Another Day, Another Year

It's the last day of 2011 and all I really want to talk about are books. Mainly, how both impressed and envious I am of writers. Also, seeing as I'm not a writer like the type of writers I'm going to mention, I know I won't say this with as much eloquence as I'd like.

The reason why I'm envious of writers is due to their ability to create emotion. Create whatever worlds you wish, what creatures you prefer. Yes, these things are valuable skills. However, I only mostly care about when... well, I suppose when writers make me care. Perhaps I get too involved with the characters in stories, but maybe it's just good writing. When a certain character is tortured, if the writer does their thing right readers will care. This goes for television as well. The humorous quips, the intellectual speeches. True, it's helped a great deal by good actors, but a lot of it comes down to good writing.

Yeah. I wish I was able to create fictional characters that people I don't even know would come to care about. Sounds crazy? Probably is, but think about how people like J.K. Rowling must feel about hoards of strangers caring about the moves of fictional people from her head.

Anyways, a new year is coming up, huh? I've hardly registered it. Honestly, it's starting to feel like just another day. Due to the fact that one of my friends just flaked out on me, it seems I'm going to go spend the New Year with some family. I really wanted to go out on the town, but I'm not going out alone. What can you do?

Resolutions... still working on solid ones. Hmm. Welp, I'll see all y'all new year! Unless you're already reading this in 2012. Whateve.

What are your thoughts for the new year?

An Addicted Personality

So I have an addictive personality. When I start something, I must finish it no matter what. The reason I can't have junk food in the house? I will eat it as quickly as possible. A blog I find interesting? I will read every post.

What I'm trying to say is that I stayed up until an hour before my normal school time wake up to finish a book, because I started the third in the series at 11:00pm. I'm not proud.

So much for getting my schedule back to normal. Thank god I have another week.

Anywho... have you read The Hunger Games series? Because it's quite good.

...I need to go to bed.

Acting My Age

Today, my cousin who is two months younger than me turned 20. All she could say when I saw her is how old she felt. Yes, 20 is old. A bit ridiculous, but that's how I felt the first few days of it. I often think about my age. As in, do I really fit my age? I like young adult novels. I love dress up. How adult do I really sound?
Then again, young adult novels have all of the fun. They go on incredible adventures and such, so it seems that not all young adult novels are meant simply for the YA audience.

As for dressing up? Why don't we do dress up more often? It's fun. I guess that's what getting all dolled up for a night on the town is for.

On the subject of growing up, it's hard to try to prove I'm maturing to my parents. Whenever I try to explain, it sounds more like a whining teenager to them. Not very good for convincing my maturity, but I'm working on figuring something out. I think part of the problem stems from the fact that I'm still their youngest, and maybe it's harder to see me growing up. I dunno.

So, I'm not sure I feel my age. Do you feel your age?

Let's Restart

Earlier, I had ideas on what to write about. However now as I sit at the computer, nothing comes to mind. Perhaps because I started The Hunger Games a couple of hours ago, and it's sucked me in like every other person that has read it. Hell, I'm already halfway done.

Seeing as the holidays are over, it's time for a restart. I honestly think that if New Year's wasn't right after Christmas, a lot of people would be a lot heavier even though most resolutions don't end up being followed through with. Wow, that's a long sentence.

Still, I think I'd like to get a move on with at least a few certain goals now. Waiting is just wasting time for getting things done. Therefore, here are some little goals that I would like to work on. They're not quite concrete yet, but I'd like to have a basic idea.

• Get back to my "before the holidays" weight. I'll admit it: I was not good this holiday season in accordance to food. Funny thing is, that I didn't have any problems until the week and a half before Christmas. Another thing is when you're smaller, it takes less food to help you gain weight. That's why people who originally start losing weight can eat so much, but y'all probably already knew that. And running? Only gets you so far. I have been running this entire break, and it doesn't do as much as you'd think sometimes.
• Get my sleeping pattern back to normal. This break, I've been mean to my normal schedule and been waking up late. True, I'm not over-sleeping, (I'm getting eight hours) but nine? Is too late for me. I want my 7:00AM back please!
• Use my punch card at the rec center to take exercise classes. I've been bad about using it, and I spent money on it! I don't want to end the year with any classes left.

I'm sure I'll think of more things I'd like to work on, but for now those are the basics. Now it's time for me to get back to The Hunger Games. Starting it in the evening was a bad idea.

