My brain needs more RAM.

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?
I bought my first items from Etsy. I'll definitely be buying more things from there, if not for myself then gifts.

2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions from last year and will you make any for 2011?
I don't think I made any, and if I did I don't remember what they were lol. In 2011 I just want to keep getting healthy. I also plan on getting a job with insurance (so I can get new, non-MacGyver'd glasses).

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes! My friend Jessica gave birth to the cutest little boy, ever.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Nope.

5. What countries did you visit?
Mexico.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
Our own place.

7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory...and why?
If you knew my memory, you would know nothing is etched there for long.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Uh... my pet collection?

9. What was your biggest failure?
That time I didn't have a job for a couple months.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Psh, that's like asking normal people if they've taken a breath. In fact I'm sick right now.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
New computers!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Josh, for putting up with my crap. =]

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Lately, I'd say some of the girls on one of the message boards I frequent. I'm not very thrilled with the general attitude and have actually been thinking of trying to find a new similar board. As in people I know IRL? Well I can't say because they might read this. =P

14. Where did most of your money go?
Doctors, new computers, and cruise.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Like everything. I am easily amused lol.

16. What song will always remind you of 2010?
I don't think there is one. My memory is so bad I can never remember which songs came out this year or last year.

17. Compared to last year, are you...
...happier/sadder? I can't really remember how happy/sad I was at this time last year.
...thinner/fatter? About the same, maybe thinner. I gained a bunch in the spring but have been working on losing it.
...richer/poorer? About the same.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Crack. Uh, I mean smiling. Smiling's my favorite.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Sleeping. Don't get me wrong, I love sleeping. I'm a fan of sleeping on Facebook, even. But sleeping literally half your day away can get in the way sometimes.

20. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?
I dunno. I think Mom is having people over and John is going to be our Bonfire Master or something like that. Hopefully playing Hedbandz 'cause I love that game now.

21. Did you fall in love in 2010?
Nope, already was.

22. How many one-night stands?
I don't think Josh would approve of that sort of thing.

23. What was your favorite TV program?
Dexter. And Survivor is this year was the one with Russell. <3>
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't think so.

25. What was the best book you read in 2010?
You really expect me to remember which books I've read this year vs other years? My memory doesn't work like that. If I read Servants of Twilight (or just Twilight if you have an old version) this year, that would be among them. Shadow of the Wind, maybe. The Folk of the Air.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Nothing. 2010 sucked for music, apparently. I (again) couldn't remember who was new this year vs years past so I did a quick google search. Every "best new of 2010" list I could find was filled with people that stink (Ke$ha, Justin Bieber) or people I've never heard of. Josh says I should say the Gregory Brothers, who do the auto-tune the news stuff.

27. What did you want AND get?
A job, a vacation, a laptop.

28. What did you want and NOT get?
A Yoda jump drive! XD

29. What was your favorite film of the year?
I haven't seen the "big" movies that are supposed to be awesome like Shrek 4 or Toy Story 3, but I did see: From Paris with Love, Kick-Ass, and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

30. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I couldn't remember, so I asked Josh and he said, "didn't we go to Olive Garden or something...?" so I'm going to go with that. I turned 22.

31. What ONE thing would have made your year immensely more satisfying?
A better memory, apparently.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
homeless-chic? Actually, I had to dress up a bit more than my normal jeans and old band t-shirts because of my job.

33. What kept you sane?
Josh. And being able to torture people on the Sims.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Russell Hantz if this was the year he was on Survivor. If not then no one I can think of.

35. What political issues stirred you the most?
The same ones that always do. People expecting to get what they want without any work, not taking personal responsibility, etc

36. Whom did you miss?
My mind.

37. Who was the best new person you met?
Atticus!

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson that you learned in 2010.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, thanks to Geico.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
"Don't wake me I plan on sleeping in" - Sleeping in, The Postal Service

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

• a whole bunch of boneless skinless chicken breast, depending on how much chicken you want
• two carrots (more or less, if you want)
• 4 stalks of celery (again more or less, if you want)
• a box of bowtie noodles (or your favorite shape)
• 1 tbs butter
• 2 cans vegetable broth
• 1 large can cream of chicken soup
• water
• 1 tbs garlic powder
• 1 tbs onion powder
• S&P to taste

Directions:

• Cook noodles as directed, rinse
• cut chicken, celery, and carrots to preferred size
• cook chicken in large pot (same used to cook noodles) with garlic powder, onion powder, and S&P
• Saute celery and carrots with butter, then add to pot with chicken
• Add vegetable broth to the chicken and vegetables
• mix cream of chicken with water in the other pan over medium heat until no longer lumpy
• Add cream of chicken to pot
• Add noddles
• Simmer for 5ish minutes, until everything is nice and hot
• Enjoy!

Makes a whole bunch. (I'm super scientific, can't you tell?)

We are such nerds XD

DH and I are off of school and work all next week (we both work at the school). So what are we doing? I'm getting a head start reading one of my textbooks for next term and he's watching a documentary on the Appalachian Trail. Learning is fun. =)

Smiling's my favorite.

1. What is your favorite Christmas movie?

Elf! It is probably the only Christmas movie I will watch outside of the Christmas season.

2. What is your favorite Christmas memory?

Probably when I got my first pogo stick. Man, I loved that thing. Or the few minutes at Grandma's house when everyone seemed to get along and we could just play board games like we were a happy family.

3. What is one of your Christmas traditions?

My mom always has on A Christmas Story for the all day marathon. It's not really my favorite though, I'd rather watch her other favorite Christmas movie, Die Hard lol.

4. What is your favorite Christmas song?

Carol of the Bells hands down. My current favorite version is this one by August Burns Red.

5. What is your favorite Christmas food?

Cranberry sauce. This year we aren't doing the whole turkey thing (Mom is making tasty steaks instead), but we *still* have to have cranberry sauce. And Cranberry Splash Sierra Mist now that they've invented it. Mmmmm, cranberries!

Another week off, so soon!

Two weeks ago, my lovely DH and I went on our belated honeymoon/anniversary/Christmas/V-day/Birthday cruise. And then I went back to work.

Boo!

But, it wasn't bad. School is out so we weren't very busy. I got some possibly good news. And overall I just like my job most of the time. I feel lucky, since so many people can't say that. But then again, books + me = bff so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise.

