Karma

So I should probably pick up where I left off, but I don't really remember much of what happened that weekend. I know I headed out of the reception early to go let Belle out, but that's about it.

On Wednesday it was Veterans Day, which meant the majority of the VA was empty. We decided to work because 1. we had/have experiments running and 2. now we can take the day after Thanksgiving off. Okay now I need to add some background here: not sure how much I actually talked about orientation when it happened but Amanda and I sort of bonded with this guy named Tom during orientation - we were about the same age and just hung out there. Afterwards Tom and I talked, texted, exchanged books, etc. So after work on Wednesday Tom came over and we watched a few episodes of Firefly before heading over to the Riverview Theater to see District 9 (awesome movie). And yes, it was a date, don't die of shock!

On Thursday Sara came up after work and her, Tom, and I went to eat dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, then went to see The Men Who Stare at Goats (funny, and weird). Sara tried to convince us to go to a club but since Tom and I had to work we nixed that idea.

Then on Friday Sara spent the day touring at the U with Amber (from Megan's grade) while I was at work. Afterwards, Tom came over again and he and Sara made pancakes and ramen. Spent awhile just hanging out and watching Sara pick out what clothes to wear and then headed over to the VA to catch the train downtown (we had promised Sara we'd take her to a club on Friday). So we wandered around downtown searching for any 18+ club and finally found one called Karma. Paid the cover, went in, finally convinced Sara to ask a guy to dance, and then watched/supervised. Not really my cup of tea, but I'm sure Sara had fun. The club was full of Asians (random) and really loud music. The guy Sara danced with was decent, although he did force Tom and I to join them on the dance floor. That was embarassing... Eventually we headed back home, and met an interesting drunk/stoned character on the train. He was harmless but fairly entertaining.

Saturday morning Sara left before I even woke up (luckily she left me a note - I was out!). **Mice are done running so I'll continue this saga later... hopefully... **

See sometimes I do actually come back to things! So where was I... ah yes. Saturday was pretty low key from what I recall. Went to the Cardinal Bar to hang out with Tom and a bunch of his friends (was a birthday party of sorts - complete with drinking and karaoke).

Don't really remember what happened on Sunday - was even more boring than Saturday probably.

Monday I worked, and Pat (boss) was back from AZ to make our lives a bit more difficult. On Wednesday we were halfway through dissections when he told us to stop and start a whole new behavioral testing method on them that we had never done before, never even done any background research on, and didn't have the equipment for. And we still had to finish the dissections afterwards. Needless to say, I got out late that day. And it sucked because Tom invited me up to his place because his roommate was making dinner (it was good too). Yesterday (Thursday) Pat ticked us all off. He basically told us to report to one of the people in the lab who doesn't really like to train us properly until it's absolutely necessary, works a weird schedule that no one else is sure about, and is fairly antisocial. And then he claimed Alaina (the only one who was actually helping train us and teaching Amanda and I the ropes) hasn't been working hard enough. WTF. Sigh. Frustration.

Today was pretty nice, but a bit boring. It was just me, Alaina, and Joe in the lab - Amanda was closing on her house today and Katie is on her way to Costa Rica. So a nice laid back day - I researched some dentists and doctors that are in my health insurance network. Will have to do that soon... it's weird being a grown-up. Later tonight Tom and I are going to Jordan's brother's band's show. That wasn't confusing at all. Oh well. For now I'm just chilling out waiting for Jordan to call.

Chex Mix

Not much happened over the week, but some things did happen this weekend! And considering I just updated less than a week ago, I'm pretty impressed that I'm here already.

So on Friday at work we decided to go out for lunch. Mostly it was because we hadn't yet since Amanda and I started and we won't be able to for awhile now that our projects are getting underway. So we went to Matt's DinerI got out of work early and furiously cleaned and finished packing and managed to finish just as my mom got here. Then I drove home and got to see my puppy (and family) again. Megan also came home for the weekend, and brought her boyfriend Kory, so it was a full house. Was kind of depressing going into my room again, all empty and boring. Anyway, so got home and just dad was there (and Belle) so we hung out for awhile and then headed out to Mr. Pizza, where Sara, Megan, and Kory met up with us for some delicious food. Afterwards we headed home and played Apples to Apples (dad won by a landslide) and Clue (dad and I won). Then Kory, Megan, Sara, and I watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (actually Sara and I fell asleep halfway through, but we attempted to watch it).

