A House is Not a Home (Glee Cast Version)

Just fell in love with this version in an instant! Ah, "Glee" almost makes me miss high school!

Sparta in Action

I recorded this last night. Sparta is in love with this toy!

Bleach-ed

This post's soundtrack as today is Laundry Day for me!


It's one of those weeks where you know everything is going to happen! Everything is going to keep you on your toes and you have no down time whatsoever!!! So why am I treating it like it's not?! Sunday I spent the day on the loveseat in the living room watching "The Tudors" and the Carolina Panthers game. We shall not even mention that game anymore! Yesterday after four classes, I spent the majority of the day sitting in bed watching "Glee" episodes or just messing around. I accomplished reading half of my Film assignment and writing a few pages in my book... and writing a few pages in my book counts towards zero homework assignments.
I have two papers due, and three articles... I think it's three. Yeah, three... unless I get my Rumors column going, then it's four. My articles are due tonight at 5. One of my papers is sort of due tomorrow... it's Peer Review Day or as the teacher said, "If you don't have your paper, don't show up." Well that sucks because that gives me over two hours to kill before my next class as I don't like going back and forth between campus and the apartment multiple times a day, so..... I must finish my paper by 10:00 tomorrow morning. Yet here I am writing a blog with another "Glee" episode on pause listening to the whirling of the washing machine and my laundry theme song "Laundry Day" from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. That would be cool if I had a sing-along blog!! Yeah so, I'm feeling really random today.

The truth is I've been in a good mood. Well, I'm still in a bad mood getting up at 8 a.m. on MWF, but that's more of a I'm so exhausted and in a fog at that hour that I'm in default bad mood. But, I'm in a really good mood all of a sudden. Maybe it's because I've been giving myself "days off" when I shouldn't and I bought a few bags of candy at Wal-Mart! Ah, sugar!!

It could be that Sparta is in my life! I love that little cat! I haven't had a depressing night sitting in my room with nothing to do since he got here! Instead, I've been standing out in the hallway until 10:30 at night throwing a catnip-filled sock or a furry mouse as Sparta chases it down the hall every time like he's on fire. There should be smoke coming out of his heels. He is an amazing little cat, and confession: I've been a really bad mom!

On Saturday, I decided to be an adult and clean the bathroom toilet and sweep the bathroom floor because it was piling up with cat litter. Father had bought me a new bottle of toilet bowl cleaner with bleach and I couldn't figure out how to open it. You were just supposed to pop the cap with a simple twist, but it wouldn't pop! So, when I turned around, the cap finally popped and I accidentally squeezed the bottle squirting bleach directly into Sparta's eyes and on his paws as he was directly behind me to investigate my chore.

Sparta yowled and fled the bathroom. I had to chase him around the apartment three times in order to catch him. He wouldn't come anywhere near me! All the while, I'm saying, "Oh Sparta! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! Baby! I'm so sorry. Come back!"

CC, on the loveseat, was wondering what the heck is going on as his new housemate is running around the apartment after her cat, screaming. Then, he laughed when he found out the truth.
Finally, I captured Sparta and began to wash out his eyes and release him. Then, I see him licking his paws and face, and I'm thinking, "Oh #$&*, he's going to poison himself and I'm going to come home from the football game and find a dead cat that I paid $250 for!"
"What am I going to do?"
"Give him a bath!" said CC.
"My gosh, I don't even know how I would go about doing that."
"Well, you could... no, you're not going to like that suggestion."
"What? Throw him in the toilet and flush?"
"No," answered CC, "put him in the dishwasher."
My mouth hung agape. "Oh my gosh! He'd drown!"
"Told you you wouldn't like the suggestion."
In the end, I tossed Sparta into the kitchen sink and began to bathe him with a washcloth. Oh, he was NOT happy!!! However, he behaved surprisingly well, only meowing once and never trying to scratch out my eyes or make it impossibly difficult to hold him down with unnecessary wiggling. When I dried him off, Sparta refused to let me near him for the next couple of hours.
Thankfully, Sparta survived! He is perfectly healthy and back to normal. Though my friends aren't going to let it go!
"Oh, Sparta, look how white your paws are! They look like they've been bleached."
"You know, he can't see that toy! You blinded him with bleach!"
"How's Sparta? Has he forgiven you yet?"
"What did you do to Sparta today, Lex?"

Thanks, guys! I swear, it was an accident!!

Sparta after his bath

"Riding Through this World"

(And I order you to listen to this song while reading: "Sons of Anarchy" opening theme )

In September on the FX channel, a TV show premieres just in time to make me not give up on TV all together after long, happy-go-lucky, never-actually-funny sitcoms throughout the summer (you know, except for Shark Week because that's AWESOME!). It's called "Sons of Anarchy" and it stars some legends:
Charlie Hunnam (Green Street Hooligans)
Katey Sagal ("Married with Children," "Futurama")
Ron Perlman (Hellboy, The Last Winter)

I don't remember why I first started watching this show. Usually I don't get into shows unless I already know the actors in them or if I happen to sit down to something Kate's watching and just happen to like it... something that doesn't happen often because she enjoys MTV. I think maybe it was the colorful advertisement in Entertainment Weekly. Whatever the reason, I sat down to the first episode and the show took off! I was unused to TV such as this! This was real stuff. It was like a movie every single episode! I was thrilled with the action, the characters, and the appropriately-placed humor. Here was an excellent TV show.

