cinnamon and nutmeg and ginger and peanut butter
It has been a little while since my last post, but not too long I feel. Recounting the past 10 days...
1. Friday
Friday was stop day, no classes. I worked a bit on things at home and I think I might've run some errands, I forget. That night we had the geology banquet. I brought with me Fatma, whom I had not yet met, but seemed nice. We were a bit late and missed hors d'oeuvres, but the dinner buffet was large and excellent. There was a big roast beef (prime rib?) at the end, for one. For dessert there was cheesecake, brownies and cookies. After dinner there were awards (my scholarship from last year was renewed) and then the roast. Bob made some pokes, and the first photo was of me sticking out my tongue and was compared to KISS. Yeah. I, however, was not tacky enough to win the tacky geologist award. At least not in that photo. That would go to Dave L. for a slight lack of clothing. Then Pete and Paul gave their presentation, which again, I was the first slide after the intro. Go me. There were a fair amount of photos of me, but I think other people could claim more embarrassment than I. Afterwards, many of us went to Louis' for a little after party. I bought Josh a mastodon beer for driving. I played pool a couple times, and I think maybe I won once and lost once. Jesse gave me a pretty remarkable scare when he grabbed my head from behind, lol. A few of us went to Jimmy John's after. We were a bit rowdy playing with ice and I developed the hiccups, which was great, since people like to scare me. However, I didn't lose them until I scared myself when I almost peed my pants laughing on the way home.
2. Saturday
I woke up bright and early to a phone call from Travis G. to go look at apartments. I found out later he wouldn't have woken up if his mom hadn't called and asked if he was going to go. Thank goodness someone was able to get up that morning. We drove down to OKC and our first stop was accidentally to the totally wrong side of town. But, I figured out the error we put in the GPS and we went to the correct place. We ended up doing some paperwork and signing on with a place. It was nice to have a place to call home for the summer. It is a pretty nice place, with a gated entrance and free cookies in the clubhouse. Our closets were huge and I will have this slightly huge bath, which will be nice. It's right next to a mall, which is slightly dangerous. I will have to make a solid financial plan to make sure I don't go crazy. After that we drove to Chesapeake and looked around. I had been before, but Travis had not. On the way there we saw a lake where there were "kite surfers". Travis and I may take up this hobby, we shall see. Then we drove to downtown, on the way we saw a place called Oo-wee Shoes (I think) which had a funny mural. Downtown looked nice and it looked like there was a lot to do. On the way home we stopped at Braum's, which I love. I got a cherry limeade freeze, which was tasty. It didn't rain until we got back to Kansas, but I guess there were tornadoes in the part of OK we drove through which killed some people. Also on the drive home, I saw an armadillo on the side of the road. It was sad, but first armadillo I have seen. It was on the southern border on Kansas. I came home and watched the end of The Outsiders with Dave and Julie. Then we put in The Benchwarmers, which was okay. Julie and I fell asleep and Dave let himself out of the house, lol. I heard Julie go to her sometime in the night.
3. Sunday
I myself woke up to the sound of a sermon on TV. I guess the TV station that was on must have gone off air and the started with the sermon. It was early and I turned it off and went upstairs to my bed and slept some more. I came down again eventually and Julie was watching TV and working. I decided to join her, and Indiana Jones came on. I have not seen Indiana Jones, one of many movies people are supposed to see. Luckily, it was the first one. I watched, but halfway through the cable went crazy. So I switched to the Blue Lagoon, which was interesting. It also had some issues. All the while I was eating cake they had made yesterday. I think after that I watched Awakenings, then Mr. Holland's Opus, and Raising Helen, I might've watched more, but I forget. It was too much anyway. And...I forget what else I did that day.
4-6. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
All three days consisted of working on my carb paper, cleaning/organizing my room, studying a bit for biology. I went to Dave's twice to drop off my carb notes from the day he missed and to study for the carb test. One night my plan was to workout and then drop things off at his place. But, I brought my driver's license instead of my school card so I was denied. I went and got a banana split and a hot dog at Sheridan's instead, lol. Julie left Tuesday morning for Oregon, so I was alone a couple days, but too busy to notice too much, but I was a little sad to be alone.