On Saturday I slept in, then got up. Good story eh? Dad and Kory went golfing and mom, Megan, and I worked on sewing projects (sort of). While mom was helping Megan, I took Belle to the dog park where she surprised me by wanting to play fetch for the majority of the time instead of playing with the other dogs. There were these two little boys who asked me if they could play fetch with her and I happily agreed. Eventually we headed home and she was exhausted. Then, mom and I went to JoAnn's to get some polar fleece. I'm going to use that on the back of my tshirt quilt so I don't have to have 2 layers (the middle layer and the back). So instead I'm just going to use the polar fleece. We picked out this sort of dark blue, purplely, starburst kind of patterned fleece. I think it's pretty, and it goes well with the tshirts. Mom will probably just finish it for me though, which is kind of lame for me but seeing as I don't have a sewing machine, it kind of makes sense. Anyway. Eventually I got ready for the wedding reception of my old babysitter. She was our neighbor at our old house (where I lived before I was 5) and used to babysit me and my sisters. She has been with this guy for awhile, they've built a house together and had 3 kids and went and got married a couple weeks ago in Puerto Rico. So all 6 of us headed to the dinner and then Sara headed out early. She's the Century High School Volleyball team manager, and they were playing in sectionals on Saturday night to go to State. After we finished eating the 5 of us went down to the civic center to watch the game. They lost the first, won the next two, and lost the last two. It was intense, and I pretty much lost my voice cheering. Afterwards we went back to the reception. I got nailed in the head with the bouquet, took some pictures, ate some cake, and**** here is where I saved the draft, intending to finish it later, and never came back to it. So I'll just post it as is and update again later - it's late!

Pirate!

Hey look it's only been 2 weeks since I last posted! I fail...

So the weekend after my last post my mom came up and dropped Belle off with me while she went to the MoA. It was so fun, I walked Belle over to the Minnehaha Falls offleash dog park. It was amazing! So huge and wooded. And tons of dogs there, plus the back side runs right along the river so she got to go swimming and everything. It was a lot of fun, even though we had to walk there and back. Apparently it wore her out though because she slept the whole way home. So that was fun, unfortunately I left my camera at home so didn't get any pictures of her running around. Then on Sunday Sybylla and I went and got pumpkins, cleaned them out, and carved them. She did a creepy flamey face and I did a bat. They were pretty cool. When I got home Jordan and his girlfriend were carving pumpkins as well!

Then last weekend was Halloween. On Friday night Hannah and I went to a sweet church to watch an SPCO (Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra) concert titled "Frankenstein!!!" It was crazy! They were playing kazoos and reciting bizarre poetry and it was awesome. Then on Saturday I got my pirate costume on and got in the Halloween mood. I lit the pumpkins, turned on the outdoor light, and then the trick-or-treaters started coming. I only had a small bag of candy, because I was planning to go with Hannah to her friend's house to help with the candy-handing-out. So I ran out pretty quick and then turned off the outdoor light but the trick-or-treaters just kept coming! They were persistent, so I had to close the blinds and hide from them. Eventually Hannah came and we went to her friend's house where we watched Adventureland (hilarious and weird) and High School Musical (I know). Then we drove over to McMahon's Irish pub (on Lake Street) and saw Tom who was DJing (guy from work) and had some drinks. Diet Cokes to be precise. We were having fun talking and listening to the good music when this old guy with a handlebar mustache started leaning too close to Hannah and insisting we try the UV Blue that the bar was giving out free samples of. When he talked to the bartender to get her to give us some we said no and she didn't listen! Just poured 2 for us. Well I drank mine but right after that we left and went home. Was a pretty fun Halloween overall - and then Daylight Savings hit and we got an extra hour of sleep! Woohoo!