Now, we're in season three, which is proving to be slower than the previous two seasons though still entertaining. I'm one of those fans that will tune in every week even the show has completely lost its touch. I have dedication like no other! But I digress...

The plot in one sentence is you follow a motorcycle gang as they run in with other gangs or "clubs," control the police, try to make a living, and protect their family in a small California desert town. The show is rated TV-MA because, yes, it shows violence and a lot of sex. It's a TV motorcycle gang. We're not talking about Bikini Bottom here. It's a rough town and no matter who you are, if you're caught without a gun, you could get seriously hurt with some of the ruffians that live in Charming. But the violence, the sex, the action... that's not the main reason I tune into the show.

With season three, I recognize a new love budding in me over the show ...I've always wanted to be a part of a big family that lived close together. My family... we're not family reunion people, especially not now after the divorce. How do you have a joint family reunion when the two sides won't talk to each other? It'd be like a Hatfield/McCoy family reunion (which is funny because I AM a 7th generation McCoy. One day we'll discuss Von Hippel disease!)!! What a disaster! Whenever I wrote stories, I also wrote in first person and the character that was most like me always lived with a large family. One of my favorite stories I wrote was called Famous Family and it was a huge family of actors living on the same block and going about the Hollywood world. I loved it. The "me" character had two older brothers, one sister, several aunts, several uncles, even more cousins, both sets of grandparents, and was never without attention and family love. I truly believe in "it takes a village to raise a child," and that's what you get with "Sons of Anarchy."

Yes, they murder people. Yes, they smuggle illegal guns. Yes, the unattached men screw everything in site. Yes, they have made some horrible, poor decisions. That's not what makes it so great. What's so great is the family dynamics among this gang, the Sons of Anarchy. Wives or "old maids" and other family members are also members of the club even though they don't have patches or ride. Because if one of them gets hurt... the whole gang goes after the culprit. There is a togetherness among them I have never experienced before, a togetherness I tried to create among the boys that never stuck.

My favorite character is Gemma - mother of the vice president and wife to the president - no one messes with her family! She doesn't take crap or let anybody walk all over her. She is independent and strong. I wish I could be like her. Now, I'm not going to be tying up a caretaker to a wheelchair in a garage as a hostage because she threatened to turn me into the FBI... but I will start telling people, "Hey, you can't talk to me like that! Keep it up and there's the door."

I kind of just did that to one of my friends, one of the boys. I got fed up with the way he talked down to me. So, I told him how I felt, and he didn't like it, and well... it remains to be seen whether I lost a friend or not. But, they say change is a good thing. I don't want to have friends that talk to me like that or blow me off all the time. No regrets. He is a great person, but I don't need that kind of negativity in my life. There'll be no replacing him, but it's time to either fix the problem or move on as my self worth continues to plummet because of his heartless words.

I'm an oddball, everyone knows it! I should have to wear a sign or something. Maybe I'll never find a Sons of Anarchy of my own, but it's definitely something that will continue to pop up in my writing. Because I that's how I use my gift: if I don't like something about this world that I can't change, I'm going to get on my computer and write a new world, one that I can change. And, it'll be bad a$$!

Like a C-List Stalker Movie

I saw The Viking today hand-in-hand with his girlfriend.
And, I began shaking so badly that I nearly fell off my bike. It literally took me at least two minutes to try and lock the darn thing to the bike rack.
It's been nearly a year.
This reaction should have stopped by now.
I don't even know what it means.

No point to the comic. It's just depressing. Cyanide and Happiness

Shaking up the Snow Globe

Operation “Sparta”

Status: Complete

Operation “Sparta” was a success. I just turned in the paperwork and payment a few minutes ago to guarantee Sparta’s permanent stay here at the apartment. Believe me, it wasn’t easy. After last night, I was about to drag him back to Charlotte this morning!

On Saturday, I loaded Sparta into Little Honda and we headed off to Cullowhee. Sparta behaved well in his cat carrier though he was quite vocal with that piercing yowl of his. He was constantly distracting me from driving by bribing me to open his carrier via cute belly flops and rolls wanting his belly scratched. We arrived at the apartment in the late afternoon and I was shocked by Sparta’s horrific reaction to the new place. In the Outer Banks, Sparta had immediately taken to the beach house. Here, without Piddy Paws, he cowered under my bed for several hours before eventually venturing out to meet CC. The little vivacious cat I knew and loved was gone. Instead was a rather depressed-looking, frightened kitten. It made me think the whole idea of bringing him up had been a mistake. All I could imagine was Piddy Paws at home wondering where Sparta was and Sparta here wondering where was Piddy Paws and why he had been uprooted from his old home. I still can’t think about it.

Sunday: Sparta grew to be more adventurous and playful. Still, there was a lacking spark that makes Sparta SPARTA! He’s a wild kitty, playful, never serious. Where was my little troublemaker? He continued to become more himself, and CC and I had a great time with his last night as I had bought him some new toys at Wal-Mart, including a laser pointer. Sparta has never seen a laser pointer before and didn’t immediately take to it. He responds to toys with noise. Here was a silent dot of red light scurrying around the floor, and he didn’t know what to make of it. Eventually, he got the hang of it, and it was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.

