November Post Overdue Alert...

Thank you to Amanda, my sole reader of this blog, who reminded me that I need to post within two days to avoid my .25 a day late fines for overdue posts. Or is that the rate for overdue books at Booth? Anyway, yeah I'm glad that school is about over. Quite frankly I'm tired of it. I took the GRE and applied to grad school. If I get accepted in the spring, then hopefully I can get through it quickly. Yeah, I'm going to copy off Woo and congratulate the Harrises and the Groveses on their new additions coming soon. My birthday is in five days--it totally sneaked up on me this year. You know, I've almost had this blog for a year now... weird.

October

Okay, so I pretty much quit blogging these days, but I see that a new month has rolled over, so in keeping with my "at least one update a month" quota that I stole from Amanda G., I thought I would just say happy October to everybody.

Hello

Well apparently people don't think I update enough anymore. I swear. This is what I get for updating on a daily basis in the past. LOL. Oh well. I guess pretty much all I've been doing lately is going to school, doing homework/seeing Kris, cleaning my room, and playing the Sims. I really don't get online much these days, and that's why I haven't been updating.

I do not know much of anything about history, and not even about literary history. I guess Shorty is right--Dr. V. will teach me some stuff about it. I just hate it that I don't know jack about history.

In Dr. Markelis news, I am compiling a group of stories, events from my years at EIU, to make into an honors thesis in creative writing. Not bad, folks. I like that sort of thing. And also, I had been in a sort of writer's block/slump, but last week I began to come out of it. For some reason, none of us on the guest columnists list have heard anything from the DEN, so I guess we're not writing columns this semester? Who knows.

Amanda, as of right now, I think I will take the GRE with you. I also think I am just going to go to EIU. Of course tomorrow I could change my mind. Maybe after taking a little time off I'll be able to go to grad school without being terribly burnt out.

I just got off work. I need to be making some money. It's tough when you only make between $25 and $50 a week. And it's generally more on the $25 a week side...

Wow. I am so tired today--mainly because it is hot and humid. I've been working on this homework, but I'd rather take a nap... In fact, I'm actually too lazy to say anything today, but figured it was about time I updated. Later guys :)

School Has Officially Begun...

Well, friends and foes and those that knows, yesterday was the first day of school. I had Vietto's class with Kris and Jason Asaad--who apparently dropped the class but could try to get back in it. And wouldn't you know, we got assigned group work on the very first day. So I've been working on it here, and I think I have a pretty good idea as to what I'm going to bring to class tomorrow.

I guess I don't have to go to work today, because neither my boss nor his secretary ever called me back. That's okay though. I have things I need to do around the house.

Yeah, what made the first day official was that while Mr. Jones was in his 12:00 class, I went to the bathroom and happened to see Jenn doing her hair at one of the mirrors. You see, every semester, Jenn and I and usually some other girls from classes have these girl "pow-wows" in the bahtroom. It's an inside joke from senior seminar. We used to make fun of girls for going to the bathroom to talk, but then it seemed like after we started making fun of that phenomenon, we ended up running into each other in the bathroom. Weird, huh?

So anyway, Shorty and I worked some on our group assignment, but it wasn't much fun and we were both hungry, so I moved my car and we went back to his place and had some lunch. Then I, being always lazy, took a nap while he read some of his assignment from Kiddie Lit. I can't say that I really did much other homework the rest of the evening. I mean, I worked some on my personal info sheet, but I just didn't feel like it at the time. We went to the library for quite some time and goofed off on the internet. That was pretty cool.

Well, I guess this homework isn't going to do itself, so maybe I should sort of organize my thoughts and get something ready for tomorrow morning. And Shorty, if you're out there reading this--you better get your research all done too and don't forget about Children's lit. Oh yeah, and don't forget you have class tonight too--unless you decide to drop. You can finish all your homework--don't worry.

Well, everyone, I must be going for now. Peace out. God bless you all :)

Dr. Pepper freezes ROCK!

I apologize for not updating since Wednesday. I'll try to recap what I've been doing since then.

Okay, so Thursday I helped Sarah and Tammy move into Lincoln Hall, and then I helped Kris move into his apartment. I wasn't feeling the greatest because, wouldn't you know, although I was feeling better from my sickness--which I seem to keep passing on to other people--I started RAGGING that day and didn't feel too good until the early afternoon. Eh, that's okay. So Kris and I hung out all evening. We picked up his books and stuff like that and mainly just goofed off and had fun after that.

