Happy Hallowe'en!

What a weekend! And thankfully, I mean that in a good way.

Friday I slept in, luxuriating in getting to turn my alarm clock off without having to get out of bed. Once I got up, however, I had a quick breakfast before starting work on my NAGPRA stuff once more - even though I'm not supposed to work on Fridays, I just wanted to get back to where I had been before the evil ThinkPoint virus ruined my week. Which I did around one-ish, and gladly saved it all and finished up my Halloween costume.

Despite my neighbor being a jerk and not throwing a party - and I couldn't really throw one, not when you consider the terrible parking situation (there is none for non-residents), the lack of seating in my apartment, and the fact that the biggest screen I have for watching scary movies on is my 17" laptop - I found suitable weekend entertainment.

Friday night I went to a show that was also a costume party at this venue near the marina. I met my friend Clinton there - he was dressed up as a greaser (like on of the Thunderbirds from the movie Grease), and I wore my sari and was an Indian princess. I'll post pictures of all that later.
The show was okay - the bands weren't very good, sadly. The first band I heard I liked. They're called Seven Year War and they're a nice band to listen to at a show, though I'm not sure I'd buy a cd of theirs. I imagined they would be the lower end of the talent spectrum as they were playing pretty early, but the other bands were pretty awful, and the two we went to see were nowhere to be found. We think they might have been in the VIP room downstairs, which really doesn't make sense. Why advertise bands and then have them in VIP??

A little before midnight the bouncers started circulating and warning everyone that if they parked in the marina they would be towed (even though we were originally instructed to park there) so I immediately rushed downstairs to save my car. So many people stepped on my sari I had to pick up the trailing end and throw it around my shoulders. Of COURSE they had to step on my gorgeous blue silk sari just when I was in a huge rush!

I parked my car near where Clinton had parked, in a safe parking lot. We decided to not bother going back to the show but went to In N Out Burger instead (I LOVE it there - they have milkshakes made with REAL ice cream for $2!!!!!) I had a chocolate shake and fries...yum! I was disappointed to be home so early, but at least I'd gone out and had a pretty good time...and I need more practice wearing a sari before I can wear it for long periods comfortably.

Saturday morning I went to Jo-Ann's looking for curtainstuffs, but I couldn't find anything I liked. I'll go again for the Veteran's Day sales, because I'm so sick of having those awful gaps in my blinds. I hate that anyone could peek in and see my bed, my armchair or my desk. On the plus side, this way I have more time to determine just HOW I'm going to hang these curtains. Honestly, I'm leaning towards duct tape. I'm a graduate student after all.

Saturday night I went to the Long Beach Shakespeare Company's reproduction of "War of the Worlds" as it was broadcast on October 30th, 1938. I loved that I was there on October 30th (it was given on the 29th and today as well), the 72nd anniversary of that legendary radio show. It started off so slowly, but after the first 10 minutes they got to the actual meat of the show and it was fascinating and creepy. The theatre itself was TINY! The stage was probably some six feet by twelve, and the seats were five rows of eight seats (if I remember correctly) and the castmembers sat on chairs with music stands before them holding their lines. It was adorable though, and I think I'll go see their rendition of A Christmas Carol this December.

I was really sad, when I read the program, to find that they'd just given Much Ado About Nothing (which is my FAVORITE Shakespearean play) so they probably won't give it again for ages. Seeing the Royal Shakespeare Company give Much Ado About Nothing in London is practically #1 on my bucket list.

When I got out of the play I was disappointed to find out that it was only 9:20, so I called Clinton to see if he was busy and he suggested I drive to his local movie theatre and we see the movie Red (about retired CIA operatives going on a personal mission to find out who ordered hits on them). I managed to find the theatre on my Garmin GPS - I apologize again to Dad for originally saying I didn't want or need one - and got there at 10, perfect timing for a 10:20 showing. On the way there I drove down a very long, very slopey, very scary hill. I had my brakes on the whole time and was inwardly cursing having gotten my drivers' training in Florida where a "hill" and a speedbump are about the same height and about equally as intimidating.

The movie was so funny! I'm glad there are so many baby boomers - without them I'm sure a movie like Red would never be made, and I'm hoping there are more like it in the future. I'm so sick of the boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl-back flicks that I've seen my whole life. I highly recommend you go see Red as soon as possible.