What are your main goals for the future?

Time for Recuperation

And we're back.

I thought a post would be in the works for yesterday (or two days ago technically), but honestly? It wasn't going to be able to happen. It was just busy.

Did everyone have a good Christmas? I certainly did. I'm also still trying to recuperate. Not sure if I'm truly in that phase yet. The day started out on a bit of an odd note, due to the fact that I woke up in the middle of the night before waking up again at 7:00 AM to start baking some rolls. Usually every year before, my family has gone straight to the presents on Christmas morning, but we didn't get to them until about an hour later. Ah, we're getting old in this house. Sort of.

The haul was good, the food was aplenty, and there was much family time to be had. We had Christmas "dinner" at our house, so a lot of family came over. (I say "dinner", because when it's at 2:00 PM, it doesn't really seem to be dinner.)

As for the gifts, I think all of our family members did well on getting things for each other. My sister got me some of the coolest things, making me feel like a foodie type. That includes some bacon chocolate, and adorable tablespoon/teaspoon measuring spoons.

Now, I have no idea why I'm up so late, but it's time for me to go to bed. We can chat more later.

How were your holidays?

Last Minute Prep

The presents have been wrapped.

The Indian food has been consumed.

The pajamas have been opened and put on.

It's Christmas Eve. This has been quite the successful Christmas season, with what I think are pretty good gifts to be had by the people I got them for. Well, we'll see by the reactions tomorrow. My only regret? Not watching my favorite Christmas special, The Year Without A Santa Claus. It's not because of the story, it's because I love the Heat miser song. Which is also the Snow miser song, pretty much but the heat miser is so much cooler. Or less cool? Whatever.

Tomorrow, more baking is to be had, as I'm apparently baking rolls this year. This should be interesting...

What were your last minute holiday preparations this year?

Time for Some Holiday Cooking

Christmas eve Eve? I can dig it.

For the holidays, it always seems like there are a million things to do the day before. Then you wonder to yourself: why didn't we do this all before?

And it's a valid point. The only problem with that tends to be the fact that usually it's food prep that needs to be done. Food prep sometimes can't be done much sooner than the day before though.

Despite being stressful, making food for the holidays is some of the most fun food to make. Why is that? Here are my reasons:

All of the food is food you wouldn't usually make, so it's fun to cook with a lot of butter/ fun desserts.

Sure, it's stressful, but you also don't have to worry about work in the moment.

Busy kitchens full of family and friends =fun.

Then again, I'm typically only in the dessert area when it comes to holiday cooking. Stick to what you know I suppose.

Anywho, busy day tomorrow! Getting excited but nervous about getting everything done.

What's your favorite time to cook and why?

On the Hunt

Ah man, I just want to have it be Christmas already! Then again, I'm surprised that it's already Wednesday.

Despite what people say sometimes, jobs are a good thing. When people have them, they complain about everything that's wrong about them. Take away that job? They'll be wishing they still had it.

Currently, I'm still job hunting. Can you tell? What I can say about jobs is that having a job isn't a bad thing, it's trying to get one that's the worst. Then again, maybe that's just how it is for the socially awkward. Think about it: it takes elements from every one of a socially awkward person's nightmares.

• Making them speak in public, almost like a presentation.
• Trying to impress someone you don't know, like trying to make new friends.

All I know is that the more I've been applying it seems, the worse I get at it. I totally play head games with myself.Too bad I can't ask for a job for Christmas.

Good lord I'm depressing. Ah well. I think I'm just a tad too cynical. This is what happens when I have nothing else interesting to write about! I blame winter break.

Now it's time for your interview question! What's your best skill in regard to a job?

Cringe-Worthy

Blaugh. For quite some time, I was excited to be on break. Now that I've been on it for about a week and a half, I'm going stir crazy. Pretty much I've been feeling like this:

Source

Yup.

Yesterday I picked up my epi pen prescription. It came with a little practice pen, so I can practice stabbing myself. Hooray. When I showed my sister the practice pen, she instantly asked, "Can I stab you?" Because an older sibling's goals in life include terrifying/annoying their younger sibling. (Yes, I know you can read this Chloe. I say this to you in real life anyway.) Besides, the doctor told me I should have other people around me know how to do it just in case. When she went to stab it... I recoiled in horror. There's no way I'm going to be able to have someone stab that thing into my leg, let alone stab it in myself.

