ugh feet

I worked from 2-11:15 at Culvers today. On my feet the whole time except for a 30 minute break - 5 minutes of which was spent waiting in line to order some dinner. But since I'm still awake and I recently found something that I forgot to post previously, I'm here updating. I should be packing or sleeping, but oh well. At least I can sleep in tomorrow - at least as late as Belle lets me.

What I found was the pages in the mini notebook in which I wrote random stuff on Monday morning while waiting for the guy who was supposed to interview me show up. Here it is, no editing:

6/8

I'm such an idiot! I put extra resumes and those papers in a folder to bring to read while i waited here and somehow managed to leave them at home. How do I do this? I even left the notebook I specifically cleaned out to take notes here. So I went to the little gift shop and bought this tiny flip notebook for 89 cents. I also forgot to check my email this morning so as far as I know they could have cancelled or changed the time or location or anything! I'm early though so I'll just have to be patient and see. I wish I had read those papers more thoroughly! I guess I can always claim that I read them 3 weeks ago when I first got them. Still, even if that were true I should have reviewed them before this interview. I need a job! And I can do this, I just need the chance. It would be nice to get an apartment too; live away from home and all. I wouldn't even need a car: the VA is right on the light rail. Assuming of course that I lived near the light rail. I should have called or emailed to confirm the time and place. At least they never asked me those stupid behavior questions like they did at Mayo. I suck at those. Which is probably why I didn't get hired there. I wish I could just skip this part. I'm a nice person and I can get along with everyone (unless they're ignorant or intolerant). My stomach is getting queasy. I actually ate breakfast today. Got up at 6:30 - after going to bed at 12:30. Mom stayed up with Belle, and she let her cry herself to sleep. It was kind of heartbreaking. People keep walking through, but none come up to me. It's 8:54, so I've been here for almost 10 minutes. Still no one. But it wasn't scheduled until 9 so I need to just be patient. The anticipation is worse than the actual interview. Like riding a roller coaster, the worst part is when you're just getting to the top. I think the longer I sit here the more knotted up my stomach gets. And I'm running out of clever things to say. Great, now my colon is acting up. And there's no time left for me to run to the toilet - I said no editing, now I wish I hadn't - it's 9am now. Hopefully they show soon. If no one is here by 9:10 I'm going to try to call them. Too bad I left the number at home. I wonder if it would be better to try to ask for the number at information or to call home and try to get my mom to find it. I'm starting to get really nervous. They shouldn't be late, it's just rude. But maybe they changed the date/time/location which would make me the late one. I just heard someone say "Oh, there she is" and I got excited, but they weren't talking about me. I'ts 9:04. Maybe I should try to call now, since it might take awhile. No, patience Kat. They'll come. What a stupid place to do an interview. Who holds interviews in a lobby? I suppose the informality works in my favor though. Although no one likes tardiness. Crap. It's 9:07. Wait or call? Maybe I'll just wait. I can do this. No problem. I'm going to wander over to the directory - perhaps the number is listed there. 1351. That's the number. The old lady at the information desk sucks and couldn't help me at all, but I called home and mom checked my email and got the number for me. Called it and the guy who answered said he'd send him down. I hope he comes soon and apologizes! I've been a nervous wreck waiting here for the past 40 minutes (9:22 now). I wish I knew how long it takes to get from there to here. Wherever there is. Could be at the U for all I know. I wish I could just fly off. Just put the extension in my phone. Now I'll

And that's how it ends folks. Apparently that was when the guy finally showed up. And I told you all about the rest of that fun little day.

Since the last time I blogged nothing has happened. Sad, but true. Well not entirely I suppose. I played racquetball with Megan once and we each won one game. Last night I reconnected with someone after a long time, which was nice. And today I worked for 9 hours. Yaaay. Now I have tomorrow to finish packing and then heading over to the airport shuttle at 6am to catch my flight. Hooray! Maybe I'll post another quickie tomorrow, but probably not. I plan to bring the little flippy notebook that I bought at the VA for a journal for this trip, so hopefully I'll have some interesting material for next time. Hope you enjoyed my little rant!

PS - Still haven't heard back from the VA since Monday and the whole "continue the hiring process" bit. Sigh.

