She Told Me So

Well, Chris; I'm finally getting around to your request. Enjoy!

5 things I plan to do before I die:
1) Travel to Austria
2) Travel to Germany
3) Be fluent in German and teach it to my kids
4) Get married to the love of my life
5) Have children

5 things I can do:
1) Crochet
2) Make the stupidest puns you've ever heard
3) Sing
4) Kiss (so I've been told)
5) Write

5 things I cannot do:
1) Biology
2) What I want
3) Test well
4) Sleep
5) Be cool

5 things that attract me to members of the opposite sex:
1) Eyes
2) Facial hair
3) Long hair
4) Uniqueness
5) Confidence without arrogance

5 things I say most often:
1) Umm...yeah
2) Really now?
3) Do you now?
4) I'm such a dork
5) I love you

5 celebrity crushes (I don't really have any, but I'll tell you people who I find attractive):
1) Viggo Mortensen
2) Johnny Depp
3) Gerard Butler
4) Patrick Wilson
5) Gregory Smith

5 people I want to do this:
1) Josh G.
2) Seanathan
3) John H.
4) Lori
5) Brandon/Jenny

100 Years

I'm 15 for a moment

Caught inbetween 10 and 20

and I'm just dreaming

counting the ways to where you are

I'm 22 for a moment

She feels better than ever

and we're on fire

Making our way back from Mars

15 there's still time for you

Time to buy and time to lose

15, there's never a wish better than this

When you only got 100 years to live

I'm 33 for a moment

I'm still the man, but you see I'm a they

A kid on the way

A family on my mind

I'm 45 for a moment

The sea is high

and I'm heading into a crisis

Chasing the years of my life

15 there's still time for you

Time to buy and time to lose yourself

Within a morning star

15 I'm alright with you

15, there's never a wish better than this

When you only got 100 years to live

Half time goes by

Suddenly you're wise

Another blink of an eye

67 is gone

The sun is getting high

We're moving on

I'm 99 for a moment

Dying for just another moment

and I'm just dreaming

Counting the ways to where you are

15 there's still time for you

22 I feel her too

33 you're on your way

Everyday's a new day

15 there's still time for you

Time to buy and time to choose

Hey 15, there's never a wish better than this

When you only got 100 years to live

- Five for Fighting

Overwhelmed

I'm becoming overwhelmed. I don't think this persuasive speech could get any more difficult. I want to give up. I don't have time to work on prospective school things. I am sick of living in a filthy house that I don't have time to clean. I'm sick of living with one brother who doesn't know how to obey because he hasn't been taught to do so and another brother who either abuses or ignores the first. I'm sick of being sick. I'm sick and I don't have time to stop and heal. I don't have the money for school. I don't have the academic necessities for school. I don't have a well paying job so that I can go to the school of choice. I can't tell people where I want to go because they'll think I'm only going for one reason. I find myself taking my frustrations out on the one I love, the one who can give me most comfort. I'm tired of being a grownup. I'm tired of being a mom.

I just want to be the normal 18-year old; I want my parents to pay for school, I want to be able to go wherever I want for school, I want my parents to be supportive of my choice in schools (I haven't told them yet, but I know they won't like it), I want to be a sister to my brothers instead of their mother, I want to have an actual relationship with my dad - not just know who he is. I want to be a great writer. I want to be fluent in German. I want to go to Austria and Germany some day. I want to marry the love of my life. I want to teach my kids German before they learn their English. I want to have happy holidays this year with no repeats of last year. I want time to think. I want to be the typical stupid 18-year-old who turns out to be a great person. I'm used to not getting what I want. Why does it have to be this way? What am I supposed to learn from all this???

I have to go eat lunch and wipe the tearstains off my cheeks before work. Bis später.

Thinking

I've been thinking a lot recently and the more I consider it, the more I want to forgo the vet tech thing and go to school for the German degree. I could always work in a veterinary clinic if I had that desire, or I could even take a distance learning course while I'm going to a different school.