Usually I've been fine around needles. If I don't see the needle itself, I'm alright with it. Show me that needle going into skin though? Euegh. I'm like that for most things involving harm to the body. Show me a person with their bone jutting out of their skin? I feel that pain.This is one of the many reasons why I could never be a doctor... besides being terrible at science.

A clever conclusion to this post is lost on me, so I suppose I'll abruptly end it. It happens. (Geez I've been saying that a lot.)

Do grotesque injuries freak you out? Or are you calm and collected when it comes to that stuff?

Eating Like a European

Before I say anything else, I'll just say this. To add to my "Pretentious Movie Buff Know-How", I watched the movie A Clockwork Orange today. I'm not sure if I really liked it. Can you like a movie where you don't like any of the characters? Because that movie? Does not give you any characters to root for.

Being the holiday season and all, I've been thinking about food. Such as, having different food around for Christmas break, and baking treats, things like that.

Pumpkin bread muffins! Not for me though.

One thing that I've found interesting about food is how people eat. As for the basics like proper etiquette, I'm a freak about it. I hate when people smack, I worry when I accidentally clang my fork against a plate. I like etiquette, but that's mainly because I was raised to be a freak about manners. My mother collects etiquette books. However, people's manners in regards to eating isn't what I've been thinking about recently. I've been thinking about the speed of eating.

I just have to ask: Do people actually chew food thirty times before chewing? I highly doubt it. I've tried, it takes about a minute if you do. Still, eating slowly in general is a good thing. It makes you eat less, and helps you realize when you're full. Still, a lot of people don't enjoy their food like they should. Think of the "Eat like a European" concept. I haven't read the many books about it, but apparently Europeans really enjoy their food. Not like those ridiculous commercials where people are basically having orgasms, but simply without distractions. We Americans just scarf our food down, while doing something else at the same time.

I know I tend to eat my food quickly if I'm not thinking about it. It happens. Recently while eating something, I thought, "When (if) I get to go to Europe, I'll eat like a European." I instantly realized how silly that was, and decided I should do that now.
Sure, I suck at it. I still have things to distract me while I eat sometimes, it's a force of habit. Still, I'm working on it.

Other things I need to work on? Eating only until content, listening to my body more, and all that jazz. Ah, the joys of trying to be smart about food.

Other than that, just trying to be more productive that I have been. Today? Not the greatest in that sense. Let's try again tomorrow, by trying to get to bed earlier!

Do you "Eat Like a European?" Do you care about food etiquette?

On a random note, the whole a versus an thing is bothering me. It's an E before European, but it's not an, right? I don't know.

Upcoming Holidays and Scattered Productivity

So, when did it become the 18th? Seriously? I have one more present to buy, but this week certainly is going to be a holiday preparation week. The thing is, it doesn't seem like there's really that much left to do. Perhaps my mother is simply making me worried.

Anywho. Today began as a lazy day, but became a bit productive as the day went on. Cleaned my room, cleaned out a random closet in the parents' house. Little projects, all that jazz.

I just was ready for a rest day. Which, I pretty much got, but still got some stuff done. Also found some websites to waste time. Not a great thing for productivity.

On a random note (besides this post being super random), I'm in a mood to bake. It seems that there's much more motivation to bake when it isn't necessary. Thankfully, there are some bananas that are ready for mushing, and I'm somewhere where there are people to take food with them to work.

Hm. Thoughts are scattered for the evening. It happens. Hopefully with the new week, my thoughts will be coherent.

How did you spend your weekend?

The Road Trip Experience: A Recap

After the slightly spazzy post, it's time to tell the tale of my adventures of road tripping. It's kind of hard to blog from a phone, ya know? Still, I had to say something with that little tease. Let's start with a little background.

For all of my life, I've been a very follow the rules type of gal. I don't usually do anything daring, or super adventurous. Let's be honest, every actions I take comes with five thousand thoughts about it beforehand. I am not one who makes rash decisions. So what decision occurred a week ago was a bit out of the ordinary.

I don't know how it came about, but my sister and I were talking about me seeing one of my friend's school. She goes to school on semesters, so our schedules have always clashed. This term, I ended up getting done a week before she did. That's when my sister offered this suggestion:

"Why don't you offer to give her a ride back to Oregon?"