5. Thursday
Today was the day of the biology exam. I helped pass out exams and scantrons then went over to the biology building to work on revising/uploading some grades. Eventually the test ended and they brought them back. I continued to work on grades while they graded essays. The profs ordered pizza again, which was nice. I bought a Fanta at the coke machine using my credit card for the first time. It even had the thing where you can tap with you card instead of sliding it, and it worked. Little weird, but handy. I helped grade a few essays, they were not so great, and the student had two to chose from. As before, there were some interesting responses which made it somewhat enjoyable. I didn't do most of the heavy lifting, so it wasn't too bad anyway. Overall, from start to finish, I worked about 7 hours that day on biology. Which is fine, since I typically don't do a whole lot.
6. Friday
I woke up early and finished up some stuff and took my carb exam. Parts I finished pretty quickly, but two questions (worth a lot of points) caught me a bit off guard and took some time, and I'm not comfortable with them. One might've been okay, but the other, I didn't really understand the question. I understood the points, but fitting them into a question I couldn't do, so I wasn't sure what I was being asked for. But I wrote down some things and hoped for the best. I guess we'll see. Then I went back to my office and worked on some little things, but I was done with classes for the year. What a relief. This past semester seemed extra rigorous, and I still didn't feel all that accomplished. I learned a lot, anyways. It was such a load off being done. Afterwards I drove to the biology TA bbq at one of the prof's house. It was great - he had huge bacon-wrapped scallops, big shrimp, bbq chicken, hamburgers, salmon, and chicken brats. All that plus a variety of goodies on the table already. We talked for awhile about all kinds of things, which was fun and insightful. I stayed awhile, missing a bbq that some of the geologists were having at Clinton Lake, but I caught up with them later at Justin/Wes/Rachel's place. It was nice to relax, and I retrieved my penguin glass finally from the holiday party. I went home and crashed.
7. Saturday
Woke up nice and late. I worked on cleaning an organizing some more. I wanted to get things pretty shipshape for moving to Oklahoma and to pack for Indiana. I went over to Lindsay's to get the things to watch over her place, then went to get a much needed oil change. Afterwards Lindsay, Dave, Josh and friend, and I went to the Mad Greek for dinner. I bought some saganaki for everyone and a Greek Combo for myself. There was one item in the combo I couldn't identify, but it was good and I think it had eggplant. We left and I forgot to pay for my orange soda, so poor Josh had to cover me. After that we went to Silas and Maddy's for the first time to get ice cream. I ordered something called Princess Raspberry that had raspberry and lemon sherbet and sugar cookie pieces. It was good. I bought Lindsay's ice cream, since it was her birthday, and was going to buy Josh's since he got my soda, but he went through the line before me and had already paid. After that, Josh and friend headed out and the rest of us went to the Eldridge for martinis. I called Ece and went to get her and on the way also picked up Amanda. I ordered a Hollywood martini, which was good. I also got a Shirley Temple, since I drove. I took some photos and shared some hugs, since it was the last time I'd see Amanda until August probably and the last time I'd see Lindsay until January probably. I can't believe that. I probably may not see Jesse until January, either.