The school I want to go to is expensive for me though. Technically any school is expensive for me, but this one moreso than the other school I had in mind. The school I want to go to will cost $9,438 for a single semester, costing $18,876 per year for on-campus Texas residents. If I choose to go this route, I'll need to do nothing but work next semester and all through summer and I might have enough money for the first semester. The price I listed accounts for tution, books, transportation, room and board, personal expenses, and any general fees that are applicable. I really want to go to this school (I won't name it for fear of judgement and I really don't feel like explaining myself right now), I think it would be good for me and my career choice will work for future plans. I can see my parents being opposed to it, perhaps very passionately opposed to it, so I need to work out all the details so that when I present the idea to them I can effectively argue my case. Although I'm considering giving them a little information at a time, that way they don't accuse me of bringing it up suddenly when I've been contemplating for months. I'm not really sure what to do.

On a lighter note, I made a 21 on my biology quiz. I don't know if that's good or not, but I'm assuming it is because the teacher wrote "good" beside the 21 and three of my biology peers (one of which is VERY good at biology) made nothing higher than a 3 on the same test. There was also a home portion of the quiz and I made a perfect score on that. All I need to do is keep making high marks and maybe I can pull my D up to a C. I guess it doesn't matter if I do or not - I have to have 24 credit hours to be able to transfer to the school I want and I'll only have 13. Ah well. I can still try; my goal is to make nothing short of a B+ anyway. *shrugs* Whatever.

I had a great weekend with Josh and am exhausted from the trip. I was falling asleep in English class, so I think I'm going to go take a nap before Bible study. Talk to you all later. Feedback on the first paragraph would be more than welcome. Tschüss.

Happy News

I just realized that I seem to blog more often when things are not going well. I wonder why that is. Although said bad things are still on my mind, I am not letting it sour my attitude. I'm actually happy right now, so here I am, for the record, blogging while happy. Everyone got your calendars out?

I was asked today at work how I was today. My answer was simple and the most prominent thing on my mind. My reply? "I am giddy beyond all comprehension." This is still the case. I am going out of town tomorrow to visit my beloved Joshua and spend some time with him. I can't wait to drive down and see him!

I am also having a delightful time with my friend's birthday present. I'm having more fun torturing her with it that the present itself, but that's to be expected. >:D

I have a paper to miraculously make larger with some content that is unknown to me, take a shower, eat dinner and all that fun stuff. I wish you all the merriest of weekends and the best of times. For now, I bid you tschüss. Bis später!

Debating

I know I need to find a job that pays more, but I've actually caught myself thinking about what would happen if I changed my plan for college. My previous plan was to do basics at NCTC and transfer to Cedar Valley College and take the two-year course to get my vet tech degree. Biology is becoming increasingly more difficult and I know that's one of the major things I'll need to know and be good at for vet school. Afterall, to be in the veterinary field you have to be just as good with academics as you are with animals.

The plan that's floating around in my head now is to finish the year at NCTC and find a university to go to that has German language courses and go there to major in German and minor in English. I really love writing and seeing what people think of my work, and I love languages even though I haven't been formally taught any. My thoughts were that if I went this route, I could be a German teacher in a highschool (my other seriously thought out career path - a highschool teacher) and still be able to easily quit to have kids (not in the middle of the year, of course, but I'd be able to quit rather easily) and provide the "house money" so that my husband and I can move in before the first child is born. I'm fascinated by the German language; I've been known to say that German is the superior language, that no one should speak English (or any other language) anymore. I've always loved the German language and what little I know of the culture. There's a lot that I don't know, but what little I do know, I am really interested in. I really want to know more.

I know it's a drastic change and I'm not really sure that's what I want to do, but I'm really not sure if I can handle the work load to be a vet tech. Looking over the course schedule I find that there are never, in the entire two year course, less than 13 hours in the fall and spring semesters. I'm having a hard time working and taking 13 hours - I'm sure I'd be doing better in biology if I had more time to study and learn. Here's their course schedule: Summer semester 1: 7 hours. Fall semester 1: 14 hours. Spring semester 1: 15 hours. Summer semester 2: 6 hours. Fall semester 2: 16 hours. Spring semester 2: 15 hours. I can't do that and work at the same time and if I don't go to school for even a single semester just to work, that'll change my future plans drastically and I don't want to do that.

