My friend took this picture at a shindig on her property this summer. Nice job, Kel.

p.s.

I feel happy.

No, it's not just a feeling.

I am at peace. For the first time maybe ever. Despite my surroundings, my circumstances, I am content.

God is so good.

Apology

I apologize to my readers, and to You, dear Internet, for being so lackidaisical in my blogging.

One would think that I interact with so many people every day that I surely must have things to share. And I do. But by the time I sit through 3 hours of class, take the bus, drive home from the busstop and sit down in front of my computer, I can't remember a single thing, except the work which is always hanging over my head.

I've been motivating myself with the thought of no homework and free weekends in the near future. And so, I dive in with the intention of completing all of my work as quickly as possible. Of course, nothing is that simple.

My sheets need washing, as does the quilt covering my bed, since the cats have decided to make it their new bathing blanket - eww. I always need to go to the grocery as I'm always lacking food because I'm always hungry. I can't figure out why or how I'm hungry 24-7. But it's a fact, people. Just call me Hungry-Hungry Hippo.

Has everyone heard of this amazing thing called Pandora: the Music Genome Project? If you haven't, please check it out. It is a sort of online radio - but you can make an account and specify which artists and types of music you want, and if they send something your way that you don't like, you can tell them. And they'll never play it again on your station. Oh, you can create multiple stations - in case you like country and 80's ballads and alternative music. That way, you don't have to mush them all together. Pick a station for your particular mood. These people are brilliant!

In another vein, I love this time of year - when you can be cold and warmed by the sun at the same time - when the copses of trees change to brilliant gold overnight - when walking briskly is most enjoyable - when tea, hot cider, or coffee is always the perfect treat, at any moment.

However, I also made note that yesterday, October 19th, 2006, was the first day that my fingers turned that deathly white color from lack of blood flow and frigidness. In October?! That's a record.

I think I'm going to freeze at Liz's wedding.

The circus in which I live

I found out from a voice mail message that "we" were dog-sitting for a giant German shepard named Boston this weekend.

Lucky for me, I was at an amazing concert last night and then stayed at Liz's to escape the madness (and because it's fun to have sleepovers at age 24).

When I arrived back in B-town after sharing a Mexican lunch and margaritas with my most beloved opera singer (Cat) and lounging at Liz's for the rest of the afternoon, I found Boston - a 3-year-old sweetheart - waiting inside the front door. His eyes show him to be nervous about his dog-sitting experience, despite the fact that he outweighs all of the other animals in this small mad-house.

In all honesty, Boston doesn't fit here. He's too big to turn around in most spaces here without knocking something valuable off of a table or chair or slamming himself into a hard surface. All he wants is to be petted - but I'm not fond of petting dogs, as they smell like, well, Dog.

Wial - the Saudi Arabian 18-year-old who I share the basement with - said to me, "That is BIG dog." Then he paused before going on, "No, that a tiger, not a dog."

I guess they don't have pets in Saudi Arabia, especially not big dogs in small houses. Poor Boston. Poor Wial.

*sigh

Did I mention that I have only 8 weeks from today before I can graduate and move on?

This is why

...today royally sucked, including, but not limited to the following situations: a forced, long-awaited meeting with a jerk who brought a lawyer and subsequently threatened me and two of my favorite people with a lawsuit. I then had to shake hands (twice!) with Creepy McCreeperson, himself, after listening to his drivel for a good hour and 15 minutes. Directly thereafter, I sat through class, which could not have been more boring or a bigger waste of 3 hours of my life. The icing on the cake was that I missed the last 5 minutes of Grey's Anatomy.

Yet despite all of that, I'm oddly content.

It may have to do with the fact that I've finally realized I only have 2 more months of school, of living in this dump, of sharing a rank bathroom, of carrying my food from one floor to the other to prepare and eat it...2 months before I begin life anew - as a professional, an educated working woman.

For those realizations, I'm grateful.

If you want to know what I've been up to lately...

...I can tell you.

Since Wednesday I have:

~ watched the season premier of Lost with good friends
~ learned how to iron a dress shirt, something I rarely wear
~ interviewed for my first real job
~ polished off a bottle of my favorite wine with one of my favorite people
~ watched the most amazing Harvest Moon rise 3 evenings in a row, and witnessed it's magnificent brilliance in the early morning darkness as I drove to breakfast at IHOP
~ landed my first real job
~ shared pizza and a movie with my cousin Stephanie, truly my second self
~ driven over 300 miles
~ played games, roasted marshmallows, and grilled burgers with my parents, brother and sister-in-law, and my sister, Leslie, who has spent the past 6 months hiking the Appalachian Trail

What I have not done:

~ worked at a Reference desk
~ slept well
~ gone to class
~ missed being at school or in my teeny dorm-like room (or sharing the pee-smelling bathroom)

A young boy was overheard in church making the statement that

"Jesus is King of the chickens."

"Be serious," says his Sunday school teacher.

"I am."