As far as work has been, it's been really slow. I'm kind of getting upset with it because we don't really have much to do and so we sit around and waste time for a lot of the day. Also, as late as I leave (sometimes 7:55am or later) I'm still always the first one there and no one seems to care if they get there on time or not. Which I sort of understand since we're not doing anything but I feel like I have to at least get there as on time as possible. And then we've also been getting out early which is nice but weird.

Then today we got a new batch of mice that we'll be starting a new project on. Unfortunately this strain of mice is EVIL. So evil that today when we were weighing them 3 separate mice bit me. None were provoked, but luckily they also didn't break the glove/skin barrier. Just left some bruises, and the fear of handling them again. Later tonight Hannah and I went to the Riverview theater to watch District 9. I had forgotten how totally awesome that movie is! That movie is totally awesome! If you haven't seen it, you need to.

And on that note, I'm going to bed. Goodnight!

What season is this?

So, it's been about a month and I have no excuse. It's not like I've been really busy with life or work or anything, I have had plenty of time to update here but just haven't felt like it.

So, list of big news to cover:

1. Job

2. Twins

3. Hannah

4. Sybylla

5. Books

6. Computer

7. Snow

So there are a lot of things I could talk about under each heading but I'll try to keep it short and sweet.

1. Job

So a lot has been going on with the job. Amanda and I are the two new people, Alaina has been there since last February, Katie has been there a few years, and Joe has been there for like 15 years. So the first project was testing different drugs on their ability to relieve pain. We used rats and fractures (to create the bone pain). Katie did the dosing, then Katie and Alaina would watch them for flinching behavior for a couple minutes, Alaina put them in the incapacitance chamber (measures how much weight they put on each leg), and then it was handed to myself or Amanda. We would paint their back feet with Crayola fingerpaint and put them in a cardboard box with a piece of paper at the bottom and have them run across the paper. After the paper dried we measured the length of each foot's stride, and then the widths of the strides. Basically it turned out no useful data but it was a learning experience for everyone. After we did the paint we would anesthetize the rats with isofluorane gas and xray them. Then we went back upstairs and analyzed and graphed all the data we had just collected in SigmaPlot!

Then on the third week we got Monday off for Columbus Day, and then Amanda and I had orientation training on Wed-Fri. A lot of boring lectures and videos but we did make friends with someone in Biomed (in charge of all the equipment), Tom. They had really good muffins on the first day of orientation. We also got paid on Friday, which was awesome!

This week has been really slow. Amanda and I are little more than useless without Alaina or Katie, and Alaina was in Nebraska on Monday and Tuesday and Katie was ill or at school for most of the week. The one thing we did work on was learning about a new project that Amanda will basically be doing involving pain and cognition. So we had been weighing and playing with a bunch of new mice, getting them used to us and learning what their normal mass is just to find out today that those mice were getting switched to a cancer project (that apparently I and Katie will mostly be working on) and we were getting new mice for the cognition one on Tuesday. So basically everything we did manage to do this week was for nothing lol. Other than figuring out how to use the activity boxes that test the mice intelligence (they have to push levers when lights come on to get a treat). I also managed to get a pedestrian key for the gate that I had been walking past every morning, that was really exciting and basically cut my already short commute in half.

2. Twins

So the Twins starting coming back in the league near the end of the season and I was lucky enough to have a good friend (Hannah) who's mother got the swine flu. Sounds horrible, but because her mom got sick they had a spare ticket to the second game against the KC Royals, on October 3 in the Metrodome. The crowd was huge and our seats were in the second to last row right behind home plate. It was a great game, boring at first but got very interesting around the fifth inning. And we pulled off a win! They then went on to tie with the Detroit Tigers, play a tiebreaker game in the Metrodome, and win the League! And then of course the stupid Yankees kicked our ass, but it was still a good regular season!

3. Hannah

So speaking of Hannah, it's been pretty awesome. We basically fell almost completely out of touch near the end of college, but reconnected a few times over the summer and now have done quite a few things together. Watching movies, going out to movies, the Twins game of course, and we're going to go see an orchestra concert sometime in the near future. She lives up here in Minneapolis as well - probably should have mentioned that. She's living in a 2BR apartment with her friend from college. They may be getting a cat soon.

