Bad blogger!

I've been a bad blogger lately. Sorry about that - it isn't all my fault. I left for the mini-ranch at 7 am on Wednesday and didn't get back until Friday afternoon. Then I was too tired to update for a while, and then things got busy. Oh well. I've been having fun. :)

The mini-ranch was very fun! I got there just in time for the first horseback riding ever. Mom, Dad, the Pous, and I muddled through the saddling process just fine. Montana Tim is a dark bay with a few white spots, and Story (her registered Quarterhorse name is "Doc's Storytime") is a lighter bay with one white back foot. You can see a few pictures of the horses here. They're both about 20 years old, but they seem to be in good shape and are totally ride-able. I rode four different times while I was there, utilizing both horses. And they are both incredibly sweet. They will both walk up to you and nuzzle you, and Story even licked my arm once. I've never encountered more affectionate horses. I had a really good time at the ranch with Mom and Dad on Wednesday, as well as getting to spend lots of time with Robert and Cindy. After lunch on Thursday, Dad had to return to Dallas, but I convinced Emily to come down and spend the night (it didn't take much persuading). We had lake time at the Pou beach in the afternoon and rode in the evening. We tested out the horses speed and discovered that age doesn't prevent the horses from trotting and cantering, luckily. Then Mom made us a scrumptious dinner of Cornish game hen and we piled on the couch to watch Beauty and the Beast. In the morning, Mom and Em rode down the street to the Pous while I walked along with Murphy. On our way back we stopped by the Lockes' lakehouse to say hello to Claude's sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren who were there for the weekend. The horses (and Murphy) were a big hit with the kids. Then it was time to pack up and head back to reality.

Yesterday I did a lot of organizing, managing to get the boxes out of the hallway, the guest bedroom uncluttered, and both closets in better working order. In the evening, Matt and I went to Noodles & Company and then came back to watch the beginning of the USC-VT game (okay, he watched and I flipped through a Brides Magazine). Around nine, we went to the HP game up at SMU with Mom and Dad. We saw the second and half of the third quarter. The highlight was halftime, and it was very cool being at the SMU stadium - the HP fans had almost our whole side full (of course, few of the people in the stands were actually watching the game, but still...). We left early to rest up for today.

Today was our engagement party at Amore, hosted by our parents. The guest list included about 50 of the parents' friends and family, as well as Jeff and Brittany (the other "kids" there being Emily, Luke, and us). It was fun, the food was great, as was the music (Matt and I made Phish CDs for the occasion), and it was good to see everyone. Oh, and to answer Taylor's question, I wore a pink sweater set (I know, shocker - I was trying to look feminine) and a maroon silk skirt that hit just below the knee from The Gap. After the party, Matt and I went to see Garden State at the Magnolia, which I really enjoyed. Then we ate dinner at his house and watched Hook on ABC Family. :) There, now we're all caught up. I can't believe A&M starts tomorrow. I can't believe it is starting without me. Maybe that means it'll actually start sinking in that I have graduated. Maybe.

I had a good time Sunday AND yesterday AND today. Amazing. :) On Sunday, I played DDR at Matt's (as Bryan put it, we dance-dance-revolted) and then some basketball. Then we got dinner from Amore and watched some TV at my house. Afterwards, we went back to his place and watched Father of the Bride (a gift from us to Mom and Dad after the engagement) with Luke and Susie. Yesterday, after a visit to the Y and more organizing and whatnot, I headed up to the middle school. I haven't gotten the chance to visit any schools recently (within the last year, really), and the middle school had definitely been neglected. Plus, I've been thinking of substitute teaching this year to make some money and fill in gaps in my schedule, and I definitely want to talk to some of my former teachers before jumping right into that. I got to catch up with Ms. Garrison (er, Julie...I'm going to have to work on that) and Ms. Janik (nee McDonald). It was really fun. Then I headed to Matt's for dinner. We killed time after dinner by looking for Dallas apartments online. Today I went shopping with Mom for an outfit to wear to the engagement party. We ended getting several cute things at The Gap that I really love. Yay! They are even feminine! Shock! They help to fill in a major void in my clothing collection. And later we went to Western Warehouse to get her some work boots. Mom was only okay with the comfortable lace-ups after I told her that they were all I saw the Aggie girls wearing in Kleberg. Mom, Dad, and Murphy headed out to the mini-ranch before dinner, which left me at home. Luckily, Matt came here after work and I made us mac & cheese (spirals!) for dinner. He just went home after watching some Olympics and Chris Young (from HP) pitch his first game for the Rangers.

Tomorrow I'm going down to the mini-ranch to meet the horses. I'm really excited!!!