Continue the hiring process... huh?

Wow, so I've been super lazy lately. I don't even know what I've been doing that's kept me from updating this - a lot of TV and sleeping.

Went to my second interview up at the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis and it was weird. First of all, I got there at 8:40 (20 minutes early) and sat and waited. And waited and waited and all of a sudden it was 9:10 and no one had come. So I went to the information desk and tried to tell the old lady there who I needed to call but she was no help at all. And of course I had left the email with the number to call "if I got lost" at home because I knew where I was going this time. Eventually I called my mom and had her check my email and get the number. I called them and they said they'd check to see if the guy who was supposed to interview me was in. I was like, wtf? He damn well better be in. By the time he showed up it was 9:20, and he never apologized for being so late and making me wait and basically forgetting about my interview. I mean, how rude. I woke up at 6:30 am just to make sure I was there on time, even early, and they don't even bother to show up on time and don't even apologize for being late. ANYWAY... the interview was awkward as well. We went over to the little cafeteria and he bought himself a tea and me a bottled water and we sat in a booth and talked. He would ask me questions (sometimes odd questions) and then, after I was done answering, would just sit there and stare at me like he was waiting for me to say more. Then I asked him a few questions and he'd go off on weird long tangents that I could barely follow and sometimes never get around to answering the question. Finally it ended, and then I called Sybylla and headed over to her house. Spent a little while petting Daisy and chatting and just hanging out and then we headed over to the movie theater to see Star Trek. That movie was fantastic! And Sylar was in it! Afterwards I headed home and shared the lovely tales of my awkward interview with anyone who'd listen.

Megan left on Sunday to go visit her latest boy-toy (I've been calling him '2nd semester') and didn't come back until Wednesday. That sucked. Once while she was gone dad and I went to the RAC and played racquetball. I lost horribly, but it was still fun. At one point I also stopped in at Culvers and told them I was back. Tried to pick up some hours (but didn't try all that hard) and got on this week's schedule.

On Friday night all 6 of us piled into the Durango for the 2 1/2 hour drive to my gramma's house. I drove, which was nice because it meant I had plenty of room. Spent the night sleeping on the couch at gramma's and listening for Belle to let her out if she needed to go. I let her out at 3am and was sitting outside her kennel afterwards trying to get her back to sleep (right next to the glass door) and all of a sudden I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Turned and looked and freaked out to see a big raccoon on the deck about 2 feet away from me (on the other side of the closed door though luckily). It freaked me out though because if Belle had gone after the coon or smelled it or something it could have seriously hurt her or even killed her. After that I had scary dreams about raccoons.

Got up on Saturday, not really refreshed, but ate a good breakfast. Sara had gotten up early to go to UNI and take the ACT, so the rest of us packed back into the Durango to go pick her up. Because of the idiotic system they have, we ended up waiting over 45 minutes for her to be done. We spent the time wandering around campus with Belle and hanging out outside the testing room. At one point mom, Megan, and I went to get pop from the machines and we saw a KitKat bar hanging in one of the snack machines. We tried to knock it loose but it just wouldn't drop. Then Megan had the brilliant idea to buy one and then two would drop. So we did and the one that was hanging fell and the next one got stuck! This time, however, Megan managed to knock it loose. So we got 2 KitKats for the price of one! Rock on! Eventually we left on the 2 hour drive to our cousin Emma's graduation party. Got there, showed off Belle to the family, took some pictures, and eventually started the long drive back. First we had to stop back at gramma's because I had left my cell there (someone had made my couch-bed over it). I spent the first part of the trip in the back with Belle and the second part up front copiloting while dad drove.

