Now remember, there's a big difference between leaning down and bending over
You know how when something horrible in life happens you wish life would just stop for a bit so that you can cope with the terrible thing before going on to other things? Yeah, well, life never actually stops for anything, as I have found out so often this summer.
The last time I posted on this journal was May 15 of this year, and I intentionally left it like that as a reminder for me. See, that's the day my dad committed suicide. The day of my life where I just wished that life would stop for a bit so that I wouldn't have to deal with anything. I found out about my dad on the 16th, and I wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and never wake up again; never wanted to have to deal with funeral details; never wonder where in the hell we would get $12,000 to cover a funeral. I'm not going into any details of my dad's death or anything like that because it's way too personal, but I wanted to talk about this at least.
So, life went on and I attempted to study for my CLA exam that I would take in two short months. I couldn't concentrate on studying at all because of dad. With suicide, it leaves so many unanswered questions, and whenever I sat down to study, I thought about those questions instead of what I needed to study. I finally gave up on studying (or even taking the exam until December), until, a month before the exam, my best friend emailed me and asked if we could share a hotel room. I hadn't seem her since graduation (May 9th), so I desperately wanted to see her again. I said yes, and began to cram for my exam. It was hell. I had so many nervous breakdowns this summer because of the stupid exam, that I just wanted to curl up and die. Everything sucked, and everyday I still thought about dad and it made my breakdowns all that much harder. Also, it didn't help that I was working fifty-five hours a week and barely had time to study. I also skipped study time to play MapleStory at night until early morning because I didn't want to lose my friends there like I have on Pirates. I stopped going to Pirates when dad died just because I didn't want to tell anyone right then, so I know we probably aren't even friends anymore. I miss Ash, Janky, and Arby so much though. =(
The month passed by so slowly yet so quickly, and before I knew it, I was heading to Jackson to take my exam. I got a little lost, and my best friend had to come rescue me because she gave me the wrong directions in the first place. XD I was amazed when we got to the hotel! We stayed in the Homewood Suites and we had two plasma screen television (one in the common room/kitchen and one in the bedroom). Dinner the first night (Thursday) was at Krystal. I don't like Krystal too much, but Drea wanted to eat there, so I went along with her. After Krystal's we went to Target and Hobby Lobby before heading back to the hotel.
Friday, we got up early, ate breakfast at the hotel, and made our way to Holmes Comm. College for our first day of testing. It turns out that we were actually the only two people taking the exam in Jackson, so the day was very laid back. The first section was Communications (grammar, punctuation, summarizing, etc.) and I finished in twenty-nine minutes. O.O I was so happy because it was actually easy.
There was a break after this exam (since the exam was supposed to last a lot longer), so we went the the Fresh Market while waiting for Biaggi's to open for lunch. I fell in love with the Fresh Market. It is so wonderful! I picked up a bag of salt water taffy (watermelon, pear, and strawberry/banana flavored) and then we headed off to lunch. Biaggi's was so wonderful! We studied while we ate, and since they had just opened for the day, everything went so quickly that we had more study time. We both ordered the shrimp and crab cannelloni in lobster sauce. I wasn't too impressed that it was spinach cannelloni or that it had spinach in it, but it was the best thing I had ever eaten!
We spent the rest of the break at Barnes & Noble where I picked up a David Sedaris book. The book was hilarious!
The next portion of the exam was Judgment and Analytical Ability. Again, this was a very easy exam. I was spazzing over the fact that we had to write a legal memo, but it turned out to be surprisingly easy. I had written one before, and I remembered how to do it without any trouble. So we finished our exam about an hour early and decided to hand out at the Northpark Mall before heading to dinner. We only managed to cover the top floor though. That place is huge. O.o Oh, and I got a bear made for my nephew at Build-a-Bear! He's dressed in a Saints outfit, and his name is Archie. He's so cute, but so expensive.
Dinner that night was at Logan's. I wanted to eat at Sante Fe, but they had Logan's instead. It's practically the same, so I guess it didn't really matter. I ended up eating a steak instead of seafood only because my iron has been so low and I needed a bit of a boost. We went back to the hotel after dinner and Drea went to bed early, but I stayed up a bit to read some of my book.
Saturday, we ate breakfast at the hotel again before heading out for out second, and final, day of testing. The first section was Ethics and wasn't too hard. Most of it was common sense. We started the next section as soon as we finished and it was Legal Research this time. I know I flubbed a bit on this one, but I'm still sure I passed. Legal Research was my worst skill at school. I only made 86% on the competency exam after all, which is a low score for me. After that part, we took a break and went to Pepper's for lunch. I would have much rather gone to McAlister's, but there wasn't one in our exit. We made another quick stop at the Fresh Market where we both picked up some brownies bites before heading back to Barnes & Noble. Here, I bought a Beginner's Guide to Japanese. It's only for the romaji and a very little bit of kanji. I discovered that I need the second part for the kanji, but it still seems like a decent book. I also bought a book by Kirino Natsuo. It was a bit weird but still good.
Substantive Law was the final part of the exam, and I was very worried because this is the section that I had been stressing over all summer long. I'm not too sure on whether or not I passed this section, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. My sections were General Law, Criminal Law, Real Estate Law, Civil Litigation, and Family Law. As long as you made 70% on all five sections, you passed. Hopefully, I made at least that. I guess I'll find out in September.
We headed to the mall after the exams (we finished almost two hours early that day) and shopped on the bottom floor. I managed to get a couple of shirts for work, so I was happy enough.
Then we headed over to Red Loster for dinner, and it was so wonderful! I had the crab legs and shrimp alfredo. I was in heaven because I love Red Lobster so much, but only get to go maybe once every five or so years. I'm twenty-two, and I've eaten there four times in my life...
After dinner, we headed back to the mall to see the newest Harry Potter film. This was the first movie theater I had been to where they used the actual police as security guards. O.o I didn't know whether or not I should worry for my life... There are so many movies I want to see now. That 9 movie, with the end of the world and the stuffed dolls is on my list to see, as well as the 2012 movie. The Sherlock Holmes movie is a must as well!
I was glad that Drea had seen HP before, so I was able to critic the whole thing and not have to worry about her getting mad (we were the only ones in the theater, so we could talk all we want). I have mixed feelings on the movie...the acting is better, and Alan Rickman is still awesome, as well as Tom Felton, but I'm not too sure about the movie. They left out way too much...and I can't see Harry not charging upstairs to save Dumbledore. That's why Dumbledore put him under a spell in the book. I'll need to see it again before I actually cast judgment on it.
After that, it was late so we headed back to the hotel and went straight to bed. Well, Drea did at least. I stayed up and read some more.
We left on Sunday, and I stopped at the Fresh Market to pick up some Heath Bar Crunch cookies and more taffy before heading home. I enjoyed the weekend immensely (minus the time taking the exam), and I was very sad when I got home. I hate my hometown, and I did not want to come back at all.
So now that the exam is over and done with, my stress levels have taken a dramatic dive, but I'll still worry a bit until I actually see my scores. Now, I just have to worry about getting a job. That search is not going well at all. My summer job has ended, and now I'm only working on the side for fifteen hours a week until I can find something else. I hope I find something soon!
Oh, on a happier note, here is a hilarious video that I wanted to share:
Click to view