me everyday, both by your capacity to care for me, and by the extent to which you are truly my other, and at times better, half. I remember thinking to myself three years ago that I had waited for you my whole life, and now here you were, like something from a fairy tale. Back then, it was amazing--and it still is. I still lie in bed and think about you, and I know, that even after three long years, you're still my

Eighth World Wonder
XOXO

Love

Sometimes, we make it harder than it is
We'll take a perfect night
And fill it up with words we don't mean
Dark sides best unseen
And we wonder why we're feeling this way

That's when we must start
Believing in the one thing
That has gotten us this far

End of a long week

I can't believe June is almost over. July is my favorite month for many reasons, the most obvious of course being my birthday. Growing up, 4th of July celebrations always seemed like a giant prelude to my big day, and even now, years later, fireworks make me exceptionally happy and remind me of many birthdays from the past. Not to mention, since meeting Mike, I've also had our anniversary to celebrate on that very same day! :D I also always plan our annual Cabin Trip to be near the end of the month, as a final hurrah before August comes along (bringing with it school and other crappiness). Needless to say, it will fly by faster than June has. O_O My summer is slipping away!

This is the first time in my life that I've worked 40 hour weeks consistently, and this week I even worked my first hour of overtime. By the time Friday comes along I'm pretty friggin' exhausted. To add to this, the Mom and I get up early every morning and go walking, then ride our bikes to the high school and back every night! And lately, we've taking up remodeling just about every room in the house. >_< We've started with the dinning room by re-painting everything and tearing up the carpeting. There's beautiful hardwood floor hidden underneath! It's really nice though--I feel busy and useful. Even though I don't want the summer to go so quickly, at the same time I know going back to school means I'm that much closer to being done. The end of this next year will put me halfway through pharmacy school, and completely finished with what I've come to call the "hard part." So for now, I enjoy the summer tremendously but think as kindly as possible about it's eventual end.

Chris: Have you ever had one of your friends tell you about their terrible day, and for some reason you just feel like slapping them off a building?

The Lovely Kate

I friggin' SUCK at updating your blog!! OMG!! *hits*

But I still love you, even though Dave and I cyber all the time. KIDDING!

Contentment

Mike got promoted! He's been working for Geek Squad in Lansing while continuing his search for a teaching job, and recently he interviewed for a "double agent" position. He just found out today that he got it! Now he makes way more money than me and drives the Geekmobile. YAY! He has somehow become simultaneously more geeky and badass. Oh vey--only Mike. Apparently they get a real badge with their name engraved on it--so we all know that will be hanging in a frame in my house forever more. ;P I'm immeasurably proud, of course. :D

I've been extremely content with life lately. I really enjoy the lull that this summer has brought on, and even with three years left of school ahead of me, for once I don't feel like I'm spinning my wheels by taking some time off. I feel like I needed the break to remind myself of my sanity once again. I needed more of my family, more of Mike, and more time to enjoy those things I rarely get to when engulfed with schoolwork. Being in the pharmacy has helped a lot as well--the things that I learned at Ferris this past year are put to good use, rather than left to collect dust for three months. Working full time, earning money, being able to drive, and just being a grown-up has helped tremendously with the transition back home. It's pleasant. I already know I'll be sad when it's over.

The past few days I've thought a lot about the course my life has taken, and the direction it's going, and I believe that this has contributed greatly to my happiness as well. I'm extremely lucky in nearly every aspect of my life, and in the past year as my life has begun to blossom towards "the rest of my life," I've come to realize the smooth foundation I've built my future upon. The things I'm referring to need not be mentioned here, but in a nutshell, I feel remarkably blessed. I'm proud that I've always had the patience to take the right steps and not be hasty. Most of all, I'm happy that I've always been true to myself.

