My life as a 21 year old (thus far)

Well, not much has actually changed, so I apologize for giving this post a title that is misleading. I've managed to go to only a handful of the bars in Madison thus far, though when I went out it was with great people who I haven't seen in a good while.

For my birthday about nine of us met at Porta Bella for dinner. I felt awful that Liz couldn't come because she had an exam (not even a final, a third exam). Either way, it ended up being Beth, Cait, Ace, Paul, Blaise, Ashley, Eric, and Drew and we enjoyed a fun, if not slightly awkward, meal together in celebration of my birth. When it came time to go out, everyone was either underage or unable to go out, so Beth came out with me, despite having come out that morning to celebrate my 21st at Lucky's. I don't know if she actually wanted to come out since she had so much to do, but it was extremely nice and she even bought me a drink! What a lady. We hit up Wando's and got free shots, the Nitty and got free beer, and then Brats where I kissed the nasty bull and got a free shot. Yay for free.

I forgot to mention that Beth and Mark, as well as (as best I can remember) Sam, Katie, some guy named Eric who is also from Franklin, perhaps Ryan, and probably a bunch of other people who I am forgetting, went out to Lucky's the morning of my birthday. The bartender was awful but I had a lot of fun. Beth and I even played shuffledboard! It was definitely a fun night despite being a Monday night/Tuesday morning.

Finally, I went out with Kimi last Friday. We have been talking about going out with Kel since the beginning of the semester when I was still underage, and we finally did it, except that Kelly couldn't come. So it goes. We had "pre-drink" at Kimi's which included watching the Bourne Ultimatum and drinking Bailey's. We then took the 82 to State from Kimi's (we only had to walk one house down to catch it and it dropped us off at the bar) to Brats where we met up with Kevin, Mark, Ryan, Katie, and um...other KHK people? It ended up being a New Year's Eve celebration so we got free champagne at midnight, 12:45 am, and around 1:15 am. It was my lucky day since I love champagne and free things. Delicious. We got wristbands for a free limo ride home but ultimately Bethy picked us up from Wando's (I was only there a few minutes since I got stuck back at Brats with Kevin saying goodbye to his fans). While we were at Brats Kimi and I left so she could show me the "naked lady game" at City Bar. I have to admit that it was quite fun and I would like to play it again, though she is leaving for Florida soon and it won't be the same without her! Anyway, Beth picked us up and took us through the drive-thru at McDonalds which was nice of her. And that was that. I went home and went to sleep.

I think that my alcholic beverage of choice is Bailey's. It is actually yummy and I actually desire to drink it sometimes. Crazy.

Things I've Neglected to Add

I went to Five Guys for lunch and I saw that all of the good seats near the window were taken. Who took them? Firefighters. No big deal, right? Wrong - look what they drove to get there. Ridic!




I took a picture of the gas station sign because I was so happy about the gas prices, but now I am sad because they are much lower ($1.69 today). womp womp.




This is why pedestrians in Madison have a bad reputation....you should have seen the two people who climbed under this train before I got my camera out.

I am on a Mac....right now :(

Random tidbits

Today I enjoyed a delicious lunch at Five Guys which featured potatoes from Sugar City, Idaho. These potatoes yielded perhaps the most delicious batch of fries yet. Anyway, I noticed that all of the "window seats" were taken by firefighters. Guess what they drove to get to lunch? The fire truck! It was parked outside as these men consumed oversized portions of heaven proceeded by gulps of delicious Pepsi, or "nectar," as my dad calls it. I'll add the picture I took later this week. Yeah, I know, I'm a creeper.

Whilst at Memorial Library I decided to rent a laptop so that I could go up to my tower and work without the sound of keys clicking around me and phones vibrating against the desks. They only had one available, a *gasp* Mac. I'll give it a try. I'm still using a desktop since the laptop was just returned. But in 11 minutes, it will be mine. All mine...for three days.

I ran across an update to Professor Hawk's blog that I like. Classicists will enjoy this more than everyone else, but have at it: Cicero.

The Wii interface reminds me of Macs. I do so enjoy the Wii, however, I don't think I'm ready to switch from a PC to a Mac, and I don't think I want to. I want to be able to play Age of Empires and Age of Mythology and avoid Safari. I am not a Mac person, which is why renting this laptop will be somewhat of an experiment. I'll let you know how it goes.

grammar

I was browsing a Facebook group that advertised use of good grammar. Of course, I checked it out and was saddened to find the following posts (click for a better image):

Wii FTW? Yes, FTW.

So, today I acquired a Wii. I know, I know, I said before that it was the one platform I was completely uninterested in. Well, I made a mistake. I love N64, and for me, the Wii is simply a newer version of my once-beloved N64. Mikel was amazing and sold me his Wii with two remotes and a nunchuck for $240, along with Wii Sports and Wii Play. Needless to say, I played it for several hours until my mom wanted to watch Judge Judy. In case you don't know, we only have one television at home with video game capabilities. Mikel even gave me two Gamecube games (yet another system I told myself I would never buy) but I lack a Gamecube memory card or controller to play them. I'll ask him about getting those later. For now, I'm plenty happy playing the same 14 mingames over and over. Though I do long for Super Mario Galaxy.....it reminds me of hooking up our N64 for the first time, and dreading how complicated the entire installation and interface would be since Sega was no walk in the park to hook up. Of course, N64 didn't require unhooking our TV antenna and there is no "lobby" area (Sega also lacked one, but we thought N64 might have one that would leave us confused for some reason). Funny story, when XBOX was the gift a few years ago, my dad, brother, and I saw my mom on TV buying the system at Wal-Mart. Fox 6 was showing how crazy stores were on Black Friday that year, and there was my mom, fighting off other moms, to buy us an XBOX. Of course, when she got home we made her give it to us right away so that we could play it. She was reluctant and denied even buying it, but they ran the story again that night and sure enough, there she was!

I went and saw Quantum of Solace with Yvonne yesterday, and have to admit that Daniel Craig is somewhat attractive for an old guy. I was disappointed that there was a general lack of cool objects used by 007, though I was impressed with the movie theater's popcorn. Delicious, as always.

I want to mention that while driving back home for Thanksgiving I saw a falling star. Not just a shooting star, but a falling star. It was definitely headed toward Earth. I love the annual meteor showers, but am not into them enough to bother becoming interested in astronomy; all I know is that the bigger ones are in December/January and August. This random little star was both cute and lovely.

If you love me, you will consider buying me one of these things for my 21st birthday, which is December 9th:

- Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
- Champagne (any variety)
- Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Wii)
- An iPod charger so I can charge it without my computer
- A real popcorn popper
- Books
- Anything romantic
- Cute earrings

This list (which may be added to as I think of new things) will also serve as my Christmas list, which will be reposted for Christmas once I can think of all the things I might desire for Jesus' birthday!

"Brain so good swore you went to college..."

I'm not going to lie, although terrible grammar irks me, I like T.I's newest single. yeah yeah.

