I'm having a marvelous day. I got an A on my midterm paper for Spanish class. I gave my presentation in Spanish class and I wasn't too nervous! For like, the first time ever!!! Usually I talk too fast but today I think I did well. I'm not sure if it was the most organized (I really planned it out ahead of time, but when I was talking I didn't follow my script exactly, so I'm not sure if it was super well organized). But I know it was interesting and I tried to engage the class even if they resisted! In other news, SITES went well this morning too. The niños are great and had a lot of fun acting out being in the different rooms of la casa. The poster Alex made is amazing! (as usual). Also, last night I actually read most of the material for Spanish class today, so I even had stuff to say in class. But, what I read actually reminded me a lot of my Spanish friends because it has a lot of word games and jokes so while reading it I felt that familiar sensation of knowing that it was a word game and either struggling to decode the other meaning. Here's my favorite one: "El problema con la globalización en el neoliberalismo es que los globos se revientan." - The problem with globalization is that the balloons pop! (not funny in English because the word for balloon doesn't look like the beginning of globalization, but trust, it is funny in Spanish). So is the word "supercalifragilísticoespiralidoso" jajajajajajaja. I miss Spain and I am excited to go back (hopefully in October through a program where I would teach English. I turned in my winter term form today for Teaching English as a Second Language which I am very excited about! I need to declare my psych minor and call Chili's soon. (I have to keep mentioning it to myself until I do something about it, lol).

Tonight: write Psych paper (at least the literature review and introduction if not finishing it up tonight).
Tomorrow: Anthro paper (literature review, intro, get as far as possible)/read for Spanish class
Thursday: Pick up Soluna from my prof and finish up Anthro as much as possible
Friday - Sunday: Spanish paper/SITES final
Monday-Saturday: tie up loose ends, turn in final drafts, pack for Navidad
Sunday (13th): GO HOME!!!!

January 3rd or 4th: back to Oberlin for Winter Term...oh yeah :)

Think I might actually have a handle on things. Last night I worked on my SITES final, which is almost done and will require a maximum of about two more hours of my concentration. At the most. Tonight I need to work on my Psych paper, which I may almost finish, depending on how long I can concentrate for. Tomorrow and Thursday during the day are all about Anthropology, which I probably can't actually get all the writing done for in time for class, but at least I should be where I'm supposed to be with it if I can really really concentrate Wednesday and Thursday. Then, this weekend will be epic paper writing weekend. Focus will be on Spanish. Hopefully I can get that completely written and turned in early so my professor can get it back to me and I can turn it in again (revised) before I leave (I'm thinking Sunday the 13th). I also need to have anthropology finished for Thursday of next week. I also need to put together my SITES materials (print out final lesson plans, etc.) in preparation of the exit interview. It's going to be crazy, but I feel like I have a plan, so that's good.

Can't wait to be home!

Oh and PS note to self: CALL CHILI'S!!!!

so i cried. partially because I stayed out late last night (4 am) playing hoopla and burger king big bumpin with my chili's friends and then got up at 9:30 am to help out at the church, but also partially because I am SO stressed about finals, money, future employment, paying back loans, and Christmas. Oh and because I have my period. All of these things combined = me crying. Good thing Mama was here to make it better. She always knows how to make it better.

I think I need to spend less time alone and more time with people who make me laugh :)

I'm happy spending time with my family. It was a long car ride. Rush hour traffic through Pittsburgh. But, now I'm home yay! Tomorrow: helping at the church, spending dinner with Dad and Tina, then time with Mom. Friday: movie marathon, dinner with Mom. Saturday: dinner with Grandpa and Nikki and the rest of the fam? Sunday: back to the grind (by which I mean Oberlin).

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone :)

It was so nice to see my family today. I miss them so much when they leave.

Watched the end of Black Donnelly's tonight. It's a sad ending :(

I took the weekend off from homework so puff levels are high. (Also, I miss my old hair).

The future is so uncertain, I'm in so much debt. My advisor suggested going to Spain for a year, then applying to graduate schools for translation. It seems like a good option, but I don't know if I have it in me. I haven't been careful with money (I used to be when I was little) I know I can survive anything, I know the year would fly by and I'd make the best of it. I loved Spain after all and I still have a lot of really good friends there.

I don't know how to get a money-making job. All I know is that washing dishes might not even pay the bills.

