Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday. Mine has been filled with family, paint, and lots and lots of turkey!

Dear Santa,

I have been very good this year. I would like to put in a request for my family to stay healthy and well for the next year and that they get what they would like for Christmas. (I can vouch for them.... well, most of them)

For myself, just knowing people are happy will be enough.

Lovingly,
Aya
XXX

PS - unless you have an overstock of braincells, time, and scholarships - I would very much appreciate your consideration.

EEEEEHEEEEHEEEHEEE

That was a testing of our giddiness broadcast. My 30 min presentation went very well and I have a lot to work with for the 10-15 pg paper due in a week. Yes - I lived through it! If anyone is curious about collaborative teaching, I can send you some notes that may help you out. =-D

I have found that my pinky's like to go numb these days - not sure what's going on, but it is driving me crazy - a constant numb with warmth. And then they feel like they get cramped - I'm not doing anything except typing - but since I drove from Fargo, I have been having problems.

"Shake it like a Polaroid picture! Hey-Yah!"

Tonight, I can clean my room - it's a mess with dirty dishes, papers and books laying all over the place. The only thing that I enjoyed seeing this morning was my Christmas Tree. I'm so glad that's there.

Yargh!

Trees, books, and anxiety

I helped mom put up her Christmas tree yesterday - it looks beautiful as usual and I was saddened to have to leave. Spending the week with her always makes me miss the old days when I lived at home. She came back to the dorm with me and we put up my Christmas tree - it's a cheapie little $20 one but it is pretty. You can see a pic of it on the previous post - its a pic from the past year - but it's the same tree.

I am working hard at the presentation for Rhetorical theory - but I wonder if I started too late. I volunteered to present this Thursday, but I'm almost kicking myself for that. My ideas are in such a jumble. Tomorrow night I'm out a couple hours because of meetings and Tuesday too. Wednesday will have to be my saving day - but I hate doing something last minute. And then I have to find time for grading my last papers. I need to have them done before we start panel-presentations in my class. Oh the time - i miss time. If you have seen any extra hours laying around - please place them inside an envelope and send them my way. I really need the help.

Anxiety - it goes without saying. Here's a list:

Grandpa - sick
Mom - Cancer check-up
Grades
Finals - German
Presentation
Time, or lack of it
RA job
RA Evals
Res Evals
Teaching Evals
Story - Chloe
Money
Bills
Bills Bills
Car
RA T-Shirts
EVALS - don't forget, they're due the 2nd! (personal note, sorry)
GA paperwork before 15 Grad credits
CW II preparation
LDR
Phones

oH bOY oH bOY

It is that time again - more than half my residents have gone home for the Holiday and I have invited three people to the Thanksgiving dinner this week. This should be a very busy Thanksgiving dinner hehehe.

It's still snowing - it never seems to stop. It's not all that cold either - but there is a windchill that goes right through your clothes and makes you wanna cry. (cold wind = watery eyes)

I have been reading about collaborative learning and groups all day - finally having narrowed down my thesis for Rhetorical Thoery with Dr. Morgans help. I had three previous pages of different theses that I had been working with - trying to get the wording right so I could find the information I needed and not have a pile of unnecessary info.

I have to say, my fishy, Bilbo, is very manly. An aggressive manly-ness. He's making this huge nest for my little statue (it has crystals and its colorful) and he also flares at *anything* pressed against the tank. Even when he gets fed, he flares out at the food and attacks it. I wouldn't want to put my finger in there. Ever see those Pirannah movies? *shiver* Scary! At least he's active - especially after that cold window accident =/

I have a thought on Michael Jackson..... WTF?!

I am in a total Christmas spirit - CRAZY!
http://cal.bemidjistate.edu/english/alindahl/images/ayaroom.jpg

sadness and excitement

I have been watching my next semester class fill up with students and have found only about half of my current students were able to get into my class. I have already recieved a few e-mails wishing they could be added somehow. But, it's not going to happen. There was no list and I can't push out any currently signed up students. I'm going to have to recommend some teachers for CWII and let them go - even though I am attached to them. I have begun to see exactly how and what they write, thier individual tastes and styles. It's very exciting to be able to read an essay and know right away who it was that wrote it.

I am very excited about next year, however. There is so much to plan and get ready for to integrate my ideas into the CWII course and see how it all works out. Hopefully those students who did not know it was a specialized course will not be disappointed. Perhaps, perhaps not.

I have been horribly busy the last week and have been in and out of my room. I have missed so many phone calls that I come home to find tons of messages. For those that are out there that have been trying to get a hold of me, I am still alive. Just bogged down - which hasn't lessened yet, since this weekend is going to be a horrific one in which I am going to study for the duration of the next few days. But first, a trek to the movie theatre to catch "Gothika" which came out today. Whoot!

Procrastination is like....

Yes, I am bad. I waited until the week it was due to write my fairy tale. The good news is that I did have it all ready in outline form and just needed to get through the writing process itself. honestly - I do better under pressure. Don't tell my students that.

I wrote a total of 28 pages yesterday and today I edited. And it is another of the Chloe Pinglehoff stories. Maybe someday I can get them published - But I am never fully happy with my editing and writing to take such a step. Who knows - maybe when I die they will be discovered. hehe

I have a Garfield and Odie on my window now. I took down the Peanuts one of Snoopy and Linus in the pumpkin patch. Now I have Garfield trying to use Odie as a Christmas tree. It took a while to draw, but when I was done I was happy with the results.

I found a great site for anyone who lives in the dorms http://www.reslifecomics.com/ . Check it out sometime!

Bilbo is doing fine - he is swimming around as we speak and eyeballing me as if I am supposed to feed him. Well, he doesn't get fed until tomorrow - poor 'lil guy.

It's Aspens Birthday today. If you see her, say hi! Were headed out to Applebees tonight at 7pm - and then I have my Oak Hall Staff meeting - which lasts until 11pm. So my night has been doled out.

Fishy Alert

I have now permanantly moved my fishtank far far away from the window. Yesterday morning I woke up to find him curled up in the corner - and when I dipped my finger into the water - I found out why. It was flippin' cold!! Poor guy was trying to stay warm.

So I ran from the kitchen - back and forth - with warm water and stirred him around until he was conscious and frisky again. Now, he sits next to my little coffee pot - next to the couch. Poor Bilbo =-(

Ohh, I should go to the Union and see if Aspen is around. I need to go eat lunch - I'll go see if she's there.

All I can say is "Wow". That would take a lot of time, and the design is so simple and beautiful. I am deeply impressed. It would be an interesting project to undertake - something a lot like the Web Design and Content Writing class that Dr. Morgan teaches.

mc.clintock.com

Snowballs From Heaven

I was walking through the blizzardy snow yesterday after my office hours (3pmish) and as I walked up the steps into my dorm, I suddenly felt eyes on me and I looked up. A couple male residents were holding up a snowball, ready to launch it at me.

Now - for those that know me - I have that bubbly personality and am usually a happy person. But, I must have had the glare of death, because the boys backed up from the window with such a surprise on their face. I looked down one window and another RA was standing there and I asked her what was going on and she told me there had been some guys throwing snowballs at unaware passer-byes. I decided to make sure it didn't happen anymore, so I stood there in my soaked shoes and cold toes for about twinety minutes. They showed up at the window after about 2 minutes and they backed up as soon as they could. When I saw that, I yelled up at them to close the window and LOL, they did. Whoot - the plusses of looking older than I am! I have a suspicion that they believed I may have been one of the older workers at the college. Heheh - you can't throw a snowball at someone that could be old enough to be your mother! Muhahaha

Of course, if I had been their mother, i woulda been about 11 or something. Gah!

But, that was my excitement for yesterday. Crazy snowdays!

Well, the past weekend went way too fast! I barely got anything done but I did get some fun thrown in there.

Right now, it is 7pm, and I'm drinking a cup of coffee - I plan on taking the rest of the night to grade papers. I have a nice sturdy stack that I need to tackle. I know it shouldn't take too long this time - hopefully.

Aspen rented Down With Love, and I highly recommend the movie. Usually I don't look for those kinds of movies (dunno why not) and this time I was highly impressed. Very naughty humor but not overly so. Funny as heck. Go rent it out guys, it's fun!

Through User Friendly link - I founf their Link of The Day was quite fun to play with. Check out the Professor Snape Detention Generator. As I was told after using spells against a student,

"Ayleen,
Accidents will happen, but even so you must learn to be more careful.

I am sure that an evening spent in my dungeon, picking the legs off a few barrels of spiders will help to focus your concentration.

S. Snape"

Arrrrrr!

Red Anne Flint

Passion is a big part of your life, which makes sense for a pirate. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Whoa, a post!

I finally noticed that I was neglecting the blog for too long and will finally get back to my old project.

Was watching the "I Love 80s" special on VH1 and found out I started remembering things at 1983. I definitely remembered the Wrath of Khan, Star Trek movie - I believe Mom and Dad took us to see it in the theatre.

Another of my fish died, poor Frodo. That now leaves me with the last of the Hobbits names - Bilbo. He is a pretty active fishy and I feel strongly that he may outlive the others now.