8. Sunday
Dave and I agreed to drive home together, me to Indiana, he to Philadelphia. I had to stop by the department first, so he met me there. When I got out of my car these two old people asked me if I was going to Beauty Call. I said no, and then they asked if I knew where it was, to which I also said no. I asked them what building it was in and they said "that one", and I was just like, oh. They said they thought they were going in the right direction anyway. After I went in the building I realized what they said, they had said Budig Hall. I was wondering why there was some beauty contest on campus the day of commencement. It was funny, I left my office and I smelled Dave, and then I turned and he was right there and I screamed pretty badly. He had meant to try and scare me, and he did a decent job of it, though I thought it was funny I smelled him, lol. I told him about the Beauty Call, and he thought I said Booty Call. Budig Hall is apparently not a good name for a building. We got gas and then headed out of town. He lead for a bit using his GPS, and we got turned around a bit outside of KC, so I took the lead. Things went pretty well, though I was confused by my GPS about 10 minutes from home, because it wanted me to go a way I had never gone before. We stopped at an Arby's for lunch and I suggested we sit outside. It was really windy, and the moment we sat down the umbrella made some scary noises. At one point I was telling a story and it really sounded like it was going to break and I screamed. But my fear was legitamate, after Dave left to get gas the wind cracked the other table and the umbrella fell on the table. I laughed and left to make sure I wouldn't get killed by an umbrella. The weather was nice and the drive went well. I had offered my place for Dave to stay, since he usually stays over in Indiana. My parents took us to dinner at Olive Garden. I was sad to see the Ritter's near my place closed. I had been looking forward to it, since there isn't one in Kansas. Afterwards my mom wanted to watch one of her Rodgers and Hammerstein films, Dave didn't have an opinion, so I picked Carousel, since I hadn't seen it. It was okay, not my fave, but there were some funny parts.
9. Monday
Woke up way to early to go to my dentist appointment. It was at 8, so I got up at 6:30 - which is 5:30 Kansas time :( My mom had bought some pancake mix for breakfast, so I made that and then Dave and I headed out. Again, someone I won't see for awhile, him not until August. The dentist seemed mostly pleased, so that was good, and it was quick. After that I went to Barnes and Noble to use this store credit I had had for a long time. I bought way too many books, but I should be good for summer reading. Then I made the mistake of walking over to Marshall's where I bought more books, a lunchbag, pink sunglasses and a generic iTrip. It was cool, only $15 and it also charges the MP3 player, so you don't need any batteries for it and the player won't run out. After that I came home and attempted to read, but was sleeply, so I slept. When I woke up I went back to reading. It was The Outsiders, which I stole from Julie. Julie said it was good, so I wanted to read it, and then maybe watch the full movie sometime. Mom came home and we went to get Chinese food. We ate then looked at my Spain photos and watched my Chesapeake video. Finished reading the book before going to bed - it was good. Though, they seemed more emotional and affectionate than I expect they'd be in reality. It was written by a female, so I was skeptical, but maybe they had to be.
10. Tuesday
Woke up early yet again for a doctor's appt. this time. Got a shot and all kinds of other fun stuff. Then I went to JoAnn's to get a flowerpot. I also got some masking medium for watercolors. I've never used it before but have always wanted to. Maybe I will paint some this summer. Afterwards I went to Panera so I could use the wireless there. I got a bagel and some tea. The tea was crazy hot, and it took forever until it was cool enough to drink. I was there for a long time. Behind me were some ministers from a big church in the area. They were planning all kinds of things, and it was interesting to listen. After that I went to Best Buy to see if my faux iTrip was the device I wanted most and worth the money (I didn't know how much the cost) and decided I got a good deal and liked my product best. Then I went to Goodwill to look at furniture and for a dress. I found a pretty good dress and also a shirt I liked. I picked up some horehounds, too. It was strange, I was looking at the videos, and a worker walked up to me to put things on the shelf. She said hi and asked what my name was then introduced herself. Then she pulled Jack Frost from the shelf and said she really liked it, and her kids did, too, and wished she could buy it, but is in the shelter now and can't. I just kind of commented that I hadn't seen it, and she left to work on something else. As I went around the store, I thought, maybe I should buy it for her. But then, I thought, maybe I shouldn't - maybe she asks people to get her stuff all the time, and like a beggar, you don't want to perpetuate the situation. I also thought it would be kinda weird to give someone something at work. Like, what if Goodwill thought she stole it or something, for one things. But now that I think about it, she was working, it wasn't like she was some lazy person. Oh well, maybe I had the moment to be a good person and it went by. It was kind of awkward though when she told me that, she seemed a little weird, too. Anyways. Now I am here at home online, writing this and chatting. In a little bit I will eat dinner and then go see my "neighbor" Nicole's baby!