And then I thought, why not? Although it wasn't really for her. It was for me. I've never driven a road trip myself before. It would be something interesting to do. I'd be able to something that wasn't simply "safe".

Teenage rebellion? Sounds like it, but I don't think it was. Besides, don't you have to be a teen for teenage rebellion? The whole thing was more of a being able to do new things like driving far distances. Sure, that sounds like an odd thing to get experience with, but from what I've experience already in my life I think it's a good skill to have.

My mother was convinced I was going to die. She told my sister and dad to say goodbye "Perhaps for the last time." A tad over-dramatic, don't you think? It could have been bad because it was over the pass. Sometime, the pass is pretty snowy. However, on my trip it was completely clear. It was fine.

Total driving time in two days? 14 hours-ish. What was supposed to be apparently a 8 hour and 22 minute trip back home turned out to be cut down by a whole hour. Nice. The trip back was also supposed to commence at 9:00 AM, but that certainly changed when I was wide awake at 5:00 AM. Ended up getting home at 1:15, which was very nice.

As for my short amount of time in Moscow, it was nice. I met my friend's friends from over there, who were all very nice. Saw a very large, very soft dog named Zola. Ate dinner at 9:30 PM (OH GOD SO LATE). Saw the largest collection of the VHS movie Speed. One of her friends had about 250 copies of said movie. Why? Who knows. But it was just a wall of orange. Bizarre.

I didn't see a lot of U of I, but what I saw seemed very nice. My friend suggested that we stay a day, but honestly? I wanted to just get home. Plus, I wanted to get done driving.

Issues arose during the experience, stemming from paying for gas. As in, at first she didn't want to help. For such a long distance, it's going to take gas. I personally think that with offering a ride, I should get help with said gas. From this came the complaint that she didn't have money, despite not having to buy a ticket for the bus. Um, I saw the prices for a bus ticket. Plus, my car gets really good mileage. I only had to fill up twice. My total gas cost was slightly less than half of what a bus ticket was, but after the whole debacle she helped pay for half. If that. She mumbled how "she could have just taken the bus". The thing is, she thinks that I'm rolling in the dough, but I'm not. I'm extremely frugal is all. I didn't offer to give her a ride just because I wanted to do something out of the blue, I thought it would be a nice gesture. You can probably sense that I feel a bit insulted and disrespected.

The thing is, I'm beginning to see more and more of the bad qualities of this friend. And our relationship is beginning to be strained. Honestly, it's beginning to be hard to actually see the friendship. But that's an issue for another day.

'Scuse the little rant, but other than that it was a cool deal. Plus, I came home to find out that I won a blog giveaway from Gingersnaps! I've never won one before, how exciting! I need to email her. It's funny: when I read the name of the winner, because I though, "That blog sounds so familiar... Wait! That's me!"

Welp, I seriously need to go to bed. I am le tired.

What's the last road trip experience you've had?

Riding to Idaho

Today was certainly a day of firsts. First time driving seven hours in a day. First time driving that far by myself. First time filling up my own gas. (I'm from Oregon. We don't fill our own gas.)

Currently, I'm in Idaho. I decided to pick up one of my high school friends at her school. Honestly, I'm quite tired right now. Tomorrow I'll return back home. Yes, I'm telling the internet where I am. I think since it's to a very vague area, I'll be okay.

So there will be more details when I get back home. For now... I'll leave you with that.

What's the farthest you've ever driven?

Running on Treadmills

Today, I did something that I may dare to call... daring. At least for me.

I ran 10 miles today. No, that's not daring for me, I've run that before.

I ran 10 miles on a treadmill. What witchcraft is this? Alright, I know for a lot of people, doing distances like that on a treadmill aren't crazy. For me? Insane. I'm the type of person that by mile 3, I'm bored out of my mind. Today though? I was able to go pretty well for ten.

The funny thing is, it wasn't even very cold outside. The weather actually has been pretty nice the last few days. I just didn't want to go outside. Eh.

I suppose America's Next Top Model is a pretty good distraction.

Actually, I'll have much more daring experiences coming up this weekend. But that's a story for next time.

What's the farthest you've ever run on a treadmill? Are you more of an outside runner or a treadmill-er?

Baking Cookies

Today I had some people over, and you know what we did? If you said baked cookies while Hannah ate far too many, you'd be right!
And I forgot to take the camera out again. It happens. With me, anyways.

During this baking session, we happened to make one of my favorite holiday cookies of all time: Treasure Cookies.