German has become a favorite among my classes. I love the language! It's so much fun and interesting to learn the new words. Especially trying to pronounce them - such as Psychologie. What fun!

I've been planning out the College Writing II course I'll be teaching next semester. I want to incorporate Fairy Tales and hope I can come up with an engaging class that students will enjoy, along with myself!

Saturday Evening Post...(TM)

It's another one of those quiet weekends and I am so slow in the head right now that I feel like a slug! err.. without all that gooey stuff... oh and I do have a skeleton...

I and Aspen were talking last night and she had me discussing what Rhetoric was and trying to explain what it was all about. Well, I of course am so new at it that I was doing a horrible job in trying to explain. So, I went home and found this great site - which I am going to talk to Dr. Morgan about. I also began talking about my dilemma in what I would like to do my dissertation - which I have always believed would be about Beowulf - but in what way? Well - since I have begun teaching and am wholly fascinated by rhetoric, I asked the question out loud during a talk with my best friend and said it would be hard to mush the two together. But, when I gestured with my hands the merging of the two subjects, it popped into my head that if I looked at the right angle, I may just have a thesis I would be excited to explore! Perhaps more study and experience in rhetoric will help me in finding my niche.

I'm not just ignoring my blog....

...it's just that I have things I'd like to say that have to stay unsaid. I can't throw anything onto the blog in fear of saying something I shouldn't have (Hagriditis). So, in response to such a lifestyle as I have right now - I stay silent. I've never regretted staying silent.

In my little world of self, I was enjoying a book on King Arthur. I love the stories - and no I have no class making me read this. It is total self gratification.

I did get my fairy tales book in the mail and my black ink for my printer. That is going to be a huge thing for me. I have to read that book so I can be ready for class - thank the sky for having it brought to me so soon.

I am planning something for Haloween for my floor. I am hoping to have it funded - instead of my floor paying for it. I want to get to the dollar store too for some Haloween decorations - I love decorating!!! Hopefully no one will come and tear it down - college "kids" are still in the dorms and haven't figured out how to behave yet. Hopefully being taken fro under their parents skirts - they can figure it out through good friends on what is socially decent or not. Yet - there are always those few that instigate just about anything you can imagine. Ah well, if not for them, I wouldn't have my RA job, now would I? heheheh

Friday, Friday, Frrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiidddddaaaaaaaaaay!

Not that I'm excited! hehe

I got the laptop for teachig today! It's a bit slow - it sometimes can't keep up with my typig - especially in MSN. But - it is decent and it helps with putting together my daily syllabus' (agendas) and getting any worksheets out there for my students.

Mom came over last night to goof off with me. It was good to see her and sit on the couch to talk and watch The Two Towers. We only got through half of it because I was on duty, though. By 10pm she was falling asleep and it was coming up to the good parts - so we postponed the rest of LotR for next Friday. <3

I teach in about 15 minutes- hopefully all my students make it. They have a huge grade potential for today since it is a workshop and we are distrubuting work today.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Bad Monday
The day didn't start out too badly - I got up at 8am and puttered around with a cup of coffee. At 10am I had to go work down at the front desk and so I gathered my homework and did that for two hours.

A friend of mine ate lunch with me and then we headed to our classes. I had previously tried to print out my Agenda for the class I was to teach and could not get the file to open. The disk kept freezing the computer or just not opening at all - wanted to Format. To make a longer story short - I was not able to get my agenda printed out. So five minutes before I was supposed to be walking into my class I was scribbling up a handwritten agenda.

To say the least - I can't "wing it". I did my best - but it was not the best class I've taught. I guess the four hours I had put into it was for nothing - but I learn my lesson. I need my ink for my printer and BADLY. I also need to make sure to put in more group exercises - my class seems to enjoy those the most, as long as they are worth anything.

Busy, busy, busy

Classes have started, deadlines have been set, caffiene has been drunk, and books have been piled.

It was quite a Day for me. I started out pretty good, woke up to my alarm at 6:50am, grabbed a rolled up poster and shoved the end into the "snooze" button (I am on a loft and my alarm is a bit too far away from me in a bookshelf). I then climbed down and got ready for my day. I was on time for class and was scarfing down some bannana bread for breakfast. The professor hadn't shown up yet, and I came upon my class waiting in the hall - so I used my handy dandy office **Key** to get into the classroom. Ahhh the power of the **key**.

German class lasted a good 2 hours and I headed up to my office and plopped all my books onto my desk. I had some forms that were due soon to waive any fees paid by the Graduate Teaching Assistant position. I ended up going to Deputy Hall and handing in what I could.

I then had lunch with some friends from classes last year and went up to my next class at noon. This class was a wonderful opportunity to give and take suggestions and problems between the new GA's. It was a great session and afterwards I felt ready for the next day coming up.

Office hours were spent organizing my files in my desk for each individual student.

After that, I ran back to my dorm at 4pm and ran into a friend living on my floor wanting to eat at 5pm. So, I took an hour to sit and unwind in my room, headed back out for dinner at Wally's and then came back to my room. I then spent from 6pm until 9pm working on my lesson plan for tomorrow. I *believe* I have a plan I am satisfied with, but I think I need to let myself relax a little - otherwise this may stress me out.

At 9pm I had an Oak RA meeting where we discussed "RA Shtuff". We had a good time and I laughed when some of my fellow male RA's explained a game that I hadn't heard of before. It involves a dollar bill and you have to breathe in to keep it on your mouth and then pass it on to the next person. /shrug. I just backed up a bit and laughed. Told him to go find a $100 bill before I'd play ;-)

After the meeting at 11pm, I walked into a resident trap where they wanted me to go to Perkins. I agreed I needed a break so we got into her car and four of us had late late breakfast. I had 3 pancakes and a big glass of milk. I'm soooooo fulllll right now.

So, here I am. Sitting at my computer, back hurting, legs propped up, and typing away. Time to tear off my "How Funky is your Monkey" socks and climb back into bed.

A brand spanking new Monday
Happy Labor Day everyone, hope you're all having a restful weekend.

My Mom, another RA and I went shopping early this morning. I needed to go get me an area rug so my feet didn't hurt so much on these hard floors.

Yesterday was a hard day - but fun. I got to meet about half of my residents and ran around helping whoever needed it. I'm hoping there will be more coming today, so I can be around and meet them. I plan on just working on my teaching course as I wait.

Sorry this is such a boring post, but I am trying to write as I chat to everyone - not good at multitasking anymore hehe

Training is done!
Training has been so intensive that I have had to put all my usual routines on the backburner - especially the internet and any relaxing activities I usually do. But - I am trained in as an RA and I feel I am up for the job. Tomorrow, we help the Maple freshmen check into the dorms - helping them move their stuff. =) Then the next day I'll be meeting my own residents. I'm just excited over it all.

I am still limping pretty bad. I think it's the tendons along the side of my knee cap that have popped up and bruised out of place. It's a strange feeling when I have to bend my knee - but it's all right if I walk.

I'm debating whether to go to bed at 10pm or be tired again tomorrow. /shrugs

OAK RULES! heheh =)

Exhaustion

I have finally beenc onnected to the net. I have been so busy lately that finding ten minutes to even sit has been rare - all my nights have been spent staying up until 12 or later to get my dorm floor ready and any homework.

My brother's wedding was beautiful. I'll go into details later, I'm just here to tell you all I'm still alive.

Training for RA has been a rollercoaster. There has been so much... ups, downs, lefts, rights, and even upside-downs. Tonight is to be our "sleep early night" and so I go to bed at 11:30pm. I think I can actually sleep in until 6:30 this time and not get up at 6am.

My knee hurts! I think the knee cap got shoved to the right side or something - I feel like an old woman with how I'm waddling around and having to grit my teeth to go up stairs - they crack and it's so swollen you can tell when I wear jeans that it looks funny.

Geez, I miss insurance!

Wedding, training, classes - oh my!

Alan and Shana's wedding is coming up super fast. I just finished printing off some of the directions on how to decorate the church and the tables - Making sure everything will be as beautiful and tasteful as we can. =)

I begin some training this next Monday. I'm terribly excited. There's so much that is going to happen next week. I'll be back in classes (training class), I'll be moving into my new dorm, meeting all my new co-workers with the RA position, meeting the GA's in the English Dpt again, checking into my office (gasp), watching my big brother get married, and just plain take this big wave and ride it all the way to the shore. (I must be thinking about the beach too much) :-)

Classes will begin the beginning of September and I am just a bundle of nerves. I actually have a small twitch on my eyelid that has been driving me crazy these past few days.

Not to mention the head cold I got back - I am sick of being sick! This head cold has been a real topper compared to the others - my throat feels as if its 3 times bigger than normal and it is very hard to talk sometimes. It better start clearing up soon, huh?

