Change is Everything
1.30.2006
  I'd better be happy now that the boy is going home.
Steven is gone. I saw him to the security checkpoint at the airport and we exchanged our goodbyes. It was an interesting night. Here's hoping I can recount the whole thing.

I left Orlando at 11:30 in the morning, mostly because I was too antsy to sit around and wait for it to be time to leave. I arrived at Steven's house almost exactly at two. Unfortunately, I forgot to call and let him know I was leaving, so he had decided about an hour before that to go into Jacksonville to run a few last-minute errands. I left and ran my own errands, dropping off my guarantor form at my house for my mom to sign and picking up Erica's shoes from Drew.

I spent an hour or two reading over my notes for Anthropology and talking to Brian while I waited. Around four I call Steven to find out where he is, and he says that he won't be home for another hour or so. I smack myself in the forehead and then take a nap.

Five-thirty rolls around and I get a call to head over to Steven's house. He invites me to come to dinner with his family, mostly to piss his mom off. I get there and find out that they're not actually going out, they were just talking about it. I had planned to get some breadsticks from Pizza Hut so that I could snack on something, but decided not to since I thought a real meal would be forthcoming.

Steven says he still needs to pack. What? Yes. Pack. So he gathers up all of his bags and stuff and we sit in the living room with his checklist, going through everything. It takes us about an hour and there are still some things he needs from Walmart. Seven-thirty sees us at Walmart after stopping by Pizza Hut to get me my food (I was quite ravenous at this point). After Walmart, Steven is driving so I can eat and get a nap.

Five minutes into driving my car, we've gotten onto the on-ramp for 295, the rationale being that we can just hop onto 95 and go from there. Except we forgot to go to Robert's house first. Right after this realization, Steven slides my car into a guardrail. We suspect a combination of a LOT of weight in the trunk and very little in the front as well as slick roads. The car is fine.. front quarter panel and bumper need to be replaced, but that's all.. And the door won't really open all the way on the driver's side. Steven is paying for it, once he gets to Missouri, so its all good.

Off to Robert's for a little while, and its almost nine o'clock when we start on our way down to Orlando. I'm driving because Steven doesn't trust my car and he's tired too. Ten-thirty, we arrive. No nice dinner for us. We get some ramen and rent March of the Penguins.

March of the Penguins is an absolutely ADORABLE movie. Everyone should see it. I was making happy cuteness noises the entire time. Morgan Freeman is the shit, btw.

Before we watch the movie, Steven has to check on his departure time since he's not sure. We realize he has the wrong ticket and a quick call to his mom assures us that she's lost the proper one. So we call around a little while, and Steven rebooks a new flight for three in the afternoon. That's fine. Then movie time, more food for me, and sleep. Unfortunately for me, its around 2:30 before we retire.

This morning, six-thirty, I'm awake, getting dressed, grumpy as hell 'cause I'm tired. I make it to class, however, and even stay for Trig. I come back home and sleep until noon in order to be able to function for the rest of the day. Steven keeps waking me up 'cause he's not tired at all but I finally got him to let me sleep for a little while.

Noon comes and we load up. Its off to Broadway for a quick lunch and chat. Its only now, with three hours left before we part ways for three years that we're able to talk openly about anything beyond small-talk. Subjects include his family's running semi-serious joke about his potential marriage to Janice, his crush on some other girl in Jacksonville, and other such things. I asked if his mother wanted grandchildren, and he said that she did and when he mentioned that Janice refuses to have children she said that he had better talk to her about that. I laughed, because when he and I were planning such things, I had wanted (and still do want) a whole houseful of kids. Its funny because Steven's mother HATES me and adores Janice.

I finally brought up some issues that had been bothering me for a while-- namely that he has never bothered to tell Janice that one of the main reasons I dislike her so intensely is because he encouraged me to. She does that to her boyfriends regarding him as well, apparently. I also brought up the time that he told me, basically, that I wasn't worth giving up Janice, and he apologized for the things that he had said and done before leaving for the Marines. He said he had had a lot of time to think about things and really regretted the way he acted. He says he's the first to admit that I shouldn't forgive him, but I do anyways.

It felt good to talk without recriminations and accusations but still get to the root of the issue. I don't hold a grudge against him, nor he against me, and I think we both feel a lot better about everything now.

He still owes me a dinner, but it won't be for another three years before I get that.

Not a whole lot of these two days went according to plan, but I'm glad it happened. Its over now, and things can continue as normal.

Time to go to work now.
-shae
 
1.29.2006
  You can always get it right next time.
We got into Orlando at 10:30 in the evening. I don't want to hear ANYTHING.
 