Last night: Sparta is unused to being locked in a room, but I have to do so at night because his litter box is in my bedroom and I don't like my door to be open and unlocked when I sleep. It makes me even more paranoid than I already am. So, Sparta spends the night in my room.

Last night, he decided it wasn't fun anymore and started getting mischievous. He yowled a bit and he kept jumping up on my desk where are a lot of trinkets for him to knock to the floor and make a big mess. My sleep was interrupted quite a bit, but none as bad as The Incident at 4:30 this morning!

There is that indescribable sound when glass hits glass and shatters. This is the sound I heard, waking me immediately from sleep. I didn't even have to look over to know what was broken. It was my snow globe collection!

Sparta, in his ultimate and deadly curiosity, had clambered up onto the unstable shelving that housed my snow globes on the top shelf. Maybe if he had knocked a few off, they would have survived. No, Sparta took out two layers of the plastic shelving along with all the snow globes, all the ceramic breakable statues, and all the figures. When I turned on the lights and looked out over the mess, FIVE out of the ten snow globes were destroyed and one of the ceramic statues I had painted as a ten-year old was broken. Somehow, everything else survived.

X's mark what died last night.

Glitter. Sparkles. Fake snow. Water. Glass. All of it was everywhere in a huge puddle and some splashing on the electric cords near the scene of the accident.

I didn't say a word to Sparta. I didn't cry. I didn't scream. I didn't ask for help. Missing Piddy Paws more than ever, I kneeled on the floor and began picking up the shards of my different snow globes and ceramic tarantula, putting the pieces into a plastic Food Lion back while Sparta, scared out of my mind, watched in a corner. When I could spot no more glass, I placed a huge towel over the spot of water and soaked up as much as I could, then dried off the surviving snow globes and figures, put them away in a cabinet, and went back to bed where I finally did cry as I came to the realization that maybe Sparta needed to return to Charlotte.

This morning I was still unsure of whether I wanted to turn in the checks which would seal the deal of Sparta's living in the apartment. I decided that if I returned home after a full day of classes and found the apartment upside down from Sparta's wicked paws, I would immediately drive back to Charlotte, drop him off, and drive back home. My train of thought swerved from track to track throughout the day. Take him home, keep him here, take him home, keep him here... When I returned to the apartment, everything was in perfect order. I called out "Here kitty, kitty!" and here comes my baby boy running down the hallway to me. He sprinted into my arms and began purring so sweetly.

"Alright, baby boy, we'll make this work," I told him and turned in the check. Sparta is officially a member of my apartment family!

SHOUT OUT!!!!

To the girls, which include Barney, who I eat lunch with! Today we played Ice Cream Musical Chairs. We all bought ice cream at Freshens then in a circle, switched our ice creams among each other. I had chocolate with Reese cups pieces. Barney had cookie dough with caramel syrup. I have no idea what the other two girls had but it was DELICIOUS!!!

"There's a party in my mouth and everyone's invited," sang out Barney's boyfriend.

This ice cream musical chairs thing needs to become a daily tradition!! Hopefully, my declining balance points will last out the semester, haha!

Nightmare Part Duex

Another nightmare:

It was the end of class and we were returning from a trip outside. The class and I exited the elevator, and I was standing in the hallway next to a water fountain. My brown school bag was slung over my shoulder, I think I was wearing a scarf and a jacket. In my hand was my Samsung cell phone. It began to ring Adam’s ringtone so I answered.

“Hello?”

“Uh, who is this?”

“Lex. Who is this?”

I don’t remember the rest of the conversation word-for-word, but the caller was The Viking. Apparently, Adam had tricked The Viking into calling me by telling him he was calling someone else. In the real world and in this dream world, The Viking and I are not allowed to speak to each other as ordered by Western Carolina University. And here we were on the phone breaking that rule. It was horribly awkward. And, it was upsetting. The Viking got off the phone as soon as he could. There was no talk of reconciliation.

As soon as I hung up, Adam jumped out from behind a corner and was jumping up and down, grinning.

“You two talked!” he cried.

I began to scream at him, telling him how horrible he was for forcing me to talk with the one person I never wanted to speak with. Even worse, forcing him to talk to me when that’s all I wanted but that’s all he didn’t. I woke up after I told Adam we were no longer friends.

I don’t know what was worse: the dream or waking up and realizing I hadn’t actually talked to The Viking after all.

When I relayed this dream to Cody, he laughed and couldn’t understand why it was a nightmare.

…Anything that deals with The Viking IS a nightmare!

Operation Sparta Final Phase

Operation "Sparta"

Status: Final Phase

Yesterday after classes I traveled from Cullowhee to Charlotte to pick up Sparta. I walked through the door and there are my two beautiful babies, Piddy Paws and Sparta. It saddened me for the split second that Sparta shrank from my hand because he thought I was a stranger. But now we're all hanging out in the kitchen. Sparta got himself a flea treatment so there won't be an immediate invasion of biting black dots in the apartment. I still don't know how I'm going to handle taking one cat and leaving behind the one that I raised from a kitchen for the past nine years.........................

Last night Ma took me out to Forestview High School to see Kate cheer for the varsity football game. What else is new... my high school lost unless they had a huge turnaround in the last quarter. Lemme check The Gazette... OOOHHHH!!