However I'm still glad to be off another week. =]

As my body is want to do after a vacation (especially one involving so many climate changes), I've developed a cold of some sort. Now I've got a whole week off to recover until we're thrown into the midst of our busy season.

Sure we've got laundry to do, and we *still* need to get our rebate forms out in the mail... but other than that I'm going to quite enjoy this week of relaxation. I've got Sims that need a little TLC, a cleric to level, and hopefully a few more games of Headbanz in my future (which I will have to do a post about at some point.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Things I miss about being on a cruise

1. Unlimited hot water

Sure, the shower on the cruise was smaller than ours at home, and you had to be careful not to slip because, you know, you were on a moving boat and all... but the hot water never ceased.

I could actually take my steaming hot shower immediately after Josh.

And you could only turn the hot water on a little because otherwise it would burn you.

Oh, to have that again...

Here at home our water heater must be too small or something. I dunno, but I *always* run out of hot water in the winter. I can't shave and wash my hair in the same shower. I actually just bought an electric razor that doesn't need water so I wouldn't have to choose which was more important. Still, I find myself trying to time my showers right before it gets dark so the water in the ground (that will replace the water in the tank) is as warm as possible. You can forget taking a shower right after someone else. Or while the dishwasher is on. Or while doing laundry.

I just need to get me one of those new tankless water heaters. I wonder how well they work...

Hoodie-Footies

Someone posted about these on one of the message boards I frequent. For just $99.99 I could get two of the things I've been wanting (but not enough to actually buy)!

You get one set of hoodie-footie pajamas. That's right, footie pjs for grown ups! They even have a set for the whole family. After coming back from Mexico, my feet are really hating this cold. Much more practical for lounging than the Snuggie, if you ask me.

You also get a pair of PajamaJeans! They look like jeans, but feel like pj pants. These would be perfect for wearing to Winn-Dixie since Josh refuses to be seen in public with me while wearing my other pjs haha.

Too bad I just spent a bazillion dollars on a cruise. :( Someone give me $100! XD

World of Filkcraft

My DH recently came across this channel on YouTube. We aren't currently playing WoW at the moment, but can still appreciate the videos. If you haven't played an MMORPG, it probably won't make sense to you, but I think you should still be able to appreciate the parodies on some level.

Part of Your Guild (Part of Your World)

End of the World as We Know It (Have I ever told you how much I love REM?)

I've Been Everywhere (watch for the achieve at the end!)

Dr. White, in the White Pages

Recently I've been hearing advertisements on the radio for a doctor who claims he doesn't need advertisements. The fact that anyone would do such a thing boggles my mind.

Here's how the commercial goes:

Person One - Ow I really hurt my back doing some menial task.

Person Two - You should call Dr. White, he's a chiropractor who really helped me when I hurt one of my body parts doing some other menial task!

P1 - Okay! I'll look him up in the Yellow Pages when I get home.

P2 - Oh you won't find him there, he gets all his business by word of mouth! He doesn't need to advertise in the Yellow Pages. He gives everyone his home phone number in case you decide to do a menial task on the weekends. Look him up in the White Pages instead.

P1 - Oh that's great that he's so good he doesn't need to advertise.

P2 - Yup yup! Just remember, he's Dr. White, in the White Pages.

If you don't need to advertise, why *exactly* are you advertising on the radio? That just proves to me that A) you aren't good enough to get all your business through word of mouth and B)You are a lying jerk-face trying to pull one over on me.

I will not fall for your trickeries, Dr. White!

No more shelf tags!

I work at my campus's book store, and every semester we have to put new shelf tags on the shelfs for each class/book so students can find the ones they need. So far in preparation for Spring, we have done and redone them all three times. >.<

Anyway, all the tag shifting had made it's way into my dreams. I had to shift them, but the shelves were in a maze. I was at Winn Dixie at like 2am, and met one of our teachers (who happened to be Alec Baldwin) who handed me a stack of like 75 tags he "forgot to give me earlier". so I had to go back up to the school, at night, with broken headlights and no street lights, to reshift the tags AGAIN because Mr. Baldwin just couldn't live with the books he had chosen before. Luckily my lovely DH woke me up at this point...

I'm just glad I am now officially on vacation, so if Alec Baldwin *does* show up, they can deal with him and his 75 shelf tags without me.

Learn more through Comic Sans?

I found an interesting article (via passive-aggressive notes) that details how reading information in annoying fonts may help you retain the information better.

I can totally see how reading something in such a font would help with remembering it, as your brain is using more energy to read it in the first place. Your brain is probably thinking "I better remember this so she doesn't make me read it in Playbill again".

However it also has the downside of making people read things in fonts that they hate. Once or twice it might work, but I'm sure after that people will just stop reading it. And then they will learn way less than if you had just put it in Times New Roman. There's a whole website dedicated to the hatred of Comic Sans, after all.

ETA: I found this monologue, from the POV of Comic Sans that I found interesting and also wanted to share.

I'm BAAAAAACKKKK! (maybe)

I recently came across my old xanga, and upon reading some of my posts wished I still just wrote random stuff like that. The 2006 me didn't care who did or didn't read it. If writing was a waste of time or if someone would be offended by what I said (which was kind of a problem, once the secret service showed up but thats a story for another day). Because I'm not anonymous I feel like I must self censor to some extent, but maybe I had been extending that a bit too far.

This Black Friday we bought me a laptop, mostly for school. And let me tell you, it has been a miracle as far as writing notes goes. I do think maybe I could use some typing classes though because I keep hitting the caps lock key by accident and my fingers only seem to find the right keys about a quarter of the time, but that's just as true on my desktop as my laptop, I suppose. Anyway the point is I will have more opportunity to write things as they come to me.

Plus I will most likely have more free time for the foreseeable future. That's partly because tomorrow is my last final so I'll be out of school till like the second week of January or something like that. The other reason I'm not sure I want to talk about right now. But with more time (and less WoW) I might can convince my self to write out my feelings. That might help my anxiety which is always a good thing.

I ended each of my old xanga posts with random song lyrics, half of which I don't even recognize. I'm not sure if thats lame or not in this world of non-emo grownups.

New Blog!