This change, whether for or against, is going to change my plans for the next five years at least. There are things that I'm waiting for that I don't want to put off any longer, and these things won't work well if I mix them together. I haven't even mentioned this to my parents yet, whom I'm sure would freak out upon hearing such a seemingly bizzare idea. Of course they'd bring up the whole money issue, but there's a money issue for me going to Cedar Valley, too. I'd need an apartment and books; tuition alone is going to be 10,000 per year! I know that's not a lot for college, but it's a lot for me, a girl who has no choice but to pay for her own tuition.

Should I change or should I stick to the original plan? I don't know what to do - the stress from everything is crushing my brain.

I am frustrated and I am helpless. I have a paper to write.

Why?

Why is it that family has to be so frustrating and difficult? Why aren't there more hours in the day? Why do my parents have to have massive financial crises my entire life? Why do I have to be my brothers' mother? Why do I get yelled at for things that I don't have time for? Why do we have to have Oreo? Why don't I have someone I can cry to at any time? Why do I have to be such a big person at such a young age? Why can't I get paid more? Why can't things be easier?

I get sick and tired of coming home to a filth-hole that even pigs would be to good for. I get tired of the mess. I get tired of the junk. I get tired of being tired. I try and get my brothers to clean up the house a little bit and they do nothing. I try to talk to my parents about it and all they do is yell at me. I try, I really do try and help out around here. It gets so hard when all my extra time is spent on homework.

I do my homework every night, hoping that I can get through it and then it'll be done and maybe I'll have some extra time. No. I never have extra time. I try to make good grades in school, hoping that maybe for once my parents will be proud of me. My hopes are dashed. You'd think they'd understand my point of view; they come home to the same filth-hole and they don't like it any better than I do but they don't ask the boys to clean, they don't try and clean it up, they sit and watch tv because they're tired from work. Ok, I can understand that to an extent, but when the boys aren't ever cleaning, when the house is always dirty, you'd think they'd try and do something about it instead of yelling at us for not doing anything. I'm tempted to stay home from classes tomorrow and do nothing but clean the house - I don't have any tests tomorrow.

Here's my dilemma: If I clean the house, I make bad grades from lack of studying. If I make good grades, the house stays dirty. No matter which one I do, my parents have some reason to gripe, and they don't hesitate to do so. I don't mean to rag on my parents so much, they try to be good parents.

At work, we have a section of runs and cages which are rented from us by Highland Village Animal Control. The only dog in there right now has stolen my heart. My co-worker and I have named him Romeo since he's the sweetest dog - he's such a lover. I asked my parents (a.k.a. mom) if we could think about adopting him. She refused to have a third dog (which is understandable considering our living arrangements) and said that if we were to have him, we'd have to put down one of our other dogs first. Unfortunately the one we'd pick would be the healthiest one - the one we love will probably die on his own within a year anyways. This sounds cruel - it's not the way it sounds. I'm going to shut up now.

My life is a tightrope walk, but what happens if I fall off?

Grade Update

I got a D on my biology lab practicum, I made a 104 (out of 100 - he he bonus questions rock) on my first algebra test, I made a 4 out of 9 on my speech test and my speech today sucked so bad. Why do I have to have so much catching up to do? God, what's the point? I must be behind for a reason, but I can't even begin to think of what it might be.

Pray for me - I'm tired, I'm sick and aside from all that, I'm finding myself being hostile to others, oftentimes for no good reason. I apologized to someone today for it, but I'm being hostile to them for odd reasons. To hear my reasons you'd think me a pagan, but I can't help what bothers me and what doesn't, I can only control my reactions to it, which I haven't been doing properly.

I have to go meet a friend from school - I promised him I'd be there. Talk to you all later. Tschüss.

