High Roller

I pimped out my Geo. Oh hell yes.

Happily Ever After

Sorry, I know it's been a while and you're all dying to know what's going on in my exciting life. School has really been crazy lately and the month of November only means it's going to get worse. There are times when I just don't handle the stress of all this crap as well as usual. Times when I get homesick, or I long for an evening of knitting, or going out to the bar with good friends, or watching movies with Mike's arm around me. As close as the end of this seems, there are these stupid little moments when all I can see is how many more days lay ahead of me. How many more days separate me from the rest of my life--from my first house, from my own garden, from my doctorate in a frame on the wall, from Mike to come home to every night. Each night I come home from class and cross off another day on the calendar and I think...

I'm one more day closer to Happily Ever After.

Welcome to Reality

You know, reality TV is just getting beyond bad. I'll even admit here that I've been sucked in for a season or two of something. I can't help it that that chick New York or Tiffany or whatever got a massive boob job and looks even more ridiculous than before. I'm only human, and train wrecks are difficult to look away from. But this fall, unlike other falls of reality TV which have come before it, I noticed a shift in the reality of reality TV. Apparently these people think they are celebrities (not that I think THAT is a respectable profession by any means...). Apparently I missed the memo, but being a "reality TV star" is like a job or something. People who have been in one reality show before are now in another, or two, or three, or more! WTF?? And they say things like, "I could never give up reality TV!" ......... Seriously. People like that make me realize how far up the social/economic/respectable food chain I am, even as a college student eating ramen (and LIKING it!).

I got my absentee ballot yesterday in the mail, which means I get to vote for president OMG YAY! I hate politics to be honest, but sometimes even I have to step in and exercise my American right to do some damage control. You know, before someone destroys the world.

There are several oak trees outside my apartment here, and all day long I hear the acorns falling against my walls and window. ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT. *ping!*

I'm halfway through the semester, and I'm SO looking forward to the end of it. Uggghs. I've been working on a lot of projects, studying all the time, and in general just crossing off the days of my calender and gazing longingly at December. Longingly.

Dr. Jameson: You counted the molecules? Who does that??
Student: We're pharmacists. Remember?
Dr. Jameson: I bet you even counted them by fives, didn't you?

Wine of a different kind :)

**Peektures**

I've been slowly trying to "acquire" a taste for wine over the past year or so, and last weekend I was offered an opportunity to expand my wine-tasting horizon! Mike's parents were up in Traverse City to visit, and invited us to spend a weekend in the Leelanau peninsula perusing the vineyards! :) We had beautiful weather and lots of lovely fall colors to enjoy, and wine-country is the best this time of year. You can actually taste the grapes right off the vine, which is a pretty cool experience. We visited a small handful of vineyards and ate a great steak dinner. Sunday morning I had the best waffle ever, right before Sandy and Debbie had to go back to Lansing.

My weekend wasn't all fun and games, despite the wine-tasting and family time. My car starter died on me (or, was on its deathbed per se), so I also had to work on getting that replaced this weekend. I bought a new starter at Autozone, and Mike's roommate Blake, who is a mechanical engineer for the US Coast Guard, was going to put it in for me. After much trial and error, he was able to remove it, only to discover that the new starter I purchased was broken. (head/desk) I was so frustrated I wanted to cry. Mike and I had to drive to Traverse City to buy a second starter, and then return on Sunday to have Blake try again. Yesterday I ended up returning the busted starter, and getting a rebate on my old one. Yep, Autozone made a -$208 on me. :D

School's crappy as usual, but so far my grades are good. And that's enough about that!