1. Friday
Friday was stop day, no classes. I worked a bit on things at home and I think I might've run some errands, I forget. That night we had the geology banquet. I brought with me Fatma, whom I had not yet met, but seemed nice. We were a bit late and missed hors d'oeuvres, but the dinner buffet was large and excellent. There was a big roast beef (prime rib?) at the end, for one. For dessert there was cheesecake, brownies and cookies. After dinner there were awards (my scholarship from last year was renewed) and then the roast. Bob made some pokes, and the first photo was of me sticking out my tongue and was compared to KISS. Yeah. I, however, was not tacky enough to win the tacky geologist award. At least not in that photo. That would go to Dave L. for a slight lack of clothing. Then Pete and Paul gave their presentation, which again, I was the first slide after the intro. Go me. There were a fair amount of photos of me, but I think other people could claim more embarrassment than I. Afterwards, many of us went to Louis' for a little after party. I bought Josh a mastodon beer for driving. I played pool a couple times, and I think maybe I won once and lost once. Jesse gave me a pretty remarkable scare when he grabbed my head from behind, lol. A few of us went to Jimmy John's after. We were a bit rowdy playing with ice and I developed the hiccups, which was great, since people like to scare me. However, I didn't lose them until I scared myself when I almost peed my pants laughing on the way home.
2. Saturday
I woke up bright and early to a phone call from Travis G. to go look at apartments. I found out later he wouldn't have woken up if his mom hadn't called and asked if he was going to go. Thank goodness someone was able to get up that morning. We drove down to OKC and our first stop was accidentally to the totally wrong side of town. But, I figured out the error we put in the GPS and we went to the correct place. We ended up doing some paperwork and signing on with a place. It was nice to have a place to call home for the summer. It is a pretty nice place, with a gated entrance and free cookies in the clubhouse. Our closets were huge and I will have this slightly huge bath, which will be nice. It's right next to a mall, which is slightly dangerous. I will have to make a solid financial plan to make sure I don't go crazy. After that we drove to Chesapeake and looked around. I had been before, but Travis had not. On the way there we saw a lake where there were "kite surfers". Travis and I may take up this hobby, we shall see. Then we drove to downtown, on the way we saw a place called Oo-wee Shoes (I think) which had a funny mural. Downtown looked nice and it looked like there was a lot to do. On the way home we stopped at Braum's, which I love. I got a cherry limeade freeze, which was tasty. It didn't rain until we got back to Kansas, but I guess there were tornadoes in the part of OK we drove through which killed some people. Also on the drive home, I saw an armadillo on the side of the road. It was sad, but first armadillo I have seen. It was on the southern border on Kansas. I came home and watched the end of The Outsiders with Dave and Julie. Then we put in The Benchwarmers, which was okay. Julie and I fell asleep and Dave let himself out of the house, lol. I heard Julie go to her sometime in the night.
3. Sunday
I myself woke up to the sound of a sermon on TV. I guess the TV station that was on must have gone off air and the started with the sermon. It was early and I turned it off and went upstairs to my bed and slept some more. I came down again eventually and Julie was watching TV and working. I decided to join her, and Indiana Jones came on. I have not seen Indiana Jones, one of many movies people are supposed to see. Luckily, it was the first one. I watched, but halfway through the cable went crazy. So I switched to the Blue Lagoon, which was interesting. It also had some issues. All the while I was eating cake they had made yesterday. I think after that I watched Awakenings, then Mr. Holland's Opus, and Raising Helen, I might've watched more, but I forget. It was too much anyway. And...I forget what else I did that day.
4-6. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
All three days consisted of working on my carb paper, cleaning/organizing my room, studying a bit for biology. I went to Dave's twice to drop off my carb notes from the day he missed and to study for the carb test. One night my plan was to workout and then drop things off at his place. But, I brought my driver's license instead of my school card so I was denied. I went and got a banana split and a hot dog at Sheridan's instead, lol. Julie left Tuesday morning for Oregon, so I was alone a couple days, but too busy to notice too much, but I was a little sad to be alone.