SO EXCITED!!!!!!!

KELLEY MADE HOMECOMING QUEEN!!!!!! *dances around room* I couldn't believe it; I was crying I was so excited! She came and spent the night with Chris, Ang, and I at Chris's house. We watched Hitch while going to bed and we talked about boys and stuff like that; you know, girl stuff. We won the football game, one of my long-time friends is head drum major, the same friend is also crowned Homecoming Queen, I spent the night with the three people I have known for 13 years and had a blast doing it...last night was a wonderful night!

Oh, and did you know that Sonny Bryan's makes a great breakfast? *inhales deeply, then exhales* Ah, there's nothing like the smell of meat tater in the morning.

Maybe So

I think I might be able to do this school thing after all! Yeah, it's hard and very different than what I'm used to, but I think I might be able to squeeze through. Here are my grades so far:

Speech: Quiz 1: A+, Quiz 2: A+, Speech to Inform: A.
Biology: Test 1: 12.7 out of 15 questions, got 8 wrong.
Pre-Algebra: Test 1: 84 (possibly a 92, pending teacher's grading on a make-up type assignment)
Biology Lab: Quiz 1: 7 out of 10 questions with one bonus question (i didn't answer), got three wrong; Quiz 2: 7 out of 7 questions with two bonus questions (one answered wrong and the other not answered at all), got two wrong.
English (Grammar and Composition): Preleminary Research Paper: A+.

Ok, so I'm not doing so hot in biology. It's hard and I'm really struggling with it. There are so many little things that I'm supposed to know, so many things that I'm about 99% sure I won't have to know later on in life. I'm trying and that's what matters, right? Heh. I'm proud of my accomplishments.

I know what I'm going to do my demonstration speech on...crocheting. Yeah, you heard me. Crocheting. It's something that I'm good at, something that I like to do, and also school friendly. Ooh! Maybe I can make a cup holder for everyone...that would be awesome!

Rollercoaster

Lately my thoughts and feelings have been a rollercoaster more intense than the Titan and Texas Giant put together. This weekend my beloved boyfriend, Josh, came into town for his dad's birthday and to hear me sing in big church. Friday night we went on a picnic at Grapevine Lake, Saturday, we hung out at his house, ate steak that his mom made for lunch, we went and saw the 40-Year-Old Virgin, ate dinner at Chili's, watched From Hell at his house, then he took me home. Sunday, I sang in big church in the morning, went with Josh and his family, immediate and some extended, to BJ's for lunch, then back to Josh's for dessert (presents were after I left, I assume).

I was on a high when I was with him, I was depressed when he left. Singing in church cheered me up, my lonely thoughts at home put me back down again.

I woke Monday morning in the worst mood imaginable. I woke up and felt so empty. The lonliness consumed my soul. I wanted to drive. I wanted to drive far, far away. I wanted to just pack 3-4 days worth of clothes and head out. I would have, if I had the gas money.

I started crying. I tried not to cry and managed to get myself to stop...then in the shower I couldn't control it. I sobbed for a good 10 minutes. I remember thinking to myself that I couldn't tell if the wetness on my face was from tears or water. I stopped before I got out, but when I walked into my room, the tears came again. I frantically thought of who I could call that would be up at 6:30 in the morning. I tried Josh, he was asleep. I knew Chris would be asleep, didn't want to wake her. Lara's cell phone wasn't working, so I didn't even try. I wanted to try some random person from church and thought of two people: Lisa and Amanda. I didn't think Amanda would appreciate an early phonecall from someone she barely knew the name of, so I text messaged Lisa. I found out that night that she wasn't exactly the happiest person that day either. "That's the last time I ask someone for help like this" I thought to myself.