We got out a little after midnight and I drove home blasting Lady GaGa and actually enjoying the driving after a fashion - although I'm still unhappy with the highways. I'm starting to get to know the 405 and 605 a little better now, so that's very reassuring. I think the reason I liked driving so much more in Florida is because I knew every road so intimately. I could probably drive from Gainesville to Orlando and back with my eyes closed if there were no other vehicles to contend with.

Today I got up late again and lounged around for an hour or so before making up my shopping lists and getting my groceries. Trader Joe's was abnormally crowded today, as was Sam's Club, and the mass of people really dampened my spirits. They would shove, push, or stop completely and block my way and then ignore me as I called "Excuse me, could I please get by?" I wanted to stomp and scream and generally act like a five year old but I just bit my lip and "Ah-HEM!"'d very loudly until I could get to where I wanted to go.

Thankfully, Ralph's was relatively empty and I relaxed a little there. I saw whole young turkeys for $20 and I'm starting to wonder if I dare get a whole turkey for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I can't get one early and store it because my freezer is full of waffles, frozen lunches for weekdays, my bought-in-bulk chicken thighs and even some ice cream.

For lunch I made a double-batch of latkes. My reason for this was that last week I bought a bag of potatoes that were on sale and this morning when I was making up my list I saw that one was mouldy already and the rest were soft, and I realized I'd have to cook them all immediately or lose them. So I bought more potatoes (I made sure these were nice) and used all my old ones in latkes. Sadly, I couldn't eat even one batch, so the rest are in my fridge, to be tomorrow's lunch. I haven't even had dinner, I feel too ludicrously full.

In a somewhat related note, I have a very sensitive smoke alarm.


This is some of the first batch I made...I've washed everything but the big pan and the spatulas, and I'm so not looking forward to any of that.

Tonight I made a ponche for the very first time - when I called home on Friday before the play Mom and Dad were making their first one of the season so I wanted some too. Ever since I was a little girl I've watched Dad pour sugar and water into a glass pitcher, cut little circles of citrus skin off oranges and lemons, drop them in, then halve the fruits and squeeze in the juice. When I tried to do it myself I first couldn't remember how much water to add, so I called Mom and Dad and asked. Turns out you add as much water as you're going to add vodka.



So I had my water and my sugar waiting, and started trying to cut the circles off of the citruses. Turns out that that is NOWHERE near as easy as it looks and I'm going to have to watch Dad very carefully when I get home and he makes a ponche.
Also, I managed to make some of the "circles" (perhaps "pieces" would be a better word) go flying instead of neatly lying there for me to put in the pitcher.
But I got it done eventually.



The remains.


My very first glass of my very first ponche.

My ponche doesn't taste like Dad's - probably because I had to use limes instead of lemons (I was given limes by the Anthro secretary since she has a tree or something, and I looked at lemons in the store today and they were SO expensive), and only three big oranges that didn't have much juice because I got them from the store and they didn't have a lot of nice ones, although I chose the best I could find.
But it's still ponche, and it still tasted just that little bit like home. It makes me think of a line I read once in a book - "That first evening in the camp the drink was more than a tradition: it was an achievement."

I think it's time for bed now. Happy Halloween everybody!

A Concatenation of Unfortunate Circumstances

So I spent the weekend feverishly sewing and being excited about Halloween - all until Saturday night when I texted my neighbor to ask if he was holding his party (which he has been bragging about since August) on Friday night or Saturday night. He replied that he wasn't throwing it anymore because he has too much work (he's a film major and has been bragging about how far ahead he is of his class all semester). Hence, my night was ruined, and all the grocery shopping I did on Sunday didn't really cheer me up, except for the pumpkin carving.

Yes, I, for the first time in my life, carved a pumpkin!

My pattern!


Where the guts were...


The guts


Carved pumpkin 1


Carved pumpkin 2


My jack-o-lanterns glowing in the dark!!!

Sunday I also fixed my computer - it had been refusing to run virus scans for weeks now because of overheating issues. Here is how I overcame that difficulty:


Monday, however, is when the REAL craziness happened. I got a fatal virus on my big laptop (whom I have named Big Blue - my mini netbook is named MiniCarla) and when I couldn't get rid of it I had to perform a system restore. That's right, back to out-of-box condition!

I managed to get it wiped before I rushed to campus for the AGSA (Anthropology Graduate Student Association) meeting, which ended 40 minutes before class started so I ran to the Nugget and had a quick blonde ale and caught the beginning of the game before trudging off to class. Funny thing about being tipsy and trying to subjectively analyze Karl Marx and Marxism and a sociocultural theory: it doesn't work. You can't focus.