On Friday, I had lunch with my grandma and then I had to go to work for 3 hours. I was pretty tired and took a nap from approximately 6:00 to 8:00 and then I revised my column and emailed it to Holly. Then I watched a little bit of History of the World Part I and then watched all of Legally Blonde. Then I went back to bed.

Yesterday I went to see Kris again. I played the computer version of Risk II for the first time. It is a really cool game, but I'm not very good at it. Not yet anyway. We went to the mall and Wal-Mart, ordered a pizza, and watched Beavis and Butthead Do America. We started to watch, I think it was Nightmare on Elm Street also, but I had to get going home, so we didn't finish it.

Rach, I hope you had a good time at the fair.

Today, after church, my parents and I ate at Blimpie. It was okay. Then we spent pretty much all afternoon at Wal-Mart because not only were there like a million EIU students doing last-minute shopping, but also my mom had a lot of things she wanted to look at for some reason.

Well, tomorrow is the first day of school. I'm looking forward to it. Shorty and I are going to hang out again after class. It's good to actually be able to see him again. I really missed him a lot over the summer. Sarah, when would be a good time for Brandy and I to visit you?

Getting Better

Okay, well today I'm feeling much better, though apparently I sound terrible on the phone. I'm very tired though. So I got up at 7:00 this morning. I just woke up at that time for some reason. Then I had some tomato soup because I figured that would be good for me, seeing as how I haven't been feeling the greatest lately. Then I called work to tell them that I didn't think I'd make it in today but maybe if I am needed Friday I can go. I would have today, but I have spent most of the day coughing and blowing my nose. I'm not even sure if I'll have to go on Friday or not.

Well, yesterday I found something to write my column about and today I sat down and wrote it. That is, a rough draft of it. I think it will be okay. I can't believe I am supposed to have a column ready for the very first day of class. It's really not a big deal though, since I was in the habit of writing once a week for most of the summer.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I will finally get to see what Sarah and Tammy's dorm room looks like. I am totally a sucker for checking out new buildings and houses and stuff like that. Then after I help Sarah move, I'm meeting Shorty K and we're going to hang out.

Yeah, I guess I ought to get back to studying for the GRE. I keep putting it off because I wanted to just take it easy this summer. Well, the thing is, summer is going to be over before I know it. But I'm looking forward to school starting. I think it's going to be a lot of fun!

All I Wanna Do...

Is get back in bed and sleep! I don't know why, but for the past couple of days I have had a fairly nasty sore throat. When I woke up this morning it was even worse. And now I have the headache and congestion to go along with it. So anyway, I planned to spend the day cleaning my room, but I don't know how much I'll end up getting done. I have cleaned it a little bit, for those of you who are keeping up on my room-cleaning progress. Yes folks, I bought a small oval-shaped storage ottoman. It was like $24 or something, but it was on clearance at Wal-Mart and before any of you send me a comment saying I cannot afford anything that is $24, let me explain the logic governing my choice to purchase.

Okay, so my room is generally a complete mess. It is awful. It is partially because I have a small bedroom, but mainly because I just keep too much crap. That's all there is to it. So yesterday I got to thinking, "hey, maybe I just need some sort of chest to keep by my bed for all the graduation stuff and stuff from various showers I've been to" I mean, after all, it would make more sense than wasting one of my dresser drawers for that stuff, right?

So I went to Lisa's last night and stopped by Wal-Mart. Ah yes, Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart sucks, for those of you who were still unaware. However, being that I am a very poor woman, I am as of right now, enslaved to Wal-Mart and their seemingly low prices.

I also decided that I needed a fourth file crate to hold some of my excess books and pads of paper.

I spent the majority of my time looking for a freaking file crate because I honestly didn't figure Wal-Mart would have a chest I would like. Only to find that Wal-Mart was sold out of file crates. Anyway, somewhere in my quest for file crates, I found a cloth basket sort of thing. In fact, it was a set of two for $10. I thought that sounded pretty reasonable and picked it up. Well, then I later encountered a ZIPPERED basket that was a little bigger, but you only got one, also for $10. Well I thought that might actually be better than the two little cloth baskets for $10, so I picked it up too. Of course, I then found the infamous ottoman. I knew I couldn't really afford it, but dang it, I could use that ottoman for 3 different things. I decided to put the other stuff back. I could use the ottoman for storage, I could sit on it, or I could use it as a footrest. SO... at $24, I was sort of getting 3 things, which actually makes it $8 apiece.