My favorite song right now: Jackson 5

It seems that our Coastie party was a success! Last night we threw an impromptu party at our place because I felt like dancing and dressing like a coastie. So it happened. We dressed up like Coasties and had pomegranate martinis and invited the neighbors upstairs to this VIP event. It was excellent.

nom nom nom nom

The Boys Next Door - "Yeah Yeah!"

Well, it looks like I've neglected my blog for the past week. My bad. Below you will find the makings for a hilarious comedy that would receive two thumbs up.

Cait, Sam, Ed, and I ended up going to a Catholic mass that was completely in Spanish at Holy Redeemer on Johnson this morning. Needless to say, I'd never been to a Spanish church service, or a Catholic service for that matter. Haha I'm not going to pick on Catholics too much but that was a whole lot of kneeling, praying, standing, and sitting. I also didn't know that one shouldn't take communion unless they've confessed that week. Oops. But here's the best part of the whole thing: So, Caitlyn and I had an excellent time at the party upstairs writing "boobs" on Tony, Drew, and Cait's own chest. Since neither of us had time to shower in the morning before mass, she wore a cute scoop neck shirt (as did I) and we realized afterward that she received communion with "BOOBS" written across her chest and an arrow pointing to where they are located. HAHAHAHAHA Definitely the most hilarious thing ever this week. Ever. Even more hilarious is the story below.

Please tell me you noticed that the above two sentences were contradictory. If not, that means you aren't reading carefully enough. You know what really grinds my gears? I hate when people use "yeh" and "ya" instead of "yeah."

Moving on...so Friday night was Beth's 21st birthday party and fortunately there was a minimal number of random people. I had a lot of fun until Ronnie was brought up. I seriously do NOT want to talk about it. I have no idea what is going on between us. If I did, I would not be so frazzled. In the interest of having a good time, I proceeded to play beer pong and found that Eric and I make a wonderful team - especially since he drank all the cups once I ran out of delicious Asti to fill them with.

For fun, we're having another party tonight. Luckily we met our neighbors in #1 and they're chill. I'd like to give a shout-out to myself:

• SO for going three for three this weekend - Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night.

Liz walked in a few minutes ago while Cait was giving me a massage and we were sitting practically on top of each other on the couch. We definitely thought she was one of the guys upstairs coming down to rain on our gossip parade so we both had a super guilty look on our faces. Needless to say, Liz thought she walked in on a lesbian moment. For the record, Caitlyn and I are not lesbians. I guess you had to be there.

I'm really sick of either the Badger Herald or the Daily Cardinal screwing up the crytoquip quotes. Seriously, they're annoying to begin with since they're so ridiculously easy, but when you start to write it out correctly and discover that a letter in the code was incorrect, it becomes irritating. It makes me irate and really grinds my gears.

How did I miss this??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbGkxcY7YFU

Madison is my hot hot sex

Recently, things have been amazing! Since I'm helping out a MHR class at 11:30, I'm going to summarize why I've been so pleased:

• I feel like everyone at work is really starting to get how we do things. Leases seem to be running smoothly now, and my team is on top for the second week in a row!
• I am making bank with all of the leases I've gotten, despite showing a ton of properties on the east side :)
  
• Liz and I cleaned the common spaces (living room, kitchen, dining area) and it is a much more pleasant place to be.
• Someone put new batteries in the remote. Yay!
• I went to Wal-Mart with Liz and bought two movies for $5 each - Big Daddy and Along Came Polly, as well as a new package of socks, brake fluid, and plastic for the windows. mmmm....new socks....
• I nearly completed a crossword during class yesterday. The Herald features stumpers sometimes, and I rocked this one in the face.
• I put the plastic on my windows - energy savings here I come!
• I am making mashed potatoes for lunch
• I added brake fluid to my car all by myself in the dark!
• Beth's birthday is coming up
• I have no more exams until finals! And one of my finals is a take-home final!
  

And best of all....

• When I decided to watch Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl, I noticed that this DVD, which I purchased at the DVD/Media Exchange store on State Street, had two discs: presumably a movie disc and a special features disc. I proceeded to place the disc which looked more like the actual movie into my PS2, though both had "Disc 1" printed on them. What happened? Well, it seems that my movie came with both the first AND second Pirates of the Carribean movies! Someone probably exchanged it and forgot to put the special features disc back in! Two movies in one case for $5 - amazing.
  

A wonderfully unexpected change of plans

So it turns out that next year Katie E is going to be living with us! I really miss seeing her and since she is going to be rooming with Liz next year, I'll get to see her every day of the week! Plus, that means we'll also get to see more of Wyatt and Finny.

I think I've decided to try my best to pursue a career in underwater archaeology. Hopefully I will get into a field school - I was really excited about the one in the Agora (in Athens) but it sounds really hard to get into. Now that I'm thinking about doing underwater archaeology, it would be nice to find an opportunity that would involve diving. Here are two other fieldschools I am looking at:

Greece - University of Montreal
Pylos -University of Missouri - St. Louis

I am really frustrated with Ronnie right now. If he doesn't want to call me back or talk to me that's fine: I can take a hint.

Oh, school newspapers...

The other day the Daily Cardinal ran an article about the play that I recently saw, "The Greeks." It was okay, and since it was only $14 I didn't feel so bad about spending the money to go out with various classics professors and other classics enthusiasts. Basically, it was a set of three different plays that were all related. I'll let you read the article: Madison going "Greek". I hate to be a Classics snob, but come on. Last I checked, Helen of Troy was not the mother of Achilles. Also, the play I saw was not as "riveting" as the one that Ms. Casarez saw since the acting was just okay and there is little action (I really mean it, a brief dance is all I recall).

Skipping class to blog

Well, it seems that I've missed Troy class today. Oops. To be honest, we took an exam last Thursday and I am not particularly tempted to go find out what my grade is. Considering that the final is not cumulative, resolving my errors will be of little help for the final in December. Thus, I have resolved to update my blog, which I have neglected.

On a happier note, Sneak-A-Peek is tonight! I'm really excited about it since it's a good trial run for all of the new people, who seem to be nervous. I hope my team wins tonight because then we each get $25. That would be nice since rent is due on Thursday!

I'm really excited to sign up for classes since my schedule is going to be awesome! I made a critical mistake and misread my registration time; it is a full day earlier than I had originally believed. If everything goes according to plan, I will have one to two classes a day that would end at noon, and on Wednesdays I would have three classes, with two being longer powerlectures (1.5 hours each).

• SO to finding a class schedule that rocks
• ASO to having to take an ethnic studies class that focuses on Native Americans...

Well, it's about time that I go to Sneak-A-Peek!

Halloween!

It's finally Halloween! My costume is ready, I've got shoes picked out, and I've found a purse to carry my things in. I'm really excited to go out tonight. I'm kind of bummed that Ronnie didn't want to come, but whatev. Steven and three of his Navy friends will be up, so that will be interesting.

I have a lot of homework to do, but Ronnie did direct me to Bob and Tyler's blog, which is hilarious: Bob and Tyler's Family Feed Bag. You should check it out.