Oh, for those that like Detective shows like me - Shame on Bravo for putting the "presidents movies" in place of my Columbo. *tisks* Shame, shame, shame on you. Although, USA is going to make me happy by having a 'Monk' Marathon this sunday - 11am til late at night. WHOOHOO. Time to get out a blank tape and take my time. =D

I had a rude awakening last night. I woke up drowsy (I had taken NyQuil) and Queen was standing next to my bed whining and yawning in my face. As Aspen says, "Dogatosis", so I got up and followed her to the front door. I could barely stand - it was about 4am - and there I was, wafting in the breeze as if I were going to plop onto the ground and start snoring and she disappeared. Now - I was *very* tempted to just leave her out there - I was exhausted - but I opted to not make her stay outside all early morning until one of us woke up, so I stood there... and stood there... and stood there... tried calling out with my hoarse voice... and stood there... gal darn dog kept me waiting for about 20 minutes. She came running from far across the street. I have no idea why she was over there, but I was so mad and tired I just berated her quickly and practically fell down the stairs to get back into bed.

hehe, guess what happened after that? Well, the day before I hooked my computer up to the home network and downloaded all my MP3's to moms computer so she could weed through them and have some. LOL, she was searching through my rap songs (R&B) and all I could hear this morning at 7am was "boom, boom, boom... boom... boom, boom, boom". I grumbled after trying to sleep through that for 2 extra hours.

OOPSIES
Whoops, been a while since I last wrote, huh? Sorry about that!

Life has been hectic. I have been working hard on packing up all my belongings and picking through them to see what goes to my dorm and what stays at Mom's to be put into storage. I am hoping beyond hope that I can get a storage locker on campus - we'll see.

I have finished a couple books for my future classes. I am so hyped up and ready to ger going. There's so much to think about and do! Especially with my brothers wedding coming up in two weeks. My training and the wedding are at the same time and I keep getting worried that something may happen where I'm either going to miss something important or people will be upset with me. /sigh *Maybe* I can ask about decorating the church Thursday night. I am amost praying that I'll be able to. Yes, it is my brothers wedding, but I need to help all I can. If I can't be there - I may have to put together all the decorations and leave them directions. It's going to be crazy. I need to remember to make table setting templates for the tables, make some "Reserved setting arrangements" for the tables, print out the programs, make Shana's veil, loop the lights along the ivy that will be around their table and make sure nothing goes wrong. Hrmm... when I get married, I'm thinking wedding planner. There is a lot to do and it's crazy!

Uh oh, Monk is almost on. I'll write some more when I get home from my Grandparents house. Have a great weekend!

Mom has put in an ad for roommates during the school year and so far two girls have already answered. This means I will be busy the next few weeks in moving all my stuff out of my bedroom and maybe find a storage room. I plan on taking some of my furniture to school with me so I can keep it near. I'd rather do that than have someone else use my stuff. It's not that I don't trust them, but it is less worry for either of us.

I finally went to the doctor yesterday and got medicine. Now I feel perectly fine today. A little sniffly at times but no sore throat anymore. CrAzY!

I have a Church dinner to help organize tonight. I plan on brining a book and maybe a sweat shirt to be comfy. I think I'll be gone all day. =P It should be fun though, a few other family members are going so I can sit and chat.

Congratulations are in order for Aspen! She got accepted into the teaching program overseas and will be headed to New Zealand next fall. Only a year away! She's going to have an exciting time Spring 2004, she is going to graduate, move back to Texas, and go on with her teaching! Very excited for her. =)

I still can't believe what we two have been achieving these days. I believe if either of us put our mind to it, we can get to our goals. I did find out my classroom I'll be teaching in is full. That means I have all 25 spots filled up! =D I'm beyond excited. Also, the time is coming for me to get ready to move back into my dorm room. I can't wait to go in and make my own personal space. I always loved that part. I just hope to make it inviting so that the residents on my floor will come in and talk to me when they feel like it. I still can't believe I got that RA position - I'm so pumped! I can't figure out which I'm more excited about - Both seem to be around the same calibur of experience that I've been hoping for. =D

Shana and I get to go looking for Wedding Cakes tomorrow. She was going to just get Walmart's - but I feel we should look other places to give the bakery's a fair chance. I'm willing to bet the cake would taste better. :P

More movies, state park, strawberries, and weddings

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was a good movie. It was - interesting. I don't know what I was expecting - I was more curious about what all the people with such abilities would do together.
:) :) (2/4 smiles) for content
:) :) :) (3/4 smiles) for action and
:) :) :) :) (4/4 smiles) for hot men on the roster
I guess after seeing Depp and Orlando Bloom in Pirates of the Carribbean I have been impressed for life.

We live only a little ways from the state park on the beach and I have found that riding my bike there is actually quite exhilerating - there are so many hills! I'm going to try and go everyday - maybe after Columbo ;-) hehehe

I was woken up by my mom early yesterday morning to go pick strawberries. I retorted with "I've had that experience before" - since she is always saying I "need to experience things". Of course, her reply was "every experience is different". Oh, what a line! I guess this time was different since it rained the whole time, I got soaked and cold and was fighting off mosquitos constantly. I got 2 buckets full and now what do we do with 'em? Freeze 'em I suppose. I'm leaving that up to her. heh

Someone else got married this last weekend in my family. It was a huge Catholic Church - beautiful and extravagant. The reception was a lot to behold also. I hadn't been to such a sophisticated wedding before and I was very impressed. I heard a few stories about my Dad from my uncle that night at the reception. It was pretty darn funny. My dad always had kinky black hair and he would grow it out into an afro. My uncle said he would keep a cigarette inside the hair unknown to others - except when he would suddenly stick his fingers into the side and pull one out. LOL! My memories of dad are always clean shaven and army short hair - balding on top. Ah well - at least I can hear the stories.

Pirates, friends, and writing - oh my!

Pirates of The Carribean - The Curse of the Black Pearl
:) :) :) :) (4/4 smiles) for content
:) :) :) :) (4/4 smiles) for action and
:) :) :) :) (4/4 smiles) for hot men on the roster
I personally loved this movie - I will be going to see it in the theatre again this Sunday and will definitely be buying the DVD as soon as possible. Alas I hate to give spoilers - I just have to say I was happy with all 2 and a half hours - just don't buy too much to drink.

Friends - We watched Jeremy go into the airport terminal and I had to say goodbye again for another year or so. Sure, I could always look for him on EQ - but if I did that... it's too easy to get sucked back in.

Writing - I think I found my solution to the problem I've been having with my story. I was always pushing myself to go into the fantastical - but I believe I will keep it out. I'm too much of a critic of my own writing sometimes and if I have something Hokey or something already used in another book - I will keep rethinking the part until I find a different way.

Summertime!

Jeremy made it to MN, and we've been goofing of since.

As the Nerds-in-training that we are, we tried to play Risk. Aspen got mad at me because I was rolling the dice over her countries and then I basically started going on an invading crusade and ended up getting wiped off the board by Jeremy. Hehehe, that was fun. I'd like to try it again, but the game lasts a little too long for me - Maybe there's a smaller version somewhere out there.

I think were off to go see T3 - hoping it may actually be good. Jeremy showed me some hilarious clips about cats found on www.ebaumsworld - I'll find the actual site sometime and post it for ya.

Have a great weekend everyone and Happy Fourth of July!!!

Still sick, but coming through
I've been laying around, sniffeling and coughing. After a bag of coughdrops and much dayquil to get me going, I went to my grandma's house for the weekend. Ended up staying with my little cousins as the adults went out for the night. I had the 9 and 11 yr old - it was pretty fun. We threw a bunch of mattresses on the livingroom floor and watched TV.

It seems one of my friends from Texas is coming to see me! YAAAY
I have plans to clean up the house and get it set up for a funfilled long week that we get to show him the town during the summer - since he has only visited during the winters. I wonder if he likes to fish.... I heard no camping - we'll ask. I can't think of anything else atm, but maybe off to my grandma's house in the woods. He'd like to listen to the trees maybe.
/bounce
I can't wait.

Sick sick sick

No, not my mind. My body. =-(
Yesterday, I felt the beginnings of my cold or whatever it is by way of a sore throat. It was one of those scratchy kinds that make you feel like something is gagging you 24 hours a day. Well, I went to bed with some cough drops and a bit of NyQuil but got up around 2am because I was sweaty and cold at the same time. Right now I feel that way - I know I have a fever, but im also so cold that I am shivering. Basically, this stinks.

I did get my Perfect Dark game from E-Bay. I was so excited, I'd wanted that game for a while now. Holly and I played it for a couple hours yesterday. We had gotten it about noon but couldn't play because we went and got my future sister in law, Shana, to bring her to the bridal store. She got to pay off her dress for herself and her mom. Were both so excited about the wedding. When we were done in town, we got home at about 4pm and got to play 'til about 9pm - then we watched Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail. Holly hadn't seen it yet. heheh I don't think she understood most of the jokes, but she laughed at the obvious physical jokes.

Aspen got to read her Harry Potter book yesterday. I bet she's really excited to finally get that book. I think someday I'll go get it too. I still need to go buy the newer movie that had come out - I've been slackin!!

OK, time to go rest, I think I'm going to end up as a puddle if I stay any longer on the computer.

Grandmas - decks, Wrong Turn, and weekend wedding

Grandmas and deck
If you haven't noticed, I was gone for a bit. The decking supplies finally came in and when I heard my grandfather smacked his forehead with a board I decided I should go and help out. We got it all done, worked all day yesterday screwing around (IE dcrewing the new boards in place). It was a lot of fun and I always treasure the time I can have with my grandparents. Someday they won't be there and I would love to keep the memories with me. I have been doing my best to talking and visiting with them as much as possible.