On Monday I had to work at Culvers 8am - 3pm. I have never, in my 5 years of working there, opened at Culvers. But on Monday I did. Since I don't plan on ever opening again (and honestly said on my availability that I couldn't work that early) they didn't bother training me on anything tricky but just told me what to do to open dining room. As soon as we were open I spent the rest of the day training someone on register. A 14-year old sister of another employee. Made me feel really old. After work, I got an interesting phone call. It was from the VA Medical Center, asking me if I was interested in "continuing the hiring process." I said yea and apparently they're going to send me another application to fill out or something. I really have no idea what's going on with that but I may have a job. Later my dad, Megan, and I went to the RAC to play racquetball again. We played three games; 2 against 1. Every time, the team of 2 lost. Weird huh? We figured it's because you get lazy when you have a partner who you can assume will get it. Spent the rest of the night looking for jobs. I found a perfect one: at the Chicago zoo as an animal keeper in the Australia section. And it doesn't require AZA experience which is basically a miracle. I seriously hope I can get that job. I think I would probably sell my kidney to get it; it just sounds so incredibly perfect.

Another thing about Monday was the date. June 15. AKA the anniversary of the second worse day of my life: the day I left Australia. Sad isn't it? The two worst days of my life both happened in 2008.

Which brings us to today. Still haven't gotten an email from either the VA or Chicago, and didn't do a whole lot today. Spent some hours baking cookies but mostly just watched TV and played with Belle. Megan and I ran on a quick errand to get house keys made at Home Depot, but that was about it. Finished my book and am now watching a "That 70s Show" marathon with Megan.

Another Interview - Yikes!

So I have another interview tomorrow.  I'm kind of nervous about it because I do really need a job, but I'm not really sure I want this job.  It's the one in the cities where I'd have to induce bone pain in mice and monitor their behaviors.  Inducing bone pain by either giving them bone cancer or breaking their bones.  Yea... kind of evil isn't it?  But it would kind of be nice to move to the cities (even if paying rent wouldn't be that nice) and actually starting life as an adult.  And to have a job.  That isn't Culvers I mean.  They still don't even know I'm back; I'll probably tell them tomorrow.  Or Tuesday if I get back late. Anyway...

We've been taking turns for who stays up late with the puppy.  Megan and I did the first three nights, but then we insisted mom have a turn.  Then she made dad do it the next night, and Sara did it last night.  I'm not sure who's on duty tonight but I'm guessing it's mom again since dad has to work, I have to get up for the interview, and Sara has finals tomorrow.  Megan drove her car to Eau Claire tonight to go spend a few days with her boyfriend.  She ditched me.  

Puppy duty means waking up every 2-3 hours and letting Belle out to go potty and then staying up for approximately 30-45 minutes trying to get her to go back to sleep.  Especially fun when its raining outside (like it is now).

Saturday we all headed over to Mankato for Tyler's graduation party.  We got there early and helped set up a big tent out back to help shelter people from the rain.  Belle had fun playing with Addy and Lucy (our cousins' two Shih Tzus) but I don't think they liked her that much.  They're really going to love it when she's 5 times their size.  After that we came home and I went out to see The Hangover with Jackie.  It was kind of funny; enjoyable at least.  Jackie's heading out to Holden, Washington for 5 weeks tomorrow so it's the last I'll see of her until July.  For some reason that just reminded me that I need to go see Kristin at some point.  Grandparents left on Saturday as well.  

Sunday (today) I got up around 9am when my mother informed me that she was leaving.  I was like... "okay? and your point is?"  Apparently she had let Sara go upstairs to sleep and was watching Belle and then decided that it was my turn to take over as she was leaving.  I disagreed.  It was Sara's shift, Sara could finish it.  So I made her go down and take care of Belle until she had to go to work at 11.  Then I went downstairs and fell asleep on the couch until noon, one hand dangling onto the floor for Belle to curl up next to.  

During that time asleep on the couch I had a wonderful dream.  It pretty much encompassed exactly what I want to happen in my life as far as romance or attraction or soulmates are concerned.  And then I woke up and remembered that life is crap.  Well, not really.  But in that department it is for me at least. 

Crap.  It's nearly midnight and I'm still awake.  I have to wake up in 6 1/2 hours.  I don't really have anything important left to say, other than I hope Star Trek is as amazing as everyone keeps saying it is.  I'm planning on seeing it tomorrow with Sybylla after my interview.  On that note, I think I'll go to bed.  Goodnight.