6 years

Matt and I have been dating for 6 years today. This anniversary means more this year than ever before, not just because it yet another year, but because this is the last year that August 22 will be the most important date in our relationship.

Sim-Bop & Be-Bophone, Sky-Balls & Sax-Scraper

I love being back in Dallas - I can actually make plans for Sunday afternoon that don't involve driving three hours and avoiding traffic! I've had a fun weekend so far. Emily is baby-sitting the Stimson cousins while Charlie and Meredith are in Mexico, and on Friday I went over to keep Em company while the kids were in school. We played some DDR, then walked up to Peggy Sue for lunch. We stopped by Doughmonkey (a new bakery in Snider Plaza - SO good)and got some dessert. We hadn't been home for 10 minutes when Mary called from the UP (2nd grade) nurse's office saying that her head hurt and she needed to go home. So we went to pick her up, got her home and full of children's tylenol and water, and tucked her in for a nap. I hung around until all the other kids got home from school and then went back to my place. Mom and Dad had left for the mini-ranch, so it was just me and the Murph. Matt came over for dinner (we got Burger House - yum) and we watched the Olympics. Later on we played some DDR. Yesterday, I went to lunch with Midhat and Jon at Cisco. They just finished their first week of classes at UT Southwestern Medical School - it sounds so challenging. It is pretty awesome they ended up at the same place so that they have each other to lean on. They start gross anatomy tomorrow with cadaverous - I'm jealous. That may sound a bit morbid, but to me it sounds fascinating (those who know me well are not surprised, I'd wager). After lunch, I did a lot more organizing and unpacking/reshuffling. Matt came over later and we went to the Black Eyed Pea for dinner. Afterwards we watched Undercover Blues. Then we took the dog for a walk and watched the second half of The 3 Ninjas when we returned. I can't even estimate how many times I rented that movie when I was younger.

So the reason Mom and Dad were at the mini-ranch this weekend is cause for major excitement - they were getting a horse! And actually, they ended up with two! One is officially ours now: Montana Tim, and the other, a mare with no common name known (she's a registered quarter horse and accordingly has some ridiculous registered name), is on loan for a couple weeks while M&D decide if they want to keep her. Both horses are bays, although the mare is much lighter than Tim, and both are about 20 years old. Mom likes that because it means they're gentle, experienced, and calm. I got to see pictures of them this morning when M&D returned home for 45 minutes to clean up before heading off to Possum Kingdom Lake to stay at the Broad's condo there. I'm hoping to get to go sometime this week and see them in person and maybe do some riding (!!!).

Why doesn't the blogger spell check know the word "blog"

Why hasn't Cameron been updating her blog? She was so obsessive about it the previous weeks...

Yeah, okay, so I haven't been doing anything, so there isn't much to post about. During the day, I've been rediscovering the joys of video game playing and organizing/unpacking. Yesterday I played some DDR. At night, I've watched the Olympics - the swimming and gymnastics have been awesome. I really enjoyed watching Paul Hamm win it all in the men's all-around last night. If any of my readers haven't been watching the Olympics, I recommend starting!

It's kind of nice not having much to post about. It means that I'm finally getting to relax for a little while. :)

PS: You might notice the ads up top have been replaced with a bar-type thing. It's called the "Navbar" and it is what Blogger has switched to. I don't mind (it looks a lot nicer), but I actually kind of liked the ads. Sometimes they took me to good sites...

PPS: It's raining here. I approve.

Happy yawn and heartfelt sigh

As promised, the weekend report:
Emily, Jeff, and I went to dinner early Friday evening at Amore while we waited for Matt to get back from work in Fort Worth. Once he did, we piled into his car and drove to the mini-ranch. We arrived there to find it empty but for Murphy and TVs tuned to the Olympics opening ceremony. After watching for a bit, the four of us walked over to the Lockes' lakehouse and found everyone there watching the Olympics on the big plasma screen. We stayed for a while, chatting and watching the TV, and then left them to eat their dinner. Leslie and Bryan wandered over later and much DDRing was had by all - Leslie and Bryan were novices, and all the Heineken didn't help, but they had a good time.