:)

Countdown

One month until my birthday--start shoppin'. :D

Mighty Max

I went to visit my friend Beth tonight (which was great fun), where I once again encountered her devil-cat, Max, who has hated me with burning intensity for reasons which have never been fully explained. I've never touched him, not even to pet him, because if I come near him he hisses and growls at me like I'm the friggin' mailman or something. Tonight I really wanted to try, so Beth held him in her lap while I tried to stroke his back. As soon as I made contact with him, he hissed and spat and clawed until Beth finally let him go in fear of being scratched. He ran to the stairs where my purse sat, minding its own business. He then stopped, turned around to hiss at us, and just SLAPPED my purse like a petty little bitch! All right before running back down the stairs.

It was so funny that I laughed all the way home in my car, all to myself.

Bob Ross

I love watching Bob Ross. He's like Jesus with a paintbrush. He takes this naked canvas, and wonderful things just appear out of thin air. Chris and I watch and sometimes I even get mad it's so amazing. I am humbled by my own insignificant talent in comparison. :(

I get my second paycheck tomorrow! And I got a $190 deposit check from Ferris for my dorm room, which I forgot I even get back!! That's the best kind of money. With that and my coming paycheck, I'll have paid off over a third of my car. Yay! :D

Work is going really well, and I got those jelly-sole-things for my shoes, so now I'm Jellin' or whatever they call it. I've learned a bunch of stuff since starting at the pharmacy, and now I'm even entering in new prescriptions and trying to read crappy doctor handwriting. I'm a pharmacist already! :D

I still adore my car, and I have to wash it often it would seem. There's a giant maple tree over my parents' driveway, and birds just sit over my car and crap on it all day (well, at least during the hours it's not parked at work). Ugh. It's a good thing I have Tom Tom too, because 69 is a mess right now, and today they closed down the entire east-bound side of it. So when I got out of work at seven and tried to get on the highway, those giant ROAD CLOSED gates were up and I was at a complete loss. But my trusty Tom Tom lead me home. *warm and fuzzy feeling*

Last night while lying in bed, I started thinking about all the funny things Beth and I did together at pharmacy school this past year. I thought about all my fellow dormmates, and some good times we had. It was perhaps the first time since moving home that I truly missed school (well, not school, but you know), and I've been home now for almost a month. That's probably a record for me.

And I just saw Bob Ross paint a waterfall in about 30 seconds. It looks real. Son of a bitch.

Mom: We went to Walmart and stuck our heads in bowls.

Mom: Oh baby, the crotch pokers are really out tonight!


Today, an old man walked through the drive-thru. There were even cars in front of him and behind him. Some people just try harder than others to be riduclous I suppose. :P

Famous title

So the house is dark right now except for my laptop screen, and I'm sitting close to the living room windows so the June bugs are trying to get in at the light. All I can hear is them buzzing against the screen and OMG IT'S SO GROSSSSS UUUUUUGH. I hate June bugs.

Let's see. My phone has been acting unusual lately. Mike has called me a few times and like, nothing has happened. :( Sorry if that's happened to any of you. :( :(

Ferris finally got my transcripts corrected, and all my grades have been updated for the year. I finished off with a cumulative GPA of a 3.25. And I'll friggin' kiss the ground that that walks on. Yessire.

This past weekend I was in Lansing visiting Mike, and he had to work for part of it so I thought I might get slightly bored either being alone in his house or hanging out with his parents. But no. Mike's guardian Sandy and I painted the entire basement together, which took all of Sunday. I had to watch some training videos for work (because I just didn't watch enough on Friday I guess) on Saturday, and then Mike and I went to the Lansing art fair for a few hours (so much fun! :D). After Mike went to work I helped Sandy at Home Depo while she got organized for our seven-hour painting session which took place the following day. Oh man. I had a really good time though. :) It's so nice to not have homework to do.

I've driven around a ton since I moved back home, and I have to admit that I really enjoy driving my car now. There have been many pathetic times in my life when I wondered if I would ever say that. But now when I drive home from work and the sun is setting and the road is stretched out in front of me, I just don't feel like crap at all. Which is something that's never happened before. In just a few short weeks, I conquered a fear that has controlled me for years.