What are treasure cookies you ask? Here's a look:

Simple, eh. But then split it open:

And that's where the magic happens. To make it, you pretty much just take a piece of candy. Then wrap it in cookie dough. Then bake it. Amazingness.
Really, it's just an excuse for me to be able to eat more peanut butter cups.

I think my favorite overall cookie is chocolate chip though. When I was younger, I adored snicker doodle. Don't know why I don't love them as much anymore. Perhaps it's because of the lack of chocolate.

This is my favorite seasonal cookie. This doesn't seem like it's very festive, but this is the only time that we usually make them. Probably because if we made them at any other time of the year, we'd all gain twenty pounds every week.

Cookies. Just one of the best desserts ever in my opinion.

What's your favorite type of cookie? Do you have a special occasion cookie?

Text Savvy

Goodness, every time I start writing something, I instantly delete it. Guess I'm not in the writing mindset? Well, let's try this anyway.

I am part of what's called a "technological generation". Apparently, our generation is supposed to know all about tech, be using it constantly, and be up to date on everything every second. As I've said before, I am not tech savvy. Sure, there are things that I find to be simple knowledge with tech that trouble older generations, but for many things I'm not sure I fit the mold quite well.

Part of my lack of tech savvy-ness? Texting.

One of the things that we're supposed to know how to do and be doing it constantly is texting. Of course I know how to text, but I don't do it as often as the rest of my age group seems to. A habit I have is to read a text and forget it.
Maybe this isn't just me. Maybe a lot of people are like this. However, from everyone else my age I've seen they're texting ten times as much as me.

Oh, also I don't abbreviate on texts. I write full sentences 90% of the time. What, am I trying to send an email? I don't know. Eh.

Yup. I really am having some writer's block, can't you tell? Well, tomorrow I'll have stuff to talk about. We're baking cookies! (Meaning me and some friends.)

Are you text savvy?

Wrapping Gifts

Do you ever have those days where you simply take forever just to get going? No? Just me? Ah well.

The funny thing is, I didn't even get up at a terribly late hour. I just couldn't get moving! The winter haze is starting to creep up on me, and it's not a good thing. Still, I am sticking to my guns and trying to be productive.

Today's productive task? Wrapping Christmas presents.

Actually probably some of my better work.

I told my mom that I'd be happy to wrap the Christmas presents this year, saving her the work. Honestly it doesn't take much effort, but it's just time-consuming. I'm happy to wrap Christmas presents, but there's just one little problem I have: I'm terrible at it.

Will your gift get covered in festive paper? Yes indeed. Will it also have huge chunks of paper sticking messily out the side? Yup.

I can still get a gift wrapped though. I think that's all that really matters because in the end, we just want to rip some paper off of a box.

Are you good at wrapping?

Shopping for Christmas

The day after I talk about being frugal with money, what do I do? I help my mom go on a shopping spree. Ha I kid, but I helped her buy Christmas gifts today. Including my Christmas gifts. Yeah, it's a little odd.

There are pros and cons to knowing what gifts you're going to get for Christmas/Birthdays/etc. The obvious pro is that you'll get what you want. The con? The surprise is gone.

I think the thing with surprise is that it's a little like magic. Sound goofy? What's the biggest thing needed for magic tricks? The element of surprise. You don't know how they pulled that rabbit out of the hat, and once you do it's not exciting. Personally, I love surprises. One of the coolest birthdays I had was getting a surprise party. (It would have been awesome, if not for the fact that I was feeling super sick right before getting surprise. Ew.)
Still, despite the surprise being gone I'm okay with it. Sure surprise is nice, but my mom needed help with her shopping. I just don't want to wrap my own Christmas presents is all I'm saying.

Truth is, there are things that I'd like. The thing is I'm always thinking, "I don't really need it." It kind of goes in a terrible circle though. I feel guilty about having money spent on me, but by explaining this, I make my mother feel guilty about spending money. I'm not trying to make her feel guilty, I'm the one who feels guilty. Oy. I just have psychological issues with money I suppose.

One of the funny things about shopping is how tired it makes you feel. I suppose it's because you're on your feet all day, but it simply doesn't register.

That was my shopping day. Yup.

Do you like knowing your gifts? Or would you rather be surprised by a gift you might not want?