Belle Rae

Friday happened. Woke up, and went to go get my massage. That was wonderful; she realized I was ticklish and managed to figure out a way to not tickle me. Headed back and slept for a bit, then did some more packing and got dressed for the semi-formal boat cruise. Went to Eckman mall for free pizza and then loaded into the busses. This time we had coach busses, which was extremely nice. Almost immediately I put in my headphones and fell asleep for the majority of the 2 hour bus ride to Hudson, Wisconsin. Unfortunately, Sybylla's iPod froze and so she couldn't listen to it. Got there, loaded into the boat, and got a table right near the door to the front of the boat. Spent the night talking, wandering around, enjoying the scenery, and waiting in lines for food, drinks, and the bathroom. Slept on the bus ride home as well; it was a fun night.

Saturday was long and boring. Basically bought food from the Caf, cleaned and packed, and then watched a movie and some Firefly with Sybylla before heading to bed.

Sunday was the big day. Got up, got dressed, and waited for the family to arrive. Once they did we headed over to the Country Kitchen to get some breakfast. Then back up the hill where we started some packing into the car and partial cleaning. And finally, I put on my gown, got help figuring out the hood, and headed to the Chapel to line up with my classmates. It was alphabetical and they allotted over an hour just to get into the line. And my idiotic classmates needed it! I couldn't believe how long it took people to figure out how to line up alphabetically. And then we all learned how to do our hoods the correct way. Then we proceeded around Old Main and then towards the stadium and into our seats. Names called, crossed the stage, shook hands with all the big wigs, and then went down into the faculty area. Once down there I hit the Art Department first and shook hands with Stan and got a hug from Bruce, then Biology was right next in line. Got my degree/diploma from Pam and went down the line shaking hands with the rest of the professors. After that we listened to more speakers and then headed to the scoreboard to meet up with the family. Took tons of pictures and then went to the reception with each of the departments. Eventually my family got bored and went back to my room to keep packing and cleaning while I kept talking to people. Walked back to the room with Sybylla and checked out. Family and I then headed down to Whiskey River (restaurant) for the after-graduation party given by Sarah and her family. Ate good food, took lots of pictures, and eventually headed home.

On Monday Megan and I drove all the way down to Des Moines to our uncle's house where we met all five of the cute little lab puppies (3 black and 2 yellow). Spent awhile playing with the pile of puppies but eventually we headed towards home with our new yellow female puppy, Belle. We set up the kennel in the backseat and one of us drove while the other sat in the back with her. We stopped at nearly every rest area on the way back, making the drive about an hour longer than it should have been, but we wanted to make sure there weren't any puppy accidents on the way home. As soon as we got home, mom took Belle in her arms and she immediately fell asleep. We watched her running across the yard and we all laughed at her big ears flopping as she ran. When we discussed what her middle name should be, dad suggested "Ears" because of that. But then I thought we should mix up the letters and have her middle name be Rea (like ray-a) but they didn't like that. Someone then suggested we reverse the letters and have it be Rae. Sara didn't like it much but the rest of us thought it was pretty clever so that's what we ended up deciding. Belle Rae. That night Megan and I slept in the family room and I got up about every two hours when Belle cried to let her outside.

On Tuesday I mostly just watched Belle and hung around the house. At one point Megan, Belle, and I went on a little walk over to the new Petco by Wal-Mart. Belle walked for a bit and then we also carried her and she rode in a backpack as well. While there we got her some puppy shampoo, a little blue collar with Hawaiian white flowers and a little ID tag. Later that night, my paternal grandparents arrived after a long drive from Illinois (and my cousin's high school grad party). Megan and I slept downstairs again to let Belle out.

Wednesday was mostly a blur. Not much happened, other than a lot of puppywatching by me and a couple of accidents.

Today a lot more nothing happened, other than early this morning I finally started getting cranky about the puppy. 3 nights with no REM sleep can do that to you I suppose. Later, Jackie and her mom stopped over to see Belle. She was really there for me when Jazzy died, and I was sad to learn that just a few weeks ago her dog Kirby died. Anyway, the rest of the day was spent being lazy. I actually started this post hours ago and just keep leaving it and coming back to it. Basically, the moral of the story is that I'm lazy and that my puppy is cuter than the one on the Cottonelle toilet paper commercials. I'll add pictures as soon as the website lets me...

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

Well it has certainly been an exciting week.