Forestview: 47

My alma mater: 7

I left a football-sucking high school for a football-sucking college!! Did you seen last weekend's WCU football game? Yeah, neither did I... because there's no point in going! Anyway, I'm not trying to rag on the school... hey, we have reasonable tuition prices because you never hear an all star athlete say "I wanna be a Catamount!" Though we do have Brad Hoover, a former Carolina Panther, as part of our Hall of Fame. Take that for what it's worth. Personally, I think Hoover is an amazing football player. Dear sir, please come back to your college.....

So at the game, Ma and I are hanging out watching Abbey cheer, my high school lose, and we're working out way through a bag of Logan's salted peanuts (this was after some blue raspberry Italian ice, yum!). Well, because we got one touchdown, the cheerleaders threw towels and T-shirts into the stands. So all the parents rush to the front to convince their child to throw the merchandise at them, including Ma. Kate hefts the T-shirt at Ma but because she's clinging to the bag of peanuts, the T-shirt goes sailing past her into my hand! SCORE! I've never caught something at a game before! Rock on. Now I have an oversized white T-shirt with my high school's name on the front and a large advertisement for some kind of yard work on the back!

"I only had one hand!" said Ma, disappointed.

"Dude," I answered, "I just caught it with one hand." I waved my cell phone in her face. "My cell phone was in my other hand!"

I am super proud of my caught shirt... though not as proud of my staff polo which I wore to the game!

After football, it was off to Waffle House with MK and his brother NK. We had a blast hanging out again talking about school, teasing the Waffle House staff who know MK personally by now, and taking pictures in the parking lot! Typical K brothers fun! I wish we had had more time together.

Well, I've just spotted the peanut bag from last night, so I'm going to dig in while finishing The Men Who Stare at Goats movie on TiVo. I'll be leaving for Cullowhee soon after a steak lunch! Oh wait...

SHOUT OUT

To "Barney" and "Fox" (both girls). Barney and Fox are two friends of mine in my Literature class, and yesterday I barely made it up to the second floor of Coulter thanks to a hypoglycemic attack. I have no idea what happened or why my sugar plummeted but it did once again! Barney and Fox were amazing, sitting out in the hall with me and making sure I didn't do something really stupid as my sugar climbed back up and was extremely unstable. I began to get super goofy and it's best to let what happened remain between us three. I am not proud of my uncontrollable actions! The point is they are super cool for helping me out and being so calm about the whole thing!!! YOU GUYS ROCK!

These Boots are Made for Showing Off

Yesterday morning started off with a bang... quite literally!
I opened up the fridge to get my milk for my breakfast cereal... and BOOM! One of CC's beers rolled out of the fridge and exploded at my feet, beer and glass everywhere! Already late, I now had to pick up glass bottle shards and mop up the golden liquid creeping across my tiled kitchen floor. The smell, as I've never found alcohol appealing, was horrifying and burned my nose.
"It's gonna be one of those days," I sighed to myself, out of paper towels and now finishing with napkins.
Afterwards, I decided it was a Boots Day.

Shoes have never been my speciality. In fact, one thing in this life I hate the most is going shoe shopping. I have these gigantic, bear-like feet that are too short for size 10 but too wide and long for size 9... it's a losing battle and I hate it! The shoes I do find that actually fit usually take an hour to discover in the very back of the store. A few years ago, my grandmother and I were shopping, and we found my first and only pair of leather boots. I wear them whenever I don't want to be invisible. In them, I am taller, stand elegantly, feel sexy (except for the pain in my feet), and you can't ignore me as I clip-clop down the hallway. Yesterday, I wore them and stomped my way around campus in a low cut blouse, dark wash jeans, and my amazing black leather boots!

And the day got better... probably not because of the boots, I realize that. Most likely because my attitude was better because I felt great. I did well on my first Communications test. A package arrived at the office. I had lunch with a cool group of people who keep me laughing. And, I got to volunteer at the animal shelter.

However, reality did bite back (again quite literally) as I was petting Cartman the cat. That cat swung around while I was scratching his spine and took a chunk out of my arm! It wasn't that it was too painful, but now I had to report him... which means he gets quarantined for ten days. The shelter keeps an eye on him to make sure he isn't rabid. The sad thing is Cartman was supposed to get adopted today!! And now he can't because he has to stay at the shelter for ten days! I feel just awful!!! Cartman is a beast of a cat... he looks like Mufasa from The Lion King, but he got excited and went too far. And unfortunately with a shelter cat, that's how things work.

I want to give a shout out to my Aunt C and Uncle D! The DVD player they graciously bought us here at the apartment arrived this morning, and I set it up all by myself! I was so pleased! And, I didn't cry or scream or throw things. The instructions for this model made it surprisingly simple. Now, I'm watching Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman in Australia which I bought at Wal-Mart yesterday. =)

Operation Sparta:

Status: Ongoing

Last night, I had a fright that Sparta wasn't going to be able to come to the apartment due to money troubles. It seems my parents want me to pay a fraction of the pet fee to show that I "am committed." I had thought previously my commitment lied in caring for the cat full time, buying cat food, cat litter, cleaning up after his messes, and all that once he got here. It didn't seem to occur to them that I was already losing money for buying cat groceries I hadn't normally been purchasing. But because I want one of my cats more than anything in the world - I've never lived without an animal in the house except for those horrible, horrible months in the dorm room where I suffered from depression and anxiety because I had nothing to love and look after except the few, brief hours I was able to manipulate my schedule to get up to the animal shelter - I gave him and decided to take the cut in my bank account hoping that it will eventually even out thanks to the raise at work. God bless my boss for believing in me and promoting me or else... well the whole "Operation Sparta" thing probably would have been a failed mission.