5. Thursday
Today was the day of the biology exam. I helped pass out exams and scantrons then went over to the biology building to work on revising/uploading some grades. Eventually the test ended and they brought them back. I continued to work on grades while they graded essays. The profs ordered pizza again, which was nice. I bought a Fanta at the coke machine using my credit card for the first time. It even had the thing where you can tap with you card instead of sliding it, and it worked. Little weird, but handy. I helped grade a few essays, they were not so great, and the student had two to chose from. As before, there were some interesting responses which made it somewhat enjoyable. I didn't do most of the heavy lifting, so it wasn't too bad anyway. Overall, from start to finish, I worked about 7 hours that day on biology. Which is fine, since I typically don't do a whole lot.
6. Friday
I woke up early and finished up some stuff and took my carb exam. Parts I finished pretty quickly, but two questions (worth a lot of points) caught me a bit off guard and took some time, and I'm not comfortable with them. One might've been okay, but the other, I didn't really understand the question. I understood the points, but fitting them into a question I couldn't do, so I wasn't sure what I was being asked for. But I wrote down some things and hoped for the best. I guess we'll see. Then I went back to my office and worked on some little things, but I was done with classes for the year. What a relief. This past semester seemed extra rigorous, and I still didn't feel all that accomplished. I learned a lot, anyways. It was such a load off being done. Afterwards I drove to the biology TA bbq at one of the prof's house. It was great - he had huge bacon-wrapped scallops, big shrimp, bbq chicken, hamburgers, salmon, and chicken brats. All that plus a variety of goodies on the table already. We talked for awhile about all kinds of things, which was fun and insightful. I stayed awhile, missing a bbq that some of the geologists were having at Clinton Lake, but I caught up with them later at Justin/Wes/Rachel's place. It was nice to relax, and I retrieved my penguin glass finally from the holiday party. I went home and crashed.
7. Saturday
Woke up nice and late. I worked on cleaning an organizing some more. I wanted to get things pretty shipshape for moving to Oklahoma and to pack for Indiana. I went over to Lindsay's to get the things to watch over her place, then went to get a much needed oil change. Afterwards Lindsay, Dave, Josh and friend, and I went to the Mad Greek for dinner. I bought some saganaki for everyone and a Greek Combo for myself. There was one item in the combo I couldn't identify, but it was good and I think it had eggplant. We left and I forgot to pay for my orange soda, so poor Josh had to cover me. After that we went to Silas and Maddy's for the first time to get ice cream. I ordered something called Princess Raspberry that had raspberry and lemon sherbet and sugar cookie pieces. It was good. I bought Lindsay's ice cream, since it was her birthday, and was going to buy Josh's since he got my soda, but he went through the line before me and had already paid. After that, Josh and friend headed out and the rest of us went to the Eldridge for martinis. I called Ece and went to get her and on the way also picked up Amanda. I ordered a Hollywood martini, which was good. I also got a Shirley Temple, since I drove. I took some photos and shared some hugs, since it was the last time I'd see Amanda until August probably and the last time I'd see Lindsay until January probably. I can't believe that. I probably may not see Jesse until January, either.
