Oh, not much time to write. I'm here in the computer lab with Kendra, Lindsay, and Tim. It's hot in here. It feels pretty nice in our room at the apartment, but rather humid. I'm not too fond of humidity. Hmm...my classes are pretty fun on Tuesdays and Thursdays, thanks to Tim and Sharon. Pretty entertaining kids, they are. I wrote about Sharon today in an in-class writing assignment. I am the most creative person I know. Sharon is second. I can't think of any other creative people. :) hehehehe

Apologies for the delay. I have been back at school since Wednesday and it seems (no, it's obvious) that Muskingum has a bit of computer trouble. This has been good for me, however, in many ways of course, reminding me that there are more important things than AOL Instant Messenger. I've instead been forced to read a pornographic novel for my Reading in Contemporary British Literature class. I didn't realize the class was British. It's fun reading with my British accent that only exists in my own head.

All my classes are in Montgomery--the burning hot, hellish building on campus at all times of the year that constantly smells like sweat and makes sweaters, even on days falling below zero degrees, impossible to ever wear. I don't really like sweaters anyway.

I've already written one paper, analyzed one sonnet, read a couple chapters on Global Christianity and read 75 pages of the pornographic novel. When I want to go to sleep, I read the Global Christianity book and when I want to stay awake, I read the pornographic novel--each reading leads to very strange dreams (they aren't sex dreams either, so stop thinking that). The girls and I are having a good laugh at it.

Well now, don't go thinking I've become a maniac of sorts. I've also already committed to co-leading a bible study and co-coordinating a retreat. If you're a Muskie, ask for more information about those ;-)
It's good to back. I'm surrounded by amazingly uplifting people. It's all very good. Most of the people here I really missed, and some I'd rather not see...You know, people are very fake in the way they interact sometimes. The every day falsities of life, I suppose. I however, am a very horrible liar and I hate lying, actually, so I've managed to completely ignore those I wish not to see. It's not because I dread the confrontation, but because I refuse to embarass myself by making a scene. Afterall, I am the stupid one, and when one feels the way I do about such things, it's probably his or her own fault. The tangled webs I get caught in sometimes! Everything is going very well, though, and everything is great with my girl friends, and that of course, is the most important thing.

John is visiting this weekend, hopefully, an event for which I am very excited, although I am trying really hard to be cool and nonchalant about it. It's kind of exciting this way, anticipating our next meeting...it certainly adds to life. But of course, today is a beautiful day, and I am off to enjoy it in the way we do here in Muskieland, with a lunch on the quad, little subs and little mini bottles of Evian or Aquafina or whatever. Pray that something doesn't make me vomit :)


Fact of the Day: There are more Christians in Africa than people in the United States of America.

Okay, so when checks and credit cards don't go through at work we have to call China. Okay, so maybe it's not really China, but we have to call this place and answer all these stupid questions about the check and for some reason, it's always foreigners that work there. I think it's totally intelligent to hire foreigners to work in telephone operations with check certifications and such, especially really hot tempered ones who yell and hang up on innocent MC Sports employees. I spelled K-A-U-F-F-M-A-N-N at least six times because Min Woo couldn't understand the sound of the letter "F". This was of course frustrating for her and me, and I really do like foreign people you know, but goodness gracious, choose another line of work, people! I tried to be nice and just asked her to repeat herself and she got all snippy and yelled at me, "What? You cannot hear me?!" To which I replied, "No, can you please repeat the question?" Ah, it was just an awkward situation and the lady thought that I was being mean because I finally said, "F as in FUDGE. F as in FROG. K-A-U-F-F-M-A-N-N. TWO F's! F as in FROG!" And then I could have sworn she said "F as in F---?" And no, that word is not frog.

I'm ready to go back to school.