4. Sybylla

And of course with me now living about 3 miles away I've also been seeing Sybylla. Not quite as much as I thought I would, but we have gone to see a movie, gone out to lunch, etc. I went to a fun restaurant called the Chatterbox Pub with her and her mom on her birthday. We played Apples to Apples (they provide games to play) and I lost. I also watched her cat Daisy for a week while her and her mom went to Kansas for a funeral. Daisy is so small and skinny I tried to trick her into eating more food. Shirley (Sybylla's mom) cooked chicken for me to give Daisy and I mixed in some dry cat food and nuked it all together. I also got to use their car while they were gone, which was awesome. I had forgotten how convenient it is having a car. We also went out to Sarah's birthday dinner at a Greek restaurant this past Saturday. The food was surprisingly good, I really need to expand my food choices. Sarah decided to have a hobbit birthday, which means she gave all of us presents that she got in Europe this past summer. I got a cute little Italian leather coin purse with a print of a painting of Florence on it. It's very soft and nice. Vicki was there as well, and it was nice seeing her considering I hadn't since my birthday.

5. Books

So this past weekend Half-Priced Books was having a huge sale at the Grandstand at the Fairgrounds. I finally mustered up the courage to get there via public transportation on Sunday later in the afternoon. And was so glad I did! I got there near the end of the sale which meant the prices just kept dropping. I ended up with 10 CDs, 4 videos, and 6 books all for a total of $3.21. It was amazing. Then this week at work they were having some sort of fundraising sale and I got 3 more books for $1. I should be set on the book front for awhile now.

6. Computer

So last Thursday I finally ordered myself a new computer. A Dell Studio Desktop to be precise. I've been talking about it for ages but my Mayo check came through and Dell was having a big online sale so I finally just went and ordered one. It arrived this Thursday (ie yesterday) and my wonderful neighbors were kind enough to sign it and put it in the house. I spent yesterday after work setting it up and installing some programs and loving its speed and gigantic HD screen. The only problem is that the speakers I ordered with it (external) worked for about 30 seconds and then stopped. Meaning I couldn't sit back and enjoy a nice movie unless I wanted to wear headphones, but I talked to someone today and Dell should be sending me a new set soon. It also has Vista, which I will be getting rid of as soon as I can get the free Windows 7 upgrade.

7. Snow

So for some reason this October has been ridiculous. Actually June through now the weather has been ridiculous. The summer was cold and dry, September was sunny and gorgeous, and October has been cold and wet and occasionally snowy. It snowed two weeks ago and then again today it was coming down for a few hours in beautiful big fluffy flakes. The kind of snow you want to see in December. It was just starting to stick to the ground when the snow turned back into rain and melted it all away.

As far as I'm concerned, I've been doing well, enjoying the freedom of living in the cities, cursing the lack of a vehicle, but overall excited about life. I've started perusing through grad school ideas, since our overall lab supervisor is a big pusher for further education, and just wondering where life will take me. How cheesy. On the other hand I may also be getting sick. Was extremely tired today (and no I didn't stay up that late playing with my new computer last night). I got home early, started working on this post, and then went to take what I thought was going to be a 30 minute nap. It ended up lasting almost 2 1/2 hours. I've also set this screen saver to go through My Pictures and can literally just sit and watch the pictures pass for hours. Ah memories. Also while typing this up I've taken a shower and started cleaning the bathroom. The toilet and sink are now clean and shiny, but the floor and the shower still need to be done. My room is also a sty, and I should be working on it now. My mom is coming up (I think tomorrow?) and so I really should clean things up before she gets here.

So I'm going to go do that. I hope. Or I'll find another way to procrastinate.

Hello real world!

So I realize it's been awhile, and a lot has happened, I'm just getting lazier in my old age (22).

Big events: Mayo, Spay, Book, Move, Job.