Our prof was sick so we got off an hour and a half early (it's a three hour class), which was FANTASTIC, and I went home and cooked myself a lovely dinner, watched tv for an hour while I tried to reinstall stuff on my computer. Turns out I hadn't backed up my files for a couple weeks (well, I tried on Sunday night and it did back up SOME of my files before the computer overheated and I gave up) so I lost all of the NAGPRA work I've done for my job for the past three weeks. I'm everlastingly thankful I emailed a good deal of it to my professor so I could download the files from my sent emails, otherwise my situation would be so much worse. I was terrified that he'd be really mad at me, but he responded to my email with one word: "Blargh!" so I THINK he's not mad, just empathizing with my pain. I hope.

Tuesday I had my early class, went, came home and passed out, then got up and started working on my laptop again. At 4:30 I had to stop and go to a CLASC (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Committee) meeting, and finally dragged myself home at half past six. I tried to resurrect my bookmarks, and I've found a dozen of the most important ones, but I'm still missing a ton of my favorites which sucks. I'll find them eventually, I'm sure, but it's such a pain. And I thought I'd made a word document of my favorite bookmarks after the last system restore I had to do, and I can't find it, so apparently I didn't. I think I'm going to have to do that this time though.
I managed to get the printer working - you have to download software from the internet when you have no idea where your cd is, and I kept trying to download the wrong damn software - as well as Skype and AIM and went to bed early again, being very tired.

Today I only had one class and absolutely had to nap after it too. I've been so tired lately, it's ridiculous. I've gotten some of my NAGPRA catch-up done but I'm meeting a friend for dinner soon so I'll have to finish it later...then early class tomorrow, a lunchtime theory meeting with Dr. Lipo and the other archaeology students, and then there's an anthropology mixer from 5-8 pm. After that I'm finally free to a) finish my NAGPRA work for the week, b) finish sewing my Halloween costume and c) sleep.
Except that the Project Runway Season Finale is on at 9, so while I might be sewing during that, you can be assured I will not be working or sleeping!!

Busy afternoon

When I got home today after stopping at the bank for laundry quarters I found out that my water was shut off AGAIN. Turns out it wasn't my apartment complex's fault this time, but the water department - they were digging up a main in the street and had to shut off all the water. Of course, the minute you're not allowed to go to the bathroom or wash your hands or drink you desperately want to...plus I couldn't do laundry!! This lasted from when I got home (around 11:50 am) til 4:20 pm when I finally decided to call and complain. I had the number dialed and thought, "Well, let's check one last time" and it FINALLY worked!
I'm a bit iffy about the water, but if I get sick I'm used to it, there's plenty of medicine in the house.

Once the water got turned on I managed to get my laundry sorted and started, I washed all my dishes, cleaned my sink, took out all the trash and then I sorted the hang-dry from the tumble dry and my clothes are currently tumbling away or dripping gently in the closet. And that all took less than two hours! Amazing!

I'm making stir-fry tonight in order to use up some of my asparagus and I also need to make chickpea salad so that my parsley doesn't wilt and die. So once my laundry is done I'm going to be chained to the kitchen for awhile. Not that I really mind, I love cooking.
I've decided to get a jack-o-lantern pumpkin and use the flesh for this yummy looking pumpkin soup recipe I found online. I tried to see if there was a better pumpkin than the jack-o-lantern to eat, but apparently it's good if you season it correctly. I don't care what anyone says, I am NOT using cinnamon!!!

Thanksgiving Menu update: I can't decide whether to make fresh white bread (so I can use the leftovers for gourmet french toast) or cornbread muffins. Decisions...decisions...I think half the fun of holidays is getting to plan the menu!
I found a yummy looking harvard beet recipe so I'm really excited and hoping mine will taste as nice (dare I hope nicer??) than the ones you can't get in supermarkets here.

This should be a good weekend. I'm going to check out at least one farmers' market in hope of finding annonnas...maybe two or three, they're so worth it!

Facepalm

Today in geology class Crystal was talking about some islands off of the coast that she wants to work on for her thesis. I asked if she was talking about Catalina Island and she and Priscilla laughed and explained that Catalina was near here, and the channel islands are up in Santa Barbara.

I replied, "Yeah, the geology of California is completely over my head."