Top Ten Favorite Foods

I recently found out that cheeseburgers make the list of Ronnie's top ten favorite foods. I truly believed them to fall lower on his list, below pancakes, steak, and all of the other things I know he loves to eat. Inspired by this ranking of foods, I decided to list my favorite. Here they are, in order, my favorites:

1. Steam N Mash mashed potatoes
2. Tyson Chicken Breast Tenders
3. Baked Mostaccioli
4. French Fries
   
5. Popcorn
6. Gumby's Pizza
7. Berries: Raspberries, Blueberries, Strawberries
   
8. Velveeta Mac N Cheese
9. Honey Crisp Apples
10. Cousins' Subs brand chips

What a lazy weekend

Although I did drink an entire bottle of delicious Korbel champagne on Friday resulting in hilarity, the rest of my weekend was much more low-key. April's party was fun, despite Liz's having to nurse Steph back to health. It was nice getting to catch up with Brad, Jon (my Muse friend), Dani, all the girls that live there, as well as Mitch and Dan. I don't think I want a huge extravaganza like that for my birthday. I think I'll probably have just a few close friends over, perhaps even dinner out, and then I'll hit the bars with Beth and whoever else is free Tuesday, December 9th. I'm just not into large parties, though it is nice to catch up with people you don't regularly see.

I'm really glad we're not moving. Have I mentioned that previously? I know I have, but I can't stress it enough. This week I am completely in charge of getting people to sign leases and direct them to sign up for us to set up an appointment (following the 15th, of course). I'm excited and feel priviledged having this much responsibility.

Scuba class is going well. I kind of skimmed chapter four, but I did just fine on the quiz for chapter three. Next time we meet, November 6th, we will finish our chapter four quiz and begin preparing for the final exam! Our closed water dives will be at McFarland High School in, obviously enough, McFarland, on Dec 6th. Our open water dive will be in May at Devil's Lake in Baraboo. I'm really excited, but sadden that scuba gear is so expensive. The masks at Fontana were over $70 each, and those were not so nice ones. Oh well. I plan on selling my snowboard this winter, so that will help offset that cost. I'm really lucky that Casi mentioned this to us leasing consultants because you only need to be certified once, and that certification is good for life! Her and her husband own Breezeway Bubbles.

I also went to the mall with Kimi yesterday. I ended up buying a shirt, a wallet, earrings, and a bracelet. Good stuff. Kimi ended up buying a lot. She definitly walked away successful.

Scramble: a Reprieve from the Busiest Week Ever

I just finished an excellent game of Scramble (Boggle for Facebook) against Beth. I'm addicted for now, but I'm sure that as soon as I get busy, I will forgo this Facebook fun. For now, though, I love it.

This week is perhaps my most busy yet. Monday was work training for the new leasing consultants, Tuesday all of my Classics friends came over so that we could make the mountains for our float (yes, there will be pictures of our float). It was me, Andrea, Tony, Katie, and Ashley cutting out cardboard, gluing on cottony stuff, and painting on blackish brown lines to make it look like real mountain ranges. Even Cait helped out and made "Mt. Olympus" signs! It was really a team effort, and it only took us a few hours.

Anyway, this Wednesday I took all of my "tribe members" around for a tour of all of our properties at JSM. It went really well, but I remember getting the tour and being more than a little overwhelmed. I know they'll all be fine, but it is definitely a case of information overload during the first few days.

Tomorrow, Thursday, I have Scuba class from 6-9. Luckily we don't have a Classics Society meeting this week, or else I would have to go from class to work to Scuba, beginning at 9:55am.

And finally Friday, I work 9-5 probably painting the walls of Campus Village again since we are ahead of schedule (for once!). I'll be leaving at 3:30, however, in order to get my costume on for the parade! This means that I'll need to buy leggings (sigh) before Friday. Which means Thursday night. Which means tomorrow at 10pm. Afterward, we're all going over to Justin's for a Symposium - aka a gathering of people to philosophize and drink (in my case, champagne) until we are all tired and ready to go home. I'm guessing for me that this will be around 11pm. So it goes.

On Saturday night Katie, Cait, and I are volunteering at the Horror in the Dark at Olin Park. This happens to be the night of April's birthday party, so I don't know if we'll be able to make it until late.

Busy, busy, busy. I should study for my Latin quiz tomorrow instead of playing scramble. But I can't help it...I love word games.

Tsuj gnixaler - ton gniyduts!

This afternoon Cait and I played Diddy Kong Racing and it was nice to finally get a chance to play videogames. Some days I feel like I hardly have time left for myself and this was not one of those days. I wish I had time to go to the new tea house on State. I found time to read both papers today and the DC had a poorly written article describing the new franchise. Here is my favorite part of the whole article:

"Overall, Dobrá Tea is a nice retreat from the stress of classes and bustle of State Street. According to the manager, daily tea drinking improves body and mind. Dobrá Tea would make a great destination for some studying, catching up with friends or relaxing with a warm cup of tea."

Either way, this place sounds cool and relaxing. You know why I can't go tonight?? Because I start my scuba diving class tonight!! Yay!!

The only thing on TV right now is sitcoms. Terrible sitcoms. I think I'll go to class now...

Latin = Love

By far my favorite class has to be Latin. I'm still enthusiastic about it (whereas with Greek I was starting to become overwhelmed at this point) even though I swear a quarter of my class is freshman who had Latin in high school. For our last homework assignment we had to either create a paragraph in Latin or translate something into it. I took a risk and translated the first lines of Moby Dick, though I did struggle with the first line the most ("Call me Ishmael."). I was worried I would get some comment on the top saying that I should have stuck to something easier, but I was delighted to find that only my first line had been edited, and the word "excellent!" was written in purple marker at the top. I wanted to prove to my TA that even though I didn't have high school Latin I still understand how it works and what's going on in class. And I feel like I did so successfully. Yay!

This week has seemed to drag by. I'm excited to go home and see the dogs and my family. I'm also excited to see Ronnie, but I don't know how excited he is to see me. Hopefully things will be fine. I don't know what else to say about seeing him other than I'm getting restless and wish I knew what our futures hold.

Like I mentioned earlier, we renewed our lease, meaning that we won't be moving out until August 14th, 2010. It also seems that our football-playing neighbors won't be leaving anytime soon either - they also renewed their lease. Those guys are really nice (and at least 33% of them are without a shirt 88% of the time) and enjoy videogames as well.

This article is ridiculous and about how UW tries to ensure that athletes will graduate on time: Wisconsin State Journal. It also lists entrance ACT scores for athletes and regular students: ridiculous.

nom nom nom nom

(That's the sound of me eating pretzels)

So I've been thinking that I might spend almost the entire summer in Greece if it means I can complete another class requirement. Here's a link to the program I'm considering in Athens: http://www.ascsa.edu.gr/index.php/excavationagora/summer


I know that if I leave and Ronnie and I get back together it would be unfair to be gone for so long, but I also know that if we decide to date again it would be because we want to spend the rest of our lives together, and one summer is nothing in the long run.