I put in my new Killers cd and cranked it up loud on the way to school, wishing I was on my way out of town rather than to school. I calmed myself down walking into school. I gave my speech in speech class - I think I did well, I'll get my grade back tomorrow. I sat through biology and math, went home, did homework and ate lunch in a good mood. I went to english class at two, went home and finished mandatory reading for the quiz we're going to take on Wednesday in english. I finished my homework with time to spare, took the boys to church, and on my way to the Farney's, my bad mood started seeping back into my brain. The "study" that we did only frustrated me more, for reasons I won't go into now. I fumed to my beloved on my way home, bless his poor little heart.

I wish there was a fast-forward button, as if I'm a pre-recorded video tape. I can hit the fast-forward button and speed into the future, having gone through my "previous" experiences, I just didn't see them happpen.

When I listen to Mr. Brightside by the Killers, I get this knot feeling in my gut, I start feeling depressed, like there's no hope, like I have no choice but to sit and watch everything happen, everything's out of my control... This is the exact feeling I got on Monday morning and it's the feeling I get if I let my mind wander too far.

I suppose I'd better go. I've gotten myself into a funky mood and I need to sleep. I'll talk to you all later. Thanks for the comments. And Josh, you're so sweet!!!

Praise Him all you shining stars,
Praise the Lord in all the Earth.
Every creature near and far,
Praise the Lord!
Stormy winds and clouds of white,
Valleys clothed in splendor,
Burning sun and moonlit night,
Praise the Lord!

Heaven and all the universe
Proclaim Your power and Your worth.
Hallelujah!
Your love goes on forever!
God of life and Lord of love,
Who was and is and is to come,
Hallelujah!
Your love goes on forever!

All you creatures of the sea,
Children of the Savior,
Yearning hearts and oceans deep,
Praise the Lord!
For the mercy in His hands,
For the healing in His scars,
For the grace in His commands,
Praise the Lord!

For all You've done and Your infinite love
We lift our hearts to worship
For Your sweet grace we lift Your name
So let Your praise go on and on forever more
For the mercy in His hands,
For the healing in His scars,
For the grace in His commands,
Praise the Lord!

Thanks, Sonic Flood.

Delivering a speech Wednesday - that'll be nervewracking.

Life in General

School has been going well. I still don't have topics for speech and english, but I'm working on that as fast as possible. I may do rabies for english, but I'm not sure yet. I wanted to do something more graphic, just because I like to gross people out (and it's easy to do in my "profession") but I can't think of any.

I miss Josh, but I'm planning on visiting him the weekend after next. Boy, do I miss him.

My family and I went to Oklahoma this weekend. We were going to go visit our unofficial sister church in Mississippi, but our hosts are helping at the local hospital and wouldn't know how often they'd be around (Katrina victims). So we went to visit Grandma instead. I had fun, at least as much as one can in rural Oklahoma. We went and tromped around on Mount Scott - that's always my high point of the trip.

Sorry this is so short. I have topics to pick, a speech outline to start, some brainstorming thing I have to do for english, a.k.a. homework. I have no friends (that want to do something with me anyways). I have no life. And I'm tired. Ich bin muede. Tschüss.

School

From the first half of my first day of "real school" ever, I can already tell this: speech is going to kick my butt and I'm going to have problems with my math teacher.

Speech is going to be so hard, even though I have a cool teacher, because 1) I'm not a good public speaker, 2) I'm not very good at acting natural when I'm nervous as all get-out, 3) I'm not very good at thinking on my feet. Mr. Maguire is cool, he seems like a really nice guy. He's fairly strict and he's fair about it. This class is going to be hard for me. Heh. And I thought I put the easier class first.

Also I made a horrible first impression with Mr. Maguire - I was late this morning. I had planned on leaving the house 30 minutes before my first class - speech - so that I could find where all my classes were and be early and make a good impression. I left my house about 10 minutes late (no big deal - school's 5 minutes away and I'm fairly good with finding my way around buildings) and I was thinking I'd be fine. Then I came upon the traffic. I hit the traffic at 7:47 (I was expecting to be at school 5 minutes from then) and didn't make it to school until 8:05, 5 minutes after I was supposed to be in class. I had called my Mom while waiting in traffic to see if she could find out where my classes were supposed to be. Luckily, she knew. I wrote them down on my hand so I wouldn't forget them - I was in the car and couldn't grab the paper out of my backpack. So that's how my first day of school started.