On Monday, Sybylla had her last two finals, and afterwards we headed down into Saint Peter to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Everyone I talked to and all the reviews pretty much said "it's terrible" and "Hugh Jackman is shirtless for half the movie." The positive outweighed the negative in my opinion. So we walked down and watched the 2:50pm showing of it. And it was awesome! Well not exactly the best cinematic production I've ever seen, but definitely entertaining! I mean, they turned him into a lumberjack. A lumberjack! So then I called him "Hugh the LumberJackman" because I'm clever like that. Afterwards we headed back up the hill and sat down to "study" for Tuesday night's "Disney Night Dos." We watched Mulan, Hercules, Beauty and the Beast, Lilo and Stitch, and Brother Bear before finally heading to bed.

On Tuesday we got up and did stuff... riiight. That night was the Fiesta night in the Johnson Family Courtyard. Free tacos and nachos and churros! Along with a champagne toast (still not a fan). During that little senior party time we got to take a tour down into the mysterious tunnel system, where we saw a crazy window that shows from underneath the GAC pool! Made me wonder if people were down there watching my Kayaking class back in sophomore year. After that we headed over to Vicki's apartment for Disney Night Dos. This time there were eleven people (including myself) so a much larger turnout than last time. We started with a game of Disney Scene It. First round it was everyone against me. Actually, they split up into two teams of 5 against me. Strangely enough, I still won ;). I'm still not sure if I should be proud of that or not, but that's what happened. Then we watched The Lion King, which turned into a big singalong with everyone singing along to the songs. That was exciting, I took a little video of us singing "Hakuna Matata." I'll probably put in a bunch of photos and videos in this blog. After that a bunch of people left, and the remaining four of us played another round of Disney Scene It. This time we did teams: Sybylla and Vicki vs. Emilirose and I. And my team lost. Vicki was so happy that I finally lost, but I figure on my own I beat everyone so I wasn't too broken up about it. Afterwards we watched Meet the Robinsons, and then headed home and to bed.On Wednesday we got up and went swimming in the GAC pool. It was exciting. Sarah, Vicki, Sybylla and I were all going to go to the pool and just mess around but it ended up just being Sybylla and I because Vicki had to work and Sarah ran out of time. So we swam and messed around and then we actually grabbed kickboards and swam laps for like 20 minutes. That was fun (and my calves are still feeling that burn). We (Sybylla, Sarah, Vicki, and I) then went to the "Fun in the Sun" picnic in the arb. It wasn't sunny out and there was a bit of a line for the food but eventually we got to the front and got burgers and hotdogs. We brought the food back to Prairie View to eat it (chilly outside!) and watched Ratatouille. After that was over we (Sybylla, Sarah, and I) basically had to immediately leave for the bus to the Twins game. And was there a nice bunch of coach busses waiting for us at 3 flags? Nope. School busses! Seats sized for middle schoolers crammed with 5 busloads full of rowdy college seniors. Oh goody. And half the people had already been getting their drink on. Sigh. While my patience was constantly tried by the idiotic drunken behaviors of the people on my bus, we eventually made it up to the Metrodome. Once there we got to our seats and waited for the game to start. Sybylla and Sarah got nachos while I got a nice jumbo sized Diet Coke. Not really what I wanted but I figured drinking was better than eating a whole bunch of junk. Eventually I gave in to the popcorn (it smelled so good! tasted a bit old...). Went to the bathroom once during the 4th inning, but mostly just watched the game (and took video!). We were sitting right behind the left outfield and it was the Twins vs the Red Sox. Kind of an exciting game, but we (the Twins) ended up winning 4-2. Woohoo! My favorite player was #2 Denard Span because he just kept stealing bases! He was so sneaky, like a pirate-ninja! So he was my favorite. Afterwards, we piled back into the busses and I realized I had to pee. The busses pulled out of the parking lot and all of a sudden I had to PEE. Jumbo sized Diet Coke, remember. Crap. So I spent the next almost 2 hours in nearly excrutiating pain, attempting to not piss in my pants on a schoolbus. That was the longest bus ride I have ever been on. As soon as we pulled into the GAC parking lot (at around midnight) I headed to the front of the bus (before it stopped) and as soon as it did stop I got off and ran (literally ran) to Prairie View. Then I went to the bathroom. And it was glorious.