On Saturday morning we all got up early to eat breakfast and play softball in the morning cool. We had an awesome game, and my team (Claude, Matt, Leslie, Bryan, and myself) won it in the bottom of the fifth 11-10, beating Dad, Jerry, Robert, Emily, and Jeff. Some highlights include me getting all the outs in the top of the fourth, Claude smoking on the pitchers mound, Leslie hitting line drives at the pitchers' heads, everyone yelling "lefty" as Emily stepped up to the plate to adjust the player placement, and Matt's spectacular outfielding. After softball we all sat around and waited for the rest of the non-overnight guests to arrive, which included the Roberts, Cynthia Lydecker, the Stimsons, the Settles, Aunt Lisa and cousin Katie, and Mike Shannon and Carolyn, as well as Amanda and Jeff who could only stay Saturday night and therefore hadn't come yet. We had a wonderful lunch under the pecan tree, and then it was time to play in the lake. I went out on Mike's speedboat with Amanda & Jeff, Emily & Jeff, and Matt. The boys all tubed and got thrown from it three times each. Jeff L did three full revolutions one time, and the third run, where he told Mike to "kill him," had him airborne as the tube went one way and Jeff went somewhere roughly 90 degrees from the tube's direction. Emily also tubed and Mike was much more gentle with her. Amanda and I declined the tubing offer...I enjoyed watching others do it and knew I'd made the right decision when the boys could barely walk on Sunday. After the boat, Mike exchanged us for other passengers, and we floated and slid down the Pous' new dock slide. It was fun. When we were tired of the water, we walked back and played some DDR and Halo and whatnot until dinner, which was once again served under the pecan trees. Post-dinner activities included feeding the cows, ping-pong and darts, Frisbee, bonfire, and S'more making. Matt and I also took the opportunity to ask his 7-year-old cousin Mary to be our flower girl at the wedding. We weren't sure if she was excited or wanting to do it at first, but then she started dancing (and didn't stop until she crashed around 10 pm), which we interpreted as a good sign. Later that night, after the adults had gone back to Dallas or to other lakehouses, the eight "kids" (Emily, Leslie, Bryan, Jeff x 2, Amanda, Matt, me) looked for shooting stars for a while and then retired to the house. The boys played poker while the girls played DDR, and looked at pictures and scrapbooks. Then, because we're all so awesome, we went to bed around midnight.

On Sunday, Mom came back and made some wonderful French toast. Then we all cleaned up a bit and went our separate ways - Mom took Les and Bryan to DFW, Amanda & Jeff went back to College Station, and Matt, Em, Jeff, and I went back to Dallas. Dad stayed Sunday night to do some more cleaning and ranch stuff. Once back in Dallas, the four of us went to Matt's house, where we were treated to some fabulous grilled cheese sandwiches by the very talented grilled cheese chef, John Roberts. Then Matt took me home so I could unpack and whatnot. At 3:40 Matt was back to get me for the Phish concert, which will be discussed in the next paragraph.
So yes, last night was the last Phish concert ever. Matt and I went out to the UA Galaxy close to Garland to see it simulcast there, and it was great - the video and audio quality were amazing, and I almost felt like we were there because of the quality and the crowd around us in the theatre. There were people of all ranges of Phish dedication, and at all times some people in our audience were dancing and twirling. The concert was three sets, and set 1 started around 4:45. (Set list and notes from Phish.com)

Mike's Song ->
I am Hydrogen ->
Weekapaug Groove
Anything But Me
Reba
Carini ->
Chalkdust Torture ->
Possum
Wolfman's Brother* ->
jam (the sexy bump)** ->
Wolfman's Brother ->
Taste

*The wolfman's brother is Fishman.
**Trey and Mike bring out their mothers and do the 'sexy bump' dance with them. Then later, 'sandwich' their manager, John Paluska with it.

Possum was awesome, as was the Reba jam. Trey gave a whole little story during Wolfman's Brother about Fishman, which was very cool. It was like they were going to reveal secrets since it was their last concert. And the sexy bump was pretty hilarious, especially when they "double teamed" their manager - and that jam was all about Page, since Trey and Mike were too busy dancing, and Page was great. The first set was pretty long at almost two hours.

In between sets 1 and 2, Matt and I got popcorn and Cokes for a super-nutritious dinner. There was a little over an hour between the two sets. Set 2 started around 7:30, I think.

Down With Disease*** ->
Wading in the Velvet Sea****
Glide
[band speech]
Split Open and Melt ->
jam (blowing off steam) ->
Ghost

***Trey plays his guitar with a glow stick.
****Page gets emotional.

Down with Disease was great. The first song of the second set always starts with a glow-stick war, and as soon as they started flying at the real concert, a wonderful Phish fan in our audience also starting flinging glow-sticks. So, we got our own glow-stick war, and it was very cool. Then they started Wading in the Velvet Sea, and Page got more than a little emotional. He started crying and couldn't sing. The band played on and Page was able to rejoin the singing later. It was really touching. And then there was Glide. Trey was horrible! He was completely messing up the guitar part, and they ended the song without embellishment or jamming. Then Trey started talking about how they were all emotional and it seemed like they'd been talking during their break and had gotten themselves worked up. Trey then said they needed to blow off some steam, and they went into Split Open and Melt + jam that lasted a really long time and was pretty amazing. During Ghost, there were two fans in our audience dressed up as ghosts that started running around the theatre, and it was funny. Matt and I were sad, thinking we should've dressed up as a song - I would've been a Golgi Apparatus!