Life is enjoyable right now. Fall makes me hypersensitive to my feelings, meaning that I feel extra romantic and extra insightful and deep. In the spirit of autumn and the coming frost (pun intended) here are some of my favorite poems:

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep
But I have promises to keep
and miles to go before I sleep
and miles to go before I sleep

...I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference.

This is another favorite of mine:
Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

It doesn't matter which path you take to reach your goals, it only matters that you do your best to get there. By the time I'm 27 I want to be married so that I can have three beautiful children and watch them grow up as I grow old. I'd like to be able to study ancient Greece, and perhaps even write a few books. We should be dating.

We have twenty-four hours to figure out whether or not we are leasing our apartment again. I have a bad feeling that we need to sit down and talk again.

Answers and Current Favorites

We will not be moving next year! I'll be sharing a room with Beth so that we don't have to move. You know what though, I'll take one for the team (and don't get me wrong, Beth doesn't want to have to share a room necessarily either) if it means not moving. This place is wonderful and very homey, not mention how GORGEOUS it is now that it's fall and the leaves are slowly covering the ground in shades of yellow and red. The chance of us finding a better location, cheaper rent, or better apartment in general are slim and none of us want to move from this particular apartment. These decisions, although made under the influence of delicious Korbel Brut Rose will hold and that also means I'll be paying less in rent next year! Plus, I won't be paying for parking!! (Shhhh!)

Here are the my fave five (if you will) this week. Perhaps this will become regularly updated, though I imagine I will update it too much and then get sick of it. Either way,

1. Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon (thanks Ronnie!)
2. Lay All Your Love on Me by ABBA (I just bought the Mamma Mia! soundtrack!)
3. Understatement by NFG (an oldie but a goodie)
4. Get It Faster by Jimmy Eat World (I just love it)
5. I Will Posses Your Heart by Death Cab for Cutie (but ONLY the last four minutes of it)

Don't go wasting your emotion
Lay all your love on me
Don't go sharing your devotion
Lay all your love on me

Playing Catch-Up

Katie and I went to the Pumpkin Patch last weekend and had a wonderful time with Wyatt and Finn! We did everything possible at the farm, from watching the kiddie puppet show, walking through the "haunted" silo, petting and feeding the animals, to picking pumpkins and nearly getting left behind by the wagon that takes you out to the patch! It was so much fun that I would gladly do it again this year! I bought three gourds that are really cute and each one is unique. I also got four baby pumpkins (one for each of us!). It was really nice getting to see the kids, as well as just getting to hang out with Katie.

What are we doing next year? That's the big question we'll have to figure out this week. The stipulation: each of us wants our own room. Here are the things I would like to find in an apartment (since it's highly likely we'll have no choice but to move):

1. Lots of windows/natural light. Last year I had no windows in my room at all!
2. No lofts. They are terrible. End of story.
3. An antenna jack in every room (or at least the living room and my room).
   
4. Water/Hot water included, at the minimum. I'd really like to find an apartment with heat included, as well, though it is not a requirement.
5. My own room.
   
6. Furniture included.
7. Near campus - not outside of this region: Bassett, Mound, and Breese St.
   
8. Preferably not a house. The idea of a house is not a pleasant thought.
9. Less than $520/mo for my room.

So for the first time ever, I've gotten an A on all of my exams! I've yet to get my Troy exam back, but I probably got a B or better. Hopefully. We'll see. I'm really happy and quite proud of myself.


I got the perfect Halloween costume last week! I'm debating putting up a picture since everyone who sees it won't be as excited. I MIGHT put up a picture later. Either way, it's really cute and classy. Pun intended.


Tomorrow is the training for leasing consultants! That means that I'm missing APO, but that's okay because I kind of needed a break from it anyway. I can only do so much for APO. Anyway, we get Milio's meals for free and we discuss what we do as leasing consultants. I'm excited to find out who's on my team although I'm quite sure Caitlyn will not be since my boss knows we're roommates. I'm really antsy to start the leasing season since it's so lucrative. It's also a blast and I know I'll enjoy meeting the newbies. We're so far ahead right now, actually, that we've been painting the hallways in Campus Village beige. Fun fun. Oh well, as long as I'm getting paid!


I don't want to talk about bed bugs ever again. Never. Ever. Ever. If we still have them, I should be getting bit. I have not been getting bit. We do not have bed bugs.

Today marks the two month anniversary of my separation from Ronnie. I wonder if he knows it's the 12th?

So much to write about, so little time!

I really wanted to sit down and jot down a few things I've been thinking of recently, but I just haven't had the time. I know, I know, I had my midterms last week, but this week has proven just as strenuous. I'm working on a great piece that I'll hopefully post later this week :)

Here is a list of the things I would like to cover sometime soon as well as some random notes:

-Katie and I and our trip to the Pumpkin Patch with Finn and Wyatt (with pictures!)
-Apartment hunting/nonhunting/indecisiveness on my part
-My exam grades
-My Halloween costume
-Work, in general


The guys that live across from us literally ALWAYS have their tv on. We thought they turned if off earlier today, but they were actually just hooking up their video games!

An incessant banging on the windows and doors

This weekend, the glass windows and doors outside of my apartment got quite a workout! On Friday night after Cait, Alex, and I left KHK (which is only a few houses down, thankfully!) we were awakened by Bri and Dani banging on the glass door of our apartment since all of their things were locked inside of our apartment (including their jackets). Cait let them in (I thought it was people across the sidewalk knocking on our neighbor's door). During the Badger game, some guys were tossing around a football and hit the bay windows three times before I went out and asked them to watch out for our windows! The cacophony that awoke Liz and I around 3 AM this morning was much more agitating last night than it is right now. A bunch of random guys and Ace came by looking to "party" and alerted us to this by banging on our windows and asking if we were in our rooms. Yes, yes we were. We were sleeping! So it goes.

I finally sat down and watched Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. It was awesome! I absolutely loved it. I heard a rumor from a campus tour guide with a group near Van Hise that the elfish language used in the movie was created by people at UW. I've found no such evidence via a Google search, which is slightly disappointing. I kind of wish I knew how to speak it, and that there really were elves around, because I think I would be an elf. I'm decent at archery and woulndn't mind living 400 years! Anyway....during the movie, I heard them mention the Eldar, which immediately made me think of um...well...nerdy things. Don't tell, but I didn't watch the Badger game because I was too focused on whether or not Filbo would stick with the golem or Sam for the remainder of his voyage.

Today I sat down and created the Classics Society Blog. You should wait to check it out though, since I have little information to put on it.

Liz is watching me type this blog and thinks that it's getting long, so I'll stop here. More about the Pumpking Patch with Katie, Wyatt, and Finn later!

I know you see it....

Oh my god you have to see this video, especially if you're a Survivor fan.

Three down, one to go!

I finally feel like I have enough time to write on here! I'm really happy that my exams have been going well. My archaeology exam was so basic, given that I've already taken two other archaeology classes (not through the archaeology dept) and I took Geography 170: Map Reading and Intro to GIS. We've talked a lot about GIS recently, so having that background knowledge certainly helped.