Richie started laughing and I realized what I'd said.

"Geography even! Both of them are over my head!!"

Oh, the facepalm-y glory.

To-Do List

Tonight I'm busy working late on my NAGPRA stuff because even though I was nominally working on it yesterday I was mostly sitting staring at the screen thinking "I'm hungry". That's cheating so I'm putting in "overtime" today, although I DO have Mythbusters on the tv...it's okay, I'm working late, anything goes, right?

I was getting all muzzy so I made a new To-Do List (it's one of my new favorite things to do, other than planning my Thanksgiving menu which is totally impossible because I want to make a million things and it's really not feasible to make a ten course meal for just me!) and decided to post it here:

To-Do List 10/10
- Go to Library (register)
- Register for CSULB gym
- Clean bathroom
- NAGPRA work
- Theory Paper(s)
- Study Geologic Time Scale
- Laundry (stop by bank and get quarters)
- Call doctor for appointment
- Call gas company about heater
- Clean gas heater
- Read for geology
- Read for CRM
- Read for theory
- Have fun :)

Okay I've wasted enough time. Back to the inventory!

Rainbeau

Last night I got an email from my geology professor saying he was sick and would send another email later telling us whether or not we had class. I woke up at 6:40 am this morning and checked my email and sure enough class was canceled, so I went back to bed.

I've been coughing again for the past few days and when I woke up the first time I was coughing pretty badly. When I woke up the second time (at 11!!!) I felt much better and I haven't coughed too badly since. I wonder if there has ever been a study done that shows an easement in illness depending on when you went to bed and got up?

More importantly, when I woke up at 6:40 I realized it had rained through the night and spent a few minutes at my window, watching the cars rush by on wet streets. When I woke up at 11 am it was pouring with rain and even had an occasional roll of thunder, and I spent a much longer time at my window enjoying it. Now as I sit at my desk my kitchen window and 12 foot window are both open so I can smell the rain (and my apartment can air out).

I have a lot of work to do today and I have to go to Best Buy to get one of those wrist rests because I've been getting serious sharp pains in my wrists and right elbow. I called Mom and Dad and mentioned it and they insisted I get one right away because it can lead to my wrists being too crippled to type!! Of course, that was Thursday night so I didn't do it then, but I really have to do it today.

Okay I think the weather is clearing up some, time to go find a best buy!

Moapa, Nevada

I spent this weekend - Friday morning through Sunday afternoon on a geology field trip to Moapa, Nevada to look at rock formations in the desert. I'll write a more scientific post tomorrow complete with pictures.

Got up really early Friday morning, finished packing, and walked across campus to the designated meeting spot. On the way there I got a lot of stares, and one guy stared at me so relentlessly for so long I finally turned to him and said, "You know, if you stare hard enough, I might do a trick!"
I know that was rude, but really, I was carrying a sleeping bag, a tent and had a backpack on. How much imagination does it require to figure out I was going camping?!

When I got to the parking lot a bunch of people were already there, but it was still 9:30 before everyone got there and we set off. My car consisted of Chris (a student driver), Mike (quintessential California surfer boy), Richie (serious music aficionado), Priscilla (really funny and incredibly smart), and myself. The rest of the space was taken up with coolers and luggage.

On the drive out to our first stop - Rainbow Basin - the boys had fun scaring Priscilla and myself by detailing all the issues with the car. On a trip last year the rear tire exploded while going 70 mph on the highway and destroyed the back end (there are still dents on the back bumper from that), the brakes were gummy, the steering wheel jiggles and goodness knows what else. Well, I don't think Priscilla was really scared but I was getting jittery before they got bored and put on some music. I had to listen to a lot of hippie-boy-music. Not that Bowie is bad by any means, but it's not my style. The Thelonius Monk was good though.

When we got to Rainbow Basin we had lunch first and then walked around looking at the formations and trying to deduce how it formed. We decided it had been a lake once, and there was nearby volcanic activity dumping layers of ash over everything.
There were some really cool green rocks from when the water was anoxic, but I didn't collect anything.

Then we drove on to Las Vegas. It wasn't quite what I expected, despite having watched CSI: Las Vegas for years and years - it was very dirty and gross and not as impressive as the tv made it out to be. Our car was last in line and we got lost - the others turned a corner too fast for us to follow and we lost them - so we had to call Connie (another driver) a million times before we found where to park and then we had to walk forever to find the buffet we meant to go to. Then that turned out to be $28 a head so it was "too expensive" and we went to Planet Hollywood instead, which cost just as much (I spent $31) and I got food poisoning and spent the end of my night throwing up before going to bed.
Before that happened though, we left and I found Las Vegas is transformed at night and is MUCH more impressive.