After speech, I went 5 doors down to my biology class. Mrs. Decker is my teacher and from what other students (and her syllabus) were saying, she's a difficult teacher. On the exams, we cover at least 7 chapters each. This class should prove to be interesting.

What I can't wait for is biology lab. We'll get to disect all sorts of different things: a frog, a brain, a liver, and other fun nasty stuff like that. I think I'll like my lab class because I learn better by doing - plus it sticks in my head longer that way. My teacher seems ok, for the few minutes I saw her.

I went to the lab class because Mrs. Decker made it sound like we were all supposed to go today even though our lab was on a different day (mine's on Wednesday). I get in there and find out that I didn't need to be there - that was embarrassing. It's all good though. I wasn't too embarrassed.

I have english class at 2. I decided to go home for lunch since I didn't have any homework or anything like that to keep me occupied for 3 hours.

Oh, I ran into Heather Smith and Kayti Edwards today. I talked with Heather a little bit and I only said hi to Kayti in passing (she said hi first - I didn't recognize her). It was really great to see people I knew. I was starting to feel lonely and then Heather came up to me.

Well, I'd better go now. I'll update more later, tell you how my english class went. Tschüss!

New Car

So I have a new car now, thanks to my beloved boyfriend. I now own his old car (he got a new one obviously), a 1997 Chrysler Concord. It's a beautiful car, lots of fun to drive, although the only place I've driven it is from his house to mine - the very first time to drive it. It's such a nice car, very well taken care of and such good things like that. So yeah, that's my big news. Bonus - since I'm paying for it, it's MY car. Not the family's, not the "kid's," it's MINE. The only reason my parent's names are on the insurance card is because they have the insurance.

I'm starting to become financially independant now. I'm paying for my own cell phone bill, I'm making car payments, I'm paying for insurance (at least the difference of what my parents were paying and what they're paying now), I'm buying my own gas, I'm buying my own clothes and supplies like shampoo and deodorant, I'm paying for whenever I go out to eat, I'm saving money, AND I've payed for almost all of my tuition for the fall semester at school (I could have payed all of it by myself but my parents were able to help me out a little). Being financially independant and making it work is tough. It's a good experience and I'm learning from it. It's hard yet rewarding, as most things in life are.

*sigh* I have to work in the morning, so I'd better let you go. Just wanted to tell you all my exciting news about my new-to-me car!!! YAY!!! He he he.

Tschüss!

p.s.
someday I hope to speak fluent German. just wish I had a teacher...

Mini Update

We got the phone working, so that's good. I really like it - I think it's a good buy. As always there are things I don't like, but they're minor and nothing to complain about.

Today after work I'm going to Josh's parent's house and riding with them to Austin to see Josh and his presentation. I'm so excited to see what he's been working on all summer, but what I'm looking forward to most is seeing him. I can't wait to see him and give him a giant hug. You don't want to hear about it, so I won't tell you.

Water's boiling for my breakfast, so I'd better scoot. Talk to you all when I get back! Tschüss!

Happenings

I switched my cell service to Cingular yesterday and got a new phone to boot! It's a flip phone, has a camera, voice to text dialing and text messaging, and all sorts of fun stuff. It's black and shiny and feels like liquid in my hands. It's got such a cool feel to it!

The only problem is, I'm not getting any calls to it. It should have worked by now. We called Cingular and they tried to fix it, sent several test calls, and they said that cell phones can't quite connect yet because the process hasn't completely registered yet. They said wait for an hour or two and try it again and if it doesn't work, then we should call them back and they'll try something else. I'm sure the problem will be resolved soon enough. I have faith in them.