Biological Anthro didn't go as well as archaeology, but that's okay. I think I still got at least a B. But seriously, if I got less than an A on the archaeology exam I'll be upset. I rocked it.

Finally, my Archaeology of Troy exam seems to have gone better than I had originally believed it would. I don't know what to expect yet, but probably a grade that I will be at least ok with.


I need a backpack, badly. I went to Target yesterday and they had only Hannah Montana and Spiderman backpacks left. I'm considering just spending the $100 or so to get a nice North Face (gasp) backpack. It's one of the few purchases from the North Face that I wouldn't feel like a coastie making. I'm just having a hard time picking one out. Exciting!

I went over to Madison Property Management and secret shopped their new property, Grand Central. It was wayyy over the top. I mean, it's only $882 for your own room in a two bedroom apartment. And with the double occupany rate, it's only $590 to share a room in that same two bedroom. Sorry, but all of the coasties already live in Lucky. I did get a free beanie and two free shirts; they're really excited about this new property over at MPM. I would be too, if I had $1000 a month to use for rent and utilites (since only water is included). It's $1000 for an EFFICIENCY! Ridic, absolutely ridic.

lalalalala

Nothing much going on - just school. Actually I missed an archaeology discussion today. Oops. So now I have to make it up - which means going to the only discussion left this week: Friday at 7:45 am. Nice and early. Oh well.

I kind of want to go to a Brewer's game before their season is done. Which means less than a week. I don't think it's going to happen, but it would have been nice to go.

I'm excited to go home! On Saturday or Sunday my parents and I are going white bass fishing in Oshkosh. I haven't been there in a year, so it'll be fun but perhaps chilly. The weather in Madison lately has been absolutely incredible - I even wore a skirt today! Of course, wearing a skirt meant that I couldn't ride my bike and thus I took the bus. The thought of the slow trudge to class is difficult to bear. Taking the bus was not conducive to arriving on time to class, but it was worth not having to leave fifteen minutes earlier.

I got two of my movies in the mail today! I watched Gladiator already, but I'm saving Troy for either this weekend or next. mmmm Brad Pitt and his sexy abs....

Anyway, we facebooked our upstairs neighbors tonight and found out that they're all football players! The first thing I thought of was hearing Gabe having relations freshman year right above me. Ridic.

Tonight I watched the first episode of Survivor: Gabon. It was just okay - I used to really get into Survivor when I was in high school, but I'm really sick of all the drama. Speaking of, Grey's was on afterward and there's too much drama for me to bother watching it.

Sorry for being so uninteresting. There's just not much going on right now - though I do have four exams next week so the posts may become even more dry.

Did you know there's no way to say "yes" in Latin? It can be implied, but one can never just say "yes."

Just foolin around

I found these ridiculous sites.

Check them out.





Pick the biggest size and most activity....creepy but so ridiculously funny, it's okay:

ShockAbsorber


Just plain hilarious:

yearbookyourself.com

All work and no play...

...accurately describes my weekend. All I did was study. I really mean it. I read five chapters in Biological Anthropology and caught up in my Troy class. I did go to Liz's soccer game which was oddly reminiscent of my younger high school days. I remember sitting on the soccer bench with Ronnie and not getting yelled at. I love those memories.

I decided to finally clean my room. It's about 87% clean.

I linked my blog to facebook and decided to take it off - my blog isn't private, but I don't want random acquaintances able to read it via facebook. Creepy.

Speaking of facebook, the new facebook design is lame. I'm not angry enough to join a group and sign a petition. After months of development, the "new" facebook isn't going anywhere, and I'm sure the developers are proud of their work. Humans are just resistant to change, and admitedly the older design was much more user friendly. And Firefox 3.0...I have similar feelings toward this update as well. I really don't like it and I'm still figuring out how to get things to download since FF links with Windows and your personal security features. While I'm ranting about updates, I also hate the new iTunes update. Why does it keep syncing my songs onto my ipod, even though they're old? I've synced it twice tonight and both times it took like ten minutes. Lame. All I wanted to do was add one new song to my ipod since my laptop's sound is currently not functioning.

I'm so confused. Recently I've received a lot of attention from guys and it's killing me. Sure, I like the attention, but I really don't want to date anyone else right now. I guess that after feeling bad about myself for putting on weight since college, it's nice to know that people find me attractive. So it goes.

No angles!

So Cait seemed quite distraught over the setup of our living room, so she brainstormed a ton of layouts (okay, like three) and Beth and I vetoed the ones with angled furniture since we've been there, done that, and it has not been so hot. But she did it - she came up with a gorgeous layout and we switched to it today. I'm bored enough that I'm actually going to pause and draw a picture for you to see exactly how wonderful the new setup is. Brb.

Okay, that took about 40 minutes since I had to use Paint. Here it is:



Moving on, I just discovered that Starbucks carries oatmeal now. Interesting.

I'm hungry but I'm all out of nugs. And mashed potatoes? None really compare to the frozen Ore Ida Steam and Mash Potatoes which I am out of, so cannot eat. After finishing this post and reviewing it, I noticed that I kind of left the resolution out of this predicament. I have decided to eat two cheese and pretzel dippers and see how it goes. Then I'll move on to trail mix. mmm trail mix.

Today I volunteered at the WPTV pledge drive. Fortunately, Wisconsin Public Television is housed right on campus at Vilas Hall. It was a really enjoyable four hour shift: they provide you with snacks and juice and soda (!) and magazines so that it goes by pretty fast. We weren't live, so at six designated times we had to go to the phones because that was when WPTV interrupted their normal programs to advertise the pledge drive and advertise the gifts that are available. Kelly ended up winning a WPTV waterbottle, but she knew how much I wanted it and gave it to me. It was really nice of her, and it worked out well since my current Nalgenes don't fit in the waterbottle holder on my bike and regular water bottles are too tiny. I really like PBS. I wish more people gave it a chance. NOVA Science Now is sweet. Check it out.

I don't know about APO this semester - I'm already finding myself with a lot on my plate. It was mentioned at the officer's meeting we had this evening that we should have an APO sleepover. Sounds fun, right? Could be - but my apartment was mentioned as a potential host. Wouldn't that be fun - a bunch of APO going home with bed bug bites? lol how terrible! oh well, so it goes.

My bonsai tree is growing nicely. My banana plant is too! It's actually a Croton "superstar" but it reminds me of bananas. The center of the leaf outgrows the actual leaf resulting in little yellow string-things sticking out from the leaves. I love it! Right now mine plants are stalky but that's okay since they are supposed to end up fuller. Having something to take care of is really nice :)

My blog has had 613 views since its inception. Crazy. Where is everybody?? I truly thought that it was basically me and a few close friends reading this - I mean a very few. Creepy...but cool.

Well, I should probably get around to my homework. Amo rosas.

Our tv needs an antenna to work :(

Nothing too new going on. I'm going to UHS tomorrow at 8:50 am to get another prescription of predisone. Fun stuff. It'll help the itchies.