After dinner we went to a grocery store to get supplies, and spent a long time running around getting what we needed. Then we filled up the vans and drove off to our campground.

We got there after dark and I was in a bad mood (got an awful headache) and had to put up my tent in the dark and it was a kind of tent I wasn't used to so I had to get Chris to help me. Finally I got it set up, put my stuff away, and cracked open a beer to ease my headache. I got through my second beer with no real easement of the headache when the nausea hit and I threw up in the grass since I couldn't get to the bathroom in time for the first wave, but I managed to get to the sink for the second wave. I felt terrible - and angry! I'd spent $31 on a nice meal and gotten a CHICKEN SALAD whereas Priscilla got a (raw) tuna salad and SHE wasn't sick - and Richie got seared tuna tacos and HE wasn't sick either! I'm officially boycotting Planet Hollywood.

After getting sick I decided to call it a night, brushed my teeth and went to bed.

Saturday we got up early, I felt much better, ate some breakfast and we headed out to the valley we were checking out. That part of the trip really sucked - we had to hike like four miles at the outset in the hot sun and then we stayed there til 4 pm when if we had just gone from spot to spot in a timely fashion with any sort of regularity we would've been done by noon. It was searing hot, we were all miserable, and there was some interesting stuff but a great deal of it was incredibly boring. I did get some nice pictures and samples though.

We finally got back to camp around 4:30 and we all changed into swimsuits and jumped in the river - I brought a frisbee and everyone was having fun tossing it around. Then some boys got an inflatable mattress and started sailing down the river on it. Mike got ahold of it and surfed down some rapids, and did a great job until he decided to dive off into water that looked deep but was really very shallow - he slammed facefirst into a rock and cut up his face and nose. I lent my first aid kit and Connie lent hers and between the two one of the boys managed to patch up Mike's face quite nicely, although I think a stitch or two would've been beneficial. Poor Mike had a sore head and blood running postnasally down his sinuses for the rest of the trip. I didn't see him today but a girlfriend of mine did and she says the swelling is going down nicely.

After Mike got hurt everyone got out of the river and changed and grabbed some snacks and chatted till dinner (hotdogs) and then we split off into groups and hung out all night. I tried going swimming again in the river late at night but it was way too cold (even though it was a hot spring) and gave up and went to bed.

Sunday we struck camp and went to check out one last spot before heading on home. The last spot was pretty cool, I found some awesome samples, so I'll write about them later when I have pictures to help explain.

Driving home wasn't as fun as driving out had been - I was tired and feeling coughy and uncomfortable and Richie and Priscilla had the window seats so there was nothing I could curl up against to sleep on. I did manage to sleep sitting up for awhile but it was very very very uncomfortable.

My favorite part was when we were nearly at the California border and we were approaching this mountain range and saw some beautiful cloud formations that were so thick it looked like the mountains were floating on clouds. I tried and tried to get a picture and it just didn't take until Mike suggested I try to get a picture through his polarized sunglasses, and holy moly IT WORKED!! I really want to get polarized sunglasses now, but I do have to consider expense...le sigh!
But I got my picture which was lovely.

We finally got back, unpacked the cars, I grabbed my stuff and schlepped across campus to my apartment and finally got back at 6 pm. I dropped my stuff and immediately threw my dirty smelly clothes in the hamper and showered for nearly half an hour. I used FOUR shampoos in my hair to try and get it clean. I'm going to shower again tonight...not sure how many shampoos I'll use, but it feels GOOD to have clean hair!!!

I had a quiet microwave dinner, then finally couldn't stay up past 9:30 pm...and woke up at 8:30 am today and I'm STILL tired. Camping is exhausting.

Today I had class in the morning, then I went to REI and returned my rented tent, then went to Sam's Club and Ralph's for groceries since I naturally couldn't go shopping last night. Then I had class tonight and I'm trying to decide what to do for dinner. I think an omelet, or maybe a baked potato.

I'll post pictures and things on my next entry!

Thursday again!

How did it get to be Thursday already? Where on earth did all the time in the world go?