Went in to Mayo to finish my study. Spent a lot of boring time sitting around and napping, but hopefully that means I'll be getting a nice fat paycheck any day now. Of course they'll send it to Rochester but I'll get it eventually. Still haven't decided what to do with the money, but a desktop is sounding better and better.

So Belle got spayed on Wednesday. Same day as the Mayo study. I felt so bad for her. We (mom and I) went to pick her up after the Mayo study and she was all loopy/dopey. It was kind of funny because her eyes were half-closed and she'd just stand there and then start leaning. On Thursday it was a bit difficult with her because she was all excited and stir crazy but we couldn't really let her run around too much in case her stitches came out.

On Thursday I also finally called the library to ask what to do about the book I lost. And it turns out someone had returned it! Woohoo! I don't even know if I ever talked about it here but yea.

On Friday night Gramma Karen came up. The rest of the family and her went to the homecoming parade and football game while I furiously packed.

As far as my quilt goes, it's nearly complete (the front side at least) but the sewing machine kept messing up and so I had to stop.

Back to the main events, on Saturday we got up and mom, dad, gramma, and I drove up to Minneapolis to move me into my new place. Megan drove over from Eau Claire and met us there right after we had finished loading everything in. My room looks amazing, the house is great, and my roommate is incredibly nice and laid back. We went to McDonald's to eat and then everyone but Megan left. Megan helped me unpack the stuff into my room and then we went to Target for some stuff I needed. Eventually Megan left and I spent the rest of the night finishing organizing.

On Sunday I spent the day riding around the neighborhood clocking how long it takes me to get to the closest grocery store and to the VA. Then Sybylla and her mom took me out to lunch at Noodles and then over to Target to get some milk. Went back home and worked on the paperwork the VA sent me. Eventually took a shower and went to bed watching Firefly.

Finally, today (Monday) I got up at 6:40am (way too early), got ready for work, sat around nervously waiting, and finally left at 7:30am. Got there extremely early and waited. Eventually the room filled up (interns, cafeteria workers, doctors, it was full of new employees from all over the VA) and for the first 2 hours all we did was the paperwork I'd gone over the day before. So I went downstairs and wandered around. Eventually we watched some dress code video and had an hour break for lunch. I didn't pack one so I rode my bike home and had a sandwich, which was nice. Went back to the VA and learned all about the benefits offered. It was intense, and a bit overwhelming. Finished with the orientation stuff around 3pm and then was taken (finally) to the lab. I got assigned a desk space and then spent the rest of the time going over more computer orientation stuff. I did meet the other new lab tech (Amanda) and another one who works at the lab who graduated from St. Olaf in '08 (Alana or Elena or something like that). Got home, hung out for a bit, and then rode my bike over to Oxendale's to get some taco cheese. Rode back home and cooked tacos, mmmm. Now just watching some Family Guy until I shower and get to bed.

I'm crafty!

So I spent a lot of yesterday and a good part of today finally doing something I'd been wanting to do since I was, like, 9 years old. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have finally started actually making a quilt out of old t shirts! I spent all the time picking out the shirts, ironing them, cutting them into squares, and arranging them in a semi random, semi patterned arrangement. I've got everything from Girl Scout camp to Australia in a variety of colors - and it really emptied out my dresser. This project came about when I was attempting to clean up my room in order to make packing a lot easier. Basically I emptied my dresser onto the floor, saw all the t shirts, and was inspired! Which means that now there are cut up pieces of t shirt all over the basement floor and the rest of my clothes are still covering the floor in my room. So much for cleaning.

In other news, I finally started the Mayo poop study I signed up for back in June. Basically they fed me some radioactive eggs on Wednesday morning and took pictures of them moving through my system all day Wednesday and in the early morning Thursday and today (Friday). Now I have to take a couple of pills for a couple weeks and then do it all over again. But hey - they're paying me for it! I haven't decided what to do with the money yet. I could be a smart, responsible person and save it for a rainy day or to help start paying off those loans. Or I could use it to buy myself a new, much needed, computer (desktop or laptop? It's so hard to decide). Or I could use it towards a brilliant vacation to somewhere I've never been! If you read this, vote on it! Help me decide! Or if you have another idea feel free to share it.

