LOLz

Chris: Birthday cake ice cream is like Jesus-riding-a-dinosaur awesome!

The Green Machine

I got my car back last night! Oh man, does it feel good to have it parked in front of my apartment again. Driving it home was very stressful because it was the first time I've driven since I went off the highway going 45 mph. It was dark and windy last night, so I was a tense ball of stress the entire way home, going no faster than about 60 mph. I tried to go faster, but my breathing and heart rate increased exponentially with my speed, so I did only what I could physically handle. Which wasn't much let me tell you--I'm such a wimp. Mom says it will go away, and I can only hope so because I have to drive to Flint twice this week. >_<

On the bright side, at least my green machine is back with me. I also received my check from Ferris earlier than anticipated, so I can finally breath easy again! I'm thinking of using a couple of those precious dollars to buy myself a new fish, because talking to myself in my apartment seemed a little less crazy when I had Benzie.

Vent

I really have been unlucky this semester, so far. Pretty much since the moment my car slipped and went off into a ditch, it's been angry black clouds for me.

I still don't have my car back, which means I haven't driven anywhere since I went off the road. And because I can't make it to Battle Creek any other day than a weekend day, I won't be able to get my car after all until this weekend. Also? Even though after taking the car to the shop and hearing that it started right up, apparently my battery is on its last legs and is now having trouble starting the engine again. So on top of the $600 I've already paid, I've gotta get a new battery too.

Speaking of money, that's the ultimate source of my recent stress. I've moved the majority of my savings into a separate fund Mike and I are using for the wedding, leaving enough for me to make it through to my next financial aid refund check from Ferris for the spring semester. Of course, I calculated this budget before I had to drop several hundred unexpected dollars on my car. Now, I pretty much have only enough money to pay for the car, and that's it. Maybe put gas in it, because it's empty OF COURSE. What really pisses me off, is that Ferris has had my money since mid-December when tuition was due, but won't be giving me the rest of my money until the end of this month, a month and a half after it was given to them. WHY can't they give us this money before the semester starts?? You know, so I can actually USE it to pay for rent, and utilities, and groceries, and other crap I need during the entire first month of a new semester. No, instead I have to come up with random OTHER money on my own! OMG *scream*

Sorry, that was a lot of ranting. Pharmacy school is stressful enough. Flying off the road into a ditch was stressful enough. I just can't deal with anything else major right now, and every time Mike calls me I'm freaking out about something (poor guy).

Uuugh.

Inauguration

"And so to all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more."
-- President Obama

I would be a fool to say that I know Obama will be a great President, for how could I? It's a gamble, like it is every time you vote, and you can only hope that you chose right. You can only hope that some truth existed in those promises. You can only hope.

This is all I know for sure. I know that when I was in high school, I painted my bedroom in red, white, and blue. I know that each time I walk into the hallway, I walk beneath a brass eagle. I know that the Star Spangled Banner still gives me chills. I know that each night, I sleep beneath a blanket my mother knitted to look like the American Flag. I know that no matter what sins my government has committed, there has never been a moment of my life I've been ashamed to be an American.

For all I know, Obama's time in office will be no better than Bush's, or possibly even worse. He may not keep a single one of those promises he made to us today. Who am I to say?

But I can hope, and that's what I love about America. That's what makes this country, in my eyes, better than any other place in the world. I can always think back to a day in September of 2001, and remember what's really inside the hearts of Americans, and know that like me, they all want a better world. Knowing that is all I need to know, for even when I know nothing else, there is always hope.

Michigan = THE SUCK

Alright, seriously. It's too f-ing cold. It's not even FAIR. Today I woke up and it was -6 degrees with a wind chill of -25, and I had to go stand outside and wait for the bus. My warmer gloves are in the trunk of my car (in Battle Creek) so my fingers were freezing, my iPod battery died, and the bus was late. Shit. I mean, shit. Can't it be 21 degrees or something?