We had less than an hour for the second break, and during that time Matt and I walked around outside and over to a Dodge Dealership to look at cars to kill the time. There were lots of interesting activities going on in the theatre parking lot that night, some legal, some not...The third set started at 9:45.

Fast Enough for You
Seven Below ->
Simple ->
Piper ->
Bruno***** ->
Dickie Scotland****** ->
Wilson ->
Slave to the Traffic Light
[fireworks]

Encore
[Trey speech]
The Curtain With

*****The band spontaneously writes a song to acknowledge their monitor engineer Mark "Bruno" Bradley. Other crew acknowledgements.
******Same as above, but for Richard "Dickie Scotland" Glasgow.

The 3rd set was also great. I really enjoyed the new songs written for the two guys: the Bruno became a dance where you pretended to turn knobs on a sound board, and the Dickie Scotland song was excellent ("Dickie dickie dickie SCOTLAND ..." in C minor). Matt and I had both tried to figure out what the last song would be, but neither of us were right. But it seemed like Phish played one that was right for them. It was all over around 11:30. We left the theatre sad but satisfied. I couldn't have made it through the whole concert up in muddy Vermont, but this was a perfect way to experience the last concert of a truly awesome band.

Goodbye Phish

I just got home from watching the last Phish concert ever at a movie theatre with Matt. It was incredibly awesome, but since it is late and I'm insanely tired, the full scoop will have to wait until tomorrow. At that time, I will also talk about my wonderfully awesome graduation celebration at the mini-ranch this weekend. :)

A bit more settled

I'm more moved in than I was this time yesterday! My bed is made, curtains hung, computer in place, furniture arranged... my bookshelf is the only disaster area, because a shelf broke on the ride from College Station and so I can't put anything on the shelves until it's fixed. The result of this is that boxes and boxes of books and other shelf items are in the hallway right now. So my room is totally livable although far from done. It was nice to be able to sleep in my own bed last night.

Yesterday evening I headed over to the Roberts' house. We waited for Matt to get home from work (commuting from Fort Worth definitely adds to his drive time), and then we all went to El Fenix for dinner. Afterwards, Matt and I played DDR, with Luke joining us once he got home from summer band.

Tonight we leave for the mini-ranch for a graduation celebration. Mom, Dad, Leslie, and Bryan are already down there, and Matt, Emily, Jeff, and I will join them tonight. I'm really looking forward to it. In addition to all of Mom and Dad's friends, the guests on Saturday include Matt's parents and Luke, Charlie and Meredith and their four kids (Matt's uncle, aunt, and cousins), Amanda and her boyfriend Jeff, Carolyn, and Mike Shannon. Yay!

Bum-bum bum-bum bum-bum bum-bum-bum-bum

Back in Dallas! Wahoo! Yesterday was a crazy one - Dad came to CS to pack up my stuff, Emily got back from her final at lunchtime and Dad treated us both to sandwiches at Blue Baker, Dad took off with a trailer and Expedition full of my stuff, I helped Emily move into her new (my old) room, Emily and I crashed in front of the TV, ordered Chinese, and then recovered enough to dance (dance) (revolution) the night away. This morning, we were up bright and early: Emily to mow the lawn, me to touch up the paint in my (her) room. Then I packed up my car (full!) and headed out, while Em stayed a bit longer to pack up for her mini-summer.

When I got home (Dallas!), Mom, Dad and Murphy had already left for the mini-ranch. This means I got home to an empty house and LOTS of my stuff piled knee deep in my new room. I say "my new room" because the room I lived in senior year of high school and the one I came home to throughout college is now the guest room and the room formerly referred to as "Leslie's room" or "the guest room" is now mine. Anyway, my stuff was filling this room. I was extremely lucky that my stuff was even in the vicinity of my room, and it was all thanks to Dad and Bryan moving it all in when Dad got here yesterday. I am very grateful. I'm having enough trouble unearthing things, organizing, moving boxes around, etc. without having to carry everything up the stairs too.

Well, I can't just sit here - things aren't unpacking themselves, I'm afraid. More updates to come.

For those following this wedding craziness

Matt has now assembled a crack team of superheros...I mean, groomsmen, to stand with him at the wedding. Without further ado:
Best Man:
His dad (awwww...)
Groomsmen:
brother Luke
Graham (Haverfield)
Scott (his friend since elementary school, and roommate for the first two years of college)

Making the grade

I got an A on my physiology final, which was more than enough to give me an A in the class! Final grade: 95.5%. Yay!