Thursday (today I guess) started early. Woke up at 8:30 and started getting ready for Valley Fair. Valley Fair!!! Eventually decided to bring my backpack along with a swimsuit and towel (in case we went to the water park part of it). Headed over to 3 flags at 10 to 9, where we got on yet more school busses. Finally left at 9:15am, after being told we had to be back on the school busses at 2:30 pm or they'd just leave without us. Got to ValleyFair at around 10:20am, and I immediately wanted to get started on the rides because we only had a little over 4 hours there. Unfortunately, this time we were in a gigantic group (9 people: me, Sybylla, Sarah, Vicki, Hannah, Stephenie, Emilirose, Catie, and Jill) and so it took us twice as long as it ever should to decide what to do and in what order to do it. Eventually we headed toward Wild Thing, making a quick stop at some lockers and bathrooms to dump our stuff (hehehe). Rode Wild Thing and I attempted to take a video while riding it, but must have clutched the camera too hard during the first huge drop and accidently stopped the recording.

After that we headed over to High Roller, another roller coaster but a wooden one. I don't know why I consented to go on it, I hate wooden roller coasters. They're so rattly they always make my head hurt. This was no different, and we waited in a line even longer than Wild Thing. After that we did the swing ride quick, where Vicki and I had a contest to try to catch the floating fuzzies that were everywhere. I won, catching two unwillingly in my mouth. During that time a couple of people went to get food. Then we headed over to the Corkscrew, the roller coaster that goes upside down. I love that one and there was only a short line, but we had a lot of rides yet to get to and not a lot of time so we actually split up there into two groups: one that wanted to ride Steel Venom and one that wanted to ride the wave ride (that gets you soaking wet). I was in the Steel Venom group and was so glad I was. The five of us (Catie, Jill, Stephenie, Vicki, and I - Emilirose had left earlier to hit the water park) walked over there and found ourselves facing NO line. Like, none. It was amazing! We got right on and it's an amazing fun ride. After the first run, we determined we had enough time to go a second time and Catie and I did Steel Venom again while the other 3 went to ride the Enterprise. We then went to meet the other group at the Power Tower. Met up with them and everyone except Sarah and Hannah went on the dropping tower. It was terrifying. I was wedged between Sybylla and Vicki, but I had to close my eyes once we stopped at the top. I just can't handle the suspense of waiting to drop. Once we started dropping I opened my eyes and was fine. I wanted to do the shooting up one as well, and there was hardly a line, but no one else wanted to so instead we headed over to the new wooden roller Renegade. I can see how people would think it's fun, but my head just got rattled so much it wasn't worth it. Not to mention it was the longest wait yet and right at the end of our remaining time. But we rode it then headed back to the lockers and restrooms and out to the bus. We got to the bus at 2:25pm (5 minutes early) and found out we were some of the only ones there, and the bus drivers weren't even there. A few minutes later we learned that the bus company had decided to send nice coach busses for us but that they wouldn't be there until 3pm. So we wasted 30 minutes of our Valley Fair time (plenty of time to ride Steel Venom a couple of more times at least) sitting around in the parking lot because our idiot bus drivers decided to be nice or something. Ugh. That was so annoying! The trip back was nice at least, the coaches were obviously a lot more comfortable than the school busses, and I mostly slept. A couple of times however I was rudely awoken by the same idiotic drunk that annoyed the hell out of me on the way to the Twins game. Sigh. But we made it back and I immediately loaded my pictures onto my computer and then got dressed up for the President's Banquet. We left at 5:30 and then sat around or socialized outside the caf for about 45 minutes until we were let in to sit at the tables. Same old caf tables, just covered with fancy tablecloths and food. Listened to some speakers, then ate, then listened to some more speakers, and finally a ridiculous song where they referred to Gustavus as "G.A. College." No one has called it that in at least 100 years, and no one refers to it as that. It's either GAC, Gustavus, or Gustavus Adolphus College. Whoever decided that "G.A.College" would fly was obviously not a part of campus community. Headed back to the dorm around 8pm and Catie, Meredythe, and Vicki came over to watch Casino Royale with Sybylla and I at 9pm.