Wrong Turn
Ugh, all I can say is "EEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwie"! That movie hit all my nerves with a small pick and hammer, stuffed needles under my nails and scratched the chalkboard. I probably saw half the movie because my hands were in front of my face - but I sure got an ear full with those nasty sounds. I won't talk too much about it on account of those who don't like spoilers - but if you don't mind squishy sounds and bone cracking and sudden pop up scares - this is the movie for you. gag, gag, ptooie...

Weekend Wedding
My cousin, Jake, and his fiancee, Selena, will be getting married this weekend. So, tomorrow were all congregating in Baudette for Saturday's wedding. I would never have thought Jake first - but he and Alan (my brother) are the eldest of the cousins in my family, so I guess that's right in marriage. I'm the third eldest - oldest granddaughter - uh oh. I won't be back until Sunday evening - so this won't be updated much until Monday with news on what's been happening on my end.

I hope you all have a terrific weekend. Take care!

Pampering, Kung Pow, and more musings

Pampering
My Uncle Lynn had won a package for his office for free make overs - and they brought me along. Boy - did we work those poor girls. There were 5 girls and one guy, most of us had our hair colored and highlighted, I also got a new haircut and waxed. BTW, Waxing **HURTS**. It may be worth it - but OOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWCH! LOL You wouldn't guess I went through a 3 and a half hour tatoo process a few years back when I turned 21. I had more tears in my eyes yesterday then I did back then. /shrugs

Kung Pow
My little cousins stayed over another night and we watched EverAfter. We awwwed and ohhhhed and then it was about 11:30 pm and so I put them into bed. The mattress was pulled off the bunkbed two feet from my room and put on the floor so they could sleep near me. We tossed and laughed and began quoting Kung Pow, Enter the Fist until we were giggling so hard that we couldn't go to sleep. So, I popped out of bed and asked, "You guys wanna go watch the movie??" LOL don't have to ask twice around those two. We all huddled onto the couch, turned on Kung Pow and drank Kool-Aide.

Summer Musing
The night I just described was a Saturday Night. The Friday Night before that, I went to the movies with my best friend and 12 yr old cousin. We went and saw the new Harrison Ford movie - Hollywood Homicide.That's normal for a single 24 yr old to do that on a weekend night? Well, it's better than me being stuck on the computer playing EQ or some other game that sucks the adventure out of your natural life. In fact - I need to get off right now so I can actually go do something before the day is totally gone. Have a great day all!! /hugs

Diploma (!!), e-bay, and summer musings

I finally got my diploma, I am so excited! Of course, my Mom forgot to tell me it had come - it had come about 3 days prior to my finding out. Apparently the wonderful mail-person decided to bend the thick envelope to make it fit into our mailbox. I guess they figured I didn't need a flat diploma =P My mom had stuck the envelope under a couple phone books to flatten it back out and forgot to tell me. heheh - It is beautiful, I can't believe I actually have it now.

I finally broke down and checked out E-Bay, talk about an addictive place to be. I didn't realize I would end up checking "My E-Bay" every ten minutes to see if anyones outbidded me. Hehe, be warned.

Summer Musings
"Do you rent them out?"
-Quoted by my cousin last night as we discussed girly things (Girls may get this joke - we had a good laugh).

Camping, parties, kittens, decks, and worms

Well, I went camping with my family and the tent idea was scratched. It was one of those miserable weekends where it rained and got cold. I ended up staying inside the camper and sleeping in there. My cousins and grandparents were there but in my grandparents camper. My mom and I played cards and watched the news a bit before going to bed.

My cousins High School graduation party was a blast. They had tons of people coming in and out. I was amazed! I did get my attention grabbed by the new batch of kittens they had in the old garage out back. They were so cute. They had their mother watching them. BUT, there was a single lone abandoned kitten walking around. They said it had been abandoned by its mother about three days ago. The poor thing was starving and following the little kids - hoping for food. It broke my heart when I saw the kids playing rough with it, so of course I grabbed it and fed it a little cooked turkey and water. It almost bit my finger off! I just feel so bad for the thing and I kow I can't take it home and they didn't want anything to do with it, so I did my best to ask everyone if they wanted a kitten. One girl near the end of the night said she could take it because it was the same age as the kittens her mom and dad had gotten for the barn. She said they'd spoil it and it would have brothers and sisters to play with. I hope it has a good life - I can only hope. I have such a pull to kittens - it's horrible! I see one hungry or abandoned and I will want to give it a home. It happened two times last year with two other cats.

On another note, my grandparents had me stay with them an extra few days to help with their new deck. I was to unscrew all the screws of the old wood and help install the new planks when they got delivered. Well - they never got delivered. Apparently they ad never gotten the order! Menards has a mail-in order system that failed this time. Now my grandparents have no deck and need to wait for a new order. I doubt they'll go through that company again. The young man apparently doesn't check up on his orders - "has sooooo many coming in all the time" - the company will lose ground with the non-commercial customers if they keep that up.

Yesterday morning I went a worm hunting (animated) with my grandfather. He grabbed the pitchfork and handed me the bucket. We went around and dug and searched, but not many were showing their squirmy little heads. All we ever dug up was hordes of ants. I'd never seen so many - every fork full had a swarm of them and then we dug up the baby ants left and right. We got maybe 10 worms in that half hour of searching. Sad, sad, sad.

Gonna go a camping.. hi ho hi ho.. off to camping we go...

I have been busy today cleaning out the camper and finding all the camping equipment.
I suppose your wondering what "roughing it" is for me? Well, let's just say we could watch DVD's, microwave, take showers, and drink cappucinos if we wanted. I plan on taking the tent though. It has been more than 10 years since I have even been inside one, much less tried to set one up. We'll see how long it takes - and then how long it takes until I freak out enough to jump into the truck and sleep because I won't feel safe.
Hehe, I waas telling Aspen I needed to pack for the next few days and she gave me a funny look. I guess packing for a three day camping trip shouldn't take too long - but for me it takes a while. I want all the clothes I will wear clean and packed and within easy reach. I also want to have everything available if I need to - food, drinks, TP, and bedding.

So, when I am camping, I won;t be updating. This is starting Saturday morning until tuesday evening. I'll try to leave something horribly amusing to keep all my readers happy.

More tales of relaxation and summer

Hrmm.. I slept in until noon yesterday. Boy, was that a surprise when I woke up and realized what I did! I suppose it was on account of my staying up until 3am to read a book - I tend to not like waiting to read a book, If I start reading, I'll keep going until it's done.

I watched Columbo again today. I love the show. I do wonder why they let us see the crime beforehand sometimes. I would almost think that for the audience to wonder which suspect is the one he believes did it would be part of the show - but nope. We get to see the murder first hand. Then, that does bring us closer to the story - since we know he's on the right track and were leaning forward on our couch, waiting for him to pick up more clues that we may have or hadn't noticed. Oh, and one more thing, if you don't mind...

I planted three more bushes out front. Two were some kind of bushy green ones that will get kinda tall, other one was a flowering bush that should be pretty next year. The pool is actually looking a bit tempting atm, but I know I'm headed to Grandmas in an hour or so. I'm going to go for dinner and then come home late tonight - a nice late, quiet night. Maybe I'll turn the music up real loud and clean - or sit down and write. Who knows.

Beautiful Days

Minnesota has been gorgeous these days. The weather is cool, with cooler winds, hot sun and shady trees. None of the nasty blood sucking bugs are out yet, so we have free reign of the woods!

Seven members of my family, including me, went down to the state park and walked for about 3 hours, around 4 miles. We had brought the dogs, so it was mostly fun to see them running around - greeting people, sticking their noses into interesting spots, and basically pulling us along at a comfortable pace. Most people would walk by quicker as I held Queen close to me - she is the friendliest - but well behaved. Well, except for that time she decided the little old lady was short enough to be a child and wanted to jump onto her. I had the leash pulled close to me, so all she did was choke herself. I hate seeing the people jump if one of the dogs got too excited. I would gusee about five out of 30 stopped an petted the dogs.

The dogs = One small sized Collie, One Spaniel, and one Yorkshire Terrier (this one looks exactly like Nicky!).

A New look for my blog

I figured that since I was on my Summer break, that I would update the look of my site. I have yet to fix up the archives section - I think the bubbles version fits my personality better than the stark template I had earlier.

I hope everyone is having a great summer - get out and party hardy! =D

Movies, Memorial Day, and Relaxation

The last few movies I got to see was Matrix Reloaded, Anger Management, and Bruce Almighty.

Matrix Reloaded - I have seen some that thought it was wonderful - kick ass and exciting. Personally, I got bored after the second fight. They seriously threw in so many fight scenes that I was bored and seeking more plot. There is a delightful mixture of critics on the subject.

Anger Management - I will definitely recommend this movie. I wa slaughing so hard and it had me guessing throughout on how evil Jack Nickolson actually was. He scares me. /shiver.

Bruce Almighty - Fun, hilarious and a great plot to think on. I love theology and this plot was exactly the kind of thing I enjoy - the struggles of belief and why we believe.