8. Sunday
Dave and I agreed to drive home together, me to Indiana, he to Philadelphia. I had to stop by the department first, so he met me there. When I got out of my car these two old people asked me if I was going to Beauty Call. I said no, and then they asked if I knew where it was, to which I also said no. I asked them what building it was in and they said "that one", and I was just like, oh. They said they thought they were going in the right direction anyway. After I went in the building I realized what they said, they had said Budig Hall. I was wondering why there was some beauty contest on campus the day of commencement. It was funny, I left my office and I smelled Dave, and then I turned and he was right there and I screamed pretty badly. He had meant to try and scare me, and he did a decent job of it, though I thought it was funny I smelled him, lol. I told him about the Beauty Call, and he thought I said Booty Call. Budig Hall is apparently not a good name for a building. We got gas and then headed out of town. He lead for a bit using his GPS, and we got turned around a bit outside of KC, so I took the lead. Things went pretty well, though I was confused by my GPS about 10 minutes from home, because it wanted me to go a way I had never gone before. We stopped at an Arby's for lunch and I suggested we sit outside. It was really windy, and the moment we sat down the umbrella made some scary noises. At one point I was telling a story and it really sounded like it was going to break and I screamed. But my fear was legitamate, after Dave left to get gas the wind cracked the other table and the umbrella fell on the table. I laughed and left to make sure I wouldn't get killed by an umbrella. The weather was nice and the drive went well. I had offered my place for Dave to stay, since he usually stays over in Indiana. My parents took us to dinner at Olive Garden. I was sad to see the Ritter's near my place closed. I had been looking forward to it, since there isn't one in Kansas. Afterwards my mom wanted to watch one of her Rodgers and Hammerstein films, Dave didn't have an opinion, so I picked Carousel, since I hadn't seen it. It was okay, not my fave, but there were some funny parts.
9. Monday
Woke up way to early to go to my dentist appointment. It was at 8, so I got up at 6:30 - which is 5:30 Kansas time :( My mom had bought some pancake mix for breakfast, so I made that and then Dave and I headed out. Again, someone I won't see for awhile, him not until August. The dentist seemed mostly pleased, so that was good, and it was quick. After that I went to Barnes and Noble to use this store credit I had had for a long time. I bought way too many books, but I should be good for summer reading. Then I made the mistake of walking over to Marshall's where I bought more books, a lunchbag, pink sunglasses and a generic iTrip. It was cool, only $15 and it also charges the MP3 player, so you don't need any batteries for it and the player won't run out. After that I came home and attempted to read, but was sleeply, so I slept. When I woke up I went back to reading. It was The Outsiders, which I stole from Julie. Julie said it was good, so I wanted to read it, and then maybe watch the full movie sometime. Mom came home and we went to get Chinese food. We ate then looked at my Spain photos and watched my Chesapeake video. Finished reading the book before going to bed - it was good. Though, they seemed more emotional and affectionate than I expect they'd be in reality. It was written by a female, so I was skeptical, but maybe they had to be.
10. Tuesday
Woke up early yet again for a doctor's appt. this time. Got a shot and all kinds of other fun stuff. Then I went to JoAnn's to get a flowerpot. I also got some masking medium for watercolors. I've never used it before but have always wanted to. Maybe I will paint some this summer. Afterwards I went to Panera so I could use the wireless there. I got a bagel and some tea. The tea was crazy hot, and it took forever until it was cool enough to drink. I was there for a long time. Behind me were some ministers from a big church in the area. They were planning all kinds of things, and it was interesting to listen. After that I went to Best Buy to see if my faux iTrip was the device I wanted most and worth the money (I didn't know how much the cost) and decided I got a good deal and liked my product best. Then I went to Goodwill to look at furniture and for a dress. I found a pretty good dress and also a shirt I liked. I picked up some horehounds, too. It was strange, I was looking at the videos, and a worker walked up to me to put things on the shelf. She said hi and asked what my name was then introduced herself. Then she pulled Jack Frost from the shelf and said she really liked it, and her kids did, too, and wished she could buy it, but is in the shelter now and can't. I just kind of commented that I hadn't seen it, and she left to work on something else. As I went around the store, I thought, maybe I should buy it for her. But then, I thought, maybe I shouldn't - maybe she asks people to get her stuff all the time, and like a beggar, you don't want to perpetuate the situation. I also thought it would be kinda weird to give someone something at work. Like, what if Goodwill thought she stole it or something, for one things. But now that I think about it, she was working, it wasn't like she was some lazy person. Oh well, maybe I had the moment to be a good person and it went by. It was kind of awkward though when she told me that, she seemed a little weird, too. Anyways. Now I am here at home online, writing this and chatting. In a little bit I will eat dinner and then go see my "neighbor" Nicole's baby!