That pretty much sums up the week so far. I probably should have posted earlier than this, but Sybylla is taking down posters now and the room is feeling empty and cold. I don't know if I want to take mine down yet... I'm sort of afraid of the room being entirely blank-walled. Well I'll figure something out...

A Beautiful Wedding

Well, the studying for the final sort of continued after my last entry.  At least, I went through the study guide and retyped all of my notes, which is about what I usually do for the tests.  

Thursday night we went to Midnight Express - something GAC puts on right before finals.  Basically a lot of free food, a band, and a photo booth.  Went with Sybylla and Vicki and just ate and took pictures and then headed out.  

Got up at 10am on Friday and went back to studying but was rudely interrupted.  A couple of weeks ago I had gently reminded someone of the money they owe me, with no response.  So I gently reminded them again and boy did I get a response this time.  Not from the person in question, but from his girlfriend.  Do I know this chick? Nope.  Does she know me?  Not at all.  So she's sitting there having an argument with me about him paying me back.  WTF??  She first tells me to be patient, and just so you all know this matter of me paying for something for him happened six months ago.  So I think I've been pretty damn patient myself.  Then she starts talking about how he has money issues, but I know for a fact that they (he and the girlfriend) went on a vacation together over spring break - when I was working my ass off at Culvers.  So a lack of money is no valid excuse either.  Basically, she managed to get me all pissed off an hour before my final exam.  And it wasn't even any of her business!  I could almost forgive her because I know she's just a stupid little freshman, but still.  Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong or you risk getting it bitten off.  Sigh.  At least I managed to calm myself down adequately enough before getting to the test.  It was scheduled to start at 1:30 so at 1:15 I headed over (and was there by 1:20).  Got there and like 3/4 of the class was sitting there already working on the test.  I semi-freaked out and talked to the prof and apparently on one of the calendars he printed he listed the test as starting at 1pm so he let the people who thought it was starting then start it at 1, but I wasn't late.  So that was a mild freak out but I got through the test and it pretty much felt like all the other tests I've had in the class so far.  Which, I hope, is a good thing because I got A's on all of the others.  Once I finished that final, I was officially done with all the studying and schoolwork I'll have to do at GAC.  Kind of a terrifying realization.  

On Saturday I got up around 10am again, hoping to get some stuff done before my sister arrived at 11am with the car.  I managed to sell back my textbooks and get my mail before I had to figure out where my sister had gotten lost at.  Eventually figured it out and she got here and her and I drove down to Mankato.  Dropped her off at my empty aunt and uncle's house and then  drove over to Kwik trip for some gas and Target to buy a gift card for Heather and Ryan.  Got back up to GAC about 10 minutes later than I originally wanted to, then had to get my stuff ready and headed out with Sybylla to pick up Vicki.  Then we drove up to Rice, MN (outside of Saint Cloud) for Heather and Ryan's wedding.  We stopped once at Arby's in order to not starve and only overshot once.  We managed to get there about 15 minutes before the ceremony started (plenty of time!).  It was a beautiful sunny day and the wedding was outside on Ryan's lawn.  Heather looked gorgeous in her dress and the justice of the peace had an awesome accent.  It was a short and sweet service, only about 20 minutes long.  We threw lilac seeds at the happy couple and then drove over to the Kelly Inn for the reception.  Spent more time there, eating the good food and feeling bad for Heather and Ryan as they were forced to stand and kiss over and over again.  Eventually got around to the cake (vanilla) and got some pictures with the newlyweds.  Throughout the day, Vicki Sybylla and I were busy planning our future weddings.  A semi-depressing thought for me, realizing that I now know a friend who's married and that my mom got married when she was my age.  Ah well.  We headed out at around 7:30 and stopped once at Dairy Queen on the way back.  Then I dropped those two off, packed up the car with the stuff I wanted to send home, and headed down to spend the night with Megan in Mankato.  She was starving so we went to Perkins for some food and then came back and watched Iron Chef America until we were too tired to stay awake.  