So I know I've neglected this for a while. I got busy at work and with school and was just too tired to think of anything to say. Maybe I'll get back into it again some day, but for now this blog is on hiatus.

I have started a new blog about my struggle with PCOS and my experience with some new medications I'm on. This should only require me to update once or twice a week so I plan to stick with it at least a little while lol.

Feel free to come check that one out of you wish, or not I won't be offended. I really started it as a way to chronicle things for myself and my doctor since my memory sucks. The link is http://pcoswillnotruleme.blogspot.com/ if you're interested. I must warn that it will get a bit TMI as the subject requires.

Bodacious - adj. meaning sexy, remarkable, noteworthy

FLN has a series of shows all about bodacious spaces. This includes 15 Bodacious Backyards (and 15 MORE Bodacious Backyards), Bodacious Outdoor Spaces, Bodacious Hotels, 15 Bodacious Kitchens, Top 15 Bodacious Beach Resorts, etc, etc you get the point. My absolute favorite of these is Bodacious Houses.

Having a bodacious house requires more than just smelling like the vault and having square footage out the wazoo, a big part of it is creativity. Sure some of them are huge, like the person with a walk-in closet bigger than most Manhattan apartments, but mostly the wow factor comes from how they use the space. For example, one house is literally a cave.

This might not be the house, finding pictures of these things are impossible.

It's not a house built inside the cave, it is the cave, with natural cave walls, water features, and bats. The owners did see fit to install plumbing and even electricity if I remember correctly.

A similar but different house is located under the city of Las Vegas.

Picture looks funny because it's scanned from a magazine. More (and bigger) images here.

Yep, it's basically a house and yard built in a basement. They've got astroturf, faux trees, and even a pool. The weather is always nice and you never have to worry about bugs while out for a picnic. Being protected from nuclear fallout is just a bonus.

My absolute favorite house is the last one in the program. It has 13 levels and more wildlife inside than out. It's really just amazing looking with all the different levels, stairways, trees, etc. I really wish I could find a picture of this one. The refrigerator is even on an elevator so you can access it from different floors! How awesome is that? So whether you are down at the 20 something foot long pool (that is on the main floor of the house), watching lightning in the storm room, or spending time in the home theater, food is never more than a button away.

Since apparently I can not find pictures or video of the homes in the program anywhere, you'll just have to watch it yourself. It airs again on FLN the 30th at 10am and 10pm EST, as well as on the 31st at 2am EST for those night owls out there. If you are reading this after the 31st an updated listing of air times should be here.

Do you know where your towel is?

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

--Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Every year on May 25th we celebrate Towel Day in honor of the late Douglas Adams. Why May 25th? Well, its two weeks after his death (May 11th, 2001) which is how long it took the first one to be organized.

This year I am not going out and about, but my husband will be taking his first pre-calculus test and you can bet he'll have a towel with him for luck.

Think Geek has some various Towel Day merchandise for sale, including two different towels (Don't Panic and 42) and a "Don't Panic and Carry a Towel" t-shirt.

Daryl Hall has started a petition to get Google to recognize Towel Day on their website with a special logo. As of now there are 1602 signatures, but I think we can do a lot better than that.

Now I must say "So long and thanks for all the fish!" and go do some laundry... gotta keep those towels clean, you know.

In anticipation of the LOST Finale...

Here are some of my favorite LOST inspired videos for your viewing pleasure!

Life in a Medieval Village by Frances and Joseph Gies

This is a paper I wrote on the book mentioned in the title of this post for my The Making of Modern England class. I thought it was kind of interesting, maybe you will too! :)

Life in a Medieval Village was very different than life today. Back then there was a distinction between cities, towns, and villages that has since all but disappeared. Each settlement had a Lord that ruled over it, who held distinctive powers over his people. What those powers were varied between the free men and those termed villiens. Their system of justice also varied significantly from ours, although you can see some of it's influence today.

So what is the difference between a village and a town? Well, the easy answer is that a village must have a church, a town, and a market. However, the villagers themselves saw it much differently. You lived your whole life in a village. You worked, you played, you loved, you fought, you were born, and you died, all in the same community. While it might be necessary to venture to a town to get some supplies not abundant in your village, it was usually a very tight-knit band of people who shared resources. There were some instances of private wells, but it was far more common to have a community well shared by the whole village. Mothers in villages were much more likely to nurse children themselves, rather than hiring a wet nurse as was common in towns, cities, and castles. Nor did they employ the services of a doctor, rarely a barber (who in towns or cities combined the services of "bloodletting" and dentistry with shaving). Almost everyone farmed for sustenance. Occasionally you would find someone who was primarily a baker, a miller, a carpenter, but normally people took on these duties along with farming. In a town it was more likely to have specializations and people who did no farming at all.

Something towns and villages had in common was the Lord who ruled over them. The Lord very rarely stayed in the village. It was more common for a Steward or Bailiff to reside in the manor house full time. The Lord was basically the "consumer of the village surplus". One village might even be shared by multiple Lords. Peasants were offered land in exchange for work on the Lord's demesne or for paying a cash rent. He was also in charge of the manor courts, which was the primary judicial house of the area. The Lord had the privilege of holding monopolies on some activities - such as baking bread or grinding grain - which were resented and evaded, but strictly enforced by the manor court. All the villager's sheep were folded by the Lord so their manure would fertilize his demesne. If a villager's house was in disrepair, the Lord saw to it that it was repaired through the manor court. When house or property switched hands, the new owner must pay the Lord an entry fee proportional to the land acquired. One area of life the Lord stayed out of was peasant marriages.

Villagers were primarily separated into two groups, those who were "free" and those who were "villiens". If the Lord's demesne was small, there would be more free men in the village. If it was large, the village would be primarily composed of villiens. While a villien was virtually a slave to the Lord, the villagers themselves made little distinction. Villiens were able to buy, sell, inherit, etc property just as well as their free counterparts. Where they differed was in service to the Lord. Villiens were required to work a certain amount of days on the demesne (depending on how much land they held themselves - either 117 or 58 1/2 days), had to pay more fees, and owed the Lord his "best beast" upon death. All transfers of land had to be approved by the Lord, and when marriages occurred the villien bride or her father was required to pay a merchet. They usually only had contact with the manor court, rarely dealing with the Church or royal courts as might their free neighbors.