Here Kitty, Kitty!

Operation "Sparta" Update:

Status: On-going

So I've been given the green light on bringing Sparta to the apartment. My roommates have all signed the official waiver that they're ok with having a cat around the place, and Ma says to come get him. This weekend, I will be returning to Charlotte to pick up my "little mate" and bring him to his new home. I sincerely hope this will work out all right, and that he won't be too distraught without Piddy Paws and vice versa. That's my greatest concern: Piddy's only means of exercise has been chasing Sparta around the house. What's the fat old thing going to do now? I want to bring Piddy Paws up here more than anything, but I can see everyone getting along with Sparta better as he's an extremely friendly and fun cat! Plus there's that whole Piddy won't use the litter box thing. Freaking cat!!

So far no chicken pox!! Hallelujah! Will continue to keep a look-out...!

Today I got to exercise my duties as News Editor... and I loved it! That was such fun. I've always enjoyed trading papers with my classmates so I can mark it up with a red pen. It's making me seriously contemplate a complete major flip flop and dropping Journalism or taking on a double major so I can work as an editor for a publishing company. My boss at the newspaper said that with my experience I should be able to jump right into an editor position at a newspaper. A newspaper?! I hadn't even thought of tha! What an ingenious idea!!! That's the best of both worlds, right?! It's something to definitely consider. Hopefully, I'll be able to make up my mind before I'm too far gone in my Journalism major and can't turn back.

None of you guessed correctly of who I have feelings for in the poll, though I did find your answers amusing. I won't tell you the correct answer because he may or may not read this blog, but I will say it doesn't matter anymore. I've given up. I don't have the stomach to really put some effort into it when he hasn't shown the slightest response to the few times I've tried to start something. He either doesn't like me like that (which is cool) or he is completely blind! Either way, I'm too busy with my school work and job to let it get me down. I didn't have much of a hope that it would work out anyway. Oh well... on to the next unlucky sucker!

Operation Sparta

Operation number 456923 a.k.a. "Sparta"

Status: On-going

Participants: This blogger, this blogger's mother, the cat

So Operation Sparta is in affect! You all remember my adorable cat Sparta?!

Well, I am desperate to have a furry face living with me up here at the apartment, and Ma is desperate to have one of the cats gone because the house back in Charlotte is a nut house! I would take Piddy Paws, but he has this thing about not wanting to use the litter box. Instead, he prefers to use clothing, towels, and trash bags. Don't ask me why. He never had this problem before until like a little over a year ago... strangest thing! So because he's a guarantee I'll never see my deposit again, I'm going to take little Sparta. That's IF we can swing the cost.

I swear this apartment company is as money-sucking as the university next door most times. But, after my stint in a dorm room... it's worth it!!

I learned my boss, who I had a meeting with last Monday, has the chicken pox. Yeah, I've never had the chicken pox. And, I've never had the vaccine. And, the University Health Center doesn't give out that vaccine. ...It could be very long week. And, my boss is so sweet. He's more concerned about me, healthy as of right now, than his own sick self. A lot of folks my age are cursed with a sorry boss, but I've got a great one! To be under his guidance is a real joy and an honor. This chicken pox thing could ruin our working relationship, though... haha!!

Don't leave your computer blog up, Miss Lex

Oh hello world! This is in fact Kayla. Lex left her blog up on the computer, and I feel it will not happen again. So, let me say I have been following her blog and it has been quite nice for someone to think of me as a big sister; she is kind of like the little sister I wanted but don't have. My little sister is somehwat OPPOSITE of me, trust me. She has informed me of the Viking situation and because I am female, I understand and all of that jazz.
Cullowhee Falls-  That snake.....that snake. If I were over there where the snake was and the snake lunged at me, I would have done the same thing. Well, that is if I had not passed out from fear of seeing a...WATER MOCCASIN near me.....or if it had indeed bit me and then it wouldn't have mattered anyway because I would probably die as it was a 2ish mile hike back up and down hills.
Bread Loaf-She is indeed correct in her funny looks at me for this.
Dinner-Yes, I will not, I repeat, WILL NOT, let my newest friend starve because she thinks she can't cook. I feel as if we would make a good team if we used the right ingredients and she wouldn't freak out about creaming the butter :) muahahhaha!
We have become fast friends because, well I dunno, but she feels it's because she's a Libra and I am a Capricorn. I dunno about all that, but I think Lex is quite a cool cat and I wish I had been able to hang out with her more, and or met her last year! That is all for now; maybe she'll leave it up again and I will give you an update :)
Tatta for now!

Nightmare

Whenever I'm having difficulty dealing with something, my body internally deals with it by giving me nightmares. They fall under these three categories:
1. Nonsense that's either very vivid or terrifying
2. Someone is after me and I can't run way fast enough
3. The Viking and/or the boys

Last night, I dreamed about The Viking again. We were in a parking lot pretending to ignore each other. Little Honda was parked right beside his car and as I was backing out, I scraped Little Honda up against his vehicle. Crap, now I have to talk to him. So I jumped out of the car and said I was sorry. He actually wasn't mad (a true hint that this was a dream). One thing led to another and we started talking, but there was still that touchable wall of awkwardness. I don't remember anything that was said just the overwhelming feeling or discomfort.