I'm in that part of the early-semester when my discipline hasn't exactly kicked into gear yet. I had lots of time to get a head start this week, but instead I did a lot of procrastinating. OMG. Why do I do this?? WHY??? It's as if I need the looming doom of an upcoming exam to scare me back into my usual routine of studying constantly every single night and being okay with that. If that be the case, next Friday should do the trick with my first Therapeutics exam. I also have to present a SOAP note for a patient already next Thursday, so uh... I better get back into pharmacy-mode real quick here. o_O

Over winter break Mike and I actually started planning our wedding. We pretty much did nothing last semester because there wasn't a whole lot to do that early, but now that it's 2009 we'd really like to book a reception hall/ceremony site ASAP before some other couple takes the place we want for the date we want. But let me tell you something--weddings are freakin' expensive to the max. It's just nuts. And there are some crazy-weird fees I didn't even think about, like a cake-cutting fee. What the heck?? I have to pay several hundred bucks for a cake and then I have to pay someone to cut it for me?? Despite all the number crunching, it's been exciting to talk about the wedding with Mike, and move forward with things like our budget, the guestlist, and what kind of honeymoon we'd like. It's a little exhilarating to think that it's actually in the works. My wedding.

*Smacks forehead*

Beth: So I've consistently retained 83.3% of the therapeutics material long term.
Me: That's great!
Beth: Yeah, so long as the other 17% won't end up saving any lives I may come across.
Me: You mean, like Coumadin dosing?
Beth: Isn't it 140 mg/kg over one hour? And then 70 mg/kg after that?
Me: ......... No. That's Acetylcystiene. For Tylenol overdose.
Beth: Shit.

Back to the Grind

Well today was day 2 of my very last academic semester EVER--the last semester of finals exams and constant studying. OMG! It's almost worth suffering through class everyday just to be able to say that. I'm taking a whole bunch of crap, as usual, but this time I don't have my internship at Sindecuse, so I have all of Wednesday off! :D Wohoo!

The P2 accelerators are here from Big Rapids now, so Colleen and I have class together for the first time! (but she's in Grand Rapids so I still can't sit with her in class... ) It's strange seeing all the new faces I don't really know all that well, and now the class is huge compared to last semester. Every seat is taken, and we always have to use the big lecture hall now to fit us all in. P school is back with its usual unfair crap, however. Our professors had us fill out a survey asking if we'd like to change our exam schedule back to weekly exams (from biweekly), but even though an "overwhelming majority" was in favor of weekly exams, they STILL are keeping the biweekly schedule for some bullshit reason. Which bites, because it's like they wanted us to feel like we had a voice, but then refused to listen to it. I guess I don't expect any better anymore, though.

I miss my car. I don't really want to drive it because I'm a little scared right now, still shaken up from the whole ordeal, but I just miss looking out my window and seeing it. I love my car, and I feel terrible that I left it in foreign Battle Creek with a bunch of strangers to touch it in its naughty places. The shop called me today saying that my battery is okay, but the part that needs to be replaced is apparently more than one part, and they don't make them anymore. So he has to get them from some special supplier or something, which will take 2-3 days. And it'll cost me $620 to fix. >_<

On the bright side, Mike has been like Superman since all this happened. Not only did he and Sandy drop everything to come and rescue me on Sunday, but he's also going to come get me and take me back to Battle Creek so I can pay for/pick up my poor car. AND! Because I wasn't able to get groceries like I had planned (lacking transportation and all), he called a Chinese food place in Kzoo tonight for me and had them deliver food to my apartment so I could have a nice meal. :) Oh man! That's seriously the sweetest thing I have ever heard--I wish he were here so I could give me a big hug. I'm not so sure where I would be without him. Probably still in that ditch freaking out, cold and hungry.

Another First for Me

Irony really bit me in the ass tonight. First of all, precisely a semester ago I was talking about "the Best Day Ever" in my blog, which would've been about Mike's proposal. Now, at the start of another semester, I thought of titling this entry "The Worst Day Ever," but decided to talk about it in the first paragraph instead.

Yesterday I left home to come back to school, but because of the massive snow storm going on, I became stranded in Lansing with Mike instead. I decided not to drive the rest of the way because, as I told my mom, "I choose life." Heh. Mother Nature must've heard that, and thought I was mocking her.