Memorial Day was fun. The day before, right after church, I ran off with my Grandparents to stay at their house with my little cousins. They're not that little anymore, but they are still the younger generation. I cooked and played with them that night so my grandma and grandpa could go to Ground Round with my mom. They had gone over to go see Bruce Almighty , but the projector had broken apparently and they had sat their for quite a while. Poor things.

Relaxation is going to be put on hold now. I want to get up and run around again. I miss working on things. hehe, I miss homework. Good lord, someone shoot me =P

Last Wednesday was my last day of work at the computer lab. Then, me and Aspen grabbed all my stuff from the dorm room and stuffed it into her car and we checked me out of my room that night. Then we cleaned mom's house from top to bottom.

Friday morning I went with Aspen to her dorm room and I went to a College of Arts and Letters party for those of us graduating then headed down in my robe and hat to Bangsberg Hall which is the farthest building. We all got assembled into our groups and then walked two by two all the way back to the John Glas Field House. There, we walked into the auditorium and sat in chairs as that graduation music was on. The commencement lasted four hours, started at 1pm. I finally graduated! Whoooot.

That night we all went to go see The Matrix Reloaded - I wasn't too impressed but I will still go see the third one.

Saturday started my party and that was fun. Tons of people came and I tried my best to greet them all. The kids swam in the pool and the grownups sat and talked. That lasted all day.

Sunday was the wedding shower for Shanna - that started at 1 and none of the guys were allowed to come so Alan and Kaz went to a Dungeons and Dragons game while we all did the girly party. Aspen was stuck cooking the spaghetti all day, she did a great job though.

Monday, I showed Kaz around Bemidji and Itasca National Park. He enjoyed the weather a lot. After that, we met up with mom, dan, and aspen and watched movies. That night was Kaz's last night in MN and he left yesterday morning.

Yesterday, me and Aspen ran errands all day. Whew. I ended up going to her dorm and passing out on the couch. I hadn't gotten over the parties and finals yet. Then we watched Buffy's Last episode. Poor Aspen is heart broken. I was a bit disappointed by the ending, but it was all right. Then me and Aspen came home and watched Dogma - she just bought the CD. I love that movie heehe.


I will start keeping up my blog again - I was just too busy these last few days. =D

Liberties

I took the liberty of going to google and typing in my full name, Ayleen Lindahl, and most if nt all were me - but when I typed in Ayleen I found quite a different story.

I am a collie, I love to play, and think every dog is happy to play with me, I'm Uber, and I'm a Klingon???

Hmmm, I'm seeing a pattern here....
Here's another dog named Ayleen
and another..
and another...
and another....
and another...
oooh ohh I'm a cat this time!
'Doh another dog

I give up - Arf, arf!!

Blargh!

As Aspen stated so succinctly, Blargh - I have one of those migrainey neck achey headaches. I want to just curl up in a dark room and lay down for the rest of the evening. But - I need to go to my graduation rehearsal today at 3pm and thats in ohh... half an hour. /Sigh

I have gotten a lot done the past couple days- I know my blog's feeling a little neglected, but I have good reasons!

Tomorrow will be my second long day, I actually have a final (American Lit II) and then im going to try and move out the rest of my stuff - leaving only my bedding, clothes and essentials. Hopefully I can get it all done before I have to go to work at 7:30.

Yeaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!

OK, so I just finished my Beowulf Guide a few hours ago. Yup yup yup. All done. Yessiree. I'll probably keep adding things that I suddenly remember, but I have everyting I can think of now - DONE! eee heee!

That put aside, I finally got my financial aide sent in. I did the FAFSA on the web and it wasn't so hard, cept I am always scared I do it wrong - misread a question or just plain not understand correctly. BUT, that is done. Yessir.

I also worked on ym English Lit Final and I believe after an initial editing phase, that should be done too.

This leaves me with the blogs and wikis presentation write up thingy and studying for my finals. Of course through all this I'm going to keep working on the Dept. English site, it's just too much fun not to work on.

But, I have been having a great Saturday - hope you all are too!

A productive couple days!

To start, on Monday we had an exec meeting for hall council - we are doing an end of the year bash for our residents, cooking out, playing games and having a good time. It'll be on next friday.

Then, after the exec meeting I ran to Oak and had dinner with the RA's that I'll be working with next year. They are a lively bunch and I can't wait to start up and get involved! It's just really exciting for me.

Yesterday and on Tuesday have been working my tail off on the websites again. My Beowulf Senior project is going wonderfully, I think it may be mostly done - just working out some typos and filling in little information bits I may have forgotten. Then the Department of English site is going, but I had found a cluster of pages I had not seen earlier and so I have been weeding through the links on the existing pages to make sure everything is working. Its just been a lot of testing and making sure it won't confuse the audience.

Today I get to do an usability test with the Advanced Web Design class I TA for with Dr. Morgan. Hopefully they will help me with the bugs I may have missed since I started the English site.

Pssst, Aspen
Wookie matters

Don't make me think and missionary school?

I get to do an Usability testing tomorrow to see how the Department of English website is coming along. I am hoping I will get some great feedback so I can get it finished up by the end of the year. I wonder if Mike would let me do the same with my Senior Project? Hmm... food for thought.

Yesterday for 7 hours I was at our church to help sponsor my brother and his fiancee. I had an interesting time talking with Pastor Cheryl about Original Sin and Adam and Eve - I have learned an awful lot in my Women in Middle Ages Class and am so intrigued by the church and its influences on society in the Middle Ages. We talked for a long time about all my questions and thoughts, and she looked me in the eye and asked me if I'd ever thought of Missionary School. I stepped back and laughed, of course I hadn't even thought about it! With all my questions and my mind, who would have even thought I'd consider the possibility. However now that I think about it, that would be a fascinating place for me, I'd go right into the History of the Church or maybe the Theology. Maybe that would be a great compliment to my studies - to eventually teach the middle ages in college is definitely my goal. I love to discuss the their strange culture and society rules.

All thumbs today

Anyone else ever have the problem where your typing in your password and since you can't tell what you actually wrote, you just cross your fingers and hope its right? I feel like I hit too many letters or something, yet, it always works. /shrug

Today is going to be long, ill be in classes until noon, going to stop by the Graduate office and make sure all my paperwork is in and good to go. Then I need to call up my loans and tell them to try and not bill me, call me delinquent, or call me because they don't eep track of their customers. Even if I had signed up for next falls classes, they want my money! Money? What money?! gah.

I have a littl anxiety on getting the department of english website up and finished, plus the senior project website finished. But, if I take this saturday and work hard, I can get a few more pages up. After that, i need to fix them - Ill work on the dpt of English during summer until it's exactly how we need it though.

OK, so I'm late by a day... hehe

I did something frivolous yesterday, I worked on my RA poster that tells who is on duty. I wanted to paint a castle, so I bought a large poster board, drew a castle, and painted it for a couple hours. I tlooks kinda cool - I can't wait to work on the dragon now.

Then, last night at 9:15 we (hall council) put on the Who Wants to be a Millionaire contest and that was hilarious, I barely knew any of the answers! And of course we had recorded Angel and so we watched that at around 10pm and didn't get to sleep until 11 - I jumped into my bed and passed right out.

I also got a phone call last night from my new ARHD for next year, I'll be going to a dinner put on by the current RA's next Monday. That will help out a lot since I can't quite get all the names straight yet. There are going to be 12 RAs - including me.

I'm not slacking! I swear =)

I hope everyone had a great Easter, I went to my grandma's house and we had a huge ham dinner and then celebrated my grandfathers birthday.

On Saturday I just did my homework and got a lot of reading done and some more of my wiki-ness. [Had a report due so I did that on Saturday]

Friday night - well thats basically dubbed the goof off night - we rented movies and did a few things in town.

busy busy busy.

Sleepy and Productive?

I almost got no sleep last night. I went to bed about 11 pm and laid there for hours on hours, until 3am! Finally I must have lost consciousness, cause once my alarm went blaring in my ears at 7:30 I felt like I hadn't slept at all.

I did get to talk to Dr. Morgan today about what classes I will be taking next year - I am going to sign up for the Pedagogy, grab up my German I and then keep my fairytales class. It sounds like it will be a fun year with learning how to teach and teaching at the same time.

I actually finished one of my projects! I read three of the books from the library on Anchoresses and wrote up my 13 page paper. I was so fascinated with those women! I'll have to put up a copy of that paper so you guys can read about it - talk about crrrrrrrraaaaaazyyy!

I also got the problem fixed with the BSU site not uploading. Dr. Morgan fixed it after I asked why it kept saying I had no space for the files. Now, all I have to do is fix all the gal darn links that got screwy from me converting my files from PC to Mac. GAH! always something.

A great day

I just got done with my test in Enlish Lit II and I have to say, it rocked! I studied more than I needed to, but I had such great groundwork for that test that I didn't have to worry. Yaaaaaaay! I feel good.

Now- if only my neck would stop being stuck and my pulled muscle would melt away. If I don't move my head too much to one side it doesn't hurt - but it's hard not to do that. Stupid neck.