Saturday Night and Such

Whenever I have trouble starting out a blog, I start surfing the web. It happens. I suppose it's because my thoughts are a tad scattered tonight.

Good news on the book selling front: I already sold a book! Granted, it was probably for a lot cheaper than it should have been, but I think I made a decent buck. Well, once I get paid.

On another note, new SNL tonight! Huzzah! I keep forgetting what day it is, and it's barely been two days. It may seem like I've been watching a lot of television, but I'm really not. One thing I had to watch? My Theatre professor from last year being on a television show. WHAT. That's the craziest thing ever! So nicely done Ted. Sorry you had to be eaten by rats. (Grimm is a pretty morbid show.)

My aunt was thinking about me when she saw these adorable little loaf pans!

I can't wait to use them! Also, can you tell my family members like to shop? They just buy things... even if it's not for a holiday gift or anything. Just because it's there. I it's a very nice trait, but I'm glad I don't have a weakness for buying things "just because they're there". I'm surprised the members of my family haven't gone broke.
I simply never buy things on a whim, really. That includes for myself. The last thing I bought "on a whim" for myself was in October, when I bought a Portland Marathon Mug, a headband, and a sticker for my car. Unless you count half marathon registration in November? I dunno.

I really thought I would have a lot more to say today, but honestly I do not. It's just one of those days I suppose.

What was the last thing you bought "on a whim?"

A Start on Winter Break

Winter Break is here! Huzzah!

Okay, I'll stop talking about finals now. I'm just glad that I don't have to study anymore. Funny thing is, when I was actually able to waste my time on the computer, I really didn't want to.

Last winter break? I wasted lots of time. This winter break, I have only two goals: Accomplish as many things as possible. Always keep busy.

Currently, still trying to figure out what all of that is that I'm going to apparently accomplish. However, I've totally gotten a good start on it.

After dozing off, I started to get to work. (Chlo, when you called me I was barely awake. Driving did not sound like a fun idea at that time.)

Selling text books has always been something that I've never really wanted to deal with. Figuring out selling things online? Obnoxious. Selling them to the bookstore though? Talk about getting nothing for your books. The thing is, they're not getting me any money by just sitting on the shelf of my closet. That's why tonight I put up quite a few books for sale on Amazon. Exciting! It also includes a few of my old manga. Now, let's just hope that people buy them.

Other than selling books, I'm hoping to do a lot more this winter break. Think earning money with odd jobs and finding ways to see friends. Trying to job search. Perhaps some reading? Running is in there too, but that's a given.
What are your plans for the holiday season?

Do Over

I don't have a lot of time tonight, so we're going to make this quick.

Fact: If I were able to do this week over, I would in a heartbeat. Because this week? Not my best show.

I wasted so much time this week, and it wasn't pretty. Not even in good ways, except for running. It's obnoxious.

This is the problem I have with a lot of free time. When I do have a lot of free time, I waste it. When I'm busy, I actually use my time wisely. And yes, I know that I've talked about this before. I'm not very original tonight, I happen to have an 8:00 AM final tomorrow that is zapping my desire to be witty.

Will I get bad grades this term? Probably not. I did all of my homework, and I actually concentrated in class. I... well, I guess you can say I learned. I'm assuming it'll be between an A- and a B for almost all of my classes. Except for maybe EC, but I'm hoping the curve will help me out. Good lord I hope so.

I know, I know. This is the whole, "I only got 98%!?" argument, but I'm being kind of positive on this one.

As for fall term? Not my shining moment. I know that they always say, "Live life to your fullest!", but that totally did not occur this term.

Funny thing is, I ran a marathon this term. It was early on though, so it felt different. And I'm glad I got involved. Still you know how they ask, "If you could do anything over, what would it be?" November to the end of this term. Totally would push redo.

Now, I have to go back to studying. Really, I just want to be done with tests. I think the reason I'm being so bad with procrastination is the knowing that tests are what should be taking up my time. I dunno.

If you could do a chunk of time over, what time would it be?

Birthday Association

Yes, it's totally acceptable to have "One of those weeks." Mine would have been like that if it weren't for the break I have tomorrow.

Today I looked at my calendar and realized, "Hey, it's my grandma's birthday! I need to call her!"
Did I have her birthday written down on the calendar? Oh no. Instead, the words on said calendar were "National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day".