Like my line of thinking?

Two Carpenters... sorta

Well Mom and I decided today was the day to put together the entertainment center. Wow. It took like all afternoon/evening to do it, but folks, it is done. Now we just need to move the stuff into it. Personally I think that will be the fun part. I have also been cleaning my room today and it is looking better. Jasper and Sunshine got a little scare though, because I had to move them, cage and all, into the bathroom so I could vacuum up all the feathers and dust they create. I guess Dad didn't know they were there on the floor and banged open the door. Oops :) They seem to be recovering about as good as they're going to. The little critters are so nervous for some reason.

Shorty K called me a couple times yesterday--I'm excited because we're in a class together this fall. I also dug out all my kitchen utensils from my grandma's house so that I can maybe do a little cooking at his apartment if he doesn't mind. I forgot just how much stuff I own. I could literally just about move out right now if I made enough money to cover rent. I didn't realize that I have wooden spoons, a cutting board, some turners and slotted spoons, potholders, oven mitts, and hand towels. Not only that, but I have a bunch of bathroom stuff as well. Including but not limited to the following: trash can, soap dish, towels, wash cloths, and rug. It seems like I have other stuff for the kitchen and bath, because a couple years ago I was planning on moving into Grandma's house, but it didn't work out, so I still have all the stuff in mint condition. Sweet!

Yeah, I went to Rachel and Sarah's house with Brandy yesterday. We stayed a little longer than an hour, although Rachel originally said we could only stay an hour... I honestly don't understand how Sarah and Tammy are going to be able to have a place to sleep with as much stuff as they're planning on moving into their dorm. But good luck anyway, girls!

I am so totally excited about school like you wouldn't believe. I have begun packing my backpack, even though I'm only going to have one class and one independent study. I sort of regret not living on campus at least one semester of my college career, but I know I saved a lot of money by living at home.

Good Morning, America, How Are Ya?

Wow. So I didn't get much sleep last night. Probably my fault for sleeping in all morning yesterday, not doing much, taking naps, and then drinking Mountain Dew in the evening.

Last night, I went to Chucktown with Brandy and Sarah for the purpose of buying even more crap for Sarah's dinky little EIU dorm room. Please. I don't think there's gonna be enough room for her or her roomie to sleep by the time they get all the stuff moved in.

I also bought a mushroom chair and this message board thingy--not sure why I got them, but that's okay. Oh yeah, and the 3 of us went to Taco Bell--I'm still paying for that.

When I got back home, after taking care of the bladder issues incurred by the drinking of too much Baja Blast Mountain Dew at Taco Bell, I decided to start cleaning my room (always a good choice for me because I keep too much stuff). And I must say, I made a little progress. At some point, Kris called me and I somehow missed the call. Good thing I checked my phone. I called him back and we talked about an hour. It was good to hear from him. :)

Well, I guess I'm going to have to go to work around 11:00 this morning. It won't be too bad. I shouldn't complain. Really.

Caution: Long Blog Post

So I'm supposd to have to work tomorrow. That's cool. Means I have today off. Again. I don't know how long I'll have to work tomorrow, but it really doesn't matter much. Just whatever is cool. Yesterday I started Animal Farm and it is deeper than really anything I've read this summer (probably because everything else I've read this summer is by Fannie Flagg). And by the way, I have now read every novel that Fannie Flagg has ever written. And I read all of them this summer except Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. So I also cleaned my room a little. I don't know what to do with so much of my crap. A lot of it is stuff from when I was younger that I just can't bear to part with and I don't know why. Yep, I'm a packrat. I know.

Let's see... I guess I also worked on my memoir. The working title is: Gas Station Recollections, so named because it is supposed to chronicle my life during my Amoco period. It needs a lot of work. I only have 4 or 5 pages single-spaced right now. I put it aside for several months and just decided to get it back out last night. Hmm... I have a really bad case of writer's block right now. See, I LOVE to write. I mean I really adore writing, but I wrote weekly columns for the DEN this summer, and that pretty much drained my creativity. Plus, it is easy to put off an assignment that you make for yourself (such as me writing memoir in my spare time). I have started several projects, but can't seem to finish any of them. Some day, I need to fire up the old laptop and crack open a case of Mountain Dew, assemble a repertoire of music to keep me going. It's amazing how listening to music can really inspire me to write.

