Cold toes!

The weather is a-changin'. I like fall, but I also know that it means that dreaded season is just around the corner. Luckily, it's not that bad in Columbus (certainly not as bad as NE Ohio).

I'm so anxious to move in! I want everything to go smoothly--I have a plan in my head for exactly how I want to move my stuff in. Only a few more days.

I observed (or shadowed, whichever you prefer) my optometrist on Monday as part of being able to apply to Optometry school. I enjoyed it! I talked with both my doctor and one of the other doctors in the practice and they were very enlightening. I'm nearly certain that this will be a good career path for me, so that's refreshing.

My brother is a very strange kid. From where my computer is, I can see him at his computer. And he is very good at performing for me. What a goof. I'm almost excited that he'll be in Columbus and we can hang out away from home. I'm almost not excited because it means my kid brother is almost grown up. Which makes me super grown up. I'm not an adult! I don't think of myself as a woman! (Really, what woman asks her mommy if she can go to a sleepover? This one!)

Speaking of old, my boyfriend is turning 23 on Friday. Thinking about that makes my brain hurt, then I realize I'm 22, and my brain nearly melts. WHEN DID I GROW UP?

Various Topics

I just felt the need to post tonight, but on nothing in particular. So here's bulleted list of some things I'm thinking about now...

• My bike has been repaired (again). In June, you may recall that I had it repaired. No, I didn't get into an accident or anything of the sort. The bike shop I originally went to utterly screwed up. Either there was a crappy guy working the maintenance shop or my bike got lost in the shuffle. At any rate, I think the only thing that was done was to replace the brake pads. At the time I noticed that the brakes were really tight, but not knowing ANYTHING about bikes, I figured that they needed time to loosen up. Duh. Turned out the brake was constantly riding against the tire. No good. I brought it home hoping to Google some self-repair bike tips. (loosen up the brake line or something). When I put the tire back on and was looking at it with my brother, I realized the brake was entirely messed up beyond what I could fix--the brake was riding on the tire rather than the metal rim of the wheel. We then took it to a different shop and explained what happened. They got it repaired in ONE DAY (compared to a week with the first shop). It certainly seems more repaired than before, so I'll ride it around here over the next few days to make sure. What really sucks is that now over $100 has been spent on a 12-year old bike (though it was in very good shape to begin with). Live and learn.
• I really wish that we could move into our apartment even a day sooner. I want to be able to have ample time to settle in before classes start. Unfortunately, even if you move in one day early you have to take the apartment in "as-is" condition, and folks, I'm not dealing with that. So wait till move-in day it is.
• I've finished watching Season 1 of Ugly Betty. I really liked the show during the season, but never got a chance to watch it (at first, my beloved OC was on at the same time, then I just didn't have time). I really liked the season finale as it had a different, more dramatic tone than the rest of the season. I like tear-jerkers! Hopefully I'll be able to watch it this season (or at least faux-Tivo it to watch).
• My mom doesn't have a "real" job yet. She's currently in a 9-week long term sub position for a teacher on maternity leave, but that's not really satisfying. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for enrollment numbers increasing so that a new classroom is needed or that the lady she's substituting for decides she just can't leave her cute little baby at home. Or that a job application that she put in today goes somewhere. *crosses fingers*
• On Monday I'm going to observe my optometrist (I need 10 hours to apply to school). And I need to ask for a letter of recommendation. Or at least, warn him. (I think there's a special form he'll need to fill out. I should get on that.)
• Speaking of that, I need personal and professor evaluations as well.
• And I need to fill out "minimum wage" job applications in the meantime. I want to waitress somewhere because I really did like it when I did it a few summers ago. I should be able to get something--there are a LOT of restaurants in Columbus.
• My tailbone hurts. Not in the "I must've broken it way", because I've done that before and it feels different. I'm not sure what this is. Except that it is hurt.

That's enough. It's pretty long, now that I look at it!

An Enlightening Article!

I had previously decided to nix the "traditional" wedding when I got married because of the outrageous cost of weddings these days ($26,000 is the average today, and only threatening to go up when I get married). I get that you can do it on a budget, yadda yadda, but I'll be in professional school which will be netting me enough loans to kill an elephant. I'm settled and satisfied with my choice.

What I didn't realize was that I may not ever WANT to be a bridesmaid either. According to this article from my local paper, bridesmaids can expect to spend $1000 to $1400 to be in a wedding! I can understand paying for a dress and the accouterments, and buying a wedding gift. But multiple bachelorette parties?! Get-away weekends for the bridal party?! I'm astounded. I'm glad I read the article, because while I don't think I have any "bridezilla" friends, I now know what I need to ask before I get roped into spending money I don't have (and yes, I would be able to say "no" to a good friend's request--if they're really a friend they would understand!) And not only that, but I'll make sure that I don't become an assistant wedding planner either. IT'S YOUR WEDDING.

I'm just so nasty, huh?

Haircut

My hair was trimmed and relayered yesterday. For future reference, I need to not tell the hairstylist to relayer it. It looks good and it's still long, I just don't like how short the layers are. It makes it difficult (or impossible) to braid which is what I like to do when my hair is long. Here are a couple of pictures from my cell phone camera which basically show nothing. You'll just have to take my word for it.


One bit of good news from getting my hair cut--my hair is in great condition for being so long. She said that usually hair as long as mine is not thick. Yay! It makes sense that my hair is healthy since I don't color it, blow dry it, curl it, or straighten it more than once a year. I brush it a couple times a day and I pull it back with hair ties.

Moved out!