In the manor court the steward presided, but the ruling was left up to a jury. Those who were brought to court were ordered to "be at your law six-handed", which meant he must bring along 5 other men to attest that his account was true, or having not witnessed the act in question, that he was a trustworthy person. They were then ordered to find people to guarantee their appearance in court, called pledges, which was a uniquely medieval process. If the plaintiff or defendant did not show up to court, his or her pledge must pay a fine. The parties were allowed to settle out of court, but still had to pay the Lord a fee for a "license to agree". The most common punishment was a fine. Rarely were villagers sentenced to anything but, unless convicted of a felony which belonged in the realm of the royal courts. Along with the fines villagers could be required to pay an additional fee for damages. This was true in the case of personal injury, property damage, or slander. One of the most common fines concerned the brewing of ale. The frequency of these fines leads us to believe that they were being used in lieu of a licensing fee, since the Lord did not hold a monopoly on brewing.

Villagers lived a simple life. Filled with manual labor, they were not plagued by some of the same problems we are today, or even their city or royal counterparts. Although many of their traditions have been lost, one can definitely see the influence village life has had on humanity. We still live in villages, hamlets, towns, and cities even if their distinction is not as strict. We are still tried by a jury of our peers. We still strive to capture that community atmosphere. Gone are the days of Lords, of free men and villeins, but without them we would not be the people we are today.

I may have to start watching Glee now

Seriously, NPH is amazing. His scream > Steven Tyler's.

Apples to Apples and Brownie Earthquake Fun

Last night one of my good friends came over because well, he was bored. Lucky for us my mother had just gotten me Apples to Apples not too long ago.

In Apples to Apples you have a set of green apple cards (adjectives) and red apple cards (nouns). Each player has 7 red apples cards at all times. Each round a judge is picked who chooses a green apple card from the deck. The judges reads it out to the other players, who then must pick the red apple card from their hand that is best described by the green apple card (from the judges point of view! That's very important). The judge then looks at all the cards and picks a winner! The title of judge then moves clockwise to the next player, and it starts again. I can't really remember the specific comparisons we had last night, but I don't think I stopped laughing the whole time. If you've never played you really must look into it.

For some reason after the game was over our guest really wanted a Brownie Earthquake from Dairy Queen. Before I was married we used to go get them all the time. It was like 10:30pm though and all the Dairy Queens were closed. :( So instead we took a trip to walmart to make our own!

We got vanilla ice cream, some Oreo Fudge Rings, hot fudge, and Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies. We passed on the whipped cream because we all usually scrape that off anyway. All told it cost about $9. Brownie Earthquake from Dairy Queen? I don't know but it's probably $3-4 each.

Here's the finished product. I'm not sure why my picture came out blue, probably because I insist on using my phone's camera instead of a real one. I heated the brownies for 45 seconds in the microwave, and the fudge for 30 seconds like it said on the bottle. In hindsight the bottle is full of bullocks and I should have heated it more. I also took some of the Oreos, put them in a ziplock bag, and crushed them up. Brownies on bottom, then a couple scoops of ice creams, crushed up Oreos, hot fudge, and viola! Our very own brownie earthquakes!

They didn't look just like the ones from Dairy Queen (or taste like it for that matter) but it was still delicious and probably worth the money we saved.

Zombie Awareness Month

May is Zombie Awareness Month! According to the Zombie Research Society, several important zombie movies have taken place in May. It is also spring, usually a time of renewal and hopefulness, yet we must remember to always stay vigilant.

Here are some steps you can take to do your part:

Wear a gray ribbon

Gray was chosen as it "signif[ies] the undead shadows that lurk behind our modern light of day". When wearing your ribbon chances are someone might come up to you and ask about it. This is a perfect opportunity to spread awareness about our cause and to inform the public.

Cardio, cardio, cardio

As we learned in Zombieland, this is one of the most important steps we can take to fend off the zombies. They do not feel pain nor fatigue, thus they can run a lot longer than your average American. We can combat this by increasing our endurance, giving us a better chance of survival whether we be trekking on foot or bicycle.

Do your research

Since 1932, there have been more zombie movies made than I really feel like counting. As seen in our second step above, they can include some vital information regarding the zombie culture. They provide us with information regarding how they move, how they detect the living, etc as well as examples of what can get you killed or how to survive. By watching these movies you will be one step ahead of those who don't.

Create a zombie plan

The zombie apocalypse is coming whether we like it or not, and if you want to survive you must be prepared. A good start would be to read Max Brook's Zombie Survival Guide. There you will find many tips on the best outfits, weapons, and strategies for defeating (or at least outliving) the zombies. I recommend reading it at least once a year to keep it at the forefront of your memory, and what better time to do it than Zombie Awareness Month?

Green Pepper Steak

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds flank (or tip, I think we use tip) steak - sliced into bite size pieces
• 2 green bell peppers - sliced into bite size pieces
• 1 can sliced or diced water chestnuts - drained
• 2 scallions - chopped (optional)

Marinade:

• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 6 tablespoons cooking sherry
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 6 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 cup water
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic

Directions:

1. Marinade steak for 30 minutes to an hour.
2. Add oil to hot wok. If using scallions, stir fry for 20 seconds.
3. With slotted spoon to reserve marinade, add steak to wok and stir fry for 3 minutes. (Can do half at a time, depending on size of wok.) Remove and set aside.
4. Stir fry green peppers and water chestnuts for 2 minutes or until they shrink slightly.
5. Add marinade. Stir until thickened and bubbly.
6. Add in steak and scallions.
7. Heat thoroughly.

You can eat this as is, but we usually serve on a bed of rice.

Outwit, Outplay... Out-Jesus?

Based on the Jury's criteria for who should win, I think this would be a more appropriate slogan. It bothers me greatly that the game is played one way and then judged another. This isn't the "who gives the most hugs" competition.

This season of Survivor proved to me one thing: people are hypocrites. They all lie, back-stab, form alliances, deceive, etc. If they don't they align with someone who does or they leave the game early. That's how the game is played. Yet when jury time comes around they act like they don't. Take the hero fan favorite Rupert for example. He gets up at Tribal Council and talks about how Russell took the easy way out by lying, deceiving, manipulating, etc and that the real difficult thing is to remain honest. Yet then at the reunion show he gets up and says "I stole, I lied, I manipulated, and I was one of the heroes! The game is what the game is." Everyone does it and it's wrong to deny that.