Also, printed out my Graduation Invitations - I'll hopefully get them set out soon.

Presentation Success!

I am so proud of our Fiction Class! The 10 of us all took our turns to read in front of a good handful of people. I know I stumbled over a couple words here and there but I stayed at a relatively good pace. Everyone seemed to like my dress too - Yaaay, I didn't feel like too much of a dork wearing a renaissance dress in front of everyone.

Right after the presentation, I got a few hugs and happy tidings before I could make it to the bathroom and change. I was so happy to get into a tank top and jeans after that, those dresses can be quite constrictive - Ahem.

After that me and Aspen went outside and we were about to go to the library when - we stopped - stared at the beautiful 70 degree weather and the bright sky - looked at each other - looked at the library - looked back at the car and we both said to heck with it and took the day off. We have been working so hard and we rarely get to go walk around and just goof the rest of the day. Well - today was our release. We cruised around all over Bemidji, ate at Tutu Bene's and walked around the mall. I may be about $50 in the hole because of a few clothing choices, but I feel much more relaxed. We went home later tonight and played a bit 'o Nintendo - Super Mario Brothers and then watched Angel and then watched my movie - Beowulf with Christopher Lambert. That was fun to watch, it may be a B-rated movie but it was fun to giggle about things and actually see how that movie would stay within the Beowulf story-line.

Upcoming Presentation

My fiction writing class has been planning a presentation of "Hearing Voices" for the student Scholarship day on Wednesday. I have to dress up in my renaissance dress, but it shouldn't be too bad. If the other girls wear fancy clothes, I won't feel so silly. I can't give too much detail yet, but after the fact maybe I can. We did hold a practice session today during our class time - two didn't show up - Mr. Altheizer and Mr. Page. The thing is, they are are beginning and end readers for the presentation! If you two see this, try and come to the presentation at 12:30 so we can all get our stuff together. We made plans and need to fill you in.

Stress Levels on the Rise

Stress is smacking into me hard, but I have been hanging in there. I am doing my best to make sure my training time for RA and GA are not conflicting - I have yet to hunt down my future RHD to talk to her about it. The Grad office was great, "We want our students to succeed" is what she said. I felt better after that, but I still worry.

I have been getting good progress on my Wiki Project. Mom is being given crash courses in Wiki-Wisdom and I think she can get it by the deadline. I have the main states to go yet and the date timeline. My own side is finished, but needs to be reformatted to my own liking (I'll do that after I have all the info I need).

My Beowulf project is still in progress, I am currently reading a book on the treasures of Beowulf - interesting excerpts will be put on the site. I am stressed about that site, but I am going to center all my energies on that after my Wiki is polished.

I have been going slow on my Women in Middle Ages paper, it's only a 10-13 pager, but I need to do a lot of reading before the 19th so I can return the library books.

And then there is the next assignment in Advanced Fiction - I need to turn in another 15 or so pages of new text along with my revision of my PeaceWeaver story. Let's hope I can find a weekend to do this - along with trying to get out the wedding invitations for my brothers weddng, wedding shower, and my graduation.

Oh and not to mention getting packed to go home for the summer, keep moms house in order with all my junk in it so the part can have room to breathe in may, make sure the lawn is all set up, try and save enough money to live the summer at home (getting a job is pointless for the two months I'm there), and making sure I don't freak out and start tossing ice cream into my roommates shoes - MUHAHAHAHA

Oops I did it again!

No, not quoting Brittney Spears, just saying I've been naughty in forgetting to update my blog for good reasons.

I've been working on my Wiki lately and even spent a few hours at the library looking up stuff for my timeline. I think I know too much about the eighties now. I'm happy with how it's working out, so it's all good.

I also went to a great piano conert today in Bangsberg.She was a wonderful pianist and hope to hear her another day. Aspen and I also heard this song played "Regard de L'tiole" by Messian, it was haunting.

I intend to get up around 9am tomorrow and work a little bit on my Women in Middle Ages paper, go to my moms and do some laundry and visit with relatives and then come back and finish up my work.

Oops!

I was working so hard on my wiki that I had no time to come write anything on the blog!

We had gone to the chinese restaurant yesterday and we were sitting there munching down when this poor man came waddling in - too drunk to walk straight. I felt bad for him, you never know what kind of life he has and to add alcoholism to that would be worse than hell. He only had about a dollar and fifty cents and the guy at the front wouldn't let him go eat. Ten minutes later the cops called and they talked to him for a while and then had him get in the back of the car. He went willingly - probably going to take him home to sober up. Makes me wish people could see how it is hurting themselves and those around them, and to have that make a difference.

Birthday Party
My family celebrated me and my moms birthday yesterday. We set up the grill and all the lawn furniture on the patio, started up a fire in the chimnea (roasted lots of marshmallows and made smores) and had hamburgers and baked beans. After all that, we goofed off on the four wheeler all over the yard and then had cake. I was stuffed by the time I got home.

Wiki taking time(y)
I need to put my blog second to my wiki project - so my posts may be a bit shorter for a while. I only have 6 weeks left to get all my projects done, so I need to make my priorities in the right direction - graduation.

Future home
Aspen and I walked over to Oak Hall and checked out my floor. It seems half the floor on one side past my future door is women and the other is men. The room isn't carpeted and the desk has the sides that makes the room smaller - but it will be better for my TV and computer to sit there if I need to with extra desk space. I do face the lake and some trees - I'm happy about that. I'm very excited about the whole thing.

The loss of a good friend

Alphie, our betta fish, passed away last night. It was sad to see him die from old age, but he was an old fishy and was one of the best fish I ever had the privelege of knowing. He would wiggle his hiney and dance for you, attack his food and flirt with my moms gold fish. He was cool.

Happy Birthday Mom!

She looked wonderful - she always has such beautiful skin. She is also the most vibrant woman I know, and I hope someday I can be anything like her. She has a lot more patience than I do!

A new appreciation for old english

It always amazes me how much I love the Old English literature and their customs. I want to know it, I want to see it in my mind, as clearly as I can my own times. I even feel remarkably at home when I write stories about the middle ages, it's as if I'm going home and am happier in that sort of mindset. Maybe it is the ideal of chivalry and the strict rules that seemed to control every aspect of your life. It's not that I want to be a part of that, but to witness the restrictions and the way people may have gotten out of certain laws and/or didn't. Hmmm, I could make a political joke right about here, but I think that's a given.

Happiness is...

...finding the right template that will make the website you have been working on for weeks look the best!
...going home for a few hours to visit your mom.
...feeling as if you accomplished something when you witness all your hard work start coming together.
...figuring out how to use the website for interlibrary loans!

Advanced Fiction

I actually volunteered to read for Wednesday. Nobody would volunteer and the class was so quiet and Weaver was looking back and forth for anyone to say they would. I guess that's the best way to slowly break ya down until you give in. It's been a while since I read anyting, anyway.

Also, I have a start on the story I have always wanted to write! I'm so excited now - hoping I can get it all onto paper without giving too much away on what allt he plot twists are. I plan on reading them the feast chapter, where we get to see the Middle English bragging that usually went on.

Renee read us a few 100 word stories - we were all blown away. I loved them and I think she should either make a website of them or a blog - or something. People need to see the value of those stories.

Tanning
I think it's definitely time for me to take a day off from taning. I've got a slight burn and I'm going to let it die down before I go back. Today, I walked from the dorms down to Netties Nugget Tanning - it was so windy I thought i was being pushed the whole way. It's warm-but that wind is cold. I think it's time to go buy me a kite. Maybe a Harry Potter one or Lord of The RIngs. Hmmmm...

Saturday, tanning, clothing

I have to say it was a beautiful Saturday. I had insomnia last night and couldnt get to sleep until about 3am but I did wake up at noon today and was able to go jogging during the best time of the day. The sun was warm, the breeze was cool and it was nice and quiet on the campus and down at the lake front/park. I then jogged down to main street and ran by Netties Nugget, reminding me I wanted to start tanning.

I went back to the dorms and Aspen and I went to do errands with the windows down and our hair blowing in the wind, then she waited for me as I laid in the tanning bed for 10 minutes. I have to say, it was a little long for the first time back. My cheeks are a bit red - but the rest of me seems fine. I have another appointment at 11:15 am tomorrow morning and hope I don't have insomnia again. hehe

We watched a very interesting show today on the learning channel - What Not To Wear, it made me start thinking what kind of dumpy things I wear. I hope I'm not as bad as cases as seen on the show - I always try to wear colorful clothes and nothing too large to make me look ten times bigger than I really am. I hope Aspen would tell me, anyway!

Good Dreams, Good Movie, Flies, and Senior Project-Homework

All I have to say is - My dream last night put me into a very sunny disposition today.

Aspen and I went off to go see How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. We laughed so hard! I have to recommend this movie - it has too much truth in it and it almost made *me* embarassed just to see her do all that to the poor guy!

Ya know - I had planned to write something about something about today and I have no idea what it was anymore, the obscure "Flies" at the top is even too obscure for me! If I remember, I'll come back and fill it in. I think I'm just losing it!