Well, we spent five hours in Charleston, WV and three hours in Columbia, SC on the way home (side note: People in SC are REALLY nice and EVERYONE in WV has a pick-up truck). We had some serious car troubles. But anyway, as we were driving home and I feared a little bit for my life because the transfer case below my seat was put back together with a combination of wire hanger, duct tape, and mysterious concoctions of stuff, I thought, these guys wouldn't be so bad to die with. But then I rethought that thought and began thinking of who I'd really choose to die with and I think I would choose Kari. Not that I want her to die, or that I'd really want her to die if I did, but I just think that--well, I really don't know why I think that. Maybe death would just be a little more interesting with Kari. I guess you get that bond with people after certain trials in life. So Kari, I thought of you! Don't you feel special?!

Quote of the Day:

(commenting on the book of Job)

"Human beings are sure to wander in ignorance and fall into error, and it is better--more righteous in the eyes of God--for them to react by questioning rather than accepting. Confronted with inexplicable injustice, it is better to be irate than resigned."

Thank you, Veronica, for reminding me that it's okay to think...well, to think of things like that. Just the other day I was saying/thinking out loud (now remember, I was talking to three guys) about how I wonder how sand dollars reproduce and how strange it is that they really are living creatures. This baffles me because they really don't seem to have animal qualities. Starfish and clams have more personality than sand dollars. Did you ever notice that a sand dollar has never been recreated in a cartoon or animated movie to have human-like qualities? Has anyone ever seen a talking sand dollar on a cartoon? Well, we do have Spongebob, a talking sponge, Patrick, a talking starfish, Sebastian, a talking crab, and even a fish that suffers from short-term memory loss in "Finding Nemo." What about the sand dollars?

Well, those guys thought I was crazy and John's brother thinks I'm stupid. Well exCUSE me for having an imagination, for being curious... I bet my IQ is at least 30 points higher than his anyway. SO THERE!

Wish you had been there, V. :-

Advice for the Day: Think abstractly. You may cut off your ear in a few years, but at least you'll have fun doing it.

Hello all :) Greetings once again from Florida. We went to the beach twice today and ate at a little bar on the beach...way cool! Today was John's mom's birthday so we had a little celebration and ate at this other restaurant on a dock. It was kinda like the other one because it was like, all open and stuff. You know, it's like you're on a big ol' covered patio. I like the palm trees a lot. The grass here is weird. I don't really like the grass. But other than that it's just fine. :) We saw a lot of beautiful houses today. They were like castles. Oh, and I tasted shrimp for the first time. It wasn't bad at all...I kinda liked it, but the texture is freaky. Maybe I can force myself to like seafood before I go to New Zealand for three months. It'd probably be a good idea. Oooh and we went to the driving range yesterday and they had two cats! They looked like Toulouse! I love cats. There's a pool and a hottub and a cat that I really like here at the house. And John's here, too. So basically, I am in Heaven. All I need is my mom, the rest of my family, and my Muskie girls. And Toulouse (he'd be in Heaven :). I miss you all extremely and totally wish you were here!

Guess what? I drove for ten hours! Me! Can you believe it? That's pretty good for someone whose only driven two hours at the most. Florida is beautiful. The ocean was 86 degrees today and there was a nice breeze...not too hot, not too cold. It's rather humid, but I'm doing just fine. There's SO many shells! I've never seen so many shells in my life. We're staying with John's mom, her two kids, and her husband. They are great! The houses here are wonderful! Gotta go eat! See ya when I return maybe!!!!

Alison! Did you know that I worked at Das Dutch Kitchen for three years, from the time I was fourteen until I was seventeen? I never would have guessed you were familiar with it. We should go there sometime. It's ten minutes from my house!

I'm reading a delightful mystery by Lilian Jackson Braun, famous for her "Cat Who..." books. I don't know what it is about them, but they just, well, the only way to describe them is as "delightful."