I intend to craft memoirs about various stages of my life. I must be really narcissistic to think the world would really care to read the story of my life. Oh wait... I guess it's the same with this blog. I mean, all I do is write about what's happening with me and I assume that you all want to read it.

Today, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I will probably cook again. I've been cooking a lot more this summer. I will also probably read Animal Farm and maybe write some more of the memoir, or at least work on one of my writing projects. Oh and also yesterday I played an Xbox biking game I got from Rach. I might play that or another Xbox game tonight too.

I can't believe school is starting in a week and a half. I think it will be fun. The more I think of it, the better it sounds. I only have 2 classes, and one of them is an independent study. The other class is supposed to be fairly easy. Plus I'll get to see Kris more often and that will be nice. I miss him all the time. So yeah, all in all, I'm looking forward to it. I'm not ready for homework, but at least I won't have to get up too early either. The more I think of it, I'm really looking forward to school starting.

New Bohemians

Wow, so I have the song "What I Am" going through my head for really no good reason, but that's okay. At least I think that's the title of it. Mr. Jones, if I am incorrect, please let me know. And I still forgot to pick up that CD. Apparently I don't have to go to work until Friday. Sweet in a way, but not so good on the old paycheck. Eh, I ain't complainin'. Rach, if you don't feel like getting out this weekend, Brandy said that you were cool with us coming to your house and hanging out? That would be fine with me. Hope your foot is doing better. I'm not sure what I'm going to do today. Probably clean house, cook, read, and maybe even write and play a little Xbox if I don't run out of time.

I know the sun still shines when I close my eyes

So I guess I don't have to work again today. My boss never called me back, so I suppose I'll check in tomorrow. That's okay--I got to stay in my pj's all day. I have been reading on my newest Fannie Flagg book--it is okay. I want to cook something, but then again, I also want to clean house. And... then again I want to sleep. It is just after 3:00 and I don't know what I'm going to do yet today. I will need to check in with work again tomorrow. Maybe I'll get a little time in at some point during this week. Dang, I still haven't taken care of my birds yet either. Well, I think I'm going to do some room cleaning, bird feeding, and maybe book reading and see where I'm at if and when I get all that accomplished. Peace out~

And my garden sings, "Baby, talk dirty to me"

Well it's looking like I'm not going to have to go to work today. No problem. That just gives me more time to do things like: clean the house, study for the GRE, take care of my birds, etc. I had an excellent time this weekend. It was good to get out of here for a while. And it was totally fun to goof off and forget that I'm actually an adult. By the way, I went out to look at my corn today and thought of Beavis and Butthead--maybe if I had talked dirty to my corn it would have grown better. Guess I'll have to try that next year...

Happy Birthday a Day Early, Val!

So I believe Valerie is going to be 22 tomorrow. Since I'm going to be in Indy like all day tomorrow and not have a chance to update, I thought I'd wish her a happy 22nd today!

And Megan, you have a reason to not update so much... you work and have been taking summer classes. See, I have no excuse--I'm just a bum ;)

So last night I played my Ghost Recon game. I don't remember which one it is--Tom Clancy has a bad habit of making too many sequels. And I have a bad habit of buying every one of his Xbox games. Anyhow, this is cool--so the game takes place in Kazakhstan or however you spell it, and part of the story takes place in Kygyrstan or whatever. Anyway, I am proud to say that I now know how to pronounce Kygyrstan, or at least I think I remember, so now I can once again, name the 7 "stans" of the middle east. It is just like junior high all over again.

Okay, so that really wasn't a big deal. But I'm the girl who got excited that part of Splinter Cell took place in Azerbaijan. I'm a sucker for countries with cool names. Well, I better get going for now. Take care, everybody!

It's 6:45 A.M.

I guess I forgot to update yesterday and add another month to my archives. I usually try to write at least a little something on the first day of each month.

Swing Batter Batter Swing

Okay I admit I have a country song going through my head. I'M SORRY. But yeah, I'm also sorry for not updating much lately. I lost some weight--I'm down to 115 in the morning now. That's probably about where I should be. I can't say I've really been doing much lately. Last Friday, I had to go to work, and then I ended up watching my cousin after all. So I got in work for two jobs that day.