I have been working o my Senior Project today and came up with a brand new template for it. I am tweaking it out now so I can begin placing my information inside of the text cells. /bounces. I am so exctied, I need to get this working so I can feel like I have a lot more accomplished - Seeing is believing.

What else I have planned in homework is - Actually start working on my fiction. I have absolutely nothing written, it's all in my head. What good is that when I need to turn it in on Friday? I dunno. Maybe I can scan my brain with my moms scanner at home.
-I also need to work seriously on my wiki to add more text. That sucker has almost too many pages! But, I found some great resources for the main State pages that I can add information too. I'll just have to remember to cite the books I get it from.
-I also have a 10-13 page paper in my Women in Middle Ages class. This is due on our last day - final day - but i'd like to get it finished way before then. I'm planning on writing about Anchoress' in the Middle Ages. They were fascinating!

English Major Outbreak

On Seeing the Elgin Marbles
My spirit is too weak-mortality
Weighs heavily on me like unwilling sleep,
And each imagined pinnacle and steep
Of godlike hardship tells me I must die
Like a sick eagle looking at the sky.
Yet 'tis a gentle luxury to weep
That I have not the cloudy winds to keep
Fresh for the opening of the morning's eye.
Such dim-concieved glories of the brain
Bring round the heart an undescribable feud;
So do these wonders a most dizzy pain,
That mingles Grecian grandeur with the rude
Wasting of old time-with a billowy main-
A sun-a shadow of magnitude.

-John Keats

Sick, homework, and other thoughts
Sick? Yes.

Homework consists of going to the library to read Flannery O'Connor, writing up a draft of my English Lit 2 paper, Mess around on my wiki, try out a new design for the Dpt. of English Website, and other misc. items that I have in my "to do" box.

Politics are beyond me. My head is in the clouds or stuck in a book. It may be a horrible thing to not be too interested in what is going on in the world - but I figure it will happen no matter if I sit in front of the TV watching news all day or not. I don't need all that stress, I have enough of it on my own life. I don't think I'm the only one that thinks this way - but then everyone is an individual right? I have the right to say what is on my mind. Here is a quick blurb on what goes on in my mind.

Poem, have to read those poems for class, I need to do that paper, I wonder what being an RA will be like, will I have time to go out and have fun, what about going home? I'll miss mom. I won't have my car anymore. Gas prices will go way up, so maybe I'm lucky. My roommate still has to drive, I need to get her some money, oh money for bills. I'm pretty sure I have them all paid up. I wonder when the Visa bill is due, I get paid this Friday. I should pay it right away on friday, it would be easier if I had direct deposit. The paper for signing up for Direct deposit is in my purse, I hope I remember to bring it on friday when I pick up my check. I should have extra money from working on the website, I hope I can get that done in time. I need to find a kick-ass design. I neeed to get my Senior project website done. I want to re-do it, but I don't know if I'll have the time. I hope I can get that done in time. I wonder if I can make it bigger for my thesis next year. Oh my gosh, I'll be teaching next year. I wonder what that's going to be like. I wonder what classes I need. I need to go talk to Dr. Morgan. I hope he doesn't ask about my Senior project, I'm so behind right now. I wish I hadn't gotten sick. But, I bet if I hadn't I would still be behind, there was too much going on.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yeap, I am now 24 years old. Officially. My 20s are going faster than they should! Slow dowwwwwwnnnn!

I'm still sick as a dog. I'm ready to grab those chopsticks from the chinese restaurant and stick em up my nose to try and get my sinuses clear. So miserable. =(
I want my Mommy! /sniffles

My Birthday has still been fun! Renee got me a cute angel necklace (I'm the lab angel! hehe) and she made us green cupcakes. She's so great. Andrea dropped off a nummy brownie on my desk and I been enjoying that huge chunk of chocolate all day so far. Also, I got a beautiful card with everyones names written in it - it's got a fairy on it. =D

I'm sorry if this is going to be a short post - I'm way too sick to get deep today. Unless its knee deep in tissues. I hope I didn't get anyone sick by going to school today =/

Thursday, Friday, and Weekend & Monday Birthday

Sick.
Hack.
Cough.
Sneeze.
Wheeze.
Sniffle.
Sigh.
Cry.

I have one of those nasty colds where you get up around 6am because it hurts too much to lay down, your neck feels like it's about 5 times bigger than normal, your ears feel as if they are filled with fluid and you just wanna burrow into bed but can't breathe if you lay down.

I am hoping I won't be sick by Monday, I really wouldn't mind a healthy birthday. I'll be 24. Twenty-Four - seems like yesterday I was 18 and just leaving high school.

At least I've been *sneezes* able to read for my classes. Other than that I have been useless in writing or other homework.

Painting, Family, Spring Break, Taxes
I painted like a crazy woman the past two days. I went to my grandparents house on sunday Night, stayed the night two nights and painted from 8am until about 9pm both days. I got their bedroom and bathroom all fixed up now. I used primer in the bathroom and of course that went smoothyl. We had no primer for the bedroom and so it took at least three coats to get the pattern from past wall board to go away. Today I am sore as heck, but feel good that I got to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa.

On Sunday I was with family for my uncles birthday. We had all the family over at grandmas and apparently another aunt and uncle thought I should meet this guy from my uncles work. They brought him with, and I knew ahead of time that they thought we could become friends - or more. They are always hoping I'll go out and meet "the one". Well, my family is very open and talks about anything and everything and of course my uncle says, "...and she's got big boobs!" Oh my God, I almost died. I just about melted into the floor, hoping someone would just come shoot me. I guess most people have those family members that make it their mission to embarass the hell out of you, but geez - I could have gone without that in front of a complete stranger.

Has spring break started?

Taxes? -Gah

Paycheck? Spring Break, and Classes w/out Masses

I was pleasantly surprised when I got my paycheck. It's about 100 more than normal - so now I need to go double check to make sure they didn't do a mistake. I hate it when you get all excited with money to only realize that it won't last. Sounds like a bad joke - if my bills ever had a sense of humor.

Spring Break. Ahhhhh you can just hear the sounds of the ocean and feel the warmth of the beating sun. Or, if you're in my world, you can feel the struggling rays of sun beating down on your cheeks- the only thing exposed to the air in the negative 40 weather. You can also hear the Snow Plows in the distance, the constant swirling of the large brush. whoosh whoosh psssshhhhhhhh.

With Spring Break comes the student absences. Absinthe makes the heart grow stronger? Maybe, but absence in a class because you can get away with it is mandatory freshman day. It seems only the few of us who want to graduate this May come to class. Ah well, at least I have a head start in the quiz department.

I got hugged yesterday! I've been getting congratulated by the English Professors about being accepted as a Graduate TA. It's like a dream, I will actually have "office hours" and students...and papers to grade. Sorry if I over-chat about this sort of stuff - It's still sinking in.

College Life Part II, Stress, N64 Bond

I got the letter today. I was accepted as an R.A.! I got assigned Oak 2nd floor A wing. Apparently a floor with double rooms as singles and mostly older students. Quiet? Maybe. I'm so very excited about next year. I'll have a new job as an RA, meet new people, I'll be teaching, and going on with my Masters. I can't believe all this is going to happen. School isn't never-ending!!! Their just sagas. On May 16th this year, I should be done with Saga 2, the attack of the graduate planes, the third and most recent episode can be called Search for Aya : The first teaching years.

Stress has been giving me very blood shot eyes and those fun (sarcasm impending....) sick headaches. Usually feels like somedody is shoving their thumb against the back of my neck 24 hours a day.

I and my roommate played a bit'o James Bond on my N64. We love to use that as a stress release, and I have to say, I got my ass handed to me. Either I started to suck at the game now, or shes gotten better, or she has more stress than me. I'm thinkin ice cream is more of my stress release. I have to say Wallys (The food place for full time students who live on campus) has had some GREAT ice cream. They actually had a vanilla ice cream with little chunks of peanutbutter chocolate cups and large chunks of some melty chocolate. mmmmm....mmmmmm.

Food Politics, RA nervousness, Mid-Terms, little time!

Food politics = SNARF

Now I have to go and be nervous again to see if I got accepted or not for RA. I was already planning on how to get my car back and the privacy to be had at home again.

My English Lit2 Midterm wasn't so bad today. I spent all yesterday and last night working on memorizing all the poems to go with the Romantic Poets. Ho boy did that fry my brain. But, it did it's job and I was able to identify all the authors I needed to. WHOOT. I also did the Women in Middle Ages midterm last night and that was a hoot. We were able to use our books and notes, but it was a long test. I was tired out after that.

Tonight I need to study for American Lit2, help with the Roommate Game tonight at 8:30pm - late. I have an assignment for Fiction due this friday, I haven't even touched my Wiki for this week or my Senior Project. Hopefully during Spring Break I can catch up, but I may be too busy. Hopefully mom will drop me off at the library for a time.

1 Midterm down
2 to go

I am studious.
I can do eet.
Essays are my friends.
Essays are good.
Brain "...errrrk....skreeeck...sploosh...."
Bing.

