Once Upon A Time Flash Fiction Entry!

Yes, I did something productive today not related to schoolwork! Cue drumroll, please!

Love Rekindled Through Social Networking:  We’re Going to Disney World

Looking for specific people online can seem stalkerish, obsessive.  Then you find a boy from your past that likes different movies, books, but they’re still the same ones you like.  Seems like kismet.  Fate.  Meeting him again makes you wonder even more.  Long distance relationships get such a bad rap.  They never work out.  But it’ll never happen.  That stuff only happens in the movies.  But then we find that….spark.  And thank the stars up above it’s so easy to search for people online.  We swear we won’t grow apart again, that we won’t drift again.  We keep talking through e-mail, texting, phone calls.  We meet up again the next summer, just as we had that first summer.  We go to an amusement park and act like complete and total idiots.  Leaves change to ruby, goldenrod, sunset orange.  Caught on fire.  Fall break in the mountains of Virginia.  Official “couple.”  Heavily frosted lawns, iced branches, bitter winds.  Christmas isn’t white, but it’s a good one.  Mutual visiting and celebration of completed finals.  Birthday.  Valentine’s Day.  Explosions of color. Azaleas.  Dogwoods.  Bradford pear.  Wisteria along the highway.  Spring break in Virginia.  He says he’d like to get me a ring but doesn’t have enough for one right now, will I accept his class ring?  I say that sounds like something out of a movie, or a country song.  He laughs because he hates country.  I give a longsuffering, sarcastically dramatic sigh.  Yes, I’ll accept it.  Summer.    Beach.  Bridal magazines in the sunshine.  Smiles.  We’re going to Disney World.  

Le Sigh

I went home for the day today to discuss finances with my dad.  We sat down and figured up a budget, and how much of a loan I'll need, and exactly how broke I'm going to be this summer.  The answer:  flat broke.  Those two words really hurt.  Of course I'm going to get a job, and right now, it's looking like my chances are better here, even though I'd save money by going home because I wouldn't have to pay for groceries.  Or Internet.  I have about a gazillion papers looking over my head, so I better get on that.  Just needed to write all this down.

Just Bear With Me

Bear with me while I use this blog to once again keep myself from dissolving into a puddle of tears or my head from exploding.  So.... (I tend to start serious subjects with that word). I had to get ahold of my new apartment complex today to sort out why they wanted me to pay rent in by June when my lease doesn't start until August. It's basically so they can determine who's definitely renting, and try to lease out the apartments from the people who are definitely not renting.  And then I don't have to pay rent until September. ^-^  The problem is that my financial aid doesn't kick in until the fall semester starts, and I'm already having to use what little loan money I have left for summer tuition.  Money which, since I hadn't planned on taking any summer classes when we sat down and figured out loans, I'm already running low on.  Like, I won't even have enough left to pay rent on this place for ONE month, let alone three.

Next problem:  Job.  My not having one over the summer was totally out of the question to begin with since I'd planned on going back to the exchange.  The dilemma is, do I stay here over the summer and work here, or do I go home and work there, and still pay rent either way?  I'll be paying for everything on my own here, like groceries and Internet and such, and I won't be paying that at home.  But at home, I'll be paying rent on an apartment I'm not even staying in.  I'm also torn in a minor manner between communities/friends in both places, though that's not factoring in quite as much.  If I do stay here, my lease is up 12 days before my other one starts, so I'll also have to haul everything home and then haul it all back.

Next problem:  Where in the heck is this money going to come from?!?!  I HAVE NO MONEY.  Even with a job, that's barely going to cover rent on this place, how the heck am I going to pay for my first month's rent at the other place?

Add all of that to the amount of papers/essays/exams/homework I've got in the next two weeks and you get the general idea as to my state of mind right now.

Just Another American Saturday Night....Oh Wait, It's Sunday Night....

Well, I've calmed down from my near meltdown involving finances.  It's still gnawing at the back of my mind, but I've shoved it aside for now because I have more important things to concentrate on at the moment.  Like finals and last weeks of class.  I have a paper due on Thursday for my Lg Studies class, and I've at least read the four chapters in the text that the prompt is based on--that's considered progress at the moment, I'm letting the info and ideas marinate now.  I also have a homework assignment for my Intro to Linguistics class due Thursday as well.  That's got a little more work involved.  I've done about 85% of it, I'd say, including finding a comic strip that violates one or more of Grice's maxims.  There's also a two page essay required to go along with it, so I suppose I should at least read the articles involved tonight.  Along with the usual reading and commenting on stories, that's about it for this week.