Then on Saturday I went to Kris's house and for the first time ever, did not get lost. We had a good time--watched a little South Park and thought about watching Date Movie but decided not to. Had lunch. Then later I read his novella and it was really sad. It made me cry and it was just a work of fiction. I really didn't think I was that emotional of a person. Then after that, we went to karaoke and NO I did not sing. I had a Pepsi and watched him sing and met some of his friends.

Yesterday, I went to church and then in the afternoon, Brandy and I went to Chrissy Pugh's baby shower. We sat at the same table as her boyfriend's mom. I won the "How Well Do You Know Chrissy?" contest and got a picture album for it. That was pretty cool. I could have won the nursery rhyme game too, except there was a 3-way tie and so they had to find a way to determine the winner. This is great--I would have never thought of it, but the girls gave us each a roll of toilet paper and said we had to guess how many sheets it would take to go around the fattest part of Chrissy's pregnant belly. Oh my gosh. I guessed like 6 sheets--I don't think that even made it across the front of her belly. So anyway, needless to say, I lost that competition. That's okay though--I didn't need to win two prizes.

Like I did at Shawna's bachelorette party.

You know, I only remember one of the games I won. Folks, I was proud of myself. I won the "Pin the P**** on the Man" game (which is just like "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" except the poster and game pieces are a little different).

Well, I worked I think an hour and 45 minutes today, give or take. It wasn't too bad. Then I got paid--very nice. I haven't been working much at all though, so I don't know--my check will probably just pay for the gas I've bought since last pay period. Sad, huh?

I see Brandy has left me a voice mail something about doing something tonight, so I better call her back and shoot the bull with her a little bit. I'm not for sure as to what I'm going to do this afternoon.

Skyrockets in Flight

So today is Wednesday. I haven't worked in forever. I almost forgot I even had a job. My boss doesn't need me to come in until Friday. I had to pass up a babysitting job Friday because of it, so I better make some money Friday. I could have used the extra babysitting cash--GRRR.

My mood swings are not cool at all. I keep getting depressed for pretty much no good reason. I'm not too depressed right now though.

I went to Mattoon with my grandma today. It was cool. We went to Steak 'n Shake and I got me another of those cookie dough shakes. Ladies, if you haven't tried them yet, you must--they are excellent!

Rach, sorry if you thought I was snappy on the phone last night. I was tired and had a case of the PMS grouchies.

Then we went to Wal-Mart--is it possible to go to a town larger than 3000 without visiting a Wal-Mart?

After that, we came back to my granny's house and I helped her add contacts to her cell phone. Then I came back home. I'm really tired right now. I may just read and take it easy. Not sure what I'm doing tomorrow. Yesterday I did a little sunbathing while I read. Today I just wanna lay on my bed in the air-conditioning.

Just out of curiousity, how long is a good amount of time to date before seriously considering marriage? This question is in reference to some couples I know who have gotten engaged after only a few months of being together. I just wonder what you all think on the subject.

Glory Days

So yeah, I've put over 2222 calls on my cell phone. I've only had the phone for a little over a year, but whatever. I went to see Kris yesterday--I had a really good time. I got lost going over there, and then got held up by a train, and had to take a detour on the way back.

Some people say I'm not updating enough. Well, the thing is, I haven't done a great deal lately. I had to pick Mom up from Bloomington on Friday, but there's not a lot to talk about there.

Nora wrote me today and informed me that she wouldn't need any more summer DEN columns. But I was offered a position in the fall. I think I will be writing either monthly or bi-monthly. Well, I can tell I've been watching Beavis and Butthead--I started to laugh at the "bi" part of bi-monthly.

It feels good to know I can take a break from columns for a few weeks.

Well, I'm pretty hungry right now, and I really don't have much else to say. Catch you all later!

Lovin' Every Minute Of It

Well, I goofed off a lot today. I guess that's okay though. I did clean my room some (I actually threw away two pairs of pants) and I have several shirts to give away. I found my Sergeant Pepper CD and my Daisy Fay book (by Fannie Flagg). I even found one of Brandy's birthday presents! I put on my bathing suit and sunbathed some in the backyard this afternoon. I also made pizza. I was in a better mood today than I was yesterday. Heck, I'm feeling motivated. I think I'm going to look for column ideas and maybe even get back to studying for the GRE. I want to try to call Kris around 9:00 when my free minutes start, so I might as well do something productive between now and then.