  You can count on me.. to let you down again.
Eight AM and ten AM look the same with regards to the amount of sunlight streaming through my window. One is infinitely preferable to wake up at, though.

I'm feeling better this morning. Sleep plays a critical role in my mood, and if I can't sleep when I feel I should be sleeping, I get grumpy as all fuck.

The hour approaches when I will take my squirrel.. to Jacksonville. This makes it hard to focus.

Audrey: As much as Steven and I adore you and Daniel, I have to ask that you let us have this time alone. I honestly don't know how things will progress, but I'm willing to bet that he's going to want to be able to see just me tonight as much as I want to see just him. Even if he doesn't, it will be the last time I'll have his full attention for at least a few years IF we even see each other after he's done with the Marines.

the day they found me asleep on the floor
engine running, closed garage door
is the day the for sale sign appeared on the lawn
two weeks later and we were gone

Barenaked Ladies, "I Live With it Every Day"

I've been listening to Barenaked Ladies perhaps too much recently. When I feel slightly emo, I put them on and sing along because the music is happy but the words are depressing as fuck. One song I absolutely do NOT want to hear for at least a few weeks is Tool's "Schism". And that's too bad, because I really do like that song a lot.

Food and study time.
-shae
 
  Dee dee dee da-da-dee-dee
For those of you who don't read music, that's the opening beat to Queen's "Under Pressure". Quite the song, and if you haven't heard it, you are an unacceptable example of a human being.

I chose that song for a very particular reason.

I want to start out this rant/post/whatever, by saying that I love my job. For many reasons it is the best job I have ever had, and I will probably work there for a large part of my time in college. Occasionally, I don't want to go to work but once I'm there I enjoy it.

College is a new thing for me. I've never lived on my own before (even if it is with three other girls), never been wholly in charge of my own food, laundry, dishes, living space, etc. I am 75% financially independent, taking classes, trying to keep my GPA up, and thinking entirely too much about the future.

In short, I am under some serious pressure that I've never felt before. Maybe others can handle this stuff easily, can adapt and slip smoothly into their new life but that little corner of self-doubt in my mind can and does tend to cripple my ability to accomplish anything.

Right now, I'm taking an english class who's major focus is writing. I don't write. I have no ability whatsoever. At one point I aspired to write fiction and gave up for good reasons. This will be a hard class and the papers will only get longer as I go on. My natural inclination to procrastination just makes it worse. I feel the paper in my head saying, "Hey, I'm still here. You need to write me. Come on!" But I invariably find anything else to do instead of writing it. I wait until the last moment and the entire time I'm putting it off, I feel the burden getting heavier and heavier. Ugh.

Trigonometry is another one class I have inflicted upon myself this semester. I hate going, I can't pay attention in the class, I make stupid mistakes that cause me to get 75's on the tests, and I cannot STAND the professor. The exams weigh on me the same way my papers do, and I put off studying as long as I can.

My computer class is the only class I'm remotely comfortable with, while Anthropology and World Religions are in that iffy grey area entitled, "I might be able to do this." I'm still really bad about studying for them so we will see.

I need to clean my bathroom, I need to clean and organize my closet. I need to hang up my clothes, and wash the nice underwear I don't trust to the washing machine. I need to clean up my dishes and get rid of all this goddamned junk in my room that distracts me. Just looking into my closet gives me a headache and I can't deal with it.

I have a hard time focusing on schoolwork while I'm in my room and I don't like being in the living room and there are too many frivolous things that for some reason I think I need to buy and books are expensive and food is either healthy or cheap but never both. There are little stacks of coins on my keyboard tray because I thought I could start rolling them, but then my OCD kicked in and I accomplished nothing except making it difficult for me to pull out the tray without knocking something over.

Everything about my living space frustrates me. Even my bed frustrates me. Nothing is perfectly square and fitting into place. My pictures don't line up properly on the walls and my desk doesn't fit where it is nor does my dresser or my wire boxes or my TV and there is JUNK EVERYWHERE. I can't bring myself to do anything about it so I go around with this ever-so-slight pressure on one side of my brain that just gets heavier and heavier so slowly you don't notice it until your brain is being pushed out your other ear and you can't think about anything except the goddamned MESS.

Augh.

I want to take everything I own and throw it into a big pile and only take out the things I really, truly need. That would be nice.

Fuck, I don't even remember why I am writing this except that its 1:30 in the morning and I meant to be asleep hours ago. I was sleepy, but as soon as the lights go out I can't sleep at all. Now I'm hungry and in order to eat I need to do the dishes.

There are so many things I want to do. I've been trying to read Tom's Hardware Guide for a few days now, but can't get past the introduction because something always interrupts me. Ben called today while I was eating, so I had to talk to him instead, which is fine. I like Ben. So many of the things I want to do require my full attention and a computer, unfortunately.