WHOOP!

I'm back from my final final. ;-) It went okay. I could miss 22 of the 80 questions to make an A in the class, and I think I managed that, although I missed some that I really shouldn't have missed. I'll know my grade sometime this afternoon. I answered all the questions in 50 minutes, checked over them for another 20, and then turned it in. I smiled at Dr. Herman on my way out, then gave a big wave to Dr. Hunter at the end of the hallway before leaving the building. I'd like to talk with them again, but right after tests I always want to get as far away from the testing site as possible. I always have to make sure I don't speed on my way home, too. Anyway, I hope I got the grade I needed, but right now I don't even care. All I have to say is:

WHOOP!

:) Happy Birthday, Mommers! :)

One down, one to go

My minority health final went okay. It was pretty similar to the midterm in the sheer randomness of the questions, emphasizing memorization of inane facts over understanding. But I was better prepared for that this time around. I have no idea how I did - I needed an 88 to get an A in the course, which is possible, but there's a good chance I'll get a B instead. That will be fine if I can pull off an A in physiology. My professor and one of the other lecturers were there to administer the test tonight. It was really weird to see them. I knew them by voice and the tiny little picture on the first slide of every lecture, but seeing them in person was bizarre. The woman looked like her picture, but my prof looked completely different.

Classless

I just got back from my last class ever (...until vet school). It actually was pretty worthless. I didn't really need to know that the final has 15 questions from chapter 10, 17 from chapter 11, and 20 from chapter 14. Oh well - if I hadn't gone, I would've been worried about having missed valuable information. And, afterwards I met Em at Hullabaloo for lunch since we both refuse to go to the grocery store and are therefore lacking in the food department. That was nice. My calves hurt like crazy after two days full of DDR. Going down stairs is the worst. That is not nice.

My health final is in about 4.5 hours. I started studying yesterday. Awesome. But, I did actually watch the health lectures online before hand. At the midterm, I heard from people who'd watched ALL the lectures the weekend before the test or hadn't watched them at all. So I'm probably still better off than the majority. My physiology final is about 22 hours away. That's a little scary. Happy thoughts sent my way would be much appreciated.

I'm now OFFICIALLY a nerd...

Matt was here this weekend and it was great. He didn't get in until about 8:30 on Friday, so we didn't do much. And I had to study a lot, which was stinky, but Matt was incredibly understanding (he knew that was going to be taking up a lot of my weekend). On Saturday we watched a great show on Animal Planet about four baby tigers growing up on "Tiger Island" in an Australian zoo, which was very cool. I want a tiger. Then we went on a quest - a quest to purchase our anniversary present to each other (it's August 22 - 6 years). We went to Best Buy, then Gamestop, then Best Buy again. The crowds at the mall were awful... stupid tax-free weekend. But in the end, we came away with what we wanted: Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix for Xbox and two dance pads. We played all afternoon and then ate at Chili's. Then we played some more. :) Today I packed a lot of stuff up to send back to Dallas with Matt (we filled his car up!). He left around 1 and dropped it all off at my house when he got home. What a nice boy. This afternoon, Emily and I alternated between studying and DDR-ing. We're both getting better. I actually passed a few songs on 'Standard' difficulty. I'm sure Matt can't wait for me to get back to Dallas so he can play again. But he's a lot better than me, so I need the practice!

So, it was a lovely weekend, only marred by the finals that are looming - health tomorrow at 5:00 pm and physiology at 10:30 on Tuesday. But then I'll be done with my undergraduate career, so I can't complain.

Hint: (the answer is "me")

Who made an A on her lab test?

Who watched her last health lecture online?

Who covered Emily's room in post-it notes?

Who made peace with Liz?

Wahoo!

I was sitting at my desk, about to dive into physiology studying, when I realized that my lab grade was probably posted online by now (and had been for hours). My heart gave a lurch and I immediately went to check it - it was a 28. Then I had to remember how many points the test was worth, because my first impression was that it was worth 40. That was wrong. It was out of 30, so I made a 93%. Considering I was shooting for a 75%, I'm very thrilled. And now I know exactly how I need to do on the final to make an A - a 72%. :)

Yeah, that third thing...I threatened Emily once at the beginning of the summer that one day she would wake up and her room would be covered in post-it notes (I don't remember why). I'd forgotten that threat, but I stumbled onto a hidden cache of sticky notes a while back, and last week the thought resurfaced, so I wrote a note to myself on my dry erase board "PNER," "post-it note Emily's room." I had abbreviated it because Emily frequently reads my board and I had to be sneaky. But then I promptly forgot what it meant. I even discussed it with Emily - "I wrote this note to myself and I can't remember what the abbreviation stood for...packing something, maybe?" But halfway through the conversation, I remembered. I hid a smile, said something like "oh well, it'll come to me," and left her room. I thought about doing it in the middle of the night last night (because this weekend Matt will be here and any later is during finals) but decided it'd be safer to wait until she was in class today. Hee hee...here are some pictures...