I'm caring a lot of unrequited love around and it hurts and it's heavy. But I don't know how to let go.

I'm scared, lonely, and sad.

ETA: But I realize I already have the most important thing in life, which is family and friends, so what else really matters?

I got a hair cut today. It's really short. And I have bangs. I haven't had bangs since I was wee little. It's weird, but I think I like it :)

no one recognizes me anymore haha. but at least people tell me they love it (of course, what else do you say to someone who just got their hair cut??)

this week has been crazy busy, but at least I got an A on my SITES presentation and a 99% on the correlation/regression test in psych. And hopefully this Anthro group project that's due Thursday will be graded well also.

I forgot to pass/fail anything, so here's to working hard! e'ery day! lol.

Goals for the weekend:

1. wish Mom Happy Birthday!, check
2. SITES project (I guess since I can't seem to make any progress this morning, I'll work on this later tonight when everyone else is partying for Halloween)
3. Anthro project (ahhh due Thursday and my group and I have barely started. And the prof hasn't answered my email which contains a very crucial question)
4. Study for my Psych exam Monday which happens to be kind of timed badly but all well...guess we'll see how it goes...should be alright...

Looking forward to vest day at the PCR meeting and to finishing up submissions for this semester...let's make a magazine!

work tomorrow night too...

the murder mystery party last night was super fun :) and the halloween organ pump was sorta lame, but I was glad we went :)

Happy Belated Midterms to me!

I have a SITES presentation on First Language Acquisition on Monday. I feel mostly prepared, except I just need to condense and finalize my info. I love this stuff, so it has not been difficult to work on it.

I have an Anthropology group project due on Thursday. This one is tougher. We have to write a summary of an article that the prof chose for us (I at least have read the article and taken notes, so soon I'll write the summary), then find a youtube video (we are thinking about a Tyler video :), write a transcription of two minutes of the video (including some drawings, eek!) and finally write a 3-5 page paper about the difficulties we faced during transcription and the issues of transcription and tie the original article in etc. It's gonna be tough, but I guess the weekend is as good a time as ever to transcribe.

And I have a Psych exam on Monday. yay. not. And it feels like it is going to be a bit more cumulative than the last ones have been. uh oh. Maybe it's time to go see my advisor and pass/fail this class and/or anthro...

Also, spent an hour and a half with the PCR crew today which is always fun, except meeting three times a week really cuts into the study time.

Teaching the niños continues to be rewarding. :)

I'm so tired and sick of school work. Time to work on some personal writings...and go to sleep too.

Yay for having time today to take a shower not like yesterday!

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid Personality Disorder:	Low
Schizoid Personality Disorder:	Low
Schizotypal Personality Disorder:	Low
Antisocial Personality Disorder:	Low
Borderline Personality Disorder:	Low
Histrionic Personality Disorder:	High
Narcissistic Personality Disorder:	High
Avoidant Personality Disorder:	Moderate
Dependent Personality Disorder:	Low
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:	High
-- Take the Personality Disorder Test -- -- Personality Disorder Info --

Do these surprise you? Or if you know me, are these what you'd expect? hahaha I won't get mad, I swear. Be honest. k thanks.

So right now, instead of studying, I am messing around online. Maybe because the last two days have been super intense on the study front and my brain is all "ahhh need a break!" Today I have a meeting to work on my SITES presentation with Tara and Aracely, and then after SITES class I have a meeting with Alex and my SITES professor, it's our "midterm interview" :/ Then, I have all night to work on anthropology readings I still haven't done for tomorrow and my Spanish reading, and my projects (SITES and Anthro - I need to write a precies and find a youtube video to start transcribing!)

so, yeah, maybe I'm "excessively dedicated to work" or maybe it's just belated midterms...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw6O-wZ_WgA

just saw part of this movie. Must watch. seriously. it looks hilarious and very Buñuel-y.

I just got home from hanging out with my work buddies. We went to a bar (I just had a coca cola) and then to Denny's. Got caught up on all the news since I've been gone, and we talked about making a facebook quiz, but I don't know if that will actually happen (but I hope it does!).