Needless to say, this is a horrible way of remembering your grandmother's birthday. However, it's how I've always remembered it because of the story we were told. Yes, one year on grandma's birthday they were listening to the radio... AND THE BOMBS HIT. While she was happily opening her presents seconds before.
No one wants to associate terrible things with happy occasions, like your grandmother being alive for another year. Yet, I'm always able to remember her birthday. I also don't this I would remember the day of Pearl Harbor, unless I needed to for some history class. That sound terrible? You know that's the only reason you remember dates like that.

Back then, I would assume it would be similar to having your birthday on the same day as 9/11.

Actually, I know someone who has his birthday on said day. He has some swell muttonchops.

I don't mean to be morbid, I'm simply stating facts. It makes me think of my birthday. I don't have any major events that occurred on my birthday other than it's National Peanut Day. (Well, except for one site saying apparently the universe was created on my birthday. But that's another story.) It would only be a tragedy if I had a nut allergy.

I've always remembered birthdays because of holidays too. Both one of my cousins and one of my best friends have birthdays the day after Valentine's Day. My dad has the same birthday as Mickey Mouse. Okay, that's not why I know my dad's birthday, but I think that's the coolest fact.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm terrible at remembering birthdays and the only way I'm able to do it is by date association. Sounds about right.

Other than that, only have one final left! Friday at 8:00 AM. Economics. Hoo boy. But that does mean I have pretty much all of tomorrow free. Except for another part of my HPHY final I have to finish online, which is basically the same test, but we get to do it on the computer and have all of the answers. Hmm. Those are disgustingly awful sentances, please ignore their structures. Honestly, I should stop talking while I'm behind.

Do you know anyone with a birthday on a holiday/significant day?

One of those days

Can we say it's been one of those days? Because it's been one of those days.

One of those days where you end up falling asleep in the fetal position on the floor of your apartment for 15 minutes.

One of those days you try to find anything to distract you from your flashcards that you've looked at multiple times at yet still don't feel prepared.

One of those days where you study, but the information simply doesn't click.

One of those days where you wish you had everything you needed to function how you usually do in your apartment. Like being able to run in your apartment. Or take tests. Because who really needs fresh air?

There's never really a true definition of "one of those days", but sometimes certain days are just one of those days.
I think that taste of vacation wasn't good for me. Especially since when there are finals, there aren't classes. It's like it's teasing me.
Can you tell logical, coherent posts are not on the schedule for this week? I assumed it would not continue this way, but here we are.

Well, I must be off to look at more information that I will most likely forget in a few weeks. Tally ho!

When was the last time you had "One of those days"?

Feeling Finals

Let's just move on from yesterday's post, shall we? Because that junk was ridiculous.

Currently, I'm in study zone for my first final that is happening tomorrow at 3:15 PM. Personally, I like morning tests the best. That way, you're not thinking about it all day, and you're fresh. If you get sleep that is.

Although for tomorrow? Sort of glad it's in the afternoon. The fact is, I'm nervous about this test. I've been able to answer all of my flashcards, but still... I don't feel that great about it.

I thought I did pretty well on the midterm for this class, but then I did less than great. Well, not as well as I thought I could have gotten. Meh.

Funny how our perception of how we did on a test can be completely different from how we actually do. For myself, when I feel good about my test I do badly. When I feel terrible about a test... I do even worse. Or surprisingly good.
Yeah, this isn't true all of the time, but this is how I instantly think about these things now.

Test... I am not excited for you. That's all I have to say.

How does your perception of how you did on a test actually affect the outcome?

Getting Your Zzzzs

Holiday parties I have gone to since this month started: 2
Times I have worn my ugly sweater meant for such events: 4 times.

You can see how this is a problem. It's so warm though! Don't worry, I'm not wearing it in public.

Due to the fact that sleep is currently the main thing on my mind, let's talk about it now shall we?

In high school, I was never that kid who could stay up until 2 every night and function like a normal person. Oh no. I needed my sleep. If I had anything under 6 hours, I pretty much became brain dead.

Guess what? I'm still like that, although now I need to go to bed early as well. Aw yeah, I am the cool kid.

Hmm. I thought I would have a lot more to say about that, but apparently I do not. Last night's total hours of sleep? 3.5. Yeah.

I think I'm going to bed right now.

How many hours of sleep do you need to function?

An All Black Kind of Day

Two early day posts in a row? What is this? That's just how we're gonna roll, I suppose.