No, this isn't nearly as frightening as my dreams usually are. But to see him again, to think I was that close to him again (because when you dream, some times you don't realize you're dreaming) was a nightmare within itself.

We haven't spoken to each other since early May, and he still has so much power over me... in my head, anyway. The novel I'm writing based on and exaggerated about The Viking's and my history is nearly finished. I'm at page 289, and I hope to be done by the end of September... which is quickly creeping up on me! I'm banking a lot on that this book will actually become published, actually become readable and take off in readership. My future depends on that it won't be like my blog... read by my family and professors, haha! I'm so proud of this story, and that I lived to tell about it. I can't for you all to read it! Maybe with its completion and its conclusion the nightmares will finally go away and I can rest in peace. ......That is a poor choice of words! That seems to hint at something else.... Ahem! ....And I can sleep at ease!

It's like the Old Days

Well, the rain has begun!

Last year, we used to say if it's not raining, it's snowing. If it's not snowing, it's foggy. If it's not foggy, it's cold. If it's not cold, then holy crap it's a sunny day!! Five out of seven days you can bet it was raining here in Cullowhee. For the three weeks I've been here the notorious downpour has been misplaced... until today!

I was drove into Sylva today to look at some art for the living room when the drizzle turned into a downpour. I couldn't see a thing through Little Honda's windshield. The car beside me had caused a wave of water to cascade over my car, it was raining heavily, and to make matters worse when I tried to make the windshield wipers go faster, I accidentally hit the cleaner button and had cleaner fluid spray all over my windshield!!!!

Then, when River and I came back to the apartment to hang out, a wall of rain hit us like a tennis racket smacking the poor tennis ball. The noise was deafening and scared us so badly we both cursed simultaneously. I nearly hit a car again that time as I suddenly couldn't see. It's like that moment when you crest a hill and the setting sun hits you directly in the eye as well as everyone else so they all slam on their brakes. That's the easiest way to get into a wreck, people! C'mon!

The rain lasted throughout the day, though stopped for a few short hours which coincided with the home opener football game (that I did not attend because I was doing more important things). Apparently, we were creamed in our second straight loss. Yes, nothing has changed at all. There's a reason why Western's tuition is so low!

There's been an entertaining, lovely lightning show playing outside, which is a rarity around here. Oh we get the rain alright but we usually miss out on the beautiful side of rain: thunderstorms! I love a good, calm thunderstorm to read or write to. Nothing gets my creative juices flowing like the sporadic extra wattage of light followed by the low grumble of thunder. Such majesty.

Even with the rain, which usually gets me into a fight with town of Cullowhee, it's been an enjoyable day! I purchased a cool hand painted white feather at a deco art/ice cream shop in Sylva. That was pretty sweet! And I got to hang with my awesome friends at Taco Bell where afterward I was challenged to a duel by Christian. Cody ran headfirst into his closet doors on purpose because he was that bored... this was after he beat himself with a wrench. Christian stole my cow-jumping-over-the-moon-patterned bathrobe and wore it around the apartment. He actually looked kind of good. That pastor in Florida didn't burn the Koran... that's a good thing! This day could have gotten seriously out of control around the world. And, I finished another chapter in my novel. That makes 23. I am pleased with the day's events.

So bring it on rain... you will not ruin my day!

Rain outside my apartment door

You Better Sit Down for This

It started off as a crummy day. After tossing and turning all night with an achy stomach, I still wasn't feeling better by morning and literally dragged myself out of bed. The plan was to last as long as possible, and I did, only missing one class. I returned to the apartment, shoveled a PB&J sandwich down my throat, and crawled in bed for an hour-long nap. When I woke up, the world was a whole new place!

First, I received an email from my aunt and uncle down in Florida. They bought me a DVD player for the apartment and were sending additional cash as a house-warming present in the mail. I'm a person who typical goes without. I walk around with holes in my socks because I don't like spending money. I forbid MK for paying for my $2 McDonald's because I don't like people spending money on me. So when my aunt and uncle announced that the gift was on the way, I was completely taken by surprise and began to cry in front of my laptop because of their generosity. 

Only a few gifts have made me cry:

1. a check with many zeros from my grandparents for graduation, which I have saved so I may buy a house after college

2. Little Honda, my temperamental Honda Accord who is the very symbol of freedom for me and was a surprise birthday present

3. That email

So thank you, Aunt C and Uncle D! You made my day!

But then... Kayla announced she was making me dinner! Home-cooked meal?! SCORE!

But then... I went to sign paperwork for my news editor position and I saw the three figured salary, but something was wrong. The total was too much. Then, I saw that I was being paid that three-figured sum PER MONTH when previously I had misheard that I was being paid such per four-mouth SEMESTER! It was a good thing I was sitting down when I read that because I just about flipped out from surprise and sheer excitement! Immediately, I called up my boss to double check that this was correct, and he laughed at how excited I got.