I left a note on her door with some post-its: "Good news: I figured out what 'PNER' stood for," and "Bad news: I figured out what 'PNER' stood for." When Emily got back from class, she stood their contemplating it, not understanding, asking me what it meant. I said "just go put your backpack down and ponder it - it'll come to you." And then she opened the door...and she did in fact figure out what it meant!



And final news flash - Emily and I made our peace with Liz. She got home late last night and we didn't get to talk to her. And she gave Emily the semi-silent treatment this morning. But later in the day, she discovered the garbage disposal wasn't working and had to come tell Emily about it. Then Emily, good property manager that she is, dove into the abyss with my pink gloves on and discovered the problem - four chicken vertebrae that Gigi must have accidentally put down the drain. Yeah, those don't grind up very well. Emily came to show me, and I suggested we show Liz. The three of us had a good laugh about it, and Emily and I were encouraged. A few minutes later, after I'd resumed watching my last health lecture, Liz knocked on my door and asked if we could talk (of course I said yes). She (summed up) said that, "for future reference," when I have issues like that which need to be addressed, I should talk to that person privately. I explained that I respected that she felt that way and went on to explain my logic behind talking to her in front of Em and Gigi, including that the topic was relevant to them, that I was hoping it wouldn't be a lecture but a discussion involving everyone but that she left as soon as I was done talking, and that had it been any other issue (as in one just between the two of us) I would've brought it up privately. I added that these things need to be brought up openly and that I wanted the three of them to have a fun experience living here this next year, being friends, rather than suffering in silence and hurting their friendship, and also that I hoped ultimately our discussion would turn out to be a good thing. She said that she was glad to know I'd thought it all out (rather than just being a mean person, I guess) and she admitted there were things she needed to work on. After we talked, she went and talked to Em about the need for communication between the three of them. And so, fences were mended, my door can stay unlocked, and I did the right thing. Go me.

Now forming at the North end of Kyle Field...

"The Voice of the Aggie Band," F. Ken Nicolas, who coined the phrase in the title, died Wednesday. Sad. :( His voice and words are famous among Aggies and those who know us.

Here.

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

No more physiology lab! Wahoo! The test was fine. I mean, I came out of it feeling vaguely okay, the same as all my other tests in there (whose grades have ranged from 75-100%). But really, a 75% would be just fine. It is only worth 30/400 of our grade... I went to McDonalds for dinner. Before you chastise me, I'll explain: I really wanted to try their new happy meal with apple slices. So I got a hamburger happy meal with apple slices, and I was so excited about the apple that forgot to ask for the burger to be plain. And so it came with all the normal fixins - ketchup, pickles, onion...I don't know what else. Now when I was younger (you know, like, last year), I would've pouted and tried to scrape all of the undesirable material off and potentially shunned the whole thing. But that was mostly because it would be a parent ordering, and despite me repeating "plain, plain, plain, plain" over and over, they would still not heed me sometimes. But since it was totally my fault and I'm a big girl now, I just ate it down. And you know what? It was just fine. Any day now I'll be eating stir-fry (a major point of contention in my household...I just don't like the sauce taste!). Anyway, the whole point of the meal was to try the apple slices. They came in a sealed plastic bag, a whole (smaller) apple's worth, peeled and cold. You could tell that care had been taken to cut off any bad spots. And while I would've preferred peel and a fiber content greater than zero, they were yummy and crunchy and I didn't miss the fries at all. Yay!

A worker bee no more!

Yesterday was my last day of work. It was actually kind of sad - saying goodbye to Dr. Hildreth and Carrie was hard. I mean, this was my first real job and I worked there for over a year, so I got pretty attached. I was also kind of bummed because not many people were working since labs finished Tuesday, so I didn't get to say goodbye to my coworkers or Curtis, since he was on vacation. But overall, I'm happy about things - no more work for a while, and I left the job having had a good time and knowing that if I ever need a recommendation (letter, reference, or whatever), Dr. Hildreth will be there for me.

I have my second and final physiology lab test today, which is truly unfortunate. I am doing well in that class, true, but I got a 75% on my first lab test. And that test only covered three labs over easy material, while this test covers seven labs of hard material, and this test is also worth more points. I'll be glad to get it over with, though, because then I'll know exactly what I need to make on the final to get an A as well as being able to focus solely on the final. I'll be a happier camper around 6 tonight. Also happening tonight - Liz gets back from Houston. I hope she comes back with a better attitude than the one she left with. Full report to come.