I started my internship on Friday, but really I wasn't in the pharmacy until yesterday. Friday I watched hours of boring training videos describing "customer service" and explaining how wonderful it obviously is to work with the public and their healthcare needs. *sarcasm* Anyway, I was really scared for Monday because I knew they were expecting me to just know everything and be able to jump in, no problem. Plus my pharmacy has a drive-thru and cash register! *scary music* Both of these turned out to be no big deal, but I always fear the big unknown. After my first full day shift, several of the technicians commented that I was a really fast learner and that having me there made their day a lot less stressful. *beams* Dan the pharmacist even ordered me a white labcoat like his, instead of a blue smock like the techs wear. Because I'm a pharmacist beeechez!!

And holy crap, my feet hurt. I forgot how difficult it was to stand in nice, dressy shoes for eight hours straight.

I work an 11-7 shift everyday. My schedule doesn't have time for a whole lot of other stuff--at least not until I get adjusted to it. For now I just sleep, go to work, come home and eat, pack my lunch, pick out a work outfit, go for a bike ride, and unwind as much as I can before I have to do it again. Ugh.

Even so, it's good to be back in a pharmacy. :)

Ghetto flowers

Dad hasn't cut the grass in two weeks or so, and it's starting to look bad. The grass itself isn't really that long at all--certainly in no need of immediate cutting. But you know, the dandelions. They start out small and short, popping up all over the yard, but then the blooms die and they grow suddenly taller. They get all fuzzy, the wind blows, and inevitably they spawn thousands of new ghetto flowers everywhere. After that, the nasty, headless remains of the stalks just sort of sit there looking gross. So now our yard is like a forest of recently deceased dandelions. That, in combination with the June bugs, kind of makes me want to stay indoors.

I went to my brother's choir concert the other night, and it was Mr. and Mrs. Galbreath's last concert before retirement. Needless to say, a lot of alumni showed up, including many of which I graduated with four years ago. I thought it might be nice to see some of my old classmates (and for many of them this was the case), but overall, it just kind of reminded me of how much high school sucked complete balls. Man, am I glad that lifestage is over with.


Kroger called this morning, and apparently I haven't been doing drugs lately. So I get to work tomorrow--yay!

Allll kinds of stuff

Yay! I finally uploaded my pictures to my computer! So here's my new car, I'm so excited. I've had it for over two weeks now, the first of which I had final exams and I was still in Big Rapids. So needless to say I've done quite a bit of driving her around this week instead! I drove to Swartz Creek a few times (where my pharmacy is) and tested out the Tom Tom. Last Friday I even drove over to East Lansing and back to visit Mike, and everything runs really well. I've tackled quite a few of my driving insecurities, and although they haven't completely evaporated, I think I've made some drastic improvements. I just love my new car! :D

We finally got wireless internet hooked up thanks to Mike! :D I just hope my laptop continues to behave itself. We had quite a few problems with it last night, but today I booted it up and for some reason it worked fine. My brother isn't on his X Box right now though, so perhaps that is what's causing the problem. I don't know anything about this stuff. X_X

Today was supposed to be my first day working at the pharmacy, and man was I super nervous. I got there early and met everyone, and they started explaining to me how I would be trained. Everything was going really well and I began feeling more comfortable, but then they realized that I didn't have a drug test on file with Kroger. -_- My district coordinator was apparently supposed to take care of this for me at some point after my interview, but neglected to do so. They were really nice and apologetic, but said that I couldn't work until they had the results for my drug test on file. So pretty much after an hour and a half (and an unscheduled drug test) I had to go back home again. :( I was kinda bummed. I love being at home, but I was looking forward to having something to keep me busy. Not to mention, I'd really like to get PAID, ARGH. Oh well--they said that by Thursday my results would be in and they'd call me right away.

Mother's Day was pretty good. I bought the Mom a giant hanging basket called a Super 'Tunia, which she loved, and new earbuds for her iPod because Chris ganked her other pair. I took her out to lunch, went grocery shopping and flower shopping with her, and then we went for a bike ride after dinner. My ass kinda hurt after that, but it was a good pain.

So now I guess I'll eat the lunch I packed and just... chill. *twiddles thumbs*