There are few things I love more than cats. I just love them. I don't love all of them, and some of them I do strongly dislike, but Mozie and Toulouse are definitely the best cats ever. However, Mozie (Mozart), being part Himalayan, has a little bit of trouble sometimes due to his long hair. He had a piece of poop caught on his butt today and my sister and I had to do a little outpatient surgery that involved her sedating him (he is in total submission when you scratch beneath his chin) and some clever work with a pair of scissors. Don't worry, I washed my hands...with bleach!

Tip of the Day: Don't eat push-ups and drive.

Quote of the Day: "Cats are cats...the world over..." -James Mackintosh Qwilleran

I am a truly All-American, lower middle-class kid. This means that I really do enjoy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Velveeta Shells and Cheese, and I prefer Jell-o Cheesecake to any other type of cheesecake. So, when John and I go to trendy places like Panera, I'm really not all that impressed. Now I know everyone in the freaking world is in love with that place, and I am not exactly the coolest and definitely not the trendiest of people, but I really do not want red wine vinaigrette on my sandwich and I DON'T like bagels and I DON'T like hard bread that makes my jaw crack every time I bite into it. I DO think that 5 bucks is way too much to pay for vegetable soup and I DO think I'd rather eat at McDonald's, where I can get a yummy chicken sandwich for 2 dollars and a nice little salad for another 2. I will not pretend to be cool just for the sake of being cool and I will not force or lie to myself that I LOVE Asiago cheese bagels with stuff that looks like cow dung on it. That's sick. I don't care how "healthy" it is. You want me to eat healthy? I'll eat some bananas. With some peanut butter. And for dessert I'll eat animal crackers. Now THAT'S good stuff! You cool people stick to your fococcia and lattes. I think you're weird.

You know what I go out of my way to find? Restaurants that serve grilled cheese. I can tell you that Mickey's has the best grilled cheese in the Zanesville area and Das Dutch Kitchen has the best in the Orrville area. Both places also have excellent iced tea and salad.

Amen!

Well, I've been a little busy lately. Doing what, you ask? I really don't know, but I've been online like never. I just never think about it anymore. Guess what? I'm going to Florida on Friday! Yay! I've never really been to Florida. I was only there for a little bit, just passing through... I have no idea what we're going to do, really, but even if it's a whole lotta nothin, that would be quite all right...I'm so sick of work anything will do. My job isn't bad, but we have a little "Battle of the Bosses" going on. I guess that's what happens when you have four bosses. I like all my bosses equally, but they are all also about equally stupid, and they're jerks to each other, and they gossip a lot to us associates, which really isn't a very professional thing to do because then the associates start taking sides and if you're like me, you don't want to take sides and just want to be friends with everyone, and therefore just get stuck in the middle and end up making excuses for other people's stupidity. Huh...does that sound like Muskingum College or what? I should start counting how many times I say things like, "It's nothing personal, I'm sure, it's just the way he/she is. Don't be so offended...." I don't understand why people can't just get along. Humans never grow out of that stage do they? I hate that.

Well, I went to Lindsay's July Party this past weekend. What fun! We had excellent food, good conversation, and saw a great movie. It was Kari, Tony, Veronica, Tim, Lindsay, and me. We saw Pirates of the Caribbean. I guess it wasn't really a GREAT movie, but I was rather impressed. Lots of un-famous actors that did a fairly decent job. I slept in Todd's bed and then met him for the first time the next day. He's very talkative (sarcasm). Well, his bed was awesome and I actually wasn't sore in the morning. Way to go, Toddy!

Polly was there as well, my good friend. I've decided that if Lindsay and I ever lived together after we graduate, that I'd love to have Polly as our third roommate.

Well, I'm going to go think about going to the Y...

ATTENTION WORLD TRAVELERS:

Can anyone tell me the luggage regulations (in general) for most airlines? I'm going to buy some luggage next week, and I don't want to get anything that won't be allowed on the flight. Mostly, I just want to know how big our bags are allowed to be. Thanks!