Today I went to Elyse's and had a wonderful dinner! We had pineapple, mashed potatoes, and nugs. Could it have been better? I think not; we even managed to do Latin homework together!

There are so many parties this weekend that I find myself overwhelmed. I'm definitely going to the APO rush party, but I might (and want) to head over to KHK's CEOs and Administrative Assistants party. Ridic.

Sometimes it makes me sad that our building doesn't recycle. I don't know how it isn't illegal.

I ate at Sbarro today inside of Lucky. I don't know how to feel about it yet. I'm very loyal to JSM and almost feel like I'm betraying them by eating at a property that rents from Steve Brown Apts. On the other hand, I don't know of any Steve Brown employees that avoid Toppers because they rent from JSM. But being inside Lucky still feels wrong. But paying $600/month to SHARE a room is wrong.

I friended one of my TAs today. I had her freshman year and she was my first classics TA ever. I hope she agrees to be my friend!

I'm tired of bed bugs. I'm tired of their bites and thinking that everyone and their uncle has them. I have friends of friends who think they got them from us. I'm kind of tired of it :/

Today is Trent's 21st birthday. I wonder what he got! lol that was naughty.

We have to buy an antenna for each of our tvs it seems. For now, the one in the living room has bunny ears and it works, but mine doesn't work. Habeo lacrimas!

That's it. Maybe Ronnie will call me. Maybe.

School so far...

I'm really glad that school finally started....I think I'd be bored out of my mind if it hadn't finally begun. Well, the first week of classes is over and this begins the second fun-filled week. I decided not to make any future semesters difficult, and aim for the Dean's List. I'm only taking 13 credits and most of my classes are into-level. Here's my schedule (including work):
My favorite class so far is Latin. Having had Greek, it's a breeze. It's easier than Greek because it uses the same grammar as Greek, but the vocabulary is stippled with cognates and words that are identical to Spanish words (eg. casa - house). I know it'll get harder, but for now, it's rather enjoyable and by far my favorite class to do homework for.

I'm quite surprised that my Classics 430 class hasn't been as interesting as I had hoped. It's all about the archaeology of Troy, and it's taught by Professor Aylward who visits the site regularly, yet it's just not what I had imagined. Long readings about Schliemann and Kara Tepe have made it hard to remain interested. I feel like I have to take it, however, since it counts as an upper-level course toward my Classical Humanities degree AND Archaeology Certificate.

Archaeology has been fun. The last lecture was kind of dry since it was simply about "science vs pseudoscience," but the topic of archaeology really interests me, so it's easy to stay interested.

The guys in the apartment above me are playing Halo. I can hear the music from the startup screen.

Finally, Biological Anthropology. All I can say is that the professor is dynamic, and we haven't learned a shred of biology yet. I'm not particularly excited about this class but I need it for my Anthropology major.

On a completely different note, I signed up to help with the PBS phone bank on Sunday from 8:30am - 12:30pm. Basically, it's just taking credit card information from elderly people. It won't be bad, and secretly, I am a huge fan of public television. But don't tell.

Speaking of local channels, I think I have to go buy an antenna for my tv. Apparently plugging the cable from the tv into the wall is not sufficient enough to make the channels accessible. Whatev. At least we're not paying for cable. Since I'm paying more rent this year than last, the last thing I would have wanted would have been paying 1/4 of a $120 cable bill. Ridic. That's about it for now. I've been doing an excellent job of keeping myself busy.

My Lappy is sad :(

Before I begin, I have to brag about the new shoes I just bought. They're gorgeous! They only cost me $56 but retail for $185! Ridiculous! They're absolutely mint and I can't wait to wear them out with the new blue top I bought. Anyway, they took my mind off of everything just long enough that it's just now that I'm remembering all the problems my laptop is causing me.

So sometime during that party we had last week, my laptop decided to make a fool of itself and disprove all of the wonderful things I've ever said about it. It's now slow and the sound won't work. Well, it works, but it's so choppy and cracks so much that it might as well not work at all. I'm actually asking for help now: someone, anyone, please figure out what's wrong with Lappy. She's sad because she can't play videos anymore because they skip or fail to load in under a few minutes. This is so unlike her! I used to have the best Lappy in the world with an amazing graphics card and processor, but now....I'm heartbroken once more. I refuse to buy a new Lappy. Since the whole system is running slow now too, it's hard to do much of anything. Here's what I've done so far:

-Ran chkdsk /f because I was prompted to do so.
-Tried to defragment but was told that it was unnecessary by Lappy
-Reinstalled the sound drivers
-Tried to use headphones to see if the speakers were blown but they made no difference
-Almost cried

And thus, here I am now. I'm so distracted by how many bug bites I have that at least my laptop problems are currently overshadowed. I just noticed that my spellchecker on Firefox is not working. Perhaps someone who has the new 3.0 version knows why this is. I'm just about to install my XP service pack 3 so who knows what fun this will add to all that I already have.

That's it. I'm going to Target. Maybe I'll buy more shoes.

Bugs and other creepers

So, in case you have not heard, it seems that The Cottage is infested with baby spiders and bed bugs. What does this mean? It means that Beth and I are both covered in bug bites from head to toe, literally. Being a holiday weekend (labor day is Monday), we have no choice but to endure the biting for another couple days. The two of us have been sleeping on the couch since our beds have caused us nothing but trouble, it seems. This certainly won't help the infestation, but it has been making things less stressful.


Speaking of creepy things, I don't know why but the guy from Terminix is a real creeper. I asked Derek to have a different guy come on Tuesday, and he said that wouldn't be a problem at all. The fact that the bug guy asked Jenny out probably doesn't help his case. Today I got asked out by the neighbor above me. I told him that Ronnie and I are together, so that should end that. I hate lying, but I'm really not interested in anyone and am not ready to even consider seeing other people. I hav a nagging suspicion that Ronnie doesn't want to be with me, especially after he said that I shouldn't keep liking someone that doesn't like me back. Ouch. Things like that make getting over this whole thing a lot easier. And by getting over, I mean moving on from the heartbreak.

I think I'm going to go shopping. I'm the only one home and I'm pretty lonely. I think I want to go dancing tonight!

Just stuff

I just got home from work and I'm tired so I'm not going to write a whole lot. The picture above might be called a Ronnie Kun since he's playing soccer.

Let me start by saying that my apartment is the best apartment ever. That's fine if other people live in apartments that have valet parking *cough* Lucky *cough cough* but ours is really nice and we aren't paying very much at all. Our living room is massive and my room is a beautiful blue. I bought cute little plants for only $3 each at Home Depot, and I absolutely love the girls I'm living with.

Work is going well, it just stinks that I'm the only one working right now. Today I posted only a few things and then I got to stay in the air conditioned office the rest of the day. I even had a showing today!

Here's what I really wanted to write about: I'm thinking about what I might do for my Halloween costume. Here are a couple ideas:

• Domo kun (thewebsite has instructions on making a costume!)
  
• Xena, princess warrior
• Princess Peach

I haven't really decided yet, but I've got to start thinking about it and get my stuff together. Hopefully we'll have a Halloween party that'll be just as much fun as Ronnie and Cait's party was. I'll write more later since I'm hanging out with Liz, Beth, and Ace (Beth's friend from Denmark).