I also went on a nice walk with Mom and Mariah earlier in Lynch Field which was fun because we taught Mom some Spanish. ("Qué quieres decir?" "izquierda" "las ardillas" the first 7 letters of the alphabet, etc.) Then we went to Best Buy and home for leftovers (pierogies yum! :) Then I hung out with my sis a little and then she went to bed and instead of doing homework, I watched 2 episodes of Project Runway and Jon Stewart and Colbert and then I went to meet up with my friends. But, I did spend the morning (okay, well, afternoon) reading my anthro article for the group project that's due soon. Gotta get moving on some of that stuff. Also, I worked on my resumé a bit, but it's still not done. I've been getting work done here, but just at a slower pace. Part of me thinks that's okay because it's Fall Break and I should relax. The other part thinks I should read more because after break I have a ton of projects to work on and additional reading beyond my classwork which I can barely keep up with as is. All well, guess we'll see just how much I can handle! Maybe I can take two classes pass/fail...

1. GRE omg thank goodness it's over! It wasn't too bad, but I'm not really legally allowed to talk about it so, I'll just post my scores:

Verbal 580
Math 730
Writing don't know yet...

2. relaxing/partying...yay for study party Friday night (got some research done with Tara), yay for playing games and laughing a lot and enjoying life. Especially, enjoying the beautiful leaves on the trees (Holly and I walked in the arb yesterday and I took a ton of fall leaf pictures with Aunt Kathy in mind, but also just because it's beautiful). Today I layed outside on my front yard staring up at the pink clouds through a bare branchy tree so typical of this time of year while waiting for Holly to come over. The sky was gorgeous and it never felt more like October/Fall than this afternoon around 6:30 pm.

3. Eating out a lot/feeding myself...I've been having fun experimenting with food a little bit (by which I mean, trying to figure out what to eat using just what's in the house (no milk for omlets, no veggies, few little fruit (a few bananas from Friday at Stevie and some applesauces left over from when I had the plague!)). Holly and I ate at Agave tonight to get some veggies in me and it felt so good! Then Will and Liz met up with us and we wandered around in search of desert (I got some vanilla creams at Gibson's). Then they all went home and I went to see Sean for a few minutes. Then I came home, showered, and took Y tu mamá también to Spanish House to watch with Tara and a few of her friends. It was a strange movie, but I'm glad I finally saw it! Also, it's always sort of bittersweet going to Spanish House. On the one hand, I used to live there, so it's like going home. On the other, it reminds me of Ted, and on still another third hand, it's weird because it's been renovated. I walked past my freshman room, where the people inside had the door open so I peaked in. Thought about telling them I used to live there and striking up conversation, but then I thought it was better to just walk away. The room looks enormous now that there is no dividing wall.

4. Can't wait to be home. Will drive safely first :)

Fall Break is good for incorporating friends and studying into my life in a good balance. Last night, Tara came over por fin and we researched for the project we have due when we get back for SITES class. We also had some fun while doing it and we laughed a lot and had some girl talk with Holly R. Then today, my housemates all left while I was sleeping/studying for the GRE. I went to MUDD right after breakfast (around 10:30) and stayed until 2:30 studying for the GRE. When I got hungry, I came home and cooked hotdogs (well, I fried some frozen hotdogs, which didn't work out so well...I cut them up and put them back in so the insides could get warm too, but then they were really buttery...ew...) Then, I took a practice test GRE and got the same score I got on the diagnostic test back before I started studying...oh my, looks like all that studying in July got me virtually no where...we'll see how I do tomorrow. I've got one more day to practice/get ready (print directions, get all my id's and confirmation #'s in order, etc). Then the real thing is on Monday at 12:30. I will probably stay in Oberlin for the night and leave in the morning, depending on how tired I am, and how late it's getting to be.
I'm excited to be at home though. I miss my family!!!

Tonight for dinner, I met up with Will and Holly N. for pasta, salad, breadsticks, and garlic toast at lorenzo's. Then we came back to my house (after stopping at their places for dropping stuff off, picking stuff up etc) and played Guillotine which is a really fun card game, and apples to apples. Then we watched youtube videos for about an hour or so. Now I'm in my house, chilling out. It's strange that everyone else is gone...