Surprises, fortune cookie, graduation, writing

I stopped to talk to my Res. Hall Director downstairs and he said that there was a chance that I may be able to get the Resident Assistant position if I didn't take the pay but got the free room and board. So, he said he would look for my application down at the Res Life office and see if I can get back in the running. I still have to see if they would accept me anyway. So, here goes the waiting. I'm excited, Aspen and I are both supposed to know by Wednesday. Although, if they can't find my application I am sure I'll be told right away. Ah well, life will go on if I don't get it.

My fortune cookie said "Your friends respect you for your honesty and openness." Honestly, sometimes I'm too open about some things! LOL My poor roommate has to suffer through my harangues of openniness. (New Word! WOOT, I win.)

Graduation is sneaking up on me. I have already peeked at the rings that you can buy. I don't wear my highschool ring - what makes me think I need a $$$$$ College ring $$$$$? Besides the coolness of it? It's only going to cost me about $30 for the cap/gown/tassle and that's not too bad. My grad plans have been totally accepted. I am getting a BA English degree with a 2nd major of BFA Writing. Not bad for 5 years huh? Sure I graduated high school in '97, but I did take about a year off if you add up the times I left UNT and came to Minn.

I have the worst ache to write lately. The problem was trying to get started. I have that Peaceweaver story in my head and I know I am going to write this story, but I had to figure out in what tense and what point of view. I have figured out I will stick with the girl's point of view and I am definitely toning down the fantastical elements. Maybe make it more life-like. More to come on that as I get going. I have a start and we'll see what Weaver makes of it.

Dreams, Taxes, Cappucinos, and Home

I had the oddest dream last night. I was watching Columbo before I went to bed and it was fascinating watching this little hunched man with a glass eye put all the clues together. Well, in my dream I was both the murderer and Columbo! I was doing an in and out of body thing where I put on the dream characters role during certain parts. At one point I was trying not to get caught but Columbo was finding all the clues and knew I had done it, the other times I was Columbo trying to hunt down the murderer. Talk about wierd! No more Ramen Noodles before bed!

I want to do my taxes. I really do! But, I have about $30 on me and I can't afford to get them done! Not if it costs $70+! I may go ahead and try the internet filing, and hope I do it right. Last time the tax place did them wrong anyway, but geez, I'm no good at this kind of stuff.

I had a cappucino before Fiction Writing class. I drove Anandia nuts. I think she may have strangled me if I'd kept jabbering on about anything and everything. hehehe poor girl.

Me = Home sick. What is sad is that my mom lives about 15 minutes away.

Hehe I can't get enough of the Columbo site, it's pretty spiffy.

Life is G000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000D!

Dr. Morgan just told me after I TA taught photoshop in the advanced webdesign class that I was picked for a graduate teaching assistanship! WHOOT! I'm going to be teaching Freshman Writing Comp! /high five!!!

If anything else happens, I may pop!

I think I'll get off the computer and start dancing around my dorm room. I'm too excited to be sitting in one place.

Happiness loves company, RA position foiled, As I Lay Dying, and Phone Calls

I admit it. I am happy. I was tired this morning, but since I got back to the room after class, put a few Angel episodes under my belt and turned on A Massive Attack-Teardrop song on my MP3 player I feel like I could conquer the world. It must be that adrenaline rush because I will be teaching a class tomorrow again. I wonder if everytime I teach this same rush of excitement will come. I love it. It's the best thing in the world. I feel like I could write, create, jump, or even lick the monitor in a joyful manner!

I may be happy but It hasn't been crushed or uplifted by the RA position being a no-go. I had to withdraw my application from the process so they wouldn't waste their time. It seems I can't have two contracts (RA and Teaching Grad). So, I will decide between living at home (Strong-strong possibility) and the dorms. I miss my car. Truly. So maybe I will go ahead and just go home so I can have my own bathroom and my own car again.

I also read the book As I Lay Dying by Faulkner within two days. I admit the type was sort of large and one chapter was just a single line. You have to give credit for a man who can create a whole chapter with "My mother is a fish". Some may say the book isn't something to be enjoyed, but heck I loved it - even if I did think I smelled dead people the whole time I read it. I kept checking to make sure it wasn't me that smelled, but I know now that it was my imagination being pulled by Faulkner.

I heard my phone ringing about half an hour ago and I picked it up. All I heard was some distant voices in the background. I sat and listened for a second to try and figure out who it was who called. I have seen it happen where a phone number is called on a cell phone by accident. Well, as I sat there the phone next door in our livingroom started ringing. I handed my roommate the phone I had and answered the other one. It was my mom and she said she had just called and wondered what happened. Well - that leaves us with wondering who is talking in the other phone. We try and say hello but we get no answer. When I hang up with my mom we go back to trying to figure it out and my roommate suddenly asks me a few questions on what is being said and we find out it is a friend of mine from Florida! He must have tried calling me at the same time my mom did! I wonder how much his bill will be from us trying to figure it out. eek. I am definitely going to tease him about this tho.

Wiki memories, interviews, hiccups

I have been working hard on the wiki project and have just loved going through the old pictures and trying to remember everything I can about certain times. So far I have mostly the memories associating with more recent life activities, but I am slowly moving backwards to try and give my project more depth into what I "almost" remember. Hey, I can't wait to put in what I can't remember - amnesia when I was in Elementary School - maybe I should just get some first person accounts from my mom or friends.

This last Saturday I was being interviewed from 1pm until about 5pm. This is for that RA position that I have mentioned earlier. I know I can do the job and have time for everything else, but I know I won't be heartbroken if I don't get it. I have back-up plans and maybe moving back to moms house wouldn't be too bad of an idea. I miss her terribly and always feel guilty leaving her alone in that big house of ours.

I had the hiccups before the Hall Council meeting today. I believe that something as un-exciting as hiccups can make a person seem more human to those that may be a bit off-ish to you. It is something to laugh about - together - especially when I couldn't quite finish a sentence.

Bathroom Stall Leaking Out

I have always heard of the interesting poems that are frequently written on men's bathroom stalls. Yet, I am always amazed at how many times the guys running around the dorms find it funny to go on a girls marker-erase board on her door and draw very insightful pictures. I say - if that's what it looks like, oh boy.

And then to actually leave *A* phone number near the picture is just beyond funny. I haven't tried calling yet, but I am sure it's their neighbors or some friend of theirs.

Is this something that amuses guys? To know that the first thing that I wake up to after I leave my room to go take a shower is an X-rated male drawn image of man. Does this make them excited? Laugh? Maybe the reward is when they ever walk by our door again they can chuckle to themselves of how they drew it on my door. Just maybe their chest will swell with pride of how they achieved the prank with wily and witty skills. I bow down to those 'oh masters of my world who have dominated my very personal space with a badly drawn man's member. You would think they could get the proportions right. As it is, it looks more like a small minnow trying to swim against a fast current.

Was it you? Did you do it? How can I help not wondering that as I pass guys on an all girl dorm floor? I hope they feel superior as long as they don't ever have to draw themselves for an art class. I am sure the proportions will be skewered as much as their sense of humor.

Fishy Suicide

Well everyone, I think I will never have kids knowing full well how animals live around me.

I cannot have plants, they die within a week.

My first 2 Betta fish died within a week

This third fish - he must have jumped out of his bowl, flopped around on the counter and then dropped into a magazine bin. Sammie has gone off to the big fishy bowl in the sky. Honestly, where does a fish get off committing suicide? They aren't 'spose to be able to jump that high! I guess his acrobatics from yesterday had hit a high note while I was sleeping. It's sad that he had to kill himself so that I wouldn't have the chance to off him. Ah, irony at its finest.

Maybe a pet rock next time...

Aspen, don't click this link!

Ack, No, don't do it! AHhhhhhhhh!

P.S. My fish thinks he can get through plastic walls with his nose.

You can always surprise yourself

I have doubts, sometimes. Maybe I am volunteering for something that I shouldn't be. Maybe I should go through life quietly, don't stir anything up. Maybe they won't like me! Yet, there I go volunteering, having fun, getting to know people, and stirring up the ripples.

hmmm.. can fish have siezures? Sammie is doing some wierd bending-halfy thing. He's resting now, guess he just had to get something out of his system.

HYPER FISH!

This week hasn't been all that bad. I read through The Sun Also Rises within two days, read thoughts from an Opium eater, worked on my wiki, went to meetings, worked, and attended all classes.

Dancing, bars, drinking, and school

My uncle and cousins played at the Charlies bar in Walker this last Saturday night. They did a wonderful job and everyone was dancing and hollaring. I treasure any moment I get to spend with my cousins, they are so much fun and I love them dearly. As my roommate and I sat there, we were asked if we wanted a "drink" about every five minutes. I guess going to a bar is supposed to be for drinkers and without a glass in front of me, I was fair game. I refused every invitation - I have found drinking to be awful on my senses, I get tired, too wierd, and I don't like it. Once in a while I may have a cutesy drink - Strawberry Margarita or something, but that's it.

We both got asked to dance. Aspen got the cute sober guy, I got some drunk guy that had roman fingers and russian hands. I danced once and that was it. I think way too many drunk guys were around for me to have a good time. I'd much rather be seen as a person than some "thing".

On a good note, I did get most of my homework done this weekend and got to spend some time with my mom. I have all my forms handed in for the R.A. position and for the Graduate position. Wish me luck!