Next week, however *laughs slightly hysterically*, is a whole different kettle of fish.  I have a British Lit paper due by midnight Monday, French homework due by midnight Monday, a British Lit 250 word Blackboard post due by midnight Tuesday (but no class!!), my Intro to Linguistics research paper due Thursday, and also the final exam for that class as well. *whimper*  The week after is slightly more tenuous, with the only definite confirmed exam being on that Monday for my BritLit class, and the take-home final for Lg Studies being due by that Thursday at the latest.  *Sigh*

In other news, I somehow managed to come out on top this Etsy billing period *yay!*.  Went through a whole ordeal to mail that last package, too.  My mom was going to be passing through anyways, so she brought me the necklace and one of my boxes.  My plan was to take it to the post office Saturday and buy a bubble mailer and the stamp.  Got there and discovered that the post office here is closed on Saturdays. Urg.  So I had to go to Target and buy a bubble mailer with the other things I needed to buy, and then I came back and packaged it up all pretty and went to print a shipping label--the box didn't fit the bubble mailer. Arg.  Unearthed a small pouch and managed to get the necklace in it, wrapped it in some bubble wrap for additional protection, fit it in the mailer with no more problems.  Even got a Priority Mail label so it gets to the customer on time.  As much as I'd like another sale, I really hope I don't have to go through that again until I'm home.  It was painful.  My room looked like a tornado had passed through.  I'm not joking.

In totally awesome news, I've lost 3-4 pounds and a couple inches on my waist since starting this whole SELF Drop 10 diet/excersise plan.  I feel awesome.

Insert Head Into Hands

Yeah. Things were going great.  I had my tuition for the summer all calculated out and I was starting to not stress out.  Got my first tuition statement today.  And flipped.  Obviously I either calculated wrong (which is more than likely), or they had some sort of typo on the website, or I still have to pay a mess-ton of fees even though it's a flipping online class.  Sigh.  So, even if I hadn't just bought my new iPod I'd be up a creek.  The problem is that I still have to pay three months' rent even when I'm not going to be in the place.  I'm seriously considering terminating the lease early even if I do have a couple (just 1 for now) exams in the first week of May.  Gas is still less than rent.  For now, anyways.  And I need printer ink.  Large sigh.

Really trying not to hyperventilate here.  Still have three stories to scribble all over, which isn't going to happen until I get more printer ink.  Statement or whatever about my next paper for my BritLit class due Friday--it was originally due tonight.  And my impending research paper for my Intro to Linguistics class is due on the 26th....*whimper* Oh, crap, I have a test tomorrow. Ugh.  Shouldn't be too bad; it's all essays. At least I can ramble on like I know what I'm talking about.

 I got my French homework done, that's a bonus, right? And I've got the highest quiz grade in my BritLit class? Dwelling on the good things here....

I'm Alive

Well, I managed to make it through the Day That Everything Was Due.  Of course, it took me nearly six hours (there was procrastination and general stalling in that somewhere) to finish one little paper.  The prof was very non-specific about this one....the only thing I knew he DIDN'T want was for us to mention "the American dream" or "freedom" or "the melting pot," which I wouldn't have done at any rate.  Seriously, for that topic, who would even think of bringing up something as cliche as "the American dream"?  It's kind of a joke now in this day and age, anyway.  Geez, just look at the economy.  Okay, I'm done.  As excruciatingly painful as it was to do the six pages of homework for my other linguistics class, I still got that done in about two hours tops, compared to the Paper of Doom.  And then I proceeded to read and edit the three stories we had this week, along with the model story.  I was kind of on fire.

I was also excited that my tax return finally deposited, so now I can buy my new iPod tomorrow!!  Ran out of time today, but homework was more important :).  I really want the white one.  I also have to remember to take a look at cases while I'm out, and buy trash bags and paper towels since no one else in this apartment seems capable.  Ahem.  I'd also like to try to make an iPod touch case out of bamboo.  I've seen them for the iPhone and iPad, but not for the iPod touch.... the obvious method for doing this would be to do all the cutting and stuff while the bamboo is still wet, 'cause once it dries....it's pretty darn indestructible.  I think my dad damaged a saw or something trying to cut bamboo that had dried.  It'll take some planning out.  Just an aside on bamboo:  seriously, it should replace hardwood flooring and stuff in general, because it grows REALLY fast.  Well, it's grass, of course it does, but it's really durable, and it saves trees. There's my mini-environmentalist rant for the year.  I'm having to double-read everything because of typos, so I'm gonna go ahead and call it a night.

Procrastination Station

I have a ton of stuff due tomorrow, so of course I'm wasting time online and taking the time to update my blog.  I'll get it done, don't worry....  Had a fun time this weekend.  I went home Friday and dragged my brother off to the beach.  It was glorious.  We found THREE still connected sets of disc shells.  I held mine in my hand because I was afraid of breaking it (I kept depositing my shells in his jacket pocket).  He put one in his pocket because it was dangling by a thread and he was going to reinforce it, and the other one broke in his hand while he was still considering it, but they were great finds.  I had a small assortment of other shells too, some baby's ears, slipper shells, jingle shells, and one Atlantic auger (sp?).  Saturday night I went to help out and become a paparazzo for the night at my brother's youth group's Academy Awards.  That was fun.  I also spent that afternoon making more jewelry, but I ran out of time and didn't get a chance to take pictures, so that'll have to wait until this weekend.  Just wanted to give a quick update.  Hope everyone's Monday is going as good as Mondays can go!