And I'm finished moving out of the old apartment (as of yesterday). Now to wait and see what is removed from my security deposit.

The Bad And The Good

The Bad: The boyfriend and I went to Cedar Point today. We got there early enough to ride Maverick without too much of a wait. Rode some other stuff. Ate greasy fries and rode some more rides. I think you can guess the rest of the story. We came home early after I (ahem) got sick on Raptor (my favorite ride!). I'm still a little out of sorts, mostly just a headache. It was pretty disappointing, but life happens that way sometimes.

After dinner, my brother, mom, boyfriend and I went to Circuit City. I've been considering a new computer for a while since my laptop is nearing the point where it could spontaneously combust and I'd rather buy a computer before then so I don't just rush to the nearest store and get one. I got a new HP and it's AWESOME. It has Vista, so I have to get used to that, but so far I really like it. It's going to be very strange to have a desktop after all these years of a laptop! It's more "computer" than I need, but that's okay with me. Here's hoping it lasts till the end of optometry school!

Tomorrow I'm heading back to Columbus to finish moving out of my apartment. And I'm introducing my mom to Indian food. It ought to be fun!!

Almost moving time!

So is it weird and wrong that I'm ENJOYING packing? Because I love it. I'm also doing an obligatory "get rid of the crap I haven't used since I moved in" so that I don't carry useless shit to the new apartment (which also means clothes, though I could certainly afford to get rid of more clothes--I refuse). As far as packing, my closet is nearly empty, 2/4 cabinets are empty, my medicine cabinet is empty, 7/8 drawers are empty, and my cookbook shelf is all packed up.

I've learned that I need to keep track of the food I buy (I had 3 packages of Hormel pepperoni chilling out in my cabinet) and I need to plan to use what I buy instead of buying just "because". I'm hoping that with a group food bill with my new roommates, food will get eaten up. Such as--I buy a bag of chips and they last me FOREVER. Same with cookies, oatmeal, granola bars, 100 calorie packs, crackers, and candy. Hopefully my roommates will eat the stuff I never seem to finish (one of my roommates is a huge eater and claims he has multiple stomachs, ha!).

I'm a little annoyed that I have to wait till mid-September to move to the new place because by the time we move in, I won't remember what's in each box. I'm trying to combat that by Sharpie-ing the major contents of each one on the outside. It's nice that we have a storage unit, I can pack stuff and move it out so that I have room to pack the next round of boxes.

Basically, moving is thrilling the crap out of me. I can't wait to arrange my stuff in the new place. WHY AM I SO WEIRD?!

(For the first time in a really long time, my comforter and sheets will MATCH. That hasn't happened since I was little!)

List.

~The cruise has morphed into a vacation house in the Keys over Christmas. Which is still very awesome, other than actually spending Christmas day away from my family.

~I realized that recently I've been getting food/stains on my clothes more and more. It's like I'm morphing back into a little kid. Before I know it, the knees and butts of all my pants are going to be worn out!

~I believe that there are little flies residing in my drain. Not "drain flies", but more like tiny gnats. Yuck. At least I've only got 2 more weeks here. 2 weeks!

~We found an indian restaurant with a dinner buffet. SCORE. And it was pretty tasty.

~We also went to the fun pet store again. Birds are growing on me. I will totally get a little cockatoo/cockatiel if I can find one with a good personality that likes being held.

~I've decided that if I can make the room/convince my roommates that it's a good idea, I want a 10-gallon fish tank in the new apartment. It would be aesthetically pleasing! Especially with fun colorful fish!

~I'm making dinner for a bunch of friends tomorrow. I'm pretty excited because it's a meal that's usually a winner.

~My boyfriend bought a Wii recently and it's my new favorite thing to do when hanging out with people.

Moving Up.

So there's this show on TLC called Moving Up. It has an interesting premise, but I'm surprised by people's reactions! On the episode I watched yesterday, the family that was coming back to look at the home was horrified. One of the girls even said "I want to burn it down". Now surely, they knew that a home that was still stuck in the 70s (outdated kitchen and orange shag carpet) was going to change in the hands of a new owner!

I know that I'm going to be sentimental when my family finally moves from our current home...but to be upset at the new owners for making it theirs? What's the big deal? That just feels to me like you haven't accepted moving into a new home!

I can understand reactions like this on Trading Spaces when the family still has to live in the home. But on this show the family is out and if in accordance with the title have "moved up" to a better house.

Oh TLC. Some of your shows are awesome (Little People, Big World), while others (What Not to Wear) drive me up a wall. Don't get me started on Stac(e)y and Clinton. Argh!

Weekend of Fun

This weekend was my boyfriend's parents' 25th anniversary party. We headed down to Cincy late Thursday night. Friday was spent buying large amount of the food we needed and making food. On Saturday, my boyfriend and his brothers decorated the hall (with the help of their two aunts and an uncle) while I ran errands with his mom and finished more food preparation (my killer cheesy potatoes, buffalo chicken dip, and Chex muddy buddies).

All in all the party was a success and a lot of fun. I rode a motorcycle for the first time ever with my boyfriend's cousin and it was AWESOME (even if it was just the parking lot of the church). Found out that I may be going on a Christmas cruise with his family (that would be a grand total of 23 people in our party!) that would be paid for other than airfare to get there (Florida, I assume), alcohol, and excursions. I am really excited and I hope it comes through! It would be a Christmas of firsts! My first time on my first time flying, my first cruise and my first time on true foreign soil (Canada hardly counts!). Eeee!

In other news, we spent several hours swimming yesterday thus I am sunburned today. It stinks!