I'm being pulled in so many directions and now Steven's coming down tomorrow. That means driving up to Jacksonville and trying to keep Brian happy while sorting out my own things with Steven and we aren't going to get nearly as much time as I had hoped. I don't even know how he's going to get to the airport yet. On top of all that, I'm just plain confused where Steven is concerned.. I have mood swings ranging from dredging up old hurts I hadn't thought of in years to being excited to see him to being just "meh" about the whole thing because I'm expecting the worst anyways.

I hate baseboards. When I have a house there will be no baseboards, no carpets, and nothing that needs to be swept under. Everything will be flush against the floor and the wall and fit together properly the way it should. My bed will be in a hole in the floor so that the pillows and blankets can't spill out and mess up the rest of the room. I think maybe these details are stressing me more than they should be because of the time and the fact that I took my last pill today and will be PMS-ing quite shortly.

Pizza Hut is really the only place where the pressure completely leaves me. My world shrinks down to getting to the next house quickly and doing dishes. That's all I worry about for three or four or seven hours and it is the best thing ever. As long as I've got someone to talk to or some comedy CD going, I'm perfect. If there's music playing, I tend to think too much. Yoga is my other refuge. I like doing yoga.

Alright, this is rambling way too much. End of transmission.
-shae
 
1.27.2006
  SHIT! Hide the drugs!
Quarterly inspections happened today. I was unaware they actually did this. I thought it was one of those things that got talked about but never actually occurred. I was wrong. They knocked on my door and woke me up while I was taking my nap, so I come rushing to the door in my robe. I buy time by asking if I could get dressed and toss a blanket over Steve's cage. I put candles on top to make it look pretty, and if they asked, I would say it is a TV. I hid his snake mulch stuff and tossed a book down on the burnt hole in the carpet. Nobody else was home, but nobody else has anything questionable in their rooms.

Also, I didn't have time to hide the mound of empty alcohol bottles that had been left over from the party, but since Jay isn't home I would have just blamed it on her. ^^

Good times, good times.

Now I'm really hungry. ;.; WAFFLES.
-shae
 
1.26.2006
  Are you dead or are you sleeping?
I have successfully attended a workout class two days in a row. You all should be very proud of me. Yesterday Casey and I hit a Pilates class taught by a woman named Allison who is quite nice. I enjoyed that class a lot. Today was Yoga with Matt, the same guy who taught last semester. Both classes reminded me that I am horribly out of shape. During Pilates, my abs burned like crazy and during yoga my legs were shaking so badly that I had to come out of some of the positions and rest for a second.

But, I shall perservere. I really enjoy the classes and if I can get Erica and Summer to come with me I will be very happy.

Brian and I watched The Jacket on Tuesday night, our fifth-month anniversary. We were supposed to see Tristan and Isolde but ended up missing it due to a mix-up in movie times. Tomorrow night we see Mr. and Mrs. Smith!

I have goals for the summer. They include such lofty aspirations as teaching myself PHP, ASP, Java, and perhaps MySQL. I want to also continue my yoga and pilates exercises as well as ride my bike more than I have been, and perhaps take a road trip with my Brian.

There was more, but you will have to make do with this for now. Blame Brian (read: we're fiends of a certain kind).
-shae
 
1.25.2006
  All Systems: GO?
I have created a blog. I prefer blogs. I am going to try to get into the habit of using capitals again. I like having no capitals, but it looks messy with this font.

Be prepared for lists and links and all kinds of craziness.



Right now I'm sitting in my Comp Sci lab, watching them inch their way through a Microsoft Word exercise that I finished about twenty minutes ago. I find it sad that the only class that offers me a worthwhile distraction (teh intarweb) is the one class I'll want to at least try and pay attention to. Luckily I'm fast and I know what I'm doing, so none of the exercises will take very long, at least until we hit Access or Excel.

Later on today, instead of taking my customary life-saving nap, Casey and I are going to hit a Pilates class. This will be fun. I wish Brian could come with us, but he'll be in class. After that, I've got about an hour and a half before I have to go to work and close, so hopefully I'll be able to sleep for a little while. *crosses fingers*

I stayed awake in Trig today. You should all be very proud of me. Unfortunately I only managed to do this by reading Dave Barry instead. If I had actually paid attention, I would have been out like that. *snaps* Don't read Dave Barry in class. It forces you to stop every couple of paragraphs and get ahold of yourself lest you burst into laughter in a dead silent classroom, which would be awkward.

Every single one of you should check out Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire. This webcomic is amazing and it makes me very happy. ^_^

Huuuuuungryyyyy... ;_;
-shae
 

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