Last season Jeff said "I think Russell was the victim of a jury of bitter people. If I were playing Survivor, no matter how much I despised someone, if they kicked my ass in the game I would give it to them. Period. Outwit. Outplay. Nobody outwitted or outplayed Russell. Not even close." and I think that holds up just as well now. It shouldn't be about making friends, that isn't one of the three terms used in the slogan.

Instead they are Outwit, Outplay, Outlast. That should be the criteria the jury uses to name the Sole Survivor. But what do they mean?

Well, to me Outwit is about strategy. Who is the one who was able to keep everyone on their toes? Who found the most hidden idols? Who was running the show and blindsiding people left and right? That person has Outwitted the others.

Outplay is about the physical elements of the game. Who has won the most challenges? Who has helped build shelters? Who can you count on to pull their weight? That person has Outplayed.

Outlast is kind of tricky. Technically all three of the finalists have outlasted. But which one was on the chopping block the most times and yet still lasted? Sandra said herself that she tried her hardest to get rid of Russell three times and yet he made it all the way. While they didn't really want Sandra there, she mostly flew under the radar. There was always someone else just a little bit higher up on the hit-list than her.

I agree with Russell that there is a flaw in the game. The jury gets to pick whoever they want, for whatever reason they want, and that isn't fair. Russell says to bring in America, let them vote. Turn this into Survivor Idol. That I don't agree with. I do think they should keep the jury because they see things we don't. But instead of just letting them pick randomly, they should score the finalists. Have them fill out a questionnaire about them. "On a scale of 1-10 how strategic was Pavarti", "On a scale of 1-10 how instrumental was Sandra in challenges", "On a scale of 1-10 how helpful was Russell around camp", "Rank the 3 finalists in order of who you would least like to go up against again (#1 gets 10 points, #2 gets 6 points, #3 gets 3 points)", etc. Then whoever has the most points in the end wins that persons vote.

What do you think?

I've never seen so many buttons in my life!

This post is not sponsored. I don't even know how to get sponsors! But hey JC Penny, if you're out there, you know how to reach me! :D

A couple of times a year I receive the most awesome coupon ever in the mail from JC Penny. $10 off any one item $10+. It even works in conjunction with sales! I have no idea how I got on the mailing list for these, but I'm glad I did. I'm sure you can get on it too, somehow.

Anyway last Sunday I went to use my coupon and got some pretty awesome new cargo capris. They were originally like $40, on sale for $24 and change. With my coupon I only had to pay $16 (after tax). The best thing about them is they are the kind that the bottom scrunches up and ties, so you can make them however long you want. This is great for me because I've got short legs. All the other capris just ended up looking like high-waters on me. Bleh. But these I can scrunch up so they are the right length.

Along with the scrunchtastic pant legs they also come with more buttons than you could ever want. They have not one, but two, buttons where you would expect them to be near the zipper. Both cargo pockets have two buttons. Each back pocket has a button. Each of the 6 belt loops has a button. And there a two more just for fun! That's what, sixteen buttons total? And they are all fully functional! (Unlike the pockets I found on one pair of A.N.A denim leggings.)

They are pretty comfortable and sit just where I want them to. They aren't so high as to encroach upon my bellybutton or natural waist, yet they aren't so low as to fall off or expose unsightly parts of my body when sitting or bending over plumber style. If I had another coupon I just might go back and get a second pair.

I'm on to you, Agent Squirrel.

Did you know squirrels can be spies now? Neither did I, till I walked outside about half an hour ago to take Josh to work. Standing there, starring at our front door was a squirrel. Did he have a delicious nut to much on? No. Was he playing with his squirrel friends? No. Did he run away frightened when I opened the door? No. He just stood there. Staring at me. With his little menacing eyes, saying "I know what you've been doing, I see all... you can not hide from me..."

How To Write Good

1. Avoid Alliteration. Always.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat.)
4. Employ the vernacular.
5. Eschew ampersands & and abbreviations, etc.
6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
7. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
8. Contractions aren't necessary.
9. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
10. One should never generalize.
11. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
12. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
13. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
14. Profanity sucks.
15. Be more or less specific.
16. Understatement is always best.
17. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.

Stolen from my The Making of Modern England professor, Patrick Brennan.

Yes, I know my birthday was in March, but...

Along with my mother's graduation, there are two other big events this weekend. First is my very belated birthday party taking place tomorrow night. Yes, my birthday was in March, what of it? I've been struggling with various health issues since then. My body has just now decided it would do what it is supposed to for once. So yay me! We just got Rock Band 2 for the Wii off craigslist (the whole set - drums, guitar, mic, and game - for only $50!) so we'll probably be playing some of that. As you can see by my lovely camera phone picture of the TV screen, I've already decked out my character in nerdy goodness. I seriously want to go as her for Halloween (or maybe Angel, you know I love me some zebra print).

Then on Sunday is Mother's Day! Whooo! Mom, Sierra, Felicia, Josh, and I are all going to see Iron Man 2 and then going to lunch. I had told my mother I was getting her some new mixing bowls as well, but when we found out we would not be getting our school money until June that kinda put a stop to that idea. Should I get the job at B-A-M I'll get them then. What is everyone else doing for Mother's Day?

Congratulations are in order!

Today my wonderful mother will graduate from Gulf Coast Community College, receiving her AA degree (technically she graduated in December, but they only have one ceremony). This might not seem like a big deal to everyone, but it's a huge step for her. She dropped out of the 9th grade to work for her father, then married my sociopathic father, had 2 of 3 children, and never worked again. Through my father's abuse she was taught to believe that she wasn't able to have, wasn't worth, a life other than the sad one he provided for her and us girls. This is just the first step of many to prove how wrong he was. So congrats Mom! You deserve it.

Jobs = ♥

So a few weeks ago Josh found out that he would be losing his job up at the school over the summer. I had finished my Census job and had yet to find a new one. But that was okay, because in the middle of May we would be getting our scholarship, grant, and/or loan money for the summer semester and we had enough in savings to make it till then. At least, we thought we did.