This has been an all black day, for clothes at least. I wore my all black running outfit for most of the day, and tonight is initiation which is all black required.

Been taking a lot of pictures of myself lately. Huh.

Being slightly nerdy I instantly thought, "I look like a ninja!" in my running outfit.Which is always makes you feel cool, because ninjas are awesome. Fun fact though, ninjas actually didn't look like what we think they look like. They didn't wear things like this:

Instead, they really wore normal clothes as to blend in with the crowds. A true way to be undectected, rather than jumping around in black pajamas.

The whole black outfit did make me think of an occasional outfit that I do end up wearing, depending on the situation. That outfit is something I call The Lazy Ninja.

The Lazy Ninja: When you realize that you're wearing both a black sweatshirt and black sweatpants. I discovered the lazy ninja last winter break while sittin' cozy watching movies. I saw my reflection on the mirror, a little shocked to see what could be a ninja that had let herself go. Thus, the lazy ninja was born.
I believe the only other person who knows of this is my sister, and she only knows about it because I mentioned it causually on the phone or something.

I think this should be a thing. Because who hasn't had a moment where they realized on their lazy day they were wearing all black sweats. Right?

Welp, I need to head off. Hopefully, tonight will be an exciting night!

What's an all black outfit that you like?

The Allergy Test

Hello everyone.

What is that paper that I'm holding, you ask? Well, it's a paper that I received yesterday after a little doctor's appointment I had. A paper letting me know that I can't eat a food that I adore.

It's official. I'm allergic to shrimp. And crab, apparently. Funny thing is, I'm not allergic to lobster, so there's that buttery goodness still on the menu.

It's kind of obvious, but I wasn't always allergic to shrimp. I used to love shrimp. It's also featured in a lot of healthy recipes. All was fine until one day I ate some, and something was off. My throat felt a little itchy, and my face got a bit of a rash. I thought, "Oh maybe it's cooked weird since we're in Mexico." At least that's what I hoped.
A few months later, I had some shrimp again at a family shrimp cookout. A few pieces and the weird itchy throat feeling was back. Oh no.

I tried to deny it, thinking that only two little times shouldn't be a big deal. On the other hand, I had that fear in the back of my mind. My mother was freaked out I was going to die, so she told me to make an allergy test appointment.

Have you ever gotten an allergy test done? It's a little weird. They poke your arm with samples of the potential allergens, then see which ones itch. They also have a control, which is meant to itch. So even if you're not allergic to anything, you'll still end up itching.

You can't really tell, but the one that's more pink and it second left one closest to me is shrimp. Boohoo.

Also, you know the prescription up there? That's for an epi-pen. I have to get a freakin' epi-pen. Just in case. I never thought I would need anything like that!

Well, I suppose I can be thankful that I'm not allergic to peanuts which is what I eat for breakfast almost everyday. (Peanut butter on toast with a hint of jam... delicious.) And I don't really care about the crab, because I've never liked crab anyway.

Oh shrimp. We'll always have that delicious garlic-y pasta dish from that restaurant a few years ago.

Have you ever had an allergy test? What's a weird allergy you have?

Ugly Sweaters and White Elephant Gifts

As usual, December 1st is when I finally start getting into the Christmas spirit. Play your Christmas music to me now, because then it won't get old too early. Christmas movies? I shall get into watching you now. Well once finals are over. Whatever.
Anywho, as the holiday celebrations have begun, that mean holiday parties are happening too! I happened to go to my first of the season, the Chrismahanakwanzakah party help by the APO fellowship chair. Pretty much ugly sweaters and white elephant.

I didn't win ugliest sweater, but I think I had a pretty spiffy one.

Sadly enough, this is one of my mom's old sweaters. It's just... the colors. No.

I've never really done a White Elephant before, but I've heard that you're supposed to get simply ridiculous gifts. That meant perusing the RV Garage. Where junk goes to live. I managed to grab a Harlequin romance novel courtesy of my mom, and an old beanie baby shark. It was bizarre, and delightful. Hell, I didn't even read what the book was about but when the person who got it did... it was ridiculous.

My gift? A reversible sweatshirt thing. Huh. All I know is that I have to wash it, but it actually could be nice to wear for lazy day wear. Maybe.

Oh goodness, I need to go to bed. Excited that tomorrow is Friday, but that means finals are that much closer. Ew.

Have you ever been to a White Elephant? What's a ridiculous gift that you've received?