Today I left in the early evening, right after dinner, with plenty of time to make it back to Kzoo between 8 and 9 pm. I saw about half a dozen cars off the road and started to get scared. Shortly after getting scared, I noticed my tires were slipping a whole lot, and the roads were covered in ice. I lost control, swerved a lot, and ended up nose-first in a ditch with a pile of snow on my car. Oddly enough, it doesn't sound that bad, and I suppose it probably wasn't. But it was by far the most terrified I have ever been in my whole life.

A really nice guy in a giant 4x4 truck stopped to help pull me out. I was so stuck that he ended up taking off a piece of my car's rear end, which connects my gas tank to the side of my car where I pump gas into. This is truly awesome in so many ways, but mostly because I was almost on an empty tank, and now I have no way to put gas into my car. The nice guy (he's still nice, even though he ripped my car's ass off) then pulled me out from the front and got me back on the street. I was so petrified that I couldn't drive at all. I called Mike in what might have been borderline hysteria (I'm such a puss, I'm telling you...) and he did his knight in shining armor thing. He and Sandy drove all the way out to pick me up, and Mike would drive my car to Battle Creek to have it repaired.

In the meantime I waited in my car, and proceeded to freeze. OMG. After my rescuers arrived, we discovered that my battery was so drained it could no longer start my engine, so we had to call a tow truck. I had to leave my car at an auto repair place that our good friend Chuck recommended in Battle Creek, and drop my key in this slot thing. And just leave it. My baby there, all by herself, with snow stuck all up in her stuff and her ass ripped up. Poor little Prizm, you did a good job.

Mike and Sandy finally got me back to Kzoo after midnight, and even as I type this they're still on their way back to Lansing. :( I found out after unpacking that either the cold or the impact ended up killing my poor Benzie, and just after he had his one-year birthday and everything. I was just bragging to my parents about him yesterday. :-'(

Today is made of SUCK. And tomorrow, I start P school back up again. *dies*

A Hairy Situation

Christmas 2006

Christmas 2007

Christmas 2008

I wanted to post some photos from my hair-growing process, which as you can see has been going on for over two years now. For you ladies out there who have tried it yourself, you know what I'm saying when I say it makes you want to scream sometimes (most of the time?). This is the second time I've undergone major hair growth in my life, the first being from a boy-short length in high school. Looking back, I can say I definitely prefer the length instead. ;) I'm going to keep on growing until I graduate, then put some wicked-sweet highlights and layers into it. :D

Mike: We could put you on a street corner to help pay for the wedding.
Me: You know, maybe we should put YOU on a street corner. Maybe in a pair of surf bummer shorts with a chain connecting your nipple rings. I bet gay guys would pay big money for you.
Mike: That reminds me of this one time I was on Tribal Wars--
Me: Seriously? This reminds you of something? As in, you have a real life experience to actually relate to this?
Mike: *sigh* ANYway...

2009

Well it's the New Year, and not to be a pessimist, but 2009 would have to try really hard to be as good as 2008. However, because 2009 is only one year away from 2010, I already like it pretty well. After all, my career as a student will finally end in 2010 when I graduate! Eeee! And! Mike and I get married! :D Double presents that year, and pretty much every moment I've been waiting all my life for. :)

Honestly, there's a good possibility that 2009 will be filled with a lot of school, clinical rotations, wedding planning, spending thousands of dollars of my savings, moving around the state, turning 24, celebrating 5 years with Mike, taking off the training wheels of my education, and a whole lot of growing up. My last Christmas morning at home as a child, and my last year without a college degree. 2009 will be a year of positive change and looking back fondly. It makes me realize that adulthood is literally around the corner, and all I've worked hard for my whole life will come to fruit at last.

I spent a great New Years with good friends, having such a good time that we almost missed the ball dropping. Now I'm back home for one last precious week before the sucking commences with the start of another semester of pharmacy school, and for once I don't feel anxious for it to start. Bring it on, I'm ready to finish this up, and climb that ladder I worked so hard to build, right up to the clouds.