I have been very good today - I got up at 6:45, got to class nice and early, went to CVS after class to get a knee brace, ate lunch, went to REI to pick up my tent, went to Marshall's and got a drawstring backpack for $5 (...and a copy of Sex and the City The Movie for $5...) and now I'm at home and just have some NAGPRA stuff to work on. Woo!
Well...until it's 7 pm and I go to Trader Joe's to pick up tomorrow's lunch and then come home and pack to Project Runway before going to bed early so that getting up early tomorrow won't suck so much.

Class today was SO much fun. We spent the entire three hours doing a lab - very simple, look at rocks and figure out what their name is in the Durham classification system and the Folk classification system, and some of them had an additional question too.
But we all talked and laughed the whole time, and helped each other out, and the names themselves are soo weird - ever seen a biopeloomictite? I have!

I'm actually starting to get excited about the camping trip. We're having dinner in Las Vegas tomorrow night (I'm praying we go somewhere cheap), checking out a bunch of geological hotspots on the way to Nevada and back (I wonder if we're going to check out Lake Mead??) and then we have the main trip with like a hundred people AND we get a BBQ on Saturday night! Very cool.

Okay enough dilly-dallying, I gotta get to work.

Roundtable

My theory class gets more and more banal as the weeks go on. I want to write a 5 page paper this week to get it out of the way...we'll see if that actually happens, because I have a huge load of NAGPRA stuff to do by Thursday night.
Oh and on Thursday I need to pick up my tent from REI, get a lunch for the road from Trader Joe's, have my backpack entirely packed for the weekend, have my paper finished...sigh.

I got a lot of work done today though, but I'm still really tired. And I have early class tomorrow, ugh. And I think I need to do laundry. And I'm hungry after I just ate...really?!

I think it's time for sugar-free strawberry jello.

Love it!

Spent tonight doing a photoshoot to test out my new Neutrogena anti-acne foundation. This picture is totally one of my favorites...love my hat :)



Yay!

Sore fingers

Test on Thursday went much better than I feared. I had a little bit of trouble with the matching and the long-answer, but the short-answers I knew well, so I'm hoping for a high B - low A...and I'm going to revamp how I study. Draw, draw, and draw some more!! (Lots and lots of diagrams in geology...who knew?!)

After my test I went to the Anthro office and picked up my very first paycheck! I only worked 2 weeks this month so my check was for $670, and I was super psyched. It's so lovely to get paid! Then I had to run down to the Foundation building to get the paper for my last key, and then to the key issue office to get the actual key. They nearly sent me back for another signature (again!) but the lady in charge decided that since the University Research Office was "such a mess" they'd just accept the guy who signed it. I don't know, the URO looks pretty clean and organized to me!

Then I headed home, had some lunch, and worked for awhile on my NAGPRA stuff. The rest of the day was spent eating and watching tv...and then I read Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea. I might read Anne of the Island tonight, if I don't decide to write - I really need to bust my writers' block and finish my manuscripts. Stupid writers' block :(

Today I slept in a little, showered, then went to campus to work on the NAGPRA stuff some more - I'd finished the file folder I had here, so I went to my lab and worked through the notebooks there. Then I tried to get into the file cabinet where the site records are, and guess what? The top drawer opens...the bottom drawer opens...the middle drawer, where the site records are, will NOT open. It's one of those dreadful cabinets that only lets one drawer be open at a time, and I think the middle shelf is jammed under the top shelf - you can see the top one pressing down onto the middle one when it's shut, and it's an awful pain to open itself.
I txtd a few people, asking for advice, which came back as an almost-unanimous "Kick it", which wasn't much help as I was wearing sandals.
I'm going to email my boss and ask if there's some sort of knack to it, and if not, I'm suggesting dynamite.

But my fingers are so sore! I kept trying to pry the damn thing open, first from the top and then from the bottom, and not only are the tips of my fingers STILL red half an hour later, you can still see the red lines right next to where the tip of the fingernail separates from your finger. So, I definitely tried hard! Maybe I should go out and get a crowbar.

The rest of my day today: I need to get camping supplies at REI for my fieldtrip next weekend, I must deposit my check, clean my apartment (how does it keep getting so messy?!), study, get shampoo, write a paper (well, at least start it), and cook myself a really nice dinner. It is Friday after all!