U.S.A. - Rockin' the Olympics since 1904

So I was clicking around Sports Illustrated and came across these interesting facts.

In 1904 the US took home 239, or 86%, of the total medals. Of course, the only other countries competing and earning a medal were Germany, Cuba, Canada, Hungary, Britain, Greece, Switzerland, and Austria. Quite a short list. Another interesting fact: Chicago was supposed to host the 1904 Olympics, but lost the bid due to St. Louis' celebration of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, which wouldn't allow another international event to take place anywhere other than St. Louis. So there it was held. There was some guy with a wooden leg who won six medals (three were gold!) even though he had a wooden leg from being run over by a train (George Eyesor).

Since I love random facts, here are a few more:

• The first Olympics was held in 776 BCE. If you're in any field related to Classics, this is a fact you already know. Lots of texts speak of "the year after the first Olympiad..."etc.
  
• The 1916 Olympics were to be held in Berlin, Germany but were canceled due to WWI.
• The U.S. has hosted the Olympics four times: St.Louis (1904), Los Angeles (1932), Los Angeles (1984), Atlanta (1936).
• In 1936 Carl Diem (an Olympic organizer) had a torchbearer's ceremony at the stadium at Delphi (site of the Delphic oracle) and erected a stone to carve the Olympic rings, which became official in 1914, onto. In the 1950s two British authors reported in "History of the Ancient Games" that the rings as a symbol must have originated in Greece.
• The "mascots" for the 2008 Olympics include a fish, giant panda, Olympic flame, Tibetan antelope, and swallow (see top image). Their forms are kind of hard to distinguish.
• The US has won a total of 2404 medals, including both summer and winter games. Russia has the next most, with 1202 total.
• Through 2006, 15104 medals have been awarded.

Most of this stuff came from Wikipedia, a very credible source indeed.

Bernie Mac - gone, but certainly not forgotten

Well, friends, it seems that this morning Bernie Mac passed away due to complications of pneumonia. I mistakenly thought he was in remission, and was obviously surprised to hear this news. I'm quite saddened and regret not watching the Bernie Mac Show last night because I was tired. Promise me that you check out the Bernie Mac Show at the least - it's well worth your time. You might even start using phrases he uses and start calling people "baby girl."



I finally got a new phone! It's a Palm Centro, and thus far I love it! It's blue (although Ronnie mentioned that he preferred the black). I've been playing around on it since I got it last week and it's addicting. I'm using it as my personal planner as well as a phone. It hooks up to my laptop so I can easily upload info from my calendar on my computer to my phone. I'm amazed how far phones have come since my last phone (which perished in my car - the official cause of "death" was water damage due to the humidity). Anyway, I'm so excited about it that I have to go in a minute to add an appointment to my calendar. Oh to feel businessy....

Yesterday was Holly and Brian's wedding. All I can say is "wow." It was incredible. My dad especially liked the service since it was brief. I thought the reception was really nice since it was at Maggiano's at Mayfair. There was a pasta bar! I, being boring, chose fettuccine with marinara sauce, but there were other things you could have put in for the chef to cook. The drinks were around $8 each, so I settled with soda (which started off at $3 a glass!) which was free. It was really nice getting to see family I haven't seen in a long, long time. Something I observed, however, was that the only people under 21 at the reception included me, the flower girl, the ring bearer, and my cousin's two children. I didn't really care since I didn't bring enough money to even afford a drink, but it was a pitiful observation. Another realization: Steven and I are the only people on my dad's side to not be married and us and Liz are the only people on my mom's side not to be married (with the exception of my uncle Brian).

I'm excited to be moving in soon! I find myself missing Katie E. an awful lot. I didn't realize how much I would miss her, but I really do. I think a lot of it is because we were roommates freshman year, and lived together last year. I'm hoping that when I go up to Madison (either tomorrow or Wednesday) that I get to see her. I'm also excited to see my roommates for next year! There are people I'm not so excited to see, but I don't have to see them unless I want to. And I don't. So there.

Since I'm addicted, I'm going to go play on my phone now. Forget about Dark Cloud. I have Klondike!

Things that are UNDERrated

Some people just aren't living their lives to the fullest. Why not? Because they're missing out on these gems:

1. George Lopez and Bernie Mac
-I know, I know. A lot of people are watching or doing "something better" at 11 pm CST on weeknights. Give these guys a try! I love the Hispanic hilarity every night on George Lopez. His jokes are similar to those my friends might make, so it's like we're BFF. Now Bernie Mac is a favorite for a different reason. I like that his eyes look different directions when he talks. And while I'm on the subject of the way he talks, I like that too. These guys are way too funny to be on during prime time while quaint families are enjoying shows like American Idol or Dancing with the Stars, which is why their timeslots are 11 pm and 11:30 pm, respectively.


2. Red Robin
-You don't have to tell me that it's pricey here. But if you sign up for the birthday club you do get a free burger (a $9 value) the week of your birthday. Ronnie and I recently went and their fries are heavenly, and unlimited. UNLIMITED???? Yes! Unlimited! I think I've finally found my favorite restaurant. The chicken strips were delicious and unforgettable. Maybe my mom wants to go with me now...hmmm.

3. Sci-Fi as a genre
-So I showed Ronnie a recent Netflix movie my parents picked out: a disc from the first season of the Outer Limits. It was pretty hilarious. The episode we watched began with tumbleweeds attacking people, and then frogs, and finally boulders. It wasn't bad for being from 1964. Otherwise, I'm generally a fan of sci-fi movies from the days when special effects were in their infancy as well the newer movies. Some are better than others, of course. But don't hate just yet. Check out this list of sci-fi movies from IMDB and I'm sure you'll find that many are already some of your favorites: Best & Worst Sci-Fi titles.

Drama on the playground

Today was probably one of the best days ever work-wise. Aly and I got to go to the Country Springs Hotel's indoor waterpark along with Bridgette. Needless to say, not everyone was happy that Aly and I got to go. I'm really sick of hearing about all of the things I do "wrong" and about how I was "extremely anxious to see the roster" for the field trip which would say which of us were going. Of course I was anxious to know! Who wasn't? Regardless, I'm excited for my days at Deerfield to be over. There is just too much drama and talking behind each others' back. I hope that next year will be less stressful. In hindsight though, it seems that everyone's feelings about parks and rec are more exaggerated since the trip to the hotel was this week.

I'm getting really antsy to finish Dark Cloud. I'm so close to being done with it (minus the Demon Shaft which is a bonus dungeon) and I've finally gotten my weapon leveled up. Speaking of dungeons, Ronnie and I have been playing Dungeons and Dragons as a pair recently. It's quite fun actually and there's a lot more to do and more leveling up, given that there are only two of us getting all of the XP.

