Summer Begins

For college students, summer has begun! Last week, Stuart and I packed up the majority of my belongings in Cullowhee and crammed them into his already filled apartment. I brought my TV, my DVD player, my framed poster of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” my stuffed animals, and all of Sparta’s things. We were a silly-looking caravan driving down I-40, me with a cat wandering around in my car on top of garbage bags of clothes and Stuart’s boat of a car filled to the brim with shelving units and random items.

The "new" living room

In the beginning, I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the prospect of moving in with Stuart. I hate the city of Raleigh for some reason I can’t explain and I kept wondering what would happen if we broke up over the summer. I didn’t have a job, but I didn’t have one in Cullowhee either. At the end of April, I officially ended my employment at The Western Carolinian, which was just as sad as leaving The Flaming Arrow at East Gaston High School. Now, I am actually enjoying Raleigh (for the most part) and now that I have my own belongings and personal flairs, such as my Van Helsing and Adam Lambert poster, tacked up on Stuart’s walls, I feel much more at home and happy.

And, I just found out yesterday evening while Stuart was grilling steaks on the landing that I have (finally) have a new job!!! After months of filling out application after application, I turned to my roommate’s mother for help. She’s in the journalism business and helped me contact some insider people. Meanwhile, I also applied for a job as an “examiner” at Examiner.comwhere I would write about a certain topic for the local audience of Raleigh. While I’m still waiting to hear from the insider people, I got an email from Examiner that said they’re happy to welcome me to their team as the Raleigh Pet Photography Examiner. While the pay probably won’t be near what I had at The Western Carolinian, income is income. I’ll be doing something I love about a topic that I love for a few extra bucks. 

Sparta and Stuart

In other news... Sparta is doing well at his new home. He absolutely adores Stuart's place with its long hallway that he can sprint through and the large windows in the living room where he can bask in the sun every morning and watch the birds every afternoon. Yesterday, he spotted and guarded his apartment against two stray cats in the parking lot.  The other day I dragged him to PetCo in Cary. I wanted to introduce him to walking on a leash inside of a building. While everyone in the store swarmed around him with coos and pets, Sparta was beyond annoyed, and after picking out a toy for Nutmeg, we left as quickly as possible. 

Nutmeg is also doing well. She's been a wonderful addition to the family. Every night, she scampers around in her exercise ball through the apartment providing entertainment to herself, Sparta, and us humans. She goes by several names, include "hamster," "Hamtaro," and Stuart occasionally calls her "rat" which I admonish him for!

So far, she's been easy to care for while providing fun and something new to love. It was interesting to see how something as small and simple as a hamster has really strengthened mine and Stuart's relationship as we jointly care and provide for an animal that depends on us. Whether he believes this to be true or not, I find myself mentally bearing all the responsibility for Sparta. At the end of the day, Sparta is my pet that I have brought into Stuart's life. Nutmeg, we bought and decided to buy her together. Sparta is like a furry kid from a previous marriage. He was part of the package of dating me whether Stuart liked it or not. Luckily, Stuart adores Sparta and vice versa. In fact, the whole reason Stuart and I got to know each other for we started dating was because he started coming to the apartment more to see my crazy, dog-like cat that liked to play fetch and use the furniture as a jungle gym. The fact that he liked my cat was one of the characteristics I found attractive about him. 

Hamtaro

Today was a rather unlucky day (it is Friday the 13th). I am under the impression that I have strep throat and might have to go to the doctor's soon before it turns into something worse. I feel completely useless as I've slept all day or been lying about on the couch unable to focus on whatever TV I've been watching. Hopefully, I'll get better within a day or two and I continue enjoying my summer with Stuart. We have so many plans, so many adventures we want to have together.

Breather

Today has been a rather relaxing day.

I woke up this morning next to Morgan in his gigantic queen-sized bed with soft, feathery dark blue sheets. We ate Raisin Bran Crunch in the living room while finishing the next episode of "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" on NetFlix. I showed off my new sun dress that his mom helped me pick out at JC Penney. It's an "animal palm" print and I adore it!! I don't remember ever owning a sun dress, and this one is super cute paired with a new necklace of a silver chain with a large orange jeweled daisy as the centerpiece.