YES, Veronica, we did get Dippin' Dots. Well, everyone else did. You know I can't eat those sort of things :) But I DID taste the banana and the cookies and cream. The cookies and cream was delicious. I think I'd rather have regular ice cream, but there's just something special about Dippin' Dots. You know what I like? I like frozen bananas. They always have them at amusement parks. My dad used to make them when I was little. They're covered in chocolate and sprinkled with nuts. Mmmh. So it looks kinda weird, and you have to be pretty confident in yourself to eat one in public, but they are yummy.

The best trip to an amusement park was King's Island with Veronica. To all of you who don't know, King's Island sucks. Lame-o rollercoasters, I tell ya. But we had fun anyway... Hey Veronica, did you play the Name Game in France? You could be like, "HEY JEAN-LUC!" or "HEY PIERRE!" or "HEY YVES!" or in Italy... "HEY MRS. RINALDI!"

Hello friends, I'm glad you came to play! Our fun and learning never ends! Here's what we did today...! (5 points for the person who can tell me who says that in their television show)

Yeah, well you wanna know what? Today sucked! I canceled plans to go visit Kari because stupid boss man called a stupid 8:30 meeting this morning, and sure enough I DID show up at 8:30, like any good employee would, and who else showed up? ONE other person. Were any of our four bosses there? NO. Okay, that is about the stupidest thing ever. I was about ready to quit. But in an hour or so...maybe fifteen minutes, my heart softened and I realized it wasn't such a big deal. So I just went shopping instead and spent about 300 dollars. Never shop when you're trying to relieve stress!

We just got back from the batting cages. One of the scariest experiences in my life. There I was, standing there screaming as the 40 mph softball came flying at me. "Whirling would be a more descriptive verb," John says. Well, you're not even allowed to DRIVE that fast on most streets so I think that's pretty fast. It was scary. It felt good though to hit....I mean, aimlessly swing....at a few. :)
What do you think, V? Think I got a shot in the minors???

Well, I'm out. It's movie time. Check ya later folks. Kari...if you read this, I am horribly sorry. I was so mad I missed our date for nothing that I was nearly in tears. Bosses....

Goodnight!!!!


Quote of the Day: "Balls are always faster than they look." -Amanda L. Harrington

Hola chicos!

Three cheers for John being the awesomest! The baseball game was great...we saw more fireworks! I had a sangria at the restaurant and wasn't carded! Shame on you, miss waitress. Sarah and I got to hang out again tonight, which was way cool. I think our puppy, Charlie, may be getting the boot...praise the Lord! Awww...just kidding. I'll miss the little guy :) (But if you wanna know the truth, I bet we won't get rid of him). He IS really cute, afterall. Sigh.

Well, gotta get up early again...lotsa love!

Hello, All! Tonight I get to go to the Spaghetti Warehouse and an Akron Aeros game! Yay for Italian food and baseball!!! Two of America's best things.... Hmmm, that's awkward, but true, eh? Things are going well...I've had to work everynight this week from three until 9, but of course that means until about ten. Not that I'm complaining, but it sure does take up a better part of the day. I rarely see the sun. And of course on the day I have off, it's all cloudy. Boo.

I'm watching "I Dream of Jeannie." What a great show. They need to make more shows like this. Have any of you ever seen that show about the flying nun? Very interesting. Based on a true story, I hear. I think Sally Field or someone really famous like that played in it and I think it only lasted a season. But anyway, it's about a nun who can fly because her nun hat thing is all floppy like. Now that's bizarre.

So, on this TV show, which is now "Bewitched," they're saying on the TV they are watching that man might actually land on the moon! I love the beginning of this show and "I Dream of Jeannie." Every show should have cheap animation like this, I tell ya. It's like the starting credits of "Grease." What a great movie. They just don't make 'em like that anymore. I'm sure glad guys don't wear pants that tight anymore! That stuff makes men sterile, you know.