Got up this morning at 11am and Megan and I packed up and headed back up to GAC.  Then sent her on her merry way, and came back and slept more in the room.  Got up, showered, played some Sims, and now heading out to Ruttles for some Saint Peter fun.  Adios!

no study :( i don't wanna

I don't want to study.  I've been sitting around here for hours today (about 3 1/2 hours to be precise) not-studying for my final final exam tomorrow.  Instead, I have been putzing around on the internet and finishing the third book in the Inheritance series (Brisingr).  Just now I finished looking up what paltry sums the Bookmark is planning to reimburse me for my textbooks. That was really depressing... 

So instead of studying I'm recording my thoughts here.  For no point or purpose other than to further procrastinate.  Curse me... I need to study!  It doesn't help that this is the last of 4 exams, the other 3 of which I aced, and it's not even cumulative.  So what's my motivation to study?  Other than I could finally get my first "A" in a class that is in my major.  Depressing that it would wait until my second semester senior year to happen.  Although Gustavus did give me an "A" for my Conservation Bio. class that I took in Australia so I guess that counts.   

I'm trying to get people to entertain me, but they aren't doing a very good job. 

As for how the week went, it was pretty boring.  I went to my classes, did some errands, and read a lot of that series previously mentioned.  

I finally got my cell phone back on Monday, my awesome aunt and uncle drove it up for me around 6pm.  Then I immediately checked my voicemail and called the Dell technician who agreed to come up and fix my computer.  Basically, he just had to replace the monitor and my baby is working again.  Hooray!  So that led to more Sims playing as well, although Sybylla is mostly hogging it.  Which is sort of a good thing for me because it means I'm forced to do other things.  Not to mention as soon as we graduate I'm taking my game back to Rochester (or wherever I'm going) with me so she only has so much time left to play it.  

Had my last classes.  Skipped badminton this week because I could, which also allowed me to eat lunch with people on Monday and Wednesday.  Gave my presentation in Women and the Holocaust and I think it went well.  Had our website critiques in Intro to Interactive Media and no one had anything bad to say about mine (http://homepages.gac.edu/~kcoughli/).  

On Wednesday I had my last day of work and my last class, ever.  It was Evolution and we just had a mini lecture about carnivorous plants, and then class evals and then I was done.  For work I had to run mail (for the last time) and then help set up for the end of the year picnic (again for the last time).  It was a day full of lasts for all of us.  After setting up, came back to the room and then headed to the "End of the Year Carnival" out on the college mall. That was kind of a joke... basically just a lot of stands of free food and a cake walk and a dunk tank.  While it was semi amusing to see the kid from many of my previous bio classes getting dunked, the thrill was short-lived. Headed back to chill in the dorm for awhile and then went to the Theatre/Dance picnic.  Got a burger and hung out with Kristin and had some fun thinking about the past year (The Other Shore and the spring dance concert).  Been working in that office for the last four years and it's kind of strange to realize I won't be working there anymore.  Went directly from that picnic to the Biology Department picnic.  That was less fun, I knew more people there but less well.  Said a lot of "hey, how are you?" and ate a bunch of carrots but eventually I got bored and left.  Went back to the room and did some Sim playing, some Brisingr reading, and some studying for my final.  Later, Sarah, Sybylla, and I watched Shrek, which was slightly frustrating but okay overall.  Came back to the room, took a quick shower,  and then Sybylla and I watched Dark Knight.  Actually we just watched most of it, but at 4am we decided to go to bed and watch the rest later.  Probably tonight, although we both need to study for exams.

Which brings us to today.  Woke up when Sybylla's alarm went off at 11:30am and she didn't wake up.  Literally the thing was going off for a long time and I was like "Sybylla, your alarm. Wake up!"  But she didn't, and eventually it turned itself off.  So I rolled over and went back to sleep.  She eventually got up and headed out around 12:20 to her Latin-y things.  I think tutoring and then some sort of Classics get-together.  My alarm went off right before she left, and then again at 1pm.  That's around when I got up and just continued reading Brisingr and doing my procrastinating thing.

And now I'm sitting here having a strange conversation and listening to Sarah and Sybylla study for their Latin final tomorrow. And feeling like I should definitely get my act together and study.  Damn, I started this like an hour ago.  It really did not take me this long to write it, I've also been distracted elsewhere.