But then... Cody was hanging around the apartment while Kayla made dinner and I was laughing until tears ran down my face at Kayla's reaction of typical Cody sayings I've been hearing for half a year now. Things like how he's had sex on the American flag and how he wonders if that's the most patriotic thing he's ever done or the most treasonous!

Kayla believes it's the most patriotic... after she asked the nationality of the girl he was with who was American.

But then... I made chocolaty, delicious chocolate pudding, a kiddie treat I haven't had for about a year! It was so delicious! I savored every bite!

But then... I watched Christian proceed to finish off the remaining chocolate pudding and spend about 20 minutes making sure he got every drop of pudding, which was quite entertaining though slightly annoying a the spoon scraped and scraped and scraped against the bowl! And then he began to lick the darn thing!

But then... I am sitting here on the love seat in my pajamas typing up a blog in my quiet apartment listening to "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver and the whirl of the dryer. Perhaps I will watch one of my favorite movies, tackle some homework, or just be until I head to bed. Tomorrow, I have lunch with Kayla, a meeting with last semester's English professor about my novel, and only one class with Professor Guinness! With all these great things happening today, it will be a good day tomorrow as well! I am truly blessed.

The End

***Just a side note before we start: I was given my Western Carolinian staff polo shirt today and my boss said I was the first sophomore to become editor since the year 2000!! I am beyond thrilled and proud! Cross your fingers that I do well!

~ Jude got to visit this past weekend, which was great! I don't recall if I mentioned that River returned to the group. I believe I did. Either way, this makes the only boy I lost over the summer to be Jude who took a leave of absence from Western Carolina this year... or at least this semester. We'll see what happens in January.

~ Professor Guinness is up to her usual craziness. Last week, she asked a girl to spit in a spoon then threatened to swallow the spit. She was then surprised when we the class confessed that we found her intimidating.

"Ma'am," I wanted to say, "you were just about to swallow someone's spit from a spoon. In fact, I'm still waiting for you to go to the trash can and swallow it. And you're surprised because...?"

She really is a neat professor. Today, Guinness showed us a clip from Borat. Yeah, she's one of a kind! I'm eager to meet with her one-on-one this Friday.

~ All of you know I'm a writer. I am a staff writer for the campus newspaper. I write my own novels. I have been since first or second grade. I distinctly recall writing religiously in third grade. Recently, I have been working on a novel loosely based on my freshman year, in particular my story with The Viking. As you can imagine, it is a highly emotional book for me to write and there have been many occasions that I have broken down into tears or had a aesthetically pleasing movie moment of a single tear wiping mascara down one cheek. For the past four nights, I have been writing and going over the climatic scene in the novel and it gets me every time. I apologize to my friends for being particularly out of focus, not caught up in the conversation, not mentally there, and getting too lost in my thoughts. I am completely wrapped up in this scene, especially now because I'm stuck. I have no idea what I want my characters to decide next. Well, I know where I want them to go but I have two ways in my head that they can get there. The question is which path. It could change the whole outlook of the book if they choose one way over the other. What I need is to take a step back, detach myself from what happened last year, and let it be about the characters. What do I want the audience to get out of this? I want them, particularly young adult girls, to be strong and independent and not have a man have any amount of control over them as The Viking did and still does have over me.

On November 24, it will be one year since The Viking called me while I was at the DMV with Chris and Nicole to tell me he was leaving me for another girl. That moment will forever stay in my mind in vivid detail how I told him I still wanted to be friends, how I was beyond shocked as I didn't see it coming, how I tried to control my voice so he wouldn't know I was upset, how Nicole begged to stop at his room when we returned to campus so I could kick him as it was coincidentally enough "Kick a Ginger in the Shin" Day as declared by Facebook. I will never forget that same night when I called up Adam to tell him the news to find out not only that Adam already knew but that The Viking had previously begged Adam to "break up" with me FOR HIM! And yet somehow... I still have feelings for this person! I can't believe myself!

I am dedicating an entire novel to you, sir, so that I may release everything you did to me and move on with my precious, valuable life.

There is hope though. I have budding feelings from another guy. Hopefully, he may return them. In fact, I have mentioned him in my blog and to make things interesting... look over at the poll to the left and vote for who you think I am referring to! Should be interesting to see the results!

Kodak Moment

Here's what has happened in my first two weeks of school and Labor Day as told by my camera! Enjoy.

I love volunteering at the animal shelter! It makes my day. Above are Geronimo the kitten and Roscoe Poteet the Basset Hound/PitBull.

My amazing bamboo plant... I have a horrible feeling that it's already dying.

Kayla and I struggled to make a Cinderella cake. It wasn't so great, especially because of an accidental misreading and adding baking soda instead of baking powder!

I felt like wearing my green dress!

Cullowhee Falls. It is here where I witnessed the mutilation of that poor snake!

Fairy Godmother

I am officially a godmother of a beautiful, 8 pound baby boy named Aiden! He was born this morning (on Labor Day of all days) at 10:44 a.m. I was FOUR MINUTES off my predication. I told Jude he'd be born between 10:30 and 10:40. FOUR minutes off!!!! I couldn't believe it!
I was kept updated all night long by Adam. While I'm exhausted, I'm sure it can't compare to what Adam and his girl are going through right now. When I wasn't getting text messages, I was having dreams of being in the delivery room so it felt like I was there either way.