I've also rented 4 movies that I thought I'd watch at some point. Maybe I won't watch any of them...I've wanted to see all four for a long time: Volver (Almodovar), The Sea Inside (El Mar Adentro), Y Tú Mamá También, and Casablanca... oh wow, didn't realize they all had Spanish titles...haha

so that's it for tonight, hope everyone's life is going well. I'm glad it's break, but I've got a ton of studying to do. In other news, this video makes me happy every time I watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/tyleroakley?blend=1&ob=4#p/u/2/nvZpg_Swdko
Yay for Tyler :) <3

ETA I wanted to add that we laughed a lot tonight and last night. That's my favorite thing about people/friends. When we can laugh at silly things it just makes the world seem better. It's good for connection and it's been seriously lacking in my serious life of studying lately. It has been a great weekend so far. Tomorrow hopefully will be another productive and fun day! Also, types of videos we watched were literal take on me, strongbad, teen girl squad, david and chad after dentists, darth hammer, etc etc. k good night for reals Peace!

So today I realized that perhaps my recent procrastination has been due to the fact that I'm avoiding a.) working on future papers and b.) thinking about my future beyond Oberlin.

Mostly, I've changed my mind about grad school. This semester has been way too hard. Which used to be fine when I didn't have a life. But going to Spain showed me how much fun life can be. I know that it won't ever be like it was in Spain, but it doesn't have to be AS hard as this semester. Plus, expensive schooling in order to write a massive paper doesn't sound all that appealing. I would like to go get a master's degree to improve my translation skills, or to get a job as an in-house translator, which seems like a good way to get experience.

I did get a Spanish paper back today that encouraged me. The prof wrote (roughly translated of course): "...persuasive draft. As you can see, I only ask for a few more clarifications...this is already a perceptive and complete argument." !!! yay!!! :D

I also found twenty dollars while I was walking into Mudd, which normally I have a problem just picking up money I find, but today I decided it makes up for that time in Spain I lost 45 Euro out of my pocket (okay, well, maybe doesn't make up for it...).

I had a meeting with the Plum Creek Review today which is always fun. I love the new staff, they are so dedicated to keeping this thing alive and fun and active in the Oberlin community. Their energy is refreshing and great to be around. They invited me to eat in a co-op, so we ended up eating at Fairkid and talking about poetry...(what a blast from the past). It was really nice feeling included and part of the group.

I also did homework today. No SITES teaching this week due to Ohio Assessment tests and a field trip. Gives me extra time to do other work, and I should use some of it to organize my SITES portfolio finally!

I've been talking to my friends in Spain (well, all over Europe, actually) recently and that always makes me feel both happy because I miss them and therefore love talking to them, and sad because I miss them and wish we could hang out in person. I miss going for tapas and now that the new PRESHCO group has arrived, I worry that they will replace me! (of course, I don't really think they will, because I think I had a really good connection with at least some of my friends there, if not all of them). Ah, anyway I really would like to go back someday.

I'm over being sick, that makes the day so much easier to get through! Also, I'm done doing dishes Tuesday nights, which means I'm only working 6 hours a week instead of 9, which is a lot easier on my psyche. I just need to have a little free time every once in a while.

Saw Zombieland and it was big fun. New halloween movie :)

Sorry it's been a million years since I last posted. A lot's happened. I don't remember much of it. I try to stay happy. It's hard here. Especially now that it's cold. I hate this exaggerated winter. I had to quit a night of work (Tuesdays) which makes me feel bad, because I like being at Dascomb, I'm friends with the cooks, I'm friends with my co-workers. It's a good time. But it's too much of a time strain. I still haven't had a chance to make a schedule of due dates for the semester so I can plan out papers accordingly. That's scary to me. Resultingly this week I had to write two. Luckily they aren't too hard. I'm a real person now. I wasn't before I left. It's so hard to hold on to myself. I feel the days just slipping by and I'm trying to treat myself well and not make myself work like the machine I know I am. This weekend I was hoping to get caught up for once and give myself a bit of a break during the week. But I was so sick it didn't work out. I think I'm finally starting to get better though, so I guess a weekend of lying in bed (writing my Spanish paper) and watching Ninja Turtles was worth it. Also, because we had Monday off for Yom Kippur, Mama came to visit me. It was only for 4 hours, but it was the best four hours I've had here for a while. It's hard to be so far from home. I miss my parents, and I miss my sisters. They are my best friends :)

But, despite all the craziness, I'm getting by somehow, and that makes me feel proud. I think a big part of my sanity is due to the third graders and Alex, my team teacher. She is a blessing. Without her, I couldn't do this. She has taught in this program before, and is always so cheerful and polite. She never hurts my feelings, but she still asserts herself when we lesson plan and can still suggest ways I could teach better. I love working with her. And I love seeing the smiles on the students' faces when we show up for Spanish time.