I read about this on the Dallas Morning News website yesterday. I don't quite know how I'd react to that. It actually reminded me of the phase Leslie went through where she'd sculpt her uneaten food into the semblance of the virgin Mary in an attempt to make the kitchen staff believe they were receiving divine messages.

Bryan said he would bring Final Fantasy X-2 to Texas with him when they come next week. Whoop! Also, I'm very excited about Matt coming to College Station this weekend! Yay!

And when ye shall receive these things...

The Mormons just left (well, within the last hour or so). Huh? Yeah, so, I got out of lab quite early and was home by 2:30, and when the two sweaty LDS's showed up at the doorstep around 3:00, I asked them if they wanted to come inside (it seemed like the nice thing to do). Plus I've always wanted to talk to the missionaries that come by sometimes (LDS and Jehovah's Witnesses), but I have always been in the middle of something when they came. This time I wasn't, so I invited them in. They were actually two very nice boys, one from Washington, the other from Idaho (neither had seen Napoleon Dynamite). WA boy, the talkative one, was in his 20th month of missionary work, while ID Boy was only in his second. We chatted for a bit, and then Em wandered in, making sure I didn't need rescuing. She decided to join in the conversation, which added an interesting element to the discussion, because she comes from a position that is much more opposed to their teachings than me, who takes it all in with a shrug. But the two guys were very polite, and I came away from the conversation (which lasted over an hour) with these impressions: 1) you must have really strong convictions to give up two years of your life, work from 9-9 without getting paid, being assigned to who knows where, and stick with it, and I respect that; 2) Mormons, in general, seem to be some very nice people; and 3) you must develop a very thick skin to do missionary work for the LDS church - I can't believe (wait, yes I can) some of the stuff those missionaries have to put up with from people. All in all, it was a nice chat (less than half was very religion-related), and while I'm not planning on converting any time soon (a lot of my thoughts would have to change for that to happen), I do have a greater respect for a church that is one of the most hated-on groups in the US. I also learned that you find the Book of Mormon in Marriott hotels because the guy who owns it is a member of the LDS church.

In other news, the urine production lab today was cool. I got to the room early, before anyone else was there, and I heard some yelling coming from the adjacent lab prep room. Specifically, I heard "No! No! Oh my gosh!" "What?!?!" "He's PEEING!" Yes, Harvey the hound dog that was to participate in the lab by producing urine relieved himself right before he was to be put under anesthesia. It worked out okay (they gave him lots of fluids through the IV), but the frantic yelling was pretty funny. I got to watch him wake up from the drugs, too, after the lab. He's a very big, very cute, one-year-old hound. He's a member of the teaching colony and will be put up for adoption in two more years. And that makes me happy, knowing he didn't have to follow in the footsteps of the rat and turtle.

The name of the game tonight is studying and watching health lectures. Big surprise. Oh, and no news on the Liz front (none of us have even seen her today), but comments would still be appreciated!

Addendum

I just wanted to add that if any one has any insight into the roommate situation mentioned below (comments, support, thoughts, suggestions), please comment. Just ask if you want/need more details or background.

heh heh... ::locks door::

It's okay if you make one of your roommates hate you, as long as you're moving out in less than 10 days, right?

Okay, here's the deal. This summer I've been living with Emily and the two people she'd decided to live with this fall. We weren't all supposed to end up here for the summer (it went from me here alone, to me and Em, to the four of us), but we did. One of the girls, Liz, has basically been slowly but surely driving us all insane. Things like walking around in her underwear, laughing louder than a leaf blower, not cleaning up after herself, starting laundry in the dryer at midnight when everyone else is trying to sleep, letting her newspapers pile up either in the yard or inside, and basic rudeness were pushing us all to the brink...so when we had our duplex meeting tonight to discuss how the three of them were going to split up chores and whatnot this fall, I took the opportunity and spoke up. I had a list. I figured it was okay if Liz wasn't happy with me afterwards, because I knew Emily and Gigi mostly felt the same as me but if I were the one who spoke up and she hated me for it, well, I'm not living with Liz for the next year but Em and Gigi are. So I went through my things, saying what had to be said, asking if Liz had anything to say (no), continuing, Em and Gigi saying nothing, finishing, asking again if Liz wanted to respond. "No," she said very succinctly, "I'll take those all into consideration, but now I need to eat and go to work" and she left the room (she'd told Em right before the meeting that she didn't need to leave until 6:15 and it was only 5:40 or so). I went to my room, and then apparently Liz came out, grabbed her whole pan of cooked food, and took it to her car and drove away. Later in the night Emily went to her work to try and talk to her, but she basically brushed Emily off, said she was "fine" and that she'd just taken her break so she couldn't talk, and didn't give Em the discount she always gives her. Nice. I understand her being mad at me (I'd be less than happy too, probably partly from realizing how some of the things really were an issue) but Emily didn't even say anything. Anyway...I think we did the right thing, because now those issues are out in the open. Liz can brush them off and think I'm a horrible person, but at some point, Emily and Gigi can bring an issue up that is bothering them and Liz might realize it really is something she needs to work on because the foundation has been laid. Even so, I decided I'm locking my door from now on, just in case she decides to show her displeasure by messing with my stuff (or me). Just in case.