So Megan just called. Apparently her computer's virus/malware just crashed and now her computer keeps crashing and her school's IT can't even figure out what's wrong with it. And I thought my comp was bad - her's is barely a year old! I suppose I did have times when I freaked out about it - like when I got the blue screen of death. Luckily I had the kick ass Dell warranty. Not anymore though!

So I've got all the squares cut out and laid out and I really want to start sewing, because I know that soon I'll get bored with this project and then it will never get done. Like that other mitten that I never knitted. Sigh. Mom won't let me start sewing it without her. She's convinced we'll need to use like a special needle or something, but I just want to get the sucker done! It doesn't have to be perfect, heck half the t shirts have paint stains. But her, dad, and Sara are all at the Century-Mayo football game.

I just got done watching Two Weeks Notice (I love Sandra Bullock) and now I just found one of the best movies is playing on tbs - The Holiday.

Belle's been cute today - following me all around the house, playing with the t shirt scraps. Now she's sleeping in the bed that my mom made for her.

Hmm I wonder if this is an Imogen Heap song. It must be! I just heard part of one on the radio the other day as background to a new song. It was kind of infuriating because the announcer didn't give any credit to them, just to the dude who sang over their song. Now that I think about it, I probably lost all their music when I got the blue screen of death. I should work on recovering that.

I also finally managed to design Sara's homecoming tickets, that she asked me to do months ago. The first one I did was, according to Sara, too boring and simple. So then I did another and that one was too complex and cluttered. So she took both versions to the rest of the student government, and lo and behold, they chose my first design.

This weekend I only work at night, which is kind of nice because I can finally go outside and enjoy the nice weather. Of course I probably won't. Or it'll rain. But tomorrow morning, if it's not raining, dad and I are going fishing again. Hopefully we'll have better luck than last time.

I really want to see Gamer and Surrogates. They both look amazing. I finally saw Post-Grad with mom, Sara, and Emily L. It was funny, but of course everything worked out for her in the end. Which just looked like a big fat lie to me. That and she chose to leave her dream job for the guy she discovered she loved (the plot was a tad predictable), which no one ever really does. I like movies.

I'm drinking root beer through a straw, and I'm convinced the straw has a leak in it but I can't find a leak anywhere! It's really frustrating in a not very frustrating kind of way. Ouch, I just hiccuped while burping and something just hurt when they crossed. Ouchies.

I want a Jude Law. Or even a Jack Black, I'm really not picky. Actually he's very sweet in this movie.

I'm still feeling crafty. I should exploit that and go work on my latchhook pillow or knitting or painting or something. Instead I'll probably just finish watching The Holiday and then whatever's on after that until I finally go to bed.

I don't know if it's good or bad, but all the time I spent gaming while I was at school I now spend watching TV. And it's generally nothing all that good either. I watch crap like Project Runway and America's Next Top Model. But they show them on season-long marathons during the day and it just gets so addicting, and the next one is always on right after the first so I have to know what happens next! Sigh. On the latest ANTM one of the girls is from my hometown. And she won the first challenge! So if you watch that, cheer for Rae! She's my age too, but I don't know her. Apparently my dad knows her dad though.

So I'm probably definitely moving into a house about 5 blocks away from the VA with a 27 year old guy and his 2 year old yellow lab. I can't remember if I've talked about this before, probably have, but it's a really nice house. I want to get a nice big adult-sized bed. My parents were all for it at first, but now they're chickening out, which is one of many things that have ticked me off lately.

The freaking VA. I actually don't want to go into all the latest horrendous things they've done to me, but I'll sum it up briefly. Apparently, my birthday has been changed to September 30, I was offered the position first by the lab and then two weeks later by HR, and it's impossible to just get things done: it all has to go through someone else in another department after getting background checks, fingerprints, and physicals.