Also, laughing with good friends helps :)

There is nothing more exhilarating than teaching a good lesson to the niños (my third graders). We opened by reinforcing cómo estás and the weather. We reinforced "¿Cómo te llamas?, me llamo __" with a race game that went over very well. Then we taught new information about plants. We taught: "In the flowerpot I put the soil. In the soil I put the seed. From the seed, comes the stem. From the stem, comes the flower." It was amazing! They loved it. We taught them 5 words today and two sentence structures. We used a transparency to draw pictures and write the words as we explained them, we had them do hand gestures in their seats and repeat with us, and then we had them stand up and do full body gestures. I wouldn't say they know the material yet, but their not supposed to yet. It's just so exciting how well the lesson went. Sometimes I regret making the choice to do SITES over taking French, because my semester would be a lot easier and less stressful, but then I teach a class and I know I made the right choice. It's expanding my horizons, teaching me about myself, and about what I am capable of, teaching me to get over my nervousness in front of the room. It's good.

So, I dropped a night at work, or at least, I hope I will be able to soon. I played hooky tonight from work because I had a ton to do. I think this week will be easier. I hope it will at least. I have to start thinking about first round of paper topics. And how to video tape myself and fit in visits to other people's SITES classes to observe them.

And how to fit in time to even look at my calendar and put it all together. I don't know when finals are
I don't know when midterms are.

I don't know if I'm going to grad school. I'm not sure I could take it. I'm not sure it's worth it. I don't know what kind of job I want, and I won't know until I start to get some experience. Translating would be good. I could always teach, although I think I'm finding that rather difficult and maybe not what I want to do. Could have to do with my inexperience though, making me feel very inadequate. I think it's not worth it to go right away. I could always go later. Or take online courses. Read on my own. I'm just scared everyone will tell me I didn't do enough with my potential. I just want to live a comfortable life. I want to go back to Spain for a bit, but not forever. I want to find love. I want a family. I want a job that can help me pay off my education.

In short, I'm not sure what I should be doing with my life. I'm in a constant state of being unsure and sort of afraid of the unknown. For now, all I know is that I love hanging out with friends. I'm getting over drinking very quickly and I don't want to mess my life up. But here's the thing. It's MY life. As long as I'm not hurting anyone, and I'm true to myself, then how could I be messing it up? I'm too stuck to rules sometimes, and I still haven't found myself...

omg, doing laundry is a nightmare in the first place because I have to drag my full laundry basket over to the nearest dorm (which is 5 minutes away by walking, but with a full laundry basket weighing me down, more like 15). Then, there are only two machines on the first floor, so if someone else is using them, you have to wait. Maybe you're in college and you DON'T HAVE TIME TO WAIT. So if you are lucky, you drag everything over, get both machines going, and can go eat. Then you have to go back, put stuff in the dryer, and wait some more. After that you have to haul it all back home. I can deal with that stuff. What I can't deal with is the fact that I dragged everything over only to find that instead of working, the machines just want to eat my quarters. I drag my stuff upstairs, there's only one machine, and it also eats quarters. I looked on the third floor, but I don't feel like dealing with this bs any more so I drag everything home. What the heck am I supposed to do? I guess I don't need clean clothes. I mean this is Oberlin after all WHO LIKES TO WEAR CLEAN CLOTHES. I've never been so angry.

(not to mention all the time and energy I wasted and I still have to figure out how to get my clothes (and towels, bedsheets, etc. clean)

FML!!!!

ETA: so, there have been high and low points all day. After laundry fail, I planned a SITES lesson with Alex my teaching partner, which made me feel better. I also bought myself a pretty ring (Iolyte (?) aka "wet sapphire"). I made it to all my classes, and even managed to get MOST of the homework done (although, some skimming did occur). My friends and I got dinner at Saunders for the first time this semester (it's all changed around!) I got my laundry done at South, even though I had to cheat and use the car. I ran into Francisco so we went to Walmart and I got paper to make diccionarios for my third graders. But then I couldn't figure out how to staple them together because for some reason everything that can go wrong is today. It's going to be hard to get out of this funk. I just need more time. Something's got to give and it's NOT going to be my JOB. It's the only thing keeping me sane. I miss Spain, all my friends there, all my american friends who are far away, my FAMILY, my free time to talk to people and heck, even socialize with my housemates and neighbors. Seriously college, you are kicking my a** this semester! This was one of the worst days I've had in a very long time. If it continues tomorrow I might not go to class. I might just sulk in my room. LAME

I'm scared to start teaching SITES, although I know it will work out. It will. I just need patience, as always. Let the learning curve happen. Don't have to be perfect right away. Deep breaths, trial and error.