I've been working an awful lot lately. I'm not so engh about it as I thought I'd be. I thought I'd be more tired, whiny, complaining, grumpy, but I'm not. That's a good thing, too! I'm actually not minding going back to work. Tomorrow is my only kenneling day for the entire month (hooray!!!) and I work all day, which means I will most likely miss church. I can't go out after that because I have to work all day Monday too, so that stinks. I missed the last two Bible studies and now I'm missing church - these people will think I'm a pagan! Lol. Anyhoo, work has been going really well. I got rather frustrated with one of the doctors today, but otherwise all is well.

I bought some new clothes with the Target gift cards I got for graduation. I needed new jeans for school, so I thought, "Hey, we'll see what Target has!" It turns out, I really like these jeans and may go back for another pair! He he he. These jeans make me feel so good.

I'm counting the days until I travel with Josh's parents to go see him on Wednesday evening and his presentation on Thursday morning. I can't wait for the trip there, I'm sure I'll talk with his parents the entire way. I can't wait to get there, to see Josh again, to give him lots of hugs and kisses. I can't wait to go to the presentation, to see the project that Josh has built the past few months while interning. I can't wait to see Nana and Paw again - they're so kind and generous. I can't wait to ride home with Josh, talking to him and singing with him and laughing with (and at) him.

I have to go to dinner now. I'll talk to you all later. Thanks for the comments!!! Tschüss!

It's Funny

Something that's been on my mind lately, why is it that when you need your friends, mostly the ones that tell you they're always there for you, they aren't there? I seriously needed some companionship, someone to talk to Sunday night and no one was there. One wanted to play volleyball, one wanted to eat, the other just didn't care to hang around. I don't know why, but it always seems to be that way. Even though I was surrounded by people on Sunday, I was alone. I did manage to be cheered up by the last person I ever thought could do that; and all he did was talk to me about random stuff. It was an off and on conversation at that! Funny how life works, isn't it? So a question for all of you: What do you do if someone comes up to you with a tear-stained face and asks for a hug? What do you do after they tell you what's wrong?

The Weekend

Oh, this weekend was great! Friday night after work I went shopping for chips and cookies for Saturday's lunch and to kill time before Josh got home. I went and picked up some orange Lilies for him and took them to his house when he got home and surprised him with them. I hung out there for an hour or two, then I went home.

Saturday I picked Josh up, then went to Lara's house to pick up her and John. Then we went to McDonald's for breakfast and WalMart for a sandwich to pack. We got the sandwich and headed South to Hawaiian Falls. We got there just as it opened, claimed our spot and went on almost every ride. We ate lunch, swam in the "wave pool" (it didn't have many waves) and layed out to dry off. It was so hot we left at 1:30. I dropped Lara and John off at her apartment and Josh and I went back to his house. His Mom had gone to run errands and Austin and Lindsey weren't at home and Josh forgot his keys. We sat at the house in the truck for a while, then we went to CompUSA and ran into a friend of Josh's who worked there. We talked to him for a bit, he helped us look for laptop backpacks, then we left and went back to Josh's. His Mom was home, so we went upstairs and watched The Count of Monte Cristo, a fantastic movie. After the movie, we went to Chili's for dinner and had excellent steak, then we went back to his house so I could go home for the night.

Sunday I went to the 9 o'clock service with Josh, then met him at his house. We went to Mazatlan for lunch, then to Grapevine Mills to watch The March of the Penguins. After that we went back to his house so he could grab his stuff, then we said goodbye. His Mom was kicking him out of the house and I was trying to get him to stay - it was interesting. We went outside so his Mom was happy and we could take our time saying goodbye. We said goodbye and he left. I cried all the way from his house to the Farney's, where the end of summer pool party was going on, and still sat there for about 10 minutes crying. I told my friends what was wrong, but I guess none of them cared enough because they didn't hang out with me and give me the company I was longing for. So after showing my laptop to Chris, I decided to write how I was feeling in essay form. It helped me feel a little better and I managed to cheer myself up until I left. I had Josh's shirt with me all the time, except for when I was in the hot tub, and that helped too.

Work has been great. I'm not scheduled for kennels at all this month and that makes me overjoyed! Thank you God for solving my problem! Can you say, answer to prayer??? My schedule was made to fit around my school schedule, even though I don't start school until the 27th.