Quote of the Day: "I've been to the moon!" -Sam from "Bewitched"

Well, it seems that I have injured myself rather severely. Severely meaning that it hurts enough to prevent me from sleeping as much as I would like. Hopefully, with a little time, it'll go away. So pray for my back :)

My visit with Susan and Sharon was a w e s o m e ! They are so encouraging. We just talked and talked and talked. That's all we did! And it was great!

I hope I can figure out what Kari is talking about soon...

sadness

So, tonight I helped deliver thank you cards with Sarah and Kathy. It was very sad at moments. It's giving me nightmares, some of this stuff. I keep having weird dreams, like about my mom getting eaten by a cheetah. Yeah, it's bazaar, but when I was dreaming it seemed so real. I've never really seen anyone go through this sort of thing, and I've never had to really personally deal with the idea that someone I know has five months to live. I've seen it second handedly, and I dealt with a lot of deaths as a child, but this is a little more personal, and I'm supposed to be a good friend, a supporter...and I just never know what to say, and I'm too afraid to ask questions because...it seems like they already have too many questions to answer, and to ask...none of it seems real and I feel like I'm watching a movie, the way they go about things...150 bottles of meds, speaking nonchalantly about how much time is left...doing what they have to do, being all strong and even funny at times, because that's what they have to do. None of it seems fair at all...even though I know perfectly well that bad things must happen and why, I know God can heal her but He doesn't, and I know there is a reason, and I know God can bring good out of bad and I know God knows a lot more than I do, that He sees the big picture, and that the big picture is good, and all that really matters is that Jesus loves us, He died for us, we can be with him forever, she will be with Him forever, I know all those things because I've read the Bible cover to cover and over and over and I've even read ALL the sympathy cards at Hallmark and I know all the sad country songs and I know the feeling of being comforted by God and filled and uplifted and I know their whole family knows this and I know God NEVER said life was fair and/or easy...

but it's still not fair, is it?

And then we visited my ex-boyfriend's grandparents and that just really sucks in a lot of ways because I just love those people and I could never be close to them because, well, I'm not really anyone to them now, nor do I think I'd want to be because that would be weird, you know? I wish I could adopt them as MY grandparents or that they could adopt a different grandson! Why don't I have grandparents? Why don't I have someone to make cookies for me or someone to tell MY mom what's up (like grandmas tend to do) or someone to visit and look at old black and white pictures with?

What goes through a mother's head when she knows she has five months to live? Does she think about missing her children get married? Having children? Does she wonder what the house will look like without her? Will her husband still sleep on his own side of the bed? Will her toothbrush be thrown away? Will they still go to her favorite restaurant? Will they be able to attend church without feeling like everyone is looking at them with pity? What goes through a person's mind when they're going to die? God, I hope it's peace.

Well, well, well, Sarah spent the night lastnight and it was like a sleepover...or maybe like being roommates again. Speaking of roommates, I miss mine! AND I wish that she would write to me!

Anyway, I got some new pictures for my room. They're way cute. Very vintage and Lautrec-ish. I wonder if Veronica and Alison saw any Toulouse-Lautrec art in France. I saw some Picasso in Cleveland....that was cool. :)


Quote of the Day: "Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot
That it do singe yourself."
-William Shakespeare

Ditto from yesterday, I just couldn't have said it better.

I live in a hole.
I feel lazy.
I wanna be running,
Hiking, climbing, picnicking,
Swimming, biking, boating,
Camping and back-packing.
I wish I could play tennis,
I wish I could golf, but mostly
I just want to stinkin' run.
Why didn't anyone tell me
To try another sport
When I was young?
I can't stand the dog.
I want to eat watermelon
In the park.
I want to jump off a boat
And swim with the fish
And eat ham and cheese sandwiches
Out of a cooler.
I want to sit in my bathing suit
And not worry about my thighs.
I want to come out of the house
With a big plate of fried chicken
And we'll eat it with
Cherry cheesecake and rice pudding.
That's what I want to be doing.
I want to have crazy fun
And all I get is boring.