Soon, I will be getting a photo, and I can't wait to see my little godson! He is perfectly healthy and I am perfectly happy! Can't wait to meet him! And holy crap, Christmas is just a few months away! I must begin my all-powerful godmothering duties and get this baby something amazing for Christmas.

Happy birthday, Aiden!

A Quick Update

I could be a godmother by tomorrow morning!!! This is going to be a scary, long night... and I'm not the one having the baby. Adam is keeping me posted with text messages. They just arrived at the hospital, and hopefully... it's not false labor! I am on standby four hours away, and while I could make the trip up there thanks to the day off of school tomorrow, I'm pretty sure I can't afford the gas money right now as all of my money goes to groceries. Unfortunately, I will have to wait to see my new godson.
Aiden, you have a godmother who cannot wait to meet you!!

Family Planning

It's been a Saturday where I've been curled up on the couch with either my laptop or a book. Last night, I slept alone in the apartment, all of my roommates either at home or at the State game. It was daunting! For the first time, I was sleeping in a place completely alone - no dog, no cats, just little ole me and I thought I heard freaky noises all night. But, I woke up and have experienced a lovely day of writing, reading, and a memorable trip to Wal-Mart.

I've been sincerely missing my cats and having something around to take care of. With that in mind, I woke this morning with a desire: finish decorating my apartment. I tacked some posters up in the bathroom. I hung my graduation cap and the Dean's List certificate on the wall. I asked one of my grandmothers for a poster of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" painting to hang in the living room as a birthday present. Then, I was going out into the cool weather of September to check the mail, I saw a plant in someone's window. Idea! I must get a house plant!

I called up my roommate from last semester, insisted that we hang out, and that we take a trip to Wal-Mart. I picked her (Nicole) and Chris up at Nicole's dorm then we headed to Wal-Mart. After arriving and parking, Nicole got a phone call from one of her hall mates. The hall mate needed a pregnancy test.... uh oh! She asked if Nicole could pick it up. So off we go, Chris and Nicole looking like a couple, me as the third wheel for support, going to the Family Planning part of Wal-Mart for a pregnancy test. For record, I didn't even know where that section of the store was until today!

"Which one should I get?" Nicole asked.

"Uh... Clear Blue," I suggested.
"And how do you know this?"
"I watch commercials," I stated. "Hey, look... that one shows a little smiley face if you're pregnant!"
"It should be a frowny face!" Nicole remarked before finally picking out a test.
The rest of the trip was spent with me speculating out loud whether Chris (who is over six feet tall) and Nicole's (almost under five feet tall) imaginary child would turn out to be small, tall, or maybe their freakish heights would lead to a normal height. Don't be repulsed by this teasing. They do worse to me, and whenever we get together, we verbally slaughter each other with good-natured ribbing and egging on. Chris was walking around as the "proud father" telling his darling Nicole how "it was a prom night to remember" and all that. The reason this is so hilarious to us is because Chris and Nicole are SO wrong for each other it's just unthinkable! For them to be together, forget parents, is within itself a joke!
So here we are at the check-out counter:
Nicole - a pregnancy test, a 12-pack of water bottles
Myself - Cheerios, oatmeal, lucky bamboo plant which is supposed to bring good fortune and prosperity in a ceramic pot
And we ran out of the Wal-Mart!

A Moment of William Blake

The Sick Rose

William Blake

(1794)

"O Rose, thou art sick.

The invisible worm

That flies in the night

In the howling storm

Has found out they bed

Of crimson joy,

And his dark secret love

Does thy life destroy."

Newsie

After four long classes, I walked to the Old Student Union Building for a meeting for my boss. And guess what? He has promoted me to News Editor-in-Training! I couldn't be more thrilled! This is a huge step in the direction I want my career to take off in. Journalism was always supposed to be a back-up plan if my novels failed, but who knew I would enjoy it so much? Thanks, Bossman! This means so much to me, and I won't let you down!

Tonight, Kayla, CC, and I had a family dinner. CC and Kayla grilled chicken, I boiled macaroni, CC microwaved broccoli, and I set the table. It was a trip seeing us all hopping around the kitchen or running outside to the grille around the back of the apartment building while a "NCIS" marathon on USA played in the background. When Kayla and her friend brought in the chicken, we all sat down together at the dinner table and dined like I haven't since I left home two weeks ago!

My gosh... has it been nearly two weeks already?! And no school on Monday?!?! Can I get a happy dance!?!

Anyway, that dinner... that meant so much to me to be able to sit down in a family setting with my awesome roommates. If only Cody had been there! I feel like I'm living in a 4-bedroom apartment with only two other roommates! Where is my Cody? He either hates me or he hates our roommates or he hates this apartment. But I'm at a loss for words when it comes to him. He was part of my family last year, and now I never see him! It's heartbreaking. 

Back to the dinner... "Sooooooo who's going to do the dishes?" I asked when my plate was bare. Then, it was that Nose Goes game... and guess who lost! *Raises hand* But we pulled together again, rinsed off our plates individually, and filled up the dishwasher. And today CC cleaned all the kitchen counters. They were all shiny when I got home! He may have done it out of boredom, but thanks anyway! And, he's working on a cast iron skillet now... really cleaning and seasoning that thing. Man, whatever classes he's signed up for, I would like to take them because if you're bored enough to clean the entire kitchen, your homework load must be extremely light, haha!