I'm excited about school starting. It'll be the first time I've ever done the whole school thing. I need to get supplies, but I'm not quite sure what to buy though. I have pens, a couple of notebooks and a calculator at home, but I'm not sure if that's all I'll need. I'll get my book list the first day of class, so I don't have to worry about that until then. I have to have the entire semester's payment to NCTC by the 16th, so that's a bit of a pressure, but I have more than half of it and my Mom thinks they'll be able to cover the rest of it. I sure hope so, or else I'll have to pull a loan. My Mom made it sound like that's what we were going to do anyway and when I mentioned it a few weeks ago, she was all shocked at the idea and was so against it it wasn't even funny. Anyhoo, I'm rambling. Cost of classes is pretty much taken care of - I think.

I'm going to Austin from the 17-19 to watch Josh's presentation for work. He's been working on a project all this time and he'll present his finished work on the 18th. I'm going down with his parents and driving back with him - the first time I've gone to Austin accompanied - it'll be great. I can't wait to see what he's been working on!

Well I'd better go. I've got lunch for the boys and I in the microwave and it just beeped. Oh, one more thing. I'm switching to Cingular so that I can have mobile-to-mobile with Josh because I'm talking to him more than I am anyone else and we don't have enough minutes with T-Mobile to cover it. I'll be paying for it, so that'll be an adventure. Yeah, so, just thought I'd let you know that...don't know why. Lol. Tschüss!

Long Awaited Update

My apologies for not getting to this sooner, I was having troubles with the internet connection to my laptop and truth be told, blogging was the last thing on my mind.

I took the Compass test (the same test as the THEA only on the computer) on the 29th. That was a great day. I took the Compass, did orientation, met with an advisor and registered for my classes all in three and a half hours. Heh. That was fun. I made a 38 on the math section (I needed a 39 to pass) so I have to take a developmental math class, but other than that, I passed the reading and writing sections with a 97 in each and got a 6 (a passing grade) on the first essay that I have ever written in my entire life! I was very proud of that essay, I wish I could have had a copy of it.

My laptop arrived Thursday sometime, I got it after I got home from work. After much complication, we finally have internet to the laptop through a wireless router and an external wireless card. It took a while, but I'm glad we finally got it done.

Saturday I got mauled by a cat at work. This cat flipped out the instant I touched her and she put up a nasty fight, but I won at last and now realize one of the main reasons why I prefer dogs over cats. She left multiple skin abrasions on my hands, arms and wrists, and a hefty slash in the muscle just under my thumb. Yesterday the gash started looking infected so I scrubbed it with Betadine and rinsed it off with hydrogen peroxide (I was at work) and it looks a little better. I'm not sure if it would better help get rid of the infection to leave the wound alone and let it scab over or to keep the wound open and clean. Anyhoo, the wounds are healing and I'll live, although I'll never look at this cat the same way again.

Josh is coming down this weekend and he, Lara, John (Lara's boyfriend) and I are going to Hawaiian Falls for a double-date. I'm so pumped about it - it's going to be so much fun!

I'm trying to think of anything else...oh! Work is going well. Dr. Roberts is back from Iraq and his first day back in the office was Monday. I was his VA yesterday. He had three appointments all day, and the first one was at 6:10pm. Heh. We sat around almost all day - everyone was slow. Dr. Hunsberger had only a few appointment, Dr. Strauch had a few appointments in the morning, then surgery, then he left. Dr. McCullough only worked from 9-1 and left an hour early because he didn't have anymore appointments. To make a long story boring, we weren't very busy yesterday, so things were easy.

Stephen, the new kennel guy, just happened to be scheduled by himself yestreday evening, and I was the one elected to help him finish. That, and someone had to stay because he didn't have a passcode for the alarm system yet. It wasn't that bad, I clocked out at 9:10 last night.

Well, I suppose I'll that's all I have to say. I'll talk to you all later!

Tschüss!