On the topic of nerdy stuff, I've gotten back into the sci-fi genre recently. My family and I have been renting the series Taken from Netflix and it is a pretty good mini-series. Right now we're watching the Outer Limits and although it's ridiculous, it's still not that bad for sci-fi. I'm really anxious to see if those old Tales from the Crypt episodes are any good. As a kid they scared me, but not that I'm older they may be lame.

Well, that's it for tonight. Only three more days of work and thus three more days until Ronnie's 21st birthday! I think I'll give him a call.

I'm here!

So it's been about 17 days since I last posted. Oops. My priorities changed once I began playing Dark Cloud again. It was only $5.99 at Gamestop in the clearance bin, making it impossible to pass up. I've gotten through a bunch of it already, and my current goal within the game is leveling up my weapon...which is taking forever. What a boring process to talk about - I'll stop.

There is something I must sound off about that is driving me crazy. I can't stand one of the Today Show hosts. Who, you might ask? Well, who is the only one that is annoying and often inappropriate? Kathie Lee Gifford, of course. I'm so sick of her making fun of whoever comes on. Sometimes people watch the Today Show because it is chock full of news and interesting segments. Nobody wants to see a host who can't stop asking inappropriate questions to guests so much that information isn't even given in a segment. See this youtube video showing Kathie Lee talking to moms who blog. Right around six minutes in, Kathie admits her fear of computers and Hoda gives the crew a look that's priceless. She justs makes herself look stupid. On a typical day her voice is hard to stand and her words make her look like an airhead - here's a video of her getting completely off topic and being typical Kathie Lee. She kind of reminds me of Kathy Griffin, an equally annoying woman. I really can't stand her either. I dislike her comedy and her voice, in particular. I'd like to move on now since I really can't stand either woman.

Here are some random things I've become interested in, in case anyone was curious:

• Dark Cloud (PS2)
• Paint colors
• Furniture for my apartment
• Planning a cute outing for my parents and I
• Making homemade fries
• Rexlace (see picture)
• Archaeological Field Schools

Football Tickets: So, I still have no idea if I got football tickets or not. I have to call the athletic dept. before I go to work. I'm worried because I didn't get an email either way. To be honest, I'll probably end up selling a bunch of them if I get tickets. But I'd still like to have them. We'll see...

An amazing secret: So, working at Parks and Rec, I found out from Karie that a guy at work bought an engagement ring for his girlfriend. What does this mean for me? Not too much, except that his girlfriend (soon-to-be-fiancee) is from the group I hung out with in high school. I'd put their names up here but I'm not that cruel. I don't know much about him lately, but she transferred to school here recently. I know she'll say yes, but I'm wondering if I'll be invited to the wedding given that I haven't communicated with her at all since high school. I'm also wondering if Katie will be invited since they had a falling out. Who knows?

My mom did something really cute yesterday. I asked her to grab me something to eat before she picked me up from Tot Lot to take me to Deerfield. So what did she do? She showed up with a mug full of cold Pepsi and a shoebox.
Inside the box were chicken nuggets, fries, a salt shaker, and napkins! She said, "I didn't have money for fast food or anything so I made you a box lunch!" How cute is that?? I love her :) She's wonderful.

Well that's all for now. I DO have to work at 11:30...

P.S. I watched a special on Tourettes and there's no need to fear: my infrequent meows are not characteristic of Tourettes in any way :) You guys are silly.

My dogs are super cute - even Widget, who has asthma and how much I hate cable

Before I begin, I have to mention that today is my mom's birthday. Of course, she's away in California with my aunt and Grandma, so we aren't going to do anything special other than call her and wish her a happy birthday, but it's still an occasion to acknowledge. I wish I could have gone with her since I haven't been out to California or Albuquerque since Ronnie and I started dating five years ago. Sometimes I feel like she's being selfish going out by herself and not even inviting us to come see our own family, but then I remember how expensive it is. But still. We weren't even invited to my Grandpa's military funeral in Albuquerque. Not even invited. Elizabeth secretly bought her own plane ticket and fly out and was reprimanded. It just doesn't seem right.

I brushed Widget's mangy fur today and I was pleasantly surprised. He looks as soft as he did when he when we first got him! All it took was a simple brushing. Now's he's cutie again!

I'm still excited about our new TV. It's a Toshiba Regza. Even though we only have regular broadcast channels, we now have a ton more. Four times as many, actually. We went from having eight channels to having 32 or so. We now have a weather channel and some of the MPTV (Milwaukee's PBS) channels are weather and traffic channels. My dad is entertaining because he often watches them like they're regular programs. I'm extremely relieved that we aren't getting cable at my apartment next year. I hated having to pay for it last year (my portion was about $20/mo for about 9 months - or about $180 total). It's just like drinking - I never really got into it, and thus I don't have much interest in it. I wouldn't buy a bottle just because, which is why paying for TV I didn't watch was just as asinine. This wasn't meant to be a rant about paying for cable, but it is now. Here goes: I tried to stick up for myself. I tried to say that we didn't need cable, citing the potential for distraction in addition to the cost as reasons for not getting it. All I was met with were comments suggesting that not having cable would mean the end for some. Realizing that there was no way to get out of having it, I went along. And then I realized that at least half of us living there lack cable at home and could probably have done without it. I would have liked to have known that $180 ago. So it goes. Regardless, next year we have all decided to use our money for better things and also have the option to chose our ISP, meaning we actually have an option this time around.

I was thinking about gossip the other day. It's kind of crazy how much gossip goes on. I also started thinking about specific kinds of gossip, like celebrity gossip. I wonder, does an interest in gossip bigger (for lack of a better word) than one's self cause one to gossip less than normal about one's daily life, or does it lack an effect? Alternatively, it could be observed that an interest in celebrity gossip, for example, is spurred by an interest in personal gossip, or vice-versa. Either way, it would be interesting to research.

I decided to join AnswerBag.com so that I could answer random questions. One that I chose to answer asked me to determine my magical dwarf name. Since I was bored enough, I took the time to figure it out (lol about three seconds). You take the first two letters of your first name, the last two of your last name, and then add the middle letter of your middle name (if you have an even number of letters, you take the one that makes the most sense). Mine, since I know everyone is dying to know, would be Merdy. Ronnie's would be Roeyr. The funny part is that these actually sound like names that might come up in DnD, if one could actually pronounce Ronnie's magical dwarf name. Katie K's would be Kaons. Some don't work out too well, like Steph's: Stsey (I would pronounce it like the tsetse fly) or many of the examples to follow. My mom's would be Shrdy, my dad's Grrdo or Grrdr. Steven's would be Strdv. Sounds kind of Norse. Or maybe Russian. Tom's would be Tokia and Dianah's would be Dikye. Elizabeth's would be Elern or Liern depending on whether or not she went by her full name or nickname. Anyone else remember JTT? Hot stuff back in the 90's. Anyway, his name would be Joasy. If you went by his birth name, however, it would be Jossy. What dumb fun. Anyway, my sn on Answer Bag is 'future archaeologist'. Look me up :)

That's about it for now, I believe. I have to finish cleaning the house tomorrow and I have another 10 miles to bike tomorrow at 8:15 am! Yay for getting in shape! :)