Sigh. And yet I'm still going to work for them because I also continue to get rejection emails from all around the US. So I'll put in my two years, save up every penny I can, and then fly my ass somewhere else. I should have done that back in June, when I still had 6 months before having to pay back my loans. By then I would have probably found a job wherever I flew to and could always have the amazing story as part of my life. Remember after graduation when I flew off to ______ for a year? That was so amazing. Oh well. There's some saying about regrets but I don't remember what it is.

The leaves are turning color. I don't know what made me think of that since it's very dark out and I can't see the leaves. But they are, and it saddens me. It can't be fall already! And I can't still be at home during the fall, it's just unnatural.

I think I've finally run out of things to talk about. Thanks for sticking with me so far! And remember to vote!

PS - I FOUND THE LEAK! It was in the bendy bit. I knew it!

Post #100

Yep, that's right. This is my 100th post on this blog. Kind of sad and impressive at the same time. If each post was a page, I'd have a 100 page book already written. Of course some are a lot longer than a page and some are a lot shorter, but they might even out. Anyway, a lot has happened since Kristin was here.



First of all, I can't believe it's already September. I don't know where the summer went but I am not ready for it to be over.



Well I spent the days after Kristin left mostly working at Culver's. On Wednesday I got an email from the VA finally officially offering me a job. And on Friday I emailed them back accepting it. Still not sure if that was the best move but it's not like I have any other offers on the table. Since then I've been looking for apartments in the cities close to public transportation.



On Saturday the whole family (including Belle) drove up to Eau Claire to move Megan into her school. We had to rent a U-Haul and because they double booked the size we wanted we ended up getting a gigantic one. It was freezing cold and we couldn't figure out how to put her stupid futon together but it was kind of fun. Went to Arby's afterwards.

On Sunday we got up early again, this time to drive up to the Metrodome to watch the Twins beat the Rangers 5-3. We parked on the street and walked over and hung out at the food plaza for awhile, then watched the game and lost our voices cheering. The fans were great - the wave went all the way around the stadium 4 times before dying. Mauer was kind of having a sucky day but the rest of the players were doing pretty good. After the game, I drove home and first mom made me drive around the neighborhoods where I looked up craigslist ads for places to live. Basically we were the drivers everyone hates, slowly driving past houses, getting lost following the GPS. Finally convinced them to let me drive home.

Monday I got up later - on my 22nd birthday! Got dressed and headed up to the cities again. This time I went to Sybylla's house where I met her and Vicki. Then we headed to a church for the shuttle to the state fair. Spent the day at the fair, eating fried food on a stick and seeing animals and walking around. We saw a sheep give birth to triplets, I ate a footlong corndog, got a bucket of delicious cookies for my birthday along with all you can drink milk for $1, rode down a giant slide on a potato sack, watched a pond full of fish, and a bunch of random state fair fun with the roomies. After that, I went over to visit one of my potential living situations. It's in a 3 bedroom house with a 27 year old guy and his 2 year old lab. It's also about 5 blocks away from the VA - yay walking distance! His name is Jordan and he is really nice. I could easily see myself living there. It is a little more expensive than I wanted though.

Tuesday I slept in and did nothing all day but bring Belle to the dog park and then to puppy class.

Today I got up early and went to Mayo to do a screening. They had to take blood and I got a bit light-headed. It took forever, and every time I go there it's going to be like at 7 am. Ugh. At least the study is going to pay well. Then I took Belle to the dog park, and then came home and I was going to start packing stuff up. That didn't work too well though. Then went to work and had to train a 14 year old with ADHD. UGH. She didn't pay attention, was slow as molasses, and then proceeded to tell her friends who came in that she was "learning quick" and "hardly needed any more training." I wanted to strangle her and just do it myself. I hate training. Luckily she was only there until 7, and then I got to have more fun in drive thru and then set and then just helping people start closing. At some point I stupidly agreed to work until 8 tomorrow, but I did get to get off an hour early on Saturday (we're going up to the cities to see a Lynx game).

Now I'm just watching some George Lopez and wondering what to do. Getting tired though so I may head to bed early. Sorry this post is so late - I actually started it last night and forgot to finish it. Good thing it autosaves!