I'm scared to start my grad school apps. I mean, I know I have to do it soon, actually, today if possible, but I'm worried about the future, who to contact, who to start conversations with, who to get letters from, is this what I really want? I'm really trying to listen to my heart but all my life I've been so adamant about sticking to the rules that now that there aren't any, I'm not quite sure what to do...

My past is lingering. I miss being in love, all the ups and downs of that first non-relationship so many years ago. I thought the memories had faded, but shockingly they still blaze brightly on my heart, so torn apart when he abandoned me. I thought I'd moved on, that Oberlin was mine again, but I'm wrong. Even when I'm so busy I can hardly see straight, random buildings, street corners, meals remind me so intensely of what wasn't meant to be. Now I'm stuck desiring something I can't have. It's so hard to get close to someone, but you made it seem so easy.

Today, I rose early to study, enjoyed the sunny walk to Mudd at 9 am only to discover it doesn't open until 10. So I started reading outside on the bench. All of a sudden, a tall stranger says "hello" and shakes my hand, as if we had planned to meet right there at that time. He starts asking me what I'm reading, about why I am involved with SITES. I answer that I'm a Spanish major and that I want to see if I like being a teacher and working with kids. He told me, "no, not the interview answer, what does it make you feel?" I told him I start this week and so I'm worried, excited, but worried. He started telling me about his education, home life. He grew up in Texas, in a neighborhood where he had to wait for the gunshots to stop before he would walk out of theater practice so his mom could drive him home. He told me where he's from the textbooks describe the KKK as an "admirable social organization." It's so hard for me to imagine growing up in a place like that. He told me to take great pride in educating children. They need us. They need healed. Needless to say, it was an interesting encounter.

ETA: maybe I'm in over my head...when I'm not doing classwork, I'm thinking about it...and oh the papers haven't even started yet...

wow, is that from the theme song to a Mary Kate and Ashley show? I think it might be...

I really do have a lot I've been meaning to post about:

1. First week back in Oberlin after my year abroad

is fun because for the first week, I kept seeing people I'd almost had forgotten existed. That sounds mean, but it's the truth! People who I was never very good friends with, but whom are very friendly and nice and it's been nice seeing again and remembering. I've also seen some people who I thought were going to have graduated and moved on by now, but who have changed programs or for whatever reasons have decided to stick around :)

( cut for length )

2. My new house

is amazing! Pics soon on facebook.

3. My birthday celebrations this year

( cut for length )
4. Drunken ridiculousness

( cut )

So, yesterday was so much fun. It started out with Jonas (of course...I fell in love with the pizza girl, and now I eat pizza every day). Then my sisters and I went to mom's. I packed the car (not well, but hey, it all fit...too bad I forgot my awesome Polish calendar!!! I'll have to get that soon!). Then we had a fun Chinese lunch (sweet and sour chicken!) and fortune cookies :) Then we had a foto session, in which we took some gorgeous fotos of all of us. Then eventually, the time came that I had to depart for Oberlin. It was a beautiful drive, sunny and warm all the way, with some clouds. I stopped twice and bought a really sweet shot class with the lighthouses of Ohio on it (including Vermillion!) When I arrived, Holly welcomed me, followed by Emma. They showed me our house (which is so much fun!) and then I popped in next door to say hello to Christine and Emily. Our house has three amazing bedrooms (and one that's not great but we're thinking of converting the dining room into a fourth bedroom). We have a small bathroom, an odd shaped kitchen, a foyer, a living room, and a dining room. We also have a front porch and a back yard!!! We need some art and decoration things, but we're going shopping today for that stuff. The other house next door is similar to ours, though it's a bit bigger. Today I have tons to do. Starting with unpacking and figuring out my schedule for the week to getting things straight with work, with SITES, and never forgetting to try to figure out grad school, although I think that's going to have to wait until next weekend...FRIDAY IS MY BIRTHDAY. made of win