Monday Josh was told that if you have any classes in Summer C (Summer A is the full semester, B is the first six weeks, and C is the second 6 weeks) you would not be getting any money until C started. We both have classes in Summer C. Oh crap. We have barely enough money to get through this month, but certainly not until the end of June. >.<

Well yesterday I finally got to talk to the hiring manager at Book-A-Million and it looks like I'll be getting an interview with them! She said that she does her interviews on Mondays, but she'll be out of town next week, so I should expect a call Saturday or Sunday to set up an interview for the 17th. I'm fairly confident that if she does call I'll get the job since I love books so much. On the other hand, I don't have any retail experience... I guess we'll just have to see. But this is as close to getting a new job as I've gotten so far haha.

Then today more good news! They've changed their minds at the school and Josh gets to stay over the summer! One of his classes got cancelled so now he's got enough free day-time hours to make it worth it to them. Yay! I always love it when I get news that means I won't have to starve.

May the 4th be with you!

That's right, it's Star Wars Day!! Whoooo! And in honor of Star Wars Day I would like to direct you [here], to read an entertaining account of a mother showing her three kids Star Wars for the first time. Unfortunately it seems as though Disney has already got them in it's grip... how sad.

Hopefully by this time next year we will be able to celebrate properly by playing The Old Republic. Until then I will just have to settle by running around with a lightsaber and a cape. :D

Every time I hear "May the force be with you" I always have the urge to respond, "And also with you!" as if I'm in some weird Star Wars church service. Does that happen to anyone else?

Making Florida feel less like Florida

Saturday afternoon we finally broke down and turned on the air conditioning. Ah, sweet sweet mid 70's.... how I love thee. I can walk around the house without being in a perpetual sauna. I can take a shower without immediately starting to sweat again upon finishing. I am actually comfortable. I wish this would last forever...

Sadly I know that in the next several weeks the AC will loose it's magic. It will not be able to keep up with the Floridian humidity, and pushing it to try will just result in a higher electric bill. Soon enough I will again have to resort to placing fans strategically around the house and eating Popsicles, making opening the door for more than 5 seconds punishable by death. If only I could jump space/time from March to November and skip summer altogether...

I cannot wait until Josh and I are done with school. Then there will be nothing keeping us here in this dreadful place. We will be able to move somewhere that summer is less than 7 months out of 12 and humidity is never above 75%. I know Josh doesn't really like the cold, but I also know he could deal with that better than my constant whining and complaining lol. We would miss our friends and family, but we could come and visit during the so-called "winter". And they could come see us during our much more tolerable summers. Most people don't live in the same town as their family and elementary/middle/high school friends forever anyway, right? Or they can all come with us! Yes, that's a fantastic idea. I would hate to miss seeing Atticus grow up just because of the heat.

In other news, our magnolia tree is finally blooming. How pretty.

Letters Unsent (Part I)

Dear Pollen,

I know you're going to hate to hear this, but yellow is not my favorite color. I don't appreciate coming out in the morning to find Wentworth (my lovely black car) looking like some monstrous bumblebee. I cannot park anywhere else other than the street, and given Wentworth's reputation for being hit while parked, I refuse to do that. So please fall to the east, north, or south of the tree rather than the west from now on.

Thank You,

Out Of Windshield Cleaner

"Are you from the future? Do they still have sandwiches there?"

I know this movie is like a year old, but I've just now seen it for the first time. I'm by no means a Trekky but I have seen several episodes (maybe seasons) of the original shows with my uncle. I've seen enough to know that Scotty is awesome, anyway.

I really liked the direction taken to make this latest Star Trek film. Being such a popular franchise I imagine making everyone happy would be hard to do. So instead of sticking with cannon they fixed this by making an alternate universe. Spock creates a black hole, Romulans go through it and end up in the past, they change the sequence of time and ta-da! a new universe to play around in. I am very interested to see how this will play out in future films/TV shows, because it would allow writers to pick from a) original cannon post Enterprise b) alternate universe post Star Trek (2009) or c) original cannon post black hole as seen in Star Trek (2009). Or they could do all three and make LOST 2.0

As of now the only continuation I could find is an untitled sequel in production scheduled to come out in 2012. It appears that they have chosen option b from above for this next adventure, with William Shatner rumored to be returning as Captain Kirk from the future.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

If you have not seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog yet you must go watch it right now. It stars the trifecta of nerdy joy: Neil Patrick Harris, Felicia Day, and Nathan Fillion. Can you ask for anything better? I think not.

Neil Patrick Harris plays Dr. Horrible, an amateur super-villian. There are two things he wants most in the world: to win the heart of Felicia Day and to be admitted to the Evil League of Evil... ran by Bad Horse - The Thoroughbred of Sin.

In his way is Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer, a man's man super hero. He not only stops Dr. Horrible from completing the requirements to join the Evil League of Evil but steals Felicia Day's heart in the process. Now Dr. Horrible must get rid of Captain Hammer for good.

The 42 minute film not only has a brilliant plot, but is also a musical! Could not be more perfect. Writer/director Joss Wheton is my new hero.

You can find Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog in it's entirety on Netflix (where you can order the DVD or watch instantly) or in three acts on other video sites such as Hulu or YouTube.

Out of chaos comes beauty

I have finally inserted a title into the brackets left open since this blog's conception. Whether said title is catchy or not remains to be seen. :D I like it, which is I guess what matters. Mostly I'm just happy to have something up there other than [Insert Catchy Title Here] hehe.

And it matches today's theme, since I feel rather discombobulated. I have a few things I feel like writing about but none of them really go together. I don't feel like writing two or three different posts that only have a paragraph or so each so I'm just going to lump them together.

First order of business: Warhammer 40k. My husband has been playing for a while now with our friend John (who happens to be the future husband of my friend Jessica, whom I have known since 3rd grade) but I've never played before. I'll go over there with him sometimes and chill with Jess, play with the kitties, or watch them, but never play. Not because they won't let me or I don't want to, I just don't have any pieces or models or whatever you call them.