I think I'm going to make egg-fried rice because I haven't had it for a couple weeks. Or maybe I'll make spicy shrimp, because I have two pounds of shrimp in my freezer (that's totally four meals right there). Or, I might make latkes, because I have had the most insane cravings for like a month now and I just never make them because I'm so tired of accidentally grating my fingers instead of the potatoes. Then again, considering my hands, maybe not today.

Happy Friday!

Singing in the rain

Last night, I was curled up in bed, thinking of fluffy pillows and cuddly kittens in an attempt to lull myself to sleep when I heard something. At first I was sure I was dreaming, but I jumped up and ran to the windows and pulled aside the blinds, and sure enough IT WAS RAINING!!

I opened my door and watched the rain make splashes in the pool and listened to the now-rare sound of raindrops on the roof. It was too cold - about 58 degrees - to stay out there long, so I went back to bed and cuddled up again, but I was so excited for the rain I simply had to jump up and open my kitchen window so that I could hear the raindrops better. My roof must be very thick because I couldn't hear the rain on it, which is a definite change from Florida.

I woke up this morning and guess what? It was still raining! I danced a little dance and then went to shower...sadly when I got out the rain had stopped, but I got to see the rain for a little while and it made me happy.

I only have one class today, but I also have to do a lot of work - had a meeting with my boss yesterday and I'm clear on how to proceed with my work now, it's just a lot of work! And I have a test tomorrow which I'm very nervous about. I think I'm going to go through my notes, make a study sheet of definitions, make some drawings, and then reread everything.

And then I'm going to take an hour off at 9 pm to watch the season premiere of Mythbusters. Isn't science wonderful??

Weekend blues

This week and weekend have not been easy. I spent two days in the office, scanning and rescanning that bloody book my professor gave me to scan, and thanks to "errors" I had to scan some sections FOUR TIMES. But I got it all done, and done correctly at last, handed it in on Thursday afternoon, and headed home to start studying.

Thursday night I didn't get much done, I was depressed and exhausted, so I skimmed my books and then settled in to watch Project Runway before going to bed early.

Friday was errand day - I did my laundry, cleaned the apartment, went to Target for some essentials (pencils and bathroom cleaner), and combed the internet for deals on camping equipment.
I'm going on a mandatory field trip to Nevada the weekend of the 15th, and we need to bring our own tents and sleeping bags, so I'm going to buy a nice sleeping bag, and rent a tent. It's obvious I'll have to camp in my profession and I might as well think of the long run and buy good-quality stuff now so that it'll last longer. I'm also looking at cutlery sets, they have nice ones online for $6 or so.

I also spent Friday fighting with my computer, trying to get some files to behave so I could finish up some prep work for my job. My computer kept alternately freezing and crashing, so I gave up, but I have to try again today after I'm done with this. I WILL prevail! Stupid computers :(

Saturday I slept in, then went to the African Hut to replenish my completely depleted stores of South African goodies. I got droewors this time instead of biltong, and I haven't tried it yet, maybe later tonight as a midnight snack. I also got two boxes of Choc-kits, but apparently one was $0.99 and one was $2.99...??? I took them both off the discounted display, but I guess one had the wrong sticker or something. Oh well, still a good deal. They FINALLY had tomato sauce flavored chips, so I got five bags (they're the little individual serving bags) and will savor them slowly. Still no peppermint crisps. I need to start calling once a week to see if they're in - I asked the guy at the counter if he knew when they were coming back, and he said he wasn't sure, they only have them infrequently.

They also still have Easter eggs, heavily discounted, so I got two of the big boxes, for $3 each, both of which have one large egg and then two or four little candy bars...yum! Much cheaper than buying two or three regular candy bars, which are a dollar or more each. I was VERY good and resisted the urge to buy Turkish delight, even though it was discounted. I do love Turkish delight...and food in general. I also invested in a bag of barley sugar candies because I remembered reading about them in The Enchanted Tree books I read when I was little.

My total came to $37!! Oh well, it'll last me a couple of months, so it's okay.

I watched football all the rest of the day, taking breaks to read a little. The Gators lost, really badly, and it put me in a seriously bad mood. I went out on a date after the game and it was fun. The restaurant we went to was nice, and the food (Mexican) was yummy, but I was so tired after that miserable game I wasn't as talkative as I could have been. Guess I just have to wait and see if he calls.

Today I slept in again (depressed), then got up and went grocery shopping. Now I'm home, eating lunch, and making my to-do list. Lots of studying left, blah. I have a geology test on Thursday, which I am NOT excited about.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!