Shopping at JCP



We headed to Morgan's parents house to drop off his laundry because there's no washer/dryer at his new apartment. Then, we shopped for bedroom curtains at Target before lunching at Panera Bread. I consumed a a warm, gooey bowl of macaroni and cheese, a soft pumpkin muffin, and tangy fresh lemonade. Then, we walked around the shopping complex in the finally warm sun looking at all the different shops that I've never imagined before settling down at a strangely named frozen yogurt joint. Inside, you could pick your container size, pick your frozen yogurt flavor, then add in frozen fruit for the perfect taste. Morgan decided on blueberries and strawberries giving the yogurt a bluish purple color with a sweet, sweet taste!

With purple tongues, we got back into the car and visited a lovely park with a dam and sandy beach. My toes still have flecks of sand between them. I built a small pond turtle out of sand and Morgan tried once again to teach me how to skip stones.

Off to his parents house we went again to pick up his laundry. His younger brother, father, Morgan, and I all participated in some healthy banter while Morgan's dad tried to fix the trunk on Morgan's car and I incessantly hiccuped in the background. We also grabbed some chairs, an umbrella, and towels for our beach trip in a few days!!!!!

It was a gloriously peaceful day with such beautiful weather. Now, I am relaxing more at the apartment while Morgan is working hard at the restaurant. Hopefully, he'll be home before midnight and we can have another peaceful day with beautiful weather tomorrow!

Electrified

Some people believe happiness comes from giving.
Some people believe happiness comes from achieving your goals and gaining success and recognition.
Some believe believe happiness comes from doing something adventurous and new.
I believe in all these thoughts, but I'd like to add one more.

I believe you can achieve happiness by sitting and listening to others.

Last night I was in the arms of Morgan. We were talking quietly, getting to know each other, exploring each other's minds and making random comments after lounging on the love seat for an hour or so watching Super Troopers. Sparta was quietly playing on the floor. Everyone else in the apartment was tucked away in their rooms.

Without warning, my bathroom light blacked out.
"Huh, my light died!" I said.
Suddenly, there was a shout.
"POWER'S OUT!" called Cody and CC, heading into the hall. Kayla also hustled into the hall.
"There's a flashlight in the far kitchen drawer," I yelled from my room.
"Is this the Black Out?" asked Kayla.
"I thought that was last week," I answered. "That's this week?"
"Yeah," replied CC.
I turned to Morgan."Well!"

From my place in bed, I could see the bobbing beam of the flashlight in the hallway. Then, there was the Cinnamon aroma of Kayla's candles and the flickering shadows making figures on the walls. Other than that, only the street lamps across the highway visible through my window were the only other sources of light.

I haven't experienced a power outage for some time. The email two weeks ago said the outage would last until 8 a.m. We had eight hours to go... and it wasn't so bad. Yeah, I complained a bit at first because I'm afraid of the dark and I can't sleep without the sound of my fan, but then... it was nice. Kayla, CC, and Cody settled into the living room where their hushed voices about silly things and stories were a kind comfort as Morgan and I murmured to ourselves in my bedroom.The candle's aroma, which usually gives me a headache, wafting around the apartment.

Suddenly, it didn't matter that I had an 8 a.m. class in the morning. It didn't matter I couldn't get on the Internet or run my fan for the night or see my toothbrush unless by candlelight. It didn't matter my head had been pounding all day from the cold Morgan had shared. It didn't matter I had a paper due in eight hours. I knew I wasn't going to get to it. It was peaceful. It was quiet. It was one of those moments where you'd bet everything that the world had stopped spinning just for you. It was exactly what I needed after the past two weeks. Listening to Morgan, listening to my housemates in the living room, listening to Sparta's little pitter-patter, smelling the candle, watching the light bounce about in the hallway, snuggling warm in the dark... I was happy. And, I didn't have to do a thing.

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.