Planet Earth

Planet Earth is brilliant. I've always thought so, but having recently acquired the BBC version on DVD I just felt the need to reiterate that point.

Again, I haven't updated in awhile, which sadly means that there will not be 54 posts this year as there have been for the other two years I've been writing in this blog. This year there will be a paltry 41 or 42 if I actually manage to post again before Saturday (unlikely).

Baby polar bears are adorable. There may be a few interjections like that throughout this post, but I just can't help it. Adorable!

So on the 15th my first Genetics lesson was due. 3 chapters to read, questions from each to answer, and a quiz to take. I started off well, reading the first full chapter and answering the questions, but then I started running out of time. Only read half the second chapter and only enough of the third to answer the questions. Sigh, already a bad procrastinating student. To make matters worse, my second lesson is due in a week but I haven't even begun reading the two chapters for it. I blame the holidays.

Speaking of which (ducklings!) I had my first Christmas the weekend following. Went down to Waterloo, IA to have my mom's side Christmas. Two of my three male cousins on that side brought girls - one a girlfriend of 4 years, the other a new fiancée. It was fun, we hung out on Friday night (played Apples to Apples and I lost horribly), had church and presents on Saturday as well as more extended family showing up for awhile, and ate food and drove home on Sunday. I got a car emergency kit, a winter hat thing, an Amazon gift card, and a check.

OOO Great Whites leaping to catch seals! <3>

The following week I worked, and on Thursday the 23rd Katie and I did behavior and then headed out. I drove down to Rochester and spent the weekend with the family + Megan's bf Kory. Went to see Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader and How Do You Know - first one was fun, second was long.

Turn around elephant, you're going the wrong way! That part always makes me sad...

Anyway, on Christmas Eve we all went to church at 4:30 and actually had to watch it on a big screen in the school because the church was full. Afterwards we headed out for Christmas Eve dinner at Olive Garden. It was delicious! We mostly filled up on salad and breadsticks, leaving plenty of our main dish for leftovers. We headed home and changed up tradition by opening presents. One of my gifts was the set of Planet Earth DVDs. I also got a heated mattress pad (which is warming my bed right now), U of MN sweatpants, and a crock pot!

Elephants playing in water - so cute!

Afterwards we watched White Christmas and headed to bed. Mom had to work Christmas Day, which explains the departure from tradition. It made for a strange Christmas - sleeping in, just hanging out, lounging in pj's all day (the last two aren't new but the first certainly is). Megan and Kory went back to Eau Claire to spend Christmas with his family. When mom got home she made the rest of us go on a family walk. We took Belle as well (in the Santa suit) and played fetch with her during the entire walk. The wind was freezing cold and it wasn't that much fun but it did force us to get dressed. We all enjoyed our leftovers for our Christmas meal. That night I gave mom her birthday present (plastic spoons) and anticipated leaving before she got home from work the next day (yes she had to work on her birthday as well). On Sunday I ended up staying and went to Noodles for lunch with Hannah, who got a job down in Iowa starting the Monday after New Years. Exciting for her! Then went home and waited for a few minutes for my mom to get home so I could say Happy Birthday again and then headed home.

But does the excitement end there? Of course not!

I went over to Nathan's house and got to meet his two brothers, Kevin and Brian, and proceeded to play drinking games with them and get smashingly drunk. Shots of tequila and some mixed UV Blue/Mountain Dew drink made for a very very interesting/intoxicated night. First time I've ever thrown up from drinking, and that made me feel great actually - the throwing up excess liquor part at least. I know I know I probably shouldn't be posting about this, especially considering my mother reads this and all, but this kind of stuff happens so rarely for me it's kind of an event that must be shared.

Managed to get to work on time on Monday, worked, and then went back to Nathan's to hang out and then go out to eat with him, his brothers, and his parents at Applebee's. It was the complete contrast to the night before. Whereas I had tons of fun with his brothers and felt really comfortable around them, I felt the complete opposite with his parents. They did not ask me a single question all night and the comments I made trying to insert myself into conversations or start up new ones went ignored/unanswered. I felt extremely awkward, uncomfortable, and unliked the entire time. Sigh. So that was a bust. Hung out again at Nathan's on Tuesday night and tonight he came over here. Been watching PE (obviously) and just now had a nice chat with Jordan about his plans for life etc. I should get to bed but I'll add my plans for the next few days and hope I eventually post about them.

Tomorrow I'm going to work in the morning and then head down to Rochester to hang out with Jackie before she flies back to California. I'll probably stay the night there and then head back up here to spend New Years Eve with Nathan.

My New Years Eves for the past couple years have been marked with events. 2008-2009 was the day that Jasmine died, one of the most heartwrenching nights of my life. 2009-2010 was the first night I ever got drunk, thanks to Tom's margaritas, playing Mario Kart and WoW and having a grand old time, to distract myself from the tragedy of the year before.

Deer with tusks! Seriously - image search "musk deer." It looks like a sabre-toothed deer!

This year I expect to be doing a bit of the same. Different company of course, but same basic idea.

I certainly hope 2011 goes better than 2010 did.

By the way, in case any of you felt a bit of deja vu reading the title of this post, it's because this is my second post by this title. I didn't realize until now, but check out the original: http://welcometothemaelstrom.blogspot.com/2009/01/planet-earth.html