Well last night I played for the first time and it was pretty fun. I got to play a "shooty" army of Space Marines with my own tank and a robot who looked like the Iron Giant. It's a really, really long game though. I let Josh finish for me because I got tired and just sat on the couch with Izzi instead. That takes less concentration, something I'm rather laking at 3am. Next Tuesday (I think?) there is supposed to be some really big game with like 5 or 6 people playing and I'll probably give that a go as well. Then I'll actually understand how you do stuff better which will probably make it a lot more fun. Yesterday I kinda just felt like a dice roller, with Josh and John making all the tactical decisions.

Second order of business: school. I got my paper back from Dr. Phillips. I knew it was going to be an easy A, but I didn't know how easy. I'm not joking when I say I'm not even sure if he read it. When I got it back there was a rubric inside the title page. Well, if you could call it that. There were only two criteria to be graded: paper length and number of sources. Our grades were number of pages (up to 15) x 3 + number of sources (up to 15) x 3 + 10. So if you had at least 15 pages and sources, it looked like 45 + 45 + 10 = 100! Yay! I looked through the whole paper and he didn't make a single mark. Not one correction, not one "good point!", nothing. One of the guys who sits behind me said he used 16pt font instead of the standard 12 and got away with it. When Phillips said our papers were going to be a buffer for our test scores he meant it.

My first final is on Wednesday and I'm supposed to be studying for that right now. The rest are next week. I need to find a new job. =/

Oh Russell, what have you done?

Russell is probably the best Survivor contestant ever. I haven't seen all twenty seasons, but I've seen enough to know that no one plays like Russell. Unfortunately, I think this has gone to his head a little.

Tonight was an episode of mistakes of historical proportions. First off the Heroes were/are mistakingly under the impression that there is an all girls alliance over in the Villains tribe. Russell is the only man left, after two strong male players being voted off consecutively ("Boston" Rob and Coach). In truth Russell is actually the leader of his own harem. :D

Not knowing this J.T. offers up his tribes Immunity Idol! Anyone who saw last season, Survivor: Samoa, would know that Russell is in fact the unofficial king of Immunity Idols. He has already used them to his advantage in this season, giving his Idol to Parvati in order to vote off Tyson. All he has to do is use this one to vote of Parvati and he automatically gains the trust of the Heroes, which will be important after next week's merge. But does he do it? No! He tells her that they gave him the idol! What an idiot. He is blinded by his trust for her and has lost site of the game. She is too strong. This was his one good chance to vote her off and gain the trust of five other people in one fell swoop and he blew it! It would have been so terribly easy for him to convince Courtney and Sandra (as they would be on the chopping block otherwise), and Jerry as well because she isn't terribly loyal to anyone. But he didn't and now he will have to explain to the Heroes next week why Parvati is still there.

Russell, you frustrate me greatly.

Bag of cheetos on my left and a rockstar on my right

My little sister (Sierra) has been playing WoW over at our dad's recently. She had my older sister (Felicia) make her a temporary account so she could play here, but it only lasts for like nine days or something. After that is over my mom is thinking of maybe getting her a subscription. Since Josh and I both have the expansions linked to our accounts she's probably just going to re-open one of ours so she doesn't have to buy the xpacs. I'm not sure that's such a good idea...

I hate Blizzard, I really do. But I miss playing. :( I know if Mom opens my account back up I'm going to start back even if I don't want to. I mean as long as she's paying for it, there's no harm right? I'm not paying any more money into the company that has stopped caring about it's costumer base. Meh.

I just wish The Old Republic would come out already. They care about lore. They aren't catering to the 11-year-olds who just want to get to 80 as fast as possible with no regard to story-line. Unfortunately SWTOR isn't scheduled to come out till next spring. Not sure I can quell my spell-casting urge that long.

The Cost of Sexual Freedom

Usually I am less than enthused by the blogs over at HuffPo, but this one comes as a nice breath of fresh air to those of us who think Feminism might have taken things too far. It discusses how through our culture of one night stands, booty-calls, and "friends-with-benefits" we have lost a sense of respect that many other less developed countries still posses.

In The Cost of Sexual Freedom Pegah Patra compares the dating world of the US and that of her home country, Iran. She questions whether or not the difference could be

"the fault of women who for years were fighting for feminism and wanting to be free and equal to men? Of course we believe in equal rights and a woman's independence but maybe the concept of feminism has also taken us to the extreme level of sexual freedom. By making sex so available and accessible for men it allows them to lose respect and not value courtship the way they did years ago in western cultures or as they still do in many parts of the world."

While I'm not sure we should be looking to Iran as an example of wonderful male/female relations, I do tend to agree with her. People aren't courted like in yesteryears which I do believe is a shame. Call me old fashioned but to me sex has no place outside of long term, serious relationships (if not marriage).

Why are men such pigs?

Yesterday I had someone call me from a number I didn't recognize. Normally I would just ignore it and let them leave a voicemail, but since working for the census and leaving my phone number at countless houses I figured I should answer. Here is how the conversation went:

Me: Hello?

Guy on Phone: Hey girl what's up?

Me: Umm... I think you might have the wrong number.

Guy: This ain't Melissa?

Me: Nope, not Melissa.

Guy: Oh well dang girl, you gots a sexy voice.

Me: Thanks... I guess... *nervous chuckle*

Guy: Well if you ain't Melissa, what is yo name?

Me: Not Melissa.

Guy: Oh okay well you still got a sexy voice.

Me: *hangs up*

Really? Really?! You're gonna hit on the random girl you miss-dialed? In retrospect when he asked my name, I should have said something like "Thomas" (as per John's suggestion when discussing this last night) but I didn't. I was too shocked that this was happening to come up with a witty response. Some people...

"She's an idea..." "She's my half-sister!"

Just watched episode 11 of LOST's sixth and final season for the second time. To be honest, this season has kinda sucked so far, but this episode was AMAZING! And not just because it had Charlie in it either, even Josh (the hubster) thought it was grand. I'm starting to like this flash-sideways thing and really looking forward to next Tuesday.

Charlie + Desmond + Daniel Faraday (Widmore) - Kate = WIN! :D

A TMI update (since I said I would)

A little less than a month ago (AKA two posts down) I had posted some stuff about... the curse ...and the issues I had been having with it. Said I would update with how I was doing after taking the shot. Well...