So that made for an exciting evening. The rest of my day wasn't nearly as eventful - class, SI, lunch, work. Only one more day of work in the organic labs left! Whizee!

I forgot to mention my eventful return to College Station in last night's post . I was supposed to exit I-35N in San Marcos, but I never saw the exit for my highway (I knew it by three different names and yet NONE appeared on a sign). After I realized I'd left San Marcos behind, I stopped and got out the map. It looked like it would be easier to just go through Austin and take 290 to 21 rather than turn around, so I did that. Ugh, I-35 in Austin. Yuck. But at least the 290 exit is finally finished. And the drive turned out to take the same amount of time despite being 15 miles longer because I didn't go through rain or have San Antonio rush hour traffic to deal with.

Elliot told me about this web comic-type site. Two of my favorites, here and here.

We are the champions

Elliot and I played through the entirety of the SNES classic "Super Mario World" yesterday, beating all the levels in every way possible and proving that we are, in fact, nerds. But triumphant nerds. This weekend was great. I left College Station around 2:15 pm on Friday and headed south, getting to Elliot's apartment right about 5:30. That night we ate at a really cool German deli off the Riverwalk (Schilo's Delicatessen - I had polish sausage on a bun, with the soup of the day and a deviled egg) (the deli had a yodeling accordion player). Then we walked all over downtown, including the obligatory walk-by of the Alamo. There was also a late-night ice cream run to Amy's around midnight. On Saturday, we got up and were joined for lunch at Cheesy Jane's by Elliot's girlfriend Katie. We had some really good cheeseburgers and tots. Then Katie had to put on her monkey suit (okay, it's black tux pants and tux shirt, and a black vest) to go to work as a room service attendant at the Marriott hotel downtown. Elliot then proceeded to take me on a walking tour (at my request) of the Trinity campus. I liked really liked the layout, the smallness, and the landscaping. It would've taken all day to walk around A&M with the same thoroughness with which we walked around Trinity for an hour. I got to see all of Elliot's dorms from the past three years and peek through the windows, too, which was fun. Then we returned to the apartment and were totally at a loss for what to do next (except drinking pink lemonade was definitely in order - it was HOT outside). So, since Elliot had his SNES all set up and beckoning, we decided to play Super Mario World until an idea came to us. Big mistake. We really got into it and became determined to beat it 100%. We took a break to run to the HEB for more pink lemonade, Dr Peppers, and cookies in the shape of Texas. We also paused to go to dinner at Florio's Pizza (really good - reminded me of Amore). And another pause around 11:00 for ice cream, this time at Brindles, where I got some heavenly pear sorbet. Our commitment was tested by the special levels ("Mondo," "Awesome," "Way Cool," etc), but we pressed on, using the Mario candle (okay, it was a red one from Target) and the TX cookies to fuel our desire for victory. And at around 12:30 am, our persistence paid off. Yay! Then, with perfect timing, Katie got off work and came by, and we capped the night off with a viewing a The Family Guy episode. Then I went to bed, because I'm a wimp. :) This morning, the three of us got brunch at Liberty Bar (it leans). Elliot and I both got the French toast (one huge slice) with fresh fruit, which was excellent, as was the freshly squeezed orange juice. Then we went back to the apartment so I could load up my car and come back here to College Station.

Elliot and Katie both told me that the only thing to do in San Antonio is eat, and I'm close to believing them. It's hard to resist, because there are so many amazing restaurants with lots of character that you just don't find in most places. Oh, and speaking of Katie, she's quite cool - a Chinese major at Trinity, from Grapevine, our age, very nice - Elliot's a lucky guy. :-D I'm glad I got to meet her this weekend, and I feel cool that I'm one of the first Dallas people to meet her. So yeah, I had a very nice weekend.

I have a lab test on Thursday, so I'll be studying a lot for that this week, as well as watching health lectures for next Monday's health class final. And my physiology final is next Tuesday. And then I'm done. Scary. And my last day of work is Wednesday, August 4. I can't believe it is August already...I can't believe everything is coming to an end... wow.