Still no visit from AF and I was told I *had* to start the Depo while she was in town. =/ Tried calling Dr. Edgeworth back once last week to see what I needed to do but she didn't answer and I've been busy so haven't tried again yet.

I guess the Provera just like failed to work or something, which knowing my messed up body doesn't surprise me. If left to it's own devices I might not get a visit from AF for another 2-9 months which would not work for me. I feel crazy enough already without the hormones and it's only been a little over a month since I went off. Ugh.

Don't you wish your teacher was as lax as mine?

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. -Douglas Adams

Well it's that time of year again... "What time?", you ask... term paper time! *Gasp*

This year I only have one paper due, but it's a long one coming in at 15 pages. Has to be on a president or to do with the election process in America. Not really my favorite subject, not really looking forward to it. So I put it off, and off, and...

Crap! It's due next week! *run* *panic* *faint*

Or, that would have been my reaction if it wasn't for dear ol' Dr. Phillips whom I love so very much. <3 (<--- see? I put a heart 'cause he's my favorite. :D)

It was due yesterday and I'm still only on page 13. I really could have finished it last night BUT meh... I didn't. Didn't have to. You know why? Because I went to class on Monday to find out that he is taking this week off for Spring Break (since he mostly teaches at GCCC, which is off this week) and to just kinda drop it off at his office at some point by the end of the week. Honestly, I could turn it in day before the end of the semester and he would take it without a problem, not a drop in grade or anything. Because he's just that awesome.

I won't though, I'll finish it probably tomorrow and turn it in by the end of the week. I'm almost done with it and putting it off any longer is just going to make it harder to finish. Plus otherwise I think Josh might have a heat attack.

Oh the joys of being a woman! (TMI warning)

Since I started this blog after my womanly fiasco, here's a little back story. First off I have PCOS (poly-cystic ovarian syndrome) which is essentially a hormonal disorder effecting the way my eggs are released as well as a crap-ton of other things. I have been on hormonal birth control to help with this for several years now, but sometimes my body doesn't cope well with that. Once or twice a year I will have breakthrough bleeding lasting a month or more for no apparent reason, complete with excruciating cramps. Well, last month was one of those times.

I ended up going to see Dr. Edgeworth (my OB/GYN) and found out I had a giant clot stuck in my uterus. I don't know if this is what always causes this because it's the first time I've had a vaginal ultrasound done. Anyway she took me off my BC and put me on Provera to thin my lining and stop the bleeding. Unfortunately for me, Provera also induces a period when you stop taking it. So after it finally stopped a few days ago, it's about to start again. I can already feel the cramps. Oh well, hopefully this will expel the clot and I can move on with my life.

As soon as AF gets here I will get the Depo shot for the first time. This will hopefully stop AF altogether or at least thin my lining sufficiently enough to lessen the flow and cramping to a manageable level. Dr. Edgeworth said that 80% of women who use the shot stop having a period, but I'm not optimistic. So far I've been in the losing camp for most everything else. However both my sister and mother have had the shot and they are no longer visited by everyone's favorite aunt so that raises my hopes a little.

Will update after I get the shot to let everyone know how it's working.

Do you believe in science? She's perfect chemistry...

Today was much better health wise than usual. Although I'm starting to feel slightly dizzy/lightheaded now, I was able to get up this morning and drive Josh to work. I also stopped by Dr. Phillips office to talk to him about my degree.

There are about 70 million sociology classes available this summer and fall, yet I cannot take any of them. It says they are for distance learning majors only. I find that funny since I'm a Social Science Interdisciplinary major and the definition of Sociology is :

the science of society, social institutions, and social relationships

You see that? Should be right up an SSI majors ally. So I found out how to get into those classes since I would like it make it my secondary discipline. Apparently I just have to harass the sociology advisor until he's so sick of me calling he gives in. :D

While I was there Dr. Phillips also did a graduation check for me. Turns out I'm farther into my degree than I thought. One trip to my advisor and I'm three classes closer to my degree requirements. If I take the sociology class at GCCC this summer as a transient student I will be left with 30 elective credit hours (after taking the rest of my history and 3 more sociology at FSU). That's 10 three credit hour classes of anything I want! That's half of my required 60 hours needed to graduate. This means I can take even more history and won't have to settle for other random classes that I won't find interesting. It also means I can get a jump start on my Master's degree, taking pretty much only 5000+ level classes my final semester.

Freedom to choose the classes I actually want feels pretty amazing.

>.< meh

I feel horrible. Like I can't wake up. I always feel this way nowadays and I hate it. There are three or four topics I really want to write about on here but I just can't find the energy to do it. I really want this blog to work. But more than that, I just want to feel alive again.

Happy Birthday to me!

The 6th was my 22nd birthday, which is a rather uneventful year. You can't do anything new. Overall it was a good day though.

In the morning I had to go to a doctor's appointment in Fort Walton which is where my sister recently moved to. We decided to stop by and see the new place afterwards. On the way we got lost and ended up near some sort of military base. They had a housing community called "Commando Village" with armed guards and stuff, which was kinda funny to see.

We did finally make it to Felicia's though to eat brownies and play Lego Rock Band. I've got epic drum skills when playing super easy. :D

Then I came home and went to sleep. I've pretty much been sleeping ever since lol. Thank goodness it's Spring Break!

You've got breaking hearts all but down...

Yay I'm all pretty now! :D

I'm also feeling much better today than I have been. I'm still a little dizzy, but not nearly as bad. I feel much more like myself than I have in weeks. Woot.

Jessica and John are going out of town this weekend and they have put me in charge of feeding the kitties. I love kitties. <3

I wonder what pretty has to say, I want to feel pretty every day

I officially do not like any of the templates on here. I want a pretty blog like all the girls on [The Nest]. :(

Must figure out how to do that tomorrow...

Until then I'll just green up one of these a little. Because everyone know green is the best color in the whole world. :D

This was over before it ever began...

Your lips, your lies, your lust
Like the devil's in your hands

Sigh.

I made another blog.

Will it last? Probably not. They never do.

Sometimes I just get the urge to blog, and now is one of those times. I'll probably stop next week because I'll realize I have nothing important to say. But I'm out of school and pretty much out of commission for everything else because of some medical problems so what else am I supposed to do?

For now I think I'